Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica 1-Marzo-2016

Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica

1-Marzo-2016

We are here – Paradise!

The beach at the north anchorage, quiet y muy tranquilo! 

The fifty mile trip from Samara took us to the southern tip of the Nicoya Penninsula, Cabo Blanco and as Eric in the Sarana’s Cruising guide says, “The weather is usually good so the only important thing is not to hit the point.” We didn’t. The turn marked our most southerly progress on this trip so far, 9 degrees 32 minutes north latitude. It feels good to be in the single digits of latitude.

Bahia Ballena has long been a secure destination talked about by cruising sailors both in conversations and print. It is a large protected bay about two miles deep with about two miles separating the north and south anchorage locations. The entrance between Punta Tambor and Punta Piedra Amarilla and their reefs is about one and a half miles with very little swell entering the bay. The bay faces southeast onto Golfo Nicoya so there is good protection from the open Pacific. Other than afternoon thermals from the northeast it is a perfect anchorage in the dry season. When we arrived we went to the north anchorage to have a swim and quiet night before relocating to the southern village end the following morning. We had the quietest sleep since some of the calm anchorages up in the Broughton Archipelago. I always get up a few times through the night to check the anchor and surroundings, more often in windy conditions. The few recreational boats that had been at the beach left with sunset and we shared the anchorage with a fish boat that left in the night. The moon came up about 11:00 pm and the silence was deafening. Even the monkeys were quiet, wanting us to sleep. The afternoon breeze had died and the water was perfectly flat. What a beautiful night.

The fishermen's Muelle and the red roof of the closed Bahia Ballena Yacht Club Bar

We had a leisurely morning with a slow trip along the beach as we re-anchored on the south end of the bay. The legendary Yacht Club Bar, the setting of so many of those cruiser’s stories has long since closed but the pier and building are still there evoking a past that has sadly moved on. The village of Tambor has some great bars and restaurants and the resident expat community frequent those.

Another cruiser using the wifi

The Tambor Tropical, with beautifully finished varnished wood has become a cruiser friendly, wifi available, mecca, but we were the only boat in the bay so no tales of wild passages were embellished at the bar. While there we met two separate Canadian couples,

Monkeys, parrots and Macaws are in the trees

one from Ottawa and the other from Calgary. The Ottawa couple are building locally and the Calgary couple were a friendly wealth of Costa Rican information having travelled here several times. There are two other sailboats at anchor here but it appears neither have moved in a long time and no one is onboard.

The village has a very good tienda with an amazing selection of goods in such a small store. The locals are friendly and this is not a tourism dependant community. There are expat communities down the coast and a couple of resorts, one, an all-inclusive, on the bay but few of these people venture into the village. Bahia Ballena is not the Tica (Costa Rican) tourist destination that Samara is and it appears that more expat here own private houses on the beach and in the surrounding hills. There are no large condo developments at Ballena, they are further south along the coast. It has a very relaxed atmosphere. No jetskis, or touts for tourist activities.

Nets on the dock, Kanilela to the left, at anchor

Our south anchorage location is off the old concrete fishermen’s dock that has a building with an incongruous new metal roof on the old concrete slab. The dock is surrounded by fishing pangas with stern anchors and bow lines running to concrete steps that lead up to the elevated dock. At low tide, some of the stairs do not reach the water level making access difficult. The immediate shoreline is rocky, not inviting beach landings. There is a long fish cleaning table on the water side of the building with a steady progression of fishermen cleaning their catch. The pelicans and gulls provide a recycling service.

Muelle means dock, but is also the name of the village

Most of the surrounding single storey buildings are old with rusted corrugated metal roofs. A line of connected concrete dwellings on piles in seeming disrepair provide most of the local housing. They were probably part of the original construction to house workers for the fish packing in more prosperous times. Several other homes are tightly clustered to the east of the dock and on the hill behind, some old some new, all in a close packed group. 

Although closed five years ago it looks ready to open tonight.

Beside the fishermen’s dock the concrete dock supporting the closed Yacht Club Bar is well painted and seems a bit out of place, especially considering it is now abandoned. In the evening howler monkeys on the hill behind and in the bush to the west claim their territory.

The main "road" to the village of Tambor, 1 km away

Tambor Village is about a kilometer from the anchorage. We have good beach access where the rocky shore meets the long sand beach. Usually the surf is not a problem but the flat sand beach makes the dinghy wheels, once again, a fabulous purchase. DaNard Marine, DaNard Marine, DaNard Marine…. That was a small subliminal visual message for our wheel manufacturer…. The walk to the village is in the shade of the shore line trees with some modest beach homes set back in the trees starting about half way.

They are in a beautiful setting and the Tica and Expat owners all waved with big smiles. This is not a stressful existence.

Samara, Costa Rica 24-Feb-2016

Samara, Costa Rica

24 – Febrero - 2016

South of the main Papagayo Winds, time to start to slow down again.

