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Paradise in Golfito Costa Rica |
February 6th 2019. I can’t believe we are
actually leaving Panama. We had a wonderful motor sail from Contadora to La
Playita, left at 5:30 am. We had a guest onboard, Rachel of Apage, they have a
motor problem and she needed to go to Panama City to find a repair shop or fly
to States and pick up the part, comes out part was beyond repair and she flew
same night out to Virginia and returned 2 days later with the part. Anyway, we
opted to anchor in front of the Marina Playita as the northerly can make the
Las Brisas Bay, the anchorage with incredible view of skyline, pretty bumpy.
Playita is at the entrance of the Panama Canal and only gets bumpy in
northerlies and when the canal work boats wake us, which is usually early
morning and late afternoon. Roger didn’t have time to check us out that evening
so I took the bus in to the Albrook Mall and set myself up with Movistar
ilimitado, which I have been using the last couple of months. It is one months
of unlimited data use, certain amount of phone calls and free SMS for $ 39.22
plus you can hotspot the phone. The greatest part is it allows roaming all the
way to Mexico, so when we sail up the coast, where ever and “IF” we have an
antenna access I have data service. May not be strong enough for emails but the
wonderful WhatsApp app always works. (Arriving in Costa Rica at first it did
not work, guess it had to find the right antenna to settle in, from then on it
worked like magic, actually better than the Wi-Fi the marina provides, which is
working good. I also found some stores with Movistar signs, which means they
sell the refill cards as well).
There are two grocery
stores in the mall Super 99 and Super Xtra not where I usually shop as these
stores don’t have all the gringo stuff I like. Both are on one end of the mall
which makes it a looooong walk with having to carry last minute groceries. I
wasn’t going to do that and remembered that they have a Choo Choo train for the
kids that drives around the whole mall, hmmmm, I am still a kid by heart. Was a
fun ride to the other end and the conductor was happy to practice his English.
For the first time I tried to use my Uber app to the result of frustration as
it kept telling me Exit Kangaroo but I was at Koala, so took a regular cab
instead. Will practice some more in next port.
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| The City had a little bonfire for us. The very dry trees up the Flamingo hill were on fire |
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| Entrance to the Panama Canal |
Tuesday Morning Rogelio
picked us up at the Marina and drove us to Balboa Yacht Club where the
immigration office is. This time we had no problem checking out and kinda figured
out what the problem was. Immigration always looks at the entry stamp and since
we have been in Panama for 7 years our last entry stamp was a loooong time ago.
Cruisers get 6 months and if you over stay it costs you 50 dollars for each
months extra. So when he saw both of our cedulas which is the Panamanian
Residency card he was satisfied and smashed that stamp on our passports. We did
a quick stop at Felipe Motta a liquor store (neither 99 and Xtra had bacon or Parmesan cheese, but I knew Motta will, plus bought Rogelio a bottle of Zecapa
23 year old rum as a thank you for all his help since we had met him in 2000)
and the local chandlery we headed back to the boat.
February 5th
2019 at 11 am we pulled anchor and sailed out of Panama City towards Punta Mala
with heavy hearts. We will miss Panama and all the wonderful friends we made
here.
It was a 90 straight shot
to Punta Mala and our only hurdle was the northerly winds that blow very strong
from December on through February/March. The winds can be very high with gusts
to gale force. We had it on our mind that it could be a rough trip. We did have
20 knots and at times up to 30 gust but it was actually amazingly calm on wind
waves, not to mention we were going with them. Main was out and so was the
staysail. We were sailing 6 to 7 knots which was too fast for our planned
arrival at Punta Mala just before ebb tide. Our main is fairly big and in these
wind conditions pushes the bow from left to right but also to slow us down. The
jib will pull us instead of the main pushing us. You would think bringing down
a big main would slow you down at least 1 knot, but not so, we reefed the jib 3
times to where we could not make it any smaller and still we were going 5 plus.
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| Sid shooting at Frigate birds with his BB-gun as they tried to sit on our windex, don't want that to break |
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| That's all the sail we had out and were still going too fast |
As we past San Carlos the
winds picked up steadily and intensive the closer we headed to Punta Mala, we
now had a steady 30 knots with gusts up to 40.
There is nowhere to anchor
and wait out the weather so we kept going as it was a comfortable sail.
When dark settled in after
the sunset I turned in for the first watch and Sid was keeping an eye out.
Never really fell asleep but no idea what made me get up and go over the port
side to look out, there was a lot of breaking waves on this side more so than
on our starboard side. But then what got my attention was lit up torpedoes shooting
through the water alongside our boat and towards the bow when it hit me, it was
dolphins. The splashes created by at least a dozen dolphins were all lit up in
phosphorescence. They all played with the bow for a few minutes then they
disappeared. I turned to my side again when I saw the torpedoes on the
starboard side so both of us rushed to that side and watched probably the most
amazing thing we have ever seen. I am sure you have seen a photos of dolphins
surfing waves on a beach. I count myself lucky to have witnessed this live at
Zuma Beach in Malibu years ago. Now imagine about 8 dolphins side by side
surging a wave but all you see is the silhouette of 8 dolphins glowing in solid
phosphorescence, wow. An image that will never be erased.
By sailing so fast we were
going to sail around Punta Mala at 3 am, which in this wind we did not want to
do in the dark so we decided to anchor off Isla Iguana which is 8 miles away
from the point. There is really not much of a good anchorage most of the time
but considering not having much choice we found a corner on the island that
might be a bit more protected until just daylight. We anchored and it was a bit
rough but doable. Not to mention you can’t see in the dark. We tried to sleep
but by now a full gale was blowing we had winds 40 knots plus and it got
rougher and rougher. When we finally could see oh shit 6 foot waves bounced us
around.
