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.