Leg IX Huatulco to Panama
Note: Most recent entries are first. To read in order, scroll down to the beginning.
Shelter Bay at Rest - the end of Leg XI
6/14 - 7/27 Thursday & Friday
Dreamweaver & Wandering Star together again!
Well this is the end of Leg XI that brought us the 1,400 miles from Mexico. It has been a great experience filled with lots of challenges, diverse cultures, and new experiences. From here on, in a sense, we’ll be heading back to the U.S., probably across the top of South America and then up the Windward and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea.
It takes a couple of days to get WS ready to be on her own for five weeks. D&K and Les & Rose will look in on her while we are home till we return at the end of July. Then we’ll haul her out of the water to paint her bottom and start Leg X with a trip to the San Blas Islands between here and Columbia.
Hope you will join us then when the adventures of Wandering Star continue…
Bocas del Toro to Shelter Bay
6/10-6/11 Tuesday/Wednesday overnight voyage
Latitude: 09:22.1 N Longitude: 079:57.0 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 3150 at 12-15 kts. Sea: Beaufort 4 Barometer: 1010
Engine Hours: 1329 Fuel on Board: 3564/731
Distance to Date: 140/8581
One last voyage back to Shelter bay before summer break. The day starts with a last trip into Bocas to visit with the Port Captain to get our Zarpe back to Colon and to have one last look around. By noon, we are back on board with the dinghy loaded, ready to up anchor. We maneuver out the shallow channel, make the turn due east for the straight shoot across Mosquito Bay and our new home base.
The trade wind driven seas are up even more than on the way here (4′-6′) but now we must head into them on a 45 degree angle and roll side to side as a consequence. WS does well in these conditions but it is not an easy ride for the crew. At least overnight, we are taking turns getting some sleep below where the motion is easier than the upper decks. I take 19-hours to go the 140-miles and by day break, we are just off the Colon breakwater and calling the canal control authority f0r permission to enter the channel.
Once safely secured in our new slip, we notice the power panel has lost a leg of 120-volt input and much of the day is spent trying to figure out what has gone wrong. With some diagnostic help from other boaters, it seems the switch has a broken contact on the stern shorepower position and will need to be replaced in the future.
A quiet evening is spent on WS catching up with Dottie & Ken before turning in early to get caught up on some much needed sleep.
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Bocas Town, Bocas del Toro
6/7 - 6/8 Saturday & Sunday
Bocas Town is old Caribbean at its best. The experience of the weathered, dilapidated wooden buildings, care-free, colorful people, , and life is good atmosphere takes Jo and I back to our first trip to the area over 30-years ago. . . it is the main reason we are back and really good to see that not much has changed. While the internet and TV are here too, it is not the center of thought. People still spend their time just enjoying each other and the weather which is always the same. Here the water or power can be off for days at a time (and often is) but life goes on hardly missing a beat.
On Monday, we went off with D&K on a panga trip to explore and snorkel the many islands and reefs of the Bocas del Toro area. It was one of those rare days of good, sunny weather and the reefs and islands are spectacular! Our favorite was the tiny national park island of Zapattilla and here we met a marine biologist working on a large, green sea turtle - although it was too rough out there to snorkel, seeing this old girl up close and walking the white sand beaches more than made up for less time in the water.
Now what do we do with her?
Our Panga man was Gabriel and for $120 we had his private, all day tour. He speaks passable English and really knows his way around the miles of mangroves and barely submerged reefs. He even got us to a village on the remote Isla Popa to trade with the natives. Good way to see it all as I wouldn’t want to take the big boats back into most of these places - very difficult to find your way as mangroves don’t show on the charts and the very shallow water is everywhere - all very confusing.
The mangroves from Isla Popa
Farewell dinner ashore tonight to celebrate Dottie’s birthday before checking out with the Port Captain and heading back to Shelter Bay in the morning. We are very grateful to have had these few days to soak up the “going back it time” feeling before we head home to our hectic civilization and leave Wandering Star on her own for the next five weeks.
Caribbean real estate can be tempting…
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Shelter Bay to Bocas del Toro
6/5-6/6 Thursday-Friday overnight voyage
Latitude: 09:22.0 N Longitude: 082:12.8 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 3200 at 6-8 kts. Sea: Beaufort 3 Barometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1305 Fuel on Board: 3458/777
Distance to Date:
Our little fleet of three boats departed Shelter bay at 11:30 am for the overnight trip up the coast to the Bocas cruising area and our first taste of the Caribbean. Heading out of Shelter Bay we pass through the now almost empty anchorage that was such a mess to get through in the dark on Monday night. Then it’s around the end of the Bay of Limon Breakwater and out onto the Caribbean Sea heading west back up the coast of Panama.
The first thing that is apparent is the change in the swell pattern. In the Pacific we are used to a long, gentle swell with a long interval. Here, the swell is a short 8 sec interval which makes the sea tend to be steep and when combined with the strong Trade winds, not as easy on man and boat. There are still lots of rain squalls in all directions which will be a fact of life from here on as well.
The night passes smoothly as the wind and waves quiet down a bit after midnight as we cross the long, Mosquito Bay. Lightning continues to flash in all directions but nothing wet happens in our vicinity. By daybreak the islands of Bocas are on the horizon and by 10AM we are at the waypoint making the turn to the channel into the town of Bocas.
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Shelter Bay, Bahia Limon, Panama
6/3 to 6/4 Tuesday - Wednesday
Needed a couple of days just to recuperate form the stress of the canal before venturing out into the Caribbean. Time was well spent getting to know Shelter Bay, a former US Military Base guarding the entrance to the canal, and the surrounding sights. We took a bus ride to town (Colon) on Tuesday for some supplies and had a dock party Wednesday night with some of our fellow cruiser friends new and old.
Also took some walks around the old base past the defunct gun emplacements (similar to those once guarding San Francisco Bay), and the lineup of abandoned barracks and admin buildings along the waterfront. Other than that there is not much to Shelter Bay except our marina, a dry storage yard for boats, a smallish boat repair yard and the marina restaurant/bar/office building. Just opening officially in April of this year, the place has much potential, but still has a way to go before it becomes a cruising destination.
We’ll leave WS here for three of the five months we’ll need to stay south of 10 degrees latitude to avoid the hurricanes of the Caribbean. The other two months will be spent exploring the area starting with our first trip to Bocas del Toro (mouth of the bull), the best cruising destination 140-miles north (really west as Panama lies mostly east and west) of the canal zone. Jo and I have till the 12th to do some exploring before we need to get WS ready for her 5 weeks at rest while we head home to see friends and family.
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Panama City to Colon through the Panama Canal
6/2 Monday
Latitude: 09:22.1 N Longitude: 079:57.0 W
Weather: partly cloudy then sunny Wind: 3200 at 5 kts. Sea: Beaufort 0
Brometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1292 Fuel on Board: 3420/800
Distance to Date: 46/8300
Today’s the day we have been anticipating for months if not years…to finally go through the Panama Canal in our own boat. It is almost a rite of passage for serious cruisers.