We left Bahia Brasilito early for the fifty-one mile sail to Samara. The coast was a mix of rocky headlands with beautiful sandy beaches interspersed. From a couple of miles offshore, to avoid unmarked rocks and islets, we could see huge crashing surf pounding up the beaches and sending mountainous plumes up the rock faces, reminding us that this is a surfer’s paradise not a sailor’s.

From Cape Scott on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, a coastal voyage is defined by the progression of Capes (Cabos) and Points (Puntas) one rounds. They are areas of changeable weather more noted to sailors for the storms they generate than their raw beauty which is often awe inspiring. This leg had Punto Guiones where the Costa Rican coast turns east west as it runs down the Nicoya Peninsula. Fortunately, the weather window held and we rounded the point with dolphins, flying fish and a mother whale with her exuberant baby doing dolphin leaps. This also took us to a line where the Papagayos are less frequent and less severe.

Samara, low tide at the village end of the beach, reef beyond

There are few anchorages on this area of the coast and those that exist are better known for the rolling motion of the ocean swells than their tranquility. With the recent long run of Papagayos from the north east we were hoping the Pacific Ocean southern swell would be lessened and we chose the anchorage based on this probability. Samara is a beautiful crescent shaped bay about two miles along the beach. Our best anchorage location was to tuck into the southeastern end of the bay behind a central reef and an island and reef on the eastern shore. The gap between the island and mainland is open to the south so we were rocked to sleep every night but generally not too heavy. The rest of the bay was open to much more surging conditions. This location meant you have a mile and a half walk to the village.

Kanilela a speck in the distance at south end of the bay

Samar has a lot of small beach hotels that cater to Ticas (Costa Ricans) and expats from Europe and North America, an interesting mix. It is known as a safe beach where the surf has no rip tides so Tica families have long visited Samara. There are some exclusive resorts in the area and some expat gated communities. The bars and restaurants are the gathering places for these people, some who have been down here for twenty years. It was more relaxed than Cocos and we were not worried about pending gale force winds so we slowed down. Beach walks to the village, long lunches visiting with local expats and enjoying the view of waves breaking on the reef. There are two good stores for provisioning, a Pali, and Super Samar with the Super Samar having a much better liquor selection. Water and fuel could be carried in jugs to your boat but we fortunately, did not need any. The surf in and off the beach was generally manageable but it was another beach where dinghy wheels were magic. More kudos to our friend Steve at DaNard Marine in Oxnard, California. He has the best made wheels on the market and will ship them to you, as he did for us to Vancouver. Dinghy wheels are an absolute “don’t leave home without them” item.  Of our several beach landings and exits, only one exit was a bit wet, fortunately the dinghy did not flip and the motor stayed dry! The skipper did get another lesson in patience though, as the surf died down within the hour. When will I learn?

Sunsets, they never get old

Watching the sun set into the Pacific is a great pastime but the allure of Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay) and Golfo Nicoya beckoned.

Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua to Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica

2 to 3- Febrero-2016

In a race with a Papagayo Wind

I previously mentioned the Tehuantepec winds we were crossing in southern Mexico. These winds, the Tehuantepec, the Papagayo and the Panama Gulf winds are all gap winds. They blow through areas of Mexico and Central America where the land is less mountainous. With a high pressure region on the Caribbean side and a low pressure on the Pacific side, these winds start funnelling across, accelerating as they reach the Pacific coast. We were fortunate with the Tehuantepec, we were late in the season and the isthmus is relatively narrow with no place you want to stop. Just a forty-eight hour non-stop crossing with good forecasting.

Contrarily, the Papagayos cover a much wider coastal area and affect many of the places one wants to see. The northern extremity is Golfo Fonseca, shared by El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. We were fortunate that it was calm when we sailed past and we were able to make several stops in Honduras. Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua is in a very small pocket of less wind activity and it was from there we were departing for our transit of the central Papagayo area.

This was the first time that I have felt the need to set-up a table with our possible departure times tracked against where we would be relative to the weather prediction models available. I have been using the zyGrib.com because of the localized detail they give and passageweather.com as a second check. Both are based on NOAA gfs models and review the same sources of data. Our data gave us about a four hour departure window that if we did not go too fast and catch weather before it dissipated or go too slow and get caught by new systems forming we should have a good sail. With a 9:00 am departure we anticipated a 24 hour sail with light winds for the start building to 20 knots for the final eight to ten hours.

South of the Port of Sandino, as it was getting dark we ran into several waves of twenty-five to thirty-five fishing boats with nets out. Fortunately many of them were well lit and we were able to avoid those but some had no lights and would suddenly wave flashlights at us. Because we could not see any net floats we would just slow down and try to determine where they had their net. A little shouting, a little maneuvering, a bit of high anxiety  and by about 03:00 am we had made it through the fleet of approximately 100 boats and had no nets towing behind.

