BOATBUMMS LOG: December 2019

Merry Chrismas everyone. Time sure passes fast, another year gone with lots of adventures some not so fun. Well this year has been a tough one for us. And after we left Costa Rica the Gremlins, Faith and Murphy still had fun with their pranks.

We finally left Costa Rica, as we unhooked from the dock we learned that our fridge will not run. We had no choice but leave as once you are checked out with the Port Captain’s International Zarpe you have exactly 12 hours to leave, minding you have to check out before 3 pm, closing time of the Port Captain’s office, so you are practically ordered to leave at night by the time you get back to the boat. Most cruisers ignore it and leave at first sun light the following morning as we did. Not having a fridge guess is better than not having a motor, so we figured Sid will look at it underway. So we kept going and it was a pretty uneventful trip until about half way to the Murcielagos when Sid discovered that our alternator was not charging the batteries, which meant we can't turn off the engine at any time. The weather predicted favorable winds to get around the Point at the Murcielagos Islands down the steep cliffy coast of 16 miles into the weather to the shores of bordering Nicaragua. To round this point you want the weather with you, it lists about 6 in the world on the list of rough transits. As we got closer to the point the wind started picking up and as soon as we rounded the last island we had 25 knots of wind on the nose, there is the noserly again. You may think ah 25 knots is not much, you are right but considering that you now are heading into a 16 mile fetch of shore waves heading into stopping you dead in the water. It's not just wear and tear on the boat but also on the crew, so the decision was made to turn around and to tuck in behind the islands until the wind calmed down enough to round. We actually welcomed the stop so Sid could check out the alternator and the refrigerator. The house battery was still ok the secondary started to run a bit low, but still doable, in any case we would be able to start the engine up again. Sid had bought a replacement kit for the alternator and started to assemble it but what was not in the directions was that he has to solder it to the alternator, well that is a big problem not having enough power to use a heating element such as an soldering iron. Poor Sid worked into the dark on it, so we decided to get a good night’s rest then head around the corner early in the morning.

In the morning early he decided to turn the generator on just in a little bit of hope to get the soldering iron to work but as he pulled the string to start it, wouldn't you know the string broke at the first pull and this would take quite a few hours to repair. This tropical and salty environment is hell on everything but with the line we know it was a Gremlin gnawing on it. Looking closer at our weather window and our options: 120 miles to go to the next marina in northern Nicaragua, we knew that 1/2 way there the wind will shut down and we would only motor, shall we lose engine plus batteries we would be in a world of hurts. Too new is the memory of our trip from hell that turned the would have been 48 hour sail into almost 5 days. The other option go back the 36 miles and hope the Costa Rican government is not fining us for returning. But then who would punish someone in distress.

So we opted better safe than sorry and sailed back towards Marina Papagayo. As soon as I had a phone signal I called Dan at the marina and asked him in what kind of s***t we are in with the authorities returning with our international zarpe. All I heard was “oh sh....t”, a pause and then “you can't return to the marina until you check in with the port captain first, the marina could get a 10 000 dollar fine if we let you in.” Yikes not a good outlook for us, we needed power to keep the batteries up.

We anchored in Cocos and checked in with the port captain. She told us that we needed to go to talk to the Immigration lady then from there find an attorney as we needed a notarized letter and wrote us a note in Spanish to give to the attorney, without this letter she cannot annul the zarpe.

Same at the Immigration lady, she wasn’t too friendly but told us we needed the notarized letter so she could annul the exit stamp.

After a long walk not seeing any attorney offices and waiting for the marina's secretary to find us one, I though hey a real estate office deals with attorneys so we walked into the store we just passed. The guy was super friendly jump out of his desk chair and drove us right there and then to his attorney who comes out has dealt with our problem before. It was 1:30 pm now and the receptionist said it would be finished by 3pm, shoot that means we will not make it back to the marina as the port captain closes at 3. So we went back to the immigration lady and explained that to her, this time she smiled and asked for our passports and annulled our exit stamp so we were on our old 90 visa again, but she told us it expires on the 15^th, which was 2 days later and that we had to go to the Nicaraguan border before or on the 15^th cross over and come right back with the new visa stamp for 90 days. Plus we needed to bring her a copy of the notarized letter as well.

The letter wasn't ready until 16:10 so the immigration office was also closed, but maybe customs at airport was still open, but luckily we were told that they close at 16:00 as well. Guess we are stuck in the anchorage for a night, hoping the batteries holding up. Didn't open fridge so no cold air escaped.

