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Passage ReportsBelow is an example of a passage report. This report can be exported to a file, emailed to someone or printed from BoatExec.
Passage Report for Jenny Passage: Isla Meanguera to Puesta del Sol Departed Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 7:25 PM local time from Isla Meanguera. The departure location was latitude 12 degrees 46.487 minutes North, longitude 87 degrees 37.877 minutes West. Narrative Sunday, May 11, 2008 1:58:38 PM Location: At Sea Latitude is 12 degrees 45.205 minutes north. Longitude is 87 degrees 36.304 minutes west. This weather observation was at Sunday, May 11, 2008 6:36:29 AM local time. Observation location: Isla Meanguera. Latitude is 13 degrees 10.857 minutes north. Longitude is 87 degrees 41.567 minutes west. The air temperature is 82, and water temperature is 80 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 1 knots from the north. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and rising. Its nice not being on a schedule. I guess if you get past the 6 month mark, you can get into a different groove, a different view of cruising. At this point, the boat becomes a home instead of a vehicle. You keep your home in a place for as long as you want / can afford to and enjoy being there. Then, you can move your home to a new place and be there for a while. Its really different from thinking about where you are going. Its more about being in different places. On the other hand, keeping a boat in top working condition is a constant challenge. Below is my list of things to do while we are in Puesta del Sol. * install new gaskets on the main engine exhaust * install a new water temperature sensor on the main engine * add a water pump to the Tecma toilet * install a new VHF antenna on the dingy * do the regular maintenance list items * install new TPS uphaul rigging * install new boom rigging * install a new magnatron on the open array Furuno * replace the deck light bulb * install the new navigation running boards and lights * clean the keel coolers and propeller * find out why the referigerator is not getting enough current in DC mode and fix That's all. A lot of these items have been accumulating over the past 6 months, waiting for the arrival of parts. Now that the parts are onboard, the work begins. Since Puesta del Sol is only about 100 miles from the lower edge of the hurricane zone, is the last inexpensive marina before going through the canal, and is a good place to leave the boat for inland excursions (which shamefully we have not done), we hope to stay there at least a month. Then we will move southeast again and see what Costa Rica is all about in June / July and then explore Pacific Panama in July / August. Life is good. das Arrival Arrived Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 5:12 PM local time at Marina Puesta del Sol. The arrival location was latitude 12 degrees 37.559 minutes North, longitude 87 degrees 20.487 minutes West. The customs checkin was Nicaragra. The trip covered 50.48 nautical miles in 0d 8h 1m with an average speed of 6.30 knots and a maximum speed of 7.90 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 2:39 PM local time. The total fuel load was 574. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:44 PM local time. The total fuel load was 564. The trip used 10.0 gallons, burned 2.64 gallons / hour and used 5.05 miles / gallon. Narrative Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:06:57 PM Location: Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. No recent weather observation is available. I'm sitting at the desk in the master cabin with the generator running and the air conditioner running, eating the last of the Pepperidge Farm Brussels cookies. I deserve it after a long sweaty day in the office replacing the gaskets on the three engine exhaust flanges. The generator is on because the shore power was turned off, but more on that later. After taking the insulation off of the exhaust pipe from the exhaust header up to the point where it goes up the stack, it was apparent that all three gaskets were gone. They must have been made of some kind of ceramic, but all were completely fractured with pieces missing. To make things worse, the nut on one of the 1/2 inch by 3 inch bolts on the first flange was stripped and had to be cut out with a hack saw. UGH. The rest came out easily. I worked from about 7:00 AM until about 3:00 PM taking out the connecting pipe, cleaning the flange surfaces, cutting new gaskets and getting them installed. I'll post more details to the Nordhavn 46 group along with pictures. I still have the one gasket to install, but need the bolt I had to cut. A neighbor at the dock has a car and he is going to town tomorrow and will try to get one. Fingers are crossed. In any case, I ran out of energy and quit for the day. The shower felt great as does the AC! Looking back on El Salvador and comparing it Nicaragua, it is a really nice country with an upbeat personality. I think they are going to do very well. I talked to a native who went to the same prep school in Tampa as our boys did. He is a land owner and I just happened to bring back an article regarding a plant that Florida is experimenting with to produce bio diesel and replace citrus crops. They hope to get 1,000 gallons of fuel per 1,000 acres. That would make a huge difference for the US and if it was successful in El Salvador it could easily make them energy independent in a decade. Well, this guy knew about the plant, and in fact is this week in Florida trying to get grant money to try it out down here. While the people outside San Salvador are poor, there are lots of trucks on the road and commerce is bustling. People are smiling and kidding around all the time. If you are interested in ocean front property, a cruiser we met decided to make El Salvador home, and purchased an ocean front home, complete with pool and compound for $70,000. Yup. Now, he has a full time maid and a grounds keeper / guard on duty and the windows have bars, but I'll bet the need gradually will go away over the next decade. Something to think about. We took a ride into town yesterday on the marina van. The dirt road between the marina / resort and the paved road was lined with homesteads all along the way. It looked like all were either subsistence farming. Some appeared to have electricity, but most had only well water. The homes were poorer quality than in El Salvador, with some being only thatched roof huts. Each homestead looked like it was an extended family, on their own. Horses and mules were used to carry loads, with some dragging tire based carts. A few people had small motorcycles. The schools we saw were open air, and seemed to be over by noon. The paved road to town looked new, and was filled with bicycles, horses, horse drawn carts and a very few cars. The public transportation buses were parked along the road because they could no longer afford the fuel to run them. The rolling blackouts that hit the marina are because the country can't afford the fuel to keep the power up. The town was larger than Usulutan in El Salvador, and seemed more modern and prosperous with all the roads paved. The people here are just not joyful like in El Salvador, and some are angry. One of our fellow cruisers said Nicaragua is the poorest country in Latin America after Haiti. What is obvious is that any country can be successful and prosperous if it has an intelligent, caring and durable government. Nicaragua, aligned with Venezuela, Cuba, and the DR, doesn't. We are going to stay here a while longer to get our projects done, then head south. There really isn't much to see and do here. das Narrative Sunday, May 18, 2008 8:54:58 PM Location: Puesta del Sol Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. No recent weather observation is available. After making progress on our superstructure waxing and completing some small projects, Dee Dee and Larry Biggs with their daughter Isabella from Nexus came over to visit. We spent a very nice few hours with them. They of course loved Jenny and had many favorable things to say about 46's in general. Their Nordhavn 47 is quite nice too and at 110,000 lbs a lot bigger. Dee Dee and Larry are east coast people, and after spending the year up in Alaska and down the west coast, were very ready to get back to the Caribbean with its wonderful islands, warm water and European flavor. They made us feel that the best is yet to come. Larry was also involved in the UFC and was the wrestling coach for one of the training camps that has had many championship bouts and wins. The UFC is about the only sport I watch (when I can) any more. It was very cool. He is a former CEO of a public company, and is now involved in putting together a Latin American UFC "League". We also chatted about politics, healthcare, business opportunities, east coast boating, the transition from Nexus from being a vehicle to being a movable home. We have quite a lot in common with them and will probably hook up with them again in Panama. There are about 7 cruising boats here now that are continuing south. The big debate is whether to leave here tomorrow for Costa Rica or Tuesday. After looking at the weather forecasts, Mary and I chose to go on Tuesday and avoid some heaver winds that will blow across from the Caribbean Monday night. We will also get another chance to grocery shop before being on the hook for a few weeks. Everyone is looking forward to clear water and nice beaches. The water here is warm, but still not clear. Larry uses Caribbean standards (100 ft visibility) and needless to say is disappointed in the west coast even Panama. Right now I'd settle for 30 ft and be happy! I've made significant progress on my project list. We hope to complete our spring superstructure waxing tomorrow and that will leave only the new navigation lights and light boards as major projects on the list. Good timing as I hope we will be doing a lot more swimming and diving over the next month or two. I'll even get to use our new Hooka system this week when we get to our first Costa Rica anchorage. The Air Conditioner is really nice... das Passage: Puesta del Sol to Bahia Santa Elena Departed Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 5:40 PM local time from Puesta del Sol Marina. The departure location was latitude 12 degrees 35.263 minutes North, longitude 87 degrees 21.627 minutes West. Narrative Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:11:01 AM Location: At Sea Latitude is 11 degrees 26.179 minutes north. Longitude is 86 degrees 13.607 minutes west. This weather observation was at Wednesday, May 21, 2008 5:58:21 AM local time. Observation location: At Sea. Latitude is 11 degrees 26.282 minutes north. Longitude is 86 degrees 13.764 minutes west. The air temperature is 80, and water temperature is 80 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is rain. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 3 knots from the northeast. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 2 feet with 2 foot swells. The barometer is 1007 millibars and rising. Five boats left Puesta del Sol Nicaragua the two days ago to go Bahia Santa Elana in Costa Rica and are presumabley already there. Five more left yesterday, us included. We left around 10:30 AM local time the rest went later. The forecast was for light and variable winds all the way down. Well, I guess the weather model does not consider local weather phenominon. We had a good 15 knots of wind onshore all day and put the birds down around 5 in the afternoon. Then it quieted down around 8:00 PM and thunderstorms grew up on shore. They were fun to watch for a while until they started moving off shore. Around 9:00 PM we were in the middle of our first boomer underway. It rained and flashed for the next three hours. Fortunately the wind stayed pretty low most of the time. It was quite the experience since neither of us knew quite what to expect. All the backup electronics was stashed in the oven in case we got hit, but I think the nearest flash was more than 4 miles away. We also bucked a good 1.5 knot current until about 5 AM so wwe were making only about 5 knots most of the way. We're now making 5.7 and are avoiding the adverse current by hugging the shore as it furns from SE to NW making a shallow bay. The sea turned clear and blue and came alive again a few hours south of Puesta del Sol. It was the best we've seen since Huatulco. We were joined by a school of over 50 bridled dolphin (got the book now) came over and kept us company for about an hour. Nicholas really enjoys watching them. And, they've been around the boat this morning. For some reason, the coast of El Salvador and Nicaragua has cloudy water and apparently little marine life. The book says we will see clear turquoise water in Costa Rica. We are all looking forward to it! It is still overcast with cumulus clouds dumping rain in various spots over land and on the water. This area is notorious for Papagayo Winds that blow through from the Carribean. So, hugging the coast has additional benefits. We'll turn west when we get close to the bend in the land, and then duck into Bahia Santa Elana. It is a very well and nicely prootected little bay that should have about 10 boats in it soon. Our cheap $40 West Marine binoculars hit the floor last night and brok into two large pieces. We were not vigillent enough to have properly stowed them. This is the reason you only buy cheap binoculars. It is inevitable that they will be thrown to the ground and break. In this case, even though broken, I screwed the pieces back together and they are functional once again. 7:30 AM - It's a comfortable 78 degrees F out and we are actually running in a rain shower for the first time since we were in the PNW 4 years ago. It's a real nice change. Van Morrison is playing on the sterio. We are cruising again... das Arrival Arrived Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 1:02 PM local time at Bahia Santa Elana. The arrival location was latitude 10 degrees 55.322 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 48.879 minutes West. The customs checkin was None. The trip covered 142.03 nautical miles in 1d 1h 21m with an average speed of 5.60 knots and a maximum speed of 7.10 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:44 PM local time. The total fuel load was 564. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The trip used 66.0 gallons, burned 2.60 gallons / hour and used 2.15 miles / gallon. Narrative Thursday, May 22, 2008 7:39:04 AM Location: Bahia Santa Elana Latitude is 10 degrees 55.342 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 48.902 minutes west. This weather observation was at Friday, May 23, 2008 6:27:56 AM local time. Observation location: Bahia Santa Elana. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 78, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Downpours. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 2 knots from the southeast. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and rising. Well, it rained the rest of the day yesterday, but this morning dawned bright and blue. Last night was nice and cool so we did not need the air conditioner at all. The anchorage here is beautiful and the water is clear to 30 feet. We caught a Dorado on the way in yesterday and had a few pieces for dinner. Yummy. Later today I'll break out the new Hookah unit and do some diving. There are 4 other boats here and I suspect we will be doing some snorkeling too. We will continue doing some projects here like cleaning the bottom and finishing the waxing. We'll also take the dingy in and do some exploring on shore. This is a national park, and looks quite interesting. das Narrative Friday, May 23, 2008 6:43:40 AM Location: Bahia Santa Elana Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. This weather observation was at Friday, May 23, 2008 6:27:56 AM local time. Observation location: Bahia Santa Elana. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 78, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Downpours. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 2 knots from the southeast. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and rising. Yesterday was another busy day. We woke up to a bright blue sunny sky. The weather is one of sun and downpours. As yet, there has not been any thunder and lightening within the bay though. Our water catching is working, but not quite keeping up with our consumption. It is nice to have sun and rain, creating a nice variety through the day that we missed in California and Mexico. We can hear Howler monkeys on shore as well as wild parrots. I broke out the Hookah yesterday and used it to begin cleaning the bottom. The last time I got to do this was Acapulco. I had thought that the month in Barillas would have kept most of the growth down to nothing. Fortunately it did for the most part. However, it did leave a brown growth on the hull that requires strong brushing to get off. The barnacle growth was minimal except on the propeller. The propeller must be kept really polished to give us efficient passages. It was covered with barnacles. I'll have to dive on the bottom again today and maybe a little more tomorrow to get it clean and the prop polished. The Hookah is a wonderful tool. Except for the noise from the pump pulses going down the air hose, it is completely unobtrusive, unlike Scuba. With Scuba, you are carrying up to 100 lbs of gear which is clumsy and tiring. With the Hookah, the gear is no more than the addition of the regulator. Nothing else intrudes. WIthout the Hookah, I can now see that it would be impossible to keep up with bottom maintenance, thus resulting in slower passages and additional fuel consumption. Combined with the cost of having someone else clean the bottom when they are available, the cost of the Hookah easily pays for itself. I've also been tuning up on my weather data gathering while remote (no internet). Weather Buoy is our primary tool, but it does not give us the big picture through our email requests. So, I spent a few hours yesterday setting up frequencies and schedules to receive the weather faxes for this area. It takes some work to fine tune the schedule as the broadcast times and content changes over time. I need to verify and finish that work today too. I want to say here (it is beautiful!) until we finish our spring waxing, bottom cleaning, and some projects. The beach is also very nice and good for exploring and swimming. Life is good. If you want to contact us, use KI6CEL@Winlink.org since we will not have Internet for a while. das Narrative Saturday, May 24, 2008 6:50:54 AM Location: Bahia Santa Elana Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. No recent weather observation is available. Well, Jenny's bottom is now clean as a baby's butt. Today I'll finish working on the propeller and the superstructure waxing. Then we'll be ready to go again. I also replaced the magnetron in the large open array radar and it's working like new again. When we wake up, the temperature is around 75 degrees and very comfortable. Nicholas and I take a trip into the beach where there are loads of shells, many of which are inhabited by hermit crabs. We are the only boate in the bay now and walking along the beach is like being on a deserted island. It is very quiet and peaceful. das Narrative Monday, May 26, 2008 7:54:12 AM Location: Bahia Santa Elana Latitude is 10 degrees 55.332 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 48.913 minutes west. This weather observation was at Monday, May 26, 2008 6:56:35 AM local time. Observation location: Bahia Santa Elana. Latitude is 10 degrees 55.334 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 48.913 minutes west. The air temperature is 74, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is rain. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the east. The visibility is 5 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady. Well, the weather has closed in with at tropical depression sitting just off the coast. We are still in Costa Rica, but haven't checked in yet. We've had sunny mornings and rainy afternoons pretty consistently for the days we've been here, but today we woke up to an overcast sky and light rain. Later in the week, the weather is supposed to turn nasty with winds up to 30 knots and 22 ft seas out of the southwest. Since this bay is well protected from that direction, we plan to say here until the system passes. The three other boats we were with sailed down to Coco, the port of entry yesterday and plan to clear in today. However, that bay is open to the southwest as are many along this coast. So, they might be coming back up here later today or tomorrow. We've been gathering water while here and while it hasn't kept up with our consumption, it has helped quite a bit. What we really need is a downpour or two. das Passage: Bahia Santa Elana to Playa de Panama Departed Monday, May 26, 2008 at 8:55 PM local time from Bahia Santa Elana anchor. The departure location was latitude 10 degrees 35.477 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 39.583 minutes West. Arrival Arrived Monday, May 26, 2008 at 2:56 PM local time at Playa de Panama. The arrival location was latitude 10 degrees 35.477 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 39.585 minutes West. The customs checkin was Coco Capitan del Puerto. The trip covered 40.96 nautical miles in 0d 6h 48m with an average speed of 6.00 knots and a maximum speed of 7.60 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:44 PM local time. The total fuel load was 564. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The trip used 66.0 gallons, burned 3126.32 gallons / hour and used 0.62 miles / gallon. Narrative Monday, May 26, 2008 7:23:06 PM Location: Playa de Panama Costa Rica Latitude is 10 degrees 35.489 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.609 minutes west. This weather observation was at Monday, May 26, 2008 6:56:35 AM local time. Observation location: Bahia Santa Elana. Latitude is 10 degrees 55.334 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 48.913 minutes west. The air temperature is 74, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is rain. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the east. The visibility is 5 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady. We had a bumpy ride down here today. We rounded two points of land and a bunch of islands which tore up the water. So, the birds went in. On the weather front there are now two new pieces of information. First, the word from a boat coming north is that the Poterio bay does not offer much of any protection. Second, the big wind and waves have been removed from the forecast, but a nasty 8 second chop is forecast for Wednesday through Saturday. We have our Barillas boats around us now, and the consensus is to say put until this weather resolves itself. One of the boats is heading for Equador, has a crew and thus has a schedule, so they are staying but not happy. Crew is definately a two edged sword. This is a big bay and very pretty. The hills are being terraced for homes and development is evident. Tomorrow we will go to shore here and take a taxi into the port captain's office to check in and do some shopping. We'll probably head south when the rest of the boats do. There is a big bay (Nicoya) about 200 miles from here that is where we want to stop and spend some time. But in the meantime... das Narrative Wednesday, May 28, 2008 8:20:07 AM Location: Playa Panama Latitude is 10 degrees 35.495 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.622 minutes west. This weather observation was at Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:57:06 AM local time. Observation location: Playa Panama, Costa Rica. Latitude is 10 degrees 35.494 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.621 minutes west. The air temperature is 76, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is drizzle. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 6 knots from the east. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1005 millibars and rising. It continues to amaze me how comfortable the temperature is here all day long. We wake up to the lower 70's and ti seems to peak in the lower 80's. We have not run the air conditioner since leaving Nicaragua. There is a frontal system that is stalled off of Panama that is causing the overcast sky and steady drizzle, and has me wondering if it is the cause of these fine temperatures. We're enjoying them anyway. We took a taxi into the small town of Playa Coco to check in. It's a nice town, but we were expecting to see better infrastructure. This area is under heavy development with condo's and timeshares going up all over the hills. Sea view lots seem to be going for about $120,000; condos for about $200,000. There is a big condo development going up in Playa Coco and a new supermarket. In spite of that, the native buildings, roads, etc. are at pre-affluence levels. Maybe that will change as people buy and move in. Crime against boats seems to be higher here than anywhere before. One of the boats we know had thieves come onboard and steal their dingy and dingy motor while they slept. It is the first incidence of such a thing on a boat we know since leaving. Costa Ricans are more affluent and worldly than their neighbors to the north, but it seems to be at a price. Also, there is little open display of arms here like in the countries to the north. Maybe that is a mistake. Playa Coco has nice tourist shops and restaurants and a very nice grocery store. The grocery store is heavily oriented to North American shoppers and has all the American brands. Mary had a good experience! However, you have to walk in the street since the sidewalks are few and far between and watch out for the mud puddles with passing cars, trucks and motorcycles. Very odd. Lots of private funds and a poor local government. Another item of interest is that all the license plates since Mexico have "Central America" across the bottom and the name of the country across the top. There seems to be a political conscience and affiliation that extends beyond national boarders. We noticed that some of the political parties cross national boarders too. Maybe it is moving toward a confederation. While in town we saw white squirrels with a black Mohawk running down their heads to their tails. We saw a few new and exotic birds and a lemur that apparently lives in one of the back yards in town. It was ambling around the yard and then climbed up one of the big trees. We need to go into town one more time to get a National Zarpe to move to the next port and I'll bring the camera in. There is also an internet cafe, so we'll get caught up on our regular email and web activities. We plan a quiet day today making spaghetti sauce, cleaning the boat, cleaning Nicholas' teeth, etc. Hopefully we will get some heavy rain for our tanks. das Narrative Wednesday, May 28, 2008 11:35:25 AM Location: Playa Panama Latitude is 10 degrees 35.495 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.629 minutes west. This weather observation was at Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:57:06 AM local time. Observation location: Playa Panama, Costa Rica. Latitude is 10 degrees 35.494 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.621 minutes west. The air temperature is 76, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is drizzle. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 6 knots from the east. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1005 millibars and rising. At first light (5:00 AM) the water around Jenny boils with fish jumping and splashing. At first I thought it was pesky pelicans diving on the usual bubble fish that always take up residence under Jenny. This morning Mary got up to investigate. The noise was from larger fish running under Jenny and coming up under schools of bait fish that are hiding under her. The big fish come out of the water as well as a couple hundred minnow sized bait fish causing quite a racket right under our portholes. In spite of the rain, it was too tempting. First I rigged the fresh water rod and reel (12 lb test) with a small hook. I learned from the fishermen in La Cruz that you can jig a hook through a school of bait fish and snag them. It worked. I jerked the hook through the school that took up residence on the starboard side. Then I left the bait fish on the hook to see what would happen. The bait fish swam to the middle of the school trying to be inconspicuous with the hook hanging out of it. The next time the larger fish came through, wham it took the bait fish, and snap, broke the rig off. Hmmmm... I re-rigged the line and tried again. Bam, it struck pulled the bait fish off and left a bare hook. Now it was getting exciting. I tried to use my larger salt water rig, but could not gig a bait fish on. So back to the fresh water rig. I was jigging for another bait fish when the team of larger fish came through the school. Wham... One took the bare hook and was off. It was big. Much too big for the rig, but with the drag set right, nothing broke. An hour later I was still fighting it and it was hard to tell if I was even gaining ground. After another 20 minutes we caught sight of it, a beautiful young yellow fin tuna, about 20 - 25 lbs. I slowly fought it to the side of the boat, had the gaff in hand and the fish right at the surface in reach. Then it snapped. The rod was straight, the line somewhere in the air and the fish gone. When I recovered and found the line up in our TPS rigging, the hook was still there. Aparently the hook was too small and only caught bone. When twisted in the right position, it just let go. Lucky fish... My arms felt like waste material, burning from the constant effort. This was probably the best fish fight I've ever had. das Narrative Friday, May 30, 2008 7:15:48 AM Location: Playa Panama Latitude is 10 degrees 35.558 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.573 minutes west. This weather observation was at Friday, May 30, 2008 6:39:06 AM local time. Observation location: Playa Panama. Latitude is 10 degrees 35.56 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 39.573 minutes west. The air temperature is 76, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 3 knots from the southeast. The visibility is 15 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and rising. Yesterday morning a distress call from the 42 ft trimaran Stravaig came in on the Pan Pacific net. Jeff and Jose Allen, a British couple from Inverness Scotland had been up for 50 hours struggling to keep their boat afloat after being caught in the tropical storm Alma. They reported peak winds over 80 knots and steady winds of over 55 knots. The 35 ft seas had been breaking over the boat and had reduced their rigging to a tangle. Water had entered the main hull and was in the engine room. The engine would not run. Their position was 11 degrees 02 minutes north, 86 degrees 47 minutes west. We were the closest boats to them, about 70 miles southeast of them. They were below, exhausted and drifting with the seas. The net reached out to the maritime Mobil service net, the Costa Rican coast guard, etc and alerted them to the emergency. There was significant confusion regarding their responses except for the US Coast Guard sending a C130 airplane that was due to arrive in 4 hours. There was a report of the Costa Rican navy sending a frigate, but that was never verified. Stravaig did not have a life raft, they believed their dingy was damaged by the waves, and had an old EPIRB that came with the boat. They were reluctant to activate their EPIRB. After about an hour they signed off and would come back on in 2 hours while they worked on the boat. When they came back on at 10:20 AM Costa Rica time, they were in the eye of the storm. They reported a position of 11 degrees 06 minutes North, 86 degrees 44 minutes west. They were drifting in the waves and wind toward the Nicaragua coast. They were told that the C130 was on its way and that a Navy Frigate was on its way with an eta in 10 hours. Jose was very concerned about their chances for survival. When Jeff took the mike, he was concerned that they would be forced to evacuate the boat. He repeatedly asked the intension of the rescue teams and believed that they were not in immediate danger. They checked in again at 2:00 PM Costa Rica time. They reported a position of 11 degrees 14 minutes North, 86 degrees 37 minutes West, on a steady course for landfall. They were 27 miles from a dangerous shore. They had their engine running but did not have the boat under control. The best they could do against the wind and current was 1/4 knot. They also had very little diesel fuel. Due to sleep deprivation, their ability to communicate clearly was diminishing. Also, the closer they were getting to land, the more they were getting wave reflections, causing the sea to be wild making everything on the boat more difficult. The C130 was overhead and asked them to turn on their EPIRB. Jeff refused, believing that would signal they were willing to abandon the boat. The C130 asked them if they would like a de-watering pump, food or other supplies dropped. Jeff refused. The USCG C130 stayed overhead until the storm became too strong and left. The C130 declared them to be in an emergency situation and dispatched a USCG frigate to the scene with an ETA in 14 hours. They checked in again at 4:00 PM. They were at 11 degrees 20 minutes north, 86 degrees 31 minutes west. They were on a steady course that put them 19 miles from the breakers. Earlier, the rescue teams wanted them to go to San Juan del Sur 40 miles SE of their current position. However San Juan del Sur was reporting breaking 25 to 50 ft waves at the entrance even if they could have moved the boat. They still had not control over their drift. The coast guard cutter was reportedly getting within radio range, but other than that they were alone. There was no indication that Costa Rica or Nicaragua had any boats underway or near them. I advised Jeff of his position, course and closeness of land. Jeff was aware of the danger from the nearing lee shore and their plan was to use the engine as a last resort to keep them off the beach. Wahoo, a 40 ft sport fishing boat in our anchorage was the local controlling contact with Stravaig. They set a new check in time of 7:00 PM, which was after dark but did not change the sideband frequency to one that would work after dark. I was on with the Marine Maritime Service Net when that occurred. As of now, that was the last contact we had with them. Needless to say, this brings home our vulnerabilities and the folks in our anchorage have been very subdued throughout yesterday. 9:00 AM: Stravaig came on the net!!! They did rendezvous with the USCG frigate sometime last night. They delivered diesel just in time for Stravaig to keep them off the beach. They are now in a nearby bay sleeping. das Passage: Playa Panama to Potrero Departed Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 6:21 PM local time from Playa Panama. The departure location was latitude 10 degrees 26.860 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 47.749 minutes West. Arrival Arrived Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 12:22 PM local time at Bahia Portero. The arrival location was latitude 10 degrees 26.859 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 47.747 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 20.09 nautical miles in 0d 3h 17m with an average speed of 6.10 knots and a maximum speed of 8.40 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:44 PM local time. The total fuel load was 564. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The trip used 66.0 gallons, burned 2970.00 gallons / hour and used 0.30 miles / gallon. Narrative Sunday, June 01, 2008 7:36:13 AM Location: Bahia Portero Latitude is 10 degrees 26.605 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 47.109 minutes west. This weather observation was at Sunday, June 01, 2008 7:27:46 AM local time. Observation location: Bahia Portero . Latitude is 10 degrees 26.607 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 47.106 minutes west. The air temperature is 82, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 4 knots from the southwest. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and rising. We moved 18 miles down the coast to Bahia Portero and continue our journey south. The trip was short and the bay is ok for a road stop, but not completely protected. There are several resorts and hotels lining the beach and many local boats on mooring balls. We came down with Wahoo, a sport fishing cruising boat, but they left this morning for the next stop leaving us as the only active cruising boat here. Mary is going to the beach this morning after we listen to the SSB nets and check out the resorts and town if there is one. She needs some land time.
Tomorrow we will continue down the coast toward the Gulf or Nicoya, a large gulf with several islands, bays and towns. das Passage: Portrero to Carillo Departed Monday, June 02, 2008 at 12:04 PM local time from Bahia Portero. The departure location was latitude 10 degrees 27.532 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 48.379 minutes West. Narrative Monday, June 02, 2008 9:32:45 AM Location: At Sea Latitude is 10 degrees 6.801 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 51.682 minutes west. This weather observation was at Monday, June 02, 2008 9:19:42 AM local time. Observation location: At Sea. Latitude is 10 degrees 6.973 minutes north. Longitude is 85 degrees 51.807 minutes west. The air temperature is 81, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is clear or a few clouds. The wind is 4 knots from the east. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 1 feet with 3 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and rising. Well, we're on our way from Bahia Portero to Carillo and it is a beautiful day. The seays are glassy smooth with a gentle swell out of the south. We expect the wind to turn onshore soon as the land heats up. Looking at the weather charts, it is clear that wind moves into the Costa Rican, Panama peninsula from both sides and converges in the middle, forming thunder storms. This seems to happen most every day. We had a nice night last night in Portero and collected a bunch of water as the cumulus clouds dumped their load. The water catch is keeping up with our usage nicely now and the last water we loaded was in Nicaragua. We have full tanks and it looks like the daily rain will keep them that way. The watermaker has been pickled since arriving in Barillas over a month ago. We checked into Costa Rica when we were in Playa Panama. The port captains office was down the bay a bit in Playa Coco, so we took a taxi to that town. We checked in and then found out that you need a national zarpe to move from port to port. So, on the Friday before we left, we got that and declared our next stop to be Gulfito so we would not have to go through the bother in Punterinas. Playa Coco is a small port town surrounded by a huge home, condo, timeshare investment. The town has not caught up with the development and is right out of a Humphrey Bogart movie, dark, rainy, sleezy. The expat drunks show up at the bars which are open to the street before lunch and are still there after dark. We couldn't figure out why the cab drivers kept handing out their business cards. Well, the answer is that they don't pick up strangers after dark. If you have their card, you call them and they pick you up because they know they have seen you before and you are ok. We were warned about being in Coco after dark, but Mark (Wahoo) and I had to be there Friday evening to meet the port captain. If you are looking for the real thing in third world adventure this is a place to stop. One can only speculate at what point people buying into the modern developments will force a change. We will be staying in a roadstead called Carillo tonight and Wahoo who stayed there last night said it was pretty rolly, but better than doing an overnight. Hopefully these seas will make a better night for us tonigh. In any case, we'll probably have the birds down as roll dampeners. das Arrival Arrived Monday, June 02, 2008 at 2:09 PM local time at Carillo Cove. The arrival location was latitude 9 degrees 51.967 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 29.358 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 55.20 nautical miles in 0d 8h 26m with an average speed of 6.50 knots and a maximum speed of 7.80 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 12:45 PM local time. The total fuel load was 473. The trip used 25.0 gallons, burned 3.09 gallons / hour and used 2.21 miles / gallon. Passage: Carillo to Ballina Bay Departed Tuesday, June 03, 2008 at 5:52 AM local time from Carillo anchorage. The departure location was latitude 9 degrees 51.199 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 29.221 minutes West. Arrival Arrived Tuesday, June 03, 2008 at 1:01 PM local time at Bahia Ballena. The arrival location was latitude 9 degrees 43.036 minutes North, longitude 85 degrees 0.604 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 46.26 nautical miles in 0d 7h 7m with an average speed of 6.50 knots and a maximum speed of 7.70 knots. The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 12:45 PM local time. The total fuel load was 473. The trip used 25.0 gallons, burned 3.50 gallons / hour and used 1.85 miles / gallon. Passage: Ballena Bay to Naranjo Departed Wednesday, June 04, 2008 at 2:22 PM local time from Ballena Bay anchorage. The departure location was latitude 9 degrees 43.134 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 59.904 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Wednesday, June 04, 2008 at 12:29 PM local time at Narango, Oasis del Pacifico Resort. The arrival location was latitude 9 degrees 56.524 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 57.833 minutes West. The trip covered 27.76 nautical miles in 0d 4h 6m with an average speed of 6.80 knots and a maximum speed of 9.40 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Sunday, June 01, 2008 at 11:47 PM local time. The total fuel load was 498. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 12:45 PM local time. The total fuel load was 473. The trip used 25.0 gallons, burned 6.07 gallons / hour and used 1.11 miles / gallon.
Narrative Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:30:29 AM Location: Gulf of Nicoya, Oasis del Pacifico Resort Latitude is 9 degrees 56.516 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 57.841 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:17:03 AM local time. Observation location: Gulf of Nicoya, Oasis del Pacifico resort. Latitude is 9 degrees 56.516 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 57.84 minutes west. The air temperature is 90, and water temperature is 85 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is scattered clouds (10 - 50% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the northwest. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady.
I think we found a good spot. The usual stop for boats is across the bay at Puntarenas. But, with a 10 ft tide the channel is only navigatable at high tide and the boats sit in the mud at low tide. The moorings are up a mangrove estuary with the usual noseeums and mosquitos. That is where the yacht club is. We decided not to go there. Instead we chose a spot across the bay. There is a resort here that is nice to yachtees. We still have the 10 ft tides, but we are away from a regular shore so don't have the bugs. The resort is on a cove with a very nice beach. Our entire stay looks like it will cost us $10.00 for the use of the beach and take in trash. It also seems very safe here.
