Colorful Costa Rica: April/May 2019

April 17th - April 25, 2019: We spent the next few days after the transit exploring a little of the Pacific side of Panama. We explored the anchorage right off the canal and found it was ok. The marina there charges if you want to tie up your dinghy for a while. Going around the point to the other side, the swell and chop weren't as bad, due to the lack of canal traffic. Here, there were many more boats anchored. There is a small floating dock to tie up to at no charge. Garbage cans are nearby for disposing of trash and there are many shops nearby at a walkable distance. 

We decided we'd like to get out of the city for a bit and so treated our guests/crew to the neighboring islands called The Pearl Islands and they were indeed the Pearls of the Eastern Pacific. These islands boast lovely soft white sand and coconut tree-lined beaches, absolutely beautiful to visit. If you are a Survivor fan, then you are familiar with the location. We sailed right by those camps. 

We stopped at Isla Pedro Gonzalez and San Jose Island. There was lots of birdlife to watch, dolphins, and beautiful, quiet anchorage spots to enjoy. We waved to a small fishing village as we sailed by. The people were super friendly and I wished we had more time so we could get to immerse ourselves in this culture a bit longer. 

There is one spot to be careful of on Isla Pedro Gonzales, as old shipping containers are underwater when the tide is high but reveal themselves as the tide drops. Granted, they are very close to shore, but just be wary if you decide to stop there. Beautiful backdrop surrounding the spot though! We encountered several large logs in the water, which Jared and Mike drug away with the help of Hermes (our faithful dingy).

We treated ourselves to a stay at Flamenco marina for a couple of nights. Stef celebrated her 40th birthday and we all went ashore to a local restaurant to celebrate. After saying "see you later" to our crew (except for Mike, who was going to extend his stay to tour Costa Rica for a bit), Jared and Mike went back to Shelter Bay marina via taxi to help out as line handlers for our friends on Zephyrus. Stef and the kids caught up on boat schooling lessons and made friends with Ata Marie, who was heading on the same northward path. They had a daughter close to Cadence's age, so it was a great buddy boat to have.

A couple of days later, with all crew back on board, we pointed Roundabout north and sailed towards Costa Rica. We passed by a few more islands,  but having already cleared out of Panama, we didn't want to get in trouble for stopping (they give you 48 hours to clear out). As we were making way, there was a coast guard boat just behind one of the smaller islands, checking out the traffic. They did not hail us, but drifted along for a while.

April 24, 2019: We rounded Punta Mala at night and after hearing all the bad stories for this area, were very happy to experience smooth and fast sailing. We picked up a following current and hit over 10 knots SOG! Two days later found us anchored off of Banana Bay Marina in the Bay of Golfito, Costa Rica. The entrance to this bay is a stretch of water surrounded completely by an overgrown jungle. Howler monkeys sounded their greeting off in the distance. Colorful birds flit amongst the branches. We dropped anchor right in front of the marina, with the manager's approval, and it was time to head to shore to check-in.

We lowered Hermes into the water, grabbed our boat bag with our documents, and Mike with all his gear, and headed towards the marina for check-in and a celebratory meal. Michael, the marina manager, was very friendly and helpful. He gave us a map and told us about the places to check into the country ourselves. He will do this for you for a small fee, but we actually like the experience of completing this ourselves. We get to see a bit more of the country that way. 

We walked down to immigration to get stamped in and then to the Coast Guard office and finally to Customs. Mike was removed from our crew list and arranged for his travels on land. After walking back to the marina, we grabbed a tasty dinner and ice cold drinks. Later that evening, we said our goodbyes to Mike and just like that, it was our own family on Roundabout once again. After having several guests on board, it was strangely quiet. 

The next day we decided to go exploring a bit. We loaded up snacks and cold drinks into Hermes and with cameras fully charged, sunhats and sunscreen applied, we set off into the nooks and crannies of Golfito Bay. We saw so much wildlife! One of my favorites was a bright pink bird called a Roseat Spoonbill. The flash of pink against the deep green really stood out! 

The sounds that surrounded us reminded us of Shelter Bay, Panama. Monkeys, birds, and insects are constantly in the background, along with the sound of other cruisers having happy hour at the bar drifted out to us. 

