Cruising with Soggy Paws

New 2009 Blog Created

2008-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

I have moved this blog to a new location and will continue to publish any new posts in the original location.

http://svsoggypaws.com/blog/

I have tried to cross reference between blogs. Hope I didn't confuse everyone, but this one got so big it was taking too long to publish.

Yay! In Golfito!

2008-12-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

We got up at 5:30 am to make the 7am bus leaving for Golfito. It was a long bus ride--we finally pulled into Golfito at 2pm. But the bus dropped us off right in front of Land n Sea, so we only had to lug our 6 bags and 250 lbs across the road and down the dock. And Tim was there to meet us and take us out to our boat.

We did a quick shopping trip before the stores closed... having left nothing fresh on the boat when we left.

We are gearing up for a New Years Eve Party complete with fireworks tonight. Hopefully we can last til midnight.

It's great to be back on the boat.

The Demise of the Panama Canal Yacht Club

2008-12-31T06:41:00.000-05:00

These events actually took place in Feb 2009, but I have also posted it under 2008 to keep it with the rest of our Panama information.

A few days ago we heard from our friends on s/v Infini, still in Panama, that the the Panama Canal Yacht Club had been shut down. This wasn't a huge surprise, as there were rumors of it's demise when we went through the Canal in September 2008.

However, we just got an email from them with the details of how it happened. And all we can say is ... only in Panama.

Here is an excerpt from an article in the online publication Panama Guide. It is attributed to "Fran", obviously rent-paying resident of the (former) Panama Canal Yacht Club.

"On Thursday afternoon (the day after we paid our dock rent for another month), after the club manager left the office the sleezeball lawyers for Panama Ports Corporation whose stacks of containers have for years surrounded and steadily encroached on the club's land arrived and told the meek, mild, timid elderly little lady still in the office that they had an "order signed by the government" and were there to "simply do an inventory" and she would have to follow them around while they did it."

"Unfortunately, as they planned, she certainly would not know any better - like to say "no way" - as the manager would have. So having done the inventory, with a witness, made it legal rather than a "break and enter", and at 0300 hours Friday morning, the gated entrance to the club was sealed off by two massive containers, and the fence into the club was breached for access."

"The demolition crew arrived with huge spot lights, wrecking balls, trucks and back hoes and started bashing down the buildings. Sealing off the club may or may not have been legal - wrecking the place we've been assured is an illegal - probably criminal act. By 0800 hours, the water main had been busted, and the power lines downed.

"Now Friday was "Colon Day" another of many official holidays making a long weekend so naturally, as the Ports lawyers had calculated, there was no recourse that the Club or its lawyer could take, as all government offices and judicial offices were closed.....no way to get an injunction to stop .....very slick on the part of Panama ports."

"When we all started waking up and seeing this incredible destruction and walking around asking questions we were told that they were only taking down one old empty shed that the workers had been using - to send a message. But as the day went on the demolition never stopped. It was dismal with all our the friends we've made among he workers (the real people) who showed up for work as usual, sitting stunned in shock and tears."

"All the contents of the office, the bar, the restaurant, the storage rooms, freezers and the workers lockers were being carted away and locked in containers which were moved to unspecified and unknown locations "for safe keeping" - uh huh."

"Now this morning...it has begun again...there really won't be anything left standing by the end of today."

"Yesterday we were told that we had six weeks to empty our shed that contained virtually everything we keep on the boat....YEAH, right! I said.....I should believe them???!!!!!!....after all the lies so far???..(they didn't seem to appreciate that observation)....anyway we almost emptied everything in one day that we were planning on working on for a month at our usual pace."

"But I will be dammed if we are removing OUR lock from the storage shed...because these sheds hold personal (customers') stuff that was not part of the club operation inventory and they will need each boater to sign off before they can touch the sheds and their contents."

"Well...they can send us a telegram to the San Blas Islands...we will be leaving our lock on the shed when we leave...right now we are being very difficult and fighting to have our power and water turned back on on the dock."

There was more in the article, but the sheer audacity of the Panama Port Authority to come in in the middle of the night and forcefully demolish the Panama Canal Yacht Club... amazing... will be interesting to see how it develops... I guess the cruisers are still at the docks (at least temporarily), but there is no longer a Yacht Club facility!

Back in Costa Rica

2008-12-30T21:06:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty uneventful day, all things considered. No car breakdowns, no missed airplanes, etc. We did run into what looked like a big backup on I-95, but we were near an exit, so we cut over to the Turnpike and still arrived before our target time.

