Adventures with Sarah

Sarah flew down last Wednesday for a week long visit. Rich and I had taken Windarra to Marina Papgayo to wash off some of the salt and to clean the boat before she arrived. Friday we headed to Bahia Huevos for some time at anchor. It is a beautiful small bay and for a lot of the time we had it all to ourselves. We enjoyed swimming, kayaking, reading, relaxing and watching the new DVDs that Sarah brought with her.

 

Sarah trying out one of the kayaks

Rich out for a paddle

 

One of the things that Sarah wanted to do while she was here was to go zip lining. This is one of those adrenaline activities. You are fit into a climbing harness, with shoulder straps, a helmut with some oversized leather gloves with a special leather palm. They hook you onto a steel cable that goes through the trees from one platform to another and away you go, zipping through the forest. 

Rich coming in for a landing

Sarah in line behind Rich, ready for the first zip line

Is it a bird or a plane, no its Elaine

 

It was a lot of fun and we had a good time. Since the rainy season has not started yet, it does not look as green as it does in the brochures and the waterfall was not even a few drips but that was okay. We had a thrill

Recounting our adventures over lunch back at Playa de Coco

 

The Papagayos have started blowing again so it is a little raucous in the anchorage. With winds gusting to 35 knots at times, it is also a wet affair. To take Sarah to the airport today, we had to first make a dingy ride to shore. We put her duffel bag and backpack in plastic bags and she had a change of clothes for the plane ride. As we left the boat, a kayaker who was having a hard time trying to get back to shore against the wind, asked for a tow. We pulled him close to shore and then crossed over to the dingy landing spot down the beach. Luckily they have free showers along the beach so we could rinse off some of the sand and salt water from the landing. We grabbed a taxi to the airport and send her on her way. The week went too quickly but we were glad we had a chance to see her.

 

We may stay here at Playa de Coco until the Papagayos settle down then do some more exploring.

Look whose in the 'hood

This morning the tall ship / cruise ship the Star Flyer dropped anchor at Playa de Coco. We hurried to stop at the Port Captain's to get our national zarpe and to stop at the grocery store before things got crowded.

Check-in Cha-Cha, Costa Rican style

Monday morning I made copies of the paperwork suggested by “Explore Central America! Part 2” by Eric Baicy and Sherrell Watson of S/V Sarana. Three copies each of passports, boat document, crew list, zarpe and documentation of last 5 ports visited. I had everything in the boat binder.

Rich and I got the dingy ready. This is always an experience getting it from deflated and upside down on the foredeck, to inflated, right side up in the water with the chaps, seat, oars, wheels, and engine. We are getting better at the process but it still takes time.

Rich called the port captain on the radio and said we would be in soon. She answered ok. Another cruiser, Jerry called on the radio and invited us over to give us some information. Jerry and his wife are on SV Northern Lights from the Yukon Territories. Jerry gave us some of the tips that all cruisers want to know like: where to leave your dingy when going into town, where is the Port Captain, Immigration and Aduana or customs, the best grocery store for provisioning, where do you catch the bus and how much does it cost, the bank, a good place to get something to eat, etc. He had a wealth of information. So armed, we went in.

First stop was the Port Captain which was a short walk down the beach to the main street in town. She wanted copies of the boat document, passports, zarpe from Nicaracgua and crew list. Rich completed an entry form to a crew list with data from the boat document including our last 5 ports of call.

Second stop was Immigration which was a short walk down the main street. The woman helping us wanted copies of the boat document, passports and crew list. She completed a form in quadruplicate using carbon paper. When the form was done, she had Rich sign it. Oops, he signed in the wrong spot, so she completed the form again, in quadruplicate and made sure Rich signed in the correct spot. She stamped our passports and sent us back to the Port Captain.

We made a detour at this point and stopped at the bank with an ATM to get some cash. The currency here is colones but US dollars are also accepted as far as we know since the ATM would provide either. Since the bank was next to the recommended grocery store we peaked in and were pleasantly surprised at the selection. The plan was to stop back at the store after the Cha-Cha.