We had a 3 hour downpour last night that nearly filled our water tanks again. So, today we are doing laundry. Our little machine did a full set of queen size sheets! We are hanging the laundry to dry on the upper deck. Not very elegant, but it gets the job done with the intense sun and light breezes. Tomorrow, we'll even try a few towels!
We walked into "town" this morning with Nicholas to discover it consists of a nice cafe and the ferry dock. That's it. We stopped at the cafe, chatted with the locals, and had breakfast. The breakfast for two cost all of $8.00. The hotel is in caretaker mode since this is the off season and the woman in charge is very nice. We are meeting her at 3:30 to walk to a resturant the other way down the road. We found out more about the town where the Super Mercardo is and the bus. The town is about 20 klicks from here and the bus stops at 7:30 AM and 11:00 AM. It returns at 4:00 PM and maybe sometime earlier. The lady at the hotel is taking the bus tomorrow AM and we're going to go with her. If that doesn't have the shopping we are looking for, then we'll take the ferry to Puntarenas. Given what is within walking distance, easy bus or ferry rides, this is turning out to be a very nice spot.
das
Narrative Thursday, June 05, 2008 5:39:12 PM Location: Oasis del Pacifico Latitude is 9 degrees 56.519 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 57.839 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:17:03 AM local time. Observation location: Gulf of Nicoya, Oasis del Pacifico resort. Latitude is 9 degrees 56.516 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 57.84 minutes west. The air temperature is 90, and water temperature is 85 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is scattered clouds (10 - 50% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the northwest. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady.
This place has an appropriate name. The dingy dock us servicable in the top half of the 10 ft tide which is the first dingy dock that has been usable since Acapulco. We checked out the resturant this evening. It's a 1/2 mile walk from the resort and has a limited but ok menu. It was a good break from dinner on the boat.
Tomorrow we will take the 7:30 AM bus to Jicaral where the shopping is supposed to be and the day after we will go into photo journalist mode. This place is teaming with life. It is amazing. There are goves of teak trees, howler monkeys, skinks and small lizards, birds, and insects galore. There are two high volume streams coming down from the hills and the Puntarenas ferry San Lucas is passing buy on its last trip to Puntarenas for the day. Shania Twain is playing on the USB drive. It looks like there won't be rain tonight. Life is good.
P.S. We might be able to get WiFi tomorrow in Jicaral. Otherwise, use this email address. das
Passage: Playa Naranjo to Los Suenos Departed Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 1:09 PM local time from Playa Naranjo anchorage. The departure location was latitude 9 degrees 57.041 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 57.109 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 11:08 AM local time at Bahia Herradura. The arrival location was latitude 9 degrees 38.619 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 39.570 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 29.10 nautical miles in 0d 3h 58m with an average speed of 6.70 knots and a maximum speed of 8.90 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Sunday, June 08, 2008 at 12:45 PM local time. The total fuel load was 473. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Monday, June 09, 2008 at 1:04 PM local time. The total fuel load was 451. The trip used 22.0 gallons, burned 5.54 gallons / hour and used 1.32 miles / gallon.
Passage: Los Suenos to Quepos Departed Monday, June 09, 2008 at 1:22 PM local time from Bahia Herradura anchorage. The departure location was latitude 9 degrees 38.731 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 39.914 minutes West.
Narrative Monday, June 09, 2008 10:18:25 AM Location: At Sea Latitude is 9 degrees 28.834 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 30.288 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Monday, June 09, 2008 9:57:32 AM local time. Observation location: At Sea. Latitude is 9 degrees 28.859 minutes north. Longitude is 84 degrees 30.456 minutes west. The air temperature is 82, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 3 knots from the southwest. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 1 feet with 4 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and steady.
We are now working our way down the Costa Rican coast to Gulfito. Playa Naranjo was a very nice place to stay. The bus ride ($1.40) to Jicaral was very native and interesting. We went through the countryside on a small country road that picked up folks all along the way going to town. We were the only non locals. The little town of Jicaral was also very native. It had an internet "library" where people could use the computers and internet connection. School kids were the visible users. We plugged in and sent off some photos, checked in with our bank, etc. I called the Port Networks service guy and he confirmed that the radio in the box had become "desensitized" whatever that means and had to be sent back for exchange. I may be able to do this in Gulfito, but otherwise it is likely to be in Panama.
We did some shopping and had lunch in a local cafe. The cafe's here have no menu. The locals know what they want and the kitchen just cooks it. So, figuring out what to order is a challenge. In Jicaral I had breakfast and Mary had lunch which were both good. We took an unofficial cab back to Oasis del Pacifico for $16 since the bus was not scheduled to be there for another 2 hours.
The next day we went on a photo excursion and got some pictures of the local flora and fauna, including a chestnut colored squirrel with a black mohak, a blue skink, flowers, butterflies. I also got a shot of the national bird of Costa Rica, an Eagle. This eagle is supposed to be the largest bird of prey in the world. Ours was regular eagle size, but the big ones have a 6 ft wingspan and prey on monkeys, etc. Good thing Nicholas was on the boat at the time. We also came across a lime tree and harvested some. They were delicious!
We are still hungering for civilization, so decided to continue south. Last night we stayed at Bahia Herradura where Marina Los Suenos is. The marina charges $3.00 per ft so no one we know actually stayed there. The bay was rolly and the water too murky to dive on the bottom, so today we are going to Quepos, the next stop on the way to Gulfito. The sea is glassy smooth so the trip is really nice in spite of an adverse current. We should arrive by 1:30 PM local time. We haven't had any decent rain for several days now so are hoping we get some tonight. The temperatures continue to amaze me. Last night got down to about 70 degrees F and it is only 82 now!
das
Arrival Arrived Monday, June 09, 2008 at 1:08 PM local time at Quepos. The arrival location was latitude 9 degrees 25.794 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 10.328 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 35.85 nautical miles in 0d 5h 45m with an average speed of 6.20 knots and a maximum speed of 7.40 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Monday, June 09, 2008 at 1:04 PM local time. The total fuel load was 451. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM local time. The total fuel load was 446. The trip used 5.0 gallons, burned 0.87 gallons / hour and used 7.17 miles / gallon.
Passage: Quepos to Drake Bay Departed Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM local time from Quepos anchorage. The departure location was latitude 9 degrees 25.337 minutes North, longitude 84 degrees 10.921 minutes West.
Narrative Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:48:05 AM Location: At Sea Latitude is 9 degrees 4.427 minutes north. Longitude is 83 degrees 57.212 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:36:04 AM local time. Observation location: At Sea. Latitude is 9 degrees 4.549 minutes north. Longitude is 83 degrees 57.311 minutes west. The air temperature is 82, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Overcast, thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 2 knots from the southwest. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 3 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and steady.
We stayed a day in Quepos trying to find a way to visit the town. As with too many anchorages on this coast, there was no way to get to shore. There was a floating dock that we could drop off and pick up from, but not leave the dingy. It was 2 miles from town so Mary did not want to take the hike alone. So this morning we left, disappointed and are heading now for Drake bay.
We picked up a squad of Boobies during the first couple of hours. They see Jenny and think she is a fishing boat. Then they flock over and take low passes to see if there are any fish scraps they can steal off of the deck. They are persistent. I had the meat hook out and one of them found it. It somehow got tangled but not hooked. Then another Boobie, thinking this one had a meal, landed on it. The two of them were being dragged behind the boat when we noticed something on the line. They were both alive, the top one trying to drown the first one and get the prize. We slowed down to idle and I started pulling them in. Eventually the top Boobie decided things were getting out of control and flew off. That left the first one on the surface. Then his pals started to dive bomb him. Unlucky bird but you never know who your friends really are since one of them knocked the first one loose of the lure. Then pandamonium broke out as all the remaining Boobies went for the now free lure. I was hauling it in as fast as I could so I wouldn't have to unhook an angry Boobie. I got it in without an attached Boobie and we kept it in until they tired of harrassing us.
Nicholas knows these birds are no good and starts growling and barking when he sees them! Good dog!!
We are going to Drake Bay today. It is an open bay on the north side inside a national park. We're hoping we can get to shore easily since the books say this is the spot to go hiking and observe the Costa Rican wildelife. The park gets over 200 inches of rain a year making it the wettest place in the country. As we approach the shore, it is covered in rain clouds, looking like an island out of Jules Verne or something.
das
Arrival Arrived Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 3:02 PM local time at Bahia Drake. The arrival location was latitude 8 degrees 41.809 minutes North, longitude 83 degrees 40.046 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 54.44 nautical miles in 0d 8h 27m with an average speed of 6.40 knots and a maximum speed of 7.50 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM local time. The total fuel load was 446. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 11:13 AM local time. The total fuel load was 347. The trip used 99.0 gallons, burned 11.69 gallons / hour and used 0.55 miles / gallon.
Passage: Drake Bay to Gulfito Departed Friday, June 13, 2008 at 11:48 AM local time from Drake Bay Anchorage. The departure location was latitude 8 degrees 42.157 minutes North, longitude 83 degrees 40.260 minutes West.
Narrative Friday, June 13, 2008 11:24:58 AM Location: At Sea Latitude is 8 degrees 23.056 minutes north. Longitude is 83 degrees 25.269 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Friday, June 13, 2008 10:58:00 AM local time. Observation location: At Sea. Latitude is 8 degrees 23.082 minutes north. Longitude is 83 degrees 25.429 minutes west. The air temperature is 85, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, rain. The current weather is dry. The sky is scattered clouds (10 - 50% clouds). The wind is 4 knots from the south. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 3 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and rising.
Drake Bay was a nice stop, although a rolly anchorage. There are several nature lodges, camps, etc. here associated with the park. If you want to get back to nature, this is your spot. It rained every day and night to various degrees. The park here gets over 200 inches a year. Yesterday we took the dingy up a small stream and tied it to a tree at the base of one of the lodges. Creeks and rivers are about the only way we can get to shore with our heavy dingy. We then made a lunch reservation with the lodge and went on a hike back toward "town". The wildlife was everywhere and we got some photos of some of it. There were lots of exotic birds, floweres, etc. Unfortunately we still don't have any of the monkeys, and have yet to see a sloth. We did see two wild scarlet macas, an iguana that must have been three feet long, and a lizard that definately looked prehistoric. Someone will have to identify it when I send out the photos.
There was an overgrown 18 inch wide ancient cement stairway into the rain forest up along the edge of one of the steep hills. The hillside it was cut into was filled with fist size holes that were just about chest high and only a few inches away as you climbed up. I wondered what lived in them as I inched by... Mary waited below. At the top there was a landing with a fence. My bet is this was a Dracula vacation spot... Might still be.
When we got back to the boat, the water was barely clear enough to dive on the bottom, but I did. There weren't any barnicles since Bahia Elana, and the prop and coolers were in good shape. It only took an hour to brush the growth off the bottom, polish the prop and the cooler.
This morning we pulled anchor at 6:30 AM for our 66 NM trip down to Gulfito. I discovered we had an 8 inch flying fish on our front deck. It must have been 5 - 6 feet off the water in order to get there. The book says they just glide. Garbage. These things flap. I also think it used the rain storm last night to get some extra lift. In any case, it was fully airborne. I put it on a hook for later...
