We finally had to bid farewell to Bahia del Sol and the El Salvador Rally on the 30th of April, checking out of the country with cruising friends on Pax Nautica and Sea Quest bound for Costa Rica. Before we departed, however, we paid a quick visit to La Herradera, a small fishing village up the estuary accessible only by boat (or dinghy). Another very friendly place where we found fresh shrimp (Grande!!) and rice for $5…. Great lunch. Customs and Immigration in Bahia del Sol made the process of obtaining our exit Zarpe painless (the Zarpe is the document you must have to exit a country and enter another)! Each country has its own process for check-in and out, some much more tedious that others!
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| La Herradera Village |
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| Main Street |
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| Rosie befriended this lady who was selling mango's |
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| Dried fish anyone?? |
It would have been quite easy to “get stuck” in Bahia del Sol…..a beautiful setting combined with both interesting and hospitable people. We have found several places just like this during our travel between Alaska and Central America, places we could have easily spent several months. But alas, we must push on.
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| Internet in the most remote places!1 |
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| View from Serena Ray and Bahia del Sol |
Departing Bahia del Sol at noon and over the entrance bar on the high-slack tide (the exit over the bar was much more exciting than our entrance!!), we made our way south overnight to Puesta Del, Nicaragua, crossing the Golfo de Fonseca.
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| Waiting for waves to subside a bit!! |
Serena Ray making a break over the bar
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| Pax Nautica following us out of Bahia del Sol |
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| Good way check how clean the bottom is!! |
We were treated to an amazing light show that night….when the water is calm and dolphins come to ride the bow wave…they trigger phosphorescence and their outline glows as they swim. You can see them approach at least 50 yards away…..a rush of lights on the Sea!!
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| Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua |
Reaching Puesta de Sol the next morning, we found an almost new Marina with pools, hotel and restaurant. As it turned out, however…we were the only 3 boats there and we found out that the government was in the process of taking over the facility (the developer apparently “fell from grace” with the government for selling land he did not own). We found that the Marina was located in the middle of “nowhere” embedded in an extremely poor area of Nicaragua. The nearby village had no electricity, few dirt roads and their houses were mostly made of black plastic, quite a contrast with the fancy hotel. We also discovered that it was over an hour to the nearest town via questionable transportation. The real deciding factor were updated weather reports showing that the “Papagayo” winds were about to start blowing through an area we must yet cross enroute to Costa Rica, and expected to last at least a week.…so we checked into Nicaragua on the 31st and back out on the 1st ………..next stop Costa Rica.
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| Entering Costa Rica |
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| Another Sunset on the Water |
A stretch of Nicaragua’s coastline known for Papagayo winds reaching 30 to 40 kts or more (these strong offshore winds are generated off Lake Nicaragua (Lago de Nicaragua), the largest lake in Central America). As a side note this lake was once considered as part of an alternative location for a canal to connect the Pacific and Atlantic. Our passage was pleasant and uneventful and the next day we arrived in Bahia Culebra to yet another new marina (appropriately named Papagayo). Again we found that few boats occupied this 200+ slip facility. Checking into Costa Rica is a bit more complicated than most but we had retained an agent in advance to assist us. An agent often saves considerable time and frustration for a nominal fee. Costa Rica does love forms!! We enjoyed the area for a couple of days but had to keep on the move to reach Panama by April 11th as planned to get on the Canal Transit schedule.
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| Marina Papagayo, Culebra |
On the 5th we departed Bahia Culebra for Drake Bay (named for Sir Frances Drake and known for pirate treasure buried). After a quiet, relaxing cruise during the day, we encountered our first major lightning storm near the city of Quepos, Costa Rica. A large squall-line encircled Serena Ray around mid-night…winds went from calm to 30+kts, torrential rain (which makes the radar almost useless) and lightning could be seen striking the water all around Serena Ray. After an hour of this (phones, computers etc were all in our oven for protection in the event we were hit) the radar finally indicated a small opening in the squall-line so we made a run for it….. All turned out fine aboard, however, severe lightning on the water in the middle of the night is not high on the cruising enjoyment scale. We arrived at Drake Bay late afternoon and dropped anchor in this quiet and scenic bay.
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| Sunset at Drake Bay |
The next morning we were off to Golfito, a short 50 miles south. Golfito, with a population of 14,000 was once a major banana port is now known more for eco-touring in the nearby National Parks.
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| Entering Golfito, Costa Rica |
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| Golfito Waterfront |
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| FishHook Marina...great spot!! |
A good cruising friend, Pamela aboard s/v Precious Metal, was dropping off a young French traveler in Golfito, Leo (he had crewed aboard Precious Metal from Zihuatanejo, Mexico). He was looking to continue south to Panama so we offered him a spot on Serena Ray for the 2-night run to Panama (330 miles). Having 3 people aboard allows for everyone to get at least 4 hours sleep between watches. As it turned out, we found Leo to be good crew and also a great French Chef!! He made bread along the way and also served great Crepes in the mornings. It was a lot like having the Bahia Navidad French Baker aboard. Leo is 22 years old and has already logged over 10,000 miles crewing in the South Pacific. After only a couple days, it was time to again move south.
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| Rain on the horizon enroute to Panama |
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| This guy joined us in the middle of the night...4 miles offshore |
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| More rain on the horizon...typical of this region |
We arrived in Panama as planned on the 11th most of the leg under cloudy, humid skies…typical of this part of the Central American coast. What a sight to see sky-scrappers and hundreds of freighters anchored, waiting for their turn to transit. Luckily we arrived in daylight because the radar made this place pretty intimidating. When you are within 8 miles of the canal entrance you check in with “Flamenco Signal”, they direct traffic in the area much like an air-route traffic control center does airplanes…
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| AIS Targets (freighters) as we enter Bahia de Panama |
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| Glad we approached in daylight.... radar shows the many ships at anchor or moving. |
We arrived at the Flamenco Marina and completed our check-in and also the process to get scheduled through the canal. The transit wait for boats less than 70 feet is now 15+ days and you cannot be placed on the schedule until your vessel is physically in Panama. Our transit date is the 28th and we are now awaiting our crew from the States (Jim and Sue Gentry, long-time traveling companions, Rick, my brother and a best friend from High School days, Steve Kuykendall). We have been on Serena Ray for 2 years this April and have logged over 8,300 miles on Serena Ray
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| Panama City |
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| Arriving in Panama with Leo, our French Baker!! |
Our next post will be Post-Transit, likely from Shelter Bay on the Atlantic side of the canal….until then.
3 comments:
Miss you guys... and wow, I wish WE had a French baker!!!
Congratulations on making Panama! The lightening evening sounded scary. I enjoyed all your pictures. Miss you both.
What a wonderful adventure you are having. We really miss you guys!
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