On March 18 we left Puntarenas (at high tide of course) and sailed the short 22 miles to a bay in the Gulf of Nicoya called Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay). While it wasn't the right time of year to see whales there, we did enjoy a quiet anchorage off the small village. The next day we set sail to the overnight passage to Marina Papagayo. We didn't have much wind so we had to motor much of the way....and despite all Dave's prior boat work, we once again discovered that the port engine would not start. Dave tried all the "tricks" known to boaters (jump it with a large screwdriver etc) but to no avail. So when we arrive the next afternoon at Marina Papagayo, we notified them via radio that we only had one engine so they assigned us a slip near the end of a finger. After more research on the finicky engine, Dave tugged on one ground wire which had looked fine on inspection, but now he discovered the wire was corroded underneath the heat shrink. So ONCE AGAIN, Dave was able to fix it.
After the anxiety of the engine, it was nice to relax at the Marina and enjoy their wonderful swimming pool. We met cruisers from Senta II (CA folks) and Dream Catcher (FL). It is interesting to see so many more boats from the west coast of US now that we are in the Pacific.