Well, we made it to Naranjo, then over to Benoa where we staged to make our passage to Panama City. We need to round Punto Malo (Bad Point) which as it’s name suggests, can be sketchy. Strong rip tides, currents and heavy boat traffic going in and out of the Bay of Panama make it scary to say the least. Once we arrive, we’ll check into the country and do some much needed provisioning. We are down to pasta, Raman and a few canned goods. Provisioning was very hard in Panama, with little to no stores or tiendas. The good note is that although we couldn’t find any beers to buy (all in bottles and the bars won’t sell them), they only cost .50 a piece….nice!
We just left Benao and rounded Punta Malo. We’re heading to Isla Tabago, then on to Panama City. My parents just booked their flights; they’ll be arriving on 9/1, returning on the 11th. We’ll be going through the canal sometime during that window. In the meantime, my front seals on the engine (previously replaced in Mazatlan to the tune of $1000 are leaking again. I’ll have them replaced and perhaps pull the engine for a complete overhaul before my parents arrive. It’ll give me some time to test the work in the Perla’s for a week or so before heading to the Caribbean. Looking forward to the San Blas and Colombia. Hope this email finds everyone well! Start saving some money for the holidays, it would be great to have some visitors in the Caribbean for the holidays!
Dan
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Panama!
We left Golfito, last port in Costa Rica, on July 10 (ish). We had an overnight run down the coast to the first anchorage in Panama. Actually, we could have gone to Isla Partida in one day but it’s a national park and they charge $25/day just to anchor. Needless to say, that translates to a case of beer/day to anchor, thus we kept going. We had a rough sail, against swell and wind the entire way down, arriving in the Seca Islands exhausted. After a tall rum and coke, we crashed for 13 hours straight.
The anchorage was beautiful, well protected. Some gringo put in a “5 star” resort there consisting of 5-7 yurts. These yurts are more than just tents…air conditioning, power, water, full kitchens, big decks with views, etc. Two of them were located on their own islands, thus you had total privacy. Of course, they also installed their own air field on the island as well. The book says we couldn’t go on shore but of course, we did. We roamed around and explored and never got a visit from the live on site security guard.
After the tour, I tackled cleaning up the stern of the boat. When you run an engine that burns and leaks as much oil as mine, the stern of the boat slowly turns black. If you keep up with it every stop, it’s not bad. If you let it go for 3-4 months (like me), it a full day job of floating in the water and scrubbing with WD40, fiberglass cleaner and wax and laundry detergent (yes, this breaks down oil better than anything). Next, I’ll begin cleaning and waxing the hull, probably breaking it up in quarters to make it easier. While I was outside, Erin was inside scrubbing the cabin sole, galley and head (that’s the floor, kitchen and bathroom for all you land-lubbers).
We’re now anchored over in Bahia Muertos, heading to Bahia Honda tomorrow. There we can get some basic provisions (bread and beer) and plan our route south. Once we turn the corner and head into Panama Bay (where the Canal, it’ll be against wind and current, not a fun run. That will be our last overnight before going through the Canal.
The plan is to spend a few weeks exploring the Perla Islands before going through the Canal. My parents plan on flying down the last week of Aug, first week of Sept to go through with us. Also, Timo will moor his boat in the Perlas and help us go through as well. There’s a lot of prep work to do on the boat beforehand (remove solar panels, bimini and perhaps some welding). Not sure on the welding yet, will need to wait to see what the pilot says about the position of my cleats and guides. Anyway, we’ll need 4 strong line handlers, thus I plan on using Erin, Dad and Timo. I know a lot of other boats going through around the same time so I’m hoping I can pick up one of my friends from along the way.
From the Canal, I plan on cruising the San Blas Islands, then making my way to Cartagene, Colombia. From there, I need to decide to either beat my way towards Bonaire or head up and try to reach for the BVI’s via Dominican Republic and/or Puerto Rico. From there, I’ll be ok and can pinch my way down the islands, probably ending up in Trinidad for a haul out and new paint job some time in March timeframe. From there, I may sail my boat back to the states and put her on the market. Love the boat but I eventually need to go back to work sooner or later….not looking forward to that at all.
