South from Bahia del Sol

November 2002

 Saturday November 9, 2002 - Isla Conchiquita, El Salvador

We crossed the bar out of the estero yesterday morning just after 6AM with Pipe Dream.   We enjoyed a few hours of motor sailing before the wind completely died.  It was slow going most of the day as we encountered contrary currents and in the afternoon a "noserly"  wind picked up.  A nice 30-inch sierra took our hook so we had fresh fish for dinner and some for the freezer for later consumption.  Just after sunset we encountered an area of squalls.  The main squalls passed either north or south of us and we got no rain out of the system but we did get some headwinds and very lumpy seas.  This slowed us down just enough that we got caught in the ebb from the Gulf of Fonseca.  We did not get the hook down until 2:30AM behind Isla Conchiquita. 

Today Bill went over to Pipe Dream to fix yet another computer problem with their new computer.  When he returned he was followed by two canoes with local children.  Since the children had been aboard on Pipe Dream he knew better than to invite them onboard, but we had a nice chat with them hanging off the side.  We told them that we would see them ashore on Sunday.   Pipe Dream headed on in the early afternoon and in the late afternoon we were joined in the anchorage by Jacinda Rose.

Sunday November 10, 2002

Jacinda Rose left fairly early in the morning leaving us the only boat in the anchorage for the day.  The children in their canoe again visited us late in the morning and we promised that we would come ashore in the afternoon.  We did just that and were greeted as we landed on the beach by a group of children.  They took us by the hands to show us their village.  We walked up the hill to the cemetery which they were quite proud of.  It was freshly cleaned and decorated as we are only a week after their day-of-the-dead celebration in the cemetery, November 2.   Several of the children had to take us to their homes to meet their parents.  When I asked about a tienda for purchasing lemons we were taken to a tree and our bag was filled with both green ones for fish and yellow ones for lemonaide.  We returned to the boat and cooked up another piece of the Sierra for dinner.  This time we had some fresh lemons to go with it.

Tuesday November 12, 2002 - NoName Bay, Nicaragua

Yesterday we left Isla Conchiquita after breakfast to make the overnight passage to a little bay in Nicaragua that the cruisers call NoName Bay.  We had light winds almost the entire way SW to SE.  Close enough to noserlies that we had to use the motor for almost the entire passage.  This morning we finally did get some sailing winds but they came and went so many times that we ended up leaving the motor on thru the blows so it would be on in the lulls.  We got the anchor down in the little nook at 1330 and spent the rest of the afternoon resting and getting the boat put back into anchor mode.  This leg of the trip we were only visited by dolphins as we were nearing the anchorage.  A large fish bit our hook just as the wind picked up but he took off with it all, the lure swivels and hook.

Thursday November 14, 2002

Yesterday, we relaxed the day away on the boat.  We did not even jump in the water for a swim as there was enough wind that we did not feel the need.  Also we had a drift net that drifted over our anchor chain and then slowly moved along the port side.  Lots of fishing pangas leave the beach each morning and each evening both with nets and traps for ?shrimp? but the landing looks to be a bit rough for us through breakers that are visible from here.    We got a little rain in the late afternoon, just enough to wet the deck.

Today we had planned to try out the snorkeling opportunities on the reef off the east point but by the time we were ready the wind had piped up and it was to rolly.  Instead we put down the ladder and snorkeled around Lanikai cleaning a few more barnacles off her prop.   

Friday November 15, 2002 - Bahía Santa Elena, Costa Rica

We got an early start this morning to make the passage to Bahía Santa Elena in Costa Rica.  We had nice wind from the start and after an hour we had the engine off and sailed the entire rest of the trip with the windvane steering.   We had winds from a low of 10 up to 25 and when the winds got up to 20 or better Lanikai really moved along.  When we were about a mile from the entrance to the bay a nice size sierra took our hook.  We got it safely hanging over our fish bucket, got the jib down and entered the harbor.  It was over a mile in.  After dropping the main, while looking for a proper anchor spot, it got shallower faster than we expected and Lanikai was aground in the mud as Bill tried to turn her into deeper water.  We quickly got the dinghy overboard but the addition of its motor could not turn Lanikai out into the bay.  Bill then took our anchor out in the dinghy and we cranked ourselves around with the windlass, (not easy!).  As soon as we turned I put power on the main engine and we slowly moved out into deeper water.  Bill managed to crank in the anchor as we moved out.  We anchored in about 40 feet of water, put the sails away, got the traveling instruments turned off and Bill went to work on the fish.  Barbequed fish for dinner, ceviche on the make in the refrigerator and several more filets in the freezer; the sierra was put to good use. After our chores were done,  we took a quick swim before cooking dinner.

