This weekend we met two of the most lovely Ticos in a land of remarkably warm and affable people, Adri Molina and Alex Sanchez. While enjoying a late supper with them at the Costa Rica Yacht Club next door (and being introduced to sopa negra), they suggested we all take a cruise over to Isla San Lucas for the day and explore the prison. Naturally, we jumped at the opportunity.
Alex, Adri, & Nicholas went out on the little trimaran while their captain Miguel accompanied Kelly, Phillip, and Alexander on their Hobie cat. We made it across to the island without a hitch and had an amazing couple of hours exploring the abandoned prison and its village. The guards were very helpful, but we were basically left to ourselves and allowed to explore wherever our fancies took us.
Sadly, the prison is in an extreme state of disrepair from neglect and vandalism. It is very interesting though to see how these prisoners were housed in large rooms with little to no ventilation. One can only begin to imagine what it must have been like during the rainy season. I shudder to think...
After we'd had our fill, Miguel came and picked us up from the little beach. We ate out lunches aboard the Hobie in the afternoon sun. There was even a little breeze to keep us from feeling the heat too much.
For our return trip, we switched craft. Alex and Adri took charge of the boys on the Hobie with Miguel while Phil and I decided to try our hand at the little Wind Rider. The trimaran is underpowered, so the division of people made more sense. Besides, with the afternoon chop on the gulf, it was going to be a wet ride!
We were doing great sailing out of the mouth of the little bay at San Lucas when all of a sudden we heard a loud POP! The port side rudder control cable had snapped. Phil tried his hand a reaching back with his left hand to direct the boat, but it was quickly clear that it would not be a solution for crossing the gulf. Luckily, we had a wealth of shock cords in the boat for keeping things stowed. Without too much trouble, we were able to repurpose one in place of the broken cable. It wasn't a perfect solution, but having the shock cord apply a constant tension to port let Phil steer with the starboard control cable.
After we that, we had a blast. I went out on the trampoline to try to let us keep things balanced. In the end I got a little cold from the wind, so I retreated inside the little cockpit. We managed to sail all the way up the estuary until just before docking. Not a bad day out sailing!
It was about time to make a supply run, so we decided to share Wayne's rental car and give him a lift to the airport. As usual, Phil & Wayne had an adventure convincing Thrifty to actually give them a car. Still, before too long, they were back with a new little Yaris that would fit the bill.
The next morning, we headed out, but not before Miss Ruby the Wonder Dog could coat herself with little grass burs. Aw well, at least she had a good romp before getting on a long plane ride. The boys spent the majority of the drive to Alajuela helping her regain her coiffure.
It was a sad parting, especially since we aren't sure if Wayne will return before we head south. Wayne, we hope your delivery is very boring and the wind is at your back. I'm sure our paths will cross again!
Then it was off to our hotel, lunch at a fabulous Indian restaurant, more shopping, and a delightful sushi dinner at Fabio Lemos's home. Does it get any better than this?
We are back in Puntarenas! This is definitely something we were not expecting but a most welcome change in our itinerary, to be sure!
However, this time we are not moored at the Costa Rica Yacht Club, but instead at the new Puerto Azul Resort & Marina. We are very happy to be back on shore power & water for the first time in over 6 months!
The 'resort' side of this development is still under construction, but the marina is open. To give you an idea of what it is like here, all of the docks at Puerto Azul are made of solid teak! Puntarenas now has a first class marina facility and, finally, an alternative to insanely expensive Los Suenos.
If you are interested in staying at Puerto Azul Marina you should contact the marina developer, Fabio Lemos.
After a restful night sandwiched in the channel between Isla Cedros & Isla Jesusita, we got underway for our next destination, Isla San Lucas. A former penal colony, Isla San Lucas is now a protected Costa Rican National Heritage Site. It's very special to cruisers because of a well-protected little bay on the east side of the island. When we set sail, we thought that we would tour the old prison and see the sights ashore. Well, things turned out otherwise...
