Day 257 - Panama - Galapagos Passage - Day 4
Tuesday 7th
April - As of midnight day-4 we were at position 3:50.72N 82:6.19W Finally we caught a fish after yet another night hove too. We
woke to see the After Dad and I reflected on the lost fishing opportunity
and wished we could have been alone we were then called on the VHF by the
Columbian Coast guard who asked us to stop and informed us we were going to be boarded.
Well F*&%$ me I thought, the day was soon becoming a bad one. All I could
think was, what if they turn the yacht upside down, what if they confiscate
some gear. After several moments waiting I saw the biggest tender flying after
us, this thing was jumping over waves and closing fast. After circling us twice
with guns pointing they cam along side as I yelled at them and said don’t
you mark my beautiful Silk Sheets. 5 Soldiers boarded, 2 lieutenants and 3 riflemen. Luckily I
can speak a little Spanish and was very polite to all the men, after telling
them how much I loved their country we all relaxed and got on with what they
call a routine search. After some paper work and Dad explaining to the lovely Lieutenant
that I as the Captain of Silk Sheets out ranked him they started the search. I
had to watch the searcher as the soldier went to look through the yacht. He was
a pretty nice guy and after a little while he found a packet of playing cards,
the thing about these playing cards was the pictures that they had on them,
every one was different if you get my drift and it took the soldier a good 20 minutes
to search the entire deck. After giving him a few beers and a couple for his
mates back on the boat we became great friends. The search took a turn for the
best and we left it at the playing cards. Overall it was a fantastic experience, besides we had
nowhere to go in a hurry there was no wind. Day 257 Destination – Average Speed
– ? Total distance
– ? Travel Time – 24h |