April/May 2008

Pacific Central America in a Coconut Shell

I am extremely tardy in penning my thoughts about our jaunt thru Pacific Central America, and since I swore to Ade I’d do it, I am just expanding on an email I sent to our friends, the Youngblood’s in answer to their questions about this stretch, and so it is written for those who are planning to cruise down this way…

I am also in Colon, Panama in what they call the “Green Season” – that means that its verrrry wet and thus lush, but Colon is hardly a garden spot.  It also means that I cannot play outside which I so like to do, so perhaps this might be a little like the old song, “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Granada….”
 
As I write this I am sitting in an almost empty Shelter Bay.  It rained all morning so I couldn’t get in my early morning walk.  That walk is taken with a keen eye for the black leopard family that has been spotted in recent days, and also dashing lemurs, giant gerbils and lizards, howling monkeys sounding like they are mating and fighting over females, (or celebrating themselves for a good performance?) crashing branches or palm fronds from the high trees, vultures soaring overhead-no doubt hoping I will drop from exhaustion, but knowing that the squished bullfrog I just passed (the size of a chicken) might keep them busy for awhile… yet… it is so beautiful.   I just wish that I did not have a Teflon brain so that when I looked at the myriad of flora and fauna, heard the colorful sounds of the many tropical birds I could know their names and get a kick out of actually knowing something rather than muttering “Preeety” like a deranged character from Lord of the Rings….  that’s my summer in Panama.  Okay, okay, a little attitude there.

As you know we loved Pacific Coastal Mexico and the people, also the experience of being there during the cruising season with so many others from all over North America and beyond.  Perhaps it was having just left that environment and our favorite port of all – Huatulco - that set me up for disappointment with C.A.  We kept thinking it’s been so good and yet we hear that it gets better and better as you go south, so let’s get to it. It’s that belief that kept us sort of propelled southward.  I guess it’s my job to tell you that from this bridge, it doesn’t get better as you go south. We had lots of time as we’d set an arbitrary time of early June to transit the Panama Canal, and we had a date with Laura and John for Costa Rica for her birthday in May.  We didn’t need to dial it in any closer as everyone has to fly into San Jose and then take a puddle jumper/or car to the coast anyways, so we had flexibility.  Bottom line, we had several weeks to explore.  We decided not to stop in Guatemala as we’d all been there before and cruising wise, the Pacific side has little to offer. 

So, with a wonderful weather window, we took on the Tehuantepec and our three day jump to Barillas, El Salvador.  It is way back in an estuary of Bahia Jiquilisco  and the entrance has a shoal-and-breakers mouth (Rains), so it’s not easy getting in, however the marina sends out a guide and he gives the follow me signal and off we go. It is very secure, quiet and nice.   They also are wonderful with paperwork, tours, shopping, etc.  We tried to do it all in the few days we were there.  We went on a jungle trek to see the monkeys and downtown to shop in the open stall marketplace as well as at a modern super market.  We also took a very long day trip that took us up the mountains, to ruins, old colonial and native towns, and downtown San Salvador. El Salvador is a poor country, all of C.A. is poor.  We met very nice people and were never afraid, but the poverty is omnipresent and the toll taken from the decades of civil wars still so apparent. There are upscale neighborhoods in San Salvador, and signs of a small middle class emerging here and there, but mostly, the standard of living is quite low.  They seem a more serious people, as I imagine I would be, if I’d just survived years of terror and war.  What stood out for me however, was that the women almost all wear bright and frilly aprons all the time, over whatever else they are wearing and can be seen laughing and joking amongst themselves.  Girls will be girls, no matter the age, no matter the culture.  I like that about us!

Meanwhile, back at the marina there is a pool, bar and restaurant, internet and most often a friendly group of cruisers.  However we kept thinking, this is nice, not Huatulco “why are we leaving anyway” nice, but nice… but hey, since it’s only going to get better as we go further south,  we’d better keep going.  NOT ALWAYS TRUE.  So, if you find yourself wanting to laze around Barillas and hang by the pool, play Mexican Train with new found pals, etc., etc.  then do so here.  It doesn’t get better and this is a good place to rest, or stage a Central American inland trip.  Heriberto can set you up with tours or cars and your boat will be safe and secure in your absence.  Sister Dottie and Ken did an extended road trip from this port.   M/V Jenny left her for a long trip home, both with no hassles. 

But we didn’t know this yet, and we had checked off all we wanted to do in ES, so once again we were face down in the charts, notes and guides deciding on our next stop.  Our insurance would not allow us to stop in still sort of unstable Nicaragua, darn it anyway.  It’s the one C.A. country I’ve never visited and I would have liked to have seen it.  They also have a well regarded marina there, Puesta del Sol.  They really want cruisers to stop and those that have say it is a nice marina.  Paperwork cha cha is sort of a bother I am told, so if you are going to stop – might as well stay awhile.  M/V Wahoo just told us that they rented a car and did a wonderful inland trip to the two massive lakes and volcano’s that dominate the western coast.  There was a bus strike at the time, so they had the roads to themselves.  That’s a thumbs up from Wahoo, and an I have no idea from WS!