Back to the Port Captain we showed the paperwork from Immigration and we were told to go to Aduana or Customs. The bus stop was in front of Immigration so back we walked up the street. The bus was upscale and we asked to be dropped off at Aduana. We met a couple vacationing from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, taking the bus into Liberia. Just passed the airport the bus dropped us off. In my best Spanish I said hello and asked the woman behind the desk if spoke English. She smiles and starts speaking in fluent English. She wanted copies of the boat document, passports and crew list. I filled out a form which asked for information on the boat, the engine, the dingy and outboard. She asked if we had a jet ski, we replied no. An agent, Tony, was there also and offered to help if we wanted to import the boat or a car. No thanks. Customs provided us with a temporary import permit, similar to what we had in Mexico and she explained some of the rules about bringing in boat parts. Each person on board is allowed to bring in up to $500 worth of boat stuff within a six month period. After that you need to pay duty, interesting.

When we were finished we waited outside for the bus back to Playa de Coco. Supposedly the buses run every half hour to 45 minutes. It seems like a long wait in the hot sun with no shade but a bus did arrive and we waved it down. We walked back to the Port Captain. She tried to have us fill out paperwork to leave Playa de Coco. We explained that we wanted to stay and that we would return on Wednesday morning. There was a little bit of a communication gap here but we think we sorted it out.

Since we were done with the Cha-Cha, at least for today, it was time to get something to eat. We found a nice restaurant and ordered two salads. It was good to have a rest. We walked back up to the grocery store to buy just a few items, schlep it back to the dingy and back to the boat. Dusk was arriving soon and we had a full day with plenty of walking.

And you ask how we get our exercise while cruising….

Playa de Coco, Costa Rica 3/17

10 33.638 N, 85 41.726 W

Happy St Patrick's Day!

This morning is was calm and peaceful in the anchorage and we took that as a good sign as we have been having the occasional gusts up to 30 knots. We weighed anchor at 9 am and headed out. The winds piped up to 15-20 knots but it was on the starboard aft quarter and not uncomfortable. After we rounded the cape, the winds decreased to 4-8 knots.until we reached the anchorage and then they increased to 10-13 knots. Go figure.

Along the way we saw lots of turtles. Most had a bird riding on their back. I tried to take a picture but the bird would fly away just as I was ready. We also saw bat rays jumping out of the water and briefly flying.

We are at Playa de Coco and we will check into the country tomorrow.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Passage to Costa Rica, 3/14-15, Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica

10 55.342 N, 85 47.571 W

We arrived at Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica at 10:50 am, 26 hours and 146 miles from Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua.

Thursday morning, around 11 am, beating into 30 knot winds, we looked up and saw the staysail sliding down onto the deck. At the head of the sail is a kevlar strap across the top. The shackle of the staysail halyard attaches to this to hoist the sail. It looks like the thread suffered from UV damage and parted so down came the sail. Rich and I dragged the sail to the back deck and I folded it the best I could and we stuffed it below.

We continued our approach of hugging the shore to minimize the affect of the seas. This worked fairly well but during the night we did not want to be too close in. We did see quite a few panga fishermen at night. Their approach is different from that used in Mexico, which never have any lights. These guys had two lights on each boat, one on the boat and another in the stern. In the distance it look like lighted seesaws with one end going up and then the other. At least it may it easier for us to avoid them.

As we got farther south, the winds increased. Our last leg to the bay was a broad reach with winds of 35 knots sustained, gusting to 46 knots. The seas were a bit sloppy and Rich and I got dunked a few times in the cockpit.

We are tucked in on the north side of the bay, to avoid the fetch from the winds. We still get wind gusts but so far it is okay.

Time to take a shower and relax. We are finally in Costa Rica.

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Passage to Costa Rica, 3/13, detouring

12 37.525 N, 87 20.519 W

Puesta del Sol marina, Nicaragua
We are still here at Puesta del Sol. If you are interested in the marina, take a look at their website

 

This morning the officials came down and checked in a power boat that just arrived from Costa Rica, bound for San Francisco. We checked out along with a catamaran that arrived yesterday from Panama, also bound for San Francisco. I guess everyone is going to see the America's Cup races there, as that was were Lady Lola was headed as well.

 

We fueled up for $1.00 USD a liter. So our tanks and jerry cans are topped off. The water on the dock is potable so our water tanks are full as well. The port tank has been strictly watermaker water for the last few weeks.

