BOATBUMMS LOG: EXTORSION IN GOLFITO AND TRAVEL NORTH COSTA RICA

Lots has happened since our last Blog and by the time I post this we will be far from Costa Rica. I promised to tell you our ordeal that had at the Golfito Marina Village:

THE FALL OF A BEAUTIFUL LUXURIOUS MARINA:

We checked into the Golfo Marina Village in Golfito (GMV) on February 14^th with a broken motor and due that we had to leave our boat in the marina for our planned 3 months trip to Europe. It was interesting to see how this flourishing marina was run into the ground. 2 weeks into our stay, Maikol the then manager quit and went back to his old job at the Banana Bay Marina, Carlos Fernandez that used to work the San Jose office took over for Maikol, (hindsight we now know this was all planned, except they didn’t count with us being there long term, cruisers in Costa Rica are short term so we got to witness the scam). At the time the marina was full and had maybe 8 empty slips, the rest was all occupied by sport fishing boats, and just a few cruisers which all left within 2 weeks, heading north. With Carlo’s arrival, replacing Maikol, the marina’s business went down so fast:

1. Maikol took all the sport fishing boats to Banana Bay Marina filling the marina up. I am just speculating in guessing they got a good deal to move, since the BBM docks are falling apart.

2. The wonderful restaurant, packed with local people who especially drove on the weekend long distances to enjoy a wonderful meal, started right after Valentines to lack on items on the menu. First there was no pizza on Pizza Tuesdays anymore. Then the burgers ran out and one by one menu item was not available anymore. The poor servers had to tell their customers daily we don’t have this, this, this and that with the list getting longer and longer. They also ran out of Rum first, probably Sid’s doing LOL, then beer, then vodka and anything else. The wonderful chef quit and left. He was furious and told us they won’t let him order anything, they are letting the restaurant die even though there was more than enough money coming in.

3. We had a fridge problem at the moment and relied on buying the expensive ice at the fuel dock. The ice freezer was within 10 days empty, we also noticed that the shelfs in the fuel docks convenient store, ran out of beer and soda then the shelfs emptied out within about 4 days. We did not think anything about it, but then when we told the fuel pump broke, we had a hunch they were not buying anymore.

4. With all the sport fishing boats gone but still having almost daily Super Yachts coming into the marina, the only way to keep them away is fabricating the broken fuel pump story. These boats take in a lot of fuel which can pay beyond for any marina bills, employees and upkeep. No Super Yachts or any other yacht stopped in this marina again. We were 5 boats left.

5. Shortly after that the Security Company pulled out as GMV neglected to pay them. So we had for a couple days no security guards anywhere. The 3^rd day the marina placed their own guards and it was the same crew that had worked for the security company, except now they wore marina uniforms and were not allowed to carry their guns. Hmm interesting, and after me talking to a few of them, I found out that GMV made these kids a better offer and stole them from the Security Company, which saved GMV money. Sad part they lied to these people as soon they would let them go, they cheated them out of their good job they had.

This all happened between February 14^th and April 14^th, 2 weeks before we left for our 3 months Europe trip. From several sources that had worked at the marina we were told that they wanted to get the US investor out so it is run by Costa Ricans only. Of course we were concerned leaving the boat in the marina and I contacted the 3 owners of the GMV marina. Pedro Abdalla was the only one writing back with a statement not to worry the marina was not going out of business. Carlos never responded and neither did the 3^rd guy and comes out that neither Carlos nor Pedro were owners, they were the San Jose main office cronies. 2 days later I met Pedro and he assured us not to worry there were just some financial changes going on but it will not affect the marina or our boat. Maikol told us the same not to worry all will be fine. OK we trusted them and had Maikol bond the boat for us, with Carlos guaranteeing us he is working right now and then to get himself to be Maikol’s replacement for the GMV marina, so when we get back we will not have problems undoing the bond (Maikol had told us if that happened it will take months if not years with an attorney to undo, yikes).

1 day before our departure on April 27 we heard rumors the marina was closing. We ran to Maikol to get our boat into Banana Bay Marina ASAP but he was full and told us not to worry our boat was safe and in case the marina went bankrupt the bank would have security guards to guard the marina. He also said that Customs was in charge of our boat they would not let anything happen to it either. The bank would run the marina as usual and by law employees cannot be fired. He said not to worry and in worst case scenario he will tow Paradise to his marina. Carlos, Pedro, and marina office manager told us the same. We had no choice but to leave the boat in the marina. Hariel one of the dock guys told us he will keep an eye on our boat, so did Mario.

