 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Costa Rica
We had a really fast and fun sailing angle to Bahia Santa Elena in Costa Rica. The bay turned out to be like Blessington lakes in Ireland and
was gorgeous. We met up with Thulany and had fun with them. We sailed over to Canonical and of course Charlie's charts was wrong
again , No fuel or town etc. Next day we legged it and caught up with Thulany and sailed on to Bahia Murcielagos Bat bay. The snorkeling
was really cool there and it also blew over 40 kn at the anchorage but we were tucked in to shore so it was comfortable. The next morning
Thulany came over and anchored with us. A good time was had by all. We headed then over to cocos and checked in with the official stuff.
We hung there for a couple of days then checked out panama beach which we didn't like, then over to Bahia Huevo clear water and howler
monkeys in the trees, We had a really fast sail back to cocos this morning. To be continued.......................
We made the check out from cocos to Golfito, spend a night in Ocotal did some snorkeling around the bay, watched some huge manta
rays and lots of fish,and saw monkeys on the shore in a mango tree,It was cool when a guy got too close to take a picture and the
monkeys threw mango's at Him. We read in a tourist magazine about Isla Catalina and having the best diving around we felt adventurous
enough to check it out, even all the books said you can't anchor there "too dangerous" So of course we went there and
anchored.We dad have to anchor quite close to the cliffs but they were cool , The water was not too clear but did some snorkeling,
speared some dinner and got out of the water pretty quick because of the sharks in the area and the crap visibility, We then headed over
to Playa conchal, with the promise of find hundreds of shells, Zory was disappointed to see no shells, but very please to see the beach
with its white sand and the outstanding crystal clear water (the clearest we have seen in all Costa Rica) and enjoyed the best snorkeling
around the rocks at the point, we saw hundreds of reef fish and bigger rays. Then it was time to catch dinner so I got myself a red
snapper and a sea perch for Zory. Our next stop was Tamarindo, with his Tamarindo colour water in did, cero snorkeling here, but neat
town, is a party place, difficult dingy landing through surf, we felt in the water a couple of times, is cool to see the surfers all waiting for
the wave. Next stop it was Bahia Garza terrible rolling anchorage, nothing to see, left next morning to Samara neat town nice restaurants
and bars, lots of tourist, backpackers place. Next stop was Bahia Carrillo which was hardly recommended by the guide book (Margo's
chart) but we didn't like it, it was the worst rolly anchorage ever, plus nothing to see except the nice cheap breakfast we had in the hotel
that overlooks the bay,we couldn't wait to leave it to see Bahia Ballena we had high expectations about the place, but it turned out to bee
"too quite boring" we had some beers in the "yacht club" (we never understand why such a name, not yacht
services at all) and took a but to Montezuma peaceful tourist town, very nice beach, neat bars and restaurants, we went for a walk up hill
yo find the water fall, and loved it, we celebrate our 5 years together that day enjoying the waterfall like the first day we met. Back in
Ballena next morning Derek went for a dingy drive up the river, and saw Jesus Christ Lizzards, called like that because they walk on the
water, and he also saw crocodiles and lots of birds. Derek repaired the key on the propeller shaft that was damaged by one of the many
semi submerged tree trunks that we met on the sea. With all the repairs done, we headed to Isla Tortuga (touristy white color sand
island, nice place but fuss of people) after we tried to set the anchor three times (the see shallows so fast that now you see 30 feet and
by seconds goes to 9 feet!) and not success, poor holding, we left to Isla Jesusita in the meddle channel between negritos national park
and main land, we ad not engine drive and couldn't that happened in a worse place? A squall was under way and we were surrounded by
rocks and lots of traffic in a narrow channel thankfully Derek realized the problem it was a big plastic bag wrapped around the propeller, he
dove and cut it off just on time before we were hit by the squall with winds touching 50 knots wind and buckets of rain thrown at Derek,
When we were just entering the other channel between cedros and main land, We were doing 8 knots with no sails up and the engine in
neutral it was really bad visibility with the stinging rain, He looked up and found out an High tension electrical cable running across our
path. This not being on the chart and not knowing the height of the cables we turned the boat around back against the wind the wind
putting the boat over at about 45 degrees and now the waves now high and white, Derek asked me to call on the radio to the Coast
guard ship we had seen before the squall to see if they knew the height but instead got the port captain giving us hassle for been so
naive and not entering Isla jesusita in the northern side we didn't know anything about those cables as the chart and guide books dont
have them marked!So while Derek fought against the wind and waves trying to make some headway away from the cables the port
captain kept on about who we were , our last check in etc all the questions u need when all u want is the height of the cables aahhh. We
never did get the height from him thanks buddy. After motor sailing using the bare mast as a sail we went the long round around the
island and we finally set the anchor in the northern bay and relaxed in the motionless lee of the islands. Next morning we took the Tambor
Ferry to Punta arenas it was an easy (and cheap) way to see part of the Nicoya's Golf, we particularly disliked the sea water color and
found Punt arenas to be a very unattractive town, After a cheap meal in the market, we headed around the town but there was not much
to see. Our next trip was to Bahia Herradurra but before that we had to go through a floating city dump including another big plastic
trash bag around the propeller again, Derek the diver to the rescue though waiting till we were well clear because of sharks. . Bahia
Herradura has Los Suenos marina but we were not willing to pay 150 dollars a day, so we anchor in the bay and it was really cool, we had
our private beach for free. We caught up with Tony from his new Hoof beats and also went to the town Jaco and checked out the town.
