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Below are the complete Cruising Notes published in Zihuatanejo. It is a document of 113 pages, published as a Word document and as an HTML file. S/V “SIESTA” Edited Notes on
Central America, Ecuador, the Galapagos, and the Western Caribbean January 18, 2003
Zihuatanejo,
Mexico – January 2003 1. Introduction from the Editors IMPORTANT!
READ CAREFULLY! None of the contributors
to this compilation of cruising notes, nor its editors, assume any
responsibility for the accuracy of the information. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR
OWN RISK! We hope you find these notes useful as you head south from
Zihuatanejo. We have compiled the information in these notes from many sources.
Virtually all the material comes from letters and emails from cruisers who have
recently explored the Pacific Central American and Western Caribbean waters.
Some also contributed their experiences in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, as
well. The idea for these compiled notes came to us as we sat here
at anchor in beautiful Zihuatanejo Bay, aboard ¨SIESTA” (our CSY 44
center-cockpit cutter), preparing for our trip south to the Panamá Canal and on
to our home in the Florida Keys. We felt we needed current information.
Conditions can change quickly in these waters.
We wanted access to fresh, recent information from other cruisers like
us, to supplement the many excellent cruising guides that already exist. And we
wanted this information organized in such a way that it could be referenced
easily. Yet we wanted to do a minimum of editing, to keep the scope of work
manageable to a reasonable period of time. We give our thanks to the many cruisers who have contributed
to these notes. For example, Anne, from the ketch MICHAELANNE, came on the VHF
in Zihuatanejo and offered her own cruising notes and those of other
Southbounders she had compiled on diskette. Other cruisers currently in Central
America were contacted via email and immediately started sending very useful
information about places they visited. And we already had a file of cruising
notes of our own, received from many cruising friends and owners of other CSY
44’s. We are particularly grateful to Don and Gwen on TACKLESS II, and Dave
and Stacey on SOGGY PAWS for their many detailed cruising notes. But there are
many, many others. So thanks to all of you, you know who you are, and your names
all all over these notes, using as much detail as we could find! The emails, logs and letters included in these edited notes
in many cases were not meant to be included in a cruising
“guide” type of format. We have done very little, if any, editing on
these letters. As such, they include a number of illustrative, anecdotal,
sometimes even quasi-personal observations, that we feel best colors and
exemplify the best of the cruising life. As
a result, you will find very different styles and types of information
intertwined into a cruiser’s “patch quilt”. We hope that all these genuine
stories and sketches will help you get into the frame of mind of a cruiser about
to enter the beautiful waters of Pacific Central America and the Western
Caribbean. We also found some other excellent sources on Central
America, which we recommend reading. In the spring of last year, 2002, the
Southbounders in Puerto Vallarta put together an excellent set of cruising
notes, and published them as the SOUTHBOUND CRUISERS RESOURCE DIRECTORY
2002/2003, on both paper and CDROM media. Rick
offered us a copy from Rick’s Bar’s files. We have added this document to
the Zihuatanejo CDROM as well. Also, Walt made available his file of paper
documents kept at the Zihuatanejo Yacht Club, from previous Zihuatanejo
Southbounders. We selectively copied small portions of these paper documents for
our own use, but could not include this information, since the text was not in
machine-readable form, and could not easily be added to the CDROM. We welcome comments and future articles and emails from the
readers of these notes. We will publish what we receive on our web site, along
with these original notes, to enable future Southbounders to benefit from your
new experiences and adventures. We wish fair winds and following seas to all the
Southbounders from Zihuatanejo! ¡Qué
tengan todos una aventura maravillosa por Centro America! Ed and Daisy Marill Zihuatanejo, Mexico January 18, 2003 These cruising notes
were made available to cruisers in Zihuatanejo, in CDROM media form, both as a
Microsoft Word document, and as an HTML file, viewable by any web browser,
without the need for Microsoft Word. These notes were distributed via CDROM
during the 2003 Zihua Sailfest Event, for the modest contribution of $10US to
benefit the local Indian school. Printed copies of this CDROM were not made
available, although they could easily be produced from the CDROM. Copies of this
disk will be left at Rick’s Bar and at the Zihuatanejo Yacht Club, for the use
of future Southbounders who come here to prepare for the journey south. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
from the Editors
3.
