Costa Rica

December 2002

Monday November 25, 2002 - Playa Del Coco

This morning we checked in with immigration, Capitan del Puerto and the aduana (customs) who made the trip from Liberia when the Capitan called him.  All were extremely friendly and helpful.  While waiting for the Aduana to show up, Bill and I ate an early lunch at one of the restaurants on the beach.  After the paperwork was completed we also found the grocery store and purchased some items before returning to Lanikai.   Since we have not seen any significant rain since the week before we left Bahía Del Sol  in El Salvador, Bill started up the watermaker.  We plan to fill up the tank with city water tomorrow but after that the watermaker will keep it topped up.  Our water maker only produces a little over a gallon an hour.

Friday November 29, 2002

Tuesday we went back into town.  First stop was the bank where we got Colones, the local currency ( 375 colones = $1) and made another stop at the grocery store.  We also made a water run and Bill filled up our four 5-gallon jugs with water from a tap at the restaurant near the broken down pier. 

Wednesday after a short trip to Pipe Dream so Bill could help them with yet another computer problem, we stayed on the boat.  I baked a pecan pie with the last of my frozen pecans and made some cranberry relish with some dried cranberries and a fresh orange.  Bill spent bits of the day fixing some of the bugs in his Foto Album program, cleaning up from the addition of the table of contents that he had added last week.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving,  we were up early and moved Lanikai over to Playa Panama in Bahía Culebra.   Soon thereafter Pipe Dream arrived and rafted to us.  All four of us enjoyed a nice swim in the bay before Jacinda Rose showed up.  They also rafted alongside so now three boats were hanging off of Lanikai’s anchor.  All was well for several hours as we had little wind.  About noon we got a good gust of wind from the east and we all spun around and after that the anchor dragged.  We broke up the raft and moved to the eastern side of the bay. Thanksgiving dinner was put together on these three boats.   Jacinda Rose managed to get a turkey for the occasion.  All the food was then ferried by Bill to Pipe Dream for the feast - Jacinda Rose was having outboard problems.  In the middle of the get together on Pipe Dream a Costa Rican Coast Guard cutter dropped anchor in the bay and all was put on hold while they checked out paperwork on all three of our boats.  The turkey and all was wonderful and Pipe Dream has a supper large salon table that seated us all comfortably and even held much of the food.

Today was a blustery day with even some very light rain.  Bill and I , early afternoon, braved the wind gusts to explore the bay in the dinghy.  We found what looked to be a great snorkel reef on the next little nook to the west.  Our exploration ended up at Pipe Dream.  We all decided to go ashore and walk along the beach.   We ended up at a little palapa where we enjoyed a few beers together before returning home.

Sunday December 1, 2002

Yesterday we loaded up our snorkel gear into the dinghy and then spent several hours exploring two of the nearby reef areas.  This is the best snorkeling that we have experienced since we left Mexico but not quite as spectacular as the Sea of Cortez.  We did see lots of fish but not much new, although hidden among the common purple sea urchins were a new to us variety.  They had white spines that were in constant motion and their back was divided into 5 segments each with a small white triangle bordered by a line of iridescent blue dots.  After several hours of snorkeling with the wind and waves picking up, we returned to Lanikai tired and hungry for lunch.    In the evening while enjoying a coffee in the cockpit we discovered an interesting beetle that produced a bright green flashing light in the dark.  Bugs are plentiful here in the tropics and our “no pest strips” (purchased stateside at farm supply stores) strips are only somewhat helping since the boat is seldom closed up.   The no-see-ums got so bad last night that we had to hide below with the screens up. 

Today, we dove on the boat first thing in the morning and then returned to the reef with the new sea urchins armed with a spoon.  The waves had picked up an the water was quite murky but we found our sea urchins.  We dove down and flipped one over with the spoon.  The bottom, mouth side, was just like the purple urchins and the urchin worked hard to protected his mouth with his tentacles as he quickly flipped himself back over.  The wind continued to blow the rest of the day and we were tired from our early morning activities so reading and resting occupied the rest of our day.

