Even though we are a bit on a schedule, and the wind is light, we managed to sail for most of the day yesterday. Our light air 'Code Zero' sail is invaluable in these conditions (without having to deal with the complexities of a spinnaker). We anchored overnight at Isla Salango, using waypoints from the Ecuador Cruiser's Handbook http://svsoggypaws.com/files/EcuadorCruisers2009.pdf We will stop tonight at San Mateo, and then get a very early start on Thursday morning, to be at the 'Waiting Room' for Bahia de Caraquez at 9:45am to be piloted over the bar.
We have a small stuffing box leak and a very small transmission oil drip, but neither is serious and both are fixable. (The 'stuffing box' is the hole where the prop shaft goes from the engine out to the prop. It is stuffed with some magic stuff that lets the shaft turn but theoretically keeps the water out. It is always a delicate balance between 'too tight, and there's too much friction', which is bad. And 'too loose, and the water comes in', which is also bad.
Dave is happy with the engine, though a little stressed by a couple of drops of transmission oil in his clean white bilge. But he is optimistic that he can stop that. We ran the engine for about 2 full hours yesterday, and Mr Perkins sounded good.
We have a few more chores to do on our 'must do before setting out for the Galapagos' list, and we are hoping to fit in one more adventure in northern Peru, and also see a little more of Ecuador. Daughter Nicki and her significant other, Phil, are coming for a Christmas visit to Cuenca (Ecuador). And then we set out for the Galapagos around the 6th or 7th of January. Our Autografo (cruising permit) for the Galapagos is 'in process'.
Can't wait!!
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At 11/25/2009 12:55 AM (utc) our position was 01°35.56'S 080°51.68'W
Labels: Ecuador, Maintenance, On Passage
We made it to the 'Waiting Room' waypoint with plenty of time to spare. Notice the swell passing Soggy Paws just off our bow.
Conditions had moderated as the night wore on, so it was a very pleasant morning. We did quite a bit of motoring around while waiting for the pilot to show up, and saw pretty much steady depths of about 25' all around the waypoint.
We watched the fishermen setting nets while we waited for our pilot to show up.
We used these waypoints, from Puerto Amistad's website:
WP0 00º35.780S 080º28.300W Virtual Sea Buoy
WP1 00º35.805S 080º26.832W "Waiting Room" Anchorage
We also took the chartlet they had on their website and imported it into Sea Clear and geo-referenced it, as a backup in case we had to take ourselves in.
Fortunately, promptly at 8:40, Carlos from Puerto Amistad showed up in a lancha. He safely piloted us over the bar and around some pretty awesome rollers. It would have been pretty scary taking ourselves in. The $30 we paid to Carlos to guide us in was money well spent, we think.
Dave and Carlos taking Soggy Paws In
Breaking Waves!We were never actually in breakers, but they were close abeam as we went in (much closer than this picture shows). We saw a minimum depth of about 8' (at high tide a few days after the full moon).
Inside the Bay
Approaching the Anchorage off Puerto AmistadCarlos hustled off as soon as we were on the mooring, to round up the officials. The current procedure is for Puerto Amistad to call them and arrange for a taxi to bring them to the boat. And then Carlos ferries them out to the boat. It took a couple of hours for them to show up, but by about 4pm, we were done. Here's what we paid for the entry and check-in:
$30 Pilot Fee
$5 Health Inspection
$20 Immigration
$39 Port Captain
$30 Taxi fare (we split the $60 fare with another boat that was leaving)
Our Immigration is good for 90 days. The boat is supposedly good 'indefinitely'. Unlike the problems reported in Salinas/Puerto Lucia, where the Port Captain has been hassling boats about staying too long. The 90 day immigration won't be a problem for us because we plan several trips out of Ecuador in the next 9 months.
Labels: Ecuador, On Passage
The wind came up so unexpectedly and so rapidly, and was unforecast, so we weren't sure it was going to hold. At 4pm it was flat dead calm, at 4:15 we had 7-8 knots, and at 4:30 we had 10-15 (and later, almost 20 knots). The forecast said we should expect almost nothing.
