Golfito will be the last destination in my southern cruise. There I plan to meet a ship from SevenStar Transport. They will lift Altere up on to the deck and steam northward. My boat will retrace a lot of the nearly 8,000 nautical miles travelled in the last four years. And she will do it in less than two weeks. The ship will stop in La Paz and Ensenada, before delivering Altere to Victoria, BC. I had planned to send her home from La Paz spring of 2019, but then decided on one more year.

Last year, I hoped to make it to Costa Rica and cruise a bit before meeting the ship in April or May. But COVID closed borders.. So one more season turned into two. However, I was lucky enough to be stuck in Puesta del Sol where I made good friends and enjoyed a remarkable tropical resort.

Last year, my insurance company wanted to stop covering Altere for international cruising. I have been with this company for several years as they insured all of my boats, Capriccio and the Harbor 20 as well. I would have to pay for a survey to get signed up with another insurer. That was not going to happen during a pandemic while in the tropics. My insurance broker in Seattle, Boat Insurance Company, has been wonderful. They have gotten me several extensions of this policy. Once again, my policy is about to lapse and I am asking for more time.

Sevenstar originally told me their ship would be in Golfito in the last half of January. The agent did not respond to a couple of my emails over the holidays asking for updates. Before leaving Quepos, I activated my iPhone and called him directly. Now the ship will be coming in mid February.

Very frustrating.

Under this cloud, I left Quepos as early as I could to head towards Golfito. By the time I checked out of the marina and stopped at the fuel dock, it was close to 9 am. To add to my woes, as I motored along the coast, I was fighting an adverse current and speed over the bottom was about 4.5 knots. I sat in the shade in the cockpit and read or listened to podcasts, keeping track of the course the autopilot was steering. Although I kept a watch, I saw no other boat traffic.

And no dolphins came to visit.

As a result of slowness, I arrived at Bahía Drake after dark. I was very uncomfortable threading my way through a few fishing boats looking for a spot to anchor. I did not have enough hands to operate the hand held depth sounder , so I relied on the electronic chart to find a spot, Navionics had conveniently put in waypoints where others had anchored. I got as close as I could to one of these and dropped the hook. I let out extra scope, unsure of the actual depth.

I never really saw much of Bahía Drake. I raised the anchor as soon as it was light enough to see the other boats nearby and headed south again. I was still glad I stopped and slept rather than running all night. Now I was experiencing an offshore breeze. I unfurled the jib while continuing to motor. Between the sail and favorable current, I was travelling much faster and calculated that I would make it to Golfito before the Banana Bay Marina closed for the day. Eventually the wind freshened and I was really rocking it, getting 6-7 knots over the ground.

Banana Bay is an older marina (pictured as I approached). Docks are worn and the place looks a bit run down. But the people are friendly. My new next door neighbors are a German couple on a circumnavigation. I hope to converse with them while here.

And I had two reassuring mails. Boat Insurance had convinced the underwriters to extend my policy until the ship comes. Also, Sevenstar said that for $200 they would insure me for 30 days before loading and within 100 miles of the pickup point.