The good feeling soon evaporated when Genesis III radioed their engine was dying. We had had a long period of wild seas on the nose so fuel filters were the probable culprit. Fortunately by 4:00 am, with new filters installed, we were again on our way.

By early morning we were off San Juan del Sur, southern Nicaragua, with winds gusting to the mid to high thirties, seventy plus kilometers per hour, we could not have entered the Bay if we had wanted.  Our slower pace had let the next weather system catch us. We crossed two more large bays trying to follow the coastline as much as possible to reduce the fetch of the waves and finally turned into the protection of Bahia Santa Elena.

Bahia Santa Elena

Bahia Santa Elena is a well-protected bay on the north coast of one of Costa Rica’s larger National Parks, Santa Rosa. The park is noteworthy as one of the last large tropical dry forests in all of Central America. Although it may sound like an oxymoron, the area is semiarid with no rain for about six months of the year with many trees losing their leaves and the underbrush being parched brown. Cactus are evident but it is very different than Mexico’s Baja. The other six months are defined by heavy, torrential rainfall and lightning storms. The vegetation revitalizes and it becomes jungle like. It is home to five species of wild cats, jaguars and pumas being the largest, coyotes, three species of monkeys, endless other land animals, nesting turtles and innumerable bird species.

We could hear the monkeys but did not see them here.

Cruisers avoid the rainy season because the lightning can destroy all electronics but this does put us in the heaviest months of the Papagayo winds. Legally, we cannot stop anywhere in Costa Rica until you have cleared into the country, Port Captain, Immigration and Customs. All of which are south of Bahia Santa Elena separated by a Peninsula and Point also called Santa Elena. The Point is a place of trepidation because the Papagayo winds can be double the speed of the preceding coastline. Those thirty-five knot winds we were getting could be gusting to seventy knots, one hundred and forty kilometers per hour at the point.

Although the hills surrounding the bay keep the waves from building, the wind still funnels through the valleys and over the ridges down into the bay. For the first two days the gusts remained in the mid-thirties but we were able to get to shore and find some trails to hike. We also managed some snorkeling with some good tropical fish and a small octopus is a sheltered part of the bay. There are no services or people living in the park and we only saw three vehicles on our hikes. We could hear squirrel monkeys but did not see them. On the third day, the winds picked up and the gusts were regularly forty plus knots, hitting us every five to ten minutes, day and night for ten more days. Twice, the three quarter inch snubber line for the anchor snapped after severe gusts dipped our cap rail and sent us racing perpendicular to the wind until the anchor line stopped us much like the cracking of a whip. Fortunately we had material to make new snubber lines and had the spares prepared before the others broke so putting the line on and adding scope was quickly done with no damage to the windlass.

Even the our pelican wanted to hide from the gusts!

A brief note to cruisers interested in storm anchoring. The interesting aspect to these winds was that they would die to less than five knots between gusts so the boat would travel on the slackened rode towards the anchor. When the next gust hit, and they often came from a different direction by up to ninety degrees, the bow would respond by shearing away from the wind. Kanilela has a high freeboard and a modified full keel so she would start sailing on a tether until she reached the end. I was using twenty-five to thirty foot single snubbers, the first two had heavy rubber shock absorbers at the chain hook end. The lines both parted at the double bow roller when the boat was ninety degrees to the rode even though both had been protected by fabric fire hose jacketing the snubber at the bow roller. The lines were not new and although, when I used a double bridle snubber in the past and was not happy with the action of the boat, I do think a double bridle may have helped to bring the bow into the wind faster. I did have a stern anchor out the first day but the varying wind direction often left us laying over perpendicular to the wind so that would not have been an improvement. I would probably try varying the rode length to see if there was an ideal length to minimize the swing. We were in twenty-five feet of water with one hundred thirty-five feet of rode in the beginning. By the end I had let out about two hundred feet and I suspect the swing was worsened. As a final note, I had put the forty-four pound Rocna down and was prepared to change to the sixty-five pound CQR if we dragged. The anchor held like magic but I think we will pick-up a fifty-five pound Rocna in Panama and keep the forty-four as the spare. Anyone need a sixty-five pound CQR? The unique part of all of this was having so much wind with very little seas.

A view of a good section of road. This was after about 8.5 km from the trail head, 1 km to the

park gate where the guard told me 8 km more to a store, 10 km to wifi! Who said travelling

was easy? 

Finally, on the ninth day we had enough of a reprieve in the morning I had Paul from Genesis III run me and my folding bike to the closest point of land and I rode trails then the dirt road to the closest village for wifi, beer, etc.  We had read that it was six to seven miles away. After almost ten kilometers I reached the park gate only to be told the closest store was eight more kilometers and the bar with wifi was ten kilometers. As I was cresting one of the hills riding into the wind, I was brought to a near standstill by the gusting Papagayo. It was a 4x4 road with parts partially washed out by the previous rainy season but I saw a coyote, white faced capuchin monkeys and lots of green parrots. Sitting in the restaurant/bar watching a big screen TV, sending emails to those who worry when we fall off the grid, eating lunch and drinking cold beer, it felt like I had performed a dimension shift from the howling winds of Bahia Santa Elena. I felt pretty guilty that Mags was not there but knew she would never have wanted to ride that road. The locals were amazed the folding bike had made it that far.