Checking in at American Airlines in Ft. Lauderdale was a breeze. Very nice. We got there early enough that there was no one in line.

Dave had his toothpaste and yogurt confiscated at the security check. I expected the yogurt (I tried to tell Dave), but the toothpaste??? After Dave whined a little "What am I going to do without toothpaste?", the guy let him keep one of two standard-sized tubes. Each tube was about 60% used. We couldn't figure how that was over the 2-oz limit.

They also wanted to confiscate Dave's mouthwash. He said he'd give up the mouthwash but he wanted the empty bottle (it's a nice travel-sized plastic bottle that he's had for years). So they had to escort him out of the security area so he could dump the mouthwash in the bathroom.

We don't usually carry on our 'shaving kit', but our checked luggage was so full, we put them in our backpacks. Hence Dave's indoctrination into the rules about carry on luggage.

Our plane actually left the gate early and arrived in San Jose about 20 minutes early--so early that the plane at the gate we were supposed to pull into, hadn't left yet. So we had hang out on the tarmac for a few minutes, waiting for a gate.

We breezed thru Immigration and Customs, they x-rayed our 4 huge bags and all our carry on stuff, but hardly looked at it. No questions, no duty.

After a $25 taxi ride, we were at the Fairamon Hotel, where we had made reservations before we left. This is just down the street from the well-known 'Tranquilo Backpackers' hostel. Same price, much quieter atmosphere. And the nice lady who runs the place went and purchased our bus tickets for us. It is a few blocks from the center of San Jose, near the museums, the shopping district, and the bus station.

Tomorrow we catch the 7am bus for Golfito.

Our Bags are Packed, We are (Almost) Ready to Go

2008-12-30T07:05:00.000-05:00

After another 7 hour road trip, this one to Hawthorne to drop our car off at my brother's house, and pick up a rental. And after hours of stressing over what goes and what stays, and how much each bag will weigh, I think we're almost done. There is no room for anything in any suitcase. They are all at 49.5 lbs. There is no room for anything else in the storage room at Nicki's house.

We just have to pack our backpacks now. I think we still have too much stuff for the backpacks. Mine is going to weigh a ton, with my computer and all the electronic gadgets we haul around. I think Dave is going to carry his computer outside his backpack.

We hit the road in the rental car no later than 9am this morning, and board the flight in Ft. Lauderdale at 2:15. By 4:15 Costa Rica time (CST?) we'll be landing in San Jose. Then at 7am the next day (31st), we board a bus for a 6 hour bus ride back to Golfito.

We Got the Car Back!!! It Works!!

2008-12-28T08:20:00.000-05:00

Well, $890 later, we have the Kia back. Plus, of course, the outrageous car rental, $322 for a total of 3 days. It was a nice car, the only car available in the Homestead area at 15 minutes before closing on Christmas eve. But still!!!

And we essentially got a front end overhaul on the engine (new waterpump, new thermostat, some new seals, etc). Made sense as long as they were doing $500 in labor to get to that area.

However, as we got up to speed on the Turnpike, headed back north, we noticed a bad shimmy in the car. (bad words!) I was afraid the guys at Precision Auto Tune in Homestead had somehow damaged the front end. We stopped at the Snapper Creek service plaza to have a look, and Dave found that our left front tire had broken a belt. So we had to change the tire. Fortunately we have a good spare, and were back on our way soon.

Lumpy Tire
On the way down, we called the shop and they said the car wouldn't be ready til 2pm. So we stopped off in Ft. Lauderdale and visited Sailorman and Blue Water Books. We also had a nice long phone conversation with Dave's friend Paul Furstenburg, who called us while we were in Blue Water Books.

Though we saw lots of really good books we'd like to have, our bags are already full and we can defer buying western Pacific books until next year. We already have pretty good coverage through the Galapagos, French Polynesia, and everywhere else we are going until the end of 2010, when we'll be in Hawaii and be able to get the rest of what we need.

Due to delays at the shop, and the tire change, we missed Nicki's Christmas Dinner by 5 hours. But she saved us leftovers. So we had our second Christmas Dinner last night at Nicki's. And we got to watch our family Christmas classic movies: Emmet Otter Jug Band Christmas and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

It was nice meeting Phil's family. And Nicki made a fantastic dinner.

Only 2 days til we are winging our way back to Costa Rica! Today is packing day. Tomorrow is 'drive to Hawthorne and drop the car off', and Tuesday we fly from FTL on American.