The anchorage was beautiful, well protected. Some gringo put in a “5 star” resort there consisting of 5-7 yurts. These yurts are more than just tents…air conditioning, power, water, full kitchens, big decks with views, etc. Two of them were located on their own islands, thus you had total privacy. Of course, they also installed their own air field on the island as well. The book says we couldn’t go on shore but of course, we did. We roamed around and explored and never got a visit from the live on site security guard.
After the tour, I tackled cleaning up the stern of the boat. When you run an engine that burns and leaks as much oil as mine, the stern of the boat slowly turns black. If you keep up with it every stop, it’s not bad. If you let it go for 3-4 months (like me), it a full day job of floating in the water and scrubbing with WD40, fiberglass cleaner and wax and laundry detergent (yes, this breaks down oil better than anything). Next, I’ll begin cleaning and waxing the hull, probably breaking it up in quarters to make it easier. While I was outside, Erin was inside scrubbing the cabin sole, galley and head (that’s the floor, kitchen and bathroom for all you land-lubbers).
We’re now anchored over in Bahia Muertos, heading to Bahia Honda tomorrow. There we can get some basic provisions (bread and beer) and plan our route south. Once we turn the corner and head into Panama Bay (where the Canal, it’ll be against wind and current, not a fun run. That will be our last overnight before going through the Canal.
The plan is to spend a few weeks exploring the Perla Islands before going through the Canal. My parents plan on flying down the last week of Aug, first week of Sept to go through with us. Also, Timo will moor his boat in the Perlas and help us go through as well. There’s a lot of prep work to do on the boat beforehand (remove solar panels, bimini and perhaps some welding). Not sure on the welding yet, will need to wait to see what the pilot says about the position of my cleats and guides. Anyway, we’ll need 4 strong line handlers, thus I plan on using Erin, Dad and Timo. I know a lot of other boats going through around the same time so I’m hoping I can pick up one of my friends from along the way.
From the Canal, I plan on cruising the San Blas Islands, then making my way to Cartagene, Colombia. From there, I need to decide to either beat my way towards Bonaire or head up and try to reach for the BVI’s via Dominican Republic and/or Puerto Rico. From there, I’ll be ok and can pinch my way down the islands, probably ending up in Trinidad for a haul out and new paint job some time in March timeframe. From there, I may sail my boat back to the states and put her on the market. Love the boat but I eventually need to go back to work sooner or later….not looking forward to that at all.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Golfita, last stop before Panama!
We stayed in Puntarenas 3 days longer than expected. I had a battery die in my bank so I had to replace both on that side. 2 batteries = $400…..not fun. The next morning, we woke to dead batteries. Both banks were at zero, 0, zilch. We tried to track the source but couldn’t find it. I borrowed a generator from Timo and began the process of charging up the system, 10amps at a time. After troubleshooting for another day, we called it quits and took off. So far, everything is working however the solar can’t quite keep up w/ the fridge. It rains a lot and with the fridge working hard to keep all the beers cold, we’re forced to run the engine from time to time to assist the panels. Small price to pay for cold beer.
We headed out and made it to our first anchorage, Leona. Nice anchorage but not much there. I put the dinghy in the water and quickly discovered my outboard wouldn’t start. No problem, I can row. We spent 2 nights there, then pulled anchor and did an 85nm passage down to Drakes Bay (where Sir Francis Drake landed back in the 1500’s or something like that).
It was a gorgeous bay but a little exposed. We rolled pretty good each night but had no problem sleeping. Unfortunately, it’s a shallow bay, thus we anchored rather far offshore. Not a problem except for the fact that my outboard still didn’t work. I’m slowly becoming a pretty solid rower (if that’s even a word), a skill that I really could do without. Drake’s was a great little town, quads, dirt bikes, walking and horses were the forms of transportation. I think we met just about everyone in the 3 days we were there. Great people, very nice and a lot of fun. We booked a walking tour with one of the guides we met at the bar, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
We arrived on the beach the following morning at 7:30 to meet our tour guide. We were told to bring some sneakers or hiking boots and a snack. We were also warned that we’d get soaked. This was an understatement to say the least. We hiked for about 7 miles through the forest, arriving at a waterfall by noon. We all jumped in, fully clothed (not my choice…). We then strapped on some life jackets and jumped into the river. We floated for a few miles down river, heading out towards the ocean. It was such a cool feeling to be floating through the rainforest in Costa Rica, knowing that we’ll hit the ocean soon enough. After about 1.5hrs, the river dumped into the ocean. We got out, had lunch, waded across the river, and began the 5 mile hike home. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride w/ a panga, thus cutting 3 miles off the trip.