Our big day starts early with a 5:00 wakeup but I’ve been up with excitement since 3AM. Everything is as ready as can be but you still go through the complete engine check and recheck just to be sure nothing will go wrong. It’s not just the $800 fine for a delayed transit that motivates you either - you just want this special occasion to go off without any problems of any kind.
By 7:00 our four line-handlers, Roberto, Lucas, Vladimir and Chi Chi are on board and we pull out of the marina for the pilot small boat staging area between Buoys 4 and 6 on the canal entrance channel. Like most government operations it’s a hurry up and wait game. No sooner than we are in position and the canal controller tells us the pilot boat will not be there till after 8:00 so the three on us, WS, Dreamweaver and Voyager just float at idle till our pilots arrive.
Once our man Jose is on board, we start moving up the several mile channel to the Miraflores Lock. The timing here is critical because a space has been left for us between big boats so that we can have the lock all to ourselves - this makes for a much easier ride up when prop wash from a larger boat ahead of us in our chamber can be daunting if not downright dangerous. Just before we enter the lock, the three boats are rafted together to form one boat right across the 100′ wide lock. Voyager as the center boat provides the power and with Les at the controls, it is a smooth ride into the now open chamber.
The three amegos in the chamber
As soon as the giant doors shut behind us the lock begins to fill with turbulent fresh water from the lake above and we are on our way out of the Pacific Ocean…for good.
TV camera under the light pole on right
There are two locks going 80′ each left here at Miraflores, then staying together, we cross the small, mile long Miraflores Lake to go through the single Pedro Meguel Lock before separating the boats and moving out onto Gatun Lake.
Canal Girls along the way
Now it just becomes a foot race to go the 29-miles through the narrow Gaillard Cut and across the island strew Gatun Lake. Maintaining boat speed is critical if you are going to make the passage all in one day. We depart San Miguel Lock at noon and canal control tells our pilot we must be across the lake and in position in front of the Gatun Locks by 3:30PM for our lock down in front of a 680′ ship that will be waiting there for us at anchor. If we miss this appointment, it is uncertain when we would be able to lock down - probably the next day at an additional $440 charge plus overtime and additional meals for the four line-handlers on board so we are not going to be late.
WS does well at 8-knots for the three hour run and by taking a shortcut through the small boat “Banana Channel” we arrive at Gatun with time to spare. Our huge “lock-buddy” container ship is already there waiting for us to go into the lock first and then be pulled in behind us with the small locomotives they call mules. Once the gates are shut, it is an easy, if not fast, three-lock series going down to sea level again. It still takes three-hours for the three locks because the big guy must be slowly pulled in behind our little raft of boats at each level. Thankfully they do this slowly and carefully so we don’t feel we will be crushed by the monster from behind.
Our “lock buddy” approaches
By 6 pm, we are out of the last lock, separate our raft up and are on our way to the pilot drop-off point where we say goodbye to Jose, our great advisor. Next it is over to the Balboa Boat Club to drop off our line-handlers - a great bunch of fun guys, and then find our way in the dark around dozens of mammoth ships through the middle of the Dangerous Cargo anchorage. Finally, using radar and our chart plotter, we get to the channel leading into the marina and tiptoe around a sand bar to the inside where Dottie and Ken (who came directly from the canal), are waiting to help guide us into a waiting slip. Truly the most difficult time of the entire day was finding themarina in the dark.
With all three boats safely in their slips, the crews soon could be found on the dock until the wee hours for an impromptu champagne party to celebrate our first night in the Caribbean and the end of the 8,000 mile voyage to get this far
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Flamenco Marina, Panama City
5/27 - 6/1 Tuesday to Sunday
Lots to do this week to get ready for the transit. Our agent was involved in a car wreck soon after he picked up our paper work for port clearance and this through off much of his schedule. Thankfully, he was not seriously hurt. It was not till Thursday when we finally received our official slot to transit the canal on Monday morning, the 2nd. Fees were all paid, line-handlers and lines are all organized. All that remained for us to do was to hang the twenty car tires we will use for extra bumpers around WS and organize the feeding of these guys plus the Canal Pilot who will be on board for the entire 12-hour, 40 mile passage.
The rest of the days were filled with shopping in the big city with its LA style malls and dinning out at a variety of fine restaurants. It was good to be able to spend some time with Dottie & Ken again as we finally caught up with Dreamweaver after not seeing them since they left Mazatlan ahead of us before Christmas. They will be joining Voyager and WS going through the canal on Monday and for much of our adventures throughout the Caribbean.
WS ready to transit
Canal transits can be watched live at:
http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html?cam=Miraflores
Contadora to Panama City
5/26 Monday
Latitude: 08:34.7 N Longitude: 079:08.3 W
Weather: partly cloudy with rain Wind: 1800 at 10 - 12 kts. Sea: Beaufort 3
Barometer: 1007
Engine Hours: 1280 Fuel on Board: 377/3405
Distance to Date: 33/8255
We were off early for Wandering Stars last passage on the Pacific Ocean. Anchor up by 0600 and we headed out through the last of the Las Perlas Islands towards the distant morning silhouette of Panama City. The 33-mile crossing itself was far from smooth. A fair beam sea was running 2-3 feet most of the way giving WS a good rolling but with the end in sight not this nor even the occasional rain squall could dampen our spirits.
At about eight-miles from the Flamenco Peninsula, we came to the anchorage where 40-50 ships of all shapes and sizes wait for their turn to go through the canal. All boat traffic in the area is carefully controlled by the canal authorities much like an airport contral tower. At about a mile off-shore, we call security at our marina for permission to come in and our slip assignment. As we come through the breakwater, a gang of dock boys who just helped Voyager tie-up were waiting at our slip help us too.
Each blip is a ship at anchor
Next we start the paperwork chi-chi to formally enter the country of Panama. Fortunately, our agent Enrique Plummer, can handle this for us as part of his service saving us hours, perhaps days of taxis rides all over the city. Fees for these services are still far from cheap…$660 for the canal passage, $100 to rent four heavy 125′ lines, $130 to rent two strong guys to help handle these lines, $300 for our agent, and another $265 for the various agencies (customs, immigration etc.) to enter Panama.
Our last sunrise in Contadora
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Contadora, Las Perlas Islands
5/24 - 5/25 Saturday & Sunday
We started the day with both crews loading their dingys for the run back to explore Mogo Mogo Island. All went fine as we raced across the calm water in the lee of Contadora but once we rounded the western point all hell broke loose with steep, short seas and much more wind than was anticipated. Undaunted, we pressed on and made it to the island but concerned lingered as to how bad it could get before we would come back.
Traveling up the same channel the navy chased us from the yesterday, we headed for a protected cove on the leeward side. Here we found exactly what we were looking for - the clear water lagoon with the white sand beach Survivor has made the island famous for. We spent the next hour shelling on the beach and looking for paths and the camp made by the players during the shows filming but the jungle had reclaimed them all.
The lagoon waters were filled with all sizes of sting ray but with an ominous looking squall coming, we jumped back in the dinks and headed for home. The ride back was faster as we raced the approaching storm and much calmer as now we were able to stay in the lee of the islands most of the way. We made it back to WS just as the rain passed the east end but it stayed out over the open waters we had just crossed through moments before. After a while we regrouped and took our dinghy in with both crews to spend much of the day exploring Contadora on foot from the luxury homes on one end to the resorts and nude beach on the other before settling in for drinks and light snacks at the bar over looking our bay.