TWIC Cards Acquired

2008-12-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

Our TWIC Mug Shots (UGH!)
One of the things on our list for this trip was to get our 'TWIC' cards. TWIC stands for Transportation Worker Identification Cards.

Someone in the .gov realm decided that to make the ports safe, everyone who has 'real business' in a port must have a chip-encoded electronic-finger-print-protected background-checked ID card. And the US Coast Guard decided that, to put some teeth in it, any USCG-certified professional mariner MUST get this card, whether they need it or not.

Note that anyone with a 6-pack Captain's License is considered a USCG-certified professional mariner.

So even though we really do not currently need this $120 apiece ID card, we need it to keep our Captain's Licenses valid.

We talked to someone from Sea School and they advised to wail until April (the final deadline) to get it, because Sea School and probably other similar low-level licensing people are fighting it. But we couldn't wait.

So on one of our trips over to Largo to see (Dave's cousin) Bryan, we made an appointment and stopped in at the Port of Tampa to get our cards applied for. They told us it would be 4-6 weeks to get them done and we could only pick them up in Tampa. We were suprised when, only about 3 weeks later, we were notified that the cards were ready.

So we made a special trip Friday over to Tampa and back just to pick up the cards. We managed to squeeze in a turkey leftovers lunch at Bryan's too.

If you have a Captain's license and want to keep it, below is the link to the place to start. Other than the cost, it is very easy. We could have done it in Port Canaveral if we'd had the time or the foresight to schedule an appointment there.

https://twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov/

Car Disaster on Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well, we pulled out of Marathon about 10am on the 24th, headed for 'home'. We made it past Key Largo and were on what is called by locals as the Death Stretch. It's the 18 mile portion of road between Key Largo and Homestead that used to very accident-prone.

(They have since made improvements on the road, so it's probably not called that by the Tourism Board anymore). But it killed our poor Kia. One clunk and the engine quit, out in the boonies.

Fortunately we had a Triple-A card and the tow-truck was there within about a half hour. AAA had a local auto repair facility on their list. So we called them to make sure they were still open and could diagnose the problem. Well, it was 2:45 on Christmas Eve when we pulled in in the tow truck. Everyone was anxious to get going on their Christmas holiday.

The mechanic took a quick look before they locked up, and said he thought it was the timing chain. IF (a BIG if), it didn't destroy anything when it broke, it could be repaired tomorrow. Our mechanic friend told us there's a 50/50 chance it didn't cause any additional damage. They promised to take a good look at it first thing in the morning--hope to hear the verdict fairly early tomorrow morning, so we can figure out the plan to get the car back.

We managed to secure an exhorbitantly priced rental car from the Enterprise Rent a Car place down the street, just before they closed (all the other rental places were closed or out of cars, or a $50 taxi ride away at Miami airport).

Anyway, by 3:30 we were back on the road in a nice (but expensive) car, and we actually made it to our planned dinner with Nicki and Phil in Melbourne, with 15 minutes to spare!

The simplest scenario will be that the car gets fixed by the end of the day tomorrow. We'll drive down Sat am in the rental and get it. (7 hrs R/T). If it DOESN'T get repaired, then we've got to scramble to find someone who can go get it for us after it gets repaired. We're leaving for Costa Rica Dec 30 no matter what (I think).

Just one more wrinkle in our eventful trip to the US this holiday season!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

I think this will be our Christmas Card this year. There's really not much point in writing a Christmas letter, because all of you have been 'riding along' with us on a day-by-day basis. I can't think of one significant event that we haven't already posted on the blog.

We return to the boat on Dec 31. We are flying on American out of Miami, after we could not come to terms with Spirit Airlines over extending our stay. We'll be staying at the nice and inexpensive Fairamon Hotel in downtown San Jose overnight.

We plan to do a little touring around Costa Rica in January, but will have to leave the country by the end of the month (ready or not... our 3 month visa is running out then, and apparently they are not renewing tourist visas any more).

Our plan then is to head for Ecuador via Cocos Island. We hope to stop over in Cocos for a few days and dive with the sharks. Links to Cocos info here and here

We plan to spend most of next year based in Ecuador, touring inland in South America. You can find our detailed plans here: http://svsoggypaws.com/cruisingplans.htm

We welcome visits from our friends, so if you've always wanted to see a little of South America, now's your chance!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Dave and Sherry

An afternoon in Key West

2008-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Historic Schooner "Western Union" off Key West
Everyone seems to think we're down here in the Keys goofing off. But we're not! We've worked really hard this past week. We have interviewed 3 realtors, 1 lawyer, 3 lawn companies, and cleaned a lot of junk out of the house. We got 'For Sale' signs painted. We have also done a lot of internet research on home values in the Keys, finished off the website, and posted links to the website in a lot of real estate locations (look for us on CraigsList and Zillow).