Lots of white caps still but time to go!

On the afternoon of the twelfth day the winds dropped considerably and the following morning we left for Punto Santa Elena and Playa del Coco to finally check in to the country. Rounding out of Bahia Santa Elena we had strong winds and following seas pushing us to the point where we had to turn back almost 180 degrees to cross the Golf of Papagayo to Playa del Cocos. We managed a mix of sailing and motor sailing as winds became noserlies and we wanted to make a daylight anchorage.

Playa del Coco

Playa del Coco has no marina but is a tourist mecca with a large tour boat panga fleet on mooring balls close to the shore. Because there is no space close, transient cruisers must anchor well out from the beach that has a reputation for humiliating people attempting dinghy landings. The Port Captain and Immigration are both located in Cocos so you must make an appearance. We were fortunate that the swell was down and our arrival provided no entertainment for the tourists in the beach bars.

After seeing the Port Captain and then up the street to Immigration, we boarded a local bus, 45 min ride for $1.80, to the turnoff for the airport near Liberia to complete our entry with the customs people. All went well and there was no charge but it took most of the day and lots of walking. The following day we returned to the Port Captain to get a domestic zarpe that permitted us to go to Marina Papagayo, about four miles to the north and to anchor at intermediate points until we get to Puntarenas in the Golf of Nicoya.

Cocos is a tourist town, generally an older group than the Guatemalan back packers and the travelling surfers are out in the cheaper beach camps close to the breaks. It was convenient for provisioning and getting sim cards for Costa Rica with lots of restaurants to choose from.

Marina Papagayo

Although we prefer to anchor, a forecast return of the Papagayo winds and the desire to have fresh water to wash the salt off the boat sent us to the north end of Bahia Culebra to check into the somewhat exclusive Marina Papagayo. The docks and amenities, washrooms, showers, restaurant and bar, coin laundry are extremely well done. The moorage is $2 per foot per day which was comparable to a lot of California and the facilities were much better. One month and one year rates were much cheaper. The marine store was surprisingly well stocked so I was able to replace all of my nylon dock lines and snubbers with new material. The staff, from Dan the General Manager to every person we met, were friendly and helpful.

Papagayo Marina, Hokale'a in left foreground

The restaurant/bar had excellent daily half price specials and $2 beers so the six cruising sailboat crews attended every happy hour. It was there we met Kate and Mike from Magna Jean, Jake and Jackie from Hokule’a, Steve and Sandra from Yonder and Nancy and Sven from Senta II along with our cruising companions, Paul and Mary from Genesis III. It was particularly good to meet Kate, as she is one of the controllers for the Pan Pacific Net we have been listening to since El Salvador.

A mother Capuchin with a tiny, tiny baby on her back

We saw both howler monkeys and white faced Capuchin monkeys close to the marina entrance and the howlers could be heard regularly. Five days went quickly cleaning and repairing the boat until another weather window opened for us to say hasta luego to the northbound boats and for us to head south.

A big black howler monkey not too impressed with my interest

Brasilito

It was only a short twenty mile sail from the marina past Playa Cocos down to Brasilito, a small village we were hoping to visit and try the restaurants. The bay faces west and is open to some swells. The holding was good and Genesis III and Kanilela were the only boats at anchor. Unfortunately the swell was up the afternoon we anchored and our weather window did not let us stay for another day to get another chance to go to shore.

On to Samara.....

Road Trip - Leon, Nicaragua

Road Trip - Leon, Nicaragua

25 to 28- Enero-2016

Nothing puts a smile on my face faster than going to new places.

Back on the micro (meecro) buses

The original capital city, Leon, is about two and a half hours inland from Marina Puesta del Sol. The buses for the closest town, Chinandega, leave at 5:00 am and about 6:30 am and return later in the afternoon. That is a drawback to the remoteness of Puesta del Sol. The plus is that there are taxis available that, when shared with another boat, are not unreasonable. Mary and Paul from Genesis III are as eager to travel as we are so the solution was easy. We taxied to Chinandega and took a micro bus to Leon.

The Cathedral

The city in its present location, dates from 1610, after the original site that dated back to 1524 was abandoned due to repeated earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It remained the capital until 1852 when Managua was selected as the capital to end conflicts between liberal Leon and conservative Granada. Leon has remained the cultural and ecclesiastical center of Nicaragua as well as the center of revolutionary politics.