“Survivors”
Saturday evening found us back on board for a quiet evening enjoying the spectacular sunset and abundant stars just eight degrees north of the equator. Sunday was even a more relaxing day as we stayed on board and prepared to host the end-of-voyage dinner party on WS with our friends on Voyager. They have been great traveling companions and you could not ask for a more fun and compatible crew to travel with and enjoy both the land and sea life that is cruising. Hopefully, we will be able to spend more time together once summer is over and we begin the passage east to the Windward Islands of the Caribbean.
Rose & Les
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San Miguel to Contadora, Las Perlas Islands
5/23 Friday
Latitude: 08:38.12 N Longitude: 079:02.121 W
Weather: partly cloudy becoming sunny Wind: 2400 at 4-10 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1277 Fuel on Board: 383/3399
Distance to Date: 14/8222
Up at leasure…loving this new, don’t need to be anywhere pace! Fired up the Cummings around 0930 for the short run up to Mogo Mogo, the site of the 1st Survivors series to be firmed in these islands. No sooner had the hook down and set in the windy rolling area behind this island and we were visited by a armed Panamanian navy patrol boat and informed we had violated a secure military space and would need to move out immediately.
Who knew, it was marked as an open anchorage on our guide books and you don’t argue with boys carrying M-16 rifles, to show there was no hard feelings, we passed out Cokes to the gunboats crew, upped the anchor and headed back out. We wouldn’t have wanted to spend the night anyways as the roll was quite pronounced and bugs were already moving on board.
The dilemma was where to go next?. We had planned to make our last nights stop tomorrow on Isla Contadora and being nothing if not flexible, headed off to this island immediately. Unfortunately, it looked like all the anchorages here would be rolling too until we rounded the far northeast corner and slipped into a perfect little cove behind a protective point - off of a small resort’s white sand beach. We finally lowered the Rockna down in 16 feet of clear, blue water - the prettiest water we’ve seen the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean in ‘06. Paradise found at last!
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Rio Cacique Cove, to San Miguel, Isla del Rio, Las Perlas Islands
5/22 Thursday
Latitude: 07:11.5 N Longitude: 081:48.0 W
Weather: cloudy Wind: 3440 at 9-18 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1009
Engine Hours: 1272 Fuel on Board: 403/3389
Distance to Date: 27/8208
Cruising at last…there’s a distinction in the minds of boaters between “cruising” to get from A to B (like we’ve been doing much of the time since we left Seattle, except for the brief couple of weeks in the Sea of Cortez) and the cruising lifestyle where you just putt around from cove to cove, island to island, on each days whim without agenda or an objective to shape your days. We’re finally really “cruising” here for the next six days in the Las Perlas Islands.
Dinghy in tow, we’re off to explore
Today’s voyage of exploration takes us the east side of the largest island - Isla del Rey form our first anchorage at the southern end. We’ll pass dozens of small islands, coves and anchorage along the way. It would take months to see everything so we’ll just hit the most interesting spots. The first is a small passage behind the island of Espirtu Santo where we drop the hook for lunch.
A couple of really small cruising sailboats from Canada are already here and look like they have been here for awhile.
After lunch we move on up to the village of San Miguel and anchored for the night in the cove next to their cove with its proliferation of dinghies and pangas. Jo and I did a quick recognizance in our dinghy and found the village to look decidedly un-tourist friendly and private so we didn’t go ashore. All eyes where upon us as we cruised through their mooring area, not hostile but very curious so we just stopped some photos and headed back to WS.
The village waterfront
Evening was spent as guests aboard Voyager for a great meatloaf dinner…something I haven’t had since I left home for collage. Both crews played Rummycube - a game we have played aboard all our boats since Heather was small - until we were toast on wine and then headed back to WS for a quiet nights sleep.
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Golfito to Las Perlas Islands, Panama
5/19 - 5/21 Monday to Wednesday
Latitude: 07:11.5 N Longitude: 081:48.0 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 400 at 8-25 kts. Sea: Beaufort 6 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1244 Fuel on Board: 488/3304
Distance to Date: 140/8000
It took 13 taxis rides ($50) to complete the paperwork to depart Costa Rica. At one point we even went to find the homes of two different customs agents to find one that would come in, open the customs office, and process our documents…then charged us $20 each for “overtime” on a Monday at 10:00 AM. I guess we have been lucky so far and are just not used to the three hour ordeal of a typical Central American port clearance.
Once we were legal to leave, Jo and I checked out of the marina and made tracks to the fuel dock to pick up 200 gallons of “insurance” fuel at $4.55/gallon so that we would have a safety margin to do some cruising before we reach the cheaper fuel in Panama City and can fill up. We were just finishing up fueling at 12 noon as Voyager passed behind us on the fuel dock and soon we were both on our way up the channel at last.
Once we left Golfo Dulce a couple hours later, the weather took and unpredicted turn for the worse with winds to 25-knots and an angry, confused, force 6 sea. Not a fun way to go into the first night of a two night passage but with no viable choice other than turning back, we just held on to everything and plowed though, waves burying the bow anchor and all. After several local rain squalls and about 2am things started to calm down a bit. The wind back around to behind us, dropped to a more manageable 10-12 knots and blew down some of the confused seas.
By morning, as we changed watches and passed Isla Jicarita, things were looking much better. The wind was a breezy 10-knots and the waves were down to 3-4 feet and, at least, were coming from one direction. Just as we passed this islands (just a large rock really), WS clocked her 8,000 mile at 1244 hours of engine time. This marks is a latitude of 07 degress 11.5 minutes North and a longitude of 81 degrees, 48.0 minutes West, the southern most point we will reach in the Pacific Ocean…a long way from Skagway Alaska!
Day Two - 5/20 Tuesday
Latitude: 07:11.5 N Longitude: 083:11.1 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 620 at 10 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1012
Engine Hours: 1244 Fuel on Board: 488/3304
Distance to Date: 140/8000
Clouds and rain squalls have been the order of the day with only brief patches of sunshine. We are now officially in the “rainy” season and it certainly lives up to the reputation. Three and four convection squalls often show up on the radar with in a 8-mile range circle at any given time. Not much you can do to avoid them at 7-knots and thankfully, they are not yet associated with lightning storms.
The seas mellowed in the morning only to perk up a bit in the afternoon along with a 15 to 18 knot wind out of the SE. Forecast had called for more favorable SW winds all week but we’re still ahead of the big weather change expected for Thursday. By then we’ll be tucked safely away for a few days in the Las Perlas Islands right off Panama City.
It’s funny how a couple nights at sea seems so much easier to do than just one overnight passage. You settle into a nice rhythm of napping, reading, and watches the longer you stay out and begin to feel more rested than you do with the disrupted one night stand and today was no exception. All day, Jo and I loosely alternated between napping and watching out for floating logs and trash re-floated by the high spring tides…just harder to spot on the open sea than they were in Alaska the same time last year.