So Sunday afternoon, we took the afternoon off and went to Key West. We stopped off to see Dave and JoAnn's new trawler at the marina at Boca Chica Naval Air Station. It looks a lot better than the last time we saw it (just after Dave took posession of it). I could see living on a trawler eventually.

We got to Key West just in time for sunset at Mallory Pier. Boy has Key West changed! The Mallory Pier area is so upscale now, from when I was in my teens and there were still people selling marijuana brownies out of the basket of their bike. But you can now buy a $5 beer on the pier, the are public restrooms, and the crazy performers are still there.

Dominique and his Flying House Cats
We spent some time watching crazy Dominique and his Flying House Cats perform. For anyone who knows cats, this is an amazing show. Cats usually either won't do anything, or do exactly the opposite of what you tell them to. But this guy had his cats doing all kinds of neat tricks, including jumping through a flaming hoop (well, not exactly a hoop, but an old fish net with rags soaked in kerosene).

Cat Thru a Flaming Fish Net
Then we watched the 51 year old black gymnast from Jamaica.

Gymnast Jumping over Girl on Bicycle, Thru Hoop (not flaming!)
And the dog walking a tightrope. The dog would also take your dollar bill from you and drop it in the bucket. It was cute, but too far away to get a good pic at night.

And a musician who had about 20 instruments on his body. He played a flute with his mouth, a guitar with his hands, and did the drum and cymbals by moving his elbows and legs, etc.

Finally, we met Dave and JoAnn and John Viely for dinner. John's claim to fame is that he has written a very nice series of books on the rich Maritime History of Key West. We had a nice dinner at the Thai Restaurant on Green Street (Dave's favorite dinner place in Key West) and then headed out for Duval Street for a little nighttime sightseeing. Dave got this great shot of Sloppy Joe's bar on Duval Street.

We Delay our Return to Costa Rica for 2 Weeks

2008-12-17T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, we're not back in Costa Rica yet.

We made a last-minute decision to delay our return for another 2 weeks, so we could help the family sell our Dad's house in the Keys. So Dave and I are temporarily in Marathon meeting with Realtors, Lawyers, Lawn Maintenance guys, etc, trying to get the house on the market.

The house is beautiful after my brother Jimmy's construction company, Cupecoy Construction, completed a renovation. It's a shame to sell it now! But no one in the family is inclined to either live here, or take over management of the property as a rental.

Anyone looking for a great waterfront home in the Keys, with a dock, check out the website: http://www.sombrerowaterfront.com

The website is still under construction, but should be finished within the week.

I think we'll be in Marathon through about Dec 22, and then head back to Melbourne for Christmas.

We have reservations to fly back to Costa Rica now on Dec 30.

Nice Pic from SSCA Dinner

2008-12-11T23:29:00.000-05:00

Left to Right: Dorothy Knight, Roger Smith, Ron Sheridan, Mike Beilan, Dave, Sue Beilan, Sherry (Thanks to Ed Marill for taking the picture)

A good time was had by all!

2008 Presentations

2008-12-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sherry did a half hour presentation on the San Blas at the East Coast Sailing Association and Melbourne Yacht Club monthly meetings.

Dave did an extensive presentation on Cruising the Western Caribbean at the Seven Seas Cruising Association 2008 Gam.

Both presentations (and some useful cruising links) can now be found on our SSCA 2008 page.

Golf USNA Style

2008-11-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

Jack, Dave, Sherry, and Jim
To round out the weekend, we went to the Cypress Wood Golf Course, a mile or so from Meg and Jack Moody's house in Winter Haven.

Mark (not shown) opted to just ride around and watch. Dave and I paired up against Jim and Jack in a 'Best Ball' competition. Dave was hot on the first 9, and we ended up several holes ahead. But then he got REAL cold, and Jim got hot. We ended up getting beat by 2 holes at the end of 18.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day on the golf course. Sunny, cool, not too windy. I love Central Florida at this time of the year!

Plant City Pig Jam

2008-11-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

We have been doing a lot of stuff since we got back...Madly running to and fro to doctors and West Marine and Walmarts and eBay. We were scanned, prodded, poked, analyzed, and innoculated last week. But we managed to break away for a day at the Plant City Pig Jam.