We left on April 28 and on Friday June 1^st, we were at the time at my cousin in Norway when the office manager texted me on WhatsApp that Carlos had just handed out a letter to all employees stating: as of Monday June 4^th they will not have a job anymore. Our worst fear came true. We contacted Maikol to move our boat into his marina, he sent us paperwork to sign then we were told the boat will be moved the following day at 10 am. 2 weeks later our boat was still in the abandoned GMV marina the only people working there were 2 vigilantes (like a neighborhood watch guy) during the day and 2 during night. Maikol told us that Golfito customs OK the move but not the San Jose customs. Imagine what stress we went through knowing that our boat, with all we own left in an abandoned marina. We were comforted that Hariel was checking her out now and then. Golfito has high crime and law in Costa Rica is that if you steel less than $500 dollars’ worth of stuff the police will not do anything. A week later Hariel contacted us that our AC crapped out. So Sid flew to Costa Rica (that story I posted in the last post).

When we came back on August 16^th and found the boat safe, thank you Hariel.

We let Maikol know that we were back and he immediately told us Customs was ready to undo the bond, we thought that was weird as we didn’t have to do that ASAP but found out soon enough the reason behind it. Also found out reason why our boat was not allowed to be moved from the marina, Carlos had never intended to put himself or anyone else as agent as they already knew that they would close the marina, also Maikol had no intention to move the boat as his marina is filled with the sport fishing boats. So nothing but lies to us.

We went to customs and undid the bond. The very next day Maikol texted that the managers of GMV want to talk to us. I have to add that we had not been billed the whole entire time and when we addressed the office manager we owed them for the months the marina was still up and running, she said no worries they can’t charge you anything as they are bankrupt, nobody can charge you money now as the bank has taken over.

I asked Maikol which managers Carlos and Pedro, I had a hunch they were up to no good, hence Maikol telling us Customs was waiting for us. Same morning received email an email bill from Carlos with 100% bill of over $3600 to our AOL account, not to leave out he had the daily rate wrong. The following morning I received one on my Gmail Account with the right rate, but weird the AOL email from him had disappeared, I looked everywhere, it was neither in Spam, nor in old mail, nor in trash can where it would have been sent if I had accidentally deleted it. I even checked the same via my phone but that email did not exist anywhere, which I know with good faith I did not delete. Now that brings up my question, could he remove his email from both accounts?

Carlos was so insistent we had a meeting with him the same afternoon. Maikol told us since were are such nice people he is helping to translate for us. Strange Carlos never said a word Maikol did all the talking.

Maikol started right away with a threat that if we don’t pay they can have the authorities refuse us to leave, he ended the meeting with the same threat. This threat put a red flag up this was extortion at its best, intimidation does not scare us away in fact it tells us this is a scam they are corrupt. Also Maikol then told us that the marina does not have a Credit Card system anymore so GMV asked them if they would do the transaction through the Banana Bay Marina. He added that we wants to help them out and there was nothing in it for them (later he said his boss proached him and told him to help). Definitely a scam, smelling a rat, we told them that we will not pay through a third party, if we pay it will be the same bank account (we noticed already on the email bill from Carlos, that he had changed the banking info to a different account and we brought that up to Maikol). Maikol then told us that the GMV is willing to give us a great discount of 50% but in his own opinion he thinks 30% would be enough. At end of the meeting he told us to write a letter to Carlos and him with the reason why we should not have to pay for services not existing anymore. So we did take our time and wrote both of them and also requested a Government Electronic Invoice (which is the new law, so scams like this can’t happen), well of course that didn’t happen and Maikol told Sid that he was chewed out by his boss as his name was mentioned in the letter, that you asked to send it to both so it was addressed to both.

We went to BBM to chat with Maikol and told him there is no way will we pay 100% for no services, we have no problem paying for power we used to the bank (that’s what they told us is paying for). Maikol again reminded us if we don’t pay they can have the port captain hold us indefinite. In all this ordeal which stretched over roughly 2 weeks he told us this 5 times including that they can take 30% of the value of our boat, extortion and scare tactic they are definitely up to no good. Ex-employees told us they have no right as the marina is with the bank, yeah, we know. He suggested that he would give him an offer. In the mean time we had contacted our Costa Rican friend’s attorney in Nicoya and all he wrote back was: pay the entire bill and get out of there. Not that easy with just get out of there, it’s a boat not a car. Also same time one of the GMV ex-employees sent us a link to the local Sunday paper which had an article about the bankrupt marina and interview of Carlos when he stated that no one owns the marina anymore it had been taken over by the bank. So that means he or anybody else from GMV has the no right to squeeze us for money. I did go to the bank, and the bank manager told me that Carlos was still in charge of doing business with the marina, found out later he is a buddy of the corrupt small investors from Golfito, but to that later.

