For those unfamiliar with Spanish, Punta Mala translates to mean “Bad Point”. They weren’t kidding! It was a short 12.5 mile run from Ensenada Benao to Punta Mala, and we had a great sail. After we cleared the bay, I went down for a nap. We went to bed early the night before, but I woke up at 10:30 pm unable to sleep because the wind was howling.
We anchored at the recommended spot, but when the wind came over the hill and we dragged anchor the large island was right behind us – a lee shore. So I sat up in the cockpit, with Chico from 10:30 pm until sunrise, wide awake most of the time. It’s called Anchor Watch; my eyes were glued to the GPS coordinates to make sure they didn’t stray too far from those we jotted down when we arrived.I wanted to make sure the guys got a good night sleep because I knew the next night we’d be at sea and it could be a rough leg. I just didn’t know HOW BAD it could be.
Tom followed the cruising guides’ advice to go wide around the point due to vicious winds and currents. When we rounded the point, we couldn’t turn to go north. We had to go out at al east 5 miles then tack back to barely make it past the north side of the Point. The wind was blowing about 25-30 knots steady, from the north with about 4-6 ft seas, AND a 2 knot current going against us.
Motor sailing (sails up and the motor working) we were doing a half a knot at times! Probably the most frustrating of the legs we’ve done. It took us 34 hours from the time we left Ensenada Benao to arrive at Isla Otoque, which is still 12 miles from the marina we’re headed to in Panama City.