Night now. Things have settled down nicely. Wind finally swung astern, waves are manageable, only the adverse current has slowed us down by as much as two knots at times. Still, Point Mala for us is nowhere near the nightmare others have experienced. We passed the point and headed out across the Bay of Panama around 1:00 AM. Big boat traffic is all around us now plying into and out of the canal zone. We have a full moon and clear skies tonight as well as our digital radar so keeping them sorted out and staying out of their way has not been difficult either.
Sunup finds us in the middle of Panama Bay and boat traffic, except for the relentless long-line fisherman, has ceased to be a problem as we head directly to the Las Perlas Islands, in the center - 40-miles off the mainland.
Day Three - 5/12 Wednesday
Latitude: 08:18.41 N Longitude: 078:54.06 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 1800 at 8-10 kts. Sea: Beaufort 1 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1268 Fuel on Board: 414/3378
Distance to Date: 1153/8153
It took all morning to cross the broad Bay of Panama to the Las Perlas Islands but we finally arrived by 1PM at the southern end of del Rio Island and headed into Rio Cacique cove. From outside, this little inlet doesn’t seem to exist but radar picks up the opening and soon both boats are tucked inside and anchored in 20′ of sand. The small Rio Cacique estuary leads off into the mangrove swamp from one corner of the cove so as soon as we get the big dink down, we’re off with the Dobbs to explore. Four village boys in a Panga stop out to try to sell us some mangy looking lobsters that are well past their prime for $5 each so we pass on the deal (we offer $2.50 but no counter offer) to their obvious disappointment.
To get into the tidal river, we need to cross a bar only possible at high tide. Our first inspection shows it to be still impassable with small waves breaking over then entrance so its back to Voyager for some liquid courage before we set off to give it another try. It’s a couple hours later when we give it the second successful go and are soon putting the half mile up the winding jungle of mangroves and wildlife. Very cool! Getting out again is merely a matter of waiting for slack surf, pouring the power on and making a run for it back out into the deeper water of the cove. While not a big deal safety wise, it does give one a rush just the same.
Back on board for naps as we are still worn from the 48 hours at sea followed by dinner and a movie on laptop as we are watching our power due to the generators issues. The voyage here from Golfito covered 324 nautical miles and used just 148 gallons of fuel - less then we added in CR before we left.
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Fishhook Marina, Golfito
5/16 - 5/18 Friday to Sunday
Torrential rains could not keep us from having a good time with Laura and John before they left us on Saturday to go back to Big Bear. We toured Golfito from top to bottom, took a side trip by panga across the Gulf to the little “Eco” town of Jiminez where we saw parrots, a crocodile and egrets galore, and shopped for authentic CR native art amongst the proliferation of tourist treasures.
Worked on the WS generator fuel issue and made sure it was the after market installed fuel pump causing the problem. Also cleaned her from flybridge to waterline between daily rain storms, re-provisioned for a week at sea, and added a couple hundred gallons of fuel and water.
All is in readiness at last for the final dash to Panama City.
We’ll do the check-out cha-cha (Port Captain, Immigration and Customs) first thing Monday morning, make a quick stop at the fuel dock and be on our way the 176-miles for the small anchorage in Naranjo Cove. Here we will catch up on some sleep and wait for the okay from the weather gods to attempt the next 65-miles to Point Mala, the last nasty point of the Pacific Coast. It is know for strong currents, confused seas, and horrendous winds…all with some of the heaviest big boat traffic to be found anywhere. Then it’s across Panama Bay another 70-miles to the Las Perlas Islands (setting for Survivor a few years back) and some real time cruising and exploring these tropical islands before plunging into the mêlée of Panama City and our final preparations for passage through the canal.
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Bahia Drake to Golfito, Gulfo Dulce
5/15 Thursday
Latitude: 08:36.9 N Longitude: 083:11.1 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 2420 at 3 -5 kts. Sea: Beaufort 1 Barometer: 1009
Engine Hours: 1215 Fuel on Board: 321/3223
Distance to Date: 62/7860
Fish on! We finally broke the long drought from not fishing since we left the Sea of Cortez. Our guest on board John, caught a nice tuna on the 62-mile run south from Drake Bay to Golfito…just before we rounded the last point into Golfo Duce and the town of Golfito.
It was an especially easy day at sea, a long lazy swell with little wind and even a nice, positive current to push us along. Golfito will be our last stop in Costa Rico and we have been looking forward to it as a milestone on our journey through Central America.
Once through the long, narrow entrance channel, we were soon backing down against wind and current into a slip at the newly rebuilt, Fishhook Marina - just before the afternoon rains. Confusion rained too as six over anxious dock boys tried to all help tie us up but we managed to get the job done in spite of the chaos.
Soon we were joined by Voyagers crew for an impromptu arrival celebration at the Marina’s restaurant/bar. Later, a wonderful BBQ dinner of the freshest possible tuna and dorado was hosted by Voyager this evening followed by a little TV before a tired, but satisfied crew headed below for a good (AC cooled) nights rest.
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Manuel Antonio National Park Bay to Bahia Drake
5/14 Wednesday
Latitude: 08:42.0 N Longitude: 083:40.30 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 1540 at 5 -7 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1207 Fuel on Board: 343/3202
Distance to Date: 51/7799
0700 departure from Manuel Antonio for the long, 51-mile run down to Bahia Drake, our last stop before Golfito. The sea is running especially calm today…little wind and a long, lazy swell to match. We get the cedar plug in early in the hope of catching a Dorado for dinner and then spend a very pleasant day napping and relaxing as WS chugs across this broad bay in about 100′ of water.
We can’t see much of Bahia Drake until we are with a mile or two of the anchorage area but then several eco lodges and a tiny village start to appear through the trees. As soon as WS is securely hooked to the bottom, the crew is lining up in the cockpit for what is hoped to be a dryer than usual trip ashore and we do manage to score a dock side landing at one of the lodges with the promise of buying some drinks at their bar. Very friendly people here - probably because tourism is a newer source of income and the locals do not resent us being here yet.
Les and Rose soon join us at the hillside bar overlooking the beautiful bay with its thick jungle coming down to the waters edge. Even an old croc can be seen from our vantage point cruising for a hand out in the small inlet by the dinghies. It looks like some weather in the form of our afternoon rain or thunderstorms may be coming so we decide to take a hike to explore the village before a downpour shuts us out.
It turns out there is not much here besides a campground, school, some small restaurants, a store, and, of course, a trail side pub where we stop for a readjustment before returning to our dinghy dock. Dinner will be on our individual boats tonight in deference to the still approaching storm. Voyager’s crew will enjoy fresh Dorado while WS, fishless as usual, will BBQ some surprisingly good steaks we got in Los Suenos.
Voyager at sunset
The storm didn’t arrive till after lights out and only woke John and Laura because they we sleeping with the forward hatch open and incoming rain got their attention. With the generator still running intermittently, we are using as littler power as possible - the main engine alternator keeps the house batteries full during the day and getting some supplemental power at night from the genset for as long as it will run.