Sunday November 17, 2002

Yesterday after morning radio schedules, Bill lowered the dinghy.  We loaded up with our snorkel gear and took off exploring.  We followed the north shore of the bay to the entrance and found two ok snorkel spots off the islands on the north side of the entrance.  The wind was much stronger out there and out of the lee of the islands there were fairly large waves but in the calm of the lee we found our first snorkel ground since leaving Mexico. 

In the evening just after sunset the forest here comes alive with the many birds and a few parrots have even crossed the bay near our boat!

Today was a blustery day.  While the bay stayed relatively calm we were buffeted by numerous willi waws.  In between the gusts it was quite calm and we even had a few hours in the mid afternoon when they seemed to stop.  We took the dinghy along the west shore looking for the small creek mouth that was suppose to lead to some nice fresh water pools.  It is most easily entered at low tide which will occur in the morning.  The gusts continued into the night and we even got a little rain.

Wednesday November 20, 2002

We have had three days of gnarly weather which we mostly spent on board reading.  Bill took the opportunity to make more progress with the two programs that he is currently writing.  Late yesterday afternoon the winds seemed to die down and the willy waws that we were getting lessened in both strength and frequency. 

Today we took advantage of the nice weather to find the stream that emptied into the bay to the west of us.  We found two spots where the fresh water ran across the flats at the low tide.  The first had a muddy leaf filled bottom with a definite sulfur smell but the second area ran across a pebbly area and both tasted fresh and had no sulfur smell.  I filled up a 2 gallon container to take back to Lanikai for laundry and we both enjoyed dumping the fresh water over ourselves.  Mid afternoon found us out in the dinghy exploring again.  This time we took our snorkel gear and stopped for a snorkel around the entrance island on our way around the bay.  The water is not real clear here but it was good exercise anyhow.

This has been an interesting bay with all the sounds of wildlife around us.  In the evening and in the mornings we get to listen to the howler monkeys and the many birds.  We watch pelicans dive for fish in the numerous fish boils around the boat and they have even been joined by dolphins on several occasions.  The surrounding forest is a Costa Rican National Park so it is protected from modern destruction. 

Thursday November 21, 2002 - Bahía Huevos

We exited Bahía Santa Elena early this morning and enjoyed a wonderful sail around Punta Santa Elena and past the Islas Murciélagos before the wind quit on us.  We picked up another hour of sailing as we started to cross the notoriously windy Gulf of Papagayo but the second two-thirds of the way across we had no wind a glassy seas.  We anchored in the snug little bay of Bahía Huevos, about 5 miles north of Playa Cocos.

Friday November 22, 2002

Bill got a new version of his photo album program to me this morning with a table of contents based on the headings and text that I put on each page.  I therefore spent the morning revising and adding text to the more recent photos while Bill fixed bugs and made some changes at my request.  After lunch, as the day was getting hot, we took the dinghy out to explore two of the many near by reefs.  We ended up spending almost two hours in the water snorkeling.  The visibility is not too great but the best that we have seen since our hasty exit from the Sea of Cortez early this year (it was getting too cold for us there). 

This anchorage has a “river “ entering into its head that wanders through the mangroves.  Bill and I took the dinghy up it through the mangroves in the late afternoon to see the birds.  We saw some and heard many more.

Sunday November 24, 2002 - Playa Cocos

We enjoyed another day and a half in Bahía Huevos but were both too sore and tired from the two days of activity to get in the water or even dinghy around.  Bill took a long nap and I continued with my reading.

In the afternoon we moved south the 5 miles to anchor off Playa Cocos - our official check in point into Costa Rica.  Not much wind so it was a motor boat ride.  We were welcomed by Pipe Dream with cold cervezas and were filled in on the scoop about the town and officials.  Tomorrow we will check in to Costa Rica.