102809 Current position: anchored in Bahia de Culebra, Costa Rica

102809 Current position: anchored in Bahia de Culebra, Costa Rica
Strapped in the perpetual confines of 30 days arrear, my escape from this tortuous arena of blog posting tardiness is a speedily planned photo gallery to fast forward our travels to the present.
The last posting left off on 091009 as we departed Pavones to travel north up the Costa Rican coastline, from the Golfo Dulce to the Golfo Nicoya. We sailed from Southern Costa Rica to Herradura in Central Costa Rica, to pick up Colin after visiting with his mom. Maintaining our northward trek, we’ll exit the country at Playa del Coco, and then head to Nicaragua and beyond.
1. 091009 Pavones to Bahia Drake - 49 miles. Depart 0500. Arrive 1650 and drop anchor in Bahia drake. 0900 hooked a pesky pelican who tried to swallow our fishing lure. Barely struggling and half drowned, Chris reels it in, quickly grabs hold of the pelican’s beak to cinch it shut, and pries the lure off his lower lip. With a look of shock, disbelief and a bit of embarrassment, the pesky pelican floats on the seas surface as Iwalani pulls away. Thereafter, the flock of thirty some odd Pelicans miraculously disappear into thin air. Poof! Just like that. Word travels fast through the hooked beak wireless. 1650: after a long day of sailing, we drop anchor at Bahia Drake, a calm, glassy protected bay with sand bottom. It looks like a quiet town with small, boutiquey thatch roofed hotels. Of note is the observation that the further north we travel in Costa Rica, there is diminishing evidence of indigenous lifestyle, and an increase of western presence with its’ land development, condominiums and hotels.
2. 091109 Bahia Drake to Quepos – 55 miles. Depart 0600. Arrive 1730 and grab mooring ball at a cost of 10,000 colones per night (rather pricey at around $18.00 US). ROLLY anchorage.
3. 091209 Quepos to Herradura. Depart 0600. Arrive 1445 and drop anchor in Herradura. This is where Chris spent most of his time while living in Costa Rica, surfing and exploring all the secluded waves before there were crowds. Chris takes me to surf Escondida right around the corner, where the A-frame peak provides pitchy lefts and rights. It’s small 1-2 but fun. We spend the next 11 days anchored in Herradura in front of Adriana’s house, with day trips to Escondida and Punta Leona. Colin gets to spend time and stay with his mom; Alanis visits us on the boat; we rent a car and Chris shows me Hermosa Beach up through Puntarenas; we visit Adriana’s mom’s farm with beautiful acreage that holds goats, horses, chickens, dogs and more; our friends aboard NEOS appears and we revisit and catch up – they’re headed back south after doing some boat repairs in Puntarenas.
4. 092309 Herradura to Isla San Lucas – 22 miles. Depart 0900. Arrive 1500 and drop anchor at Isla San Lucas 9* 56.9’ N 084* 54.3’ W. Happy birthday Lisa! Wow, feels good to be on the move again. Isla San Lucas is a beautiful and quiet protected bay, no rolling, and we’re the only ones here. Heavy rains fill our tanks, cooler and rain barrel! There’s a floating dock / restaurant in the middle of the bay, which we later find out is a popular weekend destination for local day sailors and sport fishing boats. Chris makes me a birthday dinner of my favorite – nachos!
5. 092409 Isla San Lucas to Puntarenas – 2 miles. Depart 0600. Arrive 0730 at the Costa Rica Yacht Club, moored to a floating dock. We have to time this transit in during an incoming tide, as the river is difficult to maneuver and is wrought with shallow mud banks, raging tidal currents, underwater wrecks, and crocodiles. We will stay here through 100909 and get the following work done: fabricate and install a new forward berth; repair the Nissan 5hp outboard motor; loads of laundry; find and purchase a used hard bottom dingy (upgrade); sew new salon cushions, privacy curtains for berths and sleeping area; with the help of new friends met at the boat yard, Kirk (a welder) and his wife Tiffany, Chris fabricates and welds a davit to haul the outboard motors on and off Iwalani; Chris welds flat iron to our pilot house roof that act as rain gutters to collect rainwater; re-glue and repair interior woodwork; repair refrigerator box interior sides and lids; wire wheel and paint rust spots; thoroughly clean Iwalani inside and out; purchase diesel to fill our pachingas (holds 5-6 gallons each).
6. 100909 Puntarenas to Isla Cedros. Depart 0830. Arrive 1122 and drop anchor at Isla Cedros. It’s another nice anchorage with no one else around, clean water and lots of jumping fish.
7. 101009 Isla Cedros to Bahia Ballena. Depart 0600. Arrive 1030 and drop anchor at Bahia Ballena. Very active fishing port with pangas EVERYWHERE. Fish is bought and sold right off the end of the pier. Nice produce on the pier, great shelling on the beach.
8. 101109 Bahia Ballena to Carillo. Depart 0710 for a 40 mile sail. Arrive 1800, grab 2 mooring balls just before dark. We had to round Cabo Blanco, known for strong currents and wind. Prepared for the worst, we were very fortunate to have smooth and glassy conditions, very little wind and great weather.
9. 101209 Carillo to Tamarindo. Depart 0530 for another long sailing day. Arrive 1600, all fast to mooring ball. The infamous Papagayo winds started blowing straight off shore and we were motor sailing at 5 kts, sometimes gusting to 7 kts!
10. 101409 Tamarindo to Guacamaya. Depart 0600. Arrive 0935 and drop anchor at Guacamaya. This is one of the last untouched areas in Northern Costa Rica. A beautiful bay and turtle nesting area. Unfortunately, it was purchased and is slated for condominium development.
11. 101509 Guacamaya to Playa del Coco. Depart 0820. Arrive 1000. Bad news. Roller furling snapped and needs to be replaced. Good news, it happened in coastal waters where we CAN get it replaced.
12. 102809 Bahia de Culebra. We’ve been hovering around this bay since 101509, waiting for our shipment from Miami. Needless to say, it’s a long and arduous process. Playa del Coco, Playa Panama and Marina Papagayo has been our circuit in Bahia de Culebra, and we’ve made some great friends. Brian and Amanda aboard Clara Katherine, heading south to Panama. Ted, owner of Alsumar and his crew, Steven and Walter, making repairs on a 1934 pristine wooden sailboat and off to transit the Panama canal and to the Caribbean. Dan, Harbor Master at Marina Papagayo has been so gracious and helpful. I highly recommend this Marina (the only one in Northern Costa Rica) to anyone who needs one.