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Quepos to Manuel Antonio National Park
5/13 Tuesday
Latitude: 09:22.93 N Longitude: 084:01.84 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 1540 at 5 -7 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1250 Fuel on Board: 347/3199
Distance to Date: 6/7748
Just an hours ride around the corner brought us to the small bay of Manuel Antonio Park where we anchored in 20′ tucked behind a small hill. Surrounded by beach and jungle, this is one of the most beautiful and unspoiled coves of our trip this far. No sooner than the anchor was set, the crew piled in the small dinghy for a row ashore and a rather wet beach landing. By landing in the park, we immediately were able to enjoy a nice trail walk back to the small surf beach village just outside the gate where we had a nice lunch and did some impromptu shopping at the open air stalls.
While having lunch we met Manual, a local nature guide for the park and arranged for him to take us on a private hike around the park’s trail. It turned out that he was an expert in finding wildlife and was currently writing a book about this natural treasure of Costa Rica. Before the several hours he helped us spot several species of sloth, three types of monkey, dozens of birds, snakes, and other animals we could have never found on our own. We even saw three Toucans together were it is rare to even see a single bird in the wild.
Once back on board after yet another exciting beach dingy launch (John elected to swim back to WS rather than join the melee). Having a bit of a problem keeping the generator running - it seems to be staring for fuel so Les and I had a look at it and got it running again before joining both crews for dinner on board under the stars.
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Los Suenos Marina to Quepos
5/12 Monday
Latitude: 09:33.48 N Longitude: 084:41.05 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 850 at 5 -7 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1202 Fuel on Board: 362/3184
Distance to Date: 36/7742
We slipped out of the marina by 8:00am, rendezvoused with Voyager who has been anchored in Herradura Bay, and headed out for the open sea. Today’s voyage was only 36-miles but with the coming of the daily afternoon thunderstorms, we wanted to be anchored off Quepos as early as possible.
John tried his luck at fishing, something we had not done since the FUBAR, and did manage to get a substantial strike, teeth marks on the lure and all…but no fish. We were traveling in 100-feet of water and probably needed to be further off-shore, to get the really big ones.
Quepos is a small town in an unprotected bay with many mooring for local boats taking most of what little swell protection there is available behind the small point. A 200-slip marina is under construction but progress is already far behind it original schedule. Landing without surf is possible on the old banana boat pier but the floating platforms pitch a bit and John and I decided it was not worth the try so this town remains unexplored by the WS crew.
So a great dinner on board and a night of playing Mexican train more than made up for a missed shore excursion.
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Los Suenos Marina
5/10 to 5/11
It was a very busy time in the lovely Los Suenos reminiscent of our days in the yacht charter business watching crews turn a boat around, ready for a new guests, in 24 hours. Cleaning, provisioning, laundry where all done in double time with still enough free time to get the flavor of this deluxe resort.
John and Laura arrived on Sunday morning, dropped their suitcase (our mail and more boat stuff for WS) and off we all went by taxix to explore the surfer down of Joco just 4-miles up the coast. After hitting the tourist shops and a pleasant lunch on the beach, it was back on board for a rest followed by a happy birthday dinner for Laura at the local boater’s hangout called Hook-up.
Back on board for special Kuala Birthday cake an a fun evening getting caught up on all the local news for Big Bear and the US.
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Isla Cedros to Los Suenos Marina, Bahia Herradura
5/9 Friday
Latitude: 09:38.20 N Longitude: 084:41.0 W
Weather: overcast Wind: 2570 at 5 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1196 Fuel on Board: 375/3178
Distance to Date: 21/7766
Heading off to the fabled Los Suenos Marina this morning. Reportedly the best and most expensive marina ($3.50/foot/night) in Central America - home to the very high end Costa Rican sport fishing fleet. To get there we will travel 20-miles across the Gulf of Nicoya to the opposite side - that much closer to Panama. Here, we will clean-up WS, do a major provisioning, and then pick up our good friends John & Laura from Big Bear arriving on Sunday so they can travel with us the 200-miles to Golfito, our last stop in Costa Rica.
The Gulf crossing went smooth and without incident except for one stretch of tidal riffs where WS hit 9.6 knots using only 7 knots of RPMs as she was carried along by the outgoing spring tide. A couple long-line fishing boats gave us pause too as we try to pick out their gear on the rolling sea. By mid-morning we were in Herradura Bay calling the marina for a slip assignment. As one would expect from a first class operation, a team of dockhands were immediately dispatched to help us secure and be sure we were welcomed to our new slip.
By lunch, on newly adopted boatboy Benito was hard at work scrubbing the outside of WS while Jo and I cleaned up insides from the many days at sea. Later in the afternoon, we were treated to our first electrical storm and the heavy rain for which Costa Rica is famous. Fortunately, they don’t last long and by 6pm, we were on our way to a much anticipated dinner ashore - the first in over 500 miles of southbound cruising.
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Isla Tortugas to Isla Cedros
5/8 Thursday
Latitude: 09:46.34 N Longitude: 085:53.18 W
Weather: clear, sunny Wind: 2570 at 5 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1193 Fuel on Board: 380/3171
Distance to Date: 15/7684
We hated to leave this ideal spot but the promise of some interesting shore activities at Bahia Luminosa Sportfishing Club at Isla Muertos gave us the incentive to move on. We were under way by 10am hugging the coast through some narrow, rock strew passages with huge tidal currents pushing us to over 9 knots in places so the short 10-mile trip was interesting and challenging.
As it turns out, that was a mistake to even leave Isla Tortugas since it was apparent as we pulled into Bahia Luminosa that the club was in shambles if it even still existed at all. Broken docks, beached boats and nothing moving ashore had us making a u-turn before we even dropped the hook in the shallow bay and heading back out looking for greener pastures.
The next set of islands back the way we came from Isla Tortuga looked promising so we tucked up into the channel and made our way carefully across shallow sections of this bay to the small confluence of two islands and the mainland shore forming a small bay of its own and decided that it would do in a pinch for an overnight stop. Not much here to do either with just a ferry stop from Puntarenas and a small store (not open) miles from anything approaching a town but Voyager had some repairs to do and WS could always enjoy a day at leisure so we set the anchor just up between the islands and settled I for the afternoon.
Jo and I took a windy, wet trip ashore in the small dinghy to explore stop but there was nothing there even to make it worth the wet ride. It is becoming more apparent as we head further south that the local people have lost the sense of fun so apparent with the Mexicans and are decidedly much less friendly to us gringos. We’re not sure why this is so obvious as they seem to have a higher standard of living in general but we’ll need to give this some more attention as we continue to explore south.
Wonderful dinner of roast lamb et al was served on board Voyager tonight where we sat outside on their back deck for cocktails cooled by a gentle breeze and certainly made up for the lack of ambience around us.
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Bahia de Ballena to Isla Tortugas
5/7 Wednesday
Latitude: 09:46.51 N Longitude: 085:53.64 W
Weather: high clouds, sunny Wind: 2570 at 5 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1192 Fuel on Board: 384/3167
Distance to Date: 8/7668
Leisurely departure this morning with anchors up just after nine and only a short, 8-miles to go today. Hopefully most of the long, overnight passages are behind us for awhile as we finally have the sense that we have arrived in the tropics with palm trees, white sand beaches, and clear blue seas! This is what the dream of cruising is really all about for us.