 

The plan is to leave early tomorrow morning and head to Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica, staying fairly close to the beach to avoid the choppy seas when the papagayos blow. Or at least, that is the theory so far. Weather conditions may change and may affect our plans.

 

Rich said he would take me out for my birthday. This is not what I had planned. I guess we will just have to celebrate in more style when we are in Costa Rica.

 

Adios

Passage to Costa Rica 3/11-12, another detour

12 37.525 N, 87 20.519 W

Puesta del Sol marina, Nicaragua

Yesterday morning we raised anchor. It took a long time as Rich had to spray almost every inch of our long rode to remove the thick mud on the chain. The mud was heavy, gooey stuff. By 7:15 am we were motoring by the fisherman in their smaller canoe type pangas. The Golfo de Fonseca was calm and benign.

Instead of trying to eat the whole elephant and head straight to Costa Rica with the high probability of getting hammered along the way, we have decided to try and nibble it and take shorter passages, or at least that is the theory.

At 4:40 pm we arrived at Puesta del Sol marina. We were fortunate that our entry was close to high tide and the waves at the entry had not built too much. As our electronic charts did not have the markers, I plotted a course that looked reasonable. As it turned out it aligned pretty well to the marks when we saw them. Another small favor. A Canadian boat, SV Foreign Affair is preparing to leave so the customs, immigration and port officials were already here and able to check us in without having to make a separate visit as they travel about an hour to get here from Corinto. Yet another small favor. It cost us $49 USD for immigration and $11 USD for customs to check in. One item to note is they do not carry change so make sure you have some small bills.

The marina looks nice from what little we have seen so far. There is a yacht club with a restaurant and bar. The bathrooms have showers but the water pressure is a bit lacking but there is also a swimming pool. Last night and this morning we are catching up on the internet with the free wifi.

Today we will try and wash the ton of salt off the boat. It crunches when we walk on the deck. We will also check our weather windows as see when we need to continue.

Also, I forgot to mention in my description of the tour of Isla del Tigre that there are armadillos on the island. We passed a home with several skins so tough they are like shells, drying on the fence posts. Our guide, Tony, said that they taste like pork. I'll pass thank you.

Adios

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Passage to Costa Rica 3/10, detour to Isla del Tigre

13 17 926 N, 87 38 941 W

Isla del Tigre, Honduras

This morning we went in to the port captain and immigration and checked out of Honduras. The fee was only $10 USD.

Afterwards we got a tour of the island from Tony on his three wheeled motorized something from India. Actually, it works pretty well for Isla del Tigre. We saw the sites. We got a better look at the Hostel Casa de la Gargoyles. There are several, including the ones I told you about yesterday, plus some others on the inside. I think a local artist made them. Most of the tourist that visit the island come for two weeks and rent a house or stay at one of the few hotels on the island like this one.

 

There is a new malecon and several parks, including a playground that have been built recently with money from Spain. We also saw an old casino from the 1930's, run down now but at one time it was quite the place. We saw more beaches, plus small shacks built of mud bricks or sticks with rocks in between. Some families have gardens with bananas and mango trees. The side of the island that faces Nicaraguan is a high rent district with home that have large gates and swimming pools.

Part way around the island, we got a flat tire. No problemo. Rich and I pushed on one side to lift up the vehicle while Tony changed the tire. How cool is that!

Rich tipping the vehicle and Tony changing the tire

Customs house in the background near the bridge

 

Isla del Tigre has a customs warehouse. Imported goods arrive here, clear customs before being distributed to El Salvador, Nicaragua or the rest of Honduras. The customs house is an old hotel. According to Tony, both Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler stayed at the hotel. Since I don't have access to the internet, I can't check it out. So believe it or not.

Tourists from the mainland catch a panga back

Tomorrow morning we leave early to continue south. We are thinking of stopping at Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua, where we may fuel up and check for a weather window to Bahia Santa Elena. The windows have been short and not very frequent. So we will see how it goes.

We are glad we stopped here at Isla del Tigre for many reasons. It was a very pleasant surprise.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Passage to Costa Rica 3/9, detour to Isla del Tigre

13 17 926 N, 87 38 941 W

Isla del Tigre, Honduras

It was good to sleep last night at anchor. This morning we are feeling refreshed and more alert.