Some of Dave's Naval Academy friends were having a mini reunion in Orlando. One of the guys is a videographer for BBQTV, and was going to be at the Pig Jam filming the BBQ teams. So he told us to come on down and we could hang out in the judging area. We learned a lot about BBQ competition judging, and got to experience the 'grazing table'.

Jim Neale with the Plant City Babes
All the Way from Alvarado Texas with Custom Smoker

These Guys are SERIOUS about their BBQ

Were BAAAAACK!

2008-11-11T09:20:00.000-05:00

We had an easy trip home from Golfito.

The hardest part was catching the 5am bus in Golfito, which picked us up in front of Tierra Mar. It was a nice 'express' bus, that goes direct to San Jose. Only $12 U.S. per person, each way.

We arrived in San Jose at the bus terminal about noon, and took a $2 taxi ride to our hotel in the Amon area of downtown San Jose. We had researched hotels and our choices in San Jose were $25-80 downtown or $50-$200 out by the airport. We opted for a $28 double at Tranquilo Backpackers. It was an OK place, price and location were great, beds were OK, and it comes with a free breakfast (cook your own pancakes and free coffee), but it was kind of run down and unkempt. But we like the backpacker places in general, because they are full of young eager budget travelers, and they are a great source of information for us in our budget travel.

Dave found another hostel just up the street, only $2 more a night, but much nicer. The Fairamon Hotel. We booked ourselve in there for the return trip in December. And, a bonus, they will buy our bus tickets in advance for us, for our return trip to Golfito. The bus company will only book 8 days in advance, and we were trying to figure out how to get bus tickets without being there.

The Spirit Airlines flight was OK, except of course for all the extra add-ons... $15 for the first piece of checked luggage and $25 for the second (for each person). $15 to reserve our seats ahead of time ($10 for an aisle, $5 for a center, and $15 for a window), and $5 for a can of apple juice on board. But the plane was new and well maintained, it left and arrived on time, and the landing was good.

We were excited to see the 'Welcome to the United States of America' sign as we entered Customs. I'd love to post a picture of it here, but I almost got arrested last time trying to take a picture of that sign with my cell phone. No picture taking allowed until you've exited Customs and Immigration!

We landed at 5:20 and by 6pm we were on the road in a Budget rental car. Our first stop was the BBQ place on SR 84 near I-95. Mmmmm... full rack of BBQ ribs! Easy drive up I-95 and arriving in Satellite Beach by 10pm.

Hugs all around for Nicki and Phil, whom I'll be staying with while Dave makes a quick trip to see his aunt and cousin Bryan in Largo. I have to report for jury duty on Weds, so I have to stay in the Melbourne area for this week at least. (Lucky timing, eh?)

We're looking forward to seeing all our Melbourne area friends at the ECSA meeting on Weds night and the MYC TGIF on Friday night. And I'm especially looking forward to sailing with her old crew in the ECSA Women's Race on Sunday.

Getting Ready to Leave the Boat

2008-11-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

We have been working like dogs for the last week getting everything ready to leave the boat for 6 weeks, while we go for a visit in the U.S.

Things like 'pickling' the watermaker, putting all the sacrificial halyards on, putting covers on everything, and making lists and ordering stuff in the States. Plus of course, making travel reservations. For me, it also means making backups of all the computers and transferring myself from my big 17" laptop to the tiny laptop we travel with.

We have also been spending a lot of time working on our presentation for the SSCA Gam. We are on the official agenda for the 'Western Caribbean'. Not content to just do a travelogue, Dave has been driving us both crazy trying to put together a really good presentation about preparation, weather, etc. He is doing most of the work, but I'm his technical adivsor.

We have to catch the bus at 5am tomorrow for a 6 hour ride to San Jose. We could fly from here, but it's about $225 for the two of us, one way. For $25 we can take the bus. We'll still have about 24 hours in San Jose to look around a little.

So we spent all day today packing, unloading the fridge and freezer, and shutting down the boat.

Fortunately the ever-present torrential rain gave us break today. Everyone keeps telling me that October and early November are the worst months, and by late November it gets a lot better. By mid-December when we get back, it should be pretty good.

We are leaving the boat in Tim's at Land n Sea's capable hands, it is on a mooring, and it will be locked up tighter than a drum. So we're not too worried about leaving Soggy Paws. It'll be just another Quantum Leap for us, going back to the U.S.A.