Well, the flying fish caught a 2 ft long Hogfish; a big funny looking fellow. We don't believe they are very good to eat, so it went free, but unfortunately suffered some damage. I then dropped the feather lure that looks like a small flying fish. In a few minutes we had a bonito on the hook. They aren't good to eat either, so it went back. About an hour later we caught a small (1 ft) something that I figured would be better used as bate than food. It went back out, but I think it got free on the way. Then about an hour after that we hooked a 20 lb tuna. Now THAT is food... It made about 10 good steaks and it will be tuna for dinner tonight! The meat hook is again stored for another day.
Gulfito is our last stop in Costa Rica. It has a couple of small marinas, stores, etc. We will need to heavily provision here because Panama is wilderness until we get to Panama City at the canal. Then it will be supermarkets, movie theaters, malls, and civilization again. Yummy. das
Arrival Arrived Friday, June 13, 2008 at 3:13 PM local time at Gulfito Mooring. The arrival location was latitude 8 degrees 37.215 minutes North, longitude 83 degrees 9.206 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 62.59 nautical miles in 0d 9h 24m with an average speed of 6.60 knots and a maximum speed of 7.70 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM local time. The total fuel load was 446. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 11:13 AM local time. The total fuel load was 347. The trip used 99.0 gallons, burned 10.51 gallons / hour and used 0.63 miles / gallon.
Narrative Tuesday, June 17, 2008 6:56:49 AM Location: Gulfito Costa Rica Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
No recent weather observation is available.
We're lucky to using this laptop this morning. At 1:00 AM today we caught a thief as he was climbing back into his panga with this laptop, power supply and apparently mouse. I had felt an unusual motion that reduced the depth of my sleep, then heard a noise that was also unusual. I climbed up to do a normal boat check, which I do as a matter of course every night. I do this in the dark. When I reached the pilot house, I noticed that the port side door was partially open. I went to it, opened it and discovered the thief going over the side with our laptop. I grabbed his arm and started yelling at him in English as if that would do any good. He was small and very compliant, handing back the laptop and pleading "no problem". I demanded the rest of our stuff, let him go into the panga and he produced the power cords and pleaded that was all. He had the mouse too, but was too rattled to remember.
By this time Mary was up and I went to get the camera. Unfortunately, by the time I remembered it was in one of our backpacks and dug it out, he had paddled out of range of the flash. I called the Port Captain on the radio but got no reply.
We will talk to the Marina owner this AM to see what, if anything we should do in terms of reporting. We had the dingy raised so it would have been very difficult to steal. We will be locking our doors at night now. das
Narrative Wednesday, June 18, 2008 6:48:56 AM Location: Gulfito Costa Rica Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
No recent weather observation is available.
I met with Tim yesterday to report the attempted theft. He wished that I had called him on the VHF radio. If I had, we would have zoomed out and taken control of the situation. He stated that the police here do nothing about theives. So, the matter is usually resolved personally. His solution is to sink the theifs boat and let him swim for shore. I knew he had a VHF radio at the "club house" but did not know he had one at his house that he monitors 24 x 7.
I guess I've learned the following from this. First, while you tend to believe a boat invasion can't happen to you, it can. So, when you feel a bump, hear a noise, go on your investigation properly armed. I prefer not to announce myself, and go with the lights off, quietly. That way I preserve my night vision and have the element of surprise. A heavy flashlight and / or a machette make good weapons in close quarters. On the other hand,it is probable that an escallation is the very last thing the theif wants. In this case, he was totally compliant.
Next, if you want to actually capture the person, have some heavy wire ties readily accessible for hand and foot cuffs. If the person is on the boat, then you are the law and have the right to detain the person. On the other hand, you will probably be ignorant of the local laws and customs and formal procecution takes time. So if you hand the criminal over to the cops, you may need to show up for trial sometime in the distant future. Jim here has been the only foreign national to EVER procecute a theft to conclusion and that was in 1987.
As long as we are ok and our goods are intact, a really good scare put into the mind of the theif is what I think is sufficient to prevent a repeat visit. Finally, have a camera easily accessible. Take pictures. You may not ever use them, but it is proof you can give to the police and the theif thinks you are pursuing him.
Moving on, I changed both thermostats on the main yesterday. I tested the old ones and they were opening ok, but they looked original. So, I changed them out anyway. Both were 82 degree centegrade. The new ones seem to support a higher flow rate. We'll see if they make any difference in keeping the temperature at 82 degrees. I also hooked up the port side gutter on the pilot house to the water catch system. Yesterday's rain nearly filled the front tank and today's should do it!
Today we are going to visit the duty free shop, wash out the engine room, transfer some fuel and begin to wax the hull. das
Narrative Monday, June 23, 2008 11:47:08 AM Location: Gulfito Costa Rica Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Monday, June 23, 2008 11:23:09 AM local time. Observation location: Gulfito Costa Rica. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 83, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is rain. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 1 knots from the southeast. The visibility is 3 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and falling.
Today I finished the last of the major / upgrade projects. The original navigation lights (port and starboard) had decayed over time and did not display true red and green colors anymore. They also bled light all over the foredeck, significantly reducing our night vision forward. So, I installed new ones properly on light boards. I used two of the teak stair treds from the rear ladder that we removed as bases for the light boards. In Barillas I used one of the resident cruiser's table saw to bevel the bottoms so that the slant of the pilot house roof was compensated for. I mounted these teak bases on the pilot house roof, near the edge. While we were still in San Francisco, I had a plastics shop create the light boards themselves out of black opaque plastic. These I mounted to the teak base boards. I ordered new lights earlier in the year and picked them up on our trip back to the states from Barillas. So, I had the whole kit when we arrived in Gulfito. Since we will be entering heavy ship traffic when we get down by the Canal, I figured now was the time to get our lights working properly.
When I removed the old lights, I discovered that the wiring was imbedded in the fiberglass and therefore not reusable. So I had to remove the inboard side of that wiring and replace it all with new. I ran a 12 guage pair up to the overhead instrument panel to a terminal block. Then I ran new 14 guage pairs to the lights. There was another + wire that was spliced into the original wires and I assume it goes to the masthead running light. So, I also wired that to the terminal block. I continue to be disappointed in the quality of the wiring on the boat, finding two 1 into 2 splices in the wire channel going between the windows and a butt splice on the wire going to the masthead light. UGLY.
I am discovering more about rain catching as it rains here every day and gives me a chance to continue my experiments. I discovered a new way to hook up the pilot house roof gutters on a temporary basis and will include them in the photos of the light boards. It turns out that a heavy rain overwhelms 5/8 inch tubing. So if you hook up your pilot house roof for catching rain, use 1 inch tubing. Otherwise you will loose a lot of water that comes in short downpours. Each gutter needs its own 1 inch tube all the way to the water tank opening. Since I have the front awning, I run the tubing to the awning gutter. The awning gutter has 1.5 inch tubing to the tank opening and this seems to be sufficient. We have full tanks and have been using water extravagently. However, it rains every day here. So, in order to make this work in locations with normal rainfall (50-60 inches a year), I now believe you need both the awning and the roof hooked up.
My other observation is that the front awning combined with our rear roof extension and screens are very nice to have this far south. When the sun is out it is brutal. Not only is it hard on the horizontal surfaces, but it also needs to be kept out of the pilot house and salon without closing off indirect light. And when it rains it is really nice to have the front hatch and back door open. We are very lucky to have them.
With all these projects now done, I am back to regular maintenance and cosmetic improvements. We start waxing the hull tomorrow. :-)) The pilot house windows need new varnish so that is the next relatively large item on the list, but it might wait until we are settled in Cartegena for a while.
Usually it rains from 3 to 5 in the afternoon, but today it started around 11:00 this morning and looks like it will go all day. So, it might be a movie and popcorn day...
das
Narrative Tuesday, July 01, 2008 12:30:37 PM Location: Gulfito Costa Rica Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Tuesday, July 01, 2008 11:56:51 AM local time. Observation location: Gulfito Costa Rica. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 92, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 6 knots from the west. The visibility is 15 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady.
Well it's about time to say goodbye to Costa Rica. Moody Blues and Encore came in last night and we had pizza at the club house with them. Another couple of boats (Spirit, Pipe Dream, Galavant and another) may be coming in today. They are planning to spend the 4th of July here, but we intend to pull our around 4:00 AM on the 3rd to catch good weather and tidal currents out. Hopefully we'll hook up with a couple of our other friends down at Isla Partida in Panama, our first stop. It's a 84 mile trip so departing early is necessary to get us there before sunset.
Costa Rica has been a nice adventure, but it is a very conflicted country. On the one hand the tourism industry is very effective at selling the purenature of the country and brings in a fair income. On the other, the natives are no differrent than, and perhaps worse than other central americans. For example, the next time you are in central america enjoying the pure nature of the place, ask where the town or city's sewage treatment plant is. The answer is: there isn't one. Also, according to Tim, the owner of the marina we are staying at, all money going to nature preservation is coming in from outside the country. The natives don't care. Two examples. First there was a funded effort to increase the turtle population and the people trying to protect the eggs caught some pochers. The local law told them they had better clear out and leave the poor natives alone or they might get hurt. Second, a funded effort to keep the bay waters clean had enforcement boats manned by locals. Tim noticed an oil slick going by the marina and tracked it down to the enforcement boat. When he confronted them, they just shrugged their sholders and ignored him. The bay here sees diesel slicks at least once a week. We hope Panama is better.
On the project front, I covered and finished the holes left by the old running lights, and got the anemometer running again after taking down the sensor from the mast head and cleaning it. Knock on wood, but everything on Jenny is now running well! I got the hull waxed too. So, I only need to replace one set of lines on the stabilizers and all the upgrade projects are DONE. Jenny will be in tip top condition to take on the Caribbean.
It looks like we will be two weeks getting to Panama City. We'll stay there a couple of weeks and then go through the canal. We'll probably hook up with Wandering Star and Nexus to see Portabella and the San Blas Islands. Then we'll head over to Cartegena for a month or so. We found a report on how to day hop around the coast of Columbia to the ABC islands and into Venezuela. We'll stay there through the winter and leave Jenny there to visit home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Out long term plans are to cruise up the windward islands next spring to Florida and Georgia. Then we'll make our way up the east coast and winter over somewhere in the northeast; maybe in the Chessapeake Bay. Then the spring of 2010 head up the coast to Maine and the Canadian Maritime provences. We might winter over again somewhere in the Northeast. And, that's about as far as we can see now.
Life is good and Jenny is the ultimate cruising boat! das
Narrative Thursday, July 03, 2008 8:23:59 PM Location: Gulfito Costa Rica Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
No recent weather observation is available.
The following are my SSB programmed stations.