The only thing we did not enjoy was the heat and humidity. While usually wanting to shower first to get the hottest water, we all wanted to go last to get the coldest. I remember telling Jared that the water just wasn't cold enough! Thankfully, a breeze would filter through the bay and frequent rain showers would cool things off just a bit. It was tolerable. We could not go swimming due to the crocs in the area. Michael told the story of how he was cleaning boats and looked over once to find a croc swimming in the current next to him! He slowly backed away, keeping close to the boat until he quickly climbed aboard. He has not cleaned boats in awhile, but as the money is too good to pass up, he is considering it once again. 

We had access to wifi for the cost of a drink or meal at the restaurant. They had great food and a lovely blended "lemonada con herba buena" drink that I still make to this day. It is ice, lime juice with a bit of sugar, and mint leaves. That drink was the treat I looked forward to each day we were there. It was cool and refreshing and helped to beat the heat. 

We met two California families in the bay, as well! Secret Waters came over to say hello one morning and we hit it off right away! They later introduced us to the Talisen Rose crew. We spent the next week hanging out and I even taught a STEM class with robotics and a science lab. It's always more fun with other kid boats around. The kids sailed in one of their sailing dingies and spent many fun hours playing with their newfound buddies.

May 1, 2019: The clock was ticking and its a resounding reminder that we had to get back to California before August pushed us to haul anchor, wave goodbye and set our course for Mexico. We celebrated Matthew's 13th  birthday while at sea. After 7 days and a little bit of a rough passage, we diverted to Huatulco, Mexico to check into the country instead of Acapulco. We sort of wish we had continued on as we had the worst check-in experience and the scare of our life in Huatulco. More of that crazy story in the next post! 

Panama Canal Transit (and haul-out) April 2017

Roundabout transiting the Panama Canal!

As a small vessel, compared to the behemoths that transit the canal, you just can't rock up and radio for a transit time. We were able to do so transiting the Greek Corinth Canal, but that does not fly with the Panama Canal Authority. Nope, you have to fill out some paperwork, call for someone to come measure the boat and then wait for your assigned transit date. We decided to use an agent, due to the fact we needed to haul out and wanted to spend the time working on the boat and not running to various offices completing paperwork.  Another tip is if you come in with a few other boats and use the same agent--you'll get a discount! Our total cost for the agent was $300 (we used Eric).

We met with Customs/Immigration and got scanned into the country. Their machine broke, so we had to complete this over the course of two days. Next was the Port Captain to complete the cruising permit forms. He is not there every day and not always at the same time. Be sure to ask when you arrive to get the current schedule. Both offices are located behind the Shelter Bay Marina office.
After meeting with the PC to fill out paperwork (all in Spanish, no English) for all of about 10 minutes, he delivered the permit back 2 days later. If you do it yourself in Colon, you can get the cruising permit the same day (that is the office where all the stamps are housed).

At the time we arrived, there was an 8 day waiting period. No problemo, we were hauling out anyway. We scheduled our transit date for April 17th, which would give us plenty of time for completing the haul out projects and re-splash.

Hauling out.

We hauled out on Friday, April 5th and spent the next 10 days doing boat projects. We stripped all the layers of bottom paint off all the way down to the gelcoat (this is one heck of a messy project--blue dust EVERYWHERE!). We covered what we could and took all the cushions inside. We also kept all the hatches closed. It still involved a major clean up job. After making sure everything was smooth, we applied two coats of Sea Hawk Tuff Stuff epoxy barrier primer and then 2 coats of Sigma Eco Fleet 530 antifouling (we couldn't get Sea Jet here, as we had in Greece). They had some other options, but we wanted the color blue to match the stripe on the boat.

Ten days later we splashed and it felt SO good! Face it, leaving any boatyard feels good!
We did a huge provisioning shop in Panama City. One fellow sailing mama rented a car, so she, myself, and another sailing mama hit the town! We filled that car up so full, we could barely peek out over the top of all the stuff! Part of the shopping included things we had to have on board for the agents. You must have cold bottled water (sealed), snacks, and feed them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you don't provide hot meals, they can call and order food, which is billed to you at a minimum cost of $350!

Yes, we were THAT close! Our group had stopped to watch her cross the road and stopped traffic for her to safely cross.