We sweated keeping our speed up all night, as we had to arrive at the 'Waiting Room' waypoint by 1 hour before high tide. We figured if we could average 5.5 knots, we could make it. So we kept more sail up than we would normally under the conditions. At one point we were doing 6-7 knots (and cheering) in about 20 knots of wind. I had to switch plans for dinner as I hadn't planned on such a boisterous sail--we ended up with 'augmented leftovers'.
Later in the wee hours of the morning, the wind eased some, and we eventually had to turn on the engine to keep our speed up.
Just when we thought we were going to make the required arrival time with no problem, we got a call on the radio. "Vessel 6 miles off my beam, this is the survey vessel... Scan (something)". We had seen the ship on AIS all night long (we picked it up from 25 miles away and it was only moving at 4 knots). The AIS said we'd pass clear astern by several miles, so we hadn't worried about it.
What we didn't know was that he was towing a 6 mile cable that we had to clear also. So we had to turn away from our waypoint and head south for about a half an hour, to get around his towed subseafloor survey device. Then, it was clear he was approaching shore and would have to turn... so then we (I, mainly) worried whether he'd cut us off again. When we told him we were headed for Bahia de Caraquez, he said "Where?" (it is not labeled on the chart). But he was moving so slowly, we managed to get inshore of him before he passed by again.
The one good thing about the survey vessel was that we were pretty sure we wouldn't run into any fishing nets during the night. The survey vessel had two 'outrider' boats that were running interference for him, to move boats that didn't have radios. And we could see them heading off fishing boats.
Nets in the night was another thing I was worrying about! One boat had said they got tangled up in nets 3 times in one night. It would have been a bad night to have to go over the side with a knife in your teeth to clear a net off your prop!
After all my worrying, we arrived at the 'Waiting Room' about an hour before the required time. So we ended up just motorsailing in a racetrack pattern to kill time. Dave didn't want to bother anchoring.
We were amazed at the number of fishermen in open boats in the bay ahead of us. There were nets and fishing boats all over. So we hung out just beyond the nets.
Labels: Ecuador, On Passage
We crossed the equator at 22:44 last night, and Dave initiated Sherry, following the proper rites, as a Shellback. She is a Pollywog no more.
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At 2/16/2009 10:22 PM our position was 00°00.00'S 081°04.22'W
Labels: Ecuador, On Passage
Progress in the last 24 hours: 52.1 nautical miles
Miles to Go: 115
Fuel left: Approx 20 gallons
We continue to make slow but steady progress towards Bahia de Caraquez. We have been in email contact with Tripp Martin at Puerto Amistad, and he is expecting us, and ready to arrange the 'bar pilot' we need to come in the Rio Chone.
It looks like now we won't arrive until late Tuesday (at our current speed of 3.5 knots motoring, that's what the GPS is saying). Since we've been averaging only 2.5 knots with our sail/motorsail arrangement, we'll target the Weds am high tide at about 10am.
Yesterday was an eventful day, for a zero-wind day. First, at just before dawn, still 180 miles offshore, we saw our first shipping contact in days. It was a single white light, and not really moving. When we finally got close enough, and the sun came up, we could see a large 'lancha' with a few guys and a pole with lights on it, sitting at the end of a net or longline (we could see the end of net marker, a black flag on it). We also saw a larger vessel rendezvous with this lancha for a few minutes.
Not sure what went back and forth, but both boats waved at us as we went by.
A couple of hours later, we approached another similar lancha (or maybe the same one..?), they were coming at us slowly and a guy was standing up pointing south. It was obvious they were trying to tell us something. (Dave got out the 'Bear Spray' and the Tazer, just in case). When we got close enough, they shouted 'Sur' (South) and made a 'follow us' motion. So we turned on the motor, rolled in the sail, and turned about 45 degrees right and slowly followed them. They must have wondered why
the heck this big fancy gringo sailboat was only going 3 knots!!!
They eventually led us about a half a mile, around the end of their net, marked by another black flag. This was 175 miles out at sea, in very very deep water. And they are 4 guys in an open lancha with no cover, and an outboard motor for power. I wonder if they have a GPS? VHF radio?? Brave men! Undoubtedly desperate to support their families.