Time to pull anchor and head towards Punta Mala, had no other place to go. The anchor was snagged and would trip the fuse to the windless, several times Sid had to rush down below and set it, while I was motoring into the waves or doing a quick U-turn as far as the chain would let me. By the 4th or 5th U-tern the anchor came up, we figured it was wrapped around a rock or rocks. We sailed with just the little sail up again towards the mainland, hoping the current would be less extreme along the coast and found that to be the case. Wind away from the island slowed down to 20 knots and the seas were half the size as in the lee of the island. Our sail around Punta Mala was with ½ the jib out very smooth, piece of cake, wow and all the worries.
Just about 5 minutes after we rounded the bay, the wind started up again, we saw the reefs along the shore with waves of water spray being blown up in the air. On the water was nothing but white caps.
Jib was pulled in to a small sail area again and Sid turned the motor on. We knew there was a good south current but we never thought this much of a current. Since Iguana we only had 21 miles to sail to our next destination, a 4 hour trip that turned into 8 hours. We did not move an inch, current was that bad with the gale force winds. Just good it was an offshore winds so we had no waves to battle. We fought the current and with the RPMs at full speed. When lucky we reached few 2 to 3 knots of speed but mostly was 0.8 to maybe 2 knots. It was frustrating, at one point we took the sail in, figuring maybe that’s preventing us. We were at a standstill and the wind blew us further off shore. Out came the jib again. We finally managed to sail along with 2 to 3 knots. One bay we sailed passed I saw something rush through the water and as it came closer to Paradise I recognized about 15 roosterfish speeding just below the water surface. I told Sid but by the time he came on my side they were gone, but wait, there is another group of about 8, wow. Sid said they hunt together like this, it was a kewl sight. The sail was still sluggish and slow but then when we came to Ensenada Benao, our destination, it was the pits. Gusts now were 40 knots pushing us literally away from the shore it was a nightmare. I was on the helm steering the boat to the best possible way to get a 1 knot to 2. It was getting frustrating we had just a few hundred feet to go to the opening of the anchorage when I noticed the gear shift lever. It was a bit forward but not far enough forward as it should be and asked Sid: “are we in gear”. We ran the dam engine on high RPMs all day long fighting a barely existing (0.6 knot current). I think that can go in the books of “The dumbest things we have ever done”!!!
Time to pull anchor and head towards Punta Mala, had no other place to go. The anchor was snagged and would trip the fuse to the windless, several times Sid had to rush down below and set it, while I was motoring into the waves or doing a quick U-turn as far as the chain would let me. By the 4th or 5th U-tern the anchor came up, we figured it was wrapped around a rock or rocks. We sailed with just the little sail up again towards the mainland, hoping the current would be less extreme along the coast and found that to be the case. Wind away from the island slowed down to 20 knots and the seas were half the size as in the lee of the island. Our sail around Punta Mala was with ½ the jib out very smooth, piece of cake, wow and all the worries.
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| Punta Mala |
Just about 5 minutes after we rounded the bay, the wind started up again, we saw the reefs along the shore with waves of water spray being blown up in the air. On the water was nothing but white caps.
Jib was pulled in to a small sail area again and Sid turned the motor on. We knew there was a good south current but we never thought this much of a current. Since Iguana we only had 21 miles to sail to our next destination, a 4 hour trip that turned into 8 hours. We did not move an inch, current was that bad with the gale force winds. Just good it was an offshore winds so we had no waves to battle. We fought the current and with the RPMs at full speed. When lucky we reached few 2 to 3 knots of speed but mostly was 0.8 to maybe 2 knots. It was frustrating, at one point we took the sail in, figuring maybe that’s preventing us. We were at a standstill and the wind blew us further off shore. Out came the jib again. We finally managed to sail along with 2 to 3 knots. One bay we sailed passed I saw something rush through the water and as it came closer to Paradise I recognized about 15 roosterfish speeding just below the water surface. I told Sid but by the time he came on my side they were gone, but wait, there is another group of about 8, wow. Sid said they hunt together like this, it was a kewl sight. The sail was still sluggish and slow but then when we came to Ensenada Benao, our destination, it was the pits. Gusts now were 40 knots pushing us literally away from the shore it was a nightmare. I was on the helm steering the boat to the best possible way to get a 1 knot to 2. It was getting frustrating we had just a few hundred feet to go to the opening of the anchorage when I noticed the gear shift lever. It was a bit forward but not far enough forward as it should be and asked Sid: “are we in gear”. We ran the dam engine on high RPMs all day long fighting a barely existing (0.6 knot current). I think that can go in the books of “The dumbest things we have ever done”!!!
Especially the anchoring
at Iguana helped that everything that could fly upside down did so we decided
for a day to rest and clean up, while the winds are still at gale force pushing
the boat from one side to the other.
The worst of the trip was
over, so we thought as Punta Mala is a good challenge, well more so for
southbound boats, but. We still had another about 100 miles to deal with these
norther winds until we were out of the zone but from here on it should not be
as strong, so we thought…..
Amazing not even 2 miles
out of anchorage wind slowed from 25 to 18 as I had suspected that it is a
local condition for wind to funnel down the hill. Four miles late we had 8 to
10 knots and still in the lee of the land it was a smooth sail.
About 10 miles in to the
trip there was a canyon and all we saw was white caps an indication of lots of wind,
be immediately reduced our sail as we approached the windy area and had winds
anywhere for 13 to 28 knots funneling down the hill. There was another area
blowing up to 36.7 and once cleared dropped to 13 to 28.
We noticed this wall of
clouds along the southern part and the closer we got to the west point Mariato,
the end of the Pedasi Peninsula, the wall abruptly stopped, we figured that was
there due to the high winds, hmmm, interesting.
5 miles before next
Mariato Point the wind gusted again with 30 then within 4 min wind changed from
N to SW. We were sailing with staysail up at 3.8 to 4 knots and had a slight
current.