Emergency Group 1-19
USCG Call 2182 USB USCG Call 4125 USB USCG Call 6215 USB USCG Call 8291 USB USCG Call 12290 USB USCG Call 16420 USB
MARMOB 14300 USB
USCG Work 4134 USB USCG Work 6200 USB USCG Work 8240 USB USCG Work 12242 USB USCG Work 16432 USB
News Group 20-59
WWV 2K 2500 AM WWV 5k 5000 AM WWV 10K 10000 AM WWV 15K 15000 AM WWV 20K 20000 AM
BBC 5975 AM BBC 9465 AM BBC 9525 AM BBC 9660 AM BBC 11675 AM
AFRN 4319 USB AFRN 5446.5 USB AFRN 5765 USB AFRN 6350 USB AFRN 7811 USB AFRN 8110 USB AFRN 10320 USB AFRN 12133.5 USB AFRN 12759 USB AFRN 13092 USB AFRN 13098 USB AFRN 13362 USB
AIR T1 13282 USB AIR T2 13270 USB AIR P1 13300 USB AIR P2 5547 USB
Weather Group 60-89
USCG 4426 USB USCG 6501 USB USCG 8764 USB USCG 13089 USB USCG 17314 USB
WFX NEW O 4316 USB WFX NEW O 8502 USB WFX NEW O 12788 USB WFX NEW O 17144.5 USB WFX PAC 4344.1 USB WFX PAC 8680.1 USB WFX PAC 12784.1 USB WFX PAC 17149.3 USB WFX PAC 22525.1 USB WFX BOS 4233.1 USB WFX BOS 6338.6 USB WFX BOS 9108.1 USB WFX BOS 12748.1 USB
NETS Group 100 +
MARMOB 14300 USB AMIGO 8122 USB Southbound 6516 USB PanPac 8143 USB Panama 8107 USB NW Carib 8188 USB Hurricane 14325 LSB Cruiseheimers 8152 USB Herb 12359 USB Halo 21390 USB Waterway 7268 LSB Cent Am 7083 LSB Carib Mar Mob 7241 LSB Carib Wx 7086 LSB Jones Wx 8104 USB Jones Wx 12362 USB
das
Passage: Gulfito to Isla Partida Departed Monday, July 07, 2008 at 5:01 AM local time from Gulfito Mooring. The departure location was latitude 8 degrees 37.213 minutes North, longitude 83 degrees 9.209 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Monday, July 07, 2008 at 5:15 PM local time at Isla Gamaz, Panama. The arrival location was latitude 8 degrees 8.029 minutes North, longitude 82 degrees 19.004 minutes West. The customs checkin was None. The trip covered 82.63 nautical miles in 0d 12h 14m with an average speed of 6.70 knots and a maximum speed of 8.20 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 11:46 AM local time. The total fuel load was 446. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 11:13 AM local time. The total fuel load was 347. The trip used 99.0 gallons, burned 8.09 gallons / hour and used 0.83 miles / gallon.
Passage: Isla Parida to Bahia Honda Departed Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 8:52 AM local time from Isla Parida Anchor. The departure location was latitude 8 degrees 5.423 minutes North, longitude 82 degrees 5.152 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 3:57 PM local time at Bahia Honda. The arrival location was latitude 7 degrees 45.208 minutes North, longitude 81 degrees 32.762 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 56.44 nautical miles in 0d 9h 17m with an average speed of 6.10 knots and a maximum speed of 7.20 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 at 11:13 AM local time. The total fuel load was 347. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 1:03 PM local time. The total fuel load was 332. The trip used 15.0 gallons, burned 2.12 gallons / hour and used 3.76 miles / gallon.
Narrative Tuesday, July 08, 2008 7:28:58 PM Location: Bahia Honda, Panama Latitude is 7 degrees 45.21 minutes north. Longitude is 81 degrees 32.761 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:19:26 PM local time. Observation location: Bahia Honda. Latitude is 7 degrees 45.199 minutes north. Longitude is 81 degrees 32.767 minutes west. The air temperature is 74, and water temperature is 83 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Rain. The current weather is rain. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 0 knots from the north. The visibility is 1 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and steady.
Well, here we are in the last country we'll visit on the Pacific Ocean. We went from Gulfito, Costa Rica to Isla Parida Panama yesterday, then went on to Bahia Honda today for a total of 140 nautical miles mostly east. I don't mention the Bridal dolphins that come and go all the time now because they are part of our daily lives. But, they are always there along with all the other creatures we now take for granted.
We dropped the meat hook today and caught two large jacks within an hour and threw them both back. Then we waited until after lunch to put the hook back over and within 20 minutes we hooked a 3 ft Dorado! Yummy. We had some for dinner. So, here we are in the wilderness of Panama, in the pouring rain having a yummy salad, fresh Mahi Mahi and baked potatos for dinner. And this side of Panama is wilderness. The islands remind me of the PNW, offering great protection from wind and waves, plenty of anchorages and islands for exploring, and a break from civilization. So, if your want the PNW, but with water you can swim and dive in, plus fish that you can easily catch and enjoy eating, this is the better place. Keep your boat in Gulfito for less cost, and make a day run into Panama for a couple of weeks cruising in the islands. Better climate, water and fishing than Mexico.
Our tanks are full of rain water and all is good. We are sooooo fortunate. We've been underway for 9 months now and we've encountered several "normal" years of incredible experiences. Years of memories in only 9 months and all of it with a view of the sun and stars. It puts to shame normal living.
The rain outside is still falling, but has moderated from the Florida style downpour. Bahia Honda is lovely with Pacific clear water and complete protection from the wind and waves. As we arrived, 6 dugout canoes paddled by children converged on Jenny wanting to see her and see if we had any goodies to offer. It was pouring, so unfortunately they left with only an unopened bag of cookies. Next an old guy in a dougout showed up and we arranged to see him in the AM for a market. He offered fresh fruit for gasoline. Next, his son showed up and we chatted only to find out they were all one family. His wife will show up tomorrow at 9 also to trade goods. Since there is no road within 40 miles of here, everything is barter. The locals live in a small settlement on an island in the middle of the bay. They love visiting yatistas.
What can I say. We are only two days away from the Panama canal and are itchy to go through and be get to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, and civilization. The end of one part of this adventure is drawing to a close with the climax and associated anxiety of the canal. Once through, a whole new adventure begins. Wow. das
Passage: Bahia Honda to Isla Catalina Departed Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7:16 AM local time from Bahia Honda Anchor. The departure location was latitude 7 degrees 44.979 minutes North, longitude 81 degrees 32.073 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 10:53 AM local time at Santa Catalina Island. The arrival location was latitude 7 degrees 37.575 minutes North, longitude 81 degrees 16.453 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 22.36 nautical miles in 0d 4h 9m with an average speed of 5.40 knots and a maximum speed of 7.30 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 1:03 PM local time. The total fuel load was 332. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:37 AM local time. The total fuel load was 322. The trip used 10.0 gallons, burned 2.76 gallons / hour and used 2.24 miles / gallon.
Narrative Thursday, July 10, 2008 1:34:35 PM Location: Isla Santa Catalina, Panama Latitude is 7 degrees 37.577 minutes north. Longitude is 81 degrees 16.459 minutes west.
No recent weather observation is available.
Below is an email from Jeff, the captain of Stravaig describing their storm experience that I described a few weeks ago.
Thoughts about our voyage: Sea of Cortez to Costa Rica aboard Stravaig:-
We left La Paz on April 16th stopped overnight at Muertos to gather our wits and get a decent sleep and then the next day headed south.
Our immediate goal was to make a fairly quick passage down to northern Costa Rica, the idea being to try and arrive there by about the last week in May. Traditionally the hurricane season in the northern hemisphere begins on June 1st, however, of equal importance to us, we had learned that "tropical lows" often form in the Gulf of Tehuantepec as early as the third week in May so really we had no time to spare.
The weather was very pleasant and the winds were favorable and we made a good run down towards Isla Isabella where we hoped to stop for a few hours' weather and time of day permitting. The island visit idea was soon abandoned however when both the above criteria looked dubious. We altered course for Cabo Corrientes. Just after dusk we were making a steady five knots in a light following wind and sea when the boat shuddered and stopped dead in the water the sudden stop being accompanied by a loud crashing/cracking sound. It so happened that at that very moment I was looking forward on the port side and saw the cause of the impact. We had hit a large whale! At the moment of impact he sounded and simultaneously he smacked us on the bow of the port ama, giving me a glimpse of his great fluke as he did so. Frankly I was just plain shocked by this sudden impact and it took me a few moments before I realized that poor Jose was most likely thinking that we had gone aground! I shouted out to her that "all is O.K. we just hit a whale" but all the time wondering if he was gathering himself for another attack! He must have been of a forgiving nature, for a second impact never came! As best we could we surveyed the damage and found where he had gouged out a small piece of the cut-water, cracking a part of the stem in the process. He had also broken the lashing used to secure the stainless steel cable that supports the leading edge of the bownet. Boy had we got off lightly!
Despite all, we arrived at Bahia Chamela on the 23rd April , rested for one night and then hopped down to Tenacatita where the swell was less and we managed to do a quick and dirty repair to the whale- damaged bow, using some glass scraps and epoxy resin. Some bent fittings proved easy to be straightened and soon the starboard bownet was re-strung and returned to its former glory. Whilst congratulating ourselves on work well done, I was becoming aware that time was slipping past but I still decided to have some R@R in Las Hadas and then on to Zihuatanejo and Acapulco where we stopped for fuel before pressing on to Huatulco. On the 11th of May we finally got through the almost-closed-out entrance to Chahue Marina. What a lovely and beguiling spot, we stayed too long really but set off to cross the dreaded Tehuantepec with a good forecast leaving Chahue on the 20th May (my birthday). We kept a conservative (and as it happened an un-necessary) 'one foot on the beach'. Our next port was to be Bahia del Coco, the port of entry for the northern part of Costa Rica.
There was almost no wind in Gulf of Tehuantepec, so we kept the engine on and motored out of this potentially difficult area before our luck had time to change. After two days we were in Guatemalan waters and we started to sail as much as possible to conserve fuel. Progress became painfully slow as we battled endless squalls and up to four knots of current, all from the east. On the nose!!
By the 25th May at mid-day we were abeam of the Gulf of Fonseca and were trying every tactic I could think of to make our way south-eastward down the Nicaraguan coast. Three gruelling days later we had reached a position about ninety miles off the coast almost at the latitude of the Costa Rican border. By three in the afternoon woke me to the news that yet another huge squall was forming ahead of us, and prior to then she had been beating into a south-easter but had won some hard miles, on course! We bashed on until dark, by which time we had a good increase in wind up to forty-five Knots but it had shifted direction and I figured that if we were to set the staysail on the port tack with just enough rudder to head us up to windward, we might even keep our position or at least minimise our leeway. By morning , remaining hove-to ceased to be an option as the seas were threatening to roll us over . Despite the loss of the hard-won miles, I settled for as slow a downwind course as we could manage. Within an hour we had reduced sail to bare poles and this kept our speed to about eight Knots. The wind continued to rise, now fifty-five knots seemed to be the sustained wind strength with the occasional gust to sixty! About this time the penny dropped, I knew we were in a rapidly developing and un-forecasted tropical storm! The second realization followed almost immediately on the heels of the first. We were sailing downwind heading for the eye! Any off-shore navigator knows that the quickest and surest way to get yourself into the worst part of the storm , is to take the path of least resistance and run downwind! I quietly cursed myself for being such a fool! Adding even more damage to my self esteem, was the realization that the previous night I had kept us hove-to on a PORT TACK! How much more stupid could I get? To avoid an approaching tropical storm, using the heave-to tactic in the northern hemisphere, any sensible man would heave-to on the starboard tack, for this at least might help to edge him away from the highest winds encountered near the eye!