While the scenery and waterways of the Pacific Northwest are incredible, it’s the cold, miserable weather that eventually wears you down, gets depressing, and sends sane men south. Today’s journey offers us a classic taste of what we are here for…a short coastal cruise to a tiny island where you can tuck into an even smaller cove, drop anchor in clear blue water and row ashore to see what there is to do and discover.
Most of Isla Tortugas has been set aside as a Green Preserve but the best beach is open to the public, has a small tent gift/snack shop, and cabanas with picnic tables. As our luck would have it, a group of newly pink tourists arrived by 11:00…brought by a big catamaran over from the mainland for some snorkeling and a day on the beach. With a little convincing and $8 each, we get ourselves included in their picnic lunch complete with fresh beach cooked coconut chicken, rice and planten, choice of salads, wine and even rum cake for dessert!
Afternoon finds us back on board for an even more leisurely afternoon followed by a quiet night where the only sound is from the waves on the nearby rocky reef . As the sun sets behind our new island anchorage, it is a good time to just take a minute to appreciate where we are, how far we have come, and to give thanks for the opportunity to enjoy this whole beautiful experience.
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Bahia de Ballena
5/6 Tuesday
Decided to spend another day here despite the seemingly lack of interest on shore. We were glad we did. Dotty 7 ken mentioned that there was a stream with a waterfall for some freshwater swimming a couple of bays back up the coast so both boats decided to try a land trip and explore this possibility. By mid morning, we had the dinghies tied high and dry and had walked into the tico village of Tambor in search of a ride.
Before a bus could go by, we had an offer from a local tour driver to take us to the surf town of Moctezuma and it’s waterfall. The half-hour ride gave us a chance to see some of the interior of Costa Rica with cattle ranches and teak farms along the way. Once in the surfing bay of Moctezuma we spent the day hiking to the falls for a refreshing swim, having a tasty lunch at a beachfront bar and doing some tourist shopping before getting the same guy to drive us back to our own bay and boats.
Dinner and a DVD tonight for the WS crew after a brief time on the internet chasing a very weak signal from the local, unfriendly yacht club.
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Panama Beach to Bahia de Ballena, Golfo de Nicoya
5/4 & 5/5 Sunday/Monday
Latitude: 09:45.42 N Longitude: 085:58.15 W
Weather: high clouds Wind: 0140 at 10-15 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1173 Fuel on Board: 435/3117
Distance to Date: 113/7659
Jo and I took an early trip ashore for one last look around and to have breakfast at the resort on the hill before returning to WS and departure chores. We plan to leave middle afternoon for the overnight, 113 mile run to Golfo de Nicoya. This large bay is also know to cruisers as the middle cruising area of Costa Rica and it is here that we will eventually pick up Laura and John for our trip south to the lower cruising area.
WS is so crusty with salt from the many days at sea that it is difficult to touch anything on deck. Fresh water is to valuable to waste washing thing down so we just need to wait till port of the coming rains in southern CR. We get the dinghy and loose gear stowed and take a quick nap so we are ready for anchor up at 3pm.
By sunset, we have cleared Catalina Island (unlike home it’s just a large rock) and several rocky points before we are plunged into the inky black of a moonless night. A constant worry are the long line fisherman and tonight is no different. Just before lights out there is a line marker (a bamboo stick on a float with a flag) with no indication which way it goes so I just pick a side, stop the prop, and coast over the spot where the line would go - looking back, the flag is not following us so we must not have caught in on the bottom - another near miss with these navigational nightmares.
By 3am it is pouring rain and for the first serious rain since leaving Seattle, this is a gully washer - or better yet, a boat washer! It cascades down for several hours carrying away the pounds of salt we have accumulated since Huatulco. Thankfully, no lightening so besides a slight problem of not being able to see where we are going on the radar for awhile, it feels really good and refreshing to be fresh water clean for a change.
By early dawns light, we round Punta Blanco, and head into Bahia de Ballena by 8am and anchor just off the small village pier in 3 fathoms. It turns of the dock is not conducive to small boats landings so we spend the day on board catching up on sleep and cleaning up from the voyage.
Jo baked a cake for tonight’s birthday bash in honor of the Voyager crew’s, Les & Rose, concurrent May 5th birthdays. By dusk, both crews were on WS to celebrate together with champagne, balloons, and dinner.
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Panama Beach
5/3 Saturday
Nice quiet night with little wind to the point that it became too hot to sleep. Daylight starts up at 5am in the latitude so don’t need to lay around and wait for light any ways. Morning walk on the beach let us check out the area before all the local families arrive to set up beach camps for the weekend.
The plan for today is to have a picnic lunch with Voyager on board their big dinghy as we explore a river that leads into the next cove east of our anchorage but the entrance is still shoaled in from lack of rain all winter - even at high tide we can’t get over the bar blocking the entrance. So the alternative picnic is done tied on a mooring buoy at a new Hilton Resort property close-by. Nice to meet some of the local panga guys who stop by to chat as we hang out eating lunch.
Evening BBG dinner alone on WS watching HBO on Caribbean TV Direct TV which is working well. In bed by 9:30 (see up at 5am above).
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Playa de Coco to Panama Beach in Bahia de Culebra
5/2 Friday
Latitude: 10:35.43 N Longitude: 085:39.59 W
Weather: clear Wind: 3050 at 10 - 12 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1007
Engine Hours: 1172 Fuel on Board: 435/3116
Distance to Date: 6/7546
We set off early this morning to, once again, try to enter Costa Rica legally and dry. This time after three stops and much important stamping of everything in sight, we finally succeed. And in just three hours too. We then make a quick stop at the local internet café to make some advance marina reservations for Panama and check in with Enrique who we hope will be our agent for the canal passage paper-work coming up next month.
Then it’s back on board (we did mange to stay mostly dry this time) for a quick lunch, up the anchor, and steam out of Playa de Coco to explore Costa Rica. First stop will be one of three small bay inside a larger bay called Bahia de Culebra (Bay of Snakes). For some reason, the condo developers are desperately trying to get its name changed but it probably suits the place I’m sure from someone’s past experience.
Anchorage is taken by both boats in the SW corner of Panama Beach in 15-foot of sand a couple hundred yards off a modest resort hotel and protected by a point from wind and waves. Afternoon is at leisure with spinach pizza and beer dinner on Voyager set for latter this evening.
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Playa de Coco
5/1 Thursday
Quarantine - Day 2! With the best of intentions, we get the small dink down (now named Twinkle) and head to shore early to do our official check-in. I managed to allow a shore wave to broach the dinghy and knock me out backwards on the beach with Jo in right after me so there we are, all dressed nice for immigration, but soaking wet. Fortunately, we had the foresight to but all the important ships documents, passports, and the camera in plastic bags in the backpack before leaving WS.
After all that, it turns out that May 1 is a national holiday so federal offices are all closed. The port captain was nice enough to open up and take our paperwork and make a few calls to arrange for us to clear tomorrow but today it is impossible. Happily, we are not restricted to our boat are free to roam this small beach town where we have lunch at the Lizard Lounge, pick-up some groceries, shop for CR souvenirs before heading back thru the surf to the big boats for afternoon naps.