We left Drake’s 3 days ago and arrived in Golfito on the 2nd. Long passage, leaving Drakes at 3am and arriving at 6pm the following day. The following morning, we attempted to move but the engine wouldn’t fire! Now I had a dead diesel and outboard.....what more can go wrong????? After checking filters, bleeding the system, and everything else I could think of, we gave up for the day. The next morning, I learned that when I asked Erin to kill the engine, she never pushed the kill knob back down. After sailing by myself for so long, I never thought of not pushing it back down after killing the engine. My mistake, just pissed at myself for not checking it first! This morning we bled the system and fired up the engine. The good news is that I cleaned the air filter and she runs better than ever (so far).
We then tackled the outboard. I had 2 guys on my boat working on her. We pulled the carb, cleaned everything (which looked good from the get go) and put it back together. After some new, clean fuel and 2 pulls, she too fired right up! What a great 4th of July! I’m now sitting on the front porch of the yacht club drinking a $1 beer and watching the rain.
“Land and Sea” is a cruiser’s club run by a gringo couple. Beers are in the fridge. Put your name on the chalkboard and if you grab a beer, put a slash next to your name. When you’re ready to leave, count the slashes and settle up w/ the owners. For $4/day, you get use of a dinghy dock, showers, internet and kitchen. Not too bad and just a really cool system. Erin just did paper/rock/scissors to see who showers next. Today, they’re throwing a big 4th of July party here. Basically, the owners and buying and prepping and at the end, we’ll add up the receipts and divide by the total people present…pretty laid back.
We plan on heading up into the bay for some snorkeling and relaxing “on the hook”. We’ll return here, provision and head south. Panama is right around the corner, about 40 miles from here. Still can’t believe that I’m sailing from Costa Rica to Panama next week…kind of weird but exciting!
We headed out and made it to our first anchorage, Leona. Nice anchorage but not much there. I put the dinghy in the water and quickly discovered my outboard wouldn’t start. No problem, I can row. We spent 2 nights there, then pulled anchor and did an 85nm passage down to Drakes Bay (where Sir Francis Drake landed back in the 1500’s or something like that).
It was a gorgeous bay but a little exposed. We rolled pretty good each night but had no problem sleeping. Unfortunately, it’s a shallow bay, thus we anchored rather far offshore. Not a problem except for the fact that my outboard still didn’t work. I’m slowly becoming a pretty solid rower (if that’s even a word), a skill that I really could do without. Drake’s was a great little town, quads, dirt bikes, walking and horses were the forms of transportation. I think we met just about everyone in the 3 days we were there. Great people, very nice and a lot of fun. We booked a walking tour with one of the guides we met at the bar, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into.
We arrived on the beach the following morning at 7:30 to meet our tour guide. We were told to bring some sneakers or hiking boots and a snack. We were also warned that we’d get soaked. This was an understatement to say the least. We hiked for about 7 miles through the forest, arriving at a waterfall by noon. We all jumped in, fully clothed (not my choice…). We then strapped on some life jackets and jumped into the river. We floated for a few miles down river, heading out towards the ocean. It was such a cool feeling to be floating through the rainforest in Costa Rica, knowing that we’ll hit the ocean soon enough. After about 1.5hrs, the river dumped into the ocean. We got out, had lunch, waded across the river, and began the 5 mile hike home. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride w/ a panga, thus cutting 3 miles off the trip.
We left Drake’s 3 days ago and arrived in Golfito on the 2nd. Long passage, leaving Drakes at 3am and arriving at 6pm the following day. The following morning, we attempted to move but the engine wouldn’t fire! Now I had a dead diesel and outboard.....what more can go wrong????? After checking filters, bleeding the system, and everything else I could think of, we gave up for the day. The next morning, I learned that when I asked Erin to kill the engine, she never pushed the kill knob back down. After sailing by myself for so long, I never thought of not pushing it back down after killing the engine. My mistake, just pissed at myself for not checking it first! This morning we bled the system and fired up the engine. The good news is that I cleaned the air filter and she runs better than ever (so far).