Our expectations are really high now, because it’s finally time for Costa Rica.  Pura Vida, Costa Rica.  We really wanted to love it.  We’d been here before and did love the mountains and cities, so the coast has to be magic, right?  Wrong.  Cruiser wise, at least for late Spring 2008, it is just okay. The anchorages are mostly just okay, the little towns near them, also just okay.  Before my negativity wears you down completely, let me tell you what we LOVED.  The Islas Tortugas, Manual Antonio National Park, and Bahia Drake.  Lovely, fun and we’d linger the next time in each of these.  We also really like the surf towns like Montezuma, (not Jaco tho) but of course, big surf towns don’t often have nice quiet anchorages, so to see them, we had to hire taxi’s and take long rides.

Costa Rica has a well deserved reputation as a high theft area and many friends did lose things this year…dinghy’s and motors, backpacks, even thieves breaking into boats at night while they were aboard, so we were not tempted to take longer excursions inland.  I should also point out that this is late in the season (May) so we saw no other cruisers, the lingerers were still behind us, and the pack was far ahead.  We were pretty much alone, that is Voyager and WS. 

There are almost no marinas, but with luck the one in Quepos will be finished soon.  Los Suenos is ‘Newport Beach gated community’ beautiful, but ridiculously expensive.  Puntarenas- especially CRYC, which we did not see, is apparently a good place to keep the boat while traveling inland. S/V Tropical Dance echoed that, and said that even tho it offers only moorings, it is quite secure as CRYC has their own patrol boats. 

So my advice to southbound cruisers is to linger wherever you find a beautiful anchorage, and savor it.  Weather didn’t allow us to stop at the Murcielagos Islands, but hear it offers good snorkeling and diving. We liked Playa del Coco and Playa Panama, but experienced little crab almost spider-like creatures when swimming there.  Didn’t bite too hard, but not nice.  And I know that there are many other anchorages others have found and loved.  We tried several in each bay and again, don’t know if it was our timing, weather, whatever – they were just not nice.  DRAT! 

Golfito is okay (there’s that word again, almost as chilling to women as fine…as in, “you look fine”.  It has much of what you’ll need and it’s a great place to walk, you have three good choices of marinas all side by side, and even three decent markets.  You can run over to Puerto Jiminez for a diversion and even hike to the top of the mountain for beautiful views of the bay… (or take a cab).  Port clearances are a real cha cha here, but everyone is nice and most cabbies seem to know where to go.

With expectations now quite low, we made our way to Panama.  We skipped a lot of the northern islands due to weather and the controversy over anchoring fees in areas now designated as national parks.  It was one of those, if we stop, we may be locked in for a week or so before we can round Punta Mala.  So we decided to head for the Las Perlas, and say hallejuela, it was fantastico!  We really liked the islands, especially the little town of Contadora.  We spent several great days in the islands before finalizing our Panama Canal transit plans and our rendezvous with Dreamweaver after months of separation.  We had a slip at Flamenco which is a great spot and a quick reunion with Dottie and Ken who left the next morning to help friends on ARGO out as line handlers.  Les’s folks, Katie and Gerry flew in for the Canal experience and soon we were in a social whirl.  We had a wonderful time in Panama City and transiting the PC.  I already covered our transit, so will jump to another delightful surprise…Caribbean Panama,   and our journey north again to Bocas del Toro.  It a fun funky town, touristy, but also a real cruisers town, great for those like us just passing thru, and for those that got stuck there, kind of like Key West before they fixed it up.  We absolutely adore people watching/chatty places like this.  And the islands, so many of them, all picture postcard perfect, lush surrounded by turquoise blue water-that crystal clear Caribbean water, with fantastic snorkeling  and interesting colorful people.  In fact, if we were laying over the summer and going to be onboard, I think I’d HQ up there.  It is sort of remote and not easy to fly in and out at this point in time, but it’s much more fun than Shelter Bay, which is really just a marina nestled in an old fort.   

The final word to our friends seeking advice about C.A., and summer in Panama, (and that’s what this column has turned out to be, a Dear Jo kind of deal) is this… if you don’t have to fly home, and you have the weather window, take the time to gunkhole down Pacific Panama’s coast, and allow lots of time to explore the Las Perlas and to hang out in Contadora.  Flamenco on the Pacific side would also be a great place to keep the boat for the summer, (left or staying aboard) but again it is expensive and has limited availability.  The upside of staying in Panama City is that you are close to everything, there is a lot to do, and the airports are right there for a quick flight home or off on inland travel.  If you’ve already gone thru the canal, allow a few weeks for Bocas del Toro for great in the water fun and a cool atmosphere…and June is a good month there.  Or check out their marinas and fly home if that works for you.  If cruising below the hurricane belt is your plan for the summer, Portobello and the San Blas are very close and less crowded this time of year.  But since we have not yet done that, I have nothing to tell you!  

