SAILING, SAILING, OVER THE BOUNDING MANE, WELL SORT OF

Sailfest’s sail parade is one of the most popular and en joy able events. For a mere 300 pesos you sign up for adays ride on one of the many sailboats that have arrived to help invest in the future of the local children.

It’s a bit of a “cluster” at the beginning, all the participants arrived at the pair  before the organizers, with everyone wondering  what’s going to happen. Once folks find out the name of their boat and gather together loading goes fairly smooth. You first get on a panga to take you out to your assigned boat.  I was on the Patricia Belle and it took 3 boat loads to load her 30 passenger and before we set sail 2 more arrived. So you can see what a massive job this is as I think  there were 20 or so sail  or power boats with over a hundred guests to be loaded.

The Patricia Belle is a very large wooden boat hand-built by its captain from trees on his own property,

aside from the captain and his lady they had  a crew of 3 who were  very informative, accommodating  and hardworking . It’s quite a job to raise the large heavy sails by hand. Shortly after boarding  the boat I learned the  captain was not only from our town of Port Orchard, WA where he built his boat was just a short was from us. He was building his boat at the same time  my father-in-law was building his boat. Not only was he familiar with the boat, he had a tally done some work on it for him. Truly a small planet!

Aside from the personal connection, this was one  of the best sailfest voyages I have ever participated in. Many of the guests were better prepared than I  and took advantage of the wait time from boarding  to sail time and took a refreshing dip in the bay. The crew showed off their skill at swinging from a rope to enter the water just before one would hit the  boat broad side.

Even a couple of the braver guest tried it. The boat was roomy, even with that a y people aboard you could walk around and find  either sun or shade. It was a very friendly crowd, my wine glass sippy cup was a hit.

We spotted a few dolphins, I’ve given up trying to photo such sites as I never quite get the picture, and get so  busy trying to get the picture I don’t really get to watch the dolphins. Today I  enjoyed the dolphins. After the parade, and a bit more swimming,  the Captain returned us to the bay where we were promptly picked up by I’m sure was a pretty arranged panga and our wonderful day on the water came to a close. I will return to the Patricia Belle next year, but with a swimsuit. 02 06 2015 signing off KO

Author: zihuathyme

I'm a traveler, not as frequently as I would like , but I plan on doing more. After working full time at Mount Rainier National Park during the summer of 22 I have decided to retire completely and forever. Prior to that I was semi retired as a Wedding Officiant I officiated at about 20 weddings a season, and with my small delivery service I handled the distribution of a local high-quality Home and Garden magazine . Prior to my "semi retirement" I was in corrections and before that I owned and operated a bail bond agency. I now plan to travel to new places and exciting places, getting ready to do that as a solo as the Senior is no longer with me, his choice, and I am OK with that. For hobbies I'm a reader and love my kindle. And I enjoy writing. View all posts by zihuathyme