We arrived at Isla San lucas a little ahead of Wayne and Ruby aboard S/V Learnativity. Wayne had slowed to perform some compass calibration earlier in the day. We had the "honor" of choosing the anchoring point. We based our decision on information in the S/V Sarana guidebook (which we have found to be invaluable). There were already three sailboats anchored in the area where we wished to drop the hook. In fact, all three were rafted together.
In our chosen spot, there was only 11' of water. We need 7.5' to avoid touching bottom so I was a bit apprehensive! A glance at the tides indicated we were at low tide, so we anchored a bit apart from the rafted sailboats and set about putting Samadhi into "in port" mode.
We weren't anchored for 2 minutes before a small sailing dinghy came racing by with its sole occupant offering free use of the craft! At first we demurred, but they would not take no for an answer. It didn't take long for all of us to take turns sailing the little Open Bic. Even better, it turned out that there were four sailing kids aboard the three boats. Soon, Alexander and Nicholas had their own sailing dinghy in the water and four little sailboats were out prowling the bay!
We were invited aboard the "raft" for a BBQ that evening. Our charming hosts had an amazing feast in store for us. Fabio, Theresa, Edgar, Josu, and Laura kept our plates and glasses full while regaling us with stories of their lives. Meanwhile, Nicholas and Alexander played with their new friends Bito, Miguel, Zaca, and Maria Elena. We all dined on BBQ lobsters so fresh they tried to crawl off the grill, marinated grilled pork, and BBQ beef. Yum, Yum, and YUM!
To cap it off, we enjoyed some of the best rum I have ever had. Josu had brought it specially for Fabio all the way from Venezuela! Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera is a 15 year old solera rum that is one of the most subtle, elegant rums we have ever tasted. It was the perfect complement to a truly delightful evening.
More impressive still, Fabio took us on a tour of his 40 foot Hunter sailboat. Once you step aboard you realize that this is NOT an ordinary Hunter! Fabio completely gutted the boat to a bare hull, then redesigned and rebuilt the interior using lightweight cored material. Not only did the boat lose a lot of weight, but the new interior design makes much better use of the available space! During our tour we saw detail after detail of his reconstruction that rival some of the custom yachts we have been on. I feel bad calling this boat a "Hunter" as it bears so little resemblance to the mass produced boats that carry the same label. Truly amazing, I could write a lot more just about the boat!
All of us returned that evening happy, but exhausted! New friends, a new port of call, and great food!
Sometime around midnight, it suddenly occurred to me that we didn't visit the former prison ashore. I guess that this means that another trip to Isla San Lucas is in our future...
We left the Tortugas and headed over to Isla Cedros for the night, anchoring in the channel between it and Isla Jesusita. After securing the boats, we all got in the dinghy and went exploring. Along the shore of the peninsula, we found a cute little pulperia set back from a rocky beach in the midst of a carefully manicured hillside. Ruby tried to make friends with the locals like Mancha and (no joke) Killer but was not very successful. The ladies minding the shop urged us to keep a watchful eye out for any banditos as there are reputedly some in the area. On our way back, we swung by the ferry landing at Paquera but were not tempted to land.
Later, Wayne treated us to a homemade dinner aboard S/V Learnativity! As the sun set in a pool of fire, we all sat outside and watched. Then, with the brilliant phosphorescence lighting our way, we dinghied over to our neighbor for a delicious dinner and (good wine and) stimulating conversation with Wayne, followed by a "Tron Style" dinghy ride with a trail of daylight-bright phosphorescence!
We sailed S/V Samadhi V with S/V Learnativity close behind to Islas Tortugas. This is one of the biggest tourist draws in the area, also known as one of the finest beaches in all of Costa Rica (or so the brochures would have you think). What we found was a bit different...