After make several copies of our paperwork, such as our boat document, crew list, passports and our Mexican zarpe, we inflated the dingy and went into Amapala, the little town here on Isla del Tigre. The port captain's office and immigration are in a small building at the end of the pier. We arrived at some stone steps where the pangas drop off tourists from the mainland and a young boy offered to watch the dingy. We gave a copy of our paperwork to the port captain and explained that we would like to check in and to also check out as we want to leave early on Monday morning. No problem he says but first you need to go to immigration. The gentleman at immigration was very nice and helpful and now our passports are stamped. We again explain that we would like to leave early Monday morning and could we check out now? No, we could not check out now but we agreed that we would return on Sunday morning at 9:00 am to check out with immigration and get stamped again and that the port captain would be there also to give us our zarpe. So far so good. No request for money either.

After our check in, the gentleman from immigration introduced us to someone who could exchange US dollars into Honduran lempira (USD 1 = HNL 20). So we followed him into town. At the same time I met an ex-pat from Miami who is now living in Costa Rica. He was here visiting a friend who lives in mainland Honduras, as Isla del Tigre is a favorite place for tourists to visit. We had a brief conversation as we walked into town. You never know who you might run into.

A walk through town stretched our legs a bit. We came to a hotel where we thought we would get a drink and a snack. Well, the hotel does not have a restaurant but there were some nice places on the beach and they could get someone to take us. Ok. A fellow with a motorized, three wheeled affair with a bench seat in the back arrived. We climbed in and off we went. Our thought was that the beach was something we passed or near town. Nope, it was on the other side of the island that we had passed on arriving on Friday. No problem, we got a tour of Amapala complete with the photo stop of the hotel with the gargoyles on top that looked like naked, old women with wings. The next stop was to pick up the driver's brother, who joined on the seat next to the driver. We roared over cobble stone roads to the beach. We stopped at the first restaurant where I think they have an arrangement with the hotel, and the driver called out to the cook. She was very nice and gave us menus and helped Rich select a cervasa from the local brands. We had roast chicken with garlic, deep fried banana crisps, similar to potato chips and cole slaw for $110 HNL a piece. The food was good and plentiful. We had arranged with our driver to pick us up after an hour but he was a little anxious maybe and returned after 1/2 hour and gave us a ride back to the pier. Our dingy was safe and Rich gave the young boy a dollar for watching it. Back on Windarra we hoisted the dingy up on the halyard so it is hanging by the side of the boat with a cable lock on it.

I was in error by thinking that the fires and smoke that we saw on the hillside was caused by lava. It is true that the island is certainly volcanic and the large boulders of lava and the black sand beaches reiterate this but no eruptions, no lava, just brush fires following the ravines created by long ago eruptions. So some of the romance is gone. But, to take it's place is something else. No this is not the island of Dr. Moreau or some other evil genius. It was a picture perfect base of operations for the CIA during the 1980s to watch the anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan government. The CIA base on the top of the island has a direct view of Nicaraqua over the water to the south of this island. It also has a direct view of El Salvador to the west. The Honduran main land is north and east.

So tomorrow we will check out and then Monday morning continue our trek south, staying close to shore and avoiding the choppy seas of the Papagayos.

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Passage to Costa Rica 3/8, detour

13 17 926 N, 87 38 941 W

Isla del Tigre, Honduras

It seems that Papagayos, winds that funnel from the Caribbean and push out to the Pacific Ocean, are occurring all along the coast from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We have been watching the gribs and seeing the activity mainly along the Costa Rican coast, so we were surprised when last night we saw winds up to 33 knots and large fetch developing as we passed the El Salvadoran coast. We followed the advice we used for the Tehuantepec, head for the beach! The only problem was we were originally on a rhumb line course for Costa Rica so that beach was not just a simple turn to port. We had to bash or slog our way to the beach, against the wind and the seas. Once we got to the beach, the seas calmed down and we only had the winds. The winds would come up quickly, last for a few hours and then subside.

We decided that we needed some rest so we turned into Golfo de Fonseca, a large extended bay that is divided into three parts, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Honduras portion is their only port on the Pacific Ocean. we are anchored off Isla del Tigre, an island belonging to Honduras. There is definitely volcanic activity in the area. You can see the fires going down the hillside from what I think is lava. It is even more impressive at night.

