We made the short hop from northern panama and have stopped for a few days in Golfito, a charming little port located in the southern part of Costa Rica. Golfito was a former banana port, so I was obviously anxious to check up on their local production of bananas. The boat sailed nicely from noon until about 2 am, which is when we turned inland and headed up the gulf. After turning in to the gulf the wind became finicky, the boat stalled out, and literally stopped. Of course I was on watch at the time. Hmmm, I guess I should steer this way now. Nope. The boom and sails banged around making enough racket to wake the villages 10 miles inland. We ended up motoring the last portion, which is somewhat nerve-wracking due to the amount of debris in the water. Running over a large log while under power could potentially damage the propeller, which is obviously something we want to avoid. Golfito is located towards the end of Golfo Dulce and is surrounded by lush, dense forest. The tidal swing is almost 12 feet in this particular area which allows the high tidal line to pick up all the fallen debris, wood, and trash that has washed down to the beach. So, it is quite common to see fully grown trees floating through gulf.

We checked in to the sleepy town of 7000 people, headed over to the "Land and Sea Cruiser Club", and dug into the most juicy burger we could get our hands on. I took the dining experience to the an entirely level and not only gulped down a humongo "bilge burger", but also fries, two beers, and best of all, an ice cream sundae to top it off. Needless to say, I walked exceptionally slow to the market that afternoon. Yup, picked up the locally grown bananas.

We plan on staying here for a few days, getting some work done on the boat, and doing our much needed laundry. Our plan is to continue moving north towards Playa De Coco, hopefully stopping at a few funky surfing villages along the way.