If you are planning to fly home from anywhere in Panama, it seems that July, August and September are the months to be gone.  It’s not terrible here at Shelter Bay by any means, it’s just that there are few people, there is little to do, and if you want freedom, you might want to rent a car.  (But at $35-$55 a day, you might as well have paid the Flamenco marina prices).  Shelter Bay really does a great job, and there is a wonderful National Park in the compound area, Fuerte San Lorenzo, on the bluff above the entrance to the Chagres River and well worth the visit(s).  You can bike there from the marina ($5 entrance fee pp) or take the 20km RT long walk.   They have free and low pay bus service to Colon and PC, a decent restaurant, and by next summer, a swimming pool will be complete.  Bruce runs a great yard, and Russ a great marina.  Friends have had good luck with doctors and dentists.  So it’s hardly Hell.  Plus you can watch the mold grow on your boat – just like science class. 

Okay, ”wait a minute, it stopped raining”…things at Camp Granada are lookin bedda, I think I will go out and play….”

April/May 2008

Pacific Central America in a Coconut Shell

I am extremely tardy in penning my thoughts about our jaunt thru Pacific Central America, and since I swore to Ade I’d do it, I am just expanding on an email I sent to our friends, the Youngblood’s in answer to their questions about this stretch, and so it is written for those who are planning to cruise down this way…

I am also in Colon, Panama in what they call the “Green Season” – that means that its verrrry wet and thus lush, but Colon is hardly a garden spot.  It also means that I cannot play outside which I so like to do, so perhaps this might be a little like the old song, “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Granada….”
 
As I write this I am sitting in an almost empty Shelter Bay.  It rained all morning so I couldn’t get in my early morning walk.  That walk is taken with a keen eye for the black leopard family that has been spotted in recent days, and also dashing lemurs, giant gerbils and lizards, howling monkeys sounding like they are mating and fighting over females, (or celebrating themselves for a good performance?) crashing branches or palm fronds from the high trees, vultures soaring overhead-no doubt hoping I will drop from exhaustion, but knowing that the squished bullfrog I just passed (the size of a chicken) might keep them busy for awhile… yet… it is so beautiful.   I just wish that I did not have a Teflon brain so that when I looked at the myriad of flora and fauna, heard the colorful sounds of the many tropical birds I could know their names and get a kick out of actually knowing something rather than muttering “Preeety” like a deranged character from Lord of the Rings….  that’s my summer in Panama.  Okay, okay, a little attitude there.

As you know we loved Pacific Coastal Mexico and the people, also the experience of being there during the cruising season with so many others from all over North America and beyond.  Perhaps it was having just left that environment and our favorite port of all – Huatulco - that set me up for disappointment with C.A.  We kept thinking it’s been so good and yet we hear that it gets better and better as you go south, so let’s get to it. It’s that belief that kept us sort of propelled southward.  I guess it’s my job to tell you that from this bridge, it doesn’t get better as you go south. We had lots of time as we’d set an arbitrary time of early June to transit the Panama Canal, and we had a date with Laura and John for Costa Rica for her birthday in May.  We didn’t need to dial it in any closer as everyone has to fly into San Jose and then take a puddle jumper/or car to the coast anyways, so we had flexibility.  Bottom line, we had several weeks to explore.  We decided not to stop in Guatemala as we’d all been there before and cruising wise, the Pacific side has little to offer. 

So, with a wonderful weather window, we took on the Tehuantepec and our three day jump to Barillas, El Salvador.  It is way back in an estuary of Bahia Jiquilisco  and the entrance has a shoal-and-breakers mouth (Rains), so it’s not easy getting in, however the marina sends out a guide and he gives the follow me signal and off we go. It is very secure, quiet and nice.   They also are wonderful with paperwork, tours, shopping, etc.  We tried to do it all in the few days we were there.  We went on a jungle trek to see the monkeys and downtown to shop in the open stall marketplace as well as at a modern super market.  We also took a very long day trip that took us up the mountains, to ruins, old colonial and native towns, and downtown San Salvador. El Salvador is a poor country, all of C.A. is poor.  We met very nice people and were never afraid, but the poverty is omnipresent and the toll taken from the decades of civil wars still so apparent. There are upscale neighborhoods in San Salvador, and signs of a small middle class emerging here and there, but mostly, the standard of living is quite low.  They seem a more serious people, as I imagine I would be, if I’d just survived years of terror and war.  What stood out for me however, was that the women almost all wear bright and frilly aprons all the time, over whatever else they are wearing and can be seen laughing and joking amongst themselves.  Girls will be girls, no matter the age, no matter the culture.  I like that about us!

