Author: kerri

Dear F&F,

April 4-5, 2009

April 4
We were up at dawn again, so underway in the cool of the morning. We stayed
quite a bit offshore since there were some rocky pinnacles which made it
interesting along the coastline near the old Marina Flamingo (now closed).
The wind picked up enough to sail for 2 hours. During that time we had half
an hour of spotted dolphins swimming right with us. There were many Mamas
with 2 foot long Babies close beside – so cute! Many males also played
between our 2 bows. Scott took some video. I just sat on the bow seat
grinning ear to ear. These moments remind me why I live on a boat.

The afternoon got pretty toasty again. We slathered the sunscreen & stayed
in the shade of the bimini. I have taken to wearing my bikini. Least
possible clothing is best. We drink water & Gatorade continually. If there
is some breeze in our face it helps a lot.

It was a 10 hour travel day. Late in the afternoon we anchored at Bahia
Carillo which we are affectionately referring to as a truck stop. There is
no particular attraction here at all. It just allows us to sleep instead of
travel all night. Two other cruising boats pulled in after us. A big
schooner heading north & a 36 foot monohull (couple from the Bay Area)
heading south to the Panama Canal, across the Atlantic then on to Europe. We
swapped stories via radio with the schooner captain. The wife on the
monohull swam over & treaded water while we chatted with her. One boat on
each side of us, not too lumpy & as the sun is setting it is cooling off.

So early to bed & early to rise again. I was tempted briefly to jump
overboard with the other woman treading water, but it is so green & murky,
extremely unappealing when you can\’t even see your own feet. A cold shower
will do.

Before bedtime the boat was rolling too much to sleep comfortably so we
moved our position & set the stern anchor to hold us bow to the waves
better. Much better. I nearly got seasick just looking at the 2 monohulls
wig-wagging in the swell.

April 5
Today is our last big day trip, another 60-70 mile day. There was not
enough wind from the right direction to really go sailing. We did put just
the genoa out for a while & I got to clear up some sail trim questions with
Captain Scott. He is a good teacher. He gets frustrated with me sometimes.
He thinks I know more than I do. Everything is so automatic & natural for
him from his years of experience that he forgets that I really don\’t know &
understand a lot about sailing our boat. We have motored much more than
sailed for the past 5 years. Can you believe our Beach House will already be
5 years old on April 15?

We really like being alone on the water, listening to music. Today\’s
wildlife highlight was a yellow-footed booby sitting on a piece of
driftwood. We passed by fairly close & decided he was so delightful we\’d
circle around & have another look at him. Scott took some pictures & the
bird was quite cooperative in posing, no doubt proud of his magnificent
yellow feet.

Since today\’s passage was long & not much boat traffic, Scott decided to
tackle installing the new helm hatch. It is under & below the wheel. We had
to be on auto pilot, which we mostly are on when not maneuvering, because
the wheel had to be taken off. I kept watch & assisted in my “Vanna White
way”. After measuring twice, he cut once. The new hole is just a tiny bit
larger than the old hole. The old chinzy hatch cover had been replaced twice
before & on the last trip to LA, we brought back a much better quality one
that should hold up. Removing the old one & cleaning up after that was half
of it. Then there was a messy ordeal with power saw, electric drill, sticky
adhesive, etc. I have photos of Scott with tool in hand to show that he is
not losing his touch with a drill. He is quite pleased with himself. One
item off of Megan\’s bed…many more to go before she arrives in 6 days.

We anchored out in Bahia Herradura at Los Suenos. We have both anchors out
again tonight but still rocking around a bit. Since were out to sea we did
not get to take in any local flavor of the Palm Sunday holiday. There are a
lot of locals camping along all the beaches. The whole country is on
vacation this week. I will be interested to see if the Marriott near the
marina has only gringos or some wealthy Costa Ricans on holiday at the fancy
resort. My understanding from a taxi driver the other day is that today was
the religious Easter & next Sunday is the eggs & bunnies Easter.

We have travelled 6 of the past 8 days. Scott is already asleep at 7:30 pm.
I am tired also, but it is too dang hot, still 86 degrees inside. It is 82
with a lovely breeze outside but it seems to take the boat half the night to
cool down from the days heat load. I succumbed to jumping overboard this
afternoon but the water was yucky pea green murk & I couldn’t see my own
feet. Disappointingly, it was not that refreshing. Some benefit when I got
out, due to a slight \”chill factor\” (more like thank God factor) as the
breeze glazed over my wet body.

So far the coast of Costa Rica has been much drier than we\’d expected. It
doesn\’t look all that different than Mexico, fewer cacti perhaps. We know it
is the end of the dry season. But we just thought that meant it would not be
raining. We didn\’t realize everything would look so dry. We are not going
down as far as the Panamanian border, or to the inland mountains where it is
probably more lush.

