Notes from Underway – Ecuador to Panama Left Marina Puerto Lucia 9.Dec.2010 at 0845. Destination: Panama. Current position is S00deg.06'/W081deg.25', about 65 mi. off Ecuador's north coast, heading north. Overnight breeze was SW to S, 10-16, w/ SW choppy rolly swells. Gradually decreased this a.m. to now, SW 7-12kt., SW swell reduced somewhat. Partly cloudy;…
In the town of Valdivia, around the corner from the archaeological museum and a couple yards back up a side street, is a modest-appearing artisan's shop. These are the premises of Juan Esteban Orrala, sculptor. This gentleman's workshop – like many throughout Latin America – is at the front of his and his family's house. Sr. Orrala makes…
If you're as big a fan of archaeology and anthropology as GB and I are, you will want to put your boat in Marina Puerto Lucia and visit some of the nearby archaeological sites. Downtown La Libertad itself – right along the malecon – has a pre-Inca cemetery that was excavated in the 1950s (but…
Downtown La Libertad, Ecuador, has the most extensive fish market open to the regular fish-buying public that we've seen since Ensenada, Mexico. Whatever's running offshore, will quickly find its way into the fishing fleet's nets and thence to the Mercado de Mariscos. Any local taxicab can take you there, no problemo. Have you ever been to…
Interested in birds? Marina Puerto Lucia sees a lot of snowy egrets – wading birds who in this environment have actually taught themselves to (clumsily) dive for fish. There are the other usual suspects: great egrets, cormorants, the occasional brown and masked boobies, and terns. Early mornings, the sandpipers (or are they plovers?) graze along…
I like Puerto Lucia. There's always something going on in the marina itself most of the year, though it's generally fairly low-key until about November, when "the season" starts and people start either prepping their boats for cruising east to Central America, or gearing up for the local sailing season with its warmer, sunnier weather and southwesterly…
I have lots of excuses for not having even looked at this here blog for over 5 months. We got a new laptop which naturally led to pesky reinstallation of software; we were traveling all over the place with only intermittent opportunities to connect to teh Interwebs,…you've heard it all before from lots of bloggers.…
Ecuador's top two destinations for cruising boats are Bahia de Caraquez along the coast toward the Colombian border; and Puerto Lucia, the marina nestled between the towns of La Libertad and Salinas and just east of Punta Santa Elena, South America's westernmost point. Find the Galapagos Islands on a map and draw a line due…
Yow. Last time y'all heard from the likes o' me it was early June 2010 and GB and I were halfway from Costa Rica to Ecuador, just sailin' along. And now, it is late November. We are indeed in Ecuador, been traveling & whatnot for over 5 months; and now the Fox is on jackstands…
Mornings at anchor in the lagoon of Barra de Navidad are special times. About 8 o'clock the local cruisers' net comes up on VHF radio, a time when many cruisers greet the day with their first cup of coffee. By the time they're on their second cup of coffee, another voice comes over the VHF:…