081909 Santa Catalina to Morro Negrito and Isla de Silva Afuera
8/19/09: At 0645 we anchor up and depart Santa Catalina to Morro Negrito off the Rio Santa Lucia. In heavy rains, 4’ seas off our port beam and limited visibility, all three guys are on careful watch. Thank goodness they’re all professional mariners! Certainly gives me great peace of mind. Another positive advantage is that neither Chris nor I have to pull the anchor up. Tim and Kopra have inherited the job and instantly jump into action on demand. As usual, after the anchor is hoisted and secured, it’s time to rinse down the deck, clearing debris and rusty chain splatters spewed on deck. All call out, “FISH BUCKET!” in request for our old reliable, rusty handled plastic pail, used to hoist seawater on deck for the rinse down. It’s become Colin’s responsibility, and he’s usually nowhere to be found when it comes to doing his job. Hence the need to continually call out the request, “FISH BUCKET”! Only then does Colin appear, head hanging, frowning face and pouty lips, slowly dragging feet towards the bow with Fish Bucket in tow. As boys will be boys, the 3 guys aptly and instantly bestow the nickname FISH BUCKET onto Colin, who immediately refuses acceptance of this newly acquired gift. Too bad, already done. It stuck, permanently. By the way, I forgot to mention that on the day after Tim and Kopra arrived, Fish Bucket and Kopra walked around Isla Santa Catalina and found my dry bag washed ashore! How’s that? What luck! We all presumed that in the haste to get to shore the night before, it must’ve flown out of Opihi just as Chris had spun out to retrieve Tim and the luggage. 0930: The skies have cleared, the winds are in our favor, and Kopra hooks a 10# mahi! 1130: A pod of dolphins swim with us briefly and we pass two turtles mating on the waters’ surface near Isla Medidor. Motor sailing with full sails at 5.5 kts. 1415: Another fish is on the line! It’s Fish Bucket’s turn to reel in the catch. With very rolly seas and no hand rails, Chris hand steers the boat, Kopra guides and coaches while Tim has a steady hand on Colin, lest he gets yanked overboard by fish and swell. It’s a struggle alright and now near the surface, Kopra exclaims, “it’s an ahi!” Places everyone! Kopra readies the gaff, swoops over and under, and SWOOSH! Off flies the fish to freedom. Gone in 20 seconds. Drooling jowls dreaming of ahi sashimi quickly dry up, and the line is put back out. Oh well. 1600: Drop anchor, Morro Negrito, just inside Punta Entrada in 25’ of water, high tide ebbing. Skies are overcast and it looks like rains coming, winds 20-25 kts and chilly. Rain water shower!
8/20/09: After recovering during the am hours, Chris, Kopra and I hike the interior jungle towards the surf camp Morro Negrito. We’re told by locals it’s a short 20 minute hike to the other side. Armed with long sleeved shirt and pants, cap, glasses, heavy duty insect repellent, machete and two men, I feel somewhat secure venturing into a REAL jungle. Chris and Kopra take turns in the lead, as I scurry along to keep up in the middle of the pack. It’s a little freaky, encountering lizards, Howler monkeys, gigantic mosquitoes, land hermit crabs, spiders and unseen snakes. Everything seems to be on steroids here, truly a place where survival of the fittest rules. It takes us 45 minutes to reach the other side, only to find out we’re at the opposite end of the bay where the surf camp lies. After a short rest and discussion, we decide to sail Iwalani to Morro Negrito surf camp tomorrow, and check out the waves on that point. Figuring that as long as we’re on the move, no critters can settle up on us and we shave 20 minutes off the return hike, making the transit in just 25 minutes. Near the end and just before we break out of the jungle, Chris walks face first into a spider web! Commotion breaks out as we both hop around, scream and freak a bit, then I swipe at his face with my hands and shirt in my best effort to clear the invisible ghost like webbing and hope there’s no spider tangled up within. Freed from the tangle of web, we scurry back to Opihi and return to Iwalani. Tim quips, “What was all that commotion we just heard out there?”, and we proceed to describe our encounters. 1520: Anchor up to Isla Silva de Afuera, about an hours’ sail. 1620: Upon arrival we find a pitching right-hander and reeling lefts around the corner. Chris, Colin and Kopra jump in to surf the lefts while Tim and I stay aboard Iwalani, adrift in the sea while heavy squalls approach. Tim explains how to stay adrift, and then motor around to keep in place, and I’m glad not having to be alone in this task for the first time. 1730: Depart Isla Silva back to Morro Negrito amid a rainy squall with minimal wind and we all get a rain water rinse. 1930: Arrival near our anchorage, darkness falling fast, the racing outgoing current slows our speed to 1.8 kts. 1945: Drop anchor and fetched up nicely in 18’ of water.