Soon after that, I was napping below and heard Dave yell "Sherry, I need you now." The brand new 1/2" halyard on our Code Zero had chafed thru, and the sail was dragging in the water. Fortunately, "shrimping" (recovering a dragging sail) is not very hard when you're only going 2 knots and the sea is flat calm. We got it back aboard easily, and by late morning, had hauled Dave up the mast to re-run the halyard. We will have to watch for chafe very closely and try to figure out exactly where the
chafe point is. Dave had run the halyard over the spinnaker block and into the mast, and I suspect that's our chafe point. This time, the halyard is run outside the mast.
About the time we got the Code Zero back up, the wind died to nothing. Absolutely no wind, dead flat glassy calm. Zip, zilch, nada. Not a ripple on the water as far as the eye can see. So of course, the motor went back on (still only around 1100 RPM). We continued motoring with no wind until around 4:15pm when a slight breeze came up. Still fighting about a half a knot of current, so only making about 2.5 knots motoring at that speed.
During the calm, we were visited by a lively pod of porpoises. Several times a couple of them jumped 6' out of the water and did flips. Very cool. I stood on the bow with the camera and got several good (I hope) shots of one particular fellow who liked hanging out just ahead of the bow. But I missed the aerial acrobatics with the camera.
We continued to work on 'projects'... Dave working on the Workshop section of the website and Sherry hauled out the sewing machine to do a long-awaited repair on the mainsail cover.
Once the wind came up (to about 5-6 knots), it was one of the most beautiful evenings we have had at sea... a slight but steady wind, the motor's off and we're sailing along at about 2-3 knots. The sunset was gorgeous--we saw a 'green flash'. Sherry made 'Seared Tuna' from the last of the tuna Dave caught on our way to Cocos. This was our 4th try to imitate the 'seared tuna' you get in a good Japanese restaurant, and we finally got it perfect. great marinade from our Keys Cooking cookbook and
finally not cooked too much.
And we had enough wind to continue under sail all night.
The crew got lots of rest last night. We've been doing 3 hour watches during the night. That gives each of 2 3-our watches, providing about 5 hrs (total) good solid sleep, plus catnaps during our watches, and a nap if needed in the middle of the day. On easy nights (stable conditions, little ship traffic), we can manage to sleep in the cockpit 15 minutes at a time while we are on watch. Dave sleeps with a kitchen timer sitting on his chest. Sherry uses her Timex watch with a countdown timer.
At one point during my watch, we were visited by porpoises again. I could hear them surface alongside with a 'phoosh', and saw a couple of them streak away, leaving a trail of phosphorescence in their wake. Really cool (or 'awesome' for you younger folks).
So, though it is frustrating to be going so slow, and a little worrisome not having enough fuel to just motor in if the wind dies completely, and we're still not sure what the current will do to us... We ARE enjoying ourselves out here. It could be A LOT worse.
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At 2/16/2009 3:06 PM (utc) our position was 00°42.81'N 081°42.78'W
Labels: On Passage
Progress in the last 24 hours: 60.0 nautical miles
Miles to Go: 167
Fuel left: Approx 21 gallons
Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day. The wind was still light--nonexistent for a few hours, but we did make quite a few miles under sail, in mostly the right direction. We are making slow but sure progress toward our destination, at very minimal fuel usage. The current seems to be slacking off... has been mostly on our beam, rather than our nose.
Our Valentines Dinner was beef stew. We've been trailing a fishing line, but other than the tuna we caught on our way to Cocos, we ave not caught any fish. We're moving a little slow for good trolling. Unfortunately, the only beef available in Golfito is suitable only for pressure cooking, so no medium rare steaks for us.
We cranked up the watermaker on one of our bouts of motoring, and made about 60 gallons of fresh water in an our and a half, topping our tanks off.
Looks like we won't make our Monday target arrival date... we are now hoping to make the 9:41 high tide on Tuesday.
Labels: On Passage
Progress in the last 24 hours: 53.5 nautical miles
Miles to Go: 223
Fuel left: Approx 26 gallons
Still very little wind. What wind there is looks like it is trying to fill in right on our nose.
We had a short burst of wind in the middle of the night that drove us crazy. I pulled out the Code Zero and we were smoking along at 5 knots. Then the wind seemed to be increasing, so I woke Dave to help pull in our light air sail and put out the Genoa. By the time we got all that done, the wind had died again. Couldnt even hold the Code Zero up.
