Arrive in San Blas

April 21st. We sailed today all day. It was awesome! And late in the afternoon, the wind died so we started Perkins, and Pete (our faithful autopilot) drove us to San Blas. Shandro did his first watch this evening. He was so excited. He walked around the boat and checked lines and fittings for rattles or signs of wear, checked blocks and deck hardware for cracks and breaks, he secured any rattles he found and made sure we stayed on course, checked the mainsail to be sure that it was well set and not luffing, called out our lat and long, speed, course etc. for our log book entry and plotting our course, and in general just felt very grown up and pleased with himself. It was great to see him so proud of his important position as crew. He has other important jobs too like helping with the spinnaker (actually an asymmetrical sail), fondly known as the kite, and dealing with the fishing gear, and checking in on the radio. He’s a great help. And Matero helps too in his own special way, with the removal and replacing of the canvas before and after we sail, the undoing or doing up of cleats at the appropriate moments, the fetching of winch handles, and of course watching and learning from his older brother. There is sometimes complaining, but once the job is done, he is always very pleased with himself. We arrived in San Blas just after midnight and were grateful for having been here before as it made the night navigation easier. The previous anchor coordinates and track into the bay helped us in the dark.