Current Position: 8 deg 36.9N
83 deg 11.1W
Miles to Date: 3,700 approx
10th October 2007 we left Guacamaya for Ballena Bay in the Gulf of Nicoya and had a wet overnight passage but arrived in the Gulf the next day to a glorious sun rise and, among the debris in the water that we had been warned we would encounter, two 40 foot whales surfaced around 10 feet from our bow, blew, dived and then surfaced again on our port side within stroking distance! Whilst I was nervously fumbling for the camera, Paul knocked the autohelm off and threw the helm over starboard and we still don’t know how we missed them – we love to see whales, but that encounter was just a bit too close for comfort. Needless to say by the time I had the camera ready, it was all over. The debris in the Gulf was not as bad as we had expected, but there were some sizeable branches and trunks that you wouldn’t want to go bump in the night. The reason for all this trash is – rainy season – torrential rains bring trees and garbage down the rivers and out into the gulf.
We arrived in Ballena Bay just as it started to rain and anchored there in pretty big swell for two nights. Paul set the kedge anchor and so kept us head up to the swell, which made for a more comfortable night’s sleep, but the surf at the beach defeated us and our attempts to make a landing were thwarted.
We know from the cruising guides we are reading that at this time of year, most of the anchorages in Costa Rica are going to be either uncomfortable or, at worst, untenable, and so from Ballena be crossed back over the gulf to Bahia Herradura, where we spent 3 rolly nights, before heading south again to Drake’s Bay. A further two rolly/rainy nights were spent here before another overnight passage brought us into Golfito in the Golfo Dulce in southern Costa Rica. Although the anchorage is very tidal, it is almost completely landlocked and therefore as smooth as glass most of the time. Here we have re-joined our buddy Daryl from Liberty Call, and next week we will head out together to cruise the Western Panamanian islands where we hope to finally get some clear waters, white beaches and good diving and snorkelling. Our time in Golfito has been spent in the main, hiding under our ‘bat tent’ of tarps but Paul has re-built our forehatch which was leaking quite badly and pouring into our sail locker. Thankfully we have had three (consecutive!!) dry sunny days in which I’ve been able to dry out all our stored sails (Drifter, Mizzen staysail and storm sails) and launder most of our mouldy clothing – yes, actual green furry stuff growing on almost everything, so, it’s not all blue skies and endless fun. We’ve also developed problems with our refrigeration but Paul and Daryl’s joint efforts seem to have it back up and running at the moment. I have to to say that Isotherm’s on-line support has been excellent – responding in less than 24 hours to our questions and pleas for assistance. We have also discovered that our Fishfinder/GPS/Depth has given up the ghost and now face the prospect of sailing to Panama without a depth guage. Something I’m not all too happy about, but which Paul is not in the least bit phased – I think he’s just looking forward to having a real reason to ‘swing the lead’ We hope to get a replacement in Panama. We have two back-up handheld GPS’s on board, so the only issue is depth really, and as we are cruising this next leg in company, don’t envisage it to be too problematic. Paul being Paul quite often uses the lead line when we are entering an anchorage – just because he can. I naturally am at the helm with my eyes glued to the depth readout, and invariably his soundings are within a foot or less of the gauge, so, on this, I will trust him. Anyway, hopefully we are nearing the end of rainy season, although as I look out of the window right now, it is hard to be convinced as we are once again enveloped in low cloud and non-stop rain – but as Paul keeps reminding me, each time I whinge about getting wet – it will soon be over and it’s not sulphuric acid – naturally this always immediately makes me feel better!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
RETURNING TO NICARAGUA
Current Lat/Long 10 deg 34’ N
85 deg 43’ W