The GRIB file I just pulled in shows wind under 8 knots from varying directions for the next 3 days. Sigh.
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At 2/14/2009 1:33 PM (utc) our position was 01°37.37'N 083°31.22'W
Labels: On Passage
glassy seas and we are motoring again. What's worse, we have a nasty washing machine sea that makes it very uncomfortable, and slows us down. We can't figure out where its coming from, with no wind for days.
Could be lots worse, but we're ready for this learning experience to be over!!
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At 2/14/2009 6:07 AM (utc) our position was 01°44.14'N 083°43.11'W
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Labels: On Passage
Though "Janet", our CPT autopilot, has been doing a rock solid job at the cost of only a couple of amps, the long term plan has always been to have the Monitor steer on long passages with steady winds.
We finally got the Monitor all rigged up (rudder on, windvane on, steering lines and blocks rigged to the steering wheel), engaged it, and it is steering so effortlessly that we looked at each other and said "Is it working?" But Janet is definitely disengaged, and we are still on course after 10 minutes. When you have your sails properly balanced, the Monitor makes such tiny corrections that it's hard to see it working.
Everyone's autopilot MUST be named, as it is such an essential part of the crew. We have named our Monitor "Henry", in honor of Dave's ex-Father-in-Law, Henry Mikelait, who has been avidly following our progress on the internet. Henry Mikelait's own travels around the world have been inspiring Dave for years. Now it's our turn to travel, and we'll have the spirit of Henry Mikelait helping us around the world.
Dave has a little bit of info on our Monitor wind vane and CPT autopilot setups posted on the web at http://www.svsoggypaws.com/steering.htm I am sure more will be forthcoming... including new pictures of Henry in action.
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At 2/13/2009 8:37 PM (utc) our position was 01°53.44'N 084°00.43'W
Labels: On Passage
Progress in the last 24 hours: 60.2 nautical miles
Miles to Go: 281
Fuel left: Approx 32 gallons
After 4 full days of traveling, we are still not quite half way there!!
However, our fuel conservation plan is working well... when the wind gets too light to control the boat under sail, we motorsail at very low RPM. We've managed to average 2.5 kts toward our destination, against 1-2 knots of current, and in only about 5 kts of wind.
The forecast has promised slightly more wind today for the next 36 hours, though we haven't seen it start to fill in yet.
The current has eased a little, but we think we still have about a knot against us, and expect to have that continue for another hundred miles or so.
Other than taking forever to get to Ecuador, the trip itself is very pleasant. Even when motoring, the RPM's are so low that it's not obnoxious. Dave's been getting small maintenance jobs done during the day, while Sherry's mainly been reading.
We have plenty of food, water, electricity, rum and books to read. So we are in no danger of running out of anything out here.
Sherry's current reading:
- Jimmy Cornell's autobiography "A Passion for the Sea"
- Lin Pardey's "Care and Feeding of the Sailing Crew"
- Clive Cussler's novel "Atlantis Found"
All 3 are really good books. We picked up a signed copy of the Jimmy Cornell book at SSCA, where Jimmy was the featured speaker. It cost a lot--we rarely ever buy a book new, but this one has been worth every penny--very informative and entertaining. The Lin Pardey book I got in nearly new condition at the cruiser swap meet in Golfito for $2. It, too, is an excellent cruising book, both entertaining and informative.
And the Clive Cussler came from Land n Sea Golfito's book exchange. It is a true Clive Cussler action adventure, and I make sure I don't pick it up unless I can afford to become absorbed in the book to the exclusion of everything else aboard!
Since we're in the throat of the famed Humboldt Current, we've been monitoring the water temp as we sailed south. When we left Cocos, the water temp was around 83 degrees F. In the last 24 hours, it has dropped steadily from 81 to 75 degrees. With the water temp at 75, the air temp has been noticeably cooler, and we've been wearing long sleeves on watch at night.
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At 2/13/2009 1:58 PM (utc) our position was 02°04.08'N 084°16.76'W
Labels: On Passage
Progress in the last 24 hours: 60 nautical miles
Fuel left: Approx 36 gallons
We spent much of yesterday discussing options and carefully checking our fuel supply and consumption at various engine RPMs. There was not enough wind to pure sail and not go backwards. But we found that keeping the engine ticking over at 1000 RPM only used 1/2 gal diesel an hour, it kept air moving over the sail, we made 2 knots toward our destination, and the autopilot could handle the job. The logic for this was to keep us going comfortably until the forecast wind filled in on Friday.