We did find a white(ish) beach, but it was covered with gringo tourist paraphernalia. Want to lounge in the sun on a chair? You can do this for a cheap price of $6.00 (all prices are in dollars here!). Lots of tourists abound, consuming many tropical beverages, with more coming in every second aboard tourist boat after tourist boat. To make the story short, we didn't stay on the beach!
All was not lost, the snorkeling at the nearby rock spires was lots of fun! Starfish, spider conch, and lobster were all around, surrounded in a cloud of tropical fish!
It makes me sad that most people's experience of Costa Rica will be defined by tour operators. We have become spoiled by our ability to travel to the undeveloped and undisturbed areas.
We set sail with Wayne from S/V Learnativity and his dog Ruby for a day of fun at Playa Curu. The Curu Wildlife Refuge is a small reserve on the southwest shore of the Nicoya Peninsula. This reserve is an unusual mix, belonging to both the Costa Rican government and the Schutt Family. Amongst the wide range of wildlife, the refuge harbors a colony of giant oysters which are extremely rare on the Pacific Coast.
After a short hop from Bahia Ballena aboard the good ship Learnativity, we arrived and went ashore to explore. The beach at Curu is truly expansive and is covered with scurrying crabs. Nicholas immediately set to work to capture one for his own. It was fascinating to watch the crabs scuttling rapidly sideways while Nicholas ran across the beach in pursuit! 99.9% of the crabs proved faster than a 10 year old boy... but there is always that .01%!
After the beach, we headed inland where we enjoyed a Tico-style lunch, casados of pork, rice, black beans, cooked vegetables, salad, and fresh tropical fruit. While we ate, we were serenaded (jeered at?) by a troop of Howler Monkeys (monos congos) stationed nearby in a tree. I don't know why they call them "howler" monkeys as they don't really howl. The sound of a howler monkey is more like a growl or a roar. Maybe they should be called "Growler Monkeys"!
Next, we headed out for some snorkeling and beach exploration on the other side of the bay. We found a beautiful white sand beach and established our shore base. Everyone donned their gear and headed into the ocean for a peek around. (Ruby stayed behind to guard the dink.) Water visibility was not the best, maybe 6-8 feet, but it was warm! Water temps hovered around 85 degrees as we swam about looking at fish, shellfish, and the occasional lobster. Kelly and I swam a bit further out and found the artificial reef where new coral is growing over old tires and PVC pipe.
We returned to S/V Learnativity and enjoyed a leisurely cruise back to Bahia Ballena as the sun set. Everyone had a wonderful time, and it was great to be able to cruise aboard someone else's boat for a change. Our thanks to Wayne for hosting us!
We left the Costa Rica Yacht Club 3 days ago. Everyone was happy to say farewell to busy Puntarenas with its fishing boats racing back and forth. We are now anchored in a large, placid bay surrounded by the incredible natural beauty that Costa Rica is famous for. Much better!
Wayne, aboard S/V Learnativity, is here as well, so we get to share our fun times with him and his dog Ruby.
So far we have been taking things easy aboard Samadhi V. The boys have been working on their schoolwork, and we have done some underwater boat maintenance. Alexander and Nicholas strapped on regulators and explored a bit underwater, too.
We have taken a few trips ashore, and we are planning more extensive travels to other anchorages in the next few days. There are so many places to visit that it's hard to decide where to begin!
On our cruise to Bahía Ballena, we answered a call for assistance over the VHF. Kelly was on watch and talked with the boat. As luck would have it, we were able to help out the cruisers aboard S/V Nemesis when we arrived at the anchorage (just before they did themselves). Jeff injured his hand with a chisel while underway! We were so happy we could offer assistance! You can read more about their experiences in their blog.
Today we're all looking forward to more fun in the sun with our cruising friends. Nicholas, of course, is particularly looking forward to more fishing.
A few days ago another boat, oh, wait, that's already posted, so I guess I'll skip ahead a bit.
Anyway, did Nicholas happen to mention that they have their own computer (which Nicholas has spent hours on)?
