Bahia de Caraquez to Punta Ballena (Jama)

Yahoo, it's good to be out cruising again! We cleared formalities with the Navy early this morning. They came aboard with a list of questions but no actual paperwork changed hands. John had to have one question repeated three times before he understood it, and when the "inspection" was all over with he realized that the answer to all the questions is "Yes."

We were underway for the Rio Chone bar crossing by 6:45 AM and were sailing just after 8 AM. It started out slow, but we ended up having a great spinnaker run until 3:30 PM when we dropped anchor in the lee of Punta Ballena. So far it seems to be much more protected from the swell here than it was at Cabo Pasado where we stopped on our way to Bahia in May. We've already been visited by two local fishing pangas on their way out to the fishing grounds so it appears to be a friendly place.

We plan to get a good night's sleep tonight and then sail over closer to town tomorrow for some shore side exploring with Eric and Sherrell on Sarana.

Linda and John

http://www.geocities.com/svnakia/map_app.htm?0,10.598,S,80,18.598,W,Punta%20Ballena,