Mileage Update

2008-11-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

So Far in 2008: Miles 2,983 Engine Hrs: 510
Since May 25, 2007: Miles 4,224 Engine Hrs: 685

Total Nights: May 25 - Oct 31 499
Nights Spent On Passage: 10
Nights Spent on Anchor: 229
Nights Spent on a Mooring: 10
Nights Spent in a Marina: 277
- 'Traveling Inland': 67
- In the U.S.: 58

These stats were originally started as a progress update sometime early this year. But I finally went back through our logbook and filled out a proper spreadsheet on a month-by-month basis from the beginning of the trip. We'll try to keep it up monthly. You can see the result at http://www.svsoggypaws.com/mileagesummary.htm

Gators 49 - Bulldogs 10

2008-11-01T18:47:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy ESPN.com
We enjoyed listening to the Gators stomp the Georgia Bulldogs (an internet Gator Radio Network feed). I am happy.

Unfortunately, the Seminoles fumbled their winning touchdown in the endzone with 45 seconds to go. Dave is sad.

Golfito, Costa Rica - First Impressions

2008-11-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

Current Position: 08-37.280N 83-09.153W

Our first impressions of Golfito are kind of mixed.

The Good: It is a wonderful protected anchorage. No rolly stuff here. The hills are very green and when the sun shines it is a beautiful place. It is wonderfully cool at night. U.S. Dollars are accepted as readily as Colones, the local currency.

The Bad: The sun doesn't shine often! And the town is a little squalid. This is an abandoned banana town--Created by United Fruit when the workers got too uppity on the Caribbean coast. When the bottom fell out of the banana market in the 1980's, they left here abruptly. The town now survives off of tourism, a free trade zone, and fishing. The coming of the gringos has provided jobs, but has also caused prices in Costa Rica to rise, so it's no longer an inexpensive Central American country.

As for the rain, it IS rainy season here. But I'm told that there is no 'dry season'. There is a 'less rainy season'. But that's what feeds the rainforests and the eco-tourism that Costa Rica is so famous for. It's just kind of miserable to have overcast and drizzle all the time.

We are on an $8/day mooring at Land n Sea. This is a tiny establishment run by a former cruiser, with a small dock, about 8 moorings, and a help-yourself bar. If you are on one of their moorings you get free wifi ;) and free cold showers :0

During rainy season, most cruisers that are hanging out in this part of the world move to Ecuador, south of the equator, where it's less rainy. And the boats that ARE here are mostly empty right now. So there isn't much 'cruiser social life'. No potlucks, no VHF net.

We leave for San Jose on the 9th, and fly to the U.S. on the 10th. We will hire Tim at Land n Sea to watch over our boat for another $2/day. There is a fairly high crime rate in Golfito, but Tim lives on the houseboat right next door, and he says he has a reputation among the locals as a crazy man with a machete.

Our check-in to Costa Rica in Golfito was a bit of a nightmare. There are 4 stops you have to make (and some backtracking), and none of the 4 places are within walking distance of each other. And none are within walking distance of the marinas. We did: Port Captain, Copy Place, Immigration, Agriculture, Customs, back to the boat for paperwork shuffle, back to Customs, and then a final stop at the Port Captain. We hit a snag at Customs when the lady checked our boat documentation and noticed
that it was going to expire the next day. We explained that the new certificate was with our mail in Florida, and we were going to Florida next week to pick it up. Then she started talking about having to bond the boat and other things we didn't understand (in rapid Spanish). We asked if we could have the new certificate faxed down, and that wasn't good enough. Finally I asked if a color scan of the new certificate, emailed to us and printed out for them, would be sufficient. She relunctantly
agreed. Then it was 3 phone calls to Bryan, Dave's cousin (who couldn't figure out how to scan the document in any format larger than 4x6). But finally Bryan got us what we needed and Dave had to report to Customs at 8am with the update.

There were no fees except the $43 'quarantine' fee at the Agriculture office. They (fortunately) don't come out to the boat or do anything but fill out a few more forms. She wanted to know how many refrigerators we had and how many trash cans. Dave protested the fee, but she was adamant that it was the law. (But Tim at Land n Sea says the boats coming south into Costa Rica don't pay that fee).

So now we are trying to catch up on our internet (correspondence, banking, blog pics, travel research and arrangements), prepping the boat for our absence, and getting ready for America.

But today...we are hoping to find a bar in town where we can watch the Gators stomp Georgia this afternoon. GO GATORS!

