We spent 5 days at anchor to cure our marina fever! Our first stop was Starfish Beach to relax, swim and clean Slow Dancer's hull. We had a remarkable sail to get there. Wind was a perfect 10-15 knots and we took our time getting there. We did get another day to relax due to a front that hit the area and provided waves too large to get under the boat. That job done, we had another great sail to an anchorage near the tiny Rana Azul restaurant. Our way points were a bit vague and as Ken stood on the bow watching, he saw the bottom getting closer and closer! "What's the depth!?" Yikes! The depth meter says 5 1/2 feet! It can't be…..we draw 6 1/2! Well, whatever happened, we got over it in one piece! We dinghied in and enjoyed pizza with other cruisers and were given way points for a "ditch" that ran out to deeper water. We left the next morning through the very narrow channel following the way points exactly and never saw less than 19'. That feels better!
We spent the next night anchored off a small village. The sights and sounds were so beautiful! As the sun was setting over dolphin bay, we watched several dolphins play while listening to the sounds from shore: chickens, turkeys, goats and children laughing as they paddled about in their dugout canoes. This evening couldn't have been more perfect!
We were given the way points for a good snorkeling spot near a small mushroom shaped mangrove island. There were already two sailboats occupying the space beside the little island, so we decided to go around it and eventually found a good spot to drop our anchor far enough away from the coral so that we didn't disturb or damage it, yet close enough to swim over. What an amazing undersea world we found in and around the mangrove roots! We spent several hours snorkeling before a beautiful sail back to the marina.
 Starfish Beach |
 Great sailing day! |
 Homes built over the water |
 Peaceful Dolphin Bay |
 Snorkeling around a mangrove island |
 Coral growing on the mangrove roots |
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