We organized the friendly taxi that offered us to take us for 40 bucks round trip to airport. We arrived pretty much after 8 and little did we expect that we had to stand, yes, stand for 6 hours waiting while they played a power game with us. They did not accept the notarized letter and requested we a notarized letter from a mechanic explaining what was wrong, what he needed to do and how long it would take???!!! I explained to them that we needed to go to the marina first as we needed power, it would be irresponsible of them to leave us at anchor with no power, not bilge pump, not able to move in an emergency not just for us but we could be a hazard to others, well I gave him the worst case scenario which seemed to work as he took the letter and stomped off. We waited 2 hours so I inquired and was they told us that the port captain was in the way. I finally called Dan and told him the predicament we were in he said to ask customs if they will accept an email or fax from the marina that their mechanic will do the work. The customs agent did not say anything to that. They kept telling us that the Port Captain was holding them up, really. 20 minutes later Dan’s girlfriend Kattya showed up with a singed letter from Dan, brought it to the agent, we watched as a few words were exchanged then she came back to tell us, it's all going to work out now. After hour 4 still nothing and we were worried we would not make it to port captain, so I asked what was going on, again they said ah the port captain is in the way, really?!!! So I called the Port Captain myself explaining and she said: What?!!! Let me call them! One hour later I called her back to check, she said they should have cleared you by now. I was so frustrated not to add my bladder infection I had before we left came back with a vengeance, yes I was getting cranky and upset so went back to Kattya's office to let her know we were still here. She was super nice gave me 2 juices and a couple of waters and said come back if you don’t get it soon. So here we waited again. The security girl that worked the door to customs started getting irritated as well so at 5 plus hours she came up to me and said, go get your friend out of the office again. So I did, Kattya came with me and talked to the agents again, listen to the story they told us now, that the paper work has been ready for the last 3 hours but person in charge was still in a meeting with a similar situation like ours, really, we don't see any other people like us waiting out here and you'd think in a meeting for 3 hours especially over lunch time you'd think they take a break and a bathroom run. Kattya was disgusted and motioned to follow her. She took us back to her office and made me a cup of hot tea and gave us some cookies. In the meantime her boss wondering where she was, while we sat at the reception area. So this guy that I previously had seen came out introduced himself as César, made a phone call to customs, asking what took so long and that this was unacceptable to let this people wait so long without food or water and nowhere to sit, and ordered the papers to be ready at 2pm sharp. He then walked us to customs where he delegated who is in charge of sitting in front of the door and as soon as the letter was signed to bring it ASAP to us, as in running out here and hand it to us. Then he approached the airport security and told them that we were authorized to stay right where we were. We thought we were walking with God, this guy had some pull and got a lot of respect. Comes out, César is the guy in charge of the entire airport, thank you César. You should have seen the employees with sweat pearls running down their foreheads and at 14:02 the guy came “running” out the door handing us the letter. Yeah, now the long drive back, but we made it on time to the port captain 10 minutes before closing and we received our national Zarpe, finally. We still had to go back to the immigration girl with a copy of the paper from attorney. We apologized that we were not able to get there sooner. At 16:30 we were in route to the marina where our buddies on Nirvana were standing by with cocktails and a dinner on their boat. Yeah comfort food just what we needed. The ordeal was not quiet over yet, we still needed to leave the country as the annulled exit stamp and we had 1 day left.

The next day Dan gave us a contact in Liberia for the alternator, so we dropped that off and drove from there to the border which luckily was only a little over an hour to reach. The kid that rented us the car told us to bring plenty of water it's a 3 km walk, and a long and very hot wait, so we brought our umbrellas. Guess we were lucky they shortened the road for us to less than 1 kilometer and there were no tourists checking out of the country, we had a choice of two immigration officer counters. Same in Nicaragua, the friendly guy stamped us and wanted to know how long we're staying and when he heard just in and out, he walked us to a short cut door behind his cubicle and brought us to another agent that can check us out again. And we were on our way to the duty free store for rum and back to Costa Rica. Well that line was a bit longer, took us about 45 minutes to get stamped back in, it was hot and of course still not feeling well, I had a harder time than Sid.

So here we were back in the country legal for 90 days, plus our boat is allowed 15 days, so hope the alternator was fixed and indeed it was. Sid put the alternator in the following day and success the batteries were charging, but the fridge still was not cooperative. The mechanic told us he could make it on Monday maybe. So come Monday it was maybe on Wed, when Dan heard about it as we told him we would check out on Thursday that we may have the last window to leave Costa Rica before Papagayo season starts. I have been watching the weather closely and it sure looked like it. I got a text message from the fridge guy he would be at the boat at 7 am in the morning which was Wed. Dan had called him and told him to get his ass out here.