Arrival in Costa Rica!!!

2008-10-30T18:12:00.000-04:00

Anchoring Position: 08-32.683N 83-17.983W

Well, we finally made it to Costa Rica.

We motored around Punta Burica yesterday morning. Again, very light conditions. The swell was monstrous (to us). I can't imagine what it's like when the wind is blowing hard!

It is too far to make it all the way into Golfito from our anchorage at Punta Balsa. We were thinking of stopping at Pavones, where there's supposedly an anchorage that's not too bad. But after our sloppy rolly anchorage off Punta Balsa the previous night, we wanted something calm. So after taking a look at Pavones (famous for surf), we decided to go on to Puerto Jiminez across the Golfo Dulce from Golfito.

We are glad we did. Easy anchoring spot (thanks to waypoints from others) and a nice quiet non-rolly anchorage. We also had a nice hour and a half sail on our way up the Golfo Dulce. The afternoon winds picked up to about 12 knots right on our beam, so we were able to shut down the engine and still make 6 knots.

We will come back and explore Puerto Jiminez, the Osa Peninsula, and Corcovado National Park later. Today we head for Golfito and get checked in to the country.

Punta Balsa, Last Stop in Panama

2008-10-30T08:00:00.002-04:00

Anchorage Position: 08-04.610N 082-50.967W

The jump from Isla Gamez to Golfito is about a hundred miles... too far to make in one day. Friends had told us of a passable overnight anchorage at Punta Balsa, on the east side of the Burica Peninsula, on the very western edge of Panama.

It's 35 miles from Isla Gamez to Punta Balsa, so we left in the early morning, motoring north around Isla Parida. Again, virtually no wind. In heavier conditions, the way north and west around Parida might be risky due to relatively shallow water (15' deep). Some of these areas would break in heavy seas. Even though we've had less than 10 knots for nearly a week now, there is still a 6-8' long Pacific swell.

We have not been 'off soundings' in so long that Dave thought our depth sounder wasn't working. But the area between the islands in the Bay of Chiriqui (where we've been for the last week) and the Burica Peninsula gets very deep--1500 feet deep.

We were only about a mile off the waypoint we'd been given before we finally 'found the bottom' at 500 feet. It still didn't look like we'd find any protection from the considerable swell rolling in. But we kept on going in.

The bottom came up rapidly, but was still at 80 feet a hundred yards from the waypoint. We went in very slowly and finally, we found the little pinnacle... it shallowed up to about 20'. We motored around in a cloverleaf to make sure we had plenty of swinging room (the tidal range is still about 10' here). We finally dropped anchor in about 25' at half tide. The swell had dropped off in the last quarter mile, due to shoals that extend from the point just south of us. We could see heavy breakers
for quite a ways out from shore.

During the night the conditions changed from 'really rolly' to 'not bad', as the current and wind changed. The current runs along the shore and reverses with the tide. For about 6 hours during the night, with no wind, the current held us beam to the swell, and we rolled like heck. But the wind was zero and we knew we were stuck well to the bottom, so it wasn't dangerous, just uncomfortable.

We have only seen one other cruising boat during this whole trip, and only a couple fishing boats. We are in the 'skip zone' for the Panama Pacific net, so we can't hear the friends we just left in Panama.

We are looking forward to getting in to Golfito, where there is a fully protected anchorage, and reportedly a small cruising community.

Islas Secas, Western Panama

2008-10-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

Anchoring Position: 07-59.467N 082-01.812W

We left our spot in the Contreras early in the morning, and motored in mostly calm winds to the Secas.

The guidebook shows about 4 anchorages on the NE side of Isla Cavada. What we found was that the sketch chart is not very accurate as to depths. Each bay with an anchor in it shoaled up rapidly, and we could never get in all the way to the anchor. And the chartlet is just a little off (the features do not all match up). Our raster chart was no more accurate. So we carefully felt our way around and ended up right where our friends on Carina and RDreamz told us to anchor. They also found the other
anchorages too shallow and too confining.

In each bay, we saw one mooring in the exact best spot to anchor. Just inshore of the mooring is where the bottom came up fast. So pick a spot just outside of the mooring.

The northern anchorage, where we ended up, is off a pretty little sand beach with palm trees. We anchored near a rocky pile (we could see it on the depth sounder and just barely make it out from deck). Dave managed to pick out a nice sand spot in 20' of water. The anchorage was passable in the mild conditions we are experiencing... a little rolly, but not too bad.