I saw several turtles peek
their heads out next to the boat before disappearing into the depths again.
It was a great sail until
we passed Mariato Point. Just around the corner is Naranjo an anchorage we had
stopped for a few days on our way south in 2000.
Just as soon as we rounded
the point the wind turned around and in just seconds all hell broke loose. Gale
force winds hit us including 6 to 7 foot high close together wind waves. Bow
was completely under water, jerry jugs lifted out of the fore deck onto and
across the deck. Never seen so much water over deck. Then again and again. We
didn’t even have to make a decision, it was clear this was not it for us and
around we turned. Anchorage Naranja was out of the question as this weather was
heading right into it. While rounding the point I noticed a cute bay with 3
beaches and that’s where we headed. We had to race the sun there before she
said goodnight for the day as there is no info on this area so obviously nobody
ever anchors there. We needed the sunlight to see hidden rocks as there seemed
to be many of it. The sun gods were with us and we found a flat area which we
assumed is just sandy bottom and dropped the anchor just before the last blink
of the sun disappearing on the horizon. This anchorage has no name but is 3
miles before the corner of Naranjo, coming from Punta Mala.
Waypoint: 07’29.445N 81’13.469W we should call it “Paradise
Hideout”
Be careful if coming in
here, lots of hidden rocks to the West side, East side has flat bottom. This
anchorage is perfect for the Papagayo winds but looks hostile with southerly
winds. We anchored in 45 feet of water, at time did not know what tide was,
calm 20 knots of wind which intensified overnight, had gust up to 40 knots, a
full blown gale again. We decided not to go anywhere until the blow is over.
When I finally went down
below I noticed the chaos, the salon hatch leaked, all fruit bowls on table had
¾ inch salt water in them. 4 pillows soaked and part of settee plus floor, a
mess.
The wind was still howling
in the morning and as the day went on the howling of the wind was jarring on
our nerves. Sid was looking for his earplug but found them all disintegrated,
all of them but the creative inventor he is he found some left over foam from a
life jacket and carved us earplugs. Oh that peace of “almost” quiet was sooooo
nice.
The rocks next to us let
us know how much the winds was playing by the veil of a spray lifting up in the
air and out to sea.
We spent a second night
with hopes that the wind would slow down. We had no data service here and could
not check on the weather at all.
It was a nice anchorage
very scenic and we were all alone.
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| The Sunsets were spectacular |
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| Yeah, sunset cocktail time |
A couple hours later we
saw a sail boat heading east and hailed them on the radio to let them know in
case they need to hunker down there is a good place here. As it turned out they
were anchored in Naranja for protection they did not get and were so happy we
contacted them.
About 1 hour after they
anchored the wind dropped to noting, wow, we waited another 30 minutes and
still nothing. We decided to pull anchor and head around the corner to see if
we can find data to get a weather report and in case the wind came back to
return and hunker down. Near Naranjo we did find some data but just enough to
get WhatsApp going but the wind stayed calm so we went for it. We had 10 miles
to go to Ensenada Cebaco, the weather stayed clear and dolphins had fun playing
with the bow wake before we anchored in the sheltered bay just before sunset.
No wind howling no ocean
motion we slept like babies. At 7 after coffee and breakfast we started the
motor to a really weird click noise in engine compartment but engine did not
start. Off came the box while Sid checked the engine after checking the wires
to the starter he found a loose one a few minutes later and a few cranks we
finally started the engine, Sid put the box back on and came back to the
cockpit. I mentioned to him I smelled something funny, he did not. 5 minutes
later we both went down below when he smelled it too. He opened the engine box
and found the coolant lid gone and coolant spewing in the air. We immediately
turned the engine off as it was over heated. The fresh water pump was toast and
of course that’s the only spare part we forgot to get last time we replaced it
in Bonaire.
February 11. The good
thing was we have sails and only had 98 miles to go to Golfito so anchor came
up and sails hoisted sails. It was a slow sail out of the anchorage until we were
away from the lee of the island doing 2.2 knots for at least 1 hour. Around
noon the wind picked up to 10 knots and we were moving with 4.7 knots. This
held for a couple hours and all of a sudden out of nowhere we had this huge
gust heeling us over for just a few seconds then nothing for 30 minutes, we
were sailing with 1.9 knots. It was calm enough I decided to start cooking
dinner, when I noticed the dish washing soap was on the wrong side of the sink
and had fallen onto the faucet and opened it. There wasn’t much water coming
out good thing but had no idea how long it had been open and how much we lost.
Still had water so far so good. But when I turned the stove on there was no
propane coming through the hose, oh no we can’t be out, we just filled the tank.
Sid investigated for a kink in the hose or something cutting the line of gas,
nothing but then he realized the regulator was well on its end. He was able to
fix it so we had cooking gas.
We still had little wind
and what we had moved us at 1.9 knots 50 degrees of course, but we were moving.
At 22.30 the wind completely shut down that was just off the point of Isla
Coiba. At midnight the wind decided to come back and with 5 knots pushed us at
a speed of 1.3. I think we can swim faster than this.
By morning we had moved 10
miles since the wind started up again and in the 24 hours since we had left
Cebaco we had moved an incredible 30 miles and had still 70 miles to go to
Punta Burrita not to mention a further 18 miles to Golfito. At this rate it will
take days to get there.
Feb 12th at
08:30 we had 67.72 miles to go and sailed wing on wing with 1.3 knots in 3.2
knots of wind. The whisker pool helped to keep the jib out. I went down below
for some water but realized: OH shit we have an empty tank! What else is going
to go wrong. Can’t make water with no engine, good thing we still have 2 gallon
bottles under salon table and 2 6 gallon jugs on deck. Not being able to run
engine we turned the freezer and fridge off during the night so not to run down
the batteries. Sid hooked up the generator and we ran it to top of the
batteries. Not having batteries would have been yet another disaster as we
would have lost everything in fridge and freezer. Yes we were on survival mode.
