Thursday 12/5-7/13
Arrived at Santa Roselia at about 0830. Busy little town with abandoned French copper mining. Eiffel designed a beautiful church for the mining corporation and the town. We stayed at the old marina, a real funky place with loose deck boards and a ramp being reconstructed after a big blow a few years ago. We were told that you pay on the honor system; very informal. You could tell it was a friendly little community of about 12 boats when 4 folks came out to help us dock and introduce themselves. Many had been living there on and off for the better part of decade. We spent quite a bit of time over the next two days with Casey and Annie from Colorado/Tacoma and Chuck from CA. Chuck ran Casey and I around town on various errands in his Honda. He showed us all the sites including the brothels on the edge of town. [We just drove by; no sampling].
Chuck explained that he was going to have to stop driving soon as we approached xmas. Why? He explained his belief that ticket from the police go up so that xmas presents can be purchased by officers for their families. I don't know whether this was true or not, but Chuck said he had it on good authority from several people. Everywhere we go we find folks with a wealth of information about places and equipment. I find it invaluable to listen and learn. [Gavanized steel anchor shackles are stronger than stainless steel; San Carlos Marina Seca is the best place to store the boat in the summer months to avoid hurricanes; the best anchors, whew I had gotten the right one, and on and on.] We have a pretty good working knowledge of what we need to do to get by but there is wealth of experience out there that the experienced cruisers accumulate and are willing to share. We feel like we are consorting with some of the last modern marine pioneers. Things slow down and everyone is willing to help everyone else.
If someone is driving to California, they take mail to be posted in the US or pick up a part for another boat or drop off a part to be rebuilt or pick up mail at a postal box in the US. People have more time because they are retired or on sabbatical and they use it to support their neighbors, which often change from day to day.
We were a little sad to leave, but leave we did. But we come back to see them "down the line".
Saturday 12/7/13
We left Santa Roselia at about 1730 to start the 80 mile crossing to San Carlos on the mainland. We sailed all night in order to arrive at first light the next day. It has a narrow entrance with some substantial and sneaky rocks. We made such good time that we had to slow down and finally turn around briefly to await the sun.
Sunday 12/8-9/13
Docked at San Carlos Marina at 0830. Took our documents (boat insurance, import permit, crew list, visas passports, etc) to the office and checked in. Gabby confirmed that she would register us with the Capitan de Puerto for us. A new streamlined process that took hours sometimes just a few years ago. The port captain are not consistent from city to city about reporting, but on a national level all marinas are required to collect copies of the need documents and submit them as a part of checking in and out. It's a very efficient idea. Give the work to the folks that have the monetary incentive to get it done. Privitize.
Tomorrow, Wendy and I will talk to the yard and marina folks about docking the boat here in February and pulling it (storing it "on the hard" during the hurricane season over the summer). They have an interesting system I understand. They haul a boat and trailer it down the road inside a working yard where it is secured in secured yard within the working yard. In addition to the normal jack stands used to support the boats, there are pilings used to support each boat to avoid a domino effect from a single failure. I understand that even the own can't get into the yard with an escort. If you need to work on your boat they pull it into the working yard.