We made a generous and more than fair offer that we would pay full for the months May when they still had all services and never charged, which was 660 dollars per months, and 200 for the months a total of 1260 for our total stay. Also since they told us the bank was paying for water and power we will pay them directly for that. Carlos returned our email with a new invoice, also this time with the right bank account number. He wrote they are taking our offer but will charge us 6 dollars per day for the extra time we were on dock and for us not to worry to pay for power and water that was on the marina, oh wow very generous since the water and power had been turned off several times . Another article was posted on the Sunday paper, this time the mayor of Golfito was stating a few facts that made us understand what was going on. The mayor is Maikol’s uncle, hence his pissed off boss about Maikol’s name in the letter, is his uncle, makes all sense now plus dear uncle is one of the small investors (also found out he is under investigation by the government). The mayor’s godson is the port captain and now running for the mayor’s position. Maikol’s brother works for customs, so did he for many years. So the money we got extorted for goes to the crooked government employees of Golfito. Maikol came across that he was solely there to help us in this situation but after this discovery, we give him the benefit of the doubt but are convinced he is fully involved. With this corruption we had no other choice than to pay them, they were desperate enough, plus knowing the government was investigating this mayor, he is probably capable of doing anything. So we paid $1560 to the bank account and took the receipt to Carlos immediately, you know what he did, he went behind the reception counter and handed me a copy of the original with a stamp and his signature on it. I told him I want an original not a copy, he said he did not have it so I made him sign and date it right there and then. He was not happy with it and I am not stupid.

Sadly no maintenance had been done for 2 years and now with the marina being abandoned the end pier broke apart, this is going to cost the future owner a lot of money to repair.

Where I am standing and took this photo , broke off

The planters in middle sank rest floated away and was retrieved

The restaurant is deteriorating as well

The beautiful rock along the boardwalk

July and Sally took me to provision at the border. What a fun trip that was and on our way back we stopped for a beer, look at all the iguanas living in the tree like birds:

Sally's van is bigger than Roger's

Score Rhubarb

Golfito is so out of the way from anywhere in Costa Rica and they placed the free zone here. Guess they don't want too many people shopping here. This is how it works, you have to go to the free zone with your passport, you will get an entry ticket, but not for that day, you have to wait for the next day. Then you get to buy 2 cases 24 bottles of wine or champagne, 1 case of hard liquor also 12 bottle and let me tell you it does not matter how bit the bottles are .75 l or 1.5 lt. 1 case of beer (only choice Corona and Heineken so declined) plus 1 house hold item. This is per person and per once in 6 months.

impressive liquor store

Pick up area, all packed in boxes

We left the marina and anchored out. The money didn’t clear for 10 days, we were sweating bullets. The day it cleared we ran to the port captain and checked out. Funny it took a few minutes and he came out looked at us, said a brief hi and disappeared hmmm?!! We got the zarpe. Maikol had offered several times that he will help, we bypassed him, no trust in him.

We were in Costa Rica in 2000 but bypassed Golfito due to its bad rap, this time we had no choice and they still have a bad rap involving us this time. Unfortunately we will never return to Costa Rica.

Golfito

The sun was barely peaking over the jungle while pulling up the anchor we noticed a crocodile swimming passed us towards the middle of the bay, so I followed in its direction to take a good photo, when I spotted another one, then a turtle surfaced to take a deep breath of air before sinking into the water again. As we left the bay behind and headed into the big Golf of Golfito dolphin wished us farewell. And half way across to the open Pacific detected whales water spray into the air as they surfaced, it looks like a blowhole. It was an incredible feeling to be out of corrupt Golfito and wanted to get as far as possible and we never contacted any of our friends we made there where we were.

It was over 60 miles to the next possible anchorage is in Drakes. The point to round towards Drakes Bay wow, a humpback mama was showing off her baby as both alternately jumped out of the water and rolled around with their fins smashing into water, amazing. We still had another two hours to go to Drakes and we knew we would not make it before sundown.

