Costa Rica to Panama

We are off again (not as in smell) - actually tis very hot and oppressive here - always sweaty, drippy and uncomfortable - will be glad to be moving and hopefully find some breeze.  This part of the coast is known for light winds so looks like lots of motoring in the next week or so to reach Panama city.

There is a definite corner in Costa Rica's Pacific coast that once rounded the weather changes from dry and hot to the very typical rain forest/jungle type atmosphere and we did notice the difference - it was like an invisible line we crossed.  The thick humid jungle is the other side of the road from us - only metres away and too thick to walk through.  Animals cry out at night (and dogs). 

Our sail down to Panama was uneventful in the beginning - we motored each day (not much wind in these parts) and anchored overnight - sometimes we got lucky and got a quiet, still anchorage but mostly rolly which didn't matter too much when all we did was have dinner and go to bed - we were up at 5am each morning.

One particular bay in which we stopped for the night was entertaining Bahia Honda - the locals here had it all worked out – first came grandpa in his dugout canoe – he wanted rice, milk etc – he has his two very cute granddaughters with him – the eldest was obviously embarrassed by the ploy and kept her head hung just the same as our young teenagers do when they are not sure of their bodies, ability to put two intelligent words together or whether their hair and pretty face pass muster – I felt for her, especially as the grandfather was laying it on very thick. We gave the little one some exercise books and pencils with a sharpener and some crayons for colouring in. The teenager received pens and books. They were very grateful and off they went – they were followed in a very short time by the son (dad to the girls) he had his son with him. Now they wanted fuel for their outboard and fishing gear for the boy – humm they must think we are a floating gift shop – as we compared notes with other cruisers we found this was the usual system applied to their bay (Grandad's notoriety has even made it into one of our Cruising Guides). We did have a laugh when one cruiser offered expensive fishing lures – the dad looked at them with a ungrateful sign indicated that they were no good – he required smaller lures for the smaller variety of fish in the bay. New lures were shown for his approval and blow me dead if he didn't want those either – he wanted red ones not yellow – for goodness sake !!!! He was told to paint them or go without by a frustrated cruiser. These people are extremely poor, they are a proud people but in order to survive they have to request food from the yachties, who in their eyes must be very very rich.

There was one other yacht anchored in the bay - “Al” on the boat Sailfisher called us up on the VHF radio and chatted for a while - I think Al now regrets ever having spoken to us.  Both going in the same direction we decided to “buddy boat”. At the next overnight anchorage we again chatted on the radio, still not having met face to face as neither of us had our dinghy in the water.

Whilst underway the following day our engine began making noises which progressively got worse.  Don called Al and told him what was happening and he agreed to keep in contact.  A few hours later Don was telling Al how all seems fine - the noise disappeared at lower revs so we will just travel slower when all hell broke loose - loud screeching and lots of billowing smoke - not a good thing to see when miles away from land on a floating piece of !!##@@!!!!. (that was Don's terminology – not mine – I wouldn't be brave enough to insult the very vessel that our immediate survival depended on -but Don felt what the heck and let it rip!)

Black rubber smoke and stink filled the boat, it was the fanbelts slipping that caused the screeching and the stinky black smoke was the rubber belts melting when the water pump seized..  What that all means is we did not have a functioning motor and little or no wind.  Sailfisher stayed with us on the long slow journey and eventually we picked up the wind and began to move at a reasonable rate.  We lost Sailfisher during the night - they went on ahead. Sailfisher had battery problems, they would not hold their charge, so they had to keep their motor running in order to have some juice in the batteries. Punta Mala is the point of land before entering the Gulf of Panama.  This point is notorious for bad cross winds, confused seas and terrible currents.  Everyone dreads the trip around the corner and many hide in the bay before the point until the weather is favourable.  Sailfisher had a good sail around the point and up towards Panama city - we lost all wind and wallowed in the big seas and in self pity.  We were in no danger as Don had made sure we were way off land therefore could not drift onto rocks etc - it was just uncomfortable and we were at the mercy of the wind and seas like in the olden days.  Sailfisher called up and said they were going on ahead to Panama and would make enquiries as to a marina slip for us.  They later called up and said they were heading back to us as Al said he couldn't sleep at night knowing that he had left us out there.  