We definitely underestimated the current on this trip. This has been like trying to cross the Gulfstream from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas, sailing, on a very light air day. We'd end up in Jacksonville!
We have had about 2 knots of current, mostly against us, for the last 2 days. Most of yesterday, we had a westerly component...we were steering 135 on the compass and tracking along about 180 degrees. Even if we had an unlimited fuel supply we'd be struggling.
We were blessed that at least some wind stayed with us all day. We made slow but measurable progress towards Bahia. Then we were surprised that it swung around to the South and strengthened up a couple of knots last night. Finally we had enough wind to adjust our course and sail directly towards our destination (crabbing into the current). We have made steady but slow progress all night, and the wind is still pretty good this morning.
The wind we have right now was NOT forecast, but we're glad the weather guessers got it right in our favor this time!
We are sailing thru the water at about 4.5-5kts, but only tracking 2.5 knots across the bottom (using the GPS). The difference is the effect of the current.
We still have 340 miles to go. So at this rate, we still have 5-6 days more to go! (if the wind holds). We hope at some point we will break free of the current and speed up, but who knows...?
We are under the ITCZ right now... The Tropical Forecast says that it's along 2 degrees north latitude. Up until late yesterday we've been sailing in sunny blue sky conditions. But about sunset, we entered an area that is fully overcast with scattered showers, and are still having those conditions this morning. But fortunately no gruesome squalls in the middle of the night... just a few light rain showers. (Except I just heard a thunder rumble in the distance!)
We realized yesterday that as we were drug off course by the current, we were closer to the Galapagos than to the mainland, by about 25 miles. I couldn't get Dave to consider diverting there--we already have our Chile trip planned for March and need to get into Bahia de Caraquez and get settled.
In the words Monty Python "We'll be right here when you get back."
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At 2/12/2009 1:05 PM (utc) our position was 02°41.73'N 085°06.10'W
Labels: On Passage
Are we having fun out here, or what???
We motored all day with a glassy sea. The forecast said we were supposed to have about 7 knots of wind out of the NE, but it was literally zero wind.
Finally around 4pm, a whisper of a wind came up. So we turned off the engine and pulled out the Code Zero.
For about the first hour, we were literally going backwards. Sailing SE through the water at about 1-2 knots, but tracking NW at about a knot, according to the GPS. That means we have a 2 knot current against us!!
The wind filled in a little until we were making about 2-3 knots through the water. There was enough wind that the autopilot could handle the steering. The current slacked off a little. We were finally moving in the right direction without running the engine.
We got 2 different forecasts this afternoon (the GFS and the WW3 models as GRIB files). Both told us that the forecast for wind in the area where we are is 0-5 knots for the next 2 days. Then the wind will pick up to about 10-15 on Friday.
We also spent a couple of hours this afternoon studying the pilot charts, trying to figure out if there's a route that we can take that will minimize the current. But I think it's all guesswork unless we have an accurate satellite picture of where the current ACTUALLY is, versus the average of where it has been historically. (I have seen an infrared analysis of the current here in the past, but couldn't find it on the web before we left).
After all that, we decided to just maintain the rhumb line, unless going in one direction or the other would give us more wind.
Tonight, we were having fun hand-steering by moonlight, trying to get the last wisp of speed out of what little wind we had. Between 4pm and 2am, we made 6 miles in the right direction, against the current and in spite of almost no wind!!
But the wind finally died on us a few minutes ago, so we're motoring again.
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At 2/11/2009 7:39 AM (utc) our position was 04°08.35'N 085°33.27'W
Labels: On Passage
The winds are very light. We have mostly been motoring, but did attempt to sail for a few hours yesterday. The wind has been light--about 5 knots--and mostly on our nose. When we did sail, it was in the wrong direction, slowly--making only 1 knot toward our destination. We have about a knot of current on our nose, too!
But other than that, it as been a pleasant passage so far, with a beautiful moon and clear skies last night.