The American enforced isolation of Nicaragua during the early Daniel Ortega era of the eighties could have contributed to Leon’s enduring colonial charm. With a devastated economy from the blockading of the country, the old buildings remained as they had for centuries with new development being minimal.

Iglesia de la Revolucion

Although not as polished as Guatemala’s Antigua or Mexico’s Campeche or Oaxaca, it is a beautiful city with colonial architecture that is lived in by the locals and not just venues for tourism. There are a lot of backpacker hostels with the usual Canadians, Aussies and

Some beautiful colonial buildings

Europeans plus a few European tourists in the beautiful old colonial hotels. Leon has not yet been discovered by the masses and it is beautiful. People are friendly, pedicabs and horse drawn work carts are common and the pace, though busy, was not as frenetic as San Salvador.

Our hotel, Hotel Real, two blocks from the central plaza was a find in the Central America Lonely Planet Guide. It had a verdant courtyard with a breakfast restaurant and lounge area with the ubiquitous Nicaraguan rocking chairs and a roof top deck with views of the city. A double room with private bath, air con, wifi, TV and an included breakfast was $53 a night.

On the roof of the Cathedral

Churches and colonial government buildings are frequent with the Cathedral at the main plaza being the largest church in Central America. The tomb of Ruben Dario, Nicaragua’s renowned poet who died in 1915, is there and you can climb to the roof of the structure to get views out to the volcanos that surround Leon.

Horse drawn carts

We visited the Fundacìon Ortiz Art Gallery, reported to be Nicaragua’s finest gallery, and were amazed by the range of art displayed, from the earliest colonial religious iconography to eighties revolutionary themed, dark, pensive works by

and sleeping dogs are everywhere

Nicaraguan and Centeral American artists. The most surprising displays were the two rooms full of Joan Miro’s surrealistic, abstract art, with most being his minimalist curvilinear drawings with bold solid primary colours interspersed. The gallery had numerous Picassos and other European artists of the post-impressionist era. Well worth a visit.

Around the corner from our hotel was El Museo Entomològico de Leon. Yep – bugs, lots of bugs and butterflies and scorpions and on and on. In Southeast Asia I always went to entomology displays and museums so I could not resist this. We were unusually fortunate to meet the man who had spent thirty years collecting and presenting the collection that is primarily Nicaraguan but has extensive specimens from the rest of Central America and the world. Since his arrival from Belgium thirty years ago, he has seen remarkable changes both politically and socially in the country and shared many insights as to past, present and probable future effects these have had and will have on Nicaragua’s biodiversity. A really interesting time.

You cannot be in Nicaragua and not go to the international award winning Flor de Caña rum distillery and you must climb a volcano. We did them both in one day!

Riding the rails at Flor de Cana

We were picked up at 8:00 am, from our hotel for a half hour drive into the country to the Flor de Caña plant with a really nice girl from Israel riding with us. We were joined there by a group of ten very friendly Belgiums. The tour started in a small theatre with a brief history of the operation. We then proceeded to the cooperage where the American white oak barrels from the US bourbon producers are taken apart and then reassembled with a better seal, then pressure tested and approved for filling, if they pass. Even with all this effort there is a 6% evaporation loss and some barrels exhibit additional leakage. These barrels become the source of rum used to top up the evaporation losses in the other barrels. The topping up barrel must be from the same vintage as the barrels they are added to.  The 6% loss is known as God’s treat. We were in the smallest warehouse which housed 10,000 barrels. Flor de Caña makes 4, 5, 7, 12, 18 and 25 year old rums. The have some barrels older than 25 years that are for the family but may be used in a special older release in the future. If anything I have said is incorrect I can blame the tastings that were provided and I, of course, got Mags’ portions as well! Kanilela now has a 12 year bottle safely stowed.

We returned to Leon for lunch and were then picked up by 4x4 Land Cruisers for another trip into the country. We quickly left the highway and travelled for an hour and a quarter up narrow dirt tracks that sometimes passed small subsistence farms. These people receive funds for maintaining the 4x4 tracks and the trails above. Once we reached the parking area a dirt trail led up from the last of the vegetation over the lava and ash of previous eruptions, the last of which was in November of 2015. Yep, this is a live one!

Our destination, Telica Volcano

The hike to the top took about 45 minutes and my Mexican sombrero was appreciated. While still daylight we were able look over the edge of the vertical walls down 1200 metres, seeing gasses venting from numerous places. The crater is about 700 metres across and the sheer walls, the gases and the heat keep anyone from entering.

Made it to the top

We then continued down a bit and hiked around to the west side to watch the sunset in the distant Pacific Ocean. Then we returned to the crater where in the darkness, molten lava was visible. The hike down the trail in the dark with flashlights was difficult enough that an American on the trail fell, hitting his head and opening a good cut on his arm. It was a good workout but worth every bit of effort to see the molten lava.

