A Costa Rican Christmas

We broke one of the cardinal rules of cruising before we even left the dock, by making a rendezvous date four months in the future, halfway through our cruise. It's been in the back of our minds the whole time. We've met so many old salts along the way who have given us a wary look when we told them of our plans. Bending to the will or plans of others is not something that a lot of cruisers deal with well. Some have left family and hometown behind for a life far away and have never looked back. Some haven't, some sail for a few months and return to a life; family, friends, appointments and work seamlessly. But most are enjoying the freedom to dilly and dally as long as they want in one region or another, not hurried by anything.

I haven't lived near my family in about ten years, but at least I've been in the same country most of the time. Amanda's been away from hers for about six years. We make it home for either Thanksgiving or Christmas or sometime in January once a year. There was one stretch where I didn't make it home for about two years. It's something I'd like to work on, spending more time near family.

Well, I think it's a silly rule, this no making plans or schedules. It kept us moving along, we'd need to be somewhere in Costa Rica anyhow if we were planning to hit the East Coast in May. The two weeks leading up to Christmas we were doing some serious moving and we weren't having the best wind for the desired direction of travel. Our schedule had us moving when the weather wasn't perfect, a potentially dangerous situation or one with an expensive diesel bill. Lots of headwinds near the Gulf of Fonseco and lots of adverse currents off El Salvador and the Nicoya coast. We'd get a few hours of sailing in the right direction and end up with the engine running the rest of the day with no wind. We made it though, dropping the hook in Bahia Ballena on the 23^rd. We mostly worked on a few boat jobs and tidying up till Amanda's mom and Al flew in on Christmas morning. Can't have mom showing up to a messy boat.

I can't say that this was the happiest I'd ever seen Amanda, but as we walked to the airport to meet up she was pretty excited. After hugs and rental car delivery we headed up a wild dirt road to our home for the next week. The house looks out over the bay, so we could keep an eye on the boat and weather. A swimming pool, full kitchen, huge veranda, settled right in the jungle...pretty awesome spot.

The first two nights we were anchored in the bay had been dead calm, barely enough breeze to get down the wind scoop and cool the cabin. There were also two other cruisers anchored near us, Indian Summer and Sunday. We'd let them know we planned on leaving the boat for the night and they assured us they'd keep an eye on everything. We'd heard of a few thefts of dinghies in Costa Rica, so we stowed everything from the deck down below, including the outboard and used every cable lock we had on the dinghy, also stowing it underneath the boom. We woke up the next morning and I spied on the anchorage with a telescope. There was definitely a breeze from the North, but we appeared to be in the same spot relative to the other boats, this was at about 6:30. Amanda woke up shortly afterward and asked me how the boat looked, I said things looked good but went to take another peek. Focusing on the anchorage in the early morning glint, hmmmm... Liberte was not where she had been. I spotted her about a hundred yards further south, riding in the building wind chop, this was around 7:15. I called up Indian Summer, who said that we had drug anchor but that John and Gill had hopped on and let out extra rode and our second anchor, and that Liberte was holding in about 17' of water. I let Amanda know what had happened and we started getting ready to go down the mountain to secure our gal. We both felt nervous and worried and a tiny bit ashamed. After spending four months onboard, anchoring all over the place in all kinds of conditions our anchor hadn't popped out once. We were actually quite proud at how much better we'd gotten at the whole procedure. The one night we decide to spend away from the boat and she almost ends up on a muddy lee shore. Yikes. We feel pretty indebted to Indian Summer and Sunday for saving our behinds and all the other help and info they gave us while in Bahia Ballena.

We moved Liberte over to the north side of the bay and anchored her again, a bit closer in than the other boats and well out of the wind, also sending down a 40 lb Danforth as a kellet after setting the anchor again. The weather has stayed relatively calm the rest of the week. We spent the next two nights on Liberte and the next two after that up at the house. It's been an awesome week here with Deb and Al, visiting Montezuma for a waterfall hike, and Mal Pais and the Cabo Blanco preserve to help me get a surfing fix. Sharing relaxing mornings and delicious dinners with family was the best Christmas present we could hope for this year.