We had some friends want to transit the canal with us, and since we needed a couple more line handlers anyway, we told them to come on down. Around 10pm on April 15th, they arrived. We spent the 16th prepping for the transit and exploring a little more of Panama. The jungle surrounds the marina and you wake up and go to sleep to the sound of howler monkeys, birds, and insects. We took walks through the old Fort Sherman, which is being slowly taken over by nature. Bats have taken up residence in the buildings. There is a leopard which hangs about. It would have been so cool to see it, but we never did. Another cruiser went for an early morning walk and came face to face with it! Another sailor warned us that the leopard will come into the marina and was caught on camera doing so. I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to see a leopard come onto our Leopard, but if it did, we never knew. We kept Sunny and her food bowl inside though, just to be safe.

Night before we left to transit the canal!

Splashed again and removing the kid netting.

This stuff works WONDERS!

Boat kids!

School in the cafe (and air conditioning!)

I taught a chemistry lab to the boat kids in the marina.

Our agent emailed us updates and confirmed our transit date. We would not know the exact time until one day before. Sure enough, about 24 hours before transit, we heard that we'd be going through in one day, with a 4:30am start time. We stocked an ice chest full of cold drinks and had a huge container of snacks ready to go. Our menu for the transit was breakfast burritos, spaghetti bolognese, salad, and fresh-baked bread for lunch, and Panamanian style tamales for dinner. The snacks ranged from a huge variety of pre-packaged trail-mix, granola bars, protein bars, candy bars, sliced fruit and veggies, and such.

3:45am we were hailed on the VHF and so by 4am on April 17th, we left the marina and went out into the anchorage area to wait for the advisor to board. Eduardo and David arrived around 4:45am and with a smooth transition over to Roundabout, we were then on our way to the first set of locks. We ended up with two advisors, as Eduardo was training David. Eduardo is pretty high up in the chain of command, so we felt fortunate to have him on board. He is also a tugboat captain on other days, assisting larger vessels through the canal. He spent the day telling us all sorts of fun facts about the Canal and life in Panama. I had offered coffee or tea with breakfast once they were on board, but Eduardo said to not worry and that we would get through the first set of locks and then have breakfast. He was so nice and chill, that it made me instantly relax. I had read so many stories that I was a bit nervous.

We reached the first set of three locks, the Gatun Locks, around 6am. We rafted up with a small monohull on our starboard side and moved together into the first lock. I had a huge container of snacks and passed them all around, even to our very appreciative neighbors! By 6:45am, we had lines up to the guys on the wall and our line handlers ready to adjust once the water began to change. What a true marvel the canal is! Such engineering involved! To think that they have operated for over 100 years without fail is astounding! The locks were (for a long time) the world's largest concrete structures. Each lock is 110 feet wide and 1000 feet long. The entire Gatun Locks system, including the approach walls is just over 1.08 nautical miles in length.

Things started off slowly, with only a bit of water churning and then suddenly, we felt the water bubble and shift around us. The force was very strong! We slowly adjusted the lines and pulled in the extra slack as we rose up towards the top of the lock.  Once the water level had reached the appropriate height, the doors opened and we moved forward into the next lock. The process was repeated again and we were raised up to about 80 feet above the Atlantic sea level! Before we knew it, we were un-rafting and motoring out into Gatun Lake! This man-made lake covers about 116.64 square nautical miles and was formed by erecting the Gatun Dam across the Chagres River. Towards the Pacific side, we passed through the Gaillard Cut. This cut is carved through rock and shale of the Continental Divide and the unusual history and geology has remained a point of interest from all around the world. It measures 7.4 nautical miles long and the colors are beautiful!

It took about 4 hours (a little over 20 nautical miles) to get across the lake to the next set of locks, the Pedro Miguel Locks and the Miraflores Locks. The first step is to go through the Pedro Miguel Locks. As we were lowered down about 30 feet, we slowly let out the lines. After crossing Miraflores Lake, we reached the final two steps down to the Pacific Ocean, the Miraflores Locks. Due to the Pacific's extreme tidal variations, the Miraflores lock gates are the tallest. The Miraflores Lock system is just about 1 nautical mile in length.