Following our return to Nicaragua from England, we spent a couple of weeks getting Aphrodite ship-shape – which meant Paul doing lots of jobs and me doing lots of reading. Most afternoons we hit the pool at the marina, or the pool at the beach where at least there was a cooler coastal breeze. We relaxed, watched local fishermen in their dug-out canoes and then decided that it was time to move on south to Costa Rica. And so we left Puesta del Sol on the 18th of September, on a cloudy dull day, and bumped out to sea on a rolly swell, which thankfully smoothed out a little as we made offshore and into deeper water. Our first passage was an overnight of some 135 miles and our destination, Bahia Santa Elena in Northern Costa Rica. We were quite fortunate with the weather until around 0300 hours the next day when we were hit by an unavoidable deluge – naturally I stayed below, dry, while Paul go his first real drenching. The day broke cloudy on the 19th September with around 25 miles to go to Bahia Santa Elena. We made our entry around 1500 hours that day and dropped our anchor. The bay is almost landlocked and therefore like a pond. It was incredibly calm and beautiful, surrounded by rain forest on three sides. We sat in the cockpit and watched the parrots flying overhead and marvelled at our surroundings. We were the only boat in the bay apart from a small fishing panga which disappeared to goodness knows where at night. We spent a very calm and relaxing 5 days pootling around in the dinghy and on the third day had visitors – the Costa Rican police came aboard to check our paperwork, and drink all our coke! While the senior officers were aboard dotting i’s and crossing t’s the rest of the boat crew slalomed around us in their panga having a hilarious time and sending tidal waves of wash our way! As beautiful as Bahia Santa Elena is, you can only have so much relaxation (well I can anyway) and so it was on the 24th of September, our 7th wedding anniversary, that I persuaded Paul to up anchor and carry on south. Our next stop was at the Islas Las Mucielagos, just a short daysail from Santa Elena and we dropped our anchor at Key Point off the Santa Elena Peninsula at 1530 hours to enjoy a glass of sherry!!! and a beautiful sunset. Not a bad anniversary as they go – no wrapping paper to throw away, but we had had a day of natural gifts – early on in the day a whale had surfaced quite close to the boat, followed by the company of dolphins and turtles for most of the passage – better than anything you can put in a box and wrap – and topped off with a glass of cheap cooking sherry – we know how to live!!! The anchorage in the islands however was a little rolly and so we upped anchor early next morning on the 25th September and headed towards Playa del Coco where we would officially check into Costa Rica. We engined through the morning and then had a lovely sail into the bay in the afternoon, anchoring at 1600 hours. The following morning we dinghied ashore, took care of the necessary paperwork with the Port Capitan, Immigracion and Aduane (Customs) – all very straightforward and FREE. I think it is the first country we have checked into so far that hasn’t charged anything.. Coco has everything the cruiser needs ashore – lots of internet cafes and free wi-fi, a good supermarket, a chandlery (marine hardware shop for our American friends), laundry and a wide selection of bars and restaurants.
So now it’s Saturday 29th September and we’re off again, but this time not very far – to Bahia Guacamaya – for those of you that follow us, I don’t think you’ll locate this one on any world map. A tiny little bay with excellent snorkling and diving (apparently) and good protection from all wind directions, so hopefully a couple of peaceful nights ahead. From here we will be heading down to the Gulf of Nicoya and expect a bumpy ride until we get into Bahia Ballena and spend a week or so cruising the islands in the Gulf.
So far we are extremely enamoured with Costa Rica – although I have my reservations about cruising during the Rainy Season – we are among a very small handful of people that havn’t taken shelter through to the end of October/early November – the main benefit is very obvious. Everything is incredibly lush and green. The Northern Costa Rica coast is beautiful – in many places the tropical rain forest stretches all the way to the sea and the coastal vistas are breathtaking. The photographs, which I hope to upload somewhere soon, just don’t do the scenery justice. The absence of photographs at present, I apologies for, due to the lack of an onboard wi-fi signal and the impracticality of taking my laptop ashore when we are making dinghy landings through surf onto the beach – hopefully I’ll be able to upload once we get further south.