When we got here, I'd been dealing with problems with our electrical system, engine cooling system and random other things breaking for a good week. I was ready for a respite. Taking a week off of boat work and having some fun has rejuvenated us. We're ready to tackle our boat repairs, get things up and working again and head off in search of more pura vida.

On another note, we've felt quite secure as far as theft goes here. Some folks we met along the way seemed scared to death of Costa Rican thieves. We talked to the folks at the kayak rental spot on Playa Pochote in the north end about security, and left out dinghy there a few times, once overnight for 5000 colones. We also left the dink and kayak under the trees to the west of the yacht club locked up and had no problems. We're sure that theft can happen anywhere and anytime to anyone, but Bahia Ballena has been a safe spot so far and we recommend it to anyone headed this way. Some boats we'd met planned on using the facilities at the Costa Rica Yacht Club in order to do some inland travel. With a buddy boat around I would consider Bahia Ballena a much more inexpensive option.

A Christmas Miracle

Yesterday, we sat drifting a few miles off the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica). We were dead in the water, literally. There was no wind and a hole in our engine. Major problems. About 50 miles from the spot that we were to rendezvous with my mom and her beau. We'd sailed overnight from Tamarindo, actually had a nice breeze for a lot of the way. But we started the engine when Chris was taking over the watch at 2 am and water gushed out of a crack. What the...???

Well, we coasted along slowly until dawn. Chris mashed some epoxy-clay stuff into the hole and waited for it to dry, waited for daylight, waited for a miracle. He was entirely unconvinced that it would hold. I slept.

At dawn, I woke up, we started the motor and waited for another gush. It never came; the fix held. We motored the rest of the way as it was calmer than a Quaalude. After dropping the anchor, we breathed what was, for me, one of the biggest sighs of relief of my life. We wouldn't be stranding my mother. We'd get Christmas hugs and be with family and that is just about the best thing I can imagine.

Our troubles aren't over, and they will still cause many a headache but we've gotten a bit of a reprieve. As Chris says, we just need to have a little fun. Or a lot.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photos....

Lighthouse and statue outside Corinto, where we stopped for a night.

Tiny, tiny bananas!!!!!!!

WaaaaaaaaaZZZZZZuuuuuuuPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!

A Sailfish, or Pez Vela; a big fight but no dinner.

Dave.

A Real Doozy

Just about everyday out here something amazing happens. A great sail or surf or dive, spotting some wild looking bird, dolphins and whales and turtles, meeting someone and sharing a moment, all kinds of goodies. There's lots of mundane stuff, too. Chores and boat-work and repairs and all that junk. While we were in Bahia del Sol I had one of the more chaotic experiences of my life. A real doozy.

We'd finished all the chores in the first few hours on the dock. Amanda wasn't feeling so hot so I thought I'd get out of her hair and see if I could find some surf. One of the guides we have mentions surf on both sides of the entrance channel and on the bar. Bahia del Sol is an estuary, with a navigable opening, only really accessible to slow, deep sailboats at a high slack tide. Lots and lots of water moving in and out with the tides. When I got out to the channel and bar I wasn't really impressed with what I was seeing. Jumbled waves everywhere, not a lot of form to them, and they were popping up all over the place, making paddling into the right spot seem impossible. I noticed a few sets that looked better breaking a bit farther out and headed that way. After watching more waves that didn't look all that good and noticing how strong the current was I had mostly given up on getting in the water. Mother Nature had plans for me though. I hadn't seen any waves breaking in the spot I was, but either I drifted or a bigger set came in. About 30' away was a wave, headed right for me, stacking up and starting to curl. I tried to outrun it, make some space between us, hoping that I'd just get rushed along in the white water after it broke. Not my luck, caught up, flipped over, swamped in the surf, not good.