Meanwhile, back at the marina there is a pool, bar and restaurant, internet and most often a friendly group of cruisers.  However we kept thinking, this is nice, not Huatulco “why are we leaving anyway” nice, but nice… but hey, since it’s only going to get better as we go further south,  we’d better keep going.  NOT ALWAYS TRUE.  So, if you find yourself wanting to laze around Barillas and hang by the pool, play Mexican Train with new found pals, etc., etc.  then do so here.  It doesn’t get better and this is a good place to rest, or stage a Central American inland trip.  Heriberto can set you up with tours or cars and your boat will be safe and secure in your absence.  Sister Dottie and Ken did an extended road trip from this port.   M/V Jenny left her for a long trip home, both with no hassles. 

But we didn’t know this yet, and we had checked off all we wanted to do in ES, so once again we were face down in the charts, notes and guides deciding on our next stop.  Our insurance would not allow us to stop in still sort of unstable Nicaragua, darn it anyway.  It’s the one C.A. country I’ve never visited and I would have liked to have seen it.  They also have a well regarded marina there, Puesta del Sol.  They really want cruisers to stop and those that have say it is a nice marina.  Paperwork cha cha is sort of a bother I am told, so if you are going to stop – might as well stay awhile.  M/V Wahoo just told us that they rented a car and did a wonderful inland trip to the two massive lakes and volcano’s that dominate the western coast.  There was a bus strike at the time, so they had the roads to themselves.  That’s a thumbs up from Wahoo, and an I have no idea from WS!

Our expectations are really high now, because it’s finally time for Costa Rica.  Pura Vida, Costa Rica.  We really wanted to love it.  We’d been here before and did love the mountains and cities, so the coast has to be magic, right?  Wrong.  Cruiser wise, at least for late Spring 2008, it is just okay. The anchorages are mostly just okay, the little towns near them, also just okay.  Before my negativity wears you down completely, let me tell you what we LOVED.  The Islas Tortugas, Manual Antonio National Park, and Bahia Drake.  Lovely, fun and we’d linger the next time in each of these.  We also really like the surf towns like Montezuma, (not Jaco tho) but of course, big surf towns don’t often have nice quiet anchorages, so to see them, we had to hire taxi’s and take long rides.

Costa Rica has a well deserved reputation as a high theft area and many friends did lose things this year…dinghy’s and motors, backpacks, even thieves breaking into boats at night while they were aboard, so we were not tempted to take longer excursions inland.  I should also point out that this is late in the season (May) so we saw no other cruisers, the lingerers were still behind us, and the pack was far ahead.  We were pretty much alone, that is Voyager and WS. 

There are almost no marinas, but with luck the one in Quepos will be finished soon.  Los Suenos is ‘Newport Beach gated community’ beautiful, but ridiculously expensive.  Puntarenas- especially CRYC, which we did not see, is apparently a good place to keep the boat while traveling inland. S/V Tropical Dance echoed that, and said that even tho it offers only moorings, it is quite secure as CRYC has their own patrol boats. 

So my advice to southbound cruisers is to linger wherever you find a beautiful anchorage, and savor it.  Weather didn’t allow us to stop at the Murcielagos Islands, but hear it offers good snorkeling and diving. We liked Playa del Coco and Playa Panama, but experienced little crab almost spider-like creatures when swimming there.  Didn’t bite too hard, but not nice.  And I know that there are many other anchorages others have found and loved.  We tried several in each bay and again, don’t know if it was our timing, weather, whatever – they were just not nice.  DRAT! 

Golfito is okay (there’s that word again, almost as chilling to women as fine…as in, “you look fine”.  It has much of what you’ll need and it’s a great place to walk, you have three good choices of marinas all side by side, and even three decent markets.  You can run over to Puerto Jiminez for a diversion and even hike to the top of the mountain for beautiful views of the bay… (or take a cab).  Port clearances are a real cha cha here, but everyone is nice and most cabbies seem to know where to go.

With expectations now quite low, we made our way to Panama.  We skipped a lot of the northern islands due to weather and the controversy over anchoring fees in areas now designated as national parks.  It was one of those, if we stop, we may be locked in for a week or so before we can round Punta Mala.  So we decided to head for the Las Perlas, and say hallejuela, it was fantastico!  We really liked the islands, especially the little town of Contadora.  We spent several great days in the islands before finalizing our Panama Canal transit plans and our rendezvous with Dreamweaver after months of separation.  We had a slip at Flamenco which is a great spot and a quick reunion with Dottie and Ken who left the next morning to help friends on ARGO out as line handlers.  Les’s folks, Katie and Gerry flew in for the Canal experience and soon we were in a social whirl.  We had a wonderful time in Panama City and transiting the PC.  I already covered our transit, so will jump to another delightful surprise…Caribbean Panama,   and our journey north again to Bocas del Toro.  It a fun funky town, touristy, but also a real cruisers town, great for those like us just passing thru, and for those that got stuck there, kind of like Key West before they fixed it up.  We absolutely adore people watching/chatty places like this.  And the islands, so many of them, all picture postcard perfect, lush surrounded by turquoise blue water-that crystal clear Caribbean water, with fantastic snorkeling  and interesting colorful people.  In fact, if we were laying over the summer and going to be onboard, I think I’d HQ up there.  It is sort of remote and not easy to fly in and out at this point in time, but it’s much more fun than Shelter Bay, which is really just a marina nestled in an old fort.   

