Long days

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

We have been back in Edmonton for over a month now (over 2 months for Susanne).

On the plus side, the weather has been pretty good, lots of sunshine with just enough rain to make everything green.  No doubt the farmers would like to see a bit more moisture.  One of the great things about Edmonton in the spring is the incredibly long days.  With sunrise at 5 AM and sunset after 10 PM, it is quite a change from the 6 till 6 schedule in Central America.

On the down side, Susanne's mother continues her stay in the hospital.  Sue spends every day visiting her, which leaves me lots of time to deal with the yard work and miscellaneous household duties, not really my favorite things.  Hopefully we will both be able to take some time to make our annual pilgrimage to the west coast at some point in the near future.

The reports from the marina in El Salvador seem to indicate that the boat is weathering our absence just fine, so at least we don't have any worries on that front.

{GMST}53|35.3868|N|113|32.3568|W|Edmonton, Alberta, Canada|Edmonton, Alberta, Canada{GEND}

The quiet life in Paradise

Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador

 

Now that I have done pretty much everything I am going to do to the boat before I leave El Salvador, I find myself living a very quiet life.

 

Being in this marina is nice but a little isolated. Up until a couple of days ago, I was the only non-employee in the place. Carola and Jim, from the sailboat Koza, are the only other cruisers staying here and they were gone on a road-trip when I arrived. Now that they are back, I at least have someone to talk to occasionally.

Tennis anyone?

There was plenty to do on the boat to keep me busy of course, but in this heat and humidity it is hard for me to stay motivated for very long at a time. For variety, I have taken the dinghy out for a couple of runs up and down the estuary. One morning I actually got up early (before noon) and made the journey down to the Mar e Sol restaurant for breakfast - I stopped into Bahia del Sol to pay off the balance on our account while I was in the area as well.

 

On Sunday, like every other Sunday, all of the cruisers met down at Lou & Lynn's home for an afternoon of swimming and conversation and a pot-luck dinner. This week was tacos! Since their house is only a quarter mile up the estuary from Paradise, it was a very short ride there, but I still hitched a ride with the Koza crew - they have a big dinghy with a big motor.

 

A few days ago, I dinghied over to the town of La Herradurra to scope out the supermarket and treat myself to one of the incredibly good fresh-squeezed orange juice drinks at one of the restaurants overlooking the estuary. Pretty exciting huh?

 

It is Tuesday today. My flight to Canada leaves on Thursday morning. Tomorrow, I will put the finishing touches on decommissioning the boat - it should be safe here for the rainy season. The only real issue here is lightening, of which they get plenty, but there is little I can do about that so I won't worry about it.

 

I have trussed up the mainsail in the remnants of our sail cover in hopes of at least keeping the sun off of the sail over the summer. It is not pretty but I think it will hold.

 

{GMST}13|19.422|N|88|56.675|W|Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador|Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador{GEND}

 

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Nautical disaster

Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador

 

That was really ugly! Probably the worst lack of judgement that I have had in recent memory. This is what happens when Susanne is not around to keep me from making idiot decisions.

 

Today was moving day, when I was going to take the boat up the estuary to its more permanent home at Paradise Fishing Lodge. Because of the tidal nature of the estuary, the best time to do this is at high slack. Because of the direction that the boat was docked at Bahia. If I went too early, I would have to back up against the current, something that I knew would not go well in this boat.

 

This morning, the high tide at Libertad (the closest tide station) was at 10 AM. By 10:30, it sure looked pretty good around the boat, with the water barely moving. I had enlisted the help of Ron from Dawn Trader to accompany me onboard, and several guys were there to help with the lines on the dock. A bit of wind, from directly astern, had come up and was a bit of a concern, but I still felt it was doable. I was wrong!

Unbelievably still intact

 

Things went bad very quickly. As soon as we got backed out of the slip a couple of feet, the wind swung the stern over hard to port and the bit of current that was still running forced us onto a collision course with the sailing vessel Heavy Metal, which we plowed into rather hard. At this point it was suggested that I give up and go back to the slip, but with the current trying to push us sideways, this did not appear to me to be an option. I continued to motor backwards, scrapping along the side of Heavy Metal, using our solar panel as a fender, until our stern got past theirs. when the wind and current now forced us backwards onto the end of their dock.

Still progressing backwards, we scrapped by the end of the dock and found ourselves pinned sideways onto the front of the Marina's big catamaran. One of their very pointy bows met with our solid rail, just aft of the solar panel, which took up the strain by putting a nice bend in it. By some miracle, our bow actually started swinging out against the wind and current at that point, and I was finally able to motor away from our predicament.

 

Needless to say, the trip up the estuary and docking at Paradise was somewhat anticlimactic after that. I gave Ron a ride back to Bahia in the dinghy and was able to inspect the damage done to the boats and docks. Basically everything there looks unscathed. It helped that Heavy Metal is an unpainted aluminum hull which appears pretty much indestructible.