We then tackled the outboard. I had 2 guys on my boat working on her. We pulled the carb, cleaned everything (which looked good from the get go) and put it back together. After some new, clean fuel and 2 pulls, she too fired right up! What a great 4th of July! I’m now sitting on the front porch of the yacht club drinking a $1 beer and watching the rain.
“Land and Sea” is a cruiser’s club run by a gringo couple. Beers are in the fridge. Put your name on the chalkboard and if you grab a beer, put a slash next to your name. When you’re ready to leave, count the slashes and settle up w/ the owners. For $4/day, you get use of a dinghy dock, showers, internet and kitchen. Not too bad and just a really cool system. Erin just did paper/rock/scissors to see who showers next. Today, they’re throwing a big 4th of July party here. Basically, the owners and buying and prepping and at the end, we’ll add up the receipts and divide by the total people present…pretty laid back.
We plan on heading up into the bay for some snorkeling and relaxing “on the hook”. We’ll return here, provision and head south. Panama is right around the corner, about 40 miles from here. Still can’t believe that I’m sailing from Costa Rica to Panama next week…kind of weird but exciting!
Monteverde National Park/Erin Arrives
I met Erin in Monteverde on Friday the 13th (go figure) This was my first trip away from my boat so it felt really good to explore on land a bit. I took the bus, hungover, and after 3 hours and a big bottle of water, I realized there were no restrooms on board. Needless to say the last ½ was spent in discomfort. Once I arrived, I found the hostile where we were to meet but she took off to see a Frog Farm or something. We eventually met up and had a blast. We hiked about 7-8 miles through the rainforest on the following day. The pics do not do it justice. It literally felt like another world and the sounds just went off.
We returned to the hostile exhausted and crashed pretty hard. I woke up in the middle of the night and literally screamed. While sleeping, I heard cars outside my window and forgot where I was at. I jumped up thinking my anchored dragged and I was washed up on some beach or something. Pretty sad but funny at the same time.
On day two, we went to the 2nd most active volcano in the world. We spent the afternoon hiking down to a waterfall and swam for a bit. In the evening, we took a tour out to a remote road where we were promised we would see a lava flow. We did indeed see lava but it was only a little speck at the top of the volcano. It poured rain so we drank the equivalent of Costa Rica moonshine….”Four Feathers”. After getting a little tipsy, we hopped into a river heated from the local springs. It was in the high 80’s but after a few “Four Feathers”, who knows…….
We’re still in Puntarenas, planning on working South on Saturday. We’re ready to go now but we’re up in a canal and need to wait for a high tide to take us out. Right now, the tides are at 4am and 3:30pm. Our next anchorage is about 20 miles south so if we took the afternoon tide out, we wouldn’t make it by dark. Saturday, the morning high tide is at 5:30 so we’ll take that one. More later!
Dan
We returned to the hostile exhausted and crashed pretty hard. I woke up in the middle of the night and literally screamed. While sleeping, I heard cars outside my window and forgot where I was at. I jumped up thinking my anchored dragged and I was washed up on some beach or something. Pretty sad but funny at the same time.
On day two, we went to the 2nd most active volcano in the world. We spent the afternoon hiking down to a waterfall and swam for a bit. In the evening, we took a tour out to a remote road where we were promised we would see a lava flow. We did indeed see lava but it was only a little speck at the top of the volcano. It poured rain so we drank the equivalent of Costa Rica moonshine….”Four Feathers”. After getting a little tipsy, we hopped into a river heated from the local springs. It was in the high 80’s but after a few “Four Feathers”, who knows…….
We’re still in Puntarenas, planning on working South on Saturday. We’re ready to go now but we’re up in a canal and need to wait for a high tide to take us out. Right now, the tides are at 4am and 3:30pm. Our next anchorage is about 20 miles south so if we took the afternoon tide out, we wouldn’t make it by dark. Saturday, the morning high tide is at 5:30 so we’ll take that one. More later!
Dan
Thursday, June 12, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
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!
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!
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