There really wasn't anything he could do apart from towing us, which we had discussed.  We were both reluctant to do this as it can put a lot of pressure on the boats in big seas.  We went around Punta Mala in relatively calm conditions with Sailfisher off to the side (their third trip past this point).  The wind picked up and we were doing a great speed - the only drawback is the wind was normally associated with a thunder storm so lots of very heavy rain, no visibility, no radar so we had to keep constant lookout for ships etc and lots of lightning - a bit frightening.  As we could not recharge our batteries we shut down all the electrical equipment and just left the navigation equipment on.  This meant hand steering - I now have a new appreciation of the Sydney-Hobart racers.  We began with 2 hrs steering then changed places for a bed, it got down to 15 mins changeover as our hands and arms became increasingly painful.  After 54hrs of hand steering we were very stinky, dirty and exhausted.  The wind died at night and the current was so strong that we lost ground ie went back the way we had come - the islands we had passed were now in front of us - bugger!!!  Sailfisher again was far ahead of us and once again decided he couldn't leave us wallowing in the seas without any control so back he came again - this time the seas were calm and no wind so after long discussions the Captains decided that towing was an option and set about getting the equipment ready. Luckily for us Al had a number of lines, small bouys and an untried design to make a bridle attached to a cleat either side of his vessel – giving equal drag on his boat. Al towed us to the island “Taboga where we are at the time of writing this.  Fortunately for both the boats the weather stayed calm and the tow to Taboga took about 6 hours and was easy – the only difference on Sailfisher was a slight increase in revs. Our boat is solid and heavy so we were concerned about the pressure towing could put on Sailfisher.

We have pulled the motor apart, got the bearing out which caused the problem in the first place and now have to wait a few days to get a ferry over to the mainland and try to get a replacement.  The island is lovely - every house a different colour and everyone very friendly. Chuey and wife Susan own some mooring balls in the bay and directed our disabled boat to the closest one. Chuey and Susan are great fun – always a cold beer waiting in their fridge with our name on it.

We still do not have any battery power therefore no electrical equipment.  All the food in the refrigerator had to be thrown out, the worst being - no cold beer or water.  We are living on canned foods and pasta or rice and it is fine - no water pressure so no showers. A bucket and cloth does the job - and people think sailing is romantic !!!!

One sad/funny thing did happen whilst we were out in one of the strong thunderstorms - Don was steering and I was asleep when he yelled at me to come up as a panga was approaching.  A small fishing boat - about 16ft long tried to pull alongside and yell to us - the drumming of the rain was so loud we couldn't hear them so they came closer which meant they were in danger of ramming our boat with the pointy end of theirs.  They kept asking where we were going and where Playa Tierra was - we could not understand them mostly because of the noise from the wind and rain, eventually Don went downstairs to look at the chart to see if he could recognise a location similar to what they were enquiring about. We were embarrassed to find the poor totally sodden fellas were actually asking where land was !!!  They were lost in the dark overcast seas and did not have enough fuel to make it back to land.  Don filled up their jerry can - not an easy task in a thunder storm with large swell - he rocked and rolled over the deck but didn't spill a drop. Handing the drum back to the panga was a scary afair - it nearly ended up in the sea a few times as a wave rolled by and swept us away from them.  They were not aware that our motor was disabled therefore could not control our boat - we could only change course within a limited margin or risk tacking the sails.  They were very grateful and headed off to land - I wished we had had some chocolate bars and canned drinks to give them - they did look a sorry sight.

We finally got to meet Al and Yvette his wife - they are both lovely people and the disaster is all a big joke now.  Remember the boat that was towed into Golfito - with the same problem - I was a little annoyed with the boat as it looked untidy, unkept, dirty etc and the owners were a bit rough - having a boat towed puts strain on both the boats and can be dangerous in heavy seas - I thought "why didn't these people know their waterpump was faulty - their engine lights must have shown a rise in temperature" but ours certainly didn't - there was no warning at all so I am eating humble pie !!!

I think we will be here for a while - both the marinas in Panama are full and there appears to be quiet a lengthy wait list for transiting the Canal.  I hope to be a line handler on another boat so I get to see what it is like before we transit.

