Cruisers do daysail...
20 February 2011 | Off Bahia Benao
You know what they say about cruisers - they never head out for an enjoyable day sail. Well we did. A forty mile one. At 0300 we lifted anchor along with two other boats in the anchorage, PASSION and GUINEVERE I, to try to slip the clutches of Benao and get to the Perlas. A smooth sail to Punta Mala quickly deteriorated as the sun came up and soon we were on a brisk romp towards the Galapagos Islands, a fine destination but not our intended direction. It was clear that waves, wind and current were working against us making it impossible to reach the Perlas by dark and a night tacking up the shipping lanes going into the Panama Canal was not my idea of fun. I looked at Dick and said "want to head back?", and within a nano second we were on our way back. We were quite a ways ahead of the other boats and when I let them know our plans they did an about face as well. The sail back was as good as it gets. It's amazing what a change in direction will do. About the time we hit sustained speeds of 8-9 knots, our fishing line took off. Fish on! Dick fought the fish for one hour and ten minutes, finally got it up to the boat and knocked the lure out of its mouth with the gaff hook. Oh well. Once we all had our anchors down, we all shared a sundowner on MENTOR and toasted the three boats that proved cruisers do go out for day sails, enjoying a good day of fishing.