After three nights at the hotel, the streets of Leon felt very familiar. We never sensed any imminent danger, only friendly people with very few beggars and drug dependant street people. We went to a dentist and had our teeth very professionally cleaned for $30 US. Mags found a hairdresser she was very happy with. Leon was a place we had to leave before it captured us forever.

We returned to Puesta Del Sol to wait for a weather window, avoiding the worst of the Papagayos to hopefully head to Costa Rica.   

Puesta Del Sol, Nicaragua

Puesta del Sol Marina, Nicaragua

22- Enero-2016

Good-bye Playa Grande, Isla Tigre

We pulled up the anchor at 2225 hr in Playa Grande, Isla Tigre, Honduras, planning to make the night sail to ensure a daylight, near high tide, crossing of the bar into Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua. The trip took the anticipated 12+ hrs but we only managed to sail about four and a half before the wind died. At the southern point of Golfo Fonseca we briefly encountered gusts in the low 30’s and some confusion in the seas. When we do a short crossing I do not set-up the wind vane, but just use the autopilot. The problem with the autopilot, while sailing, is the potential for gibing if there is a wind change. Because of this challenge we fortunately had the mainsheet in close. I was just going forward to place the block for the preventer when the autopilot threw a new curve at us. With a combined heavier gust and a peaking swell, Kanilela rounded up to the wind and before the autopilot had corrected, it temporarily lost its heading and quit steering. By the time I got back to the cockpit we were already starting to gibe, fortunately on a short mainsheet.  No damage was done but made us appreciate how quickly the situation can arise when being overly dependent on the auto pilot and why, if there is much mainsheet out, a preventer is essential. The sail continued uneventfully until the winds died and we started the motor.

Condos, pool, office and restaurant/bar

There is no pilot service so it is fortunate the Sarana guide gives a good set of way points to use when entering the Estero de Aserradores but as you get to the final way point the buoys are supposed to be visible. After a brief radio call to the marina that confirmed they would be visible shortly we proceeded with more confidence. It appears the outer 2 buoys have been removed and the next set are hard to starboard behind the eastern side of the entrance. Once in, the buoys lead you through a winding passage to a final 90 degree turn into the marina. The estuary is about 600 m wide at the marina but, as you enter at a near high tide, this width is deceptive as most of the estuary is shoal, drying at low tide.

Marina Puesta del Sol is the only Nicaraguan marina on the Pacific coast and as we planned to do some inland travel it, was our only option except leaving the boat at anchor without any real security arrangements in Corinto. The Marina is beautifully done with the material for the dock floats imported from the US. There are 24 very upscale condominiums in two buildings overlooking the marina with a pool, restaurant and bar in front.

Palapa bar at the pool on the open ocean side 

There is another beautiful pool and large pilapa style bar on the ocean side of the peninsula about a 10 minute walk away. The marina also arranges for the Capitàn del Puerto, Imigraìon, Aduana and Naval representatives to come to the marina from Corinto, to process all the entry documentation. There is a fee applied to the first two days moorage but I am not yet certain how much it is. The marina/hotel is very quiet with few guests present, but as Nicaragua is the new emerging blue fin marlin destination, the very friendly owner, Robert, anticipates a growth in popularity and has additional housing development in progress.

The small village of Aserradores is within walking distance of the marina but only basic supplies are available at the tiendas. Joe’s Place, about 10 minutes away has good meals and cheap beer and is populated by an international group of backpacker, surfers. Any serious provisioning would require a trip to Chinandega about one hour away. More on that and a trip to Leon in the next post.

The Middle of the Forgotten Middle

The Middle of the Forgotten Middle

Amapala, Isla El Tigre, Honduras, Golfo Fonseca

13-20 Enero-2016

All marinas have some location for cruisers to leave books or gear that other sailors may want. Harbour Cruises Marina in Vancouver had a small box with a partial roof so it generally was not that great a source of treasures. But several years ago, while we were finishing Kanilela, someone left a well-worn copy from the early nineties of “The Forgotten Middle” by Roy and Carol Roberts. They cover the five countries between Mexico and Panama. I was so intrigued by their trip into Golfo Fonseca to the Honduran coastline that I was immediately drawn into the saga. The description of traveling up a shallow river to the small, remote, fishing town of San Lorenzo interested me to the point that I had to go to Google Earth to see where this was. Amazingly there was a photo of an anchored sailboat attached to the satellite image. It was a “gotta go there” moment.

The Mangrove channels are a bit stylized but the map generally shows Fonseca

Much later, in Mexico, after consulting the Raines’ Cruising Guide they made no mention of Honduras at all and only a passing mention of two possible temporary anchorages near the entrance to Fonseca to avoid storm conditions. I was certain that the river must have silted in and San Lorenzo was no longer accessible. Fortunately we got the Sarana Guide, no one should cruise the Central America coast without it, and once again Honduras became a destination.

Luckily, on our trip south, the Papagao Wind abated and let us get into Golfo Fonseca.