First I grabbed the surfboard and put on the leash so I didn't lose it and would have it to paddle in if I had to. Next I got on top of the upside-down dinghy, briefly I was reminded of it being similar to being in an upside down car. The engine had been gunned when I flipped and had screamed “WWWWaaaaaaaaaaaa” for about five seconds while upside down before cutting out. I was able to get hold of a line attached to the transom, loop it through the rope rail around the middle of the boat and flip it right-side up by standing and pulling on the far side. I got in and started rowing like hell. I didn't make it very far when another wave flipped me again. The adrenaline was definitely pumping now. This happened two more times before I had moved far enough in that only smaller waves were hitting me and not quite flipping me now, just giving me a wild ride. Then, salvation...a panga with three guys in it came close by and got me in tow. I'd resigned myself to a really long row to the beach and an even longer walk back to the marina to get someone to help me tow the dinghy there. I've never been so happy in my life than when I saw that dirty fishing boat.

The rest of the day involved taking apart and cleaning the carburetor and various other parts of the outboard, changing the oil and spark plug, feeling like a dummy, explaining my idiocy to Amanda, and feeling a little bit of triumph when the engine started right up with a puff of smoke and ran fine. I gave the guys who helped me some cash and a gallon of gasoline that they needed. They helped me big-time and I tried my best to let them know how grateful I was.

The whole thing was about five minutes of chaos. I lost the dinghy anchor, a portable VHF radio, the cowling to the outboard and my hat, all easily replaceable. The most poignant feeling I can recall from the whole thing was when the wave had flipped me and I came to the surface; I'd gone so long without really messing something up bad, and right then I knew I'd messed up pretty bad. My judgment had seriously failed me. I still felt it the next day, but its starting to fade now and I'm sure that soon my mojo will return. I'm a tiny bit grateful for Amanda's cold, she could have been hurt if she'd gone along. She bangs herself up enough just bumping into things on the boat, the last thing she needs is to be flipped over in one.

Video View!

The first video here is of one of the last fish we caught, off the coast of Nicaragua. I knew it was something big when I heard the reel pay out like it did, and then as soon as I made it to the top of the steps I saw it jump. Amanda was a bit beside herself and didn't think we could land it. It put up a serious fight, jumping and running this way and that. A few fun facts, sailfish can reach speeds of 63 MPH, and they grow 4 to 5 feet in their first year of life. I've never seen such anamazing fish. We were able to release it fairly easily once we'd gotten it alongside. A crazy experience, but...no dorado, no dinner.

I've been collecting surf clips for a while now in the hopes of putting together something more substantial. Here's a short compilation of clips from Cronkite and Ralph's in California, and a few of the small but perfect waves we found at San Juanico, Baja.

Sweet dance numbers

Are you lookin' at me? Are you talkin' to me?!?

Greetings from lovely El Salvador!

We are tied up at a dock for the first time in so many moons. Actually, just about two moons, but it feels like longer. Time has started to warp, people. Here at the Bahia del Sol Hotel, Marina and Casino (I doubt this last one, because I have seen neither chip nor playing card since we've arrived) we are relaxing and refueling after we were blown just a leeetle too far off course by a leeetle too much wind.
Yesterday Chris got into a leeetle mishap in our trusty dinghy and ended up with wounded pride and a dunked outboard engine. Luckily, we took to the ever-wise internet for advice, and Chris managed to get the soggy thing up and running in no time. Unfortunately in the process a bolt sheared off and the engine was leaking a leeetle oil. The internet, though again wise in its advice couldn't provide us with the tools that we needed, so we went for a more local solution. Across the estuary from the marina is a jack-of-all boats we'd heard of named Santos, so we tried to hail him on the radio. No luck, but a fellow yachtie heard our call and informed us that Santos was in San Salvador for the day, but his dad, Santini worked on outboards and could probably give us a hand. We headed over and Santini got to work while Chris assisted in his leeetle shop. Santini's granddaughter was there too, but she just played with the pet parakeet and stared quietly at us. And then she bossed around her brother. She let Chris put the bird on his finger, but only for a minute.
We were out of the shop in about a half and hour, and it cost $15. Can't beat that kind of service!