El Salvador to Costa Rica

El Salvador to Costa Rica

Negotiating the bar

 From what we had read Nicaragua was a place to avoid in a yacht – the only suitable place for us to stop was San Juan del Sur and the government was now insisting on a variety of trumped up charges which made the stop extremely expensive – something most cruisers will avoid. It is a shame that these small countries are jumping on that bandwagon as it simply prevents cruisers from stopping in their country which in turn hurts the locals whose produce we purchase and services we support.

Annette and Claudio are a Swiss couple whom we met along the way and they decided to sail down to Costa Rica with us rather than take the buses. We told them it should be 3 days – poor things – it was over 3 days before we could get the paperwork necessary to leave the dockside. The usual relaxed attitude meant our request for clearance was not passed through – bear in mind that we are in an estuary with a very narrow difficult mouth to negotiate – weather dependant – it can be closed for up to a week at a time with no boats allowed to enter or leave. 

The officials trumped up an unofficial charge of $120 that we had to pay before we were allowed to leave their country – we had no choice but to pay it and the cruisers left behind fought the illegal charge and won – I believe it has been rescinded but no refund for us !!! As Murphy would have it the entrance was closed after we finally received our clearance to leave – Annette and Claudio decided to stay with us regardless of the extra time at the dock, the beautiful surroundings and hotel swimming pool helped! When the bar was officially open again there were a few boats lined up to run the gauntlet – the first one out (guided by a local from the hotel) turned side on at a critical moment and we thought she was going over – very scary as we were next in line. Apparently their cockpit door became unfastened and began to wildly fly open and shut – the Captain reached over to close it taking the helm with him. Fortunately he realised his error quickly and fought to straighten his trawler against the onslaught. Our passage was rough and a little scary but ok really – a good introduction to Annette and Claudio as they had never been sailing before – very brave souls.

Volo, an Australian yacht, followed White Rose – she shot up the waves looking like a spaceship launched then plummeted down the other side just to repeat the process – spectacular viewing for us. The owners Max and Sandy had built their boat so were confident in her performance. Volo had created a stir whilst anchored in the river, Volo apparently means drunkard in El Salvadorian Spanish – the locals made fun of the occupants with loud whistles and waves every time they went past – Max of course encouraged them with a constant (empty) beer can up to his lips. Our next stop was Santa Elena, a bay at the border of Costa Rica – and very welcome after a few days at sea. The seas were rough and the boat rolled around as though in a washing machine – the bay was a wonderful relief both calm and peaceful inside the protected bay. We spent a few nights in the bay waiting for a weather window to round the next corner to Playa Coco, Costa Rica. We spent our time exploring the bay on land – we hiked up to a waterfall and swam in the cool water.

After a few days and getting bored we poked the boat's nose out of the entrance of the bay and decided it was too rough to make the passage, later that day we tried again and all decided to go regardless – we battened down the hatches, prepared for rough weather and off we went. The passage was not as bad as first thought, especially once past the first peninsula.

Playa de Coco was a lively town but a terrible anchorage – many boats of all shapes and sizes in a bay with 6ft seas rolling straight in the entrance sending the boats around in a fast tango.

1.5.10

It has been a trying few months and we just reached the pinnacle !!  Apart from very hot weather, sweltering in fact, the boat decided to take off on her own to the Galapagos. We anchored in Playa de Coco - the first port of call in Costa Rica and went ashore to clear in to the country.  As is typical in Central America the notice on the door said they were closed for Easter beginning on Thursday - the current day being Wednesday we expected to be served. but no - they decided that their Thursday began on Wednesday morning.  Anyway we got the run-a-round and eventually got sent up the road to see Immigration.  The lady had to be called in from home and needed an hour as she was still having breakfast at 10am !!  Her computer is dicky and sometimes it can take her over 4 hours to enter 2 visitor passport details - ours took 1 hr thank goodness, she said it was a good day.  Next was a bus ride to the next town to do the customs part - that took many many hours. Whilst completing custom formalities we were worried about the boat as we only expected to be away for an hour or so and close to the shore. It is difficult to continue in a polite respectful fashion to blockhead officials who over estimate their importance, puff out their chests and can be downright rude. 