As the Pacific Ocean flowed past our bows, we celebrated all around! A pilot boat picked up our advisors and after a final wave they set off into the setting sun. Another crew came round to pick up the fenders and lines we had borrowed from our agent. We then set off to anchor near Playita and ended the evening with a nice meal and discussed the day. It was a magical experience to transit the canal in our own vessel!

Martinique

Waterfall hike, Martinique.

We had a fantastic sail over to Martinique. It took about 12 hours, and was a little bumpy with the swell, but not too bad. We started off with a brown bird who kept circling our boat, diving occasionally for the flying fish. Eventually we had a few more join him and then as we sailed into the anchorage near Point Catherine, we had about 10 of these birds. They were quite comical, as they'd dive over and over again, attempting to catch a fish. They'd get lucky about every 50 dives or so. What a challenging way to catch a meal.

Point Catherine anchorage was lovely and calm. We enjoyed a nice paddle around. It has a long stretch of beach, perfect for stretching the legs after sailing. The following morning, we navigated all the fishing buoys (they are just about everywhere, including the channels, so be on the lookout) and entered the Cul-de-sac-Marin. It is extremely crowded in here! We anchored off of Queen's island, away from the hordes of boats, and dinghied over to Le Marin Marina to toss the garbage and check into the country. Checking in at the marina office was fast. Just go into the computer room on the right (don't bother to wait in the line), fill out the one page form, submit, and wait for your name to be called. You'll be asked to sign the paper and pay 5 euro. That's it. They don't ask to see any boat docs or ask any questions. Super quick and easy!

How boat kids take out the garbage.

After checking in, we dinghied over to the Leader Price grocery store dock. This dock was donated generously by the property owner for cruisers to use. We had a walk around the town, scored a Digicel data card (Google Fi towers were down), hit up the bakery, and stocked up on some provisions. The Leader Price store has better prices, but make sure to go in the morning or everything is picked over by the afternoon. The Carrefour market is nearby but small and prices are double that of Leader Price. There is a larger Carrefour on the island, but you'll need a rental car.

We met up with some other sailing families who invited us for drinks and hangout at a place called People's Beach. So, we hauled anchor during a squall and dropped the hook in St. Anne's Bay. This is a huge bay and has plenty of space for many boats. We still felt a bit crowded though.

Hiking trail near St. Anne anchorage.

5pm found us tying up to the floating dinghy dock in front of Pirate's Beach Restaurant. To the left is a jungle path that leads to People's Beach Resort. At one time, this must have been a nice resort. It is still maintained, but not very busy (maybe it is still the low season). There are a couple of above ground pools, games for the kids, and nice drinks for the adults. They were not serving food yet.
The kids had a blast playing laser tag with the other boat kids, swimming, and hitting up the foosball table. We had a good chat with a few other families and didn't get back to the boat until late. It was a fun evening, as we always enjoy meeting new sailing families.
We hung around this spot for a couple of days, met up with some friends we met in the Med for drinks back at People's Beach (kids really enjoy the pools there), and then decided it was time to move on. The clock is ticking, as we need to get to Panama in April.

Anse D'Arlet town. This building reminded me of Greece.

We moved around the corner to Anse D'Arlet, and had a great time there. We spent the day snorkeling and saw more fish, sea turtles, and colorful coral than anywhere else! The bay is super calm and we loved it here. Early the next morning, we grabbed some bakery treats, and then set sail for Anse Noir. We had read there was great snorkeling here and the interesting thing about this spot is it has black sand, where as the bay next door, Anse Dufour has white sand. We dropped anchor at the back of the bay (being shallow draft cat, we can get away with that), and put out a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the other boats ahead of us. It became quite crowded in there after a while and by sunset, we were packed in. We were very glad we had the stern anchor to keep us away, as the wind was light and fluky inside that bay.

St. Pierre ruins

We learned all about St. Pierre's tragic past as well as how the Caribbean islands were formed. Did you know there are two different aged groups of islands?

The next morning we checked out Fort de France and then sailed up to St. Pierre, where we enjoyed the next few days exploring the town, volcanic and science museums, and snorkeling the underwater statues. Sundowners with friends topped off the experience.

Next island: Dominica

Sailing to Dominica.