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!