The Zihuatanejo "Southbounders" Class of 2003
4.
General comments about cruising Central America:
4.1
From Slainte (Allan and Liz, 2002)
4.2
From John and Anne aboard the Morgan OI 41’ Chula Mula, summer, 2002)
5.1
From Anne and Michael aboard the Whitby 42’ ketch MICHAELANNE (2002):
5.2
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
Spring 2002:
6.
Notes on Weather in Central America:
6.1
Weather Wisdom from Don, of s/v SUMMER PASSAGE
7.
General Information about Central America:
7.1
Hauling Out in Panamá – Pacific Side - from SUN DAZZLER, Spring, 2002
7.2
Hauling Information from s/v SLAINTE (2002):
7.3
Other General Information (from Michael and Anne aboard MICHAELANNE, Spring
2002):
8.
Notes on Zihuatanejo to Mexico Border:
8.1
Acapulco report from Mark aboard TONDELAYO on 1/3/2003:
8.2
Acapulco report from Jutta and Ferdy aboard the Endeavour 40 PIPE DREAM, Spring
2002:
8.3
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA, Fall
2002:
8.4
Anchorages around Huatulco, Mexico, from Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter
TACKLESS II, 2002:
8.6
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA, Fall
2002:
9.
Notes on Mexican Border to Guatemala:
9.1
From Diane on WINBIRD, from Bahia del Sol, in El Salvador, Jan 1, 2003:
9.2
From Jutta and Ferdy aboard the Endeavour 40’ Pipe Dream, Spring 2002:
10.1
From Michael and Anne aboard the Whitby 42’ ketch MICHAEL ANNE, spring 2002:
10.2
From John and Anne aboard the Morgan 41 OI CHULA MULA, August 2002:
10.3
From Jutta and Ferdy aboard PIPE DREAM, Spring 2002:
10.4
From Diane on WINDBIRD, from Bahia del Sol in El Salvador (2003):
10.5
From Matt aboard ELSEWHERE, received in Zihuatanejo via Winlink on January 1,
2003:
10.6
From John and Anne aboard the Morgan OI 41’ CHULA MULA,
Spring 2002:
10.7
From MICHAELANNE and TACKLESS II:
10.8
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA, Fall
2002:
10.9
s/v RAGTIME--January, 2002
11.1
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
11.2
From Michael and Anne aboard the Whitby 42’ ketch MICHAELANNE—April, 2002
11.4
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA,
Fall 2002:
12.1
From Michael and Anne aboard the Whitby 42 ketch MICHAELANNE, Spring 2002:
12.2
From Allan and Liz aboard SLAINTE, 2002:
12.3
From Greg and Meg aboard the motoryacht WET
BAR, December 2002:
12.4
From Pete aboard s/y NEENER 3-- June, 2002
12.5
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
12.6
From Jutta and Ferdy aboard PIPE DREAM, Spring 2002:
12.7
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA,
Fall 2002:
13.
Notes on Pacific Coast of Panama:
13.1
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
13.2
s/y RAGTIME--February, 2002
13.3
s/y AKAUAHELO--June, 2002
13.4
From Tom and Kathy on the s/y TAI-TAM--spring and summer, 2002
13.5
Three Anchorages on the Way to Punta Mala, Panama—from Tai-Tam
13.6
From John and Anne aboard the Morgan OI 41’ CHULA MULA:
13.7
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
13.8
From Jim and Suzy aboard s/v SPARTA, Fall
2002:
13.9
From Beverly and Paul on the 40’ Manta Cat TOUCH’N GO (February 2002):
14.
Notes on Transiting the Panama Canal:
14.2
From Greg and Meg aboard the motorboat WET BAR, December 2002
14.3
Tai-Tam on Preparing to Transit the Canal
14.4
From Brent and Susan on the s/y AKAUAHUELO--July, 2002:
14.5
s/y NEENER 3--Summer, 2002
14.6
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS
(2002):
15.
Notes on Colon and Portobelo:
15.1
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
15.2
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS
(2002):
16.