At 11:49 we still had
62.34 miles go, wind was at 4 to 6 knots and our speed 2.4 knots. Sid ran the
generator for 3 hours for the water maker but water maker draws more power so
maybe only made 10 gallons of water.
At 15.33 we had 50 miles
to go and we were sailing 5.7 knots yeah, great. We had to change course to
avoid an island between us and Punta Burrita and as there were lots of
underwater rocks which were deep enough underwater to sail across but knowing
they would create lots of current we decided to sail around that area to avoid
the current. We sailed 10 miles and when we wanted to tack the wind shifted and
came from an impossible direction other than the direction we came from, so had
to sail the 10 miles back. We reached the island we now had to pass due west
but the wind completely shut down at 1.45 am. We were sitting 12.11 miles off
Burrica with no wind, so little to go. Feb 13th 12.11 am we were still sitting
in no wind and knowing that Way She Goes might be in the area and we spotted a
sailboat on the horizon we hailed them on channel 16 but no responds.
This was getting really
frustrating we were so close yet so far.
At 12:38 a puff of air,
hoping it would pick up but didn’t. At 13:29 we finally had 6 knots of wind and
were moving with 2 knots towards Golfito. 15:30 3 knots in 9.2 knots of wind
and the Geni was running to keep the batteries up. We were out of water again.
We had to change course
for a better angle and sailed 12 miles with 5 knots and had the perfect angle
to sail into the Golfito bay when the wind shut down again. We now were just on
the other end of the entrance than early that morning. Not a breath of air. But
we had a good night sleep with no one on watch, well we were not going anywhere
not even a drift in any direction. A good downpour of rain woke us up, what the
hell, its dry season, it didn’t rain long to collect water, just long enough to
get everything soaked. Back to bed when I woke up to a bad diapoopoos but also
to dolphins swimming around Paradise.
February 14th
Happy Valentines’ Day were 15.35 miles away from the Golfito Bay entrance and
still not a breath of air.
About 11:45 Sid had enough
of this and we lowered the dinghy and he hooked it up snug on the transom,
turned the outboard on and started pushing, we a ¼ tank of gas and figured to
push the boat as far as it goes and amazingly it took us into the Golfito Bay
and since we still had a full tank we decided we had enough to get us all the
way to Golfito.
Sid always has said:
“never underestimate a 15 hp outboard”, he was pushing Paradise with 3.5 to 4
knots. I handed him the full tank down, an ice cold coke and an umbrella. At
one point he climbed in the boat so we could check the waypoints and to go pee
then slipped back into the dinghy.
As we inched closer to
Golfito the Golfito Marina finally heard us on the VHF radio and he organized a
boat to come out and get us. There was a misunderstanding, he took off and left
us to ourselves to bring the boat into the slip.
Just as we came out of the
channel to Golfito a green and yellow dinghy speed towards us, I be damned if
that wasn’t Wayne on Way She Goes. Together with his help after I rounded the
dock he pushed the bow of Paradise into the slip while Sid hit the reverse.
The what would have been
48 hour trip turned into a 4 day trip from hell.
My hero Sid got us back to
civilization on Valentine’s Day and we celebrated it at the wonderful La Playa
Restaurant at the Marina with Sheila and Wayne.
Happy Ending.
The Golfito Marina is the
newest Marina in Golfito and therefore the best one as well. Banana Bay Marina
is I think the oldest and first one, it was the favorite of all south bound
cruisers when we left. We never went there as there was a lot of break-ins and
thievery. Not much has changed in Costa Rica but I will get to that.
We did have lunch at the
Banana Bay Marina just to see what we are missing. We are missing not much
except old worn out docks. One of the sport fishers in a slip entertained us to
no end. Here he has his beautiful expensive boat sitting in this ugly slip
washing his boat down, after he got done he went inside and a few minutes later
he appeared with a hammer in his hand and went on the dock. It was hilarious he
walked the whole side dock and hammered all the nails back into the wood that
were sticking out. He must have hammered 60/70 nails then I guess he realized
that was a fun thing to do he went on the main dock and hammered more in. When
we left we teased him that he had forgotten some nails. He said he was tired of
hurting his toes on them.
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| The La Playa Restaurant |
The Golfito Marina is only
a couple years old and is still under construction and has gone through
different owners, and seems like another change is going on. They are still
struggling but you can’t expect to get rich from day one on. It takes time to
build a profit in a marina, heck in any business. Original plan and still is to
build a Village with bungalows over water and along the planned man made beach,
it’s going to look wonderful when and if it gets built. The docks are well
constructed some of the best we have seen and the pretty flower plants, makes
you feel you are in Florida somewhere. The staff is super friendly and it
definitely is well guarded day and night. Every guard on the premises carries a
gun and we see the guards walk the dock at any time at night, 3 guards during
day and 4 at night. The dock boys jump right in if they see you with heavy bags
or garbage bags etc. Never had better customer service in any other marina. And
the girls working in the office make you feel right at home. By the way most
speak English for those you don’t speak Spanish.
When you arrive Gabriela
the marina manager will organize Mario the Marina Limo driver and he will take
you on a 6 seater golf cart to Immigration, from there all the way back and to
the Free Zone where Aduana is after they check you in he will take you to the
port captain and that’s it. at that point he will take you shopping as well, should you
need to.
We still have dry season
and I have to admit Golfito is rather on the hot side, so it was more than
great that Mario will take us any time shopping instead of walking in this
heat.
If you are in the
anchorage, rule number one in Costa Rica is, hide anything of value down below
and don’t leave anything on deck, even boat hooks, bumpers etc., as there still
is thievery. We feel pretty safe in this marina and the guards at the guard
house don’t let anybody on the dock that does not belong to the marina.