At 7 sharp the poor guy showed up and both Sid and him went down below to check the fridge, but when Sid turned it on the ground wire caught fire and melted, yikes. Nothing wrong with the fridge but some electrical problem. Needless to say the guy came for nothing, we offered him some money but he did not want any of it. We decided not to miss the weather window and to leave without fridge. I bought 4 6 litter water bottle that the marina fuel dock froze for us that would keep the fridge cold until Chiapas Mexico. (a week before Xmas the motor was fixed, comes out that one of the bolts Sid had dropped by accident fell into the motor, shorting it out).

We knew the routine now, checked out (left the gremlins, Faith and Murphy to the airport and let them loose at customs, wished it was that easy LOL). The sunset at our last night was gorgeous and we watched some shooting stars and we knew we will have a perfect weather window.

Happy ending.

Well not quite yet, we left at 5 am and as we approached the Murcielagos again, the Tack quit and Sid found that the batteries were not charging. But there was no way to return and to go through the same drama again. We were committed and I would as soon as we had data back along the coast contact Puesto del Sol Marina in Nicaragua if they had a slip for us and also how it was to import parts, well that we found out is almost impossible so we knew we had to make it to Chiapas. We rounded the point and were happier than popcorn farts in a windstorm, the weather was so benign, we had 10 knots of wind on the beam and the wind waves were minimal. We had a wonderful motor sail to the Nicaraguan Coast.

Approaching the Murcielago Point and Islands

Rounding the the point. Last time it was super rough, look how calm it is.

I was always fascinated by Volcanos and here we saw the 2 big Costa Rican Volcanos and our first Nicaraguan volcano that is in the big lake. We had a light current against us and the wind was anywhere from 8 to 20 knots and we motor sailed along the coast with all 3 sail up.

The sunset was spectacular, as the sun was lowering the horizon an incredible rain bow was lit up. Then further down the coast just before the sun was setting a whole cloud was lit in rain bow colors then lifted into vails then a second rain bow was visible. We have never seen anything like it, how lucky can we be. The alternator was still not charging, and the fridge was off already, so we turned off the freezer and had only the GPS and Navigation lights on and of course Max the Autopilot. There were about 50 boats around, all fishing boats pulling nets and a few black flags marking where they have a long line to the bottom. No moon so it was pretty dark. We did hit a trap and had a light hit on the hull from the line.

Weather was calm so was the sea and it got down right chilly around 3 am, brrrrr.

The sunrise was weird looking ,but still beautiful. The batteries were holding and since Nicaragua was out for a stop Sid pulled the engine cover off, turned the engine off for a bit and cleaned the connection to the alternator and that seemed to do the trick, the batteries were charging again, yeah. We motor sailed with 10 to 12 knots of wind, had a slight current with us and did anywhere from 5.2 to 6 knots.

Never gets old seeing dolphins which joined us about every hour or so, beautiful. Then we passed the Puesto del Sol Marina and closed in on the Golfo de Fonzeca, which can get affected by Papagaya winds, which at the Murcielagos were blowing full force, we did hit the last window as they kept on blowing from then on.

Just as we were about 2 miles from the entrance to Fonzeca we watched this distant, guessing on the Caribbean side, lightning cloud. It was an amazing display and when the sun disappeared in the water the cloud let go, it was spectacular but we didn’t hear a sound of thunder and liked it that way. Plus again beautiful rainbows in the clouds as the sun was setting.

Never thought this cloud would come chase us down. As we altered course across the bay the cloud was behind us and then we heard thunder, which became louder and louder by the minute.

This enormous system made it across the mainland and tail went out into the Pacific. Then the darn cloud started moving in from all sides we had just enough time to get everything down below and close all the hatches and take the sails down. This huge system exploded into a massive lightning show all around us but no close hits. This kept going pretty much all night long, neither one of us got any sleep as we had to dodge and endless row of fisherman in small pangas. The bimni leaked like a waterfall. It was a long and tiring night.

A beautiful sunset announced the bad weather was gone, calm seas, even during the storm and we continued motor sailing in light winds at 4.1 to 4.5 knots. The closer we got to El Salvador the wind turned on the nose but we were doing 5 knots in 5 knots of wind.

