April 1, 2015 Passage to Costa Rica


What follows is our passage to Costa Rica--a week long slog of day passages and one night anchorages. The GPS position of our nightly stops is given as well as our nickname for the anchorage.


8 47.584'N: 79 32.997"W--- Isla Tobago---Gauguin's Dream
As noted before, we spent two nights on a mooring at Isla Tobago. An interesting side note is that the French painter Gauguin and a friend came out from France to work on the failed French Panama canal as a common laborer. His dream was to make enough money to buy a plot of land on Tobago Island, build a house, and live on fruit and fish the rest of his life. Unfortunately, with the money pouring into the canal effort, speculators had driven the cost of land on Tobago out of sight and out of Gauguin's earning range. Gauguin soon realized that the canal zone was a death zone due to disease and heat and as soon as he had saved the money he bought a ticket to Martinique and was gone.
This morning we also were gone and as we motored around the south of Tobago we sighted humpback whales--always a joy to see. Our next stop was Isla Bono, a mere 15 miles to the SW.

8 34.708'N: 79 35.599'W---Isla Bono---Sleepless in Bono

Isla Bono is a small island just south of it's bigger brother called Isla Otoque. Bono had an interesting 'nook' anchorage which faced NW--sheltered from the NE wind and the S swell. We passed between the two islands and found the anchorage on Bono to be ideal--calm, protected, and peaceful. We were the only boat there and we chose the ideal place to drop the hook in the center of the 'nook'. Bono once had a Japanese mining concern and the ruins of the equipment are rusting on the small beach. There is reported to be a patch of black 'sand' of high density on the island, but no one knows what was mined there. Even though we were in the best anchorage and the best spot, I had a sleepless night in Bono. The anchorage was protected from the north winds, but the wind howling overhead set up eddies that had Serenity swinging all night in a 180 degree arch. Also, the swell would hit the outside wall and reflect back and forth in the anchorage making Serenity bounce up and down. There were strange sounds in the night that had me convinced that we were being boarded or hitting the rocks--which we were not doing. The ghosts of Japanese miners kept me up most of the night so I was tired at 0530 when we lifted anchor for our longest leg to the next anchorage called Benao.


7 25.505'N: 80 11.379'W---Ensenada Benao---Jungle-Techno and Tierra del Fuego


As we motor sailed pass Punta Mala, 'bad point' in Spanish--that made us a bit anxious, we were choked by the smoke from numerous fires on the mainland. We were not sure if the fires were controlled burns or wild fires, but we think they were wild fires as the terrain was rugged and wild. We called this part of the coast 'Tierra del Fuego', or land of fire. After 11 hours we arrived off Benao anchorage with 23 knot winds. It was a little intimidating as the southerly swell was creating huge breakers on the shore--the off-shore wind made the waves look like magnificent horses with their white manes flowing in the breeze. Benao is a famous surf spot which usually means it is not a good anchorage. As we motored into the bay we made plans to continue on over-night to another anchorage. But, the wind subsided and as we tucked into the eastern corner the waves died down and it seemed like a fair anchorage--we were also tired from an 'all day' passage. When we anchored we heard the familiar 'Boom-Boom' of music coming from the beach--that should not be a problem. Actually, Benao was not too bad an anchorage as far as the waves and wind went--but the 'Jungle-Techno' music went full blast all night and all morning--it was still going as we motored out at 0600 the next morning. Sherry gave a double 'Californy Howdy' to the merry-goers and we were on our way to Ensenada de Naranjo on Isla Cebaco, 75 miles to the NW.