You have got to be flexible...

Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica

This is an example of a typical well-planned passage.

On Tuesday we got our National Zarpe, specifying that we would leave Playas del Coco the next morning.  We studied the charts and cruising guide to determine an optimum plan for the next 3 days.  We had decided that some nice, short day-sails would be the way to go.  Thus, our plan was this:

Day 1 - Playas del Coco to Bahia Tamarindo - 25 miles
Day 2 - Bahia Tamarindo to Bahia Samara - 42 miles
Day 3 - Bahia Samara to Bahia Ballena - 48 miles

Playas del Coco

As our first day was going to be quite short, we had a leisurely start and left the gringo haven of Playas del Coco around 8 AM.  For the first couple of hours there was no wind and we motored until we were rounding Punta Gorda.  At this point we got a very nice tailwind of about 10 to 12 knots and we were able to sail downwind with nothing by the Genoa at a sedate 2.5 to 3.5 knots.  We were treated to a nice aerobatic display by some rays along the way.

Susanne's idea of a nourishing breakfast



Punta Gorda

Flying Ray

Tamarindo

We kept sailing almost all the way into the anchorage at Bahia Tamarindo, arriving at around 2PM.  When we looked around this bay, we found it to be a very exposed spot, to both the current west wind and the SW swell - a very lumpy place to spend a night.  This did not interest us at all!

We motored back out of the bay and started sailing further down the coast.  At this point it was obvious we could not get to our next selected anchorage at Bahia Samara before dark, and I was not sure it would be any better as an anchorage anyway.  So, we decided to just press on overnight and go all the way to Bahia Bellena, which promised to be a much nicer spot, and would also finally get us pretty much out of the region of Papagayo winds.

Around 4 PM, the winds died completely and did not come back all night.  We motorsailed with the mainsail up, over a very calm sea, and arrived at Bahia Bellena around 9:30 this morning.  All in all, it was a very easy overnight passage and definitely the right decision for us.  This is a pretty sheltered bay and we are anchored in only about 20 feet of water.  We may stay here a couple of days.

Interesting that our cruising guide lists this bay as "One of the most popular anchorages in Costa Rica".  Right now there is not another cruising boat in sight.  But wait!  There comes another sailboat in the distance - maybe we won't be alone after all.

{GMST}09|42.984|N|85|00.652|W|Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica|Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica{GEND}