8/21/09: At 0730 we anchor up and head to the Point off Morro Negrito Surf Camp and find the waves pitching at 2 – 3’ with no one out. Yee haw! We later cruise over to check out the Morro Negrito Surf Camp and find that there are just a few occupants at the moment. It’s a small, rustic camp, accessible only by boat or panga, and costs around $640 per week including panga rides to the various surf spots nearby. We all vote that Iwalani is a much better surf vehicle: mobile, surf gear, transportation, meals and all you can drink included. By 1335 we’re back at Isla de Silva Afuera for another epic surf session, ruling the lineup of 5. Nice. We could get used to this.
8/22/09: More of the same today at Isla Silva, surfing with just our pack of 4. Waves were a bit blown and choppy, so I offered to stay aboard and keep watch on Iwalani, giving Capt. Chris peace of mind without worrying about the boat, and focusing entirely on his surf session. Along comes another fishing boat and Chris trades 2 packs of cigarettes for several snappers and a couple of yellow corvinas, which end up freshly sautéed in a lemon, butter, and caper sauce.
8/23/09: We get an early start and head out to Isla de Silva at 0600 for our final surf session. Although we’d love to stay, time marches on and we have to get moving towards Costa Rica, where there’s much surf yet unexplored by Iwalani. 20 minutes into our motoring, we hook another fish! What is it? It’s a local fish called Sierra, and excellent eating. Thai Fish Curry for dinner tonight! P-Land serves up a glassy state of 2-3’ for our pack of 5, but with the tide running out quickly, there’s a short 1.5 hour window to surf. By 0900 the tide is racing out fast, the switch gets turned off suddenly, and rocky boulders begin exposing their mossy sheen with every lap of receding salty seas. To avoid the long lulls and hop scotching the rocks with a surfboard, I paddle back to Opihi to take some surf photos of the gang. Tim soon joins me to start the first of two shuttle rides back to Iwalani. Upon arrival at Iwalani, I start the usual procedure of sliding off Opihi into the water with my board, climb up the ladder, and turn to use the leash to haul the surfboard onboard. Unfortunately, at the moment I turned around on the ladder to haul up my board, Tim and Opihi start RACING towards me uncontrollably. Opihi bounces off Iwalani and Tim makes a sharp left, dragging my board off his port bow, separating me and the other end of the leash, which is still attached to my leg, off to the starboard bow. Whoosh! The outboard motor grinds my leash and I get yanked off the ladder and into the depths below. Underwater, I immediately vision being chomped into pieces by the motor, but Tim quickly kills the motor before bodily damage occurs. Surfacing, I whip off my leash and scurry up the ladder. Geez! What just happened? Somehow the motor got stuck in forward as he tried to reverse. We’re both a bit panicked (you think?) with the adrenaline rush, and turn to inspect my prized Dave Parmenter fish. Eek. It took a thrashing. My fish’s tail, fin box and fin looked like it received a full barrage of whacks from a pissed off local farmer with a very sharp machete. But it was an accident and we’re very thankful that the board got chomped and not me, which would have been considerably worse, located in the middle of nowhere. Tim has earned a new nickname…munchman. Still in disbelief, he motors Opihi back to P-Land to retrieve the rest of our crew and surfboards. For a quick change of pace and to shred the recent horrors, Chris and I go ashore to Isla de Silva Afuera, discovering the beauty rarely told. Isla de Silva is a small island surrounded by multiple surf breaks, crystal clear water and abundant marine wildlife. We ascended the short steep cliff to find that the island plateaus on the top and is being taken care of by 2 local farmers. The island is lush and self sufficient with agriculture (corn, yucca, watermelon, papaya, sugar cane, coconuts, sweet peppers and more), a natural water source, 4 pigs in a pen, and a dozen or so chickens in a pen. Amazingly, whatever they farm is only for their families and they do not sell the produce. They offer it for free to whoever arrives at the island such as local fishermen and visitors. We loaded up with 60 pounds of yucca, watermelon, corn, peppers and traded 3 cans of Vienna sausage and 2 packs of cigarettes. Wow. Most of the western civilization has forgotten how to survive off the land and the locals here live it daily. They do not have need for anything. They farm their produce, grind their own maize for tortillas, fish, raise pigs for meat, raise chickens for eggs and meat and have a few friendly dogs for company. Isla de Silva Afuera, beautiful in all its’ simplicity, is truly a paradise...that's for sale by the way :-) We return to Iwalani where Kopra, Tim & Colin jump into Opihi to have their shore time and discover the island. At 1300 we anchor up, depart Isla de Silva for Isla Secas, and find safe harbor by 1800. What a day it’s been. Even with an unsavory event, we are thankful that no one got hurt and realize we are truly blessed to be enjoying life aboard Iwalani with family and good friends, day sailing, surfing, going ashore to chat with the locals, catching fish and trading for fish with local fishermen, and the simple pleasure of showering on deck when it pours. Life is good.
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