Passage from Ecuador to Costa Rica

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Hello friends and family,

We have been very busy over the last couple weeks with XMAS and New Years activities here in Golfito, so today is the day I will attempt to download the photos from our passage from Bahia Caraquez, Ecuador to Golfito, Costa Rica.


Originally we had planned on heading to Cocos Island, which lies some 350 miles west of the Coast of Costa Rica. Then we thought of the price we would have to pay $80 per day just to float on top of the water to view the corals down below. As I have lived in the Caribbean for 10 years and have done lots and lots of free diving in that area for FREE, we decided to pass it by. Then we were going to head to Drakes Bay along the coast of Costa Rica, north of Bahia Dulce. The town of Golfito lies within this bay called Bahia Dulce. Anyhow as we were heading north along the coast of Ecuador under beautiful blue skies and a nice southwest wind, we noticed that the engine would run a little hot. We did a lot of sailing on this trip north. The engine didn't feel hot. Robin checked all the "usual suspects" (great movie, by the way), but couldn't find anything wrong with it. So we decided to continue the passage. We didn't use the engine that much at all as we had favorable winds most of the 6 days we went. One day, the 5th in the morning, it was dead calm, and we started to do doughnuts out there, no headway with the light airs sail, and full main, so we turned on the motor. We kept checkig the engine, but all seemed well. We decided to check the gauge (which was swinging too much) the thermostat, and the heat exchanger (the cooling system). Robin felt it best to head straight to Golfito and check out this malfunction, so that is what we did.

Saw some beautiful sunsets and sunrises, some glorious moonrises (as we left on the full moon), and some spectacular star-filled skies. We had some dolfins visit a couple times, which is always nice, and we did have a hitchhiker for a little while. The poor bird flew into the boat just as we were changing sails. After the sail change, Robin went below with a flashlight to look for the poor bird, but to no avail. The next morning we found it huddled asleep under the dodger. After a while I picked it up and set it to fly off the boat. It flew around the boat a little bit, then parked itself on top of the bimini cover. It was there for a while., Then it flew down into the cockpit again,. I picked it up, and tried to give it some fresh water, and unfortunately, it slowly passed away. We had to have a bird buriel at sea for the poor thing. It didn't seem sick or anything, I was totally surprised to have it just expire later that afternoon on the boat. Well, that was a first for Winter Trek, a true buriel at sea.

The arrival into Golfito went pretty smoothly. Well, actually not all that smoothly. We were following in the bouys and the range marker, then tried to cut a corner too soon, and the depth started dropping pretty quickly, Robin told me (the driver) to turn around and head back into the deeper trench. Whew! It was pretty crazy for a while there. We headed closer to land and deeper water, then came to our anchoring spot. We always seem to anchor pretty far off shore compared to other boats, but usually that is because we have never been to these places. I don't mind the distance, it affords more privacy. Privacy is important as you tend to shower three times a day in the cockpit, bathsuits in the day, and birthday suit in the evening. We do shower on shore at the LandSea Marina we are staying at, but sometimes during the day, it's so hot, we just need to cool off with some water.

One thing that is soo nice here, is that all the water is treated, so you don't have to buy drinkable water. It's a real plus. Katy and Tim, who run the TierraMar (Land Sea Marina) are a couple gringos who came this way in a boat about 15r years ago and stayed. Katy got into real estate, and Tim runs the marina for cruisers. Very nice bunch of people, very helpful.

We have had some afternoon showers, but nothing too drastic. This is the dry season in Costa Rica. We have lots of clouds flitting across the bay, and it really looks like rain, but a few little sprinkles and thats that. We met a cruising couple who were here in November and they said it would rain 3 1/2 days out of 4!!! So I am glad it's dry right now.

Enjoy the passage photos, there will be more of Golfito and our side trips a little later. Take good care of yourselves and your friends and families. All our best. Robin & Jean

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