The final word to our friends seeking advice about C.A., and summer in Panama, (and that’s what this column has turned out to be, a Dear Jo kind of deal) is this… if you don’t have to fly home, and you have the weather window, take the time to gunkhole down Pacific Panama’s coast, and allow lots of time to explore the Las Perlas and to hang out in Contadora.  Flamenco on the Pacific side would also be a great place to keep the boat for the summer, (left or staying aboard) but again it is expensive and has limited availability.  The upside of staying in Panama City is that you are close to everything, there is a lot to do, and the airports are right there for a quick flight home or off on inland travel.  If you’ve already gone thru the canal, allow a few weeks for Bocas del Toro for great in the water fun and a cool atmosphere…and June is a good month there.  Or check out their marinas and fly home if that works for you.  If cruising below the hurricane belt is your plan for the summer, Portobello and the San Blas are very close and less crowded this time of year.  But since we have not yet done that, I have nothing to tell you!  

If you are planning to fly home from anywhere in Panama, it seems that July, August and September are the months to be gone.  It’s not terrible here at Shelter Bay by any means, it’s just that there are few people, there is little to do, and if you want freedom, you might want to rent a car.  (But at $35-$55 a day, you might as well have paid the Flamenco marina prices).  Shelter Bay really does a great job, and there is a wonderful National Park in the compound area, Fuerte San Lorenzo, on the bluff above the entrance to the Chagres River and well worth the visit(s).  You can bike there from the marina ($5 entrance fee pp) or take the 20km RT long walk.   They have free and low pay bus service to Colon and PC, a decent restaurant, and by next summer, a swimming pool will be complete.  Bruce runs a great yard, and Russ a great marina.  Friends have had good luck with doctors and dentists.  So it’s hardly Hell.  Plus you can watch the mold grow on your boat – just like science class. 

Okay, ”wait a minute, it stopped raining”…things at Camp Granada are lookin bedda, I think I will go out and play….”

June 2008

We did it…made it all the way down the coast from Alaska to just above the equator, and through the Panama Canal. It’s a real benchmark for sailors to have gone through on “your own bottom”. Thought I’d tell you how it went from my side of the boat.

Miraculously, we were able to schedule our transit day with great friends Les and Rose on Voyager, and at the 11^th hour, sister Dottie and husband Ken on Dreamweaver. No word on whether we’d be together, or even if we would be in the same lock. We didn’t know if we’d be tied to tug boats, on the wall, or centered, but the same day was a great start.

An awful lot of preparation goes into transiting the canal. We’d already gathered 20 tires to drape around the outside of Wandering Star, had rented four 125′ lines and completed a few rounds of paperwork which began weeks before the transit, etc. Our agent was most helpful, but not very punctual so we had three days of hurry up and wait for him to do one thing at a time. He told us stories of what to do and not do. The “AD-measure” lady came to measure and inspect the boat, and she told us stories too. People we met on the docks and at the restaurants all had tales to tell. And then, Dottie & Ken helped other friends out as line handlers a few days before and they’d had a disastrous time, had to be towed, spend the night in the lakes, pay over $2000 in fines, etc…and they were very experienced sailors on a finely fitted yacht! So, the anxiety was amping up! While the guys waited for the various officials, the girls were busy gathering every conceivable item we’d need. A lot of food and drink, and also extra chairs, umbrellas, new cameras, etc! A big part of our job was to take care of the people who would become part of our “crew”.

We were given a line up time for 7AM on Monday, June 2^nd. We were quite sleepless the night before after hearing all those horror stories of folks that’d gone before. We were told that if the pilot didn’t like what you were serving for lunch, he could and would call for a launch to bring him lunch…at a cost of about $250; $10 for lunch and $240 for the launch. One guy apparently ONLY eats KFC chicken, and believe me, we tried to find it just in case. We’d heard tales of lazy line handlers who wanted to drink beer all day (I’d hidden ours) and were not properly trained. We were told if we couldn’t make it thru the locks in a certain time, we would have to moor in Gatun Lake, pay twice the fees AND keep everyone aboard (sans pilot) so I’d have to find places for four big sweaty guys to sleep and of course another round of meals. I had so much food socked away you’d have thought it was Thanksgiving weekend - I precooked dishes for a fussy pilot/advisor and had lots of lunch choices and carbs and junk food for snacks for the line handlers.

