We had planned a busy day, so we weighed anchor at first light. We rolled out the screecher and enjoyed a brisk ride in 20 to 25 knots of breeze. Black Fish, the screecher, pulled us along at 8 knots, which is much faster than an ox cart. The Eastern side of Isla del Rey is windswept and pounded by waves, so affords no anchorages. During the downwind trip we were entertained by black clouds of birds. The tern, the pelican and many more which I could not identify swarmed over Two Fish. Their success in diving for fish teased us, as our rods were not able to summon dinner. Pasta tonight for the failed fisherman.
Our goal for the day was the wreck of a very early submarine. The sub was built before man understood the effects of pressure. Many of the crew died of what was diagnosed as the flu. The sub was then used in pearl diving operations, killing more crew. The sub was then wisely abandoned and years later people thought it was a WWII wreck. Much later, a historian figured out the true history. I was excited to go explore the wreck. However, when we reached the reef, I realized the day's weather would prevent a close-up examination. The day anchorage had short steep waves, two knots of current and puffs over twenty-five knots. When we got close enough, I ran down for the camera. I changed course and headed north. We had spent the first half of the day sailing south on the eastern side. Now it was time to go north by motoring upwind on the western side of Isla del Rey. The first bay was wind swept and all of the anchorages looked uncomfortable so we pressed on. We were hoping to reach an anchorage sandwiched between two islands. The entrance at springs low water (or in American low low water) was charted as one meter. We need 1.2 meters. The guide book reminded us that the bottom in Las Perlas is hard rock. I slowed the boat and we passed over on a rising tide in over two meters of water. Resumption of breathing allowed. Gail was great at coaching me through the gap using our digitized Bauhaus guide.
This anchorage is fairly remote and we are sharing it with just one boat. But the boat is a mega yacht! Their dinghy has AIS and passed us doing 18 knots. They also have a fifty foot sport fishing boat rafted along side. They are too big to get far into the anchorage, so we have some privacy.
As soon as we were safely anchored, we swam, paddleboarded and ate. We are still struggling with figuring out the tides in Las Perlas. Once again, we laid out tons of chain to be prepared for a rising tide. Looks like the Navionics tide module is fairly good. The Furuno is completely confused so I will investigate if it is confused because it is on Zulu time, or if it is just off. We will stay in this anchorage for two nights, so you can expect plenty of goofing about on Two Fish.
Jason
www.twofishcat.com
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