Log Book
- Port of departure: Bahia San Tomas, Costa Rica
- Departure date and time: Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 1:30pm
- Port of arrival: Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica
- Arrival date and time: Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 4:30pm
- Total travel time: 3 hours
- Miles traveled: 8 nm
- Engine hours: 1159.7 – 1161.5 – 1.7 hours
- Fuel consumption: 47.4 begin – 46.7 end – 0.7 gallons used
- Fuel economy: 11.4 mpg
- Weather: Since we were making a short little hop, we didn’t pay too much attention to my nearly expired grib files which said to expect 8-10 knots from the E/NE. Wouldn’t you know it, they turned out to be wrong.
- Tides and currents: The ebb tide began around noon and was helping us along a little bit, though not much.
A short little hop to Bahia Santa Elena! Not sure it necessarily qualifies as a “passage,” but I still have notes. When we felt a slight breeze at about 1:30pm we decided to pull up the anchor and move along to the next anchorage after delivering some pan de platano (similar to banana bread) to the gentleman that kept vigil over the pargo (snapper) pens in our anchorage.
Sure enough, as soon as we had the anchor stowed and the sails up, the wind was barely strong enough to keep us exactly still. No forward progress to speak of and rain clouds approaching from the SW. We put the motor on and changed into our swimsuits, welcoming the impending rain. Each drop that fell seemed to carry a confused bee with it. Our boat was covered in sodden bumble bees seeking shelter.
The drizzle rinsed the salt from our sails and rigging and selves. Jeff got that freshwater “shower” he was hoping for. I pulled out the soap and a scrub brush and cleaned the decks. We were able to capture a bucket of fresh water that rolled from the main sail down the boom track. Who knows what we’ll use it for. Wash our pots and pans? Wash my hair? Extra fresh water is a luxury on our boat. The benign rain cloud that quickly came and went was what we had originally expected of rainy season…ha.
The rain clouds brought just enough wind to sail by for an hour or so, though we were making less than 2 knots. When the wind died we put the motor back on and were able to sail with the apparent wind we generated under motor.
At the entrance to Bahia Santa Elena we saw floating balls littering the surface of the water. Too many to dodge. Upon closer inspection we discovered they were inflated puffer fish, their white distended bellies and spikes protruding from the water, hundreds if not thousands of them, floating alone and in clumps. Was there a predator on the loose? Was this a great migration? Were they coming up for their daily dose of Vitamin D? Are they like worms, surfacing during a rain shower? We’ll never know, but it was a strange and somewhat comical sight to behold. Puffer fish have been ubiquitous in our travels…and we’ve both grown quite fond of them.
Be careful if you sail into Puntarenas, Costa Rica. It was the only place in the entire country where I didn’t feel safe. Kept my camera bag wrapped around my ankle. A ‘typical’ low-life port with lots of people to keep an eye on. And ugly to look at as well. Hope you can spend some time inland; it’s a gorgeous country. Also, the beach Manuel Antonio (also a national park) has breathtaking scenery, great swimming, and is a place well worth the visit. Let me know if you go inland and I’ll dredge my memory for other spots that I dearly loved. My thoughts and prayers are with you every day. Fair winds, my friends. xoxo G
Are Bahia San Tomas and Bahia Santa Elena in the Golfo de Papagayo? I can’t find them on Google Earth.
Dave S.
They’re right at the border with Nicaragua, before rounding the top of the Nicoya peninsula (the big bulb in the NW of the pacific coast).