Monday morning: We were up at 5AM, it was pouring and the lightening was wild…nice start! I had to get my egg soufflé (I know, maybe a bit over the top) in the oven and have it ready for the pilot and crews breakfast, plus had to fashion a coffee pot out of a funnel and thermos using coffee borrowed from Dot (we don’t drink it) so I could offer it. God forbid the pilot wanted coffee and I didn’t have any ($5 for Starbucks, $245 for the launch). I was just a little anxious…

Well, the rain let up a little, then the line handlers showed up and glory be - they were great guys, very professional and funny. Then the skies cleared, and we three Trawlers headed over to the Balboa approach area - all VHF radios were tuned into Channel 12, our handhelds to Channel 68 so we could talk between boats and still not miss a word from the canal control people, we circled and awaited the two headed dragons (pilot/advisors). We couldn’t see who got on Dreamweaver, but when the pilot launch got near us, our crew started laughing and heckling him- apparently they all knew our pilot and loved working with him. Jose was the sweetest guy, very easy going, genial, joked with the guys and was happy with every little thing. He wanted whatever I was serving. Coffee, okay, but tea or just water would do as well. Then he delivered the best news - we three would be rafted together for the transit - unbelievable!

We motored in, as Voyager was the largest at almost 60 feet they were center with Wandering Star on her starboard and Dreamweaver on her port. The crews were very professional and got us lashed together snugly. Two of our line handlers and two of Dreamweaver’s grabbed the monkey fist with the messenger lines that the Canal (ACP) handlers tossed down (a big thud on deck) and then fastened the eyes of the 125′ lines so the ACP guys can haul them back up to secure to the bollards. That left little for the other 8 line handlers to do… so they danced! Really. They brought their CD’s along and all knew each other and they danced, and laughed, and ate their way thru the day! We girls (Rose, Dottie and I) climbed from boat to boat to visit and take pictures. Loren Hafen was onboard Dreamweaver as a line handler, but with the two “professionals” he was able to be ships photographer. Katie and Gerry, Les’ parents were aboard Voyager and were a big part of the celebration. Our captains had to stay at the helm, and Les was the one driving when we were rafted together (he said it felt like trying to land a 747), so the guys were working, but still having fun. Loren brought banners to support Big Bear Olympian Ryan Hall (Marathon this summer in China - GO RYAN) which we tied to our boats, Rose made a God Bless America sign and we all had large USA flags which we flew with pride…after all if not for the USA there’d be no canal! It was quite festive.

It just had to be the BEST CANAL TRANSIT ever. Going thru with dear friends and family, a fun loving crew and knowledgeable and easy going advisor/pilots - perfecto!

It was a long day and we didn’t clear out of the locks until dusk and it was dark by the time the pilot was picked up and the crew dropped at the PCYC. We felt our way into Shelter Bay Marina (hardest task of the day in the dark) quickly tied up and gathered on the docks for a champagne toast! And another one…and maybe just another little one! It was leftover junk food for dinner and then we all collapsed onto our bunks with self satisfied smiles on our faces. Ya shoulda been there!

April 2008

When we were home, we were asked what cruising Mexico is like and I told friends that it was sort of like Spring Break for 50 year olds! It’s fun, it’s social and silly, and you know it’s a special time in your life…

It was great getting back to Barra as so many neat people were still there on their boats, and more still arriving. Fellow Selener’s Les and Rose on our Buddy Boat Voyager arrived just a few hours after we did from a few weeks in Cozumel (their vacation from this endless vacation!). And the YB’s, John & Kathy finally caught up, we’d not seen them since the end of the FUBAR in November. They had a welcome home dinner for all of us on their beautiful Mystic Moon. We swapped tales and heard about the fun we were going to have over the next three weeks cruising with them. They will be going north and spending the summer in the Sea of Cortez, so conceivably, this is the last time we three Selene’s would be able to cruise together. We had to make the most of it!

Kathy had made big plans for a memorable St. Patrick’s Day in nearby, almost Irish Melaque (it’s original name was San Patricio after all). It was one of the wackiest we’ve had in a long time… After an extended happy hour on Panchita with lots of cruisers, we made our way to Melaque and enjoyed dinner at a new restaurant overlooking the square, then went to the bull ring to watch rather bizarre rodeo events, not bull fights, and back to the zocolo, the town square where a large crowd had gathered to watch the fireworks. Then, at about 11PM we heard screams of “RUN” (universal language) and saw a young man, with a bull like headdress and upper body frame with spinning, lit fireworks nailed on, run thru the crowd in a charging bull stance…these fireworks were spinning off and flying into the crowd. We were in the crowd…oh dear; this is what they meant by the “running with the bulls” on St. Patty’s day. Run! Heck yeah, run - where are the California lawyers when you need them? It was scary and really really funny! We kept trying to leave, there must have been a dozen of these “bulls” that would charge from every direction and we found ourselves ducking for cover behind stone benches, cars, other people…we were shameless in our cowardice! Small kids, no problem, we can hide behind them!

Manzanillo, which is Barra/Santiago/Las Hadas, is the southern-most turn around points for many…and late March is the end of the season. The rest of the week was happy-sad as we bid farewell to people we’ve been seeing off and on all winter. Rich and Sandy and Sam and Daryl were going back to a Catalina summer with Corsair YC, many others like Mystic Moon and Jammin would spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez, Kalinga back to Mazatlan, and John and Vicki of Lo Maintenance with their dream house right in Barra (Colimilla) would be settling into a much quieter off-season in paradise!

