GPS POSITION 10° 38.39 N 85° 39.19 W Papa Guyo Marina, Costa Rica
In the bed it is a very gentile night; my vision is bobbing in a panga
down some slow moving river. Unlike previous nights the trip to the
bathroom can be done with straight legs and without holding on to
anything. It's 5:30, rise up. I am already to go as my feet hit the
floor; it was warm last night as we could not open the hatch and I
slept on top of the bed in whatever I wore on watch last night; it was
too rough last night making a change of clothing difficult anyway.
As you ascend the steps you note that the wind is blowing like stink,
but the surface of the sea is flat. This is because of John's plan to
motor slow as close to shore as safely possible in the blackness of
night. The fetch or growth of the swells due to the wind blowing from
the shore is minimal close to shore; With the wind blowing a constant
30 to 40 knots the fetch grows the swell up to 15 feet off shore.
Up in the fly it is first light and John is ready to cross the last
bay in Nicaragua before the Papa Guyo Bay in Costa Rica where the Papa
Guyo Marina is located, our destination; the distance is about 30
nautical miles or 36 statute miles. This section is where the Papa
Guyo winds blow the hardest. They will blow all this week, but today
between 6 AM and noon they peak just as we are crossing. We would
normally wait until after noon, but we want to get to the Marina as
Bil Bailey and Bill Barcus are flying in at 12:30 PM today in Liberia,
a little local town 15 – 20 minutes from here, and driving to the
Marina. Bill Barcus is the expert on the area, speaks the local slang
and owns a bar in a small town south of here, Carmona Ramon area. We
do not have to do our usual blind man discovery of some place we have
never been to before.
It is not too bad as we start crossing the last Nicaraguan bay;
however as we reach the middle where the mountains no longer protect
us the wind starts. We experience winds of 40 to 55 knots. The swells
have built to only 4 or 5 feet; however there is the occasional rouge
wave that breaks at the top into a swirling foam that whips into the
air and blows across the sea making it look white at times; as this
happens on the windward side of BD even in the fly bridge we get
drenched. If is crests at BD she lurches sometimes plunging the bow
into the sea. John has relieved the autopilot and hand steers. The sea
is too confused for the poor overworked autopilot. We see no other
vessels; we are all alone.
We are in Costa Rica. Soon we have to execute a slight adjustment to
port to start a left turn into Papa Guya Bay. The turn is made
gradually because each degree puts the 50+ knot winds more on our
nose. At the current RPM our engines would propel BD with no wind,
swell and current to 7.5 knots. It is varying, but BD makes 2 knots in
these conditions. At this rate it will take us all day to get tied to
the dock. It seems to take forever but at 10 minutes before noon, we
are just off the sheltered inlet where the marina is located. The
winds are now topping out at 30 knots so we fly our stay sail and BD
happily responds hurrying along at over 9 knots. We or John and
Deborah have done it. I call my wife as my iPhone registers 5 bars of
network signal. I think of the Bills as they may be in a landing
pattern flying above us right now. We laugh about the cruiser's guide
that talks about a prominent rock at the entrance to the inlet that
closely resembles the head of King Kong down to his overhanging eye
brows. The rock is so big it deserves to be an island, Isla De King
Kong.
Much to our surprise the inlet is awash with white caps. As we
approach the marina it is apparent it is not the light air docking we
hoped for; BD does not have side thrusters like the big heavy power
boats. John radios the port captain to identify our dock position. As
we near the docks it is clear the 15 to 20 knot winds make an end tie
the only safe thing to do.
We are told we can't clear with customs and immigration until tomorrow
even though we have prearranged with authorities to clear today. The
officials just assumed that no vessels would be arriving today given
the Papa Guyo winds are peaking so they took the day off. We explained
that we had visitors flying in so suddenly a possibility their could
be something worked out. The Bills arrived but they had to stand on
the dock and talk to us. We could not drop down the boarding ladder to
the dock until the officials boarded to clear us in. The Bills
returned to the Marina Bar to wait for our clearing.
After clearing in and getting the Bills settled in it is sunset and we
are all tired and hungry. We take turns showering and mosey as we are
ready back to the Marina Bar. There is a gentile cooling breeze as we
sit in the open air bar and eat fresh catch and Angus steaks. We will
all sleep good tonight.
Friday morning and it is hot. By 9:30 you do not want to be in the
sun. Some of us go shopping around 10:30 to The Do It Center, owned by
Home Depo. Just up the road at the intersection of the main highway
the center includes a Citi Bank ATM and a Medico laboratory. We get
some American dollars and some Costa Rican calones. One thousand
calones is a red worth about $20, the largest currency used for local
purchases. If the price is in calones it is shocking.
Have you ever tried to get a blood test someplace where you do not
speak the language. I see a Medico in the center; this is a
combination drug store, laboratory, and urgent care clinic with a
doctor. I walk in to get a test to see how thin my blood is as I am on
Coumadin and should get it tested once a month. They understand I want
a blood test, but they do not ask what test I need and had me over to
the doctor for the test. After several failed attempts I am 80-90%
sure we agree what test I need, I just hope it is correct as I pay the
$43 for 2 tests; I do not know what the second one is for but they are
cheap enough.
Later we went to a tourist beach town, Tamarindo, to have lunch, do
some shopping and sightseeing. At the end of town is a little surfing
beach with a bar and grill. There are official looking guys that show
you where to park and expect to be paid to "watch your car"; this is a
public beach with free parking so there is no payment required. These
are just pan handlers looking to make a buck. We give them a little
bit of money as it is not a good idea to not pay something; we need
the car to get back to BD. We enjoy a long slow rolling lunch in the
shade of some large trees with the cool ocean sea breeze blowing over
us. Afterwords we walk the streets and buy a few things including a
wind chime that says "pura vida" meaning "life is good" or "hang
loose"; actually it is unique and does not translate in just a few
words.
In the evening we went to Ginger's, a great little tapas restaurant
near Playa Hermosa, Hermosa Beach, near BD. We enjoyed the slow roll
service and good food on a open deck under the stars. I wonder what
they do during the rainy season.
God Bless Bella Donna
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