In 2000 after our breakdown in Quepos (yes we broke down in Costa Rica then and now, another reason for not returning LOL). It was so rolly in Quepos at one time we had to move the boat with the dinghy as waves were breaking behind the boat. Needless to say we were so happy to head further south to Drakes Bay which all the cruiser heading south before us loved. We anchored just at sundown and it was peacefully calm and we watched a fire dance show ashore at a resort for some tourist. But that peace didn’t last long as at 8pm first small swell entered into the bay catching us on the beam, by 9pm they were a foot high and by 3 in the morning we were rolling from side to side it was impossible to sleep, we both had our noses full, picked up anchor and left. Almost to the day 19 years later we pull into Drakes, just passed sunset so it was dark entering the anchorage. But what are the chances to have it rolly again? Ha ha ha, pretty high, we had to put both flopper stoppers out the following morning as we didn’t get much sleep rolling around. The floppers are amazing and we finally got to see the beautiful Bay of Drakes, not just the fire dance like last time LOL. Decided it was so peaceful and we felt we needed a break from the Golfito stress so we moved a little further shore to be out of the main swell and hooked the flopper stoppers up and stayed 2 days, but never left the boat, didn’t feel like it, it just felt good to be on the hook away from corruption.

60 some miles between the dots around the peninsula

Our next anchorage was Domicilio which had a somewhat intimidating entrance but as we sailed closer we saw what lay behind the rugged reef. After turning right into a pretty small bay, we dropped anchor between the beach and the long reef that somewhat protected us. The reef is best at its protection at low tide, at high it submerges into the water and depending on the swells out there some come in. Beautiful Bay, we decided we would go explore the following day and the reef looked very inviting to snorkel. It was a rolly anchorage and just after sun down we got hit with biblical rain, never seen so much rain at once. The hills with beautiful homes with their homey lights on disappeared into darkness after the power was cut by probably a fallen tree. They had no power for hours to come while the rain never let of. There must have been major flooding in this area.

The next morning the bay was so muddy and it was still pretty rolly we decided it was nice for a night and got underway for another long run to Herradura. We left at 5:30 am and arrived at 16:00, slow going at first then the wind picked up. Remember our trip from hell when we had what we thought was a current against us but later discovered the engine was not in gear. For some reason Sid enjoyed that and tried it once more, this time we figured it out in a much, much shorter time LOL. The trip was beautiful, whales and then a couple of turtles humping. Yes you read right they do it out at sea. We know we are heading up the Costa Rican coast at the wrong time, as a southerly swell influences the anchorages facing south, which is pretty much every single anchorage until you get into the golf of Nicoya. Herradura has a little bite around the south corner and we were hoping to find a calm spot there. Unfortunately the swell were wrapping around and we had to put the floppers out again. Heavier wind was predicted due to a tropical wave. We were amazed to see that they exist on the Pacific side but are moving against the weather or how a hurricane would move, not like in the Caribbean from East to West the direction of hurricanes. So we would get winds out of the West which means with the roll we had already it could get untendable as the swells would head straight into the bay, no thank you. We got hit by heavy rains again which cleared during the night.

Our next stop would have been in Punta Leona but that was also open to Westerlies so we decided better safe than sorry and sailed across the Bay of Nicoya to Tambor in the Ballena Bay. In the 19 mile stretch we encountered numerous dolphins but what caught our attention were the hundreds of small rays jumping out of the water all over the place. We saw them swim by the boat. Getting closer towards Ballena we had to really pay attention to the many fishing nets that span over a long area, at least they are marked with black flags but the lines between them are on the surface so easy for a boat like us to get tangled up. We made is safe to Ballena and anchored in front of Tambor. Wow the 2000 memories spilled over, Sue Janollary (RIP) coming to visit for 2 days and stayed at the Tambor resort. Meeting Honey the wife of Hartz Inverter inventor that would fly in organic veggies for us plus sell the most delicious fresh baked bread. I wondered if she was still here. The fun trip to Montezuma Waterfall. We were amazed how nothing had changed in the 19 years. The village of Tambor had 3 or 4 more small houses, the pier was a little bigger but still as crowded with fishing boats, to make it hard to get to the pier and on land.

Our weather

We were in the middle of rainy season and also here we got hammered with rain. Although the south side of Golfo de Nicoya got a heck of a lot more rain that we did. We were glad we had moved here for the tropical wave to pass as it brought some good and gusty winds. The bay turned in no time into a Cappuccino color and we decided to just chill and relax. Two days later weather and water cleared and Sid brought me to the pier, we were out of eggs, and to pick me up later.

All looked so familiar, not much had changed, but it looked like the yacht club was no longer open. I started talking to some local who opened up right away and found out that Honey lived across the bay on land where they used to anchor. She was holding a market every Saturday by the yacht club. There was still only 1 little convenient store where I bought the last dozen eggs, well here the dozen egg cartons have room for 15 eggs. They do have a big fishing coopt and they are open for business. I bought ½ of a good size Dorado and paid only 4 dollars. What a great dinner, hadn’t had Mahi Mahi/Dorado in ages.

Since there was some more weather coming and we were out of veggies (Golfito is not good for provisioning that’s for sure) we decided that I would go ashore the following day and buy Honey’s organic produce.