We went to anchor out in Santiago to see Kalinga for a final farewell. It’s Easter week(s) and the nationals, as Mexican tourists are called, are out in force - everyone comes to the coast for vacation during these two weeks. George and Joanne showed us all around “their” town and we had a delightful day. We then spent a few nights anchored off the Las Hadas resort, and found that it was an easy walk into town and Wal-Mart for provisioning. Easter morning started with Mimosa’s on WS and then into the restaurants at Las Hadas. John and Vicki were in town shopping for new kitchen appliances for their Barra casa, and were able to join us for Easter breakfast.

We took advantage of a good weather window and made our way down to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. We stopped at Grand Isle, but the seas were unusually large and the anchorages rolly, and crowded with sports fishers, jet skis, etc. so we stayed only one night and made for the marina at Ixtapa. We’d been warned that there was a dangerous break at the entrance but after a nice conversation with the Marina Mistress were assured that if we were there by noon, we’d have no problem with the entrance. Whoa. It is quite intimidating, and the surf was way up. We watched the waves crashing and timed them to the best of our ability and then went for it… our pals said they saw us surf our way in, and I was freakin out when I watched the depth sounder show 2 FEET (we draw 5) as we were careening in - it made Malibu Rapids in BC seem like child’s play. One by one, we made our way into the marina - I greeted the others with shots of tequila to celebrate our machismo in making such a brave crossing!!! Rose then surprised us with these cool fluffy flip flops that she made - cute sandals that she decorated with colorful bits of fabric, she calls them our “passage sandals”, she is very dear and clever that farm girl from Wisconsin.

There were several great cruising families at Marina Ixtapa and a dock party was deemed a necessity to get to see everyone. We were told of a rather large crocodile that liked to cruise the area and it was suggested that perhaps we’d like to have the dock party on the lawn. What? On the lawn, no way can you have a dock party on the lawn. Probably still filled with the adrenalin from our courageous entrance we decided the party would be held at the stern of our boats on the dock. We aren’t afraid of no stinkin crocodillia…

Right at the appointed hour as savory and aroma-iforous hors d’ouvres were being set out, a HUGE Crocodile appeared just behind our boat…I mean he was as long as we were wide. Turns out, I am afraid of stinkin crocodillia! Locals would come by and tell tales of him jumping up on the docks and grabbing dogs off their leashes. I kept my eye on him and ordered friends of Hiatus, who were visiting with a one year old, onto our boat. If he likes puppies, he might like babies too. He just sort of floated from stern to stern, and after awhile everyone seemed to forget that this is not a zoo or Disneyland and had another drink, but not me until that giant was several docks away, and I still jumped at shadows all night. It was quite a crocktail party! Ouch.

The Ixtapa Marina has several really good restaurants and an extraordinary new wine shoppe at the end of the row of stores. They had an impressive selection of well-priced excellent wines and assortment of liquor, by far the best since San Diego, so we stocked up. Ixtapa proper is about a mile away (an easy walk) and it’s really a tourist town with lots of high rise hotels dotted along the beach and a small town center with little markets, large restaurants and shops. The real town in this region is Zihuatanejo, or Z-what as everyone calls it. It’s very Mexican, yet it has a more cosmopolitan feel than some of the other beach towns we’ve visited. We left the marina for Z-what after a few days. The seas were still quite large and therefore the anchorage was rolly, so we moved away from the sailboats towards the middle of the bay and set stern anchors that kept us nose into the waves.

Z-what is a wonderful walking town and we often found ourselves ashore and enjoying the myriad of little tiendas with beach clothing, and lots of handicrafts, a farmers market that extended several blocks, neighborhood “pubs”, palapa restaurants, etc. Everyday was busy and eventful. Two restaurants with fantastic views we especially enjoyed were “Il Mare” on the hill overlooking the anchorage, and “Villa de la Selva”, the former home of Presidente Luis Echeverria, on the ocean side cliffs nearer Ixtapa. Of course, we still liked the simple places like the Sunset Bar on the beach that served great quesadilla’s and cold cerveza’s, and Rick’s Bar where we enjoyed the music of Jimmy Mamu and the pizza the boys went out on the streets to find (a whole ‘nuther story).

That wild night led to yet another adventure, the one featuring Ade’s lost cell phone. Don’t you hate waking up realizing that something is wrong and the details of the night are well, fuzzy? Mid morning he realized he did not have his phone, so I called it thinking he misplaced it and a little voice answered, “Bueno” - oh oh, not lost on the boat, just lost! Suffice to say, this presented us with a wonderful opportunity to meet the locals, work on our Spanglish, find streets and neighborhood we’d never otherwise see, and be rewarded with not only the return of Ade’s indispensable cell phone, but a mile wide smile on the face of the ten year old girl who found it when we offered her a reward. All and all, a win win!