 

Once I was back onboard Sine Timore, I was able to better assess the damage. A few nasty scrapes in the wooden rub-rail (I guess that's what it's for) and a sadly bent stainless steel rail. A bit of a ding in the gallows support as well.

 

Using techniques I have perfected from years of driving and repairing beater cars, I was able to patch together a rail-straightening rig, using a handy cement post beside the stern of the boat. It may not be perfect now, but I think it came out pretty good, all considered.

Not bad...

 

At least life is rarely boring when you live on a boat.

 

{GMST}13|19.422|N|88|56.675|W|Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador|Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador{GEND}

 

 

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Life is complicated

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

 

On the last day in April, I joined our friend Wally on his boat, Stella Blue, for a quick passage to Chiapas, the most southerly port in Mexico.

We left the estuary around noon, to catch the high tide over the bar, and experienced a very exciting exit. The swell was running pretty high and we had to climb several breakers on the way out. Just when we thought we were through and the pilot boat was saying goodbye, we got hit by one more, seemingly enormous, wave. Wally steered us bravely into it and when we came over the top, the boat came down with an incredible bang.

After that is was a piece of cake.

 

We motored for most of the two day passage, managing to sail for only a few hours on the first afternoon. Other than dodging a few fishing boats in the night, it was a very tranquil trip. On the second day, we saw a lot of turtles passing by, each with a single bird standing on its back. Unfortunately whenever I tried to take a picture, the turtle would hear the boat approaching and dive underwater, forcing the poor passenger to take flight, leaving me with a picture of water.

 

By the time we got to the entrance to Puerto Chiapas, the swell was running more than 2 meters. This proved to be no real problem but sure looked impressive as the waves broke on the breakwater. Everything was perfectly calm in the marina of course, being as well protected as it is.

 

Marina Chiapas has changed quite a bit since we were here a couple of years ago. They now have their travelift working and the yard was full of sailboats on the hard. The restaurant was very busy, and the food was good as well.

 

We arrived at the marina around 10:30 in the morning. By the end of the day, both the boat and Wally and I were checked into the country, and I caught a ride to Tapachula, where I took a room at a hotel for two nights. The next day, I walked to the TikaBus depot and bought a ticket for the bus from Tapachula to Guatemala City and on to San Salvador, leaving the next day, Monday, at 7 AM.

 

The bus ride was OK, except for some delays in Guatemala, leaving Guatemala City late, running into a funeral procession in some small town along the way and a very slow border crossing into El Salvador. I did not arrive in San Salvador until after 8 PM. I took a room for the night, then completed my trip in the morning by using a taxi to take me to the marina at Bahia deal Sol.

 

Meanwhile, on the same Sunday that I was booking my bus trip. Susanne had taken a last minute flight to Edmonton, after receiving news of her mother's failing health. She is currently staying with her brother in Edmonton, while I am working on getting the boat ready to be left for an extended time here in the estuary.

 

Tomorrow, Wednesday. I plan to take the boat some 5 miles up the estuary to the Paradise Fishing Lodge, where we had left the boat the last time we were here. After that, I will have to see what kind of deals I can get on flights back to Canada.

 

{GMST}13|18.072|N|88|53.526|W|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador{GEND}

 

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Last passage of the season

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

 

Well, we had one last kick at the sailing cat for a while. It had its exciting exciting moments and its boring moments but overall a nice finale to the season.

 

We left Marina Papayago early on a Tuesday morning. We motored for the first 1/2 day in absolutely calm conditions, until we started to round Punta Santa Elena. The winds and waves quickly built up, right on the nose of course, and we found ourselves tacking back and forth with the engine assisting the double reefed mainsail until we managed to claw our way closer to the Nicaraguan coast. We were treated to the antics of a large pod of dolphins, who seem to really enjoy the rougher conditions, sometimes leaping to great heights, although Susanne does not think they deserve many style points for their re-entries.

Dolphin escort

 

Around 4:00 in the afternoon we were able to change to a beam reach in the moderate Papagayo winds blowing offshore. We followed the generally accepted rule here of sailing with "one foot on the beach" for the next day and a half - this keeps the wind-waves manageable as the winds blow consistently offshore along this coast. We sailed for 50 miles on a single broad reach in about 15 knots of wind. Later, we got caught with a little too much sail up when we caught somes gusts in the mid 20's. For a while we sailed with only the double reefed mainsail in winds that were gusting from 12 to 25 knots. Our speed was only around 3 knots but we were in control and had plenty of time. Lots of fun dodging fleets of fishing boats in the dead of night.

A stowaway trying to get out of the wind

 

The last day, it got easier, although what sailing we did was now all close hauled in relatively light winds, rarely reaching 10 knots. We ended up motoring very slowly for most of the last night, in order to not arrive too early for our scheduled high tide crossing of the entrance bar at Bahia del Sol. Just before 7 AM, the pilot boat lead us into Bahia del Sol, almost exactly 3 days from the time we left Marina Papagayo, all as planned.

This time the bar was totally flat and basically a non-event. Total distance covered was 291 miles.