With these conditions, and not enough diesel aboard to motor the whole way, its hard to say when we will actually make it to Bahia de Caracaquez. But we have lots of food and water, so we will just keep plugging along until the wind picks up a little.
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At 2/10/2009 2:49 PM (utc) our position was 04°32.11'N 085°52.52'W
Labels: On Passage
The GRIB file this morning looks pretty good. A few more knots of wind would be better, but at least it's not too much wind. It looks like most of our passage will be a close reach. Our current winds seem about 5 knots out of the east
At 5 knots it would only take us 4.5 days, but we don't expect to average 5 knots. We will encounter some adverse current... we have to cross the Humboldt Current to get to coastal South America. We will be crossing the equator... going thru the dreaded 'doldrums'... an area of squally weather, and light and variable winds. We don't have enough fuel aboard to motor the whole way. So we may spend some time drifting along at 2-3 knots.
But we don't want to arrive on the weekend anyway, and 4.5 days would put us there late on Friday afternoon. And there is a 'bar' to cross on arrival. The most favorable time for us to cross will be next Monday morning, so we'll probably just target arrival for Monday morning, and try to sail as much as possible.
Our destination is Bahia de Caraquez in Ecuador, at approximately 00º35.8S 80º26.8W. You can read a little about the place here: http://puertoamistadecuador.com
Labels: Cocos Island, Costa Rica, On Passage
Our 1am position: 05-40N 86-49W
The last 24 hours have been both beautiful and frustrating.
Beautiful because the weather is fine and we're going through an area of abundant sea life. We've seen big sailfish skipping along on the surface, sea turtles, several kinds of porpoises, red footed boobies (birds) and big frigate birds. We caught a nice fat yellowfin tuna... had a few hunks raw as a snack with lunch, and then some nice 'seared tuna' for dinner.
The water is a blue blue blue color. The stars were awesome last night. And there's phosphorescence in the water, so our wake glows.
But it has also been incredibly frustrating, because there's been virtually no wind. We did try to put the Code Zero sail out at the change of watch in the middle of the night, but the wind died again just as we finally got it rigged, so we rolled it back in and motored all night.
Every day the forecast has been saying 'tomorrow there will be wind'. Finally about noon today, I convinced Dave that the wind had come up enough to try again. We ended had a nice (slow) sail all afternoon, except a few times when the wind died off and Janet, our autopilot got confused. We're both doing other things and letting Janet steer, and next thing we know it, the sail is collapsing and we're in a hard turn the wrong way. You can't tack this big sail (it would have to thread thru the other headsails, etc). So we just let it backwind and come on around. It takes about 10 minutes to do a 'loop-de-loo', a full 360 degree turn, and get it settled down back on course again. We did that 3 times this afternoon.
By dinnertime, the wind had died and veered, so that we were only going about 1.6 knots and headed about 45 degrees off our proper course. And Janet was having a really hard time holding course. We held off until we finished a nice a quiet dinner in the cockpit and a nice sunset. But after dinner, we took the sail down and turned the engine back on again. We didn't want to get too far off course, because the wind is SUPPOSED to come up tomorrow.
Of course, as soon as it was my turn to sleep, the wind came up again and it got a little rough. I couldn't figure out why I was having so much trouble sleeping, until I got up and realized how lumpy it was. At the change of watch, we rolled out the staysail and turned the engine off again. The staysail is a small sail--just the right size to keep us jogging along at about 2-3 knots, with a gentle motion. Our ETA at the island is now close to dawn.
We could see the island vaguely in the distance just before sunset (at about 25 miles) At 0100 we were 15 miles out. I can just see a hint of the island on radar, but don't see any lights.
The moon set about midnight, so it is now pitch dark. But the stars are just amazing. Billions and billions... Just seeing the stars so clearly is worth this whole trip. You just can't see them like this, with no light pollution, in the civilized world any more.
As soon as the sun came up, we could see Cocos ahead of us, green and lush.
Labels: Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Fishing, On Passage
But today we talked on the Panama Pacific Net (8143 USB at 1400UTC) and on 'Ben's Net'
The Pan Pacific Net is all cruisers between El Salvador and Ecuador on the Pacific side. It is 10% safety and Security, 10% weather, and 80% social and cruising information. We listen every day when we can ear them. But on our trip from Panama to Golfito, we lost them after we rounded Punta Mala, and have been unable to hear them since.