Dinner for both crews is on boards WS tonight and we gather at dark to BBQ some fresh white marlin found at the market only this morning. Still a bit tired from the multiple days at sea, it’s an early evening with lights out for all before 10pm.
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Santa Elena to Playa de Coco
4/30 Wednesday
Latitude: 10:33.80 N Longitude: 085:42.10 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 2450 at 10 - 20 kts. Sea: Beaufort 4 Barometer: 1010
Engine Hours: 1166 Fuel on Board: 451/3100
Distance to Date: 39/7540
Waited till this morning to make the go/no go decision and gather more weather intel. Our next stop needs to be the Port Captain and Immigration office so we can formally enter into Costa Rico in the town of Coco 37 miles to the south. Looks good for traveling south once we get clear of this upper bay where it is gusting to 25 knots out of the North as we pull the anchor up and make a run for the point. It was mostly calm during the night so the seas have not become nasty yet but we are happy to get around Punta Santa Elena and into the more protected waters of the Gulfo de Papagayo.
About midway across the Papagayo, the wind changed direction again to 20-knots from ENE naturally, the widest part of the Gulf, where it can build the largest wind waves to hit us on the beam for maximum roll. This lasts for about an hour rattling every possible pot, pan and bottle before it dies completely as we enter the smaller Bahia de Coco. Several possible anchor areas present on either side of a reef in the middle so we choose the right sand pick a spot in 15 feet just off a small beach behind a line of locals moorings. We raise our yellow quarantine flag but no officials come to visit by dark. The port captain is only open in the mornings so we’ll need to disembark on the beach then and do it all on foot.
Late in the day, a fairly good wind has come up out of the NE with gusts up to 15 knots so we’ll see how she works. I’ve been working on a new anchor bridle (a set of lines to the forward cleats with a hook on the anchor chain to take the load off the anchor windless and provide some shock absorber effect between chain and boat) so this is a good time as any to try it out.
Since we are in quarantine, we cannot go ashore so it’s dinner and a movie on board for tonight’s entertainment. We’ve been on the move and out of party mode since Mystic Moon left the beginning of April and sobriety is not all it is cracked up to be…we’ll be like sailors on shore-leave once we hit a decent size town again.
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Barillas to Santa Elena, Costa Rica
4/28 & 4/29 Monday/Tuesday
Day 1 - Monday
Departing Latitude: 13:07.018 N Longitude: 088:25.165 W
Destination Latitude: 10:55.57 N Longitude: 085:48.38 W
Weather: Hazy to Clear Wind: 180 at 6-10 kts. Sea: Beaufort 1-3 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1131 Fuel on Board: 572/2978
Beginning Distance to Date: 7290
Hot and humid night without a breath of breeze blowing up our river made for difficult sleeping even without the excitement of another long passage beginning in the morning. I’m up by 5AM to send off some final emails from El Salvador and check on the overnight weather forecasts. Not much has changed so we are still good to go at first light. By 7:00, the mooring lines are slipped off their loop in the mooring ball and we are o our way down river to the open sea. Les and I have elected to forgo the panga guide and follow our track in to get back over the bar. As it turned out, just as we came to the end of the nine-miles of river and a very rough patch behind the breaking waves on the offshore bar, an old, rusted, shrimp boat caught us from behind and led us the last mile to the safety of deep water on the other side of the bar.
Then, Nexus, our friends Larry and Deedee on their Nordhavn 47, passed us by following their panga guide on their way into Barillas. It is too bad to just miss them by a day but know they will catch up to us again in the days ahead in Costa Rica. Once outside, the turbulent waves settle down to a nice gentle pitch on the nose and then even that smoothes out completely later in the day. We pass one large tanker heading into the large Gulfo de Fonseca, the three-way bay that joins El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua and must adjust our course slightly to pass astern.
Shortly after midnight, we began to experience a mild Papagayos. This is an offshore wind condition very similar to our Santa Ana’s at home. This one is fueled by a high pressure over the lower Caribbean that then drives winds over the narrow width of the local coast that increase on the downward slope towards the west coast ocean. Our winds reached 18-25 knots at times and with the long 10-mile open stretch from shore they were able to kick-up some rather bumpy wind waves that slapped us on the port beam the rest of the night.
By morning, things had settled down considerably but we are still fighting a one to two knot current that is holding our speed over ground down to under 6-knots. The problem is we must do better that six if we are to make our destination, Santa Elena Bay, before dark. Being nothing if not flexible, we adjust our course at 5:50 AM to gradually bring us closer to land - within 5-miles of the shoreline to hopefully get out of the fresh, NW current. We also increase speed and continue to adjust our speed during the day so that it stays in excess of 6-knots. If these maneuvers do the trick, we should make our anchorage before the 6PM lights out.
Day 2 - Tuesday
0700 Latitude: 11:40.76 N Longitude: 086:36.74 W
Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 055 at 14-26 kts. Sea: Beaufort 5 Barometer: 1011
Engine Hours: 1156 Fuel on Board: 493/3058
Trip Distance/Total: Day 1 = 143/7433
Not much change as of daybreak. Wind is still gusting to over 27 knots and steady at 18to 20 while the sea wind waves get steeper and higher. It should improve as the day moves on. On the plus side, increasing the RPM’s to 1720 has kept our speed over 6.4 knots so s day time arrival seems assured but it is costing us an extra gallon an hour in fuel burn over our normal 3 gallons per hour. Spray still clearing the fly bridge on occasion and the windshield wipers are on all the time but still not a problem…just unpleasant.
Noon sees the winds and seas calming a bit and by 5pm we arrive at our last waypoint before tucking into our protected bay for the night. We drop anchor in 40′ just off an old village site just as the sun disappears behind the low laying hills of the bay that hide the horizon tonight. About six sailboats are already at rest around the bay as Jo and I move to the flybridge to enjoy spectacular sunset and share a welcome to Costa Rica beer.
Ws has just hit 7,500 miles today using 3100 gallons of fuel. This passage accounted for 121 gallons for the 214 nautical miles - much more than we would like but necessary due to the time constraint and strong current.
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Barillas Marina - on a mooring
4/25 to 4/27 Friday/Sunday
Sunrise on the mooring
Started off stay with a bus trip Friday into closest town - Usulután - for lunch and quick shopping. Spent all day Saturday touring with crews of Voyager and new friends from Canada on Sea Whisper. We took a driver and the minivan and headed in land to the capital city on Sal Salvador with stops at an archeological dig dating back to 800BC, several small town plazas with local churches and then a nice lunch on the Zona Rosa (Beverly Hills of San Salvador). Took from 7AM to 6PM to cover the many miles but very enjoyable and scenic with many volcanoes along the way.
Sunday was a day at leisure. Poolside much of the day with a needed wireless connection for some correspondence - late afternoon we are joined by the gang for walk in the jungle to visit a family know for saving the local monkeys from being all eaten during the last revolution. They are dirt poor with many kids and are delighted with the children’s clothes we picked up for them in Huatulco. By yelling Pablo (the head monkey) and dangling a stock of bananas soon a dozen monkeys of all sizes are cavorting in the tree tops all around us and one by one swing down to grab their banana.