 Whilst away our boat lifted her anchor in the large swell and began to drift.  A nearby catamaran noticed it, boarded and re-anchored her.  Whilst very grateful for their attention and intervention, we were disappointed that once re-anchored, as best they could without access to our motor and the benefit of being able to pull back on the anchor to ensure it was well dug into the sand, they just left her and went ashore not checking their handiwork again. White Rose released her anchor and drifted out of the anchorage.  We got back to the beach and couldn't see our boat - we were anchored a fair way off shore so presumed it was hidden by other boats.  We sighted a boat way out to sea and yes - that was our girl.  A quick trip in the dingy (with Claudio and Annette on board looking a little worried) and we managed to catch up with her, board and bring her back into the bay and re-anchor once again).  We stayed a few days – long enough to wait for the holiday period to finish, clear into the country, and say goodbye to our friends. We missed Annette and Claudio – we were so fortunate to have such great people to sail with and would welcome them back any time.

Our next stop was Isla San Lucas. This small island was once a penitentiary and still has a large amount of infrastructure to explore.

From 1873 to 1991, San Lucas Island was a penal island for some of the worst criminals in Costa Rica. It is often erroneously cited as the largest prison in Costa Rican history. It was founded by the dictator Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez.  Being sent to San Lucas Island was a terrible prospect as prisoners lives were short and often spent in torture. Ironically, Guardia abolished the death penalty a year after establishing the prison.

The former buildings of the penal island are considered "Patrimonio de Cultura," or cultural heritage sites. The buildings include a historic dock that is still in use after the first dock was destroyed, a church, a medical building, temporary holding cells, a three story main office, a large concrete disc used to hold a water tank, and water pumps. In addition, there are prison cells of varying security levels depending on the prisoners' crimes. The prison cells contain the typical graffiti of older Latin American prisons, such as religious phrases, pornographic images, signatures, and drawings. There are also several water pumps and a cemetery under excavation on the island.

José León Sánchez, a prisoner of the island, wrote "La Isla de Hombres Solos," translated into English as "The Island of Lonely Men," based on his time in the prison at San Lucas Island. León claimed that he was unjustly imprisoned for a robbery that he did not commit. Other prisoners included Beltrán Cortés Carvajal, the famous killer of the doctors Carlos Manuel Echandi Lahmann and Ricardo Moreno Cañas.There is also a drawing that is said to be that of the nurse treating the patients in one holding cell that was raped and murdered by the prisoners in the holding, painted on the wall, wearing nothing but a bra and underwear that is said to be made of her own blood, but it doesn't really look like real blood, and on the opposite wall there is another human drawing wearing the same outfit as the nurse except hers is actually made out of human blood.

I forgot to mention the “howler” monkeys. I was up on deck at night when I heard a low groan – sort of – growl – it grew louder and sounded very close, it reminded me of a large predatory cat on the prowl and about to pounce. I told Don about the noise and not having heard it he simply thought I was hearing things – yet again !!! It turns out it is the howler monkey – I'm not sure how they came about the name “howler” because the noise they make is more menacing and scary than a howl. We were awakened many nights by these noisy creatures – it is a sound you actually have to hear to believe and these monkeys are rather small. Howler Monkeys have an enlarged hyoid bone which helps them make their loud vocalisations. Group males generally call at dawn and dusk as well as interspersed times throughout the day. The main vocals consist of loud, deep guttural growls or "howls." Howler monkeys are widely considered to be the loudest land animal. According to Guinness Book of World Records, their vocalisations can be heard clearly for 3 miles (4.8 km). It is thought that the function of howling relates to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly mate-guarding.