Z-what is a great place to buy Mexican handicrafts, gift items for loved ones, and cool objects d’arte for the boat. Sandy of Chelsea Skye had showed me the hand painted wooden bowls that she found there during Z-fest, and so the hunt was on. We worked our way through dozens and dozens of tienda’s each looking for the perfect piece! We found several! There were good buys on lightweight clothing that have become essential in the heat and humidity and each night we girls would show off a new outfit. All too soon, it was time for the YB’s to head north and for us to get south before the weather turned. It was especially hard for Les and Rose to say goodbye, as they have all been close friends and cruising buddies from the PacNW for years. John and Les are like two little boys who would never have been allowed to sit near one another in grade school - they bring that out in each other, which is what makes them such delicious playmates for all of us!

So, Spring Break is over, for now, and we ready ourselves for the high adventure of moving further south and east into more exotic and remote cruising destinations.

March 2008

We’re back on board after a three-week trip to the states for business and family. We ‘d left Wandering Star snuggled into Barra de Navidad’s Grand Bay Marina, and knew she would be fine.

It was fantastic seeing family and friends, we really had a fast, but productive trip. However, immediately after our arrival we had to plan our departure as we had so many things we needed to bring back, things that were just not available in Mexico and were likely to become even scarcer once we moved onto Central America. Ade had been ordering must have items for the boat since Christmas, and as our mail is all sent to BB, he had everything shipped there. As packages arrived, Heather and Ted dutifully loaded it all into our bedroom…that is, until there was no more room, then they started to stack it in the garage.

Ade had to get right to work on business and the ATPA, which meant the whole team was in Las Vegas - so I took a quick trip to BB to see Mom and the kids. I arrived when no one was home and when I opened the door I could not believe my eyes…what was all this stuff and how would we ever get it back to the boat in Mexico…in fact, how was I going to get it all into the 4 Runner and back to LV? Boxes of all shapes and sizes from every imaginable boating catalog company were stacked on the bed and into every corner of the room. Then I remembered the stuff in the garage…oh my! We were in trouble. Included in the mix were a new, slightly smaller dinghy, a huge dehumidifier, bumpers, lines, SSB radios, and lots of essential parts. Add to that the items we’d promised to bring back, like 36 paint sets for the kids at the school in Colimilla, boxes of other give away items to villagers, and of course, the girly items that I can’t find here and are every bit as essential to ME as the other stuff was to the boat.

I was able to discard enough of the packaging to get it in the car and back our HQ in the desert and see how Ade figured this one out.

He did, send back the items that really were too big (the dehumidifier that was the size of a dorm refrigerator) or just not right, and made piles of things that might have to wait until we return in July…but still, it looked impossible to me. Ade somehow got it all into three huge suitcases and one box, all over the weight limit for the airlines and then we packed ourselves like Sherpa’s with backpacks, carry-on’s, etc.

After weeks of concern about how we would ever pull this off, combined with a healthy dose of playing the positive “wouldn’t it be nice if…game” (where you imagine everything going very well and say to yourself, and each other things like, “wouldn’t it be nice if everyone we encountered today loved their jobs and were good at it” and you know what, it was one of those rare perfect days to travel. We arrived at 4:30AM on a Sunday morning to an already crowded Las Vegas airport, with long long lines just to get into the check in counter, and were dragging our luggage out of the taxi, when magically, a large, bald, non-uniformed man appeared at the curb and said he could check our bags for us, and loaded the four 50- 75 lb bags on his unmarked cart and took us to the front of the lines. Okay, so far so good. Then he asked for our passports, tickets and a credit card and disappeared with our baggage into the massive crowd. We were smiling when Ade suddenly frowned and said, “we just handed over our luggage, passports, credit card, etc. to a stranger who we have lost sight of…find him”! Shaken from the blissful feeling of the success of my “wouldn’t it be nice if… game” I quickly ran after him. Oh ye of little faith, there he was all the way at the end of the counter working with a uniformed employee - I tried to stay hidden as I watched them handle our luggage and paperwork, and raced back before he could catch my distrustful actions. And voila, 10 minutes after our arrival, we were checked in all the way to Manzanillo with only a minor fee for excess luggage, even though we were using multiple carriers! It was like that all day.

Ah, but here come the sweaty palms again, as we now have to get all this stuff through Mexican customs with random receipts, official boat import paperwork and really sketchy Spanish. “Wouldn’t it be nice if, wouldn’t it be nice if…” and it was magic time again! A baggage handler loaded our stuff onto his cart, Ade stepped up and pressed the Red Light/Green Light button (they way they randomly check luggage) and got a green light and we started to waltz our way out the door when, Oh-Oh, the Aduana- customs man signaled for us to stop and pointed to our massive load of luggage. Drat! Ah, but he only wanted to see one of the bags, and only one section of it…and wouldn’t you know it, it was the compartment with all my girly stuff in it. He nodded to Ade with a knowing look, like, ‘Whoa, this is ALL HER stuff, she must be seriously high maintenance!” If only he knew!

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 12^th 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 2^nd. 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 1^st 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 5^th 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 th