Panama!

Gulfito to Panama Punta Balsa.
We were all happy to leave Gulfito. I was certainly happy to leave the internet behind. The internet and TV were too much of a distraction for the girls and their homework.
Just outside the bay we saw some large bottleneck dolphins who joined our bow wake. They are far and few between, as most of the dolphins that join us are the smaller porpoises we have at home.
The highlight of our day was settling an argument.
I could hear Michel and Chantal arguing about weather a tree or shark was ahead. I altered course to settle the argument and damned if we did not stumble upon a 25 +foot basking shark. A bizarre looking creature. Kind of a cross between a whale and shark. We did a few circles around it then it reared flat head to have a peak at us then dove down. Very exciting indeed.
We motored for most of the day and tried unsuccessfully to catch a fish. The only thing we hooked was a barracuda which are not very good to eat. The dolphins and rays were our company for the most part of the day. We did manage to see another sailboat sailing in the opposite direction.
We only saw one fishing boat- it seems the farther down we sail the fewer fish boats we seem to encounter.
Just as we were approaching Punta Balsa we were amazed at the surf crashing at the shoal about a mile off shore. Josee was wistfully gazing through the binoculars longing to surf those large tunneling waves.
As we rounded the point we came across a large blue whale sounding then with a flick of its tail it was gone. There is a shelf here that drops from 80 feet to 1000 feet a very active place for large fish. Small schools were constantly jumping out of the water avoiding a chase. We anchored beside AT Last our friends on a cat we met at Gulfito.
The dingy motor packed it in again, Chantal was stung by a nasty jelly fish which made for a grumpy night. Chantal had made a pineapple upside down cake that pretty much turned the boat upside down and the temperature to about sauna level. Much to her luck the cake was delicious and
worth the hell to construct it.