We ordered the fresh water
pump for our engine but found out that Costa Rica charges incredible taxes and
for everything different percentage, for shampoo for instance 28%, Household
items like coffeemaker, blender 49%, Guitar 29%, Flat Screen TV, DVD Players 49%, water heater 68.8%, Automotive parts 42.78%
yikes our part is $500
We are about 1 ½ hours (3
to 4 hours by bus) car drive away, from David in Panama so I opened a Mail Box
Etcetera account and have it shipped there and will take the bus to David and
back.
The marina has no pool but
if you need a pool you can use the pool at the Casa Roland or Samoa Resort
which both are about 20 minutes to reach by foot. I have been to Roland a
really nice pool but piss warm. Who would think of putting dark blue tiles in a
tropical pool? Nevertheless it’s a very nice facility, great food and wonderful
drink, bonus is to use the beautiful pool showers before heading back to the
marina. Don’t advise anybody to go on a weekend,
this place is a favorite for the local Ticos as well. Nice thing is they have a
kids and an adult pool. Sheila and I decided we needed a swim, not even 2
minutes in the pool we started a conversation with a couple then a single lady
and hit it off. The single lady Katy met her brother here who is a sailor
himself. He just sold his boat, so I told them if they go to the marina to look
us up. Later on that day both showed up and we had a couple cocktails before
they headed to the restaurant for dinner. The following day I ran into the
other couple Liz and Don at the restaurant here, after chatting a while I found
out Don is an avid guitar player and his son plays in a bluegrass band. I
couldn’t help it but invite them for Happy Hour on Paradise the following
evening and texted Katy to come over as well.
It was a fun evening and
the funny thing was Liz wanted to know when we had met Katy, I told her at the
exact same time as we all met in the pool LOL.
Don brought his guitar and
we alternated playing guitar and it was huge fun.
Shopping here is basic but
they do have wonderful veggies, healthy looking and the tomatoes are vine ripe.
Every veggie I have bought so far is bigger and more colorful than in Panama.
Not much of a fruit selection other than Pineapple, papaya, apples and grapes.
I did find Pivas though, wow they are even bigger and juicier.
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| Lettuce covering up my stove |
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| Christophine or in Spanish Chayotte |
Since then it’s been a
waiting game on the part.
For all the shipping we have
done over the last few years on Panama we have used Airbox and we were
satisfied with their service, had a couple hick-ups but that’s to be expected.
Now that we have used Mail Box ETC it’s a huge wow, what a better deal, they
send you a tracking number as soon as the part arrives at their Miami address.
You can follow the tracking number and when it arrives they also notify you
from the receiving office. With Airbox it was always a guessing game. Both
charge about the same for shipping.
Well the part arrived
after 8 days so I tried to take an early bus to the border of Costa Rica and
Panama. A local girl was waiting as well, but after 30 minutes no bus had
arrived she stopped a taxi and he took us for 4000 Colones each, about 7
dollars to the border. On the way he picked up several more passenger to make
it worth his while. A regular taxi charges 50 dollar. Arriving at the border I paid
my 7 dollar tax to leave Costa Rica then went to immigration and received my
exit stamp. It’s about a ¼ of a mile walk from here to the Panamanian Border.
The agent checking me in said: “Oh you are on a boat in Golfito!” I asked him
how he knew and he said everybody that arrives in Golfito comes in on a boat.
Makes sense and for me a relief to know I may not have a problem to return to
Costa Rica. I had a sleepless night but came prepared with boat paperwork and a
letter from the marina office that indeed I was living here on my boat. Out of
the immigration building across the street a mini bus was waiting and took me
for 2 dollars to David. The whole trip was about 2 ½ hours so not too bad. The
bus let me off at Casa de Batterias as this was on his route. MailBoxEtc was
just across the street. Yeah I got my part. Price to ship here is about the
same as at Airbox.
Took a taxi to the Mall I
knew Rey was and Panaphoto, but when I saw TGIF I headed there first and
enjoyed a Long Island Ice Tea and my favorite Yucatan Salad. Life is good!!!
Shopped at Rey, went across to Super Baru which was equivalent to a Riba Smith,
but I was really disappointed as I walked out with not having found anything to
buy. Back to bus station and on the Bus back to the border, which left 5
minutes later.
Checking into Costa Rica
was too easy and nobody checked my luggage. The bus station back to Golfito was
across the street. I waited a good hour but no bus, only to Neilly, then I saw
a young backpacker couple sitting on other bench and found out they had been
waiting for almost 2 hours. Hmmmm, bus should drive every 30 min, but I had no
bus in AM either, hmmmm. A red taxi stopped and looked in our direction so I
asked the kids if they were up to share the taxi with me, they said no as they
were on a tight budget. So I talked to
the driver and he offered the ride for 30, went back to the kids and offered
for them to pay 10 and I will pay 20, deal. 45 minutes later I arrived back
home. (Well, the taxi wanted an extra 10 because there was 3 of us, so I ended
up paying 30 after all.
Sid was so excited that we
finally had the part, he couldn’t wait to unwrap it, then I heard a lot of well
not so nice words which told me it was not the right part and sure enough:
It was a very depressing
moment knowing we are going to be stuck for another at least 2 weeks.
It’s that somebody again who
ordered the wrong part, if we ever catch that somebody!!! With help of Westerbeke
we ordered the right part and received a return number, but there is a 15%
restocking fee, ouch, plus of course we had to pay the shipping back. How does
my song go: Don’t worry Shit happens!