We debated going into Zacatecoluca, which is the nearest town of size, but it is a 1.5 hour busride, and we just couldn't work up the will to do it, so for the rest of the day we stayed around the marina to watch the spectacle that was going down. This is what happened: there was a film crew from the TV station and at least four or five musical acts that were shooting videos here - at the hotel, around the docks, etc. There were coordinated outfits, cordless microphones and video hoochie girls. There was a full band with horns and conga drums, but they weren't really playing. There were choreographed dances and lots of gyration. There were tight white jeans and a lot of hair product. Then there was a guy who looked like a latino Danny McBride. We weren't really sure where he fit in. It was awesome, in the literal sense of the word.

We went to dinner at a local comedor for pupusas, which are like the national food of El Salvador. YUM! Deeeelicious. I had two, Chris ate five because he is hollow. We had dinner with some other folks anchored out here (and Santos!) and we had two "small world" moments. 1. The couple on one boat is from the same town as two of my best friends and knew one of their fathers. 2. Chris thought the other man there (also a cruiser) looked really familiar, and eventually realized that he had helped de-water and towed his boat while in the Coast Guard.

Woah.

Tomorrow we are off again...bound for Costa Rica!

Everything is okay

If only there were more time, if only we weren't in such a hurry, if only we could just cruise for a few more years. Job...family...responsibilities...oh my! We have scooted on out of Mexico and are now headed for Costa Rica, with a few stops along the way. Our last stop in Mexico was in Puerto Chiapas, 16 miles from the border with Guatemala. I won't expound much on it's beauty, but I'll just say that we didn't do any snorkeling in the water in Puerto Chiapas. It's a commercial port which caters to a shrimping fleet and is dredging for a new marina. Combine shrimp and fish processing with freshly pumped dredge spoil, a lovely odor. The fuel pier was so high and scabby we just lugged jerry cans back and forth with the dinghy. After doing the paperwork cha cha again, paying a few arbitrary fees and visiting the airport for Immigration, we got our national exit Zarpe. We were also boarded by the Navy twice, once when we arrived and once before leaving. Nice guys and a pleasant experience, but if I had come alongside and boarded a boat in San Francisco Bay with the Coast Guard and had smeared bunker oil all over their hull from my boat, I would have lost my head. Their panga was covered in super sticky oil and dirt, so we ended up with another task before leaving. All in all, a working port call.

Favorite spot in Mexico...hmmmmm...San Juanico, with it's isolated, perfect surf. That's my pick and I'm sticking to it. Even though we spent a week anchored there surfing everyday, I could have stayed a month. One of these days I'd like to wrangle some folks into a truck and drive down there, camp in the sand for a few weeks.

There was a feeling of having missed so much as we left, you could cruise this coast for quite a while and not discover it all. But, no time for regrets or to dilly dally, we have a Christmas rendezvous with Amanda's mom in Costa Rica. I don't think I can explain how much we're looking forward to dropping the hook, and leaving it down for over a week. We've been doing some serious rambling over the past weeks and the idea of being a bit more sedentary is very attractive. I feel weird writing sedentary.

