Costa Rica

We’ve been working our way south in Costa Rica, on my way to Puntarenes to pick up Erin. We met in Mazatlan through a mutual friend from La Paz. She loves sailing and has proven skills in the galley so I’m truly looking forward to having her on board. We’ll sail the local islands for a little and work our way south to Ecuador. From there, I plan on sailing back north to transit the Panama Canal in August.

On the way south from Bahia de Panama, we saw a squal up ahead of us. I rolled up the jib and closed the hatches, expecting the normal mid-afternoon storm. Normally, they last about 15 minutes and bring a bunch of rain with wind gusts in the low to mid 20’s. This one looked a little different as it approached. Timo and I had a short conversation on the VHF and prepared for the storm. Behind us, another boat that we’ve been cruising with was prepping for the same storm. All 3 of us got blind-sided to say the least.

I didn’t grab too many pics but I did take a video. Unfortunately, the video doesn’t do the storm justice. We clocked a gust of 59 with sustained winds (lasting 4 or more seconds) at 55. The boat did well and outside of my solar panels flying up. I need to replace the braces with a system that I can lash down in storm conditions; I’ll probably tackle that in Puntarenas. The dinghy and jerry cans stayed on board however at times, I could see the dinghy trying to fly away in the gusts. Swells were about 10-12 feet, coming from every direction. I buried the bow several times and took on some “blue” water. The cockpit stayed pretty dry except for some spray coming off the waves as they crashed over the bow. I was happy to test the boat in a storm that only lasted for about an hour but truly hope that I don’t need to go through that again. The only error I made is that I didn’t put in a reef early enough. I was able to “spill” the wind out of the top 1/3 of the sail, thus I essentially had a double reef in but if flogged near the top. I normally don’t need to reef the main as it doesn’t generate too much power on my boat (a good and bad thing I guess). Going forward, I’ll probably just reef no matter how bad I think the storm may be.

Outside of that, I’m having a great time down here. Looking forward to exploring some of the islands just south of us, more later!

El Salvador

After 2 weeks, we're ready to move on. We plan on leaving Tuesday, the 13th. El Salvador is a great country (from what I've seen) and I'll be sorry to leave it. We organized a provision run to San Salvador for Friday, looking forward to seeing "the city". There's a big sand bar we need to cross to get out of here so we need to pull anchor at 9:30 to make high, slack tide. We have a 200 plus mile run down to Costa Rica but I can't wait to see CR. The first couple anchorages supposedly have some of the best fishing and snorkeling in the country..time will tell! The one thing I learned from my visit in El Salvador is that $1 beers are no more less expensive than $4 beers. You just drink 4x as many, thus you're even after each day.

Mexico to El Salvador

We left Huatuco at about 1pm, next stop is www.bahiadelsolelsalvador.com. Should take about 5 days or so. We had mild winds but a strong current so we made good time this afternoon. Speed over ground was about 6kts in 7kts of wind. Timo had his engine on, I sailed the whole day. Tonight we approach the Tehuantepec. This bay is known for its winds. Weather forecasts can change and just when you think you’ll have a nice night, it can blow 50kts. We left Mexico with about 6 other boats today. Whenever a weather window opens, a mass exodus occurs. Many boats will cut straight across the bay. Advantage: A little shorter but a lot more exposed. Sailing with “one foot on the beach” gives a lot better protection from swells and any storms that may crop up but it is quite a bit longer.

We decided to error on the side of caution and stick close to the beach. It’s about an 8hr difference in the trip but I think it’s the right decision.

Last night, I had a few beers at a bar and downloaded the movie “The Bucket List” from www.watchtvsitcoms.com. You can get it free and I highly recommend it. There was a line in there when the two of them were looking at the stars and he said “Stars, now that was one of God’s good ones”. Sitting out here tonight with a full moon, gazing at the stars (yes, they’re bright even w/ the moon) makes me tend to agree. I was listening to my Kenny Chesney and just truly enjoying the sunset. I doubt the novelty of watching a sunset under sail or gazing at the stars while at sea will ever get old. Kenny Chesney’s songs sum it up pretty well.

Anyway, it’s about 8:30 so I’m going down below to see what I’ll cook up for dinner. The seas are mellowing out so perhaps I’ll cook something up. We’re motoring along now as the winds died but I have a great seat up on the bow, out of earshot (and smell) of the engine!

Well, we made it to El Salvador! 5 days at sea and about 480 miles. I used about 40 gallons of diesel the entire trip, actually had 30 left over. This is big as diesel is $4.50/gallon down here. Beers are $1 so if I drink enough, I can actually break even on the fuel. Bahia del Sol is nice and the people are very nice. They claim it’s a 5-star resort but I think that’s by El Salvador’s standards. In the States, I’d put this around a 2 to 3 star. The people make it a 4 star though.

Spent 2 nights in a slip but I’m moving to a mooring ball this afternoon. The current rips in here and since I’ll be here for 2-3 weeks, I don’t want to worry too much about anchors dragging when I’m not on board. More updates later, check out the pic of the 3 ½ foot Dorado (mahi mahi) I caught on the way down, fed me for 3 days!