What a disappointment when Sid tried to bring me to the commercial dock, the concrete steps were way above my head as the tide was sooooo low, I would miss the market. We drove to the 1 mile away beach and with lots of luck we found a calm time to get me off on the beach and Sid back out without dumping the dinghy. It was a good walk ashore and when I arrived at the YC my anticipation was hi to find out if Honey was there. What a sight it was to walk into the restaurant, the floor and table were filled with fresh veggies, fruits and the aroma of freshly baked bread mixed with all the produce filled the air.

Walk to Tambor

The she was sitting at a table doing some accounting. I said: “Honey”? She looked up and said, “Yes”. The surprise on her face was priceless when I recapped that we were here in 2000 and I used to order fresh horseradish roots from here. She jumped up gave me a hug and said she remembered well and introduced me to her daughter who was then just a little over 10, and to everybody else. I bought a lot of stuff realizing I could not walk all this back to the beach as the tide was still very low. Texted Sid I was stuck on land until the tide came up quite a bit more. Before I left for the dock Honey invited us to join them across on their property for her son’s BD, Eden was going to be there and also to bring our shower stuff. That was nice.

Took me a while to get hold of Sid as he did not hear the phone, but I had a good chance to watch the fishermen with their daily lives.

Finally reached Sid and told him to come and pick up the produce and that I had fish for the fridge, the water was still too low for me to get in dinghy. As he was underway a panga had just pulled on the dock, since the boat was much higher out of the water I asked for permission to get into his boat then into our dinghy. Yeah I was on my way home.

Told Sid about the invite so we pulled anchor and headed across to the Hartz’s resort. It is a primitive all nature resort and you can rent their tents in the woods. Nice place. We ended up spending the afternoon with Eden and met some of their family and friends, but the party was not until 8pm so we felt a little out of place plus it would have been a real challenge to get the dinghy back into the surf, so we left around 5. We were going to go ashore the following day but the surf was pretty tough, my ankle and Sid's back were sore from battling to get the dinghy out then back into the water, but instead departed the following morning.

The Hartz resort all hidden behind the palm trees

dining area

This little fun dog adopted Sid and wanted nothing but to play

The tide and rain had brought in logs after logs and at times we had to skirt logs so thick it was an island. Luckily after we rounded the point leading out of the Golfo de Nicoya the threat to run into a log was slim. We wished we could stop in Samara, but as I said we are heading north at the wrong time of the year, the southerly is running right into the anchorages along the while Costa Rican coast. Even if we find a calm spot getting ashore in pounding shore breaks would make it impossible. We told Kathy that there was no way to anchor anywhere near her house in Nosara and that we would head up to Playa Panama in the Papagayo Bay.

That would piss anyone off hitting

It was 24 hour run and we guessed to arrive in Playa Panama around 10 the following day. We had such a great trip with a pushing current we passed Tamarindo at 2 am and 2 hours later after passing Playas de Coco and Playa Hermosa we happy anchored in Playa Papagayo to see the first light of dawn.

It was amazing coming in at night, as in 2000 there was nothing here yet, just nature. Playa Hermosa, a cruising couple on La Roja, we had met at Playa Panama, had bought one of the first properties in Playa Hermosa. The many lights at night suggested it was a city, and Playa Panama plus the entire end of the north entrance to Papagayo was lit with lights, we were curious what we would find at daylight.

I made us a hot toddy before we hit the pillow which gave us a chance to see what the morning sky would allow us to see. Hiram and China’s place had a neighbor now and looked unrecognizable. The lush hill behind him is gutted of all trees. Many more surrounding hills had the same fate, gutted to make room for big resorts. We heard all leased out by the government.

Wow Hiram and China’s place looked really different and we only recognized the local for the 6 only palm trees we used to tie our dinghies up. Where there restaurant was is now a new restaurant in remodel and right next to it a big launch ramp for small boat and especially Jet Skis. The then very quiet an only 5 cruising boat anchorage is covered with mooring which are full with all the tourist boats from as far as Tamarindo Beach due to the big swells.

Whole hill gutted


By the palm trees was Hiram and China's Restaurant

What a comfortable and incredibly fast trip we had. We napped a couple hours then I received a text from Kathy that she was coming to see us for me to find out what hotel options they had. Sid and I disgusted it for a split second and decided we would go into the marina so we could go visit her as well. We launched the dinghy and headed across the bay to the Papagaya Marina, which in 2000 there was talk about a future marina. Didn’t think we would ever see it. Here we were in the marina office talking about slip and hotel rates for a few days for Kathy’s visit. They made us such a good offer for 1 months we jumped on it. Called Kathy about the marina and hotel which online rooms were advertises for $130 dollars per night. Kathy contacted them and made reservation which I put down on our credit card to reserve it. $485 for a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 days was not too bad deal.