Our most notable experience of late was getting caught in a gusty blow off the coast of Guatemala. After leaving Puerto Chiapas we had a nice breeze out of the west that lasted about 8 hours. After that we motored for a while and the next afternoon a wind came up out of the northeast. It was a bit of a headwind, so we were being pushed a bit offshore. Not a problem since our ideal destination was Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua. It was Amanda's watch when we first set sail and when I came up after a nap the wind had veered more to the east and picked up a bit. We talked about what to do, coming about and tacking and heading backwards didn't make much sense, so we kept on. Well, the next 12 hours were interesting. The wind picked up and was steady at 35 knots, gusting to over 45. We were making more south progress than east, even though we were sailing as close as we could to the wind. The seas built to about 12 feet, which wasn't too bad, except they kept getting blown over into the cockpit. I steered for 5 hours before I locked the wheel and went below. Amanda had been sleeping like a baby through all of this, dreaming away...just kidding. She had her hands full keeping the cabin together and the bilge pump going. It was a long night, hard over the whole time, lots of water on deck. Around 8 in the morning we got the jib down and replaced it with a much smaller one, which got me another drenching while perched on the bowsprit hanking on the sails. At one point I had just sat down on the platform and was opening a shackle to put on the new sail, the bow fell, then rose so fast I ended up popping up to my feet in a moment of no gravity, it was a bit wild up there. About an hour after that the wind fell to about 10 knots and we were left wet and frazzled. Nothing was broken, no one was hurt, in the words of the Mexican Navy after the boarding “Everything is okay.”

Pictures from Puerto Escondido

You couldn't hear the chaos from way up here

Mermaids ride turtles here...I saw 'em, really!

Chris and I take a walk on PE's paseo

The mercado municipal de Puerto Escondido...

In the chocolate shop...my face went in there...in my dreams

We took the whole thing.

Green jelly on one side, some sort of nut product on the other...

two points to whoever can tell us what this stuff is!

Forecast Schmorecast

So we're waiting for a weather window through the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Since we've been out here we've had our ears to the ground about the weather. We used the NOAA broadcasts in the states, our SSB receiver to (sort of) hear the nets and their weather observations and forecasts, and info from the internet whenever we can get to it. The web offers as much data and as many sources as we want, so I prefer to try to use it when we can. We use a forecasting site,buoyweather.com, that will give you an extended forecast for anywhere in the world on the water. One thing we've learned about forecasts is that they are just that, guesses, a shot in the dark at old mother nature. We've seen forecasts for 30 knots of wind and 10 foot seas when there hasn't been a breath or a ripple on the ocean, and we've seen unexpected gusts when well paid and well educated meteorologists saw nothing to worry about.

So this gulf of Tehuantepec thing, or Tehuantepeckers, its basically strong North winds coming over the lower landmass of southern Mexico and heading out to sea. These winds are funneled down to the ocean over low mountains and passes and increase in velocity when hitting the ocean. Caused by high pressure systems that move into the Gulf of Mexico and are pushed south by more high pressure in the States. The guides give a fairly straight-forward approach to crossing this area. Wait for a system to pass, stay close to shore where you'll still have plenty of wind but less wave height, and don't cut across. It's the first winter weather phenomenon that we've had to really worry about, and it can be downright awful from the sound of it, so it takes a bit more planning than looking out to the ocean and saying "today looks like a nice day to sail." I won't say we're on edge, but the gears are turning up there. We'll be as safe as we can be and hope for the best.

The Gulf of Tehuantepec and the Mexico

Guatemala border.

From the looks of it we'll be moving on in a day or two. Meanwhile, we're anchored off Playa Pantheon in Puerto Angel. It's much quieter than Puerto Escondido, and while there isn't world class surfing right next door, we did enjoy a great scuba dive off the rocks to the West of the entrance. Really tall rock walls going down to sand alleys 50-60' down. Tons of fish, a few we haven't seen before, a lone lobster, a few eels, a very camouflaged sculpin and a swim through a short tunnel in the rocks. The rock walls on their own were amazing, covered in sea fans and different colored algae.

Right now I'm listening to a parrot chant "hola, hola, hola" instead of the crazy mayhem that went along with the sport-fishing tournament in Escondido. A good trade.

Liberte in Puerto Angel