In Huatuco, last stop in Mexico

We’ve been in Huatuco now for about a week and it looks like our weather window for the passage to El Salvador just opened. We need to cross a 200 mile bay where winds can pick up to 70mph in about 20minutes. They have dedicated weather stations down here specifically to aid cruisers in passages. Looks like we’ll be leaving Wednesday night, arriving in the “bay of winds” Thursday morning. We’ll have about 48hrs in the bay until we get to the other side. From there its skip Guatemala and on to El Salvador. Should arrive sometime around Tuesday. Since we don’t have enough fuel to motor the whole way, we’ll be sailing a large portion of the trip, thus it may take longer or perhaps less time to make the passage. To date, this will be the longest for me but once in El Salvador, beers are $1, thus we may stay there for a month or soJ.

After talking to some friends down here, I am leaning on going through the Canal. A couple of reasons why:

1. It’s the Canal, what a story that would be……

2. They speak English on the other side (tired of fighting my way through translations even though it has not been really that bad).

3. The water. Clear with visibility down to 100 feet.

4. My boat was made in Florida, thus it should be easier to find a buyer if I choose to sell her. Not sure on this yet, I kind of like what I’m doing.

5. Employment. Should be pretty easy to live on my boat and pick up a job at one of the resorts/bars along the water to put some money back into the pocket.

6. It’s that or the S. Pacific and I’ve seen enough women from Tonga to know that I don’t want to go there by myself! I’ll save that trip for when I have a partner on board who wants to spend 27 days straight on the open ocean with a guy like me!

With that said, I’ll sign off. My next update should (better be) from El Salvador! Adios Mexico!

Trip to Acapulco

Well, it’s 4:45am on 4/2 and we’re motor sailing down to Alcapulco. We plan on heading in to town for dinner, then getting to bed early. Tomorrow, we’ll head to Puerto Angel, then Hautulco. From there, it’s across the Tehuantepec, probably the most dangerous passage to make. The winds there can blow 60 knts but if you plan your departure right, it’s a “breeze”.

Got a fresh cup of coffee and been thinking about the trip so far. La Paz to Mazatlan, down to San Blas, Chemela and Tennekitecca (sp?) and Barra de Navidad. From there, down to Zijuantenejo. It’s been nothing short of amazing. Tonight, we got passed by Nexus, a Nord’Havn 47 ….a very expensive trawler. We spoke on the radio and after about an hour, I think he has me talked into going through the Canal over to the other side. Sounds like a lot of fun but our plans keep changing. They refer to that down here as “going where the wind takes you”. For me, it’s more about doing something that you’ll never forget, that’s originally why I wanted to cross the Pacific to the West. Going through the Canal would be pretty cool to say the least.

Anyway, we’re going to run into him in Huatuco and grab some beers and pick his brain. Right now, we’re heading to El Salvador, looking forward to spending some time at Bahia del Sol (www.bahiadelsolelsalvador.com) . A cruiser friendly hotel that allows you to use all their facilities and tie to a mooring ball for 5 bucks a day. On top of that, it’s a $1 for a local beer….what more do you want?

Anyway, the moon is out and the sun is about to come up so it’s time to get my fishing junk in the water. I kicked down for a new reel and so far, it’s paid off. I landed a Dorado (mahi mahi) and a Bonita yesterday. Kept the Dorado and filleted it, that’ll be dinner tonight. Hoping to catch a Yellow Tail this morning for some nice cerviche and meat for the rest of the week!

Updates from Zijuantenejo

My stay in this town is wrapping up and I'm sad to go but it's time. The trip down here was great but as usual, little to no wind. Erin, a good friend of mine from Mazatlan, joined me for the passage from Barra to Ztown. Unfortunately, we were suppose to stop in Buffadero Bluffs but the swells killed that plan, thus we did over 200 miles straight. Erin was a great addition and hope that she joins me further along in the trip.

Timo and I originally planned on heading over to the S. Pacific but some finances came into play and we thought it better to keep working south this year. The S. Pacific or the Canal is on the radar for next spring. We're heading south on Saturday, next stop Acapulco! From there, we'll hit one or two more stops before leaving Mexico.

Some great friends from CA just left, the Miller's were here for a week. The entire family for 7 days...Kate, Christine and Steve! They told me they had a blast but I'm not sure if Christine will be returning. I took her to the local market and let's just say she didn't enjoy the environment too much. No one got sick and we had a blast. Zip lining through the trees, sailing for 2 days, hooking up w/a 30lb yellow fin tuna (but after a 45min fight, we lost it at the boat!) and an amazing Easter dinner with a view overlooking the Bay. We couldn't have asked for a better week (except for the market visit).

Anyway, I'll try to add some more stories/pics but that's it for now. Hope this update finds everyone well!

Dan

Crew Needed!!

The first week of April. Zihuantenejo to the French Polynesian....appox. 3000 miles or 25 days. Sailing experience preferred however negotiable if you look good in a bikini. Seriously, if anyone wants to join me for this leg, it'll be a great trip that you'll never forget...for the best or worse of it!