The church and Plaza at Amapala

The Gulf is an indent in the Central American Pacific coast with an entrance approximately seventeen nautical miles wide but inside is about forty miles by 20 miles. It is unique in that it is shared, not always peacefully, by three countries, El Salvador, to the north, Honduras, the center, and Nicaragua, the southern portion. To end the last war between El Salvador and Honduras, the World Court gave El Salvador three good sized islands and Honduras got Isla El Tigre. We had checked out of El Salvador so unless we had weather or mechanical problems to justify stopping at the El Salvador islands, we had to get to the town of Amapala on El Tigre to do our Honduran entry paper work. The island is set deep in the center of the Gulf in shallow water with some surprising winds and tidal currents so navigation is a concern.

CIA Post was on the peak of the mountain

El Tigre, a near perfect volcanic mountain island, has had a recent colourful history because the top of the mountain was a secret CIA base. From there, the Americans could watch all three countries, but they mainly orchestrated the Contra war against the far too leftist, (in Ronald Reagan’s eyes) but freely elected, Sandanistas of Daniel Ortega. Yes, it’s all coming back now…. the Iran-Contra affair with Ollie North as the puppeteer of world politics. About sixty miles south of here, Ronald Reagan authorized the mining of the Nicaragua’s only deep sea port, Corinto. And, at the time, who knew? Well, the World Court finally did and felt the economic devastation wrought by the US was worthy of an $18 billion fine. Unfortunately, it has never been paid.

The old port warehouses

In its earlier history Ampala, the small town on El Tigre Island, was the sole Honduras port on the Pacific coast with ships unloading their cargos, only to be reloaded on pangas and transported through the shallow estuaries to the mainland. Eventually a channel was dredged to create a commercial port on the mainland and since that time Amapala has been forgotten to most of the world. The streets are narrow and the buildings mainly wood construction but they exude a pride of character of an earlier, prosperous time. The people are friendly. Our first contact was immediately after anchoring both Genesis III and Kanilela were boarded by a members of a Honduran Navy patrol boat. After a fairly comprehensive search, based more on friendly curiosity than exercised authority, we were permitted to go ashore to report to the Capitàn del Puerto and Migracìon. Both were exceptionally friendly, providing all of our requisite entry paperwork and a promise of a domestic cruising permit to be issued the next day, all for zero cost!

We anchored off the old stone and concrete pier that has all of the government offices for entry and departure to Honduras and leads straight into the pueblo.  The plaza beside the church, one block up from the port, has free wifi and we were able to check mail and weather. The people were quietly friendly and quite curious. It was apparent that we were the first boats for several months.

A fortunately dead coral snake

After a day relaxing we took a motorciclo, a three wheeled open taxi with a bench seat behind the driver, around the island. Carlos and Marcos, our two drivers, were great. Carlos has good English and if you arrive on the pier he can generally be found there waiting for business. Marcos quickly recognized my interest in the local trees with construction uses and was a font of knowledge as well as pointing out numerous bird species and one very dead coral snake. The beaches are not the most pristine water but all have palapa restaurants serving excellent seafood.

Genesis III and Kanilela at anchor San Lorenzo

The Papagayos were picking up so we decided it was time to get into the relative safety of the mangrove lined river and headed up to San Lorenzo. The Gulf is so shallow that we had to retrace our route south around El Tigre back close to the Nicaraguan shore to pick-up the start of the dredged freighter channel that goes to the new Puerto Henecan. The fourteen mile channel is well marked but the buoys are spaced far apart and some are missing so good attention is needed. Just as the freighter dock is close you turn north into the river to travel the final unmarked two miles up to San Lorenzo. Entry should only be attempted on a rising, near full tide as there are shallows that could put one aground.

Eduardo and Joseph with friend in the middle

After the final turn, San Lorenzo lines the one side of the river bank. There has been considerable restaurant and hotel construction since the description in “The Forgotten Middle” was written, but we continued past the new sites and anchored in the river in front of the old Hotel, just as Roy and Carol had instructed. A local panga crewed by a father, Edward, and nine year old son, Joseph offered to both shuttle us back and forth from the shore and provide security for Kanilela and Genesis III. Although there is a tourist trade in town, virtually none of it comes from out of the country and even less comes up the river. The last time Kanilela was so photographed was probably after we went from San Francisco up the Sacramento River to downtown old Sacramento!

Main Street San Lorenzo

I do not know when the last sailboat came into San Lorenzo but clearly is has been quite a long time. The town, though a little dusty, is thriving with commerce everywhere. We had excellent meals on the river at La Playa restaurant and Los Mangles Restaurant. The tourists, mainly from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, plied us with questions. It was fun.