As the wind was building, we had to resort to hand steering if we were to avoid the ever increasing possibility of a broach and all its associated dangers. In order to maintain a modicum of control as we negotiated each wave, I was able to improve the rate at which the boat responded to the helm by forcing water past the rudder by keeping he engine in gear, taking care to use its power during turns only and to throttle back immediately the boat had adopted an attitude that would bring the next wave about five to ten degrees off dead astern on our starboard quarter. Interestingly, in the darkness the bio-luminescence made the seas all around us somewhat visible. They appeared as huge whitish-green glowing lumps, all partially hidden by the blowing spindrift. As the night wore on, the wind continued to increase until seventy knots became the average speed with gusts to seventy-nine and perhaps a little more. All during this night our angle of heel on the larger seas was becoming alarmingly close to the point where capsize was a very real possibility. So precipitous were the seas, that in order tmake it possible for me to keep steering and at the same time able to operate the engine controls, Jose braced herself against me, and somehow managed to keep us both from being thrown across the cockpit. As dawn came, it brought with it a slight improvement to the visibility and I was able, to make a rough guess at the wave height. To my horror, I could not even conservatively bring my estimate to a figure any less than forty feet!
Quite suddenly the wind dropped to about sixteen knots, the seas remained large and chaotic but the respite from the ocean's onslaught seemed like a gift from the Gods. Of course it was to be short-lived, we were in the eye of the storm. I knew that the worst was yet to come, but none the less I marveled at the sight of the wall-clouds on the radar. In about ten minutes the full fury of the storm returned. The wind speeds went howling up to a mean of eighty knots and gusting. The highest gusts I noted were eighty-eight and by now seas were above the height of our fifty-foot mast! About this time, we lost the use of the engine. We thought that we had taken enough 'green water' into the cockpit that the motor may well have drowned. Certainly the engine room bilge pump was working hard. Regretably, too much was going on to be able to pay much attention to the engine. No matter what I tried to do, I could no longer control the boats speed or course and in fact found that any attempt I made to steer only seemed to increase the number of near -capsize events. In fear and trepidation I reluctantly took my hands off the wheel and just stood and watched. The boat was doing better without my interference! Things were not, however, improving. In one of the first eighty knot gusts, the Achilles ten-foot rib inflatable, which had been tied down on the aft cabin top (albeit rather carelessly) , was swept of its perch by wind and wave and crashed into the life-lines. The boat lurched and swung around bringing the wind and sea on the starboard beam, which caused the rib to crash against the canvas cockpit closure. If the canvas had ripped, the rib would have crushed us both!
After innumerable near capsizes and noting that conditions were still not abating, I asked Jose to call a May-Day on the V.H.F. radio, channel sixteen. After a couple of calls, somebody who sounded drunk came on and muttered for a while in a mixture of Spanish and gibberish. It soon became obvious that this strange signal was some radio anomaly and was not intended as an offer of help! We decided to carry on and tough it out a little longer, for after all, the boat had already survived through the highest gusts that I had noted so far. Meanwhile, we could hear the constant crashing and banging as the mainsail and other gear flogged mercilessly on the cockpit hard-top. The boat and the two of us could still so easily be lost. Leaving Jose in the cockpit I went below and called May-Day on the morning Panama-Pacific Net on 8143KKz, using our S.S.B. transceiver. By the time I had finished on the radio, the net had alerted various agencies as to our plight and arrangements were made for future radio check-ins.
(The details of the incredible efforts made on our behalf by so many caring people, I shall attempt to work out later. At this moment, I am finding the establishment of a time- line upon which to hang the events, particularly troublesome. Slowly but surely, however, I hope to collect and collate as much information as I can, so as to better understand and appreciate the help we got.)
Returning to the tumult in the cockpit, I quickly explained to Jose that even if the worst happened, people would at least know where to look for what was left of us. As I spoke, I had a strange sense of a weight being lifted from me, was I imagining things or had conditions marginally improved whilst I had been below? Just wishful thinking I told myself but, after staring suspiciously at the dial of the anemometer for about another hour, I finally became convinced that the abatement was indeed a reality. Now, if the boat could only stay on her feet for a little longer... we might yet survive!
Evidence that help was at hand soon appeared overhead, a U.S. Coast Guard spotter plane, making many low and close passes over us whilst chatting happily with us on V.H.F. The wind and seas were still enormous, so fearing for our safety, the pilot chose to stay with us until his fuel was getting low. He left us at dusk but not until he had assured us that a U.S. Coast Guard cutter would be with us by eleven o'clock that evening. By now, the principle danger was that we were being propelled rapidly towards the Nicaraguan coast, and more importantly, we still had virtually no means with which to fight our way off this rocky and fast approaching lee-shore.
I should mention that as the spotter plane departed, we acquired three additional crew members, two exhausted booby birds, who took up residence within the confines of the bow-pulpit and one storm petrel in a state of collapse! The petrel fluttered into the cockpit and immediately went below in search of creature comforts! Jose found a warm plastic box for him but despite all her best efforts, she could not find anything on board that he would eat, his chances of survival looked slim. Late the next morning, when they judged conditions to be more to their liking, the booby birds flew off.
By the time the Coasties arrived and sent over a boarding party to check us out, the conditions had become more manageable and we had been out on deck assessing damage. Some of our sails were damaged but in a pinch could be serviceable. The crew was in far worse shape, an incredible lethargy was setting in but we had lots more yet to do if we were to get ourselves to a safe harbor. Just before the Coasties had arrived, I had got the engine running. It must have sucked air when the boat had been heeling so radically, so after a few kind words and bleeding out a few air bubbles from the fuel-line, it fired up just fine. Our remaining problem was lack of fuel and we gratefully accepted ten gallons of diesel fuel from our visitors. We still were facing another exhausting night in high seas and strong winds but nothing compared to what had gone before. At two o,clock the next afternoon we finally and with a huge sense of relief, arrived in Bahia de Salinas and got the hook down. Wow! Safe at last! Just before dark, we remembered the little petrel. What a state he was in! We dragged the poor creature out on to the deck where he tried to hide under one of the dinghies. We chased him out knowing that if he would not use his remaining energy to quest for food, he would have no chance. He fell overboard but before he hit the water, his flight instincts took over and the last we saw of him, he was flitting between the waves most surely on the hunt! We wished him all the luck in the world and fell into our bed!
das, Jeff
Passage: Isla Santa Catalina to Bahia Naranjo Departed Friday, July 11, 2008 at 7:04 AM local time from Isla Santa Catalina Anchor. The departure location was latitude 7 degrees 37.737 minutes North, longitude 81 degrees 16.923 minutes West.
Arrival Arrived Friday, July 11, 2008 at 1:03 PM local time at Naranjo Cove. The arrival location was latitude 7 degrees 16.568 minutes North, longitude 80 degrees 55.597 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 35.70 nautical miles in 0d 5h 57m with an average speed of 5.60 knots and a maximum speed of 6.90 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:37 AM local time. The total fuel load was 322. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 8:59 PM local time. The total fuel load was 272. The trip used 50.0 gallons, burned 8.37 gallons / hour and used 0.71 miles / gallon.
Narrative Friday, July 11, 2008 6:05:14 PM Location: Naranjo Cove, Panama Latitude is 7 degrees 16.559 minutes north. Longitude is 80 degrees 55.593 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Friday, July 11, 2008 5:56:20 PM local time. Observation location: Naranjo Cove, Panama. Latitude is 7 degrees 16.558 minutes north. Longitude is 80 degrees 55.593 minutes west. The air temperature is 80, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Overcast. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 4 knots from the northwest. The visibility is 20 nautical miles. The wave height is 1 feet with 2 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and rising.
We are buzzing along now. We stayed at anchor behind Santa Catalina island last night, then came over here (35 miles) today to get set up to go around the big bend into the Canal Zone. The pensula we go around is the large one that Juts south out of the middle of the country and has the infamous Punta Mala. We've been paying close attention to the weather, and it looks like the next few days will be good for a rounding. We have the option to stop halfway around at Boneo cove, but it is an open roadstead, and open to the south where the swell and wind are coming from. Also, we are not sure how strong or what direction the currents are going to be. If we stop, the second leg is a very long 90 miles and if the current is against us, we won't make our next anchorage until after dark. So, we'll make a call when we get there. If we don't stop and go through the night, we'll continue on all the way to Marina Fuerte Amador (Flamenco) anchorage at Panama City. Also, I think it would be awesome seeing all the ship traffic at night.
So, there you have it. das
Passage: Naranjo Cove to Isla Bono Departed Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 10:59 AM local time from Naranjo Cove anchor. The departure location was latitude 7 degrees 10.560 minutes North, longitude 80 degrees 41.355 minutes West.
Narrative Saturday, July 12, 2008 8:29:44 PM Location: Punta Mala, Panama Latitude is 7 degrees 14.338 minutes north. Longitude is 80 degrees 22.16 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Sunday, July 13, 2008 1:28:42 PM local time. Observation location: Marina Fuerte Amador Anchorage. Latitude is 8 degrees 55.274 minutes north. Longitude is 79 degrees 31.551 minutes west. The air temperature is 86, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 2 knots from the south. The visibility is 15 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and falling.
Well, its been an interesting passage around Punta Mala. We got started with an overcast sky that turned into some kind of storm over the peninsula. As we got around the bend and the morning wore on, the wind and waves picked up with the wind in the teens and twentys most of the day and the waves building to 5 ft. Fortunately, these forces were all on our aft quarter and as we wore arount the peninsula, they ended up mostly behind us. We dropped the birds around 10:00 AM and have thad them down since. With the wind and waves helping us along, we saw 7 plus knots until we got near Punta Mala. By then, all of the rain had ended and most of the storm effect was over. So, our rounding was nice and gentel.
Since we were in white caps as we went by the only two roadstead stops before Punta Mala, we decided to head on through the night to get to the Flemico anchorage tomorrow morning. As darkness fell, the sky cleared up enough for a 70 percent moon to shine light on the water. However, right now it is blowing about 11 knots on our starbard side (offshore) and building up another set of wind waves. I'm hoping this is just some of the cape effect and it will die out as we get furhter offshore. This chop is causing Jenny to be thrust sideways as the wind waves slap our port side. This is not good for sleeping.
We have only seen a few ships so far, and our AIS has helped a great deal in assuring us that we are outside of the shipping channel. Both radars are also going and we have good visibility, seeing boat and ship lights where they should be. There seems to be a thunderstorm to the east of us (starboard beam) as I can see the sky light up now and again. There was some lightening ahead too, but not for a couple of hours.
We checked into the Marine Mobile Service Net just so someone knew where we were. das
Arrival Arrived Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 11:13 AM local time at Flamenco Ancorage north of Perico. The arrival location was latitude 8 degrees 55.264 minutes North, longitude 79 degrees 31.561 minutes West. The customs checkin was none. The trip covered 164.51 nautical miles in 1d 3h 30m with an average speed of 5.80 knots and a maximum speed of 7.90 knots.
The last fuel record before the trip started was recorded on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:37 AM local time. The total fuel load was 322. The first fuel record after the trip ended was recorded on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 8:59 PM local time. The total fuel load was 272. The trip used 50.0 gallons, burned 2.06 gallons / hour and used 3.29 miles / gallon.