I couldn’t believe my eyes as the first sun light lit up not just 1 but several volcanoes. One definitely was active and I think it is Fuego the one that blew up a little over a year ago. We sailed wing on wing with all 3 sails up and did 5.3 knots. At this point we had about 30 hours to go yeah. We sure lucked out with the weather and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the volcanoes. Fuego was puffing a dark gray smoke out of the crater which then rose into the air and spread apart becoming lighter in color until it was a white cloud. Sid said it reminded him of a cartoon, indeed.

We saw at total of 5 volcanoes and all of a sudden Volcano Pacayo also active started with a little smoke but within 10 minutes it was a full blown blow. I looked it up on the internet and sure enough out of a 5 it was a 4, in no time the volcano was surrounded with this ash cloud, wow. If we had gone by at night we probably would have seen the red lava flow down the volcano.

Fuego on left with black and Pacaya on right, Pacaya has no smoke yet

20 minutes later

All the Volcanoes in El Salvador. We hiked up Santa Ana in 2000

Nicaragua

Costa Rica, we saw Arenal in 2000

Fueling up underway

Ever since we hit the border of Nicaragua there has been an uninterrupted beach, nothing but beautiful beach into El Salvador which kept on going all the way to Mexico.

After sunset all 999 fishermen came out, so we thought we had to go way off shore but they passed us and they went way off shore, some were setting flags in our path so I did ask one boat if they were nets, he said no just a long line with many hooks to the bottom so nothing to worry for us.

It was such a beautiful evening and getting used to being out on the water I cooked us a gourmet meal, Parmesan crusted chicken, Jalapeno and onion potatoes and Chayote with carrots on a porcini mushroom broth. But deep in my mind I could taste and smell the Mexican food already, we had 92 miles to go.

Another beautiful sunset

We are not sailing around the world we are definitely eating around the world.

One night to go and still had calm conditions. Although we had a little bit of a crazy night and had to deviate around a shoal that extended at least 5 miles off shore and off that was a submerged rock with only an approximate location, kinda a guess where it is. At the same time another thunderstorm came over us, not much rain and mostly cloud lightning, so we were headed in the wrong the direction and the wind was not on a favorable angle and it got a bit lumpy but nothing too bad. The thunderstorm was over fast but then like a boomerang turned around and headed for us a second time, but by then we were past the shoal and could alter course and missed the second round. We had 34 miles to go with flat calm seas and 7 knots of wind pushing us 5 knots.

It was exciting when we crossed the Guatemalen border into Mexico, I definitely could taste the Margarita already. We had 16 miles to go to our destination yeah.

Arriving at the breakwater to the Port of Chiapas you have to call the Port Captain on the VHF radio and ask for permission, then we entered the canal to the port where the canal did a sharp right turn that lead us into a bigger chamber with nothing but commercial boats. There was no sign of the marina yet and looking at the chart the channel to it was not charted yet. It was well marked and turned into a narrower channel to the right again then around a left turn bend and there was the marina, like sitting in a pond.

Still can’t get over how calm the marina is, not a little bit of a wake or swell or ripple. Haven’t had it this calm since the Caribbean side LOL.

2 dock neighbors greeted us as we got tide up on the dock and invited us to join them for the Thankgiving Potluck two days later. I think we are home.

We were allowed to step on the dock but not off the dock yet as we had to be cleared in. Within minutes the Agriculture guy showed up, then Naval with the drug sniffing dog and Customs. Then Rolf the marina assistant manager made us copies for the check in and one of the employees took us first to an ATM to get cash, then to immigration to get our 6 months visa, yey, but we were told they do not give FM3 or FM4 residency cards anymore, which means we have to leave Mexico every 6 months. From there we went to API to pay a small anchoring fee, even though we are not anchoring. From there to customs to pay them and finally to the Port Captain, which took the longest. But we had a fun time. Port Capt is the only office that you have to pay with credit card. For some reason all 3 of our credit cards didn’t work, we suspected their CC system. A jolly Mexican that had been talking to us, asked if I had cash, he will take the cash and will use his CC. What a sweet guy. He also gave us his info to call him. So Sid jokingly said, ah, great so when we need a credit card again we can call you.

By now it was 3 pm and not having had breakfast yet I was starving, so the guy stopped at a Carnitas place and we got each 3 pork tacos homemade corn tortillas and wow you should have seen all the sauces they gave us. We rushed back to the marina where our guides Arturo and Roberto were already waiting for us. Rolf took copies of our paperwork handed it to Arturo and the 4 of us headed on the 40 minute trip to the border to get our TIP (10 year Temporary Import Papers for Paradise). OMG were the tacos good, we ate them underway.