Of course had to check out the restaurant in the marina. Lunch was wonderful but prices steep. Imagine a local beer in the can 4.50

Jalapeño Poppers

Mahi Tacos

On our way back to the anchorage, we were on a many year planned mission to find Hiram and China. Sid let me off on the beach which had high surf and returned to the boat. What a difference I did not recognize anything as I walked to the ramp area towards the street that was then a dirt road, across the street was a small campground and since we were told that Hiram and China had moved further up the road with a little place I had great hopes. The couple didn’t have any idea about Hiram and China never heard of them, knew about the Costa Cangrejo restaurant. I was thinking about walking into the pueblo from here when I saw the gate open to the remodel Restaurant. A very friendly guy talked to me and didn’t know anything either but gave me his bosses number to ask her.

After Sid picked me up again on the rolly shore we took a ride through the moored boats and I asked two fishermen if they knew of Hiram and China. One seemed to think they moved closer to San Jose.

Later I texted the boss and surprisingly she wrote back and sad, she hadn’t seen them in a long time, they have moved and just got divorced and she lost contact with them. What a bummer, but we tried. Maybe some day they will find out we were looking for them.

The following day we moved into the marina. Beautiful marina I have to add but we were the only cruisers here, all alone again, like in Golfito.

Sid found this poor Martin in our blower, must have tried to build a nest but instead fell in with no way out

Me time on the dock

Our neighbor

Look at his awesome dinghy, as long as our boat. Reminds me of a croc shoe

Kathy and her mom arrived the following weekend and was of course a very happy reunion, as we hadn’t seen Kathy in at least 7 years and her mom some 25 years (we met Kathy in Catalina over 30 years ago). The apartment was amazing on the top floor with 3 balconies and a water view of 3 side’s wow. Kathy made us a BM and we headed down to the boat and also into the hotel office to pay her bill. There we were chatting with the 2 nice ladies and especially one Kathy had spoken to on the phone and when she handed her the bill it was not a total of 485 bucks that was the price for just 1 day, yikes. The girl had told Kathy 485 on the phone, so yes 130 times 3 plus tax that’s it. When I put the credit card down I told her it’s the room for three days costing 485. Never did the girl say the full amount. That was a shocker but Kathy just shrugged and said its OK go ahead and charge it looking at me saying: some day we will laugh over this. Bottom line though is that we both were misled. We had a great 3 days driving around this area plus Cocos with so much laughter, playing games and wonderful food.

Nice apartment

When you look at the thin balcony bottom, looks scary LOL

Kathy made dinner yum

Marina from the hill

Beautiful Playa de Coco beach

Cactus house, look at the roof, amazing

Found this great little pension and restaurant on

Playa Hermosa

With this sign on the wall we had to stay

Love the bar

Best Margaritas

Sid took this cute photo but look at Nancy LOL

Drive to the 4 Season Hotel at the point from marina

Sid's favorite room the Rum Bar

Huevos, our favorite CR anchorage in 2000

Dinner on Paradise

The fourth day she kidnapped us for a week to her house in Nosara. We had to hurry packing that morning as a warning came through that bad weather would hit the entire country for at least 3 days. The road to Nosara is as it was 20 years ago still a horrible pot holy road which every future president vows to turn into a nice tared road, but that hasn’t happened yet.

River rose at least 6 feet

We were lucky we got there before the worst of the rain hit as the rivers were already flooding and luck was on our side when we drove into her garage the weather god turned the water off for just enough minutes to get everything dry into the house, then the sky opened up for 3 days of biblical rain with a first break after 2 days for us finally to get out the house until the next heavy rain. The flooding was amazing and of course not helping the already huge pot holes that can swallow a little smart car.

Now imagine this flooding every year during rainy season.

We had a wonderful time though, playing games and meeting all her friends, some we had met already on our last visit 6 years ago.

Kewl patterns in the sand

This one looks like feathers

Tuesday night we had a break in the sky and so we met with some of her friends at the Beach Dog café which is a weekly thing as they have open mike night. I ended up playing guitar and for the first time ever I was able to play an electric guitar, man oh man we are in trouble we need a trailer for the boat.
No worries we’ll not get one until we are living somewhere that has electrical power not battery power LOL, but I did by accident at the jewelry store see the cutest traveling guitar on the wall the Luna Starry Sky with Van Gogh painting on the face. Nancy, Kathy’s mom, had given me the most beautiful Opel in-layed palm tree earrings, I happen to have a pendant matching so my reason at that store was to buy a silver necklace for the pendent.
Wellll the owner made me such a good offer on the guitar she wanted $100 for, she said if you buy the Guitar I will give you the $30 necklace for free. Deal, I always wanted a traveling guitar just held off due to no space on the boat, guess the trailer is coming closer LOL.