Narrative Sunday, July 13, 2008 1:41:55 PM Location: Marina Fuerte Amador Anchorage Latitude is 8 degrees 55.273 minutes north. Longitude is 79 degrees 31.552 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Sunday, July 13, 2008 1:28:42 PM local time. Observation location: Marina Fuerte Amador Anchorage. Latitude is 8 degrees 55.274 minutes north. Longitude is 79 degrees 31.551 minutes west. The air temperature is 86, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 2 knots from the south. The visibility is 15 nautical miles. The wave height is 0 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1010 millibars and falling.
We we made it. We're looking at the Panama City skyline from Jenny. Aside from catching and releasing a fishing trap at around 2:00 AM, the trip was not too bad. The wind never did get much below 10 knots the entire trip, but the sky cleared during the night and we could see the starts. Just before Isla Bona we snaked our way through a nest of fishing pangas and flags without further incident. The seas were choppy all the way in though, much to our surprise. As we got to Isla Taboga, we converged with the shipping traffic which piled up as day broke. We needed to get across to the other side, with mamoth freighters and tankers charging along at 17 knots. We contacted Flamingo Signal Station when we were about 8 miles from the outer buoy and let them know our intensions.
When we were 2 miles south of the outer buoy, I called them again. There were 6 ships in motion at that point all with closest point of approach (CPA) of less than 2 miles. Thank God for AIS. Well, I thought traffic control would give us some directions about how to proceed. But, they just said to proceed to our destination. Well. OK. We made a hard starboard turn and began to cut across the traffic just after a big car carrier passed. We had a CPA of one tanker of less than a mile, so we reved up the motor and watched as it bore down on us. It is a very disturbing sight to have a tanker going 16 knots coming right at you. There must be 20 ships anchored here waiting for the canal or various other things. We had to weave among them to get to this anchorage and that was cool. It is a good thing we had all our SFO experience. The radars proved useless whith so many targets, but the AIS ruled. We got across with no histerics, raised the birds, found a spot and anchored. After a brief cleanup, we crashed.
The spot is beautiful. The city is magnificant with new skyscrapers going up. We'll check into Panama tomorrow and get our bearings. Then to the City!!! We spotted Walrus, a sailboat we know already here, so we'll call him later today and get the scoop. das
Narrative Monday, July 14, 2008 5:51:08 PM Location: Flamenco Ancorage Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
No recent weather observation is available.
More notes on the Punta Mala rounding.
We had overcast sky as we left Naranjo that turned into a rain storm that lasted until we got to Punta Mala. We say 15 - 25 knot winds and 4-5 ft wind waves with rain the whole way around. The good news is that we were warm and dry :-) and the wind and waves were on our aft quarter or stern the whole way. So, we saw 7.5 knots for several hours even with the birds down. By the time we got to Beneo, the wind and waves (white caps) were blowing right up that cove, so we easily decided to skip it and do the overnight. We think we had good current until Boneo, but not sure since we had such a good wind / wave behind us. However, as that all quieted down between there and Punta Mala, we slowed down to 4.9 knots. Yup. 4.9 and we never saw better than 5.9 all the rest of the way. So, two things. First, the current up to and around Punta Mala is dead against you, and because of that, you will need an overnight to get from Boneo to Flamenco anyway. Easy decision. BTW the grib files and BuoyWeather showed absolutely nothing of the sort of weather we had!
We rounded Punta Mala at about 6PM and then wind then came up off the shore creating more chop on our port beam. We were glad we left the birds down. It blew 10 -14 knots on our beam until daybreak. This whole trip would have been a blast in a sailboat. You would have beaten us here fro sure. In any case, it was fairly dull until we got to Isla Bona. We went on the west side of it, away from the shipping lanes. Between there and Isla Taboga we ran into a fleet of panga fishermen. At first there were so many lights we thought they must be shore lights. But, they weren't and they did not show up on the radar. As we got closer, more flashlights were turned on! There also were some flags out with small red blinkers that we could not see until within 100 ft of them. We made it through, but it took both of us on alert for about an hour.
Day broke as we got to Isla Taboga and then had to deal with the shipping traffic that began to really arrive around 9:00 AM. We called Flamenco Station on 12 and told them our intention was to cross the channel to get to the Perico Island north anchorage. They thanked us for the info, and asked us to call again as we neared the outer marker. We called again when we were just off of Isla Taboguella 2 miles due south of the marker. We expected them to route us across the channel since there were no less than 5 ships approaching from the west! They merely said it was alright to proceed to our destination!!!
Thank God for AIS as there were so many radar targets it was useless. The AIS gave us CPA distance and timing against all the moving targets. With that, we waited until the first ship, a huge car carrier went by and made our dash. Even so, we had a tanker bearing down on us at 17 knots with a CPA of only 1 mile. That made us nervous so we revved her up and got across the bow with about 2 miles between us. Our SFO experience helped a lot. das
Narrative Thursday, July 17, 2008 4:00:52 PM Location: Flamenco Anchorage Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Thursday, July 17, 2008 3:34:46 PM local time. Observation location: Flamenco Anchorage. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 81, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny, Thunderstorms. The current weather is dry. The sky is overcast (more than 90% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the southeast. The visibility is 15 nautical miles. The wave height is 1 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1008 millibars and steady.
We've been shopping! Tuesday we went to the Albrook mall. It may be the biggest I've been in. Many of the stores were what you would find in a US mall. I bought a couple pair of Columbia nylon pants to replace the cotton ones I brought. One was a pair of shorts and the other was a shorts/pants covertable set. These lightweight nylon pants are exactly what the Dr. ordered for the tropics. In Panama, as in a lot of Central America, men don't wear shorts regardless of the heat. In Panama, the dress tends to be even more formal, so long pants are a must. These are so light that they are cool, and dry very quickly after it rains, which is just about every 3rd hour. Mary bought some shirts and stuff. There was a very nice large food store there too, so we stocked up on some supplies on our way out. The cab ride was onl $5 each way.
Wednesday began our shopping for marine supplies. I got some shakles and small stuff at the local marine stores, but none of these stores really stock stuff for cruising boats, especially sailboats. I needed electronic charts for Columbia and Venezuela, some double braid line, a block, etc. After a few dead ends we ended up at the Marine Warehouse talking to Aurturo. The marine warehouse is just an office. Nothing is there. But, it is all available! Auturo went through the West Marine and Bluewater Charts and Books catalogs with me, got on Windows Live Messenger with his counterpart in Miami and Voila I had ordered all that stuff I needed. The cost of shipping by FedEx was $67 which was exorbitant. But, he had a ship leaving Miami on Friday and so he charged me $40 for the shipping, only a little more than shipping within the US. Customs was 1%, less than any US sales tax. So, I actually paid less than what I would have paid in the US!!! Awesome!
Last night, the wind shifted to the Southeast, something it is not supposed to do here, now so we had a very rolly night. Neither of us had much sleep. So this morning we moved Jenny to a new spot, that is a little bit better, but not much. We got settled, listened to and contributed to the nets, and had the owner of the Diesel Duck called Diesel Duck stop by. He dropped off some catalogs, and I gave him some flags for Equidor, Peru, Chile, and Argentina that we were not going to use. Having sailed the east coast (starting in Toronto) and the Caribbean for several years, they are on their way around South America counterclockwise. Theirs is the second boat built to the Bueller design, and they managed the build themselves. It is 41 ft long, 35,000 lbs and beautiful. Being German, everything is very well done, neat and clean. The story is that the guy who started Diesel Ducks saw their boat and decided to manufacture them. He also stole the name of their boat for his company and the boat brand. They have sails, a 67 hp 4 cylinder Westerbrook and a variable pitch prop. So, their range is awesome.
This afternoon we went looking for motor oil (Delo 400 15-40). The last I got was in La Paz Mexico and it hasn't been available since. I arrived here with insufficient oil to do a change. So, the hunt was on. Aurturo gave me the name and address of a place he thought had it, but I thought I'd hunt around here first. After a couple of hours, I ended up in an upstairs office at the Flaminco Boat Yard buying two 5 gallon cans. They cost $77 for 5 gallons, a little more than what I paid in SFO ($75 for 6 gallons). So, that was a find. I've only a few more items to get before we are ready to go for another 9 months.
Tonight we're having the family from Lauren Grace (a cat) over for coctails and to pick their brain about cruising Venezuela, Columbia and the San Blas islands. It should be fun. das
Narrative Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:50:23 AM Location: Flemenco Ancorage, Balboa Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west.
This weather observation was at Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:29:40 AM local time. Observation location: Flemenco Anchorage. Latitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes north. Longitude is 0 degrees 0 minutes west. The air temperature is 82, and water temperature is 82 degrees fahrenheit. The forecast is Sunny. The current weather is dry. The sky is broken clouds (60 - 90% clouds). The wind is 5 knots from the northeast. The visibility is 10 nautical miles. The wave height is 1 feet with 0 foot swells. The barometer is 1009 millibars and steady.
Yesterday we hired a cab for a few hours to drive us around to the specialized stores we needed to get to. We paid $10 / hour and it was a bargan. Our first stop was half way across the country to get to the Northern Lights dealer/importer. We needed a couple of spare water pump belts and oil filters for the genset. Getting there and back to the next store took about 1.5 hours. Next we tried to get dingy glue for gluing down parts of the dingy that have come loose. We got to the store, but they were out. Then we went to a store to get stocked up on diesel additives. They did not carry Stanadyne which I prefer, but did have Racor. Since Racor has a good name, I got enough to treat another 1200 gallons. Then we went to a book store downtown where they had a nice selection of books in English and we loaded up.
BTW, our driver, a young strong Panamanian asked us how we liked Costa Rica. We told him we didn't very much and he concurred. He went up for a week, was verbally assaulted at one of the clubs for dancing with a Costa Rican girl, decided to leave the next day and was robbed before he got to the airport. Our opinion continues to be that Costa Rica is dangerous and should be avoided.
Our friends on Tropical Dance started the process for going through the canal yesterday and we had a nice dinner with them at one of the local resturants. I'll ge going as one of their line handlers to get the experience of going through and have been keeping track of how they are doing it. I made up a canal transit process in Word which they are using and validating. So, I should have a good set of instructions when we are done.
Today I've been working on the BoatExec software and will be putting together some photo emails for transmission later today. Most of our exotic shopping is now done and we are on to the small and mundane stuff. We need to load 500 gallons of diesel that should get us all the way to Venezsula and asked the net where the best fuel is. It turns out to be here at the Flemenco Marina, so we need to get that done sometime this week. Then the only remaining item is our parts shipment from the states that is due in on the 31st. We may go out to the Las Perlas islands in the meantime to get to some clean water and do some swimming and fishing.
Except for the long and sometimes wet dingy ride into the marina, we are having a good time here and getting a lot done. There are nice resturants and stores within walking distance and the cabs are not too expensive. The malls are expansive and we've been able to get everything we need so far.
The canal traffic has picked up and we watch ships coming and going regularly now. It still is a bit of a thrill just being here. das
Report Totals Total recorded distance is 926.40 nautical miles covered in 6 days, 5 hours 47. Total fuel loaded during this period was 0 gallons. Initial fuel load was 804 gallons and the last fuel load reported was 665 gallons. The total fuel consumed during this period was 139 gallons. The average fuel utilization was 6.66 miles/gallons or 0.93 gallons/hour.
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