Current Lat/Long 10 deg 34’ N
85 deg 43’ W
Following our return to Nicaragua from England, we spent a couple of weeks getting Aphrodite ship-shape – which meant Paul doing lots of jobs and me doing lots of reading. Most afternoons we hit the pool at the marina, or the pool at the beach where at least there was a cooler coastal breeze. We relaxed, watched local fishermen in their dug-out canoes and then decided that it was time to move on south to Costa Rica. And so we left Puesta del Sol on the 18th of September, on a cloudy dull day, and bumped out to sea on a rolly swell, which thankfully smoothed out a little as we made offshore and into deeper water. Our first passage was an overnight of some 135 miles and our destination, Bahia Santa Elena in Northern Costa Rica. We were quite fortunate with the weather until around 0300 hours the next day when we were hit by an unavoidable deluge – naturally I stayed below, dry, while Paul go his first real drenching. The day broke cloudy on the 19th September with around 25 miles to go to Bahia Santa Elena. We made our entry around 1500 hours that day and dropped our anchor. The bay is almost landlocked and therefore like a pond. It was incredibly calm and beautiful, surrounded by rain forest on three sides. We sat in the cockpit and watched the parrots flying overhead and marvelled at our surroundings. We were the only boat in the bay apart from a small fishing panga which disappeared to goodness knows where at night. We spent a very calm and relaxing 5 days pootling around in the dinghy and on the third day had visitors – the Costa Rican police came aboard to check our paperwork, and drink all our coke! While the senior officers were aboard dotting i’s and crossing t’s the rest of the boat crew slalomed around us in their panga having a hilarious time and sending tidal waves of wash our way! As beautiful as Bahia Santa Elena is, you can only have so much relaxation (well I can anyway) and so it was on the 24th of September, our 7th wedding anniversary, that I persuaded Paul to up anchor and carry on south. Our next stop was at the Islas Las Mucielagos, just a short daysail from Santa Elena and we dropped our anchor at Key Point off the Santa Elena Peninsula at 1530 hours to enjoy a glass of sherry!!! and a beautiful sunset. Not a bad anniversary as they go – no wrapping paper to throw away, but we had had a day of natural gifts – early on in the day a whale had surfaced quite close to the boat, followed by the company of dolphins and turtles for most of the passage – better than anything you can put in a box and wrap – and topped off with a glass of cheap cooking sherry – we know how to live!!! The anchorage in the islands however was a little rolly and so we upped anchor early next morning on the 25th September and headed towards Playa del Coco where we would officially check into Costa Rica. We engined through the morning and then had a lovely sail into the bay in the afternoon, anchoring at 1600 hours. The following morning we dinghied ashore, took care of the necessary paperwork with the Port Capitan, Immigracion and Aduane (Customs) – all very straightforward and FREE. I think it is the first country we have checked into so far that hasn’t charged anything.. Coco has everything the cruiser needs ashore – lots of internet cafes and free wi-fi, a good supermarket, a chandlery (marine hardware shop for our American friends), laundry and a wide selection of bars and restaurants.
So now it’s Saturday 29th September and we’re off again, but this time not very far – to Bahia Guacamaya – for those of you that follow us, I don’t think you’ll locate this one on any world map. A tiny little bay with excellent snorkling and diving (apparently) and good protection from all wind directions, so hopefully a couple of peaceful nights ahead. From here we will be heading down to the Gulf of Nicoya and expect a bumpy ride until we get into Bahia Ballena and spend a week or so cruising the islands in the Gulf.
So far we are extremely enamoured with Costa Rica – although I have my reservations about cruising during the Rainy Season – we are among a very small handful of people that havn’t taken shelter through to the end of October/early November – the main benefit is very obvious. Everything is incredibly lush and green. The Northern Costa Rica coast is beautiful – in many places the tropical rain forest stretches all the way to the sea and the coastal vistas are breathtaking. The photographs, which I hope to upload somewhere soon, just don’t do the scenery justice. The absence of photographs at present, I apologies for, due to the lack of an onboard wi-fi signal and the impracticality of taking my laptop ashore when we are making dinghy landings through surf onto the beach – hopefully I’ll be able to upload once we get further south.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
