Happy 4th

I spent the day on a sailboat with an English citizen. We got along quite well until I tossed her tea into the bay (Great idea Mom!).

2 nights ago twin shrimp boats anchored in this bay and commenced to having a fiesta like only hard working third world fishermen can. The sounds of rejoicing and the hope for shrimp were overpowering. We tumbled into the dinghy with a bottle of white wine and dinghied over. Within minutes we had 3 gallons of shrimp and were headed back to Barraveigh. Fortunately we saved a cold bottle for ourselves and gobbled buttery garlic shrimp until our stomachs were about to pop.

At around 2pm on consecutive days we've watched the squall line march towards us at astounding speeds. Once spotted you have about 10 minutes to prep the ship for the 25 knot winds that threaten to take your wardrobe to sea. The rain comes down in sheets and visibility drops to about 20 feet. The lightning crackles so close and seems to last so long that all becomes perfectly visible again, if only for flashes. We got some good video of this. Glad to be at anchor with a 45 lb CQR and plenty of chain on the bottom. Not so glad to have a 60+ foot mast that seems to me to be the areas best lightning rod.

We are leaving today for the Secas. These are a group of islands that are supposed to be a surfer's dream. I'll let you know. After that it's Isla Coiba - more of the same.