Tuesday December 3, 2002

We were up early yesterday and underway back to Playa Coco.  We had planned to go ashore, do some shopping then after depositing the food on the boat, return to shore to check out with the port captain.  We did get the shopping done but the wind really howled starting about the time we went ashore.  It was blowing dust in the town and we got quite wet on the dinghy ride back to Lanikai so we put off our second trip into town.  Our house water pump decided to malfunction with the breakfast use.   It took Bill several hours to fix us a working pump by using parts from the two pumps that we had on board with much trial and error.

It continued to blow in gusts, some up to 50mph, all afternoon and most of the night.  The gusts were such that we had to haul the dinghy on board to keep it from flipping over.   

We had another wet dinghy ride into town this morning.  There we checked out with the Port Captain and picked up another load of groceries then returned to Lanikai to wait out the wind.  We pulled the dinghy on board in anticipation of the winds picking up in the late morning and afternoon but they cut back instead.  We returned to town with a light afternoon breeze so that I could get some photos of the beach town.  In wandering around we found Jutta and Ferdy talking to a young kid at a nice little restaurant.  We joined them and four beers later returned to Lanikai.  Since I had found some Mexican style tortillas in the store here, for dinner  we enjoyed our first "real" tacos since leaving Mexico.

Friday December 6, 2002 - Bahía Brasilito

We are on the move again.  Wednesday we moved south from El Coco to Bahía  Brasilito, a nice bay just south of Marina Flamingo.  Thursday morning we snorkeled in the not-too-clear water between the island and the Punta Salinas.  It was too rough with the Pacific swell everywhere else that we had looked.

Today we are traveling another 50 miles south to Bahía Carrillo about 11 miles past the major Punta Guiones.   Bill and I got up at 3:30AM to have a two hour head start on the other two boats, (Mamouna and Pipe Dream).  Pipe Dream caught up with us at noon and we took the opportunity to photograph each others boats at close range, with sails up, although we were both motor sailing to make the anchorage before dark. 

Sunday December 8, 2002 - Bahía Carrillo

We made it to the anchorage on Friday well before dark after motor sailing most of the way.  It was a delightful little bay but a rather rolly anchorage.  Yesterday I went into shore with our friends.  Bill opted to stay on the boat and work with his computer.  I dinghied into shore with Pipe Dream and they even picked up the Mamouna folks (Lisa and Doug) along the way.  We walked up the hill to view the bay from the hotel grounds and then spent a little time walking through the village, mostly a very small tourist area now.  We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant for semi-local type food.  Then we walked back down to the beach where we finally saw some of the howler monkeys in a tree.  Actually there were lots of monkeys in several large nearby trees.  They were mostly sleeping, but a few of the younger ones were eating leaves and moving around.  Our walk down the beach was a long one.  The beach curves around the bay and is quite wide at low tide.  We walked to where the sand ended before the northern point and right near to where our boats were anchored.  The shore was inaccessible from our boats here and we walked back to the dinghy left off the town toward the south end of the bay.

Today we again were up early and on the move.  This time since the journey is about 10 miles shorter so we made a later start at 6AM.  We have been traveling with no- to very-little wind but at least we have not experienced the 2 knot current against us that other cruisers have noted.  As we were nearing Cabo Blanco we hooked a nice 2 ½ foot Sierra, a big improvement over the booby bird that had dove for our lure soon out of Corrillo.  Pipe Dream caught a nice dorado and Ferdy put on a great fish feed on his boat after we all got anchored in Bahía Ballena. 

Tuesday December 10, 2002 - Bahía Ballena

Yesterday was a very active day.  It started out with a visit from the Costa Rican Coast Guard for a paperwork check, then swim between the three boats anchored here.  In the late morning we (Pipe Dream , Mamouna and Lanikai) dinghied into shore tying up at the city pier to visit the town.  After a drink at the cruiser friendly Ballena Bay Yacht Club, we walked the long distance to Punta Piedra Amarilla, the south entrance point marking the bay.  It was an interesting walk, first along a track through the jungle just inshore of the water then on the beach and reef itself.  It was low tide so we could walk a long way out on the reef.  We found an old ferrocement, well stripped, cruising sailboat that had hit the reef and washed up on the point many years ago,  There was also lots of driftwood and junk that had washed up over the years to land on the point.  The view across the bay and down the coast was great.  We returned to the Yacht Club, really just a restaurant, for lunch before walking the other direction down the main street to the little village of Tambor where there is a small grocery store.  Bill took the dinghys around and met us on the beach.   Since we had eaten dorado the night before, I still had a large bowl of ceviche.   The tired group got together again just at sunset to eat up the ceviche and enjoy a few drinks together, this time on Lanikai.   