Last night I downloaded our sailmail and got an email from our friends, Rich and Cat of SV Anna. They are in San Lorenzo, the port town of Honduras, farther inside the gulf. They have been trying to get to Costa Rica since Feb. 21 and turned back 3 times. Hmmm. This played a part in our decision to stop here for at least a night.

We are fine and the boat is doing well. We think we have stopped a few of the leaks but not 100% yet and certainly not major.

Both of us are looking forward to a good night's rest.

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Passage to Costa Rica 3/7

13 341.560 N, 90 14.377 W

Winds 6-8 knts, SOG 6.7

Last night was fairly smooth, little wind, and the seas were fine. Today was a different story. We had short, choppy seas on the nose, which made the going a wet, slog. So we decided to take a left turn and head to the shoreline. A long, slog later, and after crossing an underwater canyon, the seas flattened out and we are making much better progress. The speed log is not working so our wind speed indication is not accurate, but the winds have been light. We are motorsailing with the main and staysail. At times the wind direction indicator just spins around, but instead of indicating wind in every direction, it means no wind anywhere.

Going out the first day allowed us to see and avoid the panga fishermen. We will have to be more alert now that we are closer in shore.

The passage continues.

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Passage to Costa Rica, 3/6 6pm

14 09.835 N, 92 06.787 W

Winds 8-10 knts, Seas Swell 5-6 ft from 211 deg, no waves, Overcast skies

We are 'motor sailing' but really just motoring with the main up. The winds have been light and either from on the nose or just 30 degrees on starboard.
The seas have been relatively empty but for a shrimper and several panga fishermen, tending lines with the ubiquitous float, a stick and a black garbage bag as a flag. You have to watch carefully since they will disappear and reappear behind the swell.

Some dolphins jumped and joined us for a bit and we also saw some small rays jumping out of the water. Not sure why they jump. Maybe it is on a dare.

Our target destination is Bahia Santa Elena, about 460 nm from Marina Chiapis. We have left Mexico and are passing Guatemala.

No worries, so far.

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Everyone waits for a weather window

Puerto Chiapis is a popular stop for boats like us, getting ready to leave Mexico for points south in Central America, as well as for boats northbound, stopping for a weather window to cross the Tehuantepec. Rich and I on Windarra are waiting for a weather window to head to Costa Rica. We hope to avoid the Papagayo winds along the way. We receive the gribs daily with a 7 day look ahead. So far, it is better to wait here.

 

We are not the only ones waiting. Ed and Annette of SV Sand Piper are planning to go to El Salvador. Gil and Lexi of SV Sunday will be heading to Mazatlan. Another couple on SV Eyes of the World will be heading north as well.

 

The ocean is a great equalizer. It doesn't matter how small or how big your boat is, whether it is sail or power, whether you are rich or barely scraping by, you are treated the same by Mother Ocean and the weather. On Friday, another boat, MV Lady Lola, arrived from Costa Rica to wait for a weather window before crossing the Tehuantepec. Her crew of 16, negotiated the narrow passage (thank goodness for bow and stern thrusters) and moored to the end tie of the dock behind us.



 

MV Lady Lola and her tender

Windarra under a sunshade with Lady Lola in the background

Lady Lola extends beyond the dock a little

 

At 205 feet long, 34 foot beam, 12 foot draft, with 5 staterooms, she is quite the yacht. If you have some spare cash, she is available for charter. You may find out more on the website. It was fun to hear the Australian accents of some of the crew members.

 

In the meantime as we wait for our weather window, we do a few chores early in the morning before it gets too hot. Yesterday we caught the collectivo or local van bus to the mall. The van would stop along the way picking up more passengers. It was chock-a-block full when we arrived at the mall and 4 people had to get out before we got out. The mall is air conditioned! We had plenty of time so we went to see the movie, "Silver Linings Playbook", in English with Spanish subtitles. We both enjoyed it. After the movie we did a little shopping at Walmart and then a taxi ride back to the marina.

 

Not sure when we will be leaving, but it probably will not be before Lady Lola leaves. She will have to back out as there is not enough room in the marina for her to turn around.

 

No worries,

Elaine and Rich