Sid just grinned as he loves to listen, he is my number one fan, no matter how good or badly I play.

At Kathy's friend's house

Nothing but jungle

And the view is spectacular

Randy and Brenda's animal rescue and scanctuary

A family of at least 20 of these gatosolo roam around their property

Howler monkeys

drinks at the beach

Cocktail at this beautiful resort (also celebrated Nancy's BD here)

lots of crocs in at river and along the beach

Yep, no problem if we were forced to stay here

In all the rain we had we did enjoy one evening watching the sunset on the beach

Jispa, what a beautiful dog

Kathy organized a fun brunch on Sunday plus bocci ball

Quito likes to party too!

It was a long and fun week and we were able to enjoy a couple walks on the beach and one beautiful sunset sitting on the beach during the lots of rain we had. It was such a wonderful time to be with Kathy and her mom Nancy it made our Costa Rica trip, taking away the bad experience we had.

We rented a 4x4 to get back to the marina but before we left Kathy asked us to come back the following weekend as she was organizing a BD party for her mom. So we did just that.

Funniest thing happened, at 9pm I was still sitting at the computer working on this Blog when all of a sudden I heard noise in cockpit, sounded like Sid was trying to swat something with a towel, so I asked: ARE YOU OK?!! no answere, hmmm so I called again, so I went out into the cockpit where now sleepy, trying to wake up Sid looked at me puzzled. So I asked what happened? He said something smacked his foot then fell on his pillow, then he pointed to the floor after turning the light on:

Lady fish, not good eating so he went back into the water

Knowing how bad the road in Nosara was I reserved a car for the following weekend but told the girl I did not want the 4x4 we had rented from Nosara, the suspension were horrible and so there was something wrong with the brakes. Well, when we picked up the car wouldn’t you know it was the same exact car, we refuse it. The car next to it was Toyota pathfinder so we got that 20% reduced, hear him say on the phone to National 15 dollars extra per day, that was fine with us, comes out it was 45 bucks extra, another misleading deal. Oh well, but it was worth it, that sucker drove over the potholes like nothing. Nancy was super surprise we showed up and that we would give her a ride back to the airport which is only 30 min away from our marina. Her BD party was so much fun at the beautiful resort overlooking the long and untouched beach and the crocodile infested rivers with the lush hills and mountains in the background. Food was fabulous. Kathy wanted to get together one more time with us before she left to visit the States, we planned to meet in Tamarindo for a night.

The holes are too deep for a regular car

A shuttle picked us up and drove us on the same dirt road in the dark for dinner at an incredible Steak house in Samara. The drive was over 1 1/2 hours.

Kathy's beautiful pool

Happy Birthday Nancy

Her new hat

OMG haven't seen Annmarie since Catalina island over 23 years ago

On the way home from the Party a baby howler monkey fell off the tree, I guess Randy the animal rescue guy, put it on the pole so it could climb up to the family. There must have been 10 trees around us with the biggest howler monkey family I have ever seen

After dropping Nancy off and doing some shopping we returned to Paradise and Sid went right to work. We had been having a salt water leak somewhere. Sid checked already his hunch the engine, but that wasn’t it. Within 2 days he finally narrowed it down to the Galley through hull and when he saw the much corroded ground cable he knew that was not a good sign. The wire was stiff as a board and when he cut it and pulled on it the through hull burst into pieces and a geyser a foot high spewed into the boat. Sid screamed for me, I raced inside. Holy shit it didn’t look good, but with no words exchanged I got the plug and turned on bilge pump, while Sid ran for his dive mask and we met on the dock. Within 1 minute he was in the water, me trying to find the well hidden hammer in the spare parts locker, all seemed to go too slow, but within a minute Sid had hammered the plug into the busted through hull and Paradise was safe from sinking. Man what an adrenalin rush. After we both had calmed down I asked him how long it would have taken to sink the boat, thinking 4 to 5 hours, Sid brought me back to reality and said, not long 1 hour or so. Yikes, no time to even think of saving things. Talking about having luck on our side that this did not happen in anchorage, while we were gone visiting Kathy or underway on our 4 to 5 day trip to Mexico. That could give you nightmares.