In the mean time we had 3
afternoons with showers and nearby lighting, what we noticed is we had the
storm from each direction but South and each one brought high winds, hope the
rainy season storms are not like that. Every afternoon around high tide we were
getting wind chops hobby horsing us around in the slip. Wasn’t bad but brought
Vista Mar the Torture Chamber to our mind. And we told ourselves as soon as we
have the part we’d move, well that was before the wrong part arrived. But then
while Sid was cleaning the dinghy on the dock, within 15 minutes we had 3 plus
feet of wind waves coming through, and we still have 10 days to wait for new
part we got permission to move into a more protected slip. There are two docks in
this marina which “A” dock the outside dock is only ½ as long as “B” dock, therefor
½ the slips on our dock are in the open and not protected by “A” dock. The next morning Sid pushed the boat with the
dinghy as he did when we came in here and I steered the boat into our new slip.
Not the same view but much calmer now that we are protected from “A” dock. This
roll happens close to every day but only lasts an hour and always around high
tide.
Other than that it’s very
tranquil here, dolphins occasionally swim right next to the dock, so are turtle
popping their heads out of the water to take a breath or 2 or 3 of air. Scarlet
Macaws spent the night in a nearby tree, Toucans occasionally creating a loud
ruckus and the rain brings rainbows, just beautiful.
After 3 weeks for the
second time I took the bus to David and back. It took Sid a full day to fit the
pump but engine is purring again and we are set to go.
Great feeling that the
engine was running and that we can get ready for our departure direction
Mexico. But that was crushed three days later when Sid noticed our fridge’s
temperature was at 76, no wonder the milk went sour so fast. Sid thought when
he put the pump in he forgot to turn the fridge back on, as he turned it off to
start the engine. So he turned it back on and said that it would run for a long
time. Not about 30 seconds later it shut off, told him, he went and checked and
saw that the breaker had tripped. Turned it on again and sure enough 30 seconds
same thing, it knocked the breaker out. Guess he did not forget to turn it off
after all, we have a problem!!!
Since it was evening
already, he decided to check it first thing in the morning, but same thing and
he noticed that the compressor totally overheated. We checked the water flow, there
was plenty of water pumping out. Being a Saturday chances of finding a mechanic
are slim but I did asked Mario if he knew a mechanic, he said: Si the best, the
# 1 here. So told him that if we can’t fix by Monday I would let him know to
organize him. No luck on Sid’s part so on Monday I went to the office to
inquire where Mario was, she called him and Super Mario had already organized
the mechanic to arrive at our boat at 4pm. Wow, super nice.
At 4 sure enough Enrique
showed up with his tool box. He looked at the motor of the fridge and said he
needed to go and get more tools (hmmm one would think a mechanic brings his
tools and I saw $$$ signs for milking the clock). As he was on his way home it
started raining buckets so he was stuck at home for a while but showed up as
soon as the rain was over. We suspected that we had not enough Freon in the system
but after he hooked the nitrogen bottle up he said: no you have enough gas,
it’s the compressor. So he went home once more to get another tool and by the
time he finally left it was 8.30. Enrique was just amazing and so honest, he
told us that he has never worked on a system like this, never even seen one as
he is a regular household fridge mechanic, but he said he is willing to learn.
So we agreed that Sid would contact the tech at RParts and find out what we
needed to fix our fridge. I asked Enrique how much we owed, deep inside
sweating like a pig thinking it’ll cost an arm and a leg, as last time we had
the fridge fixed it was 800 for 6 hours, was afraid of the answer. He said 10
000 Colones, “Whaaa??!!!!” 10 000 Colones, no way, that is 16 US dollars. Wow
well he deserved a bit more.
The following day he
called and said he had a colleague there and had discussed the fridge with him
and it might be not enough water running through the unit. How sweet but no
that was OK.
Sid after all day trying
to get in touch with RParts finally got through later on in the afternoon. He
talked to Dona and like last time we needed the coupler the Tech was on
vacation, so we have to wait until Monday for the Tech to return. In the mean
time we emptied the fridge and were now buying precious and expensive ice for
our ice chest. Just good the freezer is working.
This is the loneliest
marina we have ever been in, no other cruisers. I have to say I have never
relaxed as much as here. I am usually always on the go, go, go, or organizing a
potluck or something else, not here. I told Sid this feels like being on
vacation from other cruisers LOL. But I did start feeding the ducks and when I
came back it dawned on me and told Sid: “oh my gosh I am feeding ducks to make
friends” LOL.
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| Sid's breakfast eggs benedict with sausage and hash brown waffles |
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| Mine with salmon and farm potatoes |
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| Golfito Airport |
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| It's a short runway then nothing but jungle |
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| with a swim stop at Casa Roland |
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| Look at this fun fence all done in cement |
An occasional cruising boat comes in for a few days, one was here 10 days, met them the first day and had cocktails on the dock, then never saw them again until the last day, they were inside their air-conditioned boat the whole entire time.
The big super yachts that
come in are amazing thought. Game Changer 226.87 feet long and is a support
vessel motor yacht to a 95 foot bigger Super Yacht. Game Channger is a Sea Axe
and can accommodate up to 12 guests in 6 cabins, and can have up to 22 crew
onboard. The bow is amazing looking and the yacht has all the toys on the boat
from several pleasure boats, one boat is a landing craft, helicopter and even
submarine and they are getting another sub that can go very deep, am sure several jet skies, kayaks etc. Just
amazing. The mothership was in northern Costa Rica but the crew on Game Changer
were getting ready. Couldn’t wait to see Mama!!!
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| See that bridge sticking out, the captain can maneuver the boat from there |
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| This is the helicopter garage |
Look how narrow this ship is. Crew said in heavy seas it's very uncomfortable
Very funny story: Sid met one of the crew Daniel and when he
found out we have been cruising for 22 years he said he wants to have a beer
with him and chat about cruising, so Sid invited him over. Same day right after
an incredible thunderstorm, Daniel jumped into the water close to our boat and
started to swim, passing us. Just out of fun I told him watch out for the
crocs. He laughed and said: “not to worry I AM a big guy”. He disappeared out
of our view but about 10 minutes later swam back and we started to talk to him
again when I saw a crocodile about 40 to 50 feet away swimming parallel to him.