The new restaurants on the river are interesting construction

We arrived on a Friday and left Sunday. Unknown to us on arrival, the old hotel, looking rather worn, has addressed the challenge of the new venues by playing their music louder and later than any other establishments, Friday night went to 3:00 am Saturday. After discussions considering moving, it was decided Saturday night would end early with the good people of San Lorenzo having to get up to go to church on Sunday. Although the good people of San Lorenzo were in church on Sunday morning, we heard the bells for the first mass at 7:00 am, the not so good people of San Lorenzo were still partying hardily until 5:00 am with the music vibrating in Kanilela’s rigging. Aah, the tough life of a cruiser.

Coming into the protected anchorage of Playa Grande

We travelled back down the river and channel and anchored for a couple more nights at Playa Grande, about two km southwest of Amapala, out of the winds that were buffeting the town. We were adopted by restaurant owner Sonia and her daughters, fifteen year old Valerìa and four year old Bellica. The food was excellent, the beer frosty cold and they were great fun. Bellica especially, charmed her way into two grandmother’s hearts.

The little charmer with my hat and glasses

A weather window opened and Nicaragua beakoned. We returned to the Capitàn and Aduana, paid our $1.25 for our International Zarpè and we were off to Puesta del Sol.

Although we have not travelled extensively in Honduras, it has been a great place to visit for us. We went to the Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras, on the earlier Guatemala road trip and the Fonseca Gulf ports by boat and the people have been fabulous. It is a must see destination.

Bahia del Sol

12-January/Enero-2016

The final word – we loved it!

Our view from the cockpit, Isla Cordillo and our volcano in the distance, we'll miss it...

It has been almost six weeks of life on the Estero, the estuary, and we have met many wonderful people and visited incredible inland sites. El Salvador is a must see stop for both cruisers and backpackers. In the case of cruisers it is not always possible to stop here because of adverse weather, but we have been lucky, both bar crossings were benign. Yes, we have crossed out so this is a brief retrospective of our time in El Salvador.

So let’s start at the beginning and the end. Bill, organizer of the El Salvador Rally, rides in the panga with the bar pilot relaying any entry instructions. Each arrival ends with a “Congratulations, you have crossed the bar. Welcome to El Salvador.” And each departure ends with Bill again saying, "You have crossed the bar, come back soon.” During your stay in Bahia del Sol, Bill and Jean are always available with their five years of Bahia information for sourcing boat materials and trades, best shopping opportunities and introductions to locals and other cruisers. Although Mags and I are not usually group joiners, we did join the El Salvador Rally to support Bill and Jean with the work they are doing with the locals, particularly those on Isla Condorcito, where they have built their spacious, airy home.

The new yellow Sumbrella dinghy chaps

To mention only two of the local island people of many, Dani, who delivers potable water to the fleet, and provides endless other services, and Isabela, the fabulous seamstress, who made our dinghy chaps, were the nicest of people.

We had a great time at a “sports day” for the Islanders, both adults and kids on New Year’s Eve Day joined by several cruising boats.

Jean on the left and Bill in red hat at "Sports Day"

Bill and Jean’s work to promote El Salvador and its people is tireless and commendable. Check the web site and facebook site for more El Salvador Rally info. You can see our new dinghy chaps on their site.

https://www.facebook.com/annual.salvadorrally

www.elsalvadorrally.com

Cruisers and kids at Jan's Christmas Dinner

Jan, another cruiser who decided to call Isla Condorcito home fifteen years ago, invited us to her Christmas dinner that she hosts for her English language students. She has built a lovely home on the Island across the estuary and, like Bill and Jean, lives off the grid with only a dinghy for transportation as the island has no roads. The kids obviously love her dearly and she is always a happy, positive lady.

The legendary Alex and Cherry of Rainbow Gypsy at

Lin an Lou's. One of the murals in the background

Another pair of expats, Lin and Lou, live about four miles up the estuary, but on the mainland side, played hosts to the cruising community on Sundays. They have built a beautiful home/B&B with three pools being the immediate center of attention. With the barbeque working overtime and potluck appies and salads completing great Sunday meals, conversations were diverse and stimulating.

The crews of Black Watch, Kanilela, Genesis III and

Chantey V at our BURP. Seven Canadians in Central America

The cruising community, was also interesting with many long term residents on mooring buoys coming and going from the States and Canada for several years. Also, a regular flow of transient sailors, southbound for new adventures and northbound, returning after years away with stories of exotic ports and cruises. Days before our departure we met fellow Bluewater Cruising Association members Daragh and Cathy of s/v Chantey V who are returning to Victoria after a five year cruise that took them all the way to Newfoundland and twice through the Panama Canal. This, of course, occasioned a BURP - yes, a Bluewater Unscheduled Rendezvous Party, with non BCA guests, Paul and Mary from Ft. MacMurray on s/v Genesis III and Pierre from Trois Pistoles, Que. on s/v Black Watch. Good times. 

Mags on Main Street, Isla Condorcito

While we will miss the place and the people, new adventures beckon. We will return on our eventual northbound trek but for now it is, “Hasta la vista.” as Kanilela and Genesis III continue south.