So he created his own profile in this online pirate game, but there was another game which I thought was more fun. You drive around in these Flinstones vehicles and try to beat the other player at a goal. My favorite was capture the flag, but survival was fun and racing looked cool. I had lots of fun.
Yesterday we went in the pool with them again, but the bridges were gone! We ended up pushing each other off of the island in the middle of the pool, and that was fun until I slipped the third time that day, and then we had to go shopping.
We got some pepperoni pizza when we went out that night, and so that was yummy. And when we got back to the boat I got to frost some cupcakes and then eat one. That was yummy too.
But I guess we're leaving today, so I don't know whether I'll see them again or not.
After a bearing started losing it's rollers in Bahia Santa Elena, we decided it was time to repair the windlass again. Luckily it never stopped working! We had a new bronze bushing expertly machined and installed here in Puntarenas. Turns out that there was supposed to have been a bronze bushing, NOT a roller bearing according to the drawings. Since the bearing is quite small and the loads are very high I am guessing (hoping?) that is what caused the failure. We are lucky to have the drawings, as our windlass is 21 years old and no longer manufactured.
Eli and Sean are two very fun 10 and 12 year-old cruisers. They were led in by a panga and their parents at the wheel. Alexander and I took a break from our schoolwork and went down onto the dock to introduce ourselves.
Later that day, all of us played pool and then went into the pool to have some fun playing with the bridge over the pool. The bridge has a higher part than the rest of it which we made the king's throne. Whoever defeated the king (You defeat the king by pushing him off the bridge) became the new king and it kept going on like this until we were all bored.
Then, they came over for dinner. We all had krabby patties from Spongebob, except Daddy was making them. All of us wanted different condiments!
They had a DS, the same exact one as both of ours! We had fun doing wireless Mario and Mario Kart battles with them for the next two hours.
Then, they left and we are going to play with them today again hopefully!
After our first inland trip in Costa Rica, we're back home aboard Samadhi!
On New Year's Day, we departed the Costa Rica Yacht Club to head inland for a visit to the Arenal Volcano and a Zipline Canopy Tour. We traveled with our friend Wayne from S/V Learnativity, his daughter Lia, her fiance Brian, and the two puppies Ruby and Piglet. With 7 of us plus two small dogs, we were quite the group! Luckily, we were able to secure an appropriate rental car in the form of a Chrysler minivan. I say luckily as this is the high season for tourism, and apparently, rental cars (of any sort) are very rare to come by!
We departed Puntarenas and circumnavigated Lake Arenal on our way to the canopy tour. During this trip we saw the landscape shift from temperate pastureland to steep mountainsides abraded by constant wind.
Waterfalls, streams, and rivers constantly passed by as we traversed what seemed like 100 single lane bridges. A constant light rain and foggy haze accompanied us as we drove on.
Navigating was a real adventure. First, we didn't have a map. Second, most small roads have no signs, so I am not sure a map would have helped. Amazingly, Kelly and Wayne were able to guide us halfway across the country to our destination. Best of all, we arrived on time!
When we arrived at the zipline tour, the weather had not cleared. A constant drenching mist was falling, and low, gray clouds obscured our view of the volcano and the lake. We saw people arriving back from the tour covered with grease but wearing ear to ear grins. So, we went inside and geared up for our adventure. We were each wrapped in a rain jacket and strapped into about 20lbs of safety gear. Finally we were capped off with a helmet and sent on our way!
We started off on the tour by taking a tram ride up the mountainside. We were riding in something resembling a large ski gondola. As we ascended through the canopy, our guide helped to detail the plants we were passing by. Sharp-eyed Nicholas spotted a green vine snake on a tree as he tried to grab the leaves outside of the car! Seeing the canopy from the treetop level, instead of from the ground really gives you a completely different perspective. The ride up was fantastic, and I was sorry that it was so short.