Yee haa another party place, lots of restaurants, bars and souvenirs shops. We had a really nice time there and then headed out again
this time our destination was Drakes Bay it was a motor ride as there was no wind but the bay was really beautiful it was really tropical.
We surfed across the bar entrance to the drakes river and saw crocs and lots of bird life it was funny to see Zory jump out of the way
when a croc swam past us in our inflatable dingy. After a few days exploring we headed out destination Golfito. Though the decision was
made by me at 1 am when I had too much energy. I drove through the night and at around sunrise woke Zory so she could do an hour at
sunrise the nicest part of the watch. All night I could see really black clouds and only in the morning did we see the beauty of it all. The
land and Celtic Dancer had a dense black cloud over us and then we dodged some water spouts which are like tornado's that happen over
water sucking tonnes of water/ fish and god knows what else up 4000 ft. We entered Golfito later on that day and Derek had the chance
to meet up with some of the locals that he had met on the delivery of the tallship spirit of chamanos 4 years before. We did the usual
check in to the country and had a relaxing time in Golfito. Derek had a boys night out with 3 of the lads on a delivery trip and tasted the
local beers in 12 of the 24 bars in this little town. The day after we were due on a hillwalking trip with thulany and the lads from velella but
for some reason Derek was too screwed up to go.....Yee haa love El Salvador. We took in a shopping trip to panama and this was really
easy as the border is really close, So with new visas and some more food etc we chilled out even longer in the sleepy town of Golfito. The
towwn was an old bananna town but after all the monkeys went on low cal diets the bannana business went bust. The main industry there
now is a more rewarding one. Palm oil production. We tried making some of the oil from the palms and it was a lot of work but it tastes
really different
was gorgeous. We met up with Thulany and had fun with them. We sailed over to Canonical and of course Charlie's charts was wrong
again , No fuel or town etc. Next day we legged it and caught up with Thulany and sailed on to Bahia Murcielagos Bat bay. The snorkeling
was really cool there and it also blew over 40 kn at the anchorage but we were tucked in to shore so it was comfortable. The next morning
Thulany came over and anchored with us. A good time was had by all. We headed then over to cocos and checked in with the official stuff.
We hung there for a couple of days then checked out panama beach which we didn't like, then over to Bahia Huevo clear water and howler
monkeys in the trees, We had a really fast sail back to cocos this morning. To be continued.......................
We made the check out from cocos to Golfito, spend a night in Ocotal did some snorkeling around the bay, watched some huge manta
rays and lots of fish,and saw monkeys on the shore in a mango tree,It was cool when a guy got too close to take a picture and the
monkeys threw mango's at Him. We read in a tourist magazine about Isla Catalina and having the best diving around we felt adventurous
enough to check it out, even all the books said you can't anchor there "too dangerous" So of course we went there and
anchored.We dad have to anchor quite close to the cliffs but they were cool , The water was not too clear but did some snorkeling,
speared some dinner and got out of the water pretty quick because of the sharks in the area and the crap visibility, We then headed over
to Playa conchal, with the promise of find hundreds of shells, Zory was disappointed to see no shells, but very please to see the beach
with its white sand and the outstanding crystal clear water (the clearest we have seen in all Costa Rica) and enjoyed the best snorkeling
around the rocks at the point, we saw hundreds of reef fish and bigger rays. Then it was time to catch dinner so I got myself a red
snapper and a sea perch for Zory. Our next stop was Tamarindo, with his Tamarindo colour water in did, cero snorkeling here, but neat
town, is a party place, difficult dingy landing through surf, we felt in the water a couple of times, is cool to see the surfers all waiting for
the wave. Next stop it was Bahia Garza terrible rolling anchorage, nothing to see, left next morning to Samara neat town nice restaurants
and bars, lots of tourist, backpackers place. Next stop was Bahia Carrillo which was hardly recommended by the guide book (Margo's
chart) but we didn't like it, it was the worst rolly anchorage ever, plus nothing to see except the nice cheap breakfast we had in the hotel
that overlooks the bay,we couldn't wait to leave it to see Bahia Ballena we had high expectations about the place, but it turned out to bee
"too quite boring" we had some beers in the "yacht club" (we never understand why such a name, not yacht
services at all) and took a but to Montezuma peaceful tourist town, very nice beach, neat bars and restaurants, we went for a walk up hill
yo find the water fall, and loved it, we celebrate our 5 years together that day enjoying the waterfall like the first day we met. Back in
Ballena next morning Derek went for a dingy drive up the river, and saw Jesus Christ Lizzards, called like that because they walk on the
