Cruising friends are very special to us, especially the old and dear ones, like Don James. We love having him as an onboard guest!! Because Don singlehanded s/v Enterprise for thousands of miles alongside our boat in 2000-2001, our kids think he's a blood relative. Right now, while anchored in Isla Bayoneta, with only one other boat in sight, we are playing the Game of Life, paddling the kayak all over the place and completing long awaited boat projects...Don is an integral part of every event. After experiencing Shelter Bay Marina, transiting the Panama Canal and Balboa Yacht Club, the gang thought venturing out to the more remote zones were in order. On Tuesday afternoon, we dropped the mooring ball and motored through the many container ships waiting to cross the canal, on our way to Isla Taboga. Picture many colorful rooftops, angled along a steep mountainside, a white Catholic church, perched on a hill, overlooking a few wide, white beaches, filled with teenagers playing soccer. It was a great afternoon and evening, away from the traffic, pollution, and congestion of Panama City. Everyone we strolled past on the little winding streets greeted us with "Buenas!" and a smile. Chuy on s/v Libre came by in the morning and gave us a plethora of information about Taboga, the Perlas and Galapagos. He and his partner, Susan, are living ashore, with their cruising boat floating in the harbor and managing about 8 rental moorings. We hope to visit him again before departing the area. But now, the weather is calling us to hoist the main and unfurl the jib. It was a 36 mile, 4-hour rocket ride to Isla Bayoneta in Las Perlas. We christened Don in the forward cockpit. Normally it's a pretty dry area, but the boisterous upwind sail was pretty hardcore. Wind was at 50 degrees, 28-knots apparent, we were under a single-reefed main and single reefed jib. Zen was having fun going 10 knots with spray coming over her windward bow, puffy clouds trotting across the sky and cutting through the 4-foot chop. As Chuy predicted, the wind calmed down to 17-knots apparent about halfway through our trip, you know what that means....fishing time! The Pacific is known to be colder in temperature and therefore, more abundance of fish. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, "Fish On!" Thanks Jason, your reel did the trick! Don and I rolled up the jib to slow down the boat, Tommy went to the stern to reel in the prize. Kids grabbed the gloves, pliers and the fish bag. As soon as the fish was onboard, Don started to unfurl the jib. The wind came up to 30 knots again and we were zooming again, but now toting a beautiful Pacific Albacore. Anchoring was adventurous. It's so much fun going to new unknown locations for the first time. Tides are the big challenge here. In Panama City there's a 16-foot tidal change. Out here, it's a little less, 11-feet. You can imagine how quickly anchoring can become a little hairy. Knowing which tide you are in is a necessity. We picked our spot. Ten feet of water at dead low. It almost looks like Maine. Big boulders at the shoreline, that disappear at high tide, ocean birds circling and fishing, winds whipping up the waters in big gusts. Today was idyllic, productive, delicious and adventurous. You can ask Don, but I think he's going to extend his stay to accompany us to Galapagos. That says it all. :-)