Today started out with another swim.  Bill opted to stay behind at his computer while the rest of us went ashore and hiked down the road the toward the west.  The main road out of the area was gravel and had some traffic so we all picked up a layer of dirt over our sweaty bodies.  We walked back along the beach and encountered a wonderful resort with all the buildings and fixtures made entirely of highly  varnished wood.  Different woods were used for their color with much of it a pretty purple color.   We enjoyed a drink at the bar before returning to the dinghys which were high above the water as the tide had made most of its 9 feet drop while we were ashore.  Three more boats arrived today, friends that we had left behind in the El Coco area caught up with us again. 

Wednesday December 11, 2002

After our morning swim - which the five young girls from Ñiapa and Chewbaca joined us for - the rest of the day was spent relaxing and doing a few minor boat projects.  Bill did get the wiring of Mamouna’s GPS to the computer working.  As a consequence Lisa and Doug took us out to dinner.  We had a very yummy dinner at the wonderful resort with the beautiful wood.   A local gringo was at the bar.  He had sailed down about 10 years ago, purchased some land, and then returned after he finished cruising the Caribbean.  He was full of local information which was well appreciated.  As we were just about to order, Dave and Jim from Magic Carpet Ride showed up and joined us making for an interesting affair.

Friday December 13, 2002

Today the vegetable truck arrived and we all purchased fresh vegetables for the coming week.  It was then off to the bus that took us to the beach resort of Montezuma.  It reminded me of the California beach towns of the early 60s complete with the surfers and mostly young folks.  We made the hike to the waterfall. Well worth the hike!  The pool at the bottom of the falls was deep and full of pleasantly cool water.  We lingered for a time in the water before returning back down the stream to the beach.  A late lunch was enjoyed at a seaside café before we caught the last bus back to our bay. 

Tuesday December 17, 2002

Saturday and Sunday were days of rest.  We did dinghy out to the entrance reef to try out the snorkeling and it was poor.  The water was so cloudy that we could only see a few feet!!  Yesterday we made the trip into Cobano, about 20km distance, where there is a bank and several grocery stores.  I shopped while Bill spent several hours waiting in the bank line.  The ATM’s are there but never seem to work for out of the country cards.  It was 3:30 by the time we returned to the Ballena Bay Yacht Club where we enjoyed a few beers with friends before returning to Lanikai just after sunset. 

Thursday December 19, 2002 - Islas Tortugas

Two days of minor boat projects, swimming, reading and resting and today we are off to a new anchorage.  We traveled about 10 miles to the first islands in the Gulf on Nicoya, Islas Tortugas and had to anchor in 60 feet of water because several tour boats were sharing the anchorage.  It is a pretty little bay formed by three islands, the shore is reported to be private property.  We noted some reefs that may produce good snorkeling for the morning.

Friday December 20, 2002

The snorkeling proved to be good especially near the three big rocks marking the north east corner of the bay.  Visibility was about 15 feet and there were lots of interesting tropical fish as well as many schools of shinny ones.   We stayed in the water until we were too tired to do more.  After our return to Lanikai an inflatable towing a banana-boat stopped by for the folks to ask us if we were really from The Dalles.  Bill said yes and we chatted for a while.  Turns out that they were Kevin and Amy Coelsch from Moro, a tiny farming town near The Dalles.  They were crew from the sailing cruise ship “Windstar”  and waiting to entertain the passengers after the ship got anchored.

In the early afternoon Pipe Dream came in and dropped the hook for a lunch break.  They were entertaining friends with a day-sail and had to leave in the later afternoon to return them home.  They promised to return in the morning.