Sid added the block so the plug can't fall out

Hights of water gyser

Sid's hands for 2 days

During the through hull replacement, we could not use the galley as no hose was hooked up. Surprise to find Sid outside doing dishes, but he had an excuse, look at above hands:

Needless to say we canceled our Tamarindo trip.
The crew in the marina was amazing, everybody tried to help. One guy that takes care of most fishing boats here, Dario went as far to see if he had a 2 inch brass through hull in his trailer. He only found a plastic one 1 ½ inches but called Jobo in Cocos if they had one it was a yes. Since I had a doctor appointment the following day, I ran to the marina office and arranged the car right then and there and by the time I had the car it was 5 pm, Jobo was closing at 6. I made it on time yeah.

We had to go twice to the clinic in Liberia, first time a few days before Kathy came to the marina. I had a lingering cough since Switzerland that would and would not get better until it finally bothered me so we both decided to catch up on long overdue blood work. Yikes when we got the Lab bill of 700 bucks the cashier said 700 dollars each, double yikes, 1400 dollars which in Panama would cost roughly 400 for both. Emergency Room Doctor visit was only 50 bucks each, hmm. Much later on the bank statement we notice they only took 135 our instead of 700 dollars, guess the 700 was 700 000 colones was are about 135 dollars. At Kathy’s house I started having this pull in my lower abdominal pain but thought it was a muscle pull, it went away after a few days but a week later at Nancy’s BD it came back and it got so bad over a few days, I had a hard time getting up and walk. So we returned to the clinic. Since I haven’t had a mammogram in 2 years I made reservation along with a visit with a gynecologist plus we had forgotten to do a PSA test for Sid. I have to say Costa Rica is more reasonable than Panama the mammogram was 65 dollar and the doctor visit included ultrasound plus abdominal ultrasound looking at liver and other organs, 130 dollars, can’t beat that in the US. All is fine had a bladder infection and all is good again.

Then it was tending to our broken through hull. While Sid hammered it in from under water I was inside applying 5200 then screwing all parts onto the through hull. Done all that, Sid fastened it better but wow there was a good and fast leak, not good plus the 5200 was already starting to dry. It took a while to figure out what the problem was. When that through hull was put in about 12 years we were in the yard. It was dry and the 5200 set well, but when we tightened it up it was leaking badly. Upon closer inspection we noticed that the fiberglass that was used to put the stringers in for the motor mounts was went right across the hole, and that was where the leaking was, so we had to punch it out with a plug from the inside and with sander and dremel take the high spot to the hull and make it flat, then back into the water, it had already turned dark and pound it in and no more leaks. Good day, it worked and we have NO leaks, yeah. What a scary thing.

Well a few days later early in the morning Sid was washing the boat to get ready for our trip north. He came screaming into the boat: we have another leak the bilge pump is going like crazy. I was right awake. Where to check first but Sid sure knew where to first and found the culprit right away, what a guy. The water strainer for the head busted, we had a new one and within minutes the problem was fixed and I needed a strong coffee.

By the way the Papagayo Marina is absolutely wonderful, definitely higher priced than our previous marinas but they do care for their guests. Service is amazing and the personal super friendly and accommodating. It can be a bit jerky in the marina but not nearly as much as in Vista Marina, which by the way is also an incredible marina when it comes to quality of service and friendly staff, making you feel you are part of the family. The only draw back in Papagayo you have to rent a car to go shopping as the the gourmet store does not sell fresh produce and is on the very expensive side. The bathroom and laundry area is amazing, bathrooms are like in a private home and the laundry room the most luxurious I have ever seen and used. 3 machines plus 3 driers and a beautiful seating area like you are in a living room, air-conditioned I have to add.

It's definitely worth a stay in either marina.

It's still under development the whole entire area

Rainy season is finally over in the northern part of Costa Rica while it is pouring down further south and in Panama. We are watching the most incredible colorful sunsets. The Papagayo winds have started which means Hurricane season is over, officially it’s not over until end of November, rule of insurance companies, I guess. Anyway, at the moment they are mild Papagayos but we need to get underway before long they will blow 30, 40 plus knots until at least March. For now they are mild so we will see about 15 to 25 knots from here all the way passed Managua in Nicaragua, then it will lighten up. Although once in Chiapas we have to worry about the Tehuantepec that is blowing in full force. Looked up when peak season is for the feared Tehuantepecker, what I found out is it doesn’t blow for 6 days from May 27 till June 4^th, well that’s good to know.

We are guessing our trip straight to Chiapas will take 4 plus days, so we hope the winds wills stay gentle. Good thing with the winds off shore there will be not too much of a swell.

OK until Mexico, have a wonderful time and stay well

Here a few more photos: