Isla del Cano
14 March 2008
Roger
The night portion of the passage to Isla del Cano was magical. The seas became flat calm, the clouds disappeared, and we had the light of a half-moon. We cut back the engine as it was clear we were going to arrive in the dark if we didn't. At around 1:30 am we were just over 8 miles from the island, so I turned the engine off and we continued sailing on the main in 3-6 knots of wind, making just under two knots. This time, we seemed to have the current with us, so some of that blistering pace was due to current. Flat topped Isla del Cano appeared out of the dawn as a huge thunderhead formed a few miles behind us. Komara had difficulty going slow enough, and so they gradually overtook us way to port, then did a huge arc in front of us.
The island is covered in dense tropical forest and receives well over 200 inches of rain annually. There's a small ranger station at the only anchorage---it's a marine park, and you're prohibited from anchoring anywhere else so as to preserve the coral. We went ashore to the ranger station to pay our fees. The setting is really beautiful... a classic tropical island paradise. An interesting feature was the hordes of hermit crabs on the beach and the nearby jungle, all busily moving about with no discernible purpose. The snorkeling was outstanding. The water is crystal clear, and there are plenty of fish, including white tip reef sharks, and the occasional turtle seems unfazed by divers. One interesting feature of diving here was the number of large leaves floating at various depths---it's something we've never really seen before, and is clearly a result of the prolific vegetation.
I forgot to mention that when Doug and Mary on Fandango were on their overnight passage to Bahia del Coco, Doug who was on watch heard a loud thud against the side of the wooden hull. He'd forgotten about it until they got into an anchorage and looked at the side of the boat. Buried above the water line in the side of the wooden hull was the tip of a marlin bill! The marlin must have been chasing a fish when it ploughed into the side of Fandango. Apparently it's bad luck to remove such a bill, so they're leaving it there. If that happened to our steel hull, we'd have quite a problem.