Sadly they are overbuilding just like Mexico. I am sure Costa Rica used to
be a gem. It is actually quite depressing to read the Lonely Planet
guidebook. Drugs and prostitution are rampant. I keep scanning the pages
trying to discern where the remaining rain forests are & what we should try
to see while here. It sounds like uncontrolled building and non-eco
dominated tourism has ruined the country. I am yet hopeful to have a
positive experience here on land.

Next we will be heading to Cocos Island & then the Galapagos where wonderful
adventures by land & sea are more certain.

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,

April 2-3, 2009

April 2
One other sailboat was anchored in Bahia Santa Elena when we arrived. It is
a well protected bay in the very north of the country. The north is drier
than the south and this is the end of the dry season. Except for the morning
sounds of tropical birds, we could just as well been at Catalina Island in
So Cal.

We rested from our overnight run, too hot to do anything. The water was very
green. We heard from the other boaters who went around the point to snorkel,
that it was not clear outside the bay either. There were a few panga
fishermen. We did not see the Costa Rican Coast Guard. Hope to get a good
night’s rest then move on to where we can officially check into the country.

April 3
CHECKING IN

We upped the anchor at sunrise & motored 5 hours to El Coco. En route, we
passed Santa Rosa National Park. This is where Colonel Oliver North trained
the “Contras” to fight against the “Sandinistas” in the 1980’s. As sort of
a macabre statement, a local surf site is named “Ollies’ Rock”. It’s only 5
miles from Santa Elena/Santa Rosa to the Nicaraguan border.

El Coco is an open roadsted type anchorage. The guide books say that theft
is a major concern all over Costa Rica, so we locked all hatches & doors.
Beach House becomes a sauna when all closed up in the heat & humidity. We
gathered the usual documents: passports, exit papers from the last country
(Nicaragua), boat documentation, insurance, etc. We dinghied to shore – wet
landing – which is where I jump out with my water sandals (hoping it’s not
deeper than my legs). I hold the dinghy straight while Scott pulls up the
engine so it won’t drag in the sand. He gets his workout pulling the dinghy
up onto dry sand. We took our longest cable & padlocked the dinghy to a
tree.

El Coco is a rustic beach town. We quickly found the Port Captain’s office,
1 block inland. Round 1 accomplished there in half an hour. He directed us
to Immigration. We had to go quickly another 4 blocks to immigration before
they left for lunch. Since another boat told us that this office made them
wait 1 1/2 hours for no apparent reason, we were prepared to be super
friendly & charming. We got lucky that the agent lit up when we asked if she
& her helper would like something cold to drink. Si, Coca Cola! Scott went
across the street, returned with “dos colas” & we were checked in, in only
20 minutes. Fantastico.

Next was a 30 minute cab ride to Liberia airport (small local airport).
Driver Louis had worked in Los Angeles was quite fluent in English so we
asked him a lot of questions about the area. The north, where we are is
pretty dry & grows cantaloupes. We kept trying to find out what tourists do
here, but it sounded like going to the beach was the main thing. The Customs
office was just a little window at the airport. We were done there in about
15 minutes. Cab ride back to the Port Captain for final round of paperwork.
Voila, done! (Is there a Spanish equivalent of voila?)

Hot & sweaty, but we saved $450 going on this triple office tour ourselves
rather than hiring the very expensive private agent that would have done the
leg work for us. We are using the agent to get a permit for Cocos Island
($200). It is too important for us that check-in there is quick & easy since
we only get to stay 12 days & have a week of diving scheduled. In Guatemala
an agent to do the runaround was only $50, so it was worth it. In El
Salvador & Nicaragua the agents came right to our boat, easy as pie. Each
country has its own routine.

The taxi driver recommended a lunch spot, I enjoyed fish with rice & Scott
had the chicken. Both came with plantains & fruit also; very nice. But now I
have a bit of intestinal disfortitude… We\’ve been so lucky eating &
drinking whatever we want.

Playa (means beach) Coco was looking kind of rolly when we returned to the
big boat so we motored 4 miles around the bend to this anchorage called
Playa Panama. No we are not near Panama. Turns out we are lying sideways to
the swell so it is just as rolly here as the other place. It has been
raining off & on, which is a bummer when it is so hot because we cannot open
any windows. We pretty much have a catamaran shaped sauna. Scott turned on
the generator for a couple of hours so we could cool off a bit & reduce the
interior humidity. We put the side awning up so hopefully we can keep the
bedroom hatches open without getting soaked overnight. It depends on which
way the wind blows. Boaters we met elsewhere are here & have family
visiting at the hotel on the beach so they have use of the hotel pool & are
enjoying that.

We need to get further south & plan to leave at day break tomorrow. It will
take us 2 days travel to get near Manuel Antonio State Park which is
supposed to be one of the most accessible parks from the coast. We have a
reservation at Los Suenos Marina for the week Megan, my niece from NY, is
visiting. It is always best to be at a dock with non-boating guests. It
costs a freakin’ fortune, but there is no competition and no safe anchorages
to leave the boat unattended while we do day tours.