water, and he also saw crocodiles and lots of birds. Derek repaired the key on the propeller shaft that was damaged by one of the many
semi submerged tree trunks that we met on the sea. With all the repairs done, we headed to Isla Tortuga (touristy white color sand
island, nice place but fuss of people) after we tried to set the anchor three times (the see shallows so fast that now you see 30 feet and
by seconds goes to 9 feet!) and not success, poor holding, we left to Isla Jesusita in the meddle channel between negritos national park
and main land, we ad not engine drive and couldn't that happened in a worse place? A squall was under way and we were surrounded by
rocks and lots of traffic in a narrow channel thankfully Derek realized the problem it was a big plastic bag wrapped around the propeller, he
dove and cut it off just on time before we were hit by the squall with winds touching 50 knots wind and buckets of rain thrown at Derek,
When we were just entering the other channel between cedros and main land, We were doing 8 knots with no sails up and the engine in
neutral it was really bad visibility with the stinging rain, He looked up and found out an High tension electrical cable running across our
path. This not being on the chart and not knowing the height of the cables we turned the boat around back against the wind the wind
putting the boat over at about 45 degrees and now the waves now high and white, Derek asked me to call on the radio to the Coast
guard ship we had seen before the squall to see if they knew the height but instead got the port captain giving us hassle for been so
naive and not entering Isla jesusita in the northern side we didn't know anything about those cables as the chart and guide books dont
have them marked!So while Derek fought against the wind and waves trying to make some headway away from the cables the port
captain kept on about who we were , our last check in etc all the questions u need when all u want is the height of the cables aahhh. We
never did get the height from him thanks buddy. After motor sailing using the bare mast as a sail we went the long round around the
island and we finally set the anchor in the northern bay and relaxed in the motionless lee of the islands. Next morning we took the Tambor
Ferry to Punta arenas it was an easy (and cheap) way to see part of the Nicoya's Golf, we particularly disliked the sea water color and
found Punt arenas to be a very unattractive town, After a cheap meal in the market, we headed around the town but there was not much
to see. Our next trip was to Bahia Herradurra but before that we had to go through a floating city dump including another big plastic
trash bag around the propeller again, Derek the diver to the rescue though waiting till we were well clear because of sharks. . Bahia
Herradura has Los Suenos marina but we were not willing to pay 150 dollars a day, so we anchor in the bay and it was really cool, we had
our private beach for free. We caught up with Tony from his new Hoof beats and also went to the town Jaco and checked out the town.
Yee haa another party place, lots of restaurants, bars and souvenirs shops. We had a really nice time there and then headed out again
this time our destination was Drakes Bay it was a motor ride as there was no wind but the bay was really beautiful it was really tropical.
We surfed across the bar entrance to the drakes river and saw crocs and lots of bird life it was funny to see Zory jump out of the way
when a croc swam past us in our inflatable dingy. After a few days exploring we headed out destination Golfito. Though the decision was
made by me at 1 am when I had too much energy. I drove through the night and at around sunrise woke Zory so she could do an hour at
sunrise the nicest part of the watch. All night I could see really black clouds and only in the morning did we see the beauty of it all. The
land and Celtic Dancer had a dense black cloud over us and then we dodged some water spouts which are like tornado's that happen over
water sucking tonnes of water/ fish and god knows what else up 4000 ft. We entered Golfito later on that day and Derek had the chance
to meet up with some of the locals that he had met on the delivery of the tallship spirit of chamanos 4 years before. We did the usual
check in to the country and had a relaxing time in Golfito. Derek had a boys night out with 3 of the lads on a delivery trip and tasted the
local beers in 12 of the 24 bars in this little town. The day after we were due on a hillwalking trip with thulany and the lads from velella but
for some reason Derek was too screwed up to go.....Yee haa love El Salvador. We took in a shopping trip to panama and this was really
easy as the border is really close, So with new visas and some more food etc we chilled out even longer in the sleepy town of Golfito. The
towwn was an old bananna town but after all the monkeys went on low cal diets the bannana business went bust. The main industry there
now is a more rewarding one. Palm oil production. We tried making some of the oil from the palms and it was a lot of work but it tastes
really different
The Happy shopaholic,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and the ugly taxi driver in the paddy taxi driver