In the morning I snorkeled the whole area, and did find some live coral and tropical fish just inshore of us, but the water was disappointingly murky. Friends passing thru here a few years ago mentioned snorkeling and finding clear water here even during rainy season. But not for us this time.

We also did a little gunkholing in the dinghy. The resort here looks deserted. We met one caretaker fishing off the floating dock in the southernmost bay. He said the resort is closed until December 15.

We spent all Saturday here, and expected to be inundated with weekenders by Saturday afternoon. We did see 2-3 small sport fishing boats trolling around the island, and 2 of them anchored overnight, but away from us. They were gone at first light.

Isla Gamez and Isla Parida, Western Panama

2008-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Anchorage Positions
Isla Gamez: 08-07.697N 082-19.037W
Pta Jurel: 08-08.347N 082-19.300W

We left the Secas at about 10am. The wind as usual was about 2 knots from the SW, so we motored most of the 20 miles. Toward noon an onshore breeze developed and we were mostly sailing for a little while.

The guidebook mentioned that cruisers favored the Punta Jurel anchorage at Isla Parida. There is a small resort there that welcomed cruisers. So that is where we planned to stop. But on our way in, we passed close to Isla Gamez, and that looked just beautiful.

We went on in to Punta Jurel, and put the anchor down for lunch (we were starving by then). Either the resort is no longer functioning, or it is in sleep mode for rainy season. The beach looked junky (buckets and things scattered about) and not like it was being maintained as a resort. We could see one building in the trees with a guy sitting on the porch, but no other signs of life.

The anchorage itself was OK, but nothing special. So after a quick crew conference, we voted unanimously to go back out and anchor off Isla Gamez (only about a mile away).

This turned out to be a beautiful anchorage--the best so far on the Pacific side of Panama, in our opinion. Nice holding in heavy sand, a gorgeous beach with palm trees ashore, some wind to keep us cool, and very little swell. I could have stayed here for a week or more.

There were a couple of local boats picnicing at the beach on Sunday when we arrived, but they were gone by sundown. We had the whole place to ourselves all day Monday. We swam into the beach and found some coconuts. We burned our trash at low tide on the beach. There is supposed to be good snorkeling here, but again rainy season has rendered the water very cloudy, with only about 8 foot visibility. So we didn't even bother.

We got the usual evening heavy rain, with a little wind. But we were sheltered and secure. A very nice anchorage (this time of year).

Islas Contreras, Western Panama

2008-10-25T08:47:00.001-04:00

Anchoring position in the Contreras: 07-51.964N 81-47.635W

We totally skipped Isla Coiba, which is no longer a penal colony and is now a national park. Until recently, there was a reasonable fee to stay for a day or two (something on the order of $10-$20 per night). But cruisers who arrived in Panama City just before we left said that they were asked for $100/day to stay there. ($20 pp per night, and $60 for the boat for the first night, and $40 for subsequent nights).

We wanted to go check it out for ourselves, to see if it really was that outrageous. But we're getting short on time and we just decided we'd skip it. I wanted to go, confirm the fee, and leave immediately (in protest) to make a point. But it seemed a little ridiculous to go to that extent (it's 2 hours motoring to get there, and 2 hours to get anywhere else).

So we went directly from Bahia Honda to the Contreras, going around the south and west end of Isla Medidor. (Someone had warned us not to go through the narrow slot between Medidor and the mainland, saying the currents and waves were nuts there).

We found a nice anchorage in the deep bay on the north side of Isla Brincanco, approximately where the Bauhaus guide indicates. The sketch chart, when used with the GPS and Sea Clear to plot the boat on the chart, isn't exactly accurate. But it is accurate from a visual standpoint. The best anchorage IS west of the prominent rocks, but the location that that plots in Sea Clear on the sketch chart is just EAST of the rocks.

We didn't get to do any exploring, because it started raining soon after we dropped anchor, and poured all night long. There were 2 fishing boats that came in late in the day and anchored in the NW corner of the bay. They were gone at dawn.

This island group is supposedly part of Coiba National Park, and we'd been warned by others that we might get asked to pay a fee to stay there. Our strategy was to resist paying and cite weather and just an overnight stop. With the dinghy up on deck, it's not too hard to argue that we didn't plan to go ashore. But the weather was so nasty that I think all the patrol boats wisely stayed in port. We never saw a soul. There is nothing that we could see ashore... one small beach and 2 palm trees,
and then heavy vegetation everywhere else.