Once port exit clearance procedures are completed, we take WS to the fuel dock for a quick wash down and to take on some water before returning to our mooring for a last night in El Salvador rest and tomorrow departure.
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Huatulco, Mexico to Barillas, El Salvador
4/21 - 4/24 Monday/Thursday
Day 1 - Monday
Departing Latitude: 15:45.62 N Longitude: 096:07.21 W
Destination Latitude: 13:07.018 N Longitude: 088:25.165 W
Weather: Clear Wind: 235 at 6-10 kts. Sea: Beaufort 3 Barometer: 1008
Engine Hours: 1056 Fuel on Board:750/2304
Beginning Distance to Date:6771
It’s sure hard to sleep with all of the excitement of starting a major crossing the next day. I did manage to stay in bed till 5AM. I finally gave up trying to sleep to have one last look at my weather forecast and overnight emails since we’ll be out of reach for the next four days. By 8am we are topped off with water and on our way out of the marina towards the open sea.
Today’s voyage calls for crossing the first half of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. We’ve been hearing horror stories about this famous bay since we first entered Mexico. It is known for blowing fierce galls with towering waves about 200-days per year. These horrendous winds get their start in the Gulf of Mexico where they then funnel across a flat plain between two mountain ranges in Mexico and then hit the Tehuantepec with accelerated 40 to 60 knot winds stacking up huge waves that give even commercial shipping serious problems. Tehuantepec winds, affectionately called T-peckers by boaters, often start up without warning and can instantly turn a quiet day at sea into a nightmare fight for survival.
The beauty of boating today is that, with the internet, we now have powerful weather-watching capabilities too Once we get confirmed weather data of clear werther in the Gulf for the next few days, it is possible to cross the Tehuantepec with confidence and little danger. Once we clear the routine coastal waters which are often lumpy close to shore, the Gulf itself proves to be as quiet as early morning on Big Bear Lake. Just enough wind to keep us cool and a gentle, rolling swell to soothe the soul.
A 2+ knot favorable current is with us most of the day and by the end of our first 24-hours we’ve logged 188 miles getting better than 2.7 miles per gallon. The only incident of note occurred just after dark (naturally) when a fishing trawler appeared to be tending a long line (a line of fish hooks hung from floats that can extend over a mile on top of the water). Les in Voyager alertly spotted a beacon light we think marked the end of ther line so we were able to go around the far end without getting tangled up in the whole mess.
Jo and I split the night in two so we each could have 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep and by morning we are ready for day two with the expected boarding and document check by the Mexican Boarder Patrol ship (usually lurking in these waters) as we cross into Guatemala.
Day 2 - Tuesday
0800 Latitude: 14:18.28 N Longitude: 093:17.75 W
Weather: Clear Wind: 256 at 4-6 kts. Sea: Beaufort 1-2 Barometer: 1009
Engine Hours: 1080 Fuel on Board: 681/2868
Trip Distance/Total: Day 1 = 188nm/6964
It gets even calmer and warmer as the day and the water slide by - air temp up to 90 by noon with and 86 degree water temperature. Lots of turtles glide by and a huge school of feeding dolphins surround us as we plow through a giant fish ball they have herded together for their dining pleasure. Not mush else remarkable except the absence on the expected Mexican Navy picket boat at the boarder. They must have taken a day off. By two in the afternoon, we lower our Mexican courtesy flag and raise the colors of Guatemala in honor of the boarder crossing. We’ll not stop here as they are not cruiser friendly charging $300 just too clear customs. With no real facilities for small boats and little to offer in protected anchorages, we opt to speed (7 knots) on by towards El Salvador.
Currents have been so favorable we are way ahead of schedule and may need to rethink our first stop as we must arrive at the entrance channel during daylight hours - before 4 pm to be exact - for the long, 9-mile ride up the river to the yacht mooring facilities. As it stands now we are set to arrive in the middle of the night, a full 12-hours ahead of the cruise plan. The current could change any minute though but for now we’ll cut back the RPM’s to get the boat SOG down to something under 6.5 knots for the night.
While most of the night was quiet and uneventful, lots of action before first light. Les spotted a couple of Pangas out here on radar at 5AM (40-miles off-shore with no lights) and sure enough they were long-line fishing. Les ran over their line but luckily did not catch it on the prop or stabilizers. I was closer into shore and was able to steer WS around the unmarked end without ever seeing any if the wretched mess including the Pangas in the dark. Next we had our first rain squall to welcome us to the tropics. It was just a small, localized disturbance no more then a mile or two across with no electrical activity - the real worry as we get further south.
By daybreak, things were back to normal except there’s a little more wind waves from last nights offshore breeze as we finish up Day 2 and got ready to cross into El Salvador.
Day 3 - Wednesday
0800 Latitude: 13:07.02 N Longitude: 088:25.17 W
Weather: overcast Wind: 315 at 4-6 kts. Sea: Beaufort 2 Barometer: 1010
Engine Hours: 1104 Fuel on Board: 623/2927
Trip Distance/Total: Day 2 = 359nm/7135
Crossed into El Salvador at 10:30 AM and changed flags once again. That makes three countries in three days! Still well ahead of schedule but moved our ETA up to closer to daybreak - still too early to enter the estuary but getting better. Other than the couple pangas we passed in the dark, there has not been a boat out here for days.
Early afternoon finds the weather as calm and passive as the morning was ornery - clear hot sky reflected on long languid swells, and deep blue water - truly the tropics at last. Water temp has joined air temp again buy now they both are at 88 degrees. But all good things do come to an end and by late afternoon the wind picked up to 20 knots from the SW with 3′- 4′ choppy sea for a less than perfect ride for the rest of the day.
Things did not get much better after dark. Wind continued to blow and seas build till after midnight. Even the moon didn’t cooperate and stayed behind cloud cover till early morning. Voyager stayed in the lead with WS about a mile behind all night. By 5AM we were directly opposite the river entrance to Barillas Marina so did a large loop out to sea to wait for daybreak. By 8AM, we were in position and met the pilot boat necessary to find the right channel to clear the surf that breaks across most of the entrance. Very tricky maneuver and impossible without local knowledge.
Once safely behind the surf, it was just a matter of following the pilot boat the nine-miles up a winding,shallow river to our marina. While a bit isolated from the rest of El Salvador, this deluxe marina club is very cruiser friendly with all of the immigration/customs people right on the premises and within an hour we were cleared into the country. The club also has water, fuel, swim pools, store, laundry service, internet, car rental, bar/restaurant and a great “can-do” staff - even massages for $25/hour. While there are no docks, mooring balls rent for only $11/night with full use of all facilities.
Journey up river to Barillas
After arrival celebration lunch ashore with Voyager crew, it’s back on board for naps and quiet evening on board to catch up on correspondence, begin plans for our stop here and the next passage to Costa Rico - just 200-miles up the coast!
The trip from Huatulco, Mexico took 74 hours to go the 510 miles using 178 gallons of precious fuel (now up to $4.50/gallon). WS has traveled a total of 7,290 miles using 2,978 gallons on this voyage which started one year ago this weekend.
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