Monday December 23, 2002

Bill and I tried out some of the other reefs in the morning of Saturday but could find no area as good as around the islands.   Pipe Dream sailed into the anchorage in the mid afternoon and we all ate an early dinner of pizza on Lanikai. 

Sunday the four of us took off to snorkel right after the morning radio nets. We first tried the NW side of the island but it was too cloudy so returned to the islands to enjoy a few hours looking at fish.  Last night was dinner on Pipe Dream with a wonderful curry. 

Today we again checked out the reef near the rock islands but chose a slightly later time closer to slack water. The water was much clearer and with the many fish to see we were in the water almost 3 hours.  Mamouna came into the anchorage midafternoon .  We pooled our shrimp and each made a side dish for a pot luck dinner on Mamouna.

Wednesday December 25, 2002  Christmas Day

Yesterday after another snorkel around the tiny island we upped the anchor and moved further into the Gulf of Nicoya anchoring off the little resort at Playa Naranjo.   Today with ten boats in the anchorage we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas pot luck at the resort.  Our group were the only visitors so we had the pool, and palapa to ourselves.  The resort bar was opened so that we could purchase cold beer and pop to go with the wonderful spread of food.  Prior to going into the resort we all searched our bilges for a gift exchange and there we several interesting items opened as well as some rather nice items.  Three of the boats had children on board so the Christmas excitement of children existed in the group especially with the gift opening and around the desert table.  It was after dark when we returned to our boats and soon thereafter a very strong NE wind blew into the anchorage.  It was quite interesting for a time as the current against the wind made for wildly dancing boats and about half of the fleet opted to leave to a calmer spot. 

Friday December 27, 2002

Yesterday, I took the ferry across to Puntarenas with Doug and Lisa of Mamouna.  It is a very interesting town with many gingerbreaded old buildings, many quite rundown but others brightly painted.  The town is only about 5 streets wide on the sandspit for which it is named and has a wonderful park all along the beach side.  The estuary side has mostly old warehouses, the central market and a few dilapidated hotels and apartments.  Being the day after Christmas the ferries were filling up fast on the mainland side with a long line of cars in Puntarenas waiting to get on - but returning from Playa Naranjo almost empty.  The three of us made up half of the passengers on the way to the city, returning it was crowded and the line of cars waiting looked to be just as long as when we had arrived 4 hours earlier.  

I purchased fresh vegetables in the super-clean mercado.  Each vendor had his separate stall and not just a bench that displayed the produce as we had seen in other markets.    With all the traffic the ferries were running late and our 4:30 return ferry did not leave until 5:00 so we arrived back at Playa Naranjo after dark.  Bill picked us up at the landing and said that the wind had returned in the mid afternoon for a few hours.  The shallow anchorage had again gotten quite rough for a few hours midafternoon.  Consequently, only Mamouna and us were left in the anchorage for the night. 

Today we moved to a nice anchorage behind Isla Muertos hopeing to be out of the worst of the chop and rollers form the interesting winds that we are now getting.  It blows quite strong from the East to North for an hour or so then dies down and maybe blows from a more westerly direction.  The shallow water and sometimes contrary current at Playa Naranjo made for an uncomfortable ride so in spite of the nice shoreside facilities we went looking for a calmer anchorage.  The east winds still bring some rolls into the anchorage behind Muertos but they are much smaller and it is comfortable enough here.   

Sunday December 29, 2002

Almost the end of another year and our plan is to return to Bahía Ballena for the town's beach-side celebrations. 

Yesterday the winds winds continued in their strange on again off again fashion and came from enough different directions that they made for even choppy conditions in the Muertos anchorage.   We spent much of the day onboard going out in the dinghy exploring late in the afternoon.  Shoreside on the Island there is a “left over” resort but the bar is still operational with cold beer and pop. 

Last night the winds turned west after an hour of strong easterlies making our bed quite uncomfortable as the waves slapped under our overhanging stern.  We found other sleeping spots but had a fairly restless night.

This evening we had another cruiser pot luck.  This time is was to wish L' Escargo fairwell as they plan to leave with the tide tomorrow to take the offshore route to San Francisco.   We made use of the palapa on the island and took advantage of their selling of cold drinks.