I can\’t say that I love Costa Rica yet, but I hope to soon. We saw many
dolphins today on our 5 hour motor ride. I am always excited when they swim
between our hulls for a while. Makes it all worthwhile.

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 31 – April 1, 2009

Yesterday we mostly munched paperwork with our scanner: receipts, warranties, instruction manuals, statements. We try to scan as much as possible & take important stuff back to our Los Angeles storage unit for filing, tossing the rest. Having WiFi onboard is a rare convenience. Scott had practically \”live chat\” emails with an agent in Costa Rica and the Galapagos. He got a mechanic referral for the bolt problem and confirmed our dates with the marine electrician.

We indulged in a sunset swim. The pool was a good size for soaking & short laps. The water temperature was the same as the air, about 85 degrees so not what you would call refreshing, but always lovely to move the body in water. Our evening entertainment was the movie \”Juno\”. We got a good laugh discovering that is how the singing duo \”Moldy Peaches\” came to be. Played often on Sirius Coffee House station, they sing poorly a silly, yet catchy tune that is annoying yet hilarious at the same time. Sadly, we sailed out of range of the satellite radio in El Salvador.

April 1
The Tres Amigos showed up as requested at 7:00 am: Migracion, Aduana (Customs), Capitania de Puerto. Two of us cruising boats are checking out of the country today, but Scott waved them over to us first. I was eager to get them in & out so I could then have my tea & breakfast in peace. The Immigration Agent & Port Captain were the same two that checked us in 2 days ago, but the Customs agent was a different guy. He was good natured & set his cell phone on the table with Bob Marley tunes playing while they filled out their forms, signed & stamped. Scott manned the copy machine. I scrambled for exact change for each of the fees. Note to self: carry more small bills at all times. The Port Captain got a bonus $15. We never got any Cordobas (Nicaraguan currency), but they happily took dollars.

Our bill at the marina was more than we expected, a steep charge for electricity. Oh well, being able to use the air conditioning was worth it. We saw nothing of Nicaragua except Marina Puesta del Sol. One of the nicer marinas, very tranquil with beautiful grounds. A helpful dock worker tossed me our lines as Scott pulled away from the dock. Upon arrival, we had backed into our double wide slip which makes for an easy exit. The wide channel out of the lagoon is well marked with buoys and is plenty deep all the way out.

I earned April Fool status by not putting on a scopalamine patch last night. When will I ever learn?! I feel so perfectly fine when I do wear it that somehow I forget how awful I will feel without it. I\’ve developed a skin sensitivity to the patch, but a few days of an itchy scabby spot behind the ear is well worth prevention of seasickness. Our course on the ocean put us almost directly into the 3-5 foot swells with a southerly breeze. I had taken a Bonine before leaving the dock, but it wasn\’t enough. I decided to give the Sturgeron a try. (Sandy, you were right, it is a miracle!) I felt nearly perfect in about 30 minutes. Due to my initially deteriorated state, Scott took the first watch, which set us up to be opposite our usual routine all day & night. Fine with me, I only have to do one night shift this way.

The wind increased strength & the direction backed around enough for us to sail from 1:00-6:00 pm. It is such a wonderful feeling to turn off the engines & watch the sails harness nature\’s power. The land breeze overcame the sea breeze after dark so we tucked the sails away & returned to motoring. We look forward to the offshore passage in June, getting into the trade winds, sailing day and night for a couple of weeks. For now, we are still closely watching the port oil pressure, hoping the remnant of the broken bolt will keep its place until we can get it replaced. I cooked Scott a hamburger while I ate assorted leftovers for dinner. Another dose of Sturgeron for insurance before I went down for my 7:00 pm -10:00 pm nap.

A one-third moon is keeping me company. The unmistakable Southern Cross is visible just under the bimini. A string of fishing panga lights inshore keeps me out further, over 7 miles from land. We are not in a rush, since we are timing our arrival with sunrise, so it does not matter if we take a wide course. I see the occasional path of dolphins swimming along side, stirring up a wake of bio-luminescense. I can hear them exhale, but I cannot see the body of the animals in the dark, even with a flashlight.

Our morning destination is Bahia Santa Elena, our first stop in Costa Rica. We are hoping to enjoy a day and night of rest in what the guide book describes as a pristine, well protected anchorage. There are no facilities at this National Park and we will not be officially checked into the country. We hope the Navy is not patrolling or simply ignores us. We\’ve heard many boaters stop here without a problem, and we will certainly fly the country flag. Checking in to Costa Rica is not as easy as the the other Central American countries. We will brave that challenge at our next port (El Coco) in a couple of days.

Signing off at near midnight. Two more hours on my watch, all is well.

Scott & Cindy