I of course in a very excited voice a little louder than usual announced the
crocodile. He just laughed at me. Sid agreed: yep a croc, but then said, nah
it’s a log. As Daniel swam to the ladder and got out. Sid said he is going to
investigate if it indeed is a croc. Well there sure was no current in this bay
at that time but the log was moving towards the big Game Changer’s dock and then
as Sid and Daniel walked that direction the log picked up speed and met them
pretty much at same time at dock. The log had a tail and was about 8 feet long.
Daniel told us later
sitting in our cockpit enjoying a couple cold beers, that he thought I was
kidding but when he saw the beast, it chocked him a bit, and no he will not
jump into the water here ever again, he said LOL.
We had a fun time with him
and he threatened to bring the rest of the crew over.
Maybe finally some company
LOL.
He also said that he thought Sid was the guy he had met at Banana Bay Marina. Come out we met him later. Sam and Dave of SV Islenia
He also said that he thought Sid was the guy he had met at Banana Bay Marina. Come out we met him later. Sam and Dave of SV Islenia
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| could be brothers, both have blue eyes and of course the mustach |
Another incredible boat
came in Tamsen 170.60 feet. They arrived in the dark and 35 people immediately
jumped ship, heard them say they can’t wait for a cold beer. Guess it’s a dry
boat, they had people ages small kids to very old folks. Found out it’s a
generation of family and they do all the work on the boat themselves from
cooking and taking care of the boat, but they do have 9 crew members.
Tamsen left and finally
the Mothership moved in.
Wow Mama is big and
amazing. Of course I immediately looked her up on the internet and was curious
who owns these 2 incredible boats. Our mouth dropped when we indeed found out
who the owner is. We figured some rich US Politician or something like that,
nope, owned by Ann Walten, her father was the founder of Walmart, her and her
sister inherited the business.
Yep Walmart, the company
that pays employees as little as possible, now we know why, so they can own a
40 and 150 million dollar boat. Like the executive that was in charge of the
Cobia Farm in Puerto Lindo that flew in by Learjet then via helicopter to the
fish farm.
Beautiful boat. The day
before the owners arrived they moved the helicopter up to the parking lot, wow
that was awesome to watch, of course the pilot showed off LOL. Was told they
are arriving on a bigger helicopter. The boats left the following day without
the owners, and the helicopter was moved to the airport here in Golfito where
it was stored for a while.
She was built in 2018 and
does 30 knots.
This is really a first
class marina and the staff is super accommodating, and the shuttle service by
Mario is wonderful.
I made friends with Mario, on one drive he took me to his place, which is right next to the marina, so he could introduce me to his wife Blanca and his kids and grandson, awwww what a cutie pie. Blanca and his son they make their own coconut oil and showed me one early morning how it was done. Lot of work from grinding the coconut first then adding water to it and squeeze it and squeeze it, then let the juice sit overnight and in the morning early his son starts up the fire pit and in a big pan they boil the liquid down over the fire. It takes about 35 to 45 minutes. They then cool it, filter and bottle it. Wonderful stuff. Just the day prior his daughter rescued a baby Lora parrot that had fallen out of the nest. They had it in a big box and showed it to me. The son took it out but it took off ran for my foot sat on it and stayed. I gave it a little rest before I picked it up, it was quite comfortable sitting in my hand then wandering up my hair and hiding. Cute thing, and NO don’t need any pets on the boat. The daughter said they will feed it but not clip the wings, so when the birds want to go back to the wild it can do so when it chooses. I love that. It stayed for a week then took off into the wild to have the life it deserves.
I made friends with Mario, on one drive he took me to his place, which is right next to the marina, so he could introduce me to his wife Blanca and his kids and grandson, awwww what a cutie pie. Blanca and his son they make their own coconut oil and showed me one early morning how it was done. Lot of work from grinding the coconut first then adding water to it and squeeze it and squeeze it, then let the juice sit overnight and in the morning early his son starts up the fire pit and in a big pan they boil the liquid down over the fire. It takes about 35 to 45 minutes. They then cool it, filter and bottle it. Wonderful stuff. Just the day prior his daughter rescued a baby Lora parrot that had fallen out of the nest. They had it in a big box and showed it to me. The son took it out but it took off ran for my foot sat on it and stayed. I gave it a little rest before I picked it up, it was quite comfortable sitting in my hand then wandering up my hair and hiding. Cute thing, and NO don’t need any pets on the boat. The daughter said they will feed it but not clip the wings, so when the birds want to go back to the wild it can do so when it chooses. I love that. It stayed for a week then took off into the wild to have the life it deserves.
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| Mario's wife Blanca and his son |
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| Mario with his daughter and grandson |
In the mean time we
received an email from Bill and Sherry on Nirvana, we had met them at Shelter
Bay Marina, Bill plays the Violin and we both played with the Land and Sea Band
for Halloween. Well they snuck into the harbor and were anchored in front of
Banana Bay Marina. Since I found out of a great restaurant across the bay they
joined us and we had a fun lunch and day trip with good food and great catching
up. Bill found out that several cruisers over at Banana Bay anchorage play
instruments so he organized a jam session. 1 bass, 2 guitars, 1 mandolin and an
accordion, it was fun.
On the 29th of
March they dropped off their dinghy at our boat and went to check out and I
gave them directions to Maggie’s Eggs Benedict place. They came back about 11
and said they loved the food there and so they ask Maggie what they cannot miss
here. She said: well every Friday they have a Day Drinking Gathering at a local
Bar close to our marina it starts at 11. Sherry said her Liquor Antennas came
up and they both rushed to our boat to get us for that Day of Drinking deal.
