We left Costa Rica's Bahia Santa Elena and were soon in Nicaraguan waters making for Marina Puesta del Sol, about 145 miles up the road. Sailing was good for the first 6 hours; we sailed 4 miles offshore with winds aft of the beam 15 to 23 knots and a low chop. There was some…
That mean old Customs Lady in Golfito messed up Costa Rica's last, best chance for us to spend time and money there. That'll show 'em. Since we were illegally in the country, we moved quickly and silently up the coast. Sailed 272 miles in mostly calm seas, from Golfito in the SE to an overnight…
Golfito's a nice place. If they let you in. By 2014 we were pretty well experienced with checking into and out of all kinds of countries, and we'd already been in and out of Costa Rica once. Our check-in with Immigration this time went as smoothly as usual. However, our next stop – Customs –…
Islas Secas translates to the "dry islands." I assume this means there are no natural springs anywhere on these islands, but I don't know for sure because I have been spoiled by The Fox's reliable Little Wonder watermaker, tra-la. We sailed 34 miles from Bahia Honda to the Secas for 3 days of fishing, snorkeling,…
Still talking March 2014 here. Don't judge. Almost immediately upon reaching the Pacific side of the Panama Canal, we encountered flocks of cormorants, brown pelicans, terns, and gulls fishing among the anchored fleet o' freighters waiting their turn to go through the locks. We saw more sea life in that one spot than we had…
Some details: The weather was typical for Panama in March – humid daytime temps in the 80s, intermittent showers alternating with sun breaks. In contrast to our DIY south-to-north transit in 2011, this time in 2014 we decided to hire an agent for the north-to-south transit. We had our reasons; among them, that the logistics…
Criminy. No posting in FOUR YEARS? Inexcusable. As is always the case, life got in the way. Amazingly, none of the life events was very negative. To summarize 2014-2018: On March 21-22, 2014, we successfully transited the Panama Canal from north (Caribbean) to south (Pacific) — no thanks to adverse breezes & currents, and a…