3/26/18 – 41 nm – N8º29.0′ W79º03.4′ – At anchor Isla Bayonetta – Hot! Light breeze, clear skies.
Fueled up and left the fuel dock with full water tanks at 12:30, Balboa Yacht Club destination Las Perlas. The islands are Panamanian, but no customs there so it’s ok to visit for a few days after clearing immigration in Panama City. We got a vague answer saying we shouldn’t stay in Panama for more than three days after clearing immigration. Amazing sailing conditions after motoring out under light winds, clear skies. Both engines working great. The wind picked up to around 18 knots at 15:00, put up the full main and jib, one engine on making 11 knots. Whale spout in the distance! Brown rays everywhere.
15:15: Land ho!
17:30: Anchored in Islan Bayonetta, 11 ft low tide in sand. No civilization in sight. Dinghied to shore and walked the beach with Cheryl, Yayoi, Dave and Chris harassing the big hermit crabs. Dinner was amazing as usual: Pasta with Pulpo and Clams, red wine and huge Dark and Stormies for dessert. Heavy sleep.
09:00: Woke up to the smell of coffee and eggs, ate em with rice and nori. Just missed Chris talking with a local fisherman in his outboard dinghy selling corvina, hammerhead and parrot fish. We saw another boat diving for lobster and decided to try our luck as well. Yayoi and I suited up while Dave chauffered us in the dingy. We dove below the warm water into FREEZING water! Wow! Just a few feet down and the temperature was shocking. No luck finding lobster. Hamburgers for lunch, then worked on the sticky steering. It had been pretty rough and sticky feeling across the canal and just getting worse. We disconnected components until finally isolating the problem at the starboard wheel bearing. Pain in the ass to remove it, but lubed it up, worked the rust out until it was smooth again then reassembled with the girls went supping and beach combing.