Comes out it’s the bar we found the other day, practically around the corner
from here. What a hoot that was, we met so many Ex Pats living here in Golfito.
Only took us almost 2 months to figure that our thanks to Nirvana.
Schedule: Day drinking Day
on Friday 11 pm, 5pm Happy Hour at Fish Hook Marina (we didn’t go, can’t drink
all day LOL)
Saturdays they go to the
beach restaurant across the bay, have lunch and sit in the water. Sometimes
they go up the river or to other places but it’s usually the beach.
Tuesday: water aerobics at
Julie’s beautiful pool.
We met the whole gang and
felt right at home. Of course everybody wanted to talk to us, we are new meat
in this place, reminded me of Trinidad and Isla Contadora, after all it’s a
very small place. One couple invited us for lunch on Sunday.
We enjoyed a really fun
beach day and met even more Ex-Pats. Ellen brought her 90 some year old mother,
OMG I want to be like her at that age, incredibly fit. Ellen brought some
killer Bloody Maries we all started on.
The food was amazing I had
a whole fried Snook, tasty, Sid had pork which was just as good.
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| Sid's Pork Fajita |
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| My snook |
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| The gang arrived |
The following day we took
a taxi to Linda and Philips hose
We had a lovely day at
Linda and Philips. Linda is from Belgium and Philip from France. The house is
half way up the steep jungle hill and the scenery is amazing. It was really
funny we headed for their pool first which by the way is under the house and
2/3 covered by the house so shady and the water was refreshingly cool. As I
walked down the stairs towards the pool I saw the coolest pool painting the
shadow of a big Iguana, at same time I wondered why just one, while I realized
WOW it’s a real iguana. Must have fallen in the pool and drowned on the bottom.
Sid got the scoop and tried to scoop him up but as soon as he touched the big
iguana it bolted through the water, finding out they like to chill underwater.
It took a bit to get the iguana netted and out of the water. He was a big dude
and had cool colors from red to grayish. Eventually he took off.
We got spoiled with homemade
Pâté, garlic bread and Pastise Anise drink.
Lunch was wonderful on the
terrace overlooking the Golfito Bay.
In near trees Scarlet
Macaws where playing and at one time a pair flew below the terrace it looked
like flying rainbows, so incredibly beautiful. You can’t see the colors when
they fly over you.
In the mean time I did the
water aerobics and Julie organized a fun BBQ Sunday instead of the beach. Huge
turnout, kids and dogs and all. Towards 3 pm the sky started to growl and by
second thunder everybody was out of the water and by the third thunder
everybody was gone, I mean gone, they all hopped on their golf carts and headed
home afraid to get wet after the wet pool LOL.
We helped Julie clean up
and walked home, well watching Sid walk I could tell the Rum monster got him
and when he flagged down a taxi, which he never does the Rum monster was
confirmed LOL.
We have a new neighbor,
Bob, hubby of June who is the Sales Manager at the marina, both in the group,
Bob bought for his 60th BD a 22 foot pleasure boat. June organized a fun BD party for him.
So we see him more often than not and both invited me to go shopping to the border with them.
So we see him more often than not and both invited me to go shopping to the border with them.
Interesting the street
that goes through the border is the Intercontinental HWY 1 that goes all the
way up to Alaska. Right by the border is a cross road and when you follow it
either way one side of the road is Panama and the other Costa Rica. So most go
shop for booze in Panama and also for the food of course as it is much cheaper
than in CR plus a better selection. Bummer my fridge is out, I saw so many
goodies, oh well, will provision here before we head to Mexico.
But that is another
adventure to be featured at a later date
Miscellaneous photos:
On one of my shopping trips Mario took me up the hill with an incredible view over Golfito so the following morning early Sid and I went for a walk and I took him up there. Pretty spectacular view:
The Ex Pats did a trip to a Botanical Garden, the guy that owns it is also an Ex Pat and wow, he knows so many remedies for illnesses including cancer, it was very, very interesting, I learned a lot and will go back:
Had a problem with the stove, all fixed:
We've heard of the Colombian and Ecuadorian drug running boats that are built so they are almost a submarine. Here are a few that were caught:
on our wild and rough trip to Costa Rica, we lost all the water out of our sun shower as it was so rough. Some boater tossed this ice chest list away so I took it to Sid and he made a cover for the sun shower, so we should not loose the water again. He cut it out to fit :
About every 3 to 4 weeks these ships come in to either drop off boats or pick them up to ship to other destinations. Sid helped our neighbor to get his boat on one
Miscellaneous photos:
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| Chilly morning |
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| A rainy morning |
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| cocktail time on the dock all alone just the 2 of us |
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| another cold morning |
On one of my shopping trips Mario took me up the hill with an incredible view over Golfito so the following morning early Sid and I went for a walk and I took him up there. Pretty spectacular view:
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| Wandering Jew cures diabetes |
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| our yummy lunch |
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| With this ginger flower he makes a tonic for back pain, he made one for Sid although Sid was not there |
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| Achiote or Onoto, the red food coloring that latino cooks use to add thatorange hint to the food, 3 seeds helps with ulcers |
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| Palm Oil fruit, very tasty roasted |
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| Jack Fruit |
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| Vanilla Orchid |
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| Scarlet Tanenger |
Beautiful sunsets
Had a problem with the stove, all fixed:
We've heard of the Colombian and Ecuadorian drug running boats that are built so they are almost a submarine. Here are a few that were caught:
on our wild and rough trip to Costa Rica, we lost all the water out of our sun shower as it was so rough. Some boater tossed this ice chest list away so I took it to Sid and he made a cover for the sun shower, so we should not loose the water again. He cut it out to fit :
About every 3 to 4 weeks these ships come in to either drop off boats or pick them up to ship to other destinations. Sid helped our neighbor to get his boat on one
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