Sailing west into the setting sun

 

Parked between two monster 60+ foot boats

Now that we are here, we have been dumped into the whirlwind of social activities that is Bahia del Sol, meeting with other cruisers, some new, some old, heading for lunch at one of the Palapa restaurants in the estuary, Bocce Ball at low tide, pot lucks and pool parties and such.

We are staying at the dock at the resort for a couple of weeks before we will be moving the boat down to the same little Marina we used last time we left the boat here, a couple of years ago.

 

Meanwhile, I have volunteered to crew for one of our friends, who wants to get his boat a little further north to Chiapas in Mexico. We plan to take off on Thursday (day after tomorrow) and it should take about 2 days to get there. I will then attempt to find my way back through Guatemala and El Salvador by bus. Always an adventure...

 

{GMST}13|18.072|N|88|53.526|W|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador|Bahia del Sol, El Salvador{GEND}

 

 

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Baking in the sun

Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica

 

It is hot, humid and a little bit boring here in the marina.

 

We decided not to leave by Friday last - the Papagayo winds are still blowing strongly off the coast of Nicaragua. They are not so bad that we couldn't cope, but we would love a nice gentle sail up the coast if we can arrange it. Since we did not check out of the country before the weekend, we cannot now check out until tomorrow (Monday), making Tuesday our most likely departure date. Once we are out of here, we plan to make a straight shot all the way to El Salvador, not stopping in Nicaragua this time.

 

We have a couple of other cruising boats to keep us company here, mostly just meeting for dinner and drinks at the marina's small restaurant. It is happy hour from 5 till 7 every night, making the prices almost reasonable. It is a good thing too, as there is no place else within walking distance. Note: There is lots of room for more boats in the marina right now - we are not sure if this because of the time of the year or if this is normal. Unlike Quepos, this area is apparently not known for its great fishing - thus the lack of sport fishing boats.

 

On Thursday we rented a car for the day, in order to travel to Playas del Coco to do some shopping, and to check out the location of the Port Captain's office, Immigration and Customs. We will rent a car again tomorrow so we can make the rounds officially. While the Port Captain and Immigration are both in the town of Playas del Coco, Customs is on the highway into Liberia, close to the international airport.

 

{GMST}10|38.45|N|85|39.17|W|Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica|Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica{GEND}

 

 

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Blown away

Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica

Sometimes you just don't know where you will end up at the end of a passage.

After a blessedly peaceful night in Bahia Ballena, safely anchored behind a small protective reef, we got an early start on Sunday morning, expecting to motor for much of the way to Playas del Coco, some 110 miles around yet another peninsula. We rounded Punta Blanco, the only spot I thought we could run into some wind and currents, around 9:30AM in very calm conditions - just the way we like it.

Indeed, other than a few hours around mid-day when we were able to sail in some onshore thermals, we did end up motoring the entire distance. We had to go very slow in order to avoid arriving before sunrise, especially as we had a very favourable current pushing us along for much of the way. We arrived at Playas del Coco around 7:30 AM on Monday morning and anchored just outside the many moorings there. Shortly thereafter is when the problems arose.

Around 11:30 AM the Papagayo winds struck with a vengeance. Gusts of up to 30 knots coming off the land persuaded our boat to try and leave the anchorage. I did not have adequate scope out on our anchor, primarily due to the limited swinging room we had amongst all the moored boats, and the anchor dragged (pretty much the first time this has happened to us in our short sailing career). Now the question was "what do we do now?".

We elected to bring the anchor up (lots of fun in 20 to 30 knots of wind), and we motored some 7 miles, out of the bay, across the mouth of Bahia Culebra (lots of wind and waves hitting us on the starboard side), and into Bahia Huevos, a spot that we know from our experience when coming the other way down this coast last year. We managed to anchor in a great, much better protected, sub-bay near the entrance to the bay. Here we sat out the afternoon winds, which rarely got over 10 knots, and watched all the local tourist boats come and go. This is a favorite little beach for swimming, snorkelling and playing in the sand - we even managed to get in a swim ourselves. We spent a peaceful night and got caught up on our sleep.

Early this morning. before the winds had a chance to get going, we upped anchor and motored about 8 miles into Bahia Culebra, where we took a slip at the upscale Marina Papagayo. We are much happier being tied up to a dock for now.

The expected winds put in their appearance, starting just before noon again today - we are seeing gusts up to the mid-30s. The only danger for us is the possibility of popping a fender or two, as the gusts are pushing us strongly onto the dock.

The reason that we were stopping in Playas del Coco is that this is where we need to check out of the country, however we can do that from here by renting a car and driving to the town. Much more civilized.

{GMST}10|38.45|N|85|39.17|W|Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica|Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica{GEND}
{GMST}10|37.89|N|85|41.18|W|Bahia Huevos, Costa Rica|Bahia Huevos, Costa Rica{GEND}
{GMST}10|33.495|N|85|41.879|W|Playas del Coco, Costa Rica|Playas del Coco, Costa Rica{GEND}

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