Golfito to Marina Flamenco to pick up John

Unfortunately, the goal seems to be to make time at any cost. We might as well be a motor boat since all we seem to do is motor or motor sail even when the winds allow us to sail.

Well, after all that whining let me say that we haven't had any wind now for about 12 hours. We're about half way to Ballena Bay in the Gulf of Nicoya and are going to try to make it by dark. We've decided that the most sensible strategy is to not make it a point to go to specific locations regardless of interval, but rather to find places to stop that fit in with whatever schedule we've been able to fulfill. We have many many miles to go and moving has to be a very high priority.

The sea is quite glassy, well, almost glassy. There is a long (8 second) swell and only tiny secondary waves. The direction and length of a swell (not height) indicate from what direction and at what velocity the wind that generated the waves was. For instance a prudent mariner, if they observed a 15 second period swell from the south in these waters would assume a hurricane was to the south. If it were possible to note the direction closely enough to detect a change in direction it would be very accurate information about where the storm would most likely be heading.

Our 8 second swell probably indicates that there is or was a storm front somewhere down by the equator that had winds approaching gale force (35 knots about). No threat to us at 8 degrees north latitude. (500 miles north)

Mark took a watch last night and seemed to do OK. The main point of a watch in these circumstances is to keep an eye out for other shipping and to make sure that the autopilot doesn't go crazy and run us into the rocks. Watches were very easy and boring last night and that was just fine. It was nice to get sleep in solid 4 hour chunks instead of one or two hour catnaps.

APRIL 10, 10AM 60 MILES FROM THE GULF OF NICOYA

Let's see it's been 17 days since I left Sacramento to come down here. So far I haven't even put on my mask and snorkel let alone take a recreational swim. Did take a short swim and put on my fins. That is I tried to put on my fins. My feet seem to have expanded and resemble those of an Italian grandmother. That is to say two sturdy tree trunks of shin with bulbous roots and tiny toes sticking out like doughboy larvae at feeding time. Anyway, the fins were really hard to get on.

Now we're reading up on some of the recreational facilities that we've been missing. White sand beaches. Piña coladas on the sand. Crystal clear water. I don't know how much time we get to enjoy these wonders, however I fully intend to claim that we wallowed in that kind of luxury and beauty even if we don't so I may have to plagiarize a bit. How's this for a little fantasy to lay on the troops when we return..

<<<We dropped the hook just off the beach at Punta Coral. This is an island accessible only by boat. It is about a quarter mile long and has a 50 yard wide beach of sand so white you'd think it had been washed by hand with new improved tide.

The beach is set in a Tropical dry forest of which there are very few left in the world today. By dinghying around the island to the side opposite the beach we found a valley filled with flowering plants, interesting rock formations and numerous caves. There were troops of Howler Monkeys and what we later discovered were Yellow Amazon Parrots. Incredibly colorful. Lots of humming birds that were very curious about us and hung around to look us over while we walked on, watching the butterflies do their dance for us. We prepared ourselves a superb seafood lunch of fresh Mahi Mahi and lobster and finished off the last bottle of Panama Merlot. About that time a terrific live band strolled up the beach and we digested our meal listening to the music and dozing in the shade of a huge mango tree. Later we borrowed kayaks to visit some offshore rocks where we snorkeled while leaving the kayaks tied to a convenient mooring. Later we just dozed in convenient hammocks and enjoyed the cool evening breeze>>

Now, back to reality.

Meanwhile we continue to motor over a glassy sea with no wind at all, no land in sight in any direction and only our incredible personal intellectual resources to amuse us. Phil is applying his IPIR to reading a book, Mark is applying his to an attempt to achieve 24 hours in the sack without stirring, and I, of course, am busy fantasizing about sailing the tropical seas and fabricating tales to tell on cold winter nights to people who have no interest in listening. This is indeed the life.

The fishing so far has been a bust. We've hooked several Bonito, but since they are not very good eating we are facing canned tuna. Neither Phil nor I nor Mark have much knowledge of fishing. Phil, being a qualified mechanical engineer has been able to figure out how to work the fishing reel however and that is a definite plus. I untangle the fishing line and Mark whenever he hears the buzz of the fishing reel when a fish hits immediately goes below and hides so he won't have to reel in the fish. We are all dedicated sportsmen.

I had a talk in Golfito with a professional fisherman, that is he takes tourists out to catch game fish. I told him about our setup and what lures we were using and he said we should hook just about any of the local game fish such as Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Sailfish and Wahoo. I told him we really didn't want any fish more than about 10 pounds and he just laughed. He said around here the smallest Mahi would be about 25 pounds and it wouldn't be unusual to hook a 100 pound tuna. I said then it looks like we lose our fishing gear but we have some smaller lures. He said remember that elephants eat peanuts and elaborated to say that they caught some of their trophy fish on lures smaller than your hand. Oh, well, I said, it'll make a good story anyway...

THURSDAY 4/11 30 MILES SOUTH OF MARINA FLAMENCO

Last night we decided to push on through the night instead of feeling our way into a strange anchorage. By noon today we should be at Marina Flamenco just south of the Gulf of Papagallo. This is where we plan to meet John Corallo on the 14th. That means we'll have a couple of days at least to enjoy (I hope).

The seas have continued to be calm with no significant chop. There still is that southerly swell that really means absolutely nothing to us nor does it affect our ride.

The winds have changed every couple of hours but we've had some good sailing, especially since we don't have to hurry to make a particular destination. It is not so bad spending several days at sea when the motion of the boat is mild and the engine is not always on.

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