Two or more sailboats going the same way is a RACE!

 

Gargoyle in foreground, Larabeck in background

       Hello faithful readers!  Again my apologies for this late post, but we occasionally suffer connectile dysfunction way out here. 

       In our last episode, we were among a group of sailboats anchored at Starfish Bay, one very happening place on weekends here in Bocas del Toro.  Come Monday, it was entirely different: very calm, very quiet.  But a great place to spend some time, any day.

       On Tuesday morning, a most extraordinary event took place:  It seemed that ALL of us anchored sailboats simultaneously pulled up our anchors, raised our sails, and headed southeast on the bay known as Bahia Almirante, riding the delicious westerly winds.  We didn't plan this at all - it just happened.  So I got on the VHF and declared: "This, fellow sailors, is a race!"  Further down the bay, yet another boat exited one of the other coves, heard the radio chatter, and declared that they were in on the race, too!

Milagro's bow

      This was a very special day for Milagro, because it was actually the first time since I came aboard where we officially SAILED.  As in:  engine OFF!  Previously, we always had to use engine help because the wind was dead in our face.  But not this time.

      It bears noting that, among this fleet, Milagro was the runt of the litter.  Everybody else had boats in the 47-foot-plus range.  Milagro is officially 41 feet, but that includes the bowsprit, so it's actually only the size of Dragonfly.

"Wing-and-wing"

      

      Halfway down the bay was the village of Bocas Town, where Milagro was anchored a few days ago.  The first boat there, who I suppose you could call the "winner" of the race, was the boat "Malaika".  Its crew consisted only of its skipper and two very large golden retrievers, and some parrots.  His winning "strategy" was to swing wide to the south and broad reach the whole way.  Milagro, in contrast, chose the infamous "wing-and-wing" configuration and headed straight downwind.  The boat "Y-Dream" actually pulled ahead, but they used engine power.  I visited with them later, and its skipper told me they had a non-functioning toilet that needed fixing, fast.  Hey, I can relate.

Ursula

      Also back at Starfish Bay we met up with Robert's potential next crewmate, a Swiss gal named Ursula.  She was accompanied by her friend Ettie, and Ettie's nine-year-old son Darko.  We met on the beach, swam around, dinghied out to Milagro, took a tour of the boat, and had some drinks.  Then we all dinghied back ashore and had supper together.  We learned that these two girls currently live in Spain, and have lived and traveled all over Europe and South America.  We're still not sure at this point if Ursula will join Robert.  But she knows how to get in touch with him.

 

Ettie and her son Darko

      After a quick stop at Bocas Town for ice, Milagro continued its southeasterly course.  Our destination was the Gallego Cays, a cluster of small mangrove-covered islands surrounded by coral reefs, rumored to be a great anchorage.  We could see sailing vessel Gargoyle, one of the boats in our "race", up ahead and already safely anchored at Gallego. 

       As we approached, it became clear that the maps on our Garmin 720 Chart plotter were, shall we say, not very accurate.  At one point, it showed us located in the middle of an island.

       And then our keel struck bottom.  We were stuck. 

Kevin & Carla from SV Gargoyle

       Gargoyle hailed us on the VHF, asking if we needed some help.  Um, yeah, we do.  So their crew, Ken and Carla, the nicest people you'll ever meet (like ALL sailors, by the way), hopped in their dinghy and buzzed over. 

       Now, I've run Dragonfly aground a few times, I must confess.  Any sailor who claims he/she has not done so is lying.  Previously, when aground, I would do one the following:  1) Wait awhile; tides and currents usually will free you.   2) Call Tow Boat U.S.  Well, Tow Boat U.S. was nowhere around, and tides in Panama are minimal, so we had to get ourselves unstuck on our own.  The interesting thing was that the water was so clear we could actually SEE our "skid mark" down on the seabed!  (Intracoastal Waterway, this ain't.) 

      We first deployed an anchor, straight behind the stern, via dinghy.  Then Robert cranked the anchor winch while I goosed the engine in reverse.  It took much valiant effort, but finally the boat inched backwards - and we were free!  And so, with Ken & Carla leading the way in their dinghy, we were guided thru the proper deep-water channel and into the tranquil, mangrove-lined, 15-feet-deep cove. Anchor down, right next to Gargoyle. Then dinghy over to our sailing neighbors for cocktails and hours of sailor talk in the cockpit.  (Oh and they had a boat cat.)

Gargoyle crew mounting their stand-up paddleboards

      The next day we checked out the snorkeling here in Gallego.  Although not obvious, there were many coral heads and other coral curiosities in the shallow water.  As always, there were starfish galore. Although no big fish seemed to be here, there were lots of smaller ones.  And by "lots" I mean millions and millions of them!  I'd float in one spot as a seemingly endless school of fish passed by, and kept passing by, and passing by, and passing by, and OMG it just goes on forever. 

view of Gallego Cays

     On the morning on the VHF Sailors' Net, I volunteered to do some trivia questions.  Topic of the day was:  astronomy and stargazing.  One guy out there knew all the answers; but he 'fessed up and divulged that he has a degree in Astrophysics.  If I do more trivia questions tomorrow, I will warn him: no cheating!

Robert's waypoint plotting

       Our next planned stop is Isla Zapatilla, rumored to be THE best snorkeling in the entire archipelago.  But this time Robert is taking no chances - he has meticulously plotted out a huge list of waypoints to get us there without any … incidents.  Stay tuned for more fabulous adventures in Panama!