Ben's Net is a small group of cruising guys that meet together on the ham band at 14.261 Mhz at 2100UTC to talk about cruising and boats and stuff. I've been chatting with Ben, K3BC, since I was on Island Time in the Caribbean in 1993-1997. Today I talked with Ken KW9I up near Chicago (and freezing his butt off), Ben in the Chesapeake Bay area, and Jim KC4AZ, in Vero Beach. Because of the skip, sometimes they can't hear each other, but they could all hear me.
Ben gave us a short synopsis of the end of the Super Bowl, which we'd forgotten to ask about on the Pan Pacific net. Sounds like we missed a good one.
Labels: On Passage
We had a nice sail yesterday afternoon, from about noon til 6pm. We rolled the new Code Zero sail out and were ghosting along in 10 knots of wind, making about 4 knots (about a fast walk, for you non-nautical people).
The Code Zero is our new sail we got to help us in these light air conditions... it is very large and made of very light fabric. Almost like a spinnaker, but with a flatter cut and made out of 3 ounce Dacron, and mounted on a roller furler.
But near sunset, when our speed dropped below 2 knots, we finally gave up and turned the motor on.
I took the first watch, from 8pm to midnight. I had a very nice watch... light winds, stars above, bright phosphorescence in the water. Just at the end of my watch, 2 ships sowed up on the AIS, and a rain squall came up. Dave spend his entire watch battling squalls and dodging ships. I was glad it wasn't my watch, but I didn't get much sleep, as I was up and down to help him out.
As soon as it was my turn again (at 4am), the ships were all one, and the rain went away too. But it was so hectic last night in the squalls that I cant find my watch! (Oh no, not another missing watch!!)
Our current ETA, if we keep motoring at 5 knots, is about midnight tomorrow, Feb 2. But since we are still almost 200 miles away, speeding up or slowing down by a half a knot will change our ETA drastically.
Labels: On Passage
Labels: On Passage
We are finally getting ready to leave Costa Rica! The fuel and water tanks are topped, the provisioning is done, we have paid our bill at Land n Sea, and we've checked out of the country.
Our plan is to leave Golfito today and stage at Puerto Jiminez (across the Golfo Dulce from Golfito).
Then we'll leave there early tomorrow morning on the outgoing tide, and head for Cocos Island. That leg is about 300 miles, so we expect to be there late Monday. We expect light winds and will motor if necessary to get there in a reasonable time. It looks like it may be blowing like stink north and south of us, but there's this light and variable zone right on the direct path from Golfito to Cocos!
Cocos Island (Isla del Cocos in Costa Rica) is a world famous dive destination. It is a closely-guarded national park, and we think it will cost us something like $100 per day to stay there and dive. Yes, that's a lot of money, but the only other way to get there is by live-aboard dive boat, at $5000 for a 10-day trip!
So we'll stay a few days at Cocos, and then head south for Ecuador. The Cocos-Ecuador leg is about 500 miles. Hopefully by going out as far as Cocos, we'll have a decent angle to be able to sail to Ecuador. But usually people say it is a choppy nasty trip with wind and current on the nose. We'll see.
We'll be sending in blog updates and position reports as we go, and you can watch it via the links on our 'Positions' page.
For you geographically challenged, here is our course in the bigger scheme of things.
Goodbye Central America! Hello South America!
Labels: Cocos Island, Costa Rica, Ecuador, On Passage
or Posts by Topic links in the upper left!
For posts prior to 2009 (all our Caribbean travels) see
Soggy Paws 2007 & 2008
Cocos Island
Ecuador
Ecuador Inland
Chile Inland
Peru Inland
French Canal Boat
USA 2009
On Passage
Fishing
Diving
Maintenance
Electronics
Intracoastal Waterway
Florida Keys
Dry Tortugas
Belize
Belize Inland
Guatemala
Guatemala Inland
USA 2007
Honduras
Islands Honduras->Panama
Panama-Carib Side
Colombia
Colombia Inland
Panama Canal
Panama-Pacific Side
Costa Rica
USA 2008
Fishing
Diving
Maintenance
Provisioning
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
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