Puntarenas

After a few emails going backward and forward to the marina operator at Puntarenas we decided being attached to the marina's mooring ball would be the safest place to leave our boat whilst exploring inland. The channel into the marina is long and extremely shallow – we required a guide to take us in. Once up the estuary the water is still which is always a bonus to us who don't appreciate too much rolling and to have access to a marina, showers, swimming pool, restaurant etc is like being in paradise. Our paradise quickly took on a hidden side – as the tide went out out boat sank lower and lower into the soft mud bottom – when she would sink no lower she simply toppled over on her side like a drunken male after a hard night's drinking. This happened at night of course when the marina was closed. The next morning we were the first people lined up to see the marina office – we explained our situation and they moved us to another deeper mooring where a boat our size had just departed – assuring us that it was deep enough for our draft – once again our boat leaned over – it appeared to be ready to topple onto the boat next to us at any moment. All the water faucets stopped working, pumps and toilets similar as the through hulls were out of the water. We could not use the galley at all because of the slope – in fact we could do nothing but sit side on in the cockpit with our legs stretched from one side to the other to stop us from sliding into the water – great fun !!! I was mad !! Especially after travelling 2 days to come up to Puntarenas and specifically asking the question of the ability of the marina to cope with the draft of our boat – what a waste of time and energy and it meant we could not safely leave the boat to go travelling. 

 We moved out at the next high tide. Most countries insist we report in and out of each port so they can keep a track of where boats are within their country. We still had to clear out from this area so anchored back in the main bay outside the township. I was doing my usual rambling on to Don whilst in the dinghy going ashore (he has developed the usual male ability of tuning out to my chatter, usually eventuating in the strongest belief that “you did not tell me that”). As everyone knows that disasters come in threes - I exclaimed that our boat dragging anchor was one, then nearly falling over in Puntarenas was two out of three and I wondered what the third disaster was going to be - we were upside down in the water only a few minutes later!!  We were about to land the dinghy when a large wave sent us sideways and overturned the dinghy – we were now drowned rats and had to upright the dinghy and row back (now that the outboard was drowned) to the boat to dry ourselves and get clean clothing and dry out the paperwork. All cruising books insist on the proper attire when visiting Port Captains or Capitania de Puerto. Short pants and t-shirts (the usual yachties uniform) is considered to be disrespectful. We were fortunate that the boat documents were in a zip bag and did not get very wet. It was a long rough row back.

The next try was not much better- we broke an oar – now with an outboard that had been swimming upside down in the ocean and only one oar we did wonder how we were going to get back to the boat. Luckily for us a friendly ship's mate from a large fishing vessel gave us a tow. We now hated Puntarenas and were happy to wave goodbye.

Our next stop was Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. This is a well known national park in Costa Rica and we were able to anchor just off the pristine white beach – the type seen only in postcards. We were the only boat there – it was beautiful. The next morning we took the dinghy the few metres to shore and explored the Park. We used our snorkelling flippers as oars – we must have looked funny but it worked well. 

We had a family of monkeys playing around us for ages - they were cheeky and the young ones playful. We walked up to the lookout and enjoyed the spectacular vista. Upon returning to our boat it looked closer to shore than we remembered – forgoing our planned swim we paddled furiously out to the boat, expecting it to be sitting on the bottom, we were surprised to find it floating and in the same position as we left it – the tide must have gone out and the boat swung around closer to shore – it did give us a fright. We pulled the anchor up and set sail for newer pastures.

Golfito is a tiny little fishing village with one road and a few shops.  At the end of the road is a huge complex that looks like a jail - all concrete walls with razor wire on top.  It houses many shop outlets that have duty free goods from Panama - I have my eye on a washing machine that costs $120 but can't find a place to put it on the boat - it is a very small one !!!  Apparently Costa Rica puts a hefty duty on goods coming in - almost doubles the cost of most things.  We walked around the outlets and agreed the prices were very good but they are normal prices for Panama.  For comparison Baileys costs around $28 in Costa Rica for a 750 ml bottle - it was $8 in the duty free shop - yea !!!  I hope we find it for that price in Panama. 

Whist in Golfito bay we had a very grumpy gringo fix our outboard for us. Thank goodness the lid is weather sealed so very little salt water got in.  A small part broke - it is a safety thingie that is suppose to break to protect the motor under duress.  Anyway all fixed and we learnt a valuable lesson - motors are not supposed to be run upside down in salt water !!!

A boat was towed in and placed on a mooring ball next to us – I got on my high horse and said to Don “how can they allow that to happen – their water pump had seized and surely they must have had many signs that it was on its way out and fixed the problem before it died altogether” …..humm – I had to eat humble pie but that story is for another day. It puts a lot of strain on the towing boat, its motor and fixtures, and can be dangerous to tow another boat – something you wouldn't put your hand up for unless absolutely necessary.