In a 24 hour period our distance made good is about 105 miles. We are now sailing close winded which certainly isn't Galapagos' best point of sail but we are further south than we would like to be and are trying to claw our way north a bit.

Back in February BC (Before Covid) we applied for a permit to visit the Revillagigedos, a small archipelago about three hundred miles south and west of Cabo San Lucas. These islands are renowned for their diving and snorkeling and we were looking forward to swimming with the giant manta rays that hang out here. But like many best laid plans of late, the islands were closed to boats on the very day we picked up our park permit. Alejandro, the park coordinator was apologetic but there was nothing he could do, except...

Alejandro granted us permission to visit isla San Benedicto, one of the smaller islands in the group, for a few days as we make our way to hawaii. We can't go ashore of course but at least we can rest a bit and snorkle off the boat. If the winds will allow it, we are about two days way from the anchorage.

Despite heeling a little more than is comfortable, things are going well. The first nights of the passage is always a little shaky as we adjust to different sleep schedules but even that was pretty easy. We had a waxing moon till 4AM and then the milky way provided a beautiful light after moonset.

A few seconds after spotting a pod of dolphins something took the rapala lure I had trolling behind the boat. Whatever hit took almost the whole spool of line before I could slow it down. Luckily that tired him out and most of the fight was gone by the time we brought a nice yellow fin tuna to the boat.

We have the process of landing and cleaning fish down to a nice little ballet, complicated only slightly by the fact that were heeled over and bouncing. After thanking the tuna for his service, I dispatched and fileted him whi le melissa brought up cool water and made space in the freezer. The decks were bloody but I am happy to report that none of the blood was mine. We now have enough tuna for three or four days. The only downside to catching larger fish is that now I won't be able to fish for a few more days. Besides being delicious, fish are interesting, beautiful and a lot of fun to fight but I prefer to eat what we catch and so will wait till we have more room in the freezer.

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