We're flying back to CA for the holidays; spend time with family & friends, and work a little bit to replenish the cruising funds. The past few weeks we've been in Ecuador have been enjoyable and exciting. Aside from the seemingly endless list of boat projects we've been busy with, we've made time to explore the little town we're anchored at, and enjoy time with our sailing friends, both old & new. The central Mercado is full of fresh fruits, vege's, and seafood every morning, at such bargain prices, its astonishing. Food and restaurant meals are so economical, and yummy too, its almost impossible to spend $3.50 per person on a meal. The weather is a California-like comfortable everyday.
We went surfing one day up the coast at Canoa's, caught some fun waves until Robert got stung by a stingray, while giving a surf lesson to Kelita. But, after an hour of foot soaking in scalding hot water, the venom was neutralized and the pain vanished, thank goodness. Back in Bahia, we visited the local zoo / animal farm, which is actually a couple's plush residence, and saw many exotic birds & animals in cages & strolling the grounds.
Looking forward, we plan to return to Ecuador in early February and prepare for sailing out to the Galapogos, spend a month there, and then set sail for the South Pacific, a 2,500 mile crossing to reach the Marquesas. We hope to spend approx. 5 months in French Polynesia (Marquesas, Tuomotus, & Tahiti) before heading north for Hawaii in the Fall, and out of hurricane season in the South. We'll post again when we return. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all.
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We made it!!! We're in Ecuador, and officially in the South Pacific now!!! Leaving Panama, it took us 7 days to sail 600 miles of open ocean, and we enjoyed the challenge & wonder of this crossing. We mostly experienced 20 knot winds along the way, and once we got the sails & rudder balanced, svFREEDOM sailed herself. We even had a 240 mile stretch where we never touched the wheel or made a single adjustment. Most mornings we'd find that flying fish had landed on our boat overnight, and we'd cook them up for breakfast, YUM! We saw some wet, rainy, dreary days as we transversed the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, the squally region where northern hemisphere meets southern hemisphere). And greatest of all, we celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary at sea. It's been a year now since leaving LA and we've put more than 3000 miles under our keel. We're in South America!
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Glad to hear all is going well and you are safe.
Hugs to both of you.
Momma Cook
Where do we begin... We have loved our time in Panama, it is definitely the jewel of Central America. So many beautiful topical islands to discover, enjoy & appreciate. So many incredible anchorages, some with nearby surf, some with great snorkeling and some so snug & comfortable you just don't want to leave. And the native people we've encountered are so friendly, good natured and kind. To sum it up, Panama is simply awesome.
If there has been a downside, it's that we've ventured thru these waters at the peak of the rainy season. We left Golfito, and hunkered down outside Pavones for 3 days waiting out a 48hr monsoon downpour, and surfing of course between the showers. Island hopping thru Panama, we seen intermittent rainy & sunny days, although we just sat out a 72hr downpour in Bahia Honda. We're now anchored at Santa Catalina island, preparing for an ocean crossing to Equador that we think will take seven days or so. With the current sunny forecast, it looks like we're off tomorrow for the 500 mile blue water crossing.
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Its been two months, and our time in Costa Rica has flown by. Since Playa del Coco, we've been continuing to enjoy the beauty & wildlife of the national parks, that seem to cover this country. Costa Rica has preserved so much of its natural beauty; it's nice to see trees & wildlife flourishing. There are miles and miles of green coastline, and so many birds, and monkeys in all the hills. Most anchorages, we can listen to the howler monkeys scream out from the jungle, sounding like an abominable snowman roar.
In our passage down Costa Rica, we caught waves in the Tamarindo area. We landed a beautiful 4 ½ foot, 20+ lb. Mahi Mahi just outside of whale bay where we spent a week, and saw whales leap out of the water. We anchored at Manual Antonio and hiked the park, enjoying the antics of the white face monkeys. We spent a few days at Drakes Bay and explored the Cocorvado Park. In Golfito, we've done some important boat repairs, but still found time to hike the Golfito Reserve.
Now, we're leaving for Panama, where we'll be for a few weeks before we cross over to Ecuador. But of course, we'll make a stop at Pavones, a great surfing spot, before we leave Costa Rican waters. Not sure when we'll get to post again, but we'll do our best.
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When out and away, living on a sailboat, the casual cruising program does funny things to the so-called schedule. We've now been in Playa del Coco region for 3 weeks, and have yet to move on Southward. Part of the explanation is that family came to visit us for a week to enjoy this beautiful country with us. We hiked the interior rainforests, where the trees were covered with moss & orchids from base to canopy tree top. It actually rained in the rainforest! So, we each used a giant banana leaf as an umbrella. We enjoyed the wild rush of riding ziplines (300-1500ft suspended cables across the jungle canopy) thru the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. We snorkeled off a beautiful beach, saw octopus, colorful urchins and dove for shells. We also found time to relax, enjoy the pool and make smoothies.
The other part of the explanation of why we've been here so long is that we've been getting some sewing repair projects done with the local upholstery guy. And, we've been making friends with the residents here, and it gets comfortable to say, "Ah the next day we'll get going, 1 more project, next day, etc."
Today its Costa Rica's independence day, there's a parade thru town, we're cooking tacos with our friends who run the local soda (eatery). How can we leave today???
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Our love / hate relationship with Nicaragua has come to an end. The wind was always strong, in the 20-35 knot range. The wind chop and ground swell and ocean current were always going in different directions, which made sailing difficult. But then, these pesky offshore winds groomed the surf to perfection, and even made the anchorages comfortable everywhere we went. Yet by the end, we learned not only to sail comfortably in these conditions, we grew confident in our sailing skills and our boat. With a fully reefed mainsail and staysail alone (sometimes reefed too), our vessel excelled in these conditions as we learned to handle the reigns. Regarding Nicaragua, we found it to be quite beautiful, green and peaceful (not overrun with tourism, resorts & developments).
We reached Costa Rica and tucked into the first northern bay, called Bahia Santa Elena, located inside a national park. It is shaped like a huge ankle sock with great protection off to the side of the bay and it can hold 100+ boats. But the greatest thing is that there are no roads, no trails, no lookout points, and no tourist groups here. The only real access is by boat, and in a majestic way, it's as if time forgot about this little piece of the world and nature has prevailed. From the edge of the water to the towering hilltops, a thick jungle canopy covers the earth and birds are safe to sing their songs, butterflies float across the green-scape, fish are constantly jumping all around the boat, and the song of the jungle emanates from the bush. We were the only sailboat here, and for 6 days we appreciated every moment in this heavenly creation. The water is crystal clear with an emerald green tint reflected from the jungle. Green macaws host sunrise & sunset concerts. Barracudas leap thru the water, turtles paddle by, and manta rays glide along just below the surface. We spent hours just sitting on deck soaking up the display. Our time in Santa Elena was our reward for coming this far.
And, being a dedicated surfboat, we spent a few nights at Ollies point and made a quick stop at Witch's Rock (2 of Costa Rica's premier surf spots) on our way to Playa del Coco.
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Thank you for the wonderful updates. Absolutely enjoy them. We are so very happy for both of you. What wonderful lessons learned from your experiences. Be safe and look forward to the next one.
Cheers,
Oscar and Clara
