Puerto Ballandra to San Juanico

Our first stint as net controller for the Amigo net went very well. I can't speak for Patrick, but I was pretty nervous, and I was just the one taking notes as the cruiser's checked in. Patrick was the voice for us. We will pick up Juniata's spot starting May 29th and cover for her until we go back to the States for a visit. Still no plans made, yet we are hammering out the details. Our plan so far is that all four of us will come home for about three weeks sometime in late July or August.

We loved our time in Ballandra and stayed many days. Our next jump was to Punta Mangles about 5 hours away. We weren't intending to stop there, but the wind was dead agaisnt us at around 15 knots and Jack and I weren't feeling well. It was a strange point, affording little protection from the wind direction, but sometimes it is just nice to be anchored, even in waves and wind. On a hill overlooking the point was an abandoned hotel complex, that had been started but never finished. It sort of reminded me of the setting of the horror movie "The Shining" for some strange reason. We only stayed one night.

We moved on to San Juanico the next day. This was Ralph and Arlene's favorite anchorage when they cruised through here 30 years ago. It is stunning, but our weather window did not hit it right. The wind poured straight into the bay both days we were there. San Juanico is a favorite cruiser's spot. The first night there were 15 boats anchored, but after a rolly night spent on the hook, every boat but Just a Minute was gone by 9 am the next morning. If it's rolly for a catamaran, it is generally miserable for a monohull. We woke up at 9 am to find the place empty and so we sensibly moved over to the only good spot in the enormous cove (it's about 2 miles across) for our second day. We tucked in right behind a rock outcropping, and the boat stopped pitching, but it was still too windy to enjoy kayaking or snorkeling, which is too bad since it is a stunning place.

San Juanico is famous for a "cruiser's shrine" where boats from years past all leave trash and graffiti behind commemorating their visit. They strew it all over one poor tree in the anchorage. Of course, we followed suit and Jack and Patrick spent hours carving our names into a large piece of driftwood (Jack) and a small sandstone rock (Patrick). Ralph and Arlene told us that the shrine was in operation when they were cruising, but the oldest date I saw was 1989.