At the top (top of the tram ride, NOT the summit of the mountain), we each tried some short zipline cables to "get the hang of it". These training cables aren't very steep (you don't go fast) and are only 20 or 25 meters long so the rides are pretty short. Most of all, these cables are only about 30 - 50 feet above the ground. Nicholas was having second thoughts about the tour, and asked to go back down on the gondola. Even so, he bravely volunteered to be first down the first ine! After Nicholas's test rides, he was willing to "try it".
After the test rides, we gathered at the first launch platform, looking down our first "real" thrillride. Standing on that platform, we were greeted by a cable that extends out and down... into the mist and clouds. We couldn't see our "destination", but we could see that we were way, way above the treetops!
I stepped up onto the "launch platform" and was clipped onto the cable. Then one of the guides double-checked my equipment. Finally, I was given the OK symbol, and off I went!
The first part of the cable is the steepest, so I shot down rapidly building speed as I "flew" out over the forest canopy. What a rush! After the first cable, Nicholas had removed all doubt that this was a FUN activity!
Each cable is different. They build in speed and length throughout with some being remarkably high while others let you zoom just above the treetops. The final cable actually takes you THROUGH the trees, an amazing experience! Alexander got a very special ride on the last cable, as he was "taken" down in a tandem ride with a guide while he rode facing backwards! The guide was nice enough to shoot a video of Alexander's ride which we have posted on YouTube:
We ended up at the conclusion of the ride wet from the rain, and covered with dirt and grease from the cable. Nobody cared about mess. A great time was had by all. Nicholas was asking (repeatedly) to do more zipline tours. What happened to my timid, nervous son?
After the tour, the staff provided us with moist towels to clean up. While in the midst of battling the grease and grime (surprisingly, not very difficult!), we were called out to see the Arenal volcano erupting at sunset! The view from the tour facility is flawless, and we could see the hot lava cascading down the mountainside in red bursts of fire. I took photos, but my pictures just don't do this sight justice. Darkness fell as we watched lava flow cascade down the hillside, an amazing time nobody will forget.
Once clean, we drove a short distance through La Fortuna to our hotel the Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.
After our arrival, we were served dinner made from items grown on the farm accompanied by Chilean wine. We stayed (all 7 of us) in a wonderful, 3-room, private bungalow lined with local, oil-finished wood. A soak in the solar-heated hot tub under the stars wrapped up a wonderful first day of 2009.
The next morning, we awoke just before dawn to the sounds of the howler monkeys and more birds than I knew were possible (especially a massive flock of Montezuma oropendola). We joined Wayne on the "front porch" for sunrise coffee service as we watched the birds shift from tree to tree.
At 8 a.m., we were served a delicious Tico-style meal, again sourced from (yummy) things produced right there on the finca. After breakfast, the jefe Steven lead us on a tour of the finca (farm) and some of the surrounding rain forest. While we walked, we learned about many of the different types of plants that grow here. During our tour, we saw two sloths in the canopy, one eating and the other apparently sleeping (being slothful?). We tried many different native and exotic plants and fruits, as well as fresh green peppercorns (where black pepper comes from) straight from the vine and anatto the original lipstick and now the most common dye used in coloring butter.
Departing the finca, we headed to the international airport where we dropped off Lia, Brian, and Piglet (their papillon) at the airport for their flight back to Los Angeles. Before returning to the CYRC, we stopped at Price Smart and a few other stores to grab supplies.
This was certainly a whirlwind tour, but a fantastic trip with great friends! We're really glad to have been able to go together and share the experiences with friends like Wayne and his family.
We were invited aboard the "raft" for a BBQ that evening. Our charming hosts had an amazing feast in store for us. Fabio, Theresa, Edgar, Josu, and Laura kept our plates and glasses full while regaling us with stories of their lives. Meanwhile, Nicholas and Alexander played with their new friends Bito, Miguel, Zaca, and Maria Elena. We all dined on BBQ lobsters so fresh they tried to crawl off the grill, marinated grilled pork, and BBQ beef. Yum, Yum, and YUM!