The Carnitas place

Cashew

We were a little nervous about the TIP as we had one last time but did not know if they canceled it. Boats get into trouble if they either don’t have one or the boat they bought from someone else, never canceled the TIP get into major trouble including boats impounded. When we left in 2000 they did not have computers yet, but did take our FM3 residency card and TIP away from us. We were lucky it did not show up on their computer and we are all legal now. We had a fun drive back with both Arturo and Roberto intently listening to Sid’s cop stories then I found out Arturo plays the guitar and so I invited him to come along for the Thanksgiving potluck.

Finally checked in and legal in Mexico, Margaritas here we come:

Wayne of Way She Goes was here, so are Daniela and Beat on Kianga. Wayne took us on the local bus they call Collectivo into Tapachula about 1 plus hour ride, 30 with taxi. 1.30 verses 13 dollars, either way not bad, it’s a 30 plus mile drive.

Wallyworld here I come. This Walmart was a heck of a lot better than the one in Costa Rica, but still not the US standard. We shopped till we dropped and the boys got a well needed haircut, which included a scalp, face and shoulder massage like in the good old days, Sid said. The boys loved it.

I found some super comfy flip flops with arch support at Sketchers, haven’t been able to find any good shoes in any Latin country. I did see a foot clinic and checked it out while they got their haircuts, I was so impressed I made an appointment for Monday. I took Daniela with me and OMG what an incredible pedicure, I walked out with smooth feet like a baby, 1 hour treatment with massage 15 dollars. Then we went for a facial and a haircut at same place the boys did. Also got a facial massage which included leg massage, shoulder and arm massage 15 dollar all, speechless.

The potluck was huge fun, although it’s under trees next to the tennis court and at dawn and especially later around 11 pm we got hammered by mosquitoes. Oh by the way they do have a huge dengue outbreak in this area, 2 of the marina employees were sick with it. They ate me alive even through my long pants sprayed with deep wood off.

No turkey but wonderful meats and hams and sausages were grilled and everybody brought a yummy dish to share. We brought my amp and guitar up and when Arturo showed up there was music into the night. I think we stopped playing at 1 am. He is an incredible guitar player and singer. It was a fun night.

December 1^st Paradise was decorated with strands and strands of LED lights, she looks wonderful and Frosty showed up again even though I told him Mexico is much warmer than Panama. He argued how can Mexico be hotter than Panama as it is much further to the N, oh well, he got a bigger bucket this time.

Frosty's Xmas Dream was to build a sandman on the beach here, but unfortunately he never made it to the beach

On Dec 24 Sid added the star

So here we are in Chiapas Mexico in a fairly quiet and super calm marina repairing this and that. I forgot to mention the bottom of the toilet pump cracked so the bathroom floor kept flooding with salt water, then it got worse anything that went into the bowl leaked out so we could not use the toilette anymore for 3 out of our 5 days at sea. All our buckets broke in Costa Rica and we could not find replacements. What do you do without a bucket? Well, I thought of the 2 big plastic bowls that I used for salads or popcorn, which I didn’t like in the first place and was going to replace anyway, so I took one and wow it fit perfectly into the bowl. Why did I not think of that all these many times we were in yards having to pee in a bucket at night or risk climbing up and down the ladder in the dark. Yep the things we do on boats are endless. The bowl did the trick and I did discard the bowl and placed the un-peed bowl in the lazaret for future emergencies and replaced both with 2 beautiful stainless steel bowls I found at Walmart.

It’s quite here, for most of the time it’s just been Way She Goes and us and they are leaving on the 27th. Guess we have to figure out somewhere to go to celebrate New Year’s instead of being all alone in the marina.

Hopefully by middle of January we will be heading north to more civilization LOL

We are wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and nothing but good health and happiness for the coming year.

Hugs, kisses and love always

Sid and Manuela

A few more photos:

Puerto Madero dinghy harbor cruise

Center of Tapachula the main city here in the State of Chiapas

Murals and stained glass the court house

Chiapas Marina

2 Volcanoes in background

Wonderful food a Baos Restaurant next door, Stuffed plantain chicken

Flautas

Cheese stuffed bacon wrapped shrimp

Chilly morning

The Restaurant was advertising to be open 9am until 7pm both Xmas days, so we made reservation. Luckily I walked over to the restaurant on the 24th to make sure we have a table which was at 4pm. They had the kitchen closed and were on their way home and I was told they will be closed on the 25th. OK Plan B, Wayne and I found some table at the employee area, set them up and I prepped for a Swiss Cheese Fondue. Zoe a boat from Italy splashed their boat and so I invited them over as well. It was a cozy Xmas Eve dinner on the dock.