Notes on the San Blas Islands:
16.1
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II,
2002:
16.2
Dave and Stacey on the CSY 44 Cutter SOGGY
PAWS, 2002:
16.3
From John and Anne aboard the Morgan OI 41’ CHULA MULA, Spring 2002:
16.4
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS,
2002:
17. Notes
on Cartagena, Colombia:
17.1
From Dave and Stacey aboard the CSY 44 cutter
SOGGY PAWS, December 2000:
17.2
From John and Anne on the Morgan OI 41’ CHULA MULA, Fall 2002:
17.3
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS,
2002:
18.
North from Panama/Cartagena) to Roatan area:
18.1
Dave and Stacey on the CSY 44 Cutter SOGGY
PAWS, 2002:
19.
Notes on Roatan and Guanaja:
20.
Notes on Rio Dulce, Livingston and rest of Guatemala:
20.1
Dave and Stacey on the CSY 44 Cutter
SOGGY PAWS, 2002:
21.
Notes on The Bay of Islands, Honduras:
21.1
Dave and Stacey on the CSY 44 Cutter SOGGY
PAWS, 2002:
22.
Notes on Cancun and Cozumel, Mexico:
23.
Notes on Isla Mujeres, Mexico:
23.1
Dave and Stacey on the CSY 44 Cutter SOGGY
PAWS, 2002:
24.
Isla Mujeres to the Dry Tortugas and Key West, FL
25.1
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS
(2002):
25.2
From Gwen and Don aboard the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II, 2002:
26.
Notes on the Galapagos Islands:
26.1
From Katherine & Craig Briggs aboard the Amel Santorin 46 Ketch SANGARIS
(2002):
26.2
From Mitch and Rise aboard s/v KOMFY, May 2001:
26.3
From Gwen and Don on the CSY 44 cutter TACKLESS II, 2002:
27.
Bibliography of Cruising Guides and Books of Interest
|
|
Boat Name |
Crew |
Boat Email |
Depart.
Date |
Destination |
|
ANNA
III (?) |
Jorgen/Judith |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
Mike/Catherine |
uncertain |
Atlantic
via Horn |
||
|
CABIRI |
Joe/Jon |
April-December
03 |
uncertain |
|
|
CAROL ANN |
Barney/Rachel |
2-Jan-03 |
Florida |
|
|
CASABLANCA |
Pablo |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
COMPAÑÍA |
John/Susan |
January-March |
Caribbean |
|
|
DELUSIONS |
Roddy/Nancy |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
EL REGALO |
Charles/Teresa |
mid-February |
Caribbean |
|
|
EVELYN ROBERTS |
Robert |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
FINE ROMANCE |
Al/Jane |
January-March |
BVI |
|
|
INDIGO |
Les/Marcia |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
JABBERWOCKY |
Chris/Tom |
2-Jan-03 |
E.
Caribbean |
|
|
JOURNEY |
Curt/Becky |
mid-February |
W.
Caribbean |
|
|
KATIE
ROSE (2004) |
Bob/Judy |
next
year, 2004 |
W.
Caribbean |
|
|
MERINDA |
Don |
late
Jan - early Feb |
uncertain |
|
|
MOKISHA |
Tom |
early
February |
uncertain |
|
|
REUNION |
Dennis/Marta |
mid-January |
South
Pacific |
|
|
SANGARIS* |
Craig/Kathrine |
end
of January |
Mediterranean |
|
|
SAUCY LADY |
Winona/Roy |
early
January |
uncertain |
|
|
SEAHORSE |
Patrick/Lisa |
early
January |
Caribbean |
|
|
SERAFIN |
Dee/Linda |
end
of January |
Panama
Canal |
|
|
SIESTA |
Ed/Daisy |
mid-February |
Florida
Keys |
|
|
SILHOUETTE |
Alan/Carolyn/Brian |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
SPIRIT
HEALER (2004) |
Sherm/Leslie |
next
year, 2004 |
Caribbean |
|
|
STARLIGHT EXPRESS |
Al/Betty |
2-Apr-03 |
South
Pacific |
|
|
SUITE LUXURY |
Richard/Carol |
January
7th |
W.
Caribbean |
|
|
THE GREAT ESCAPE |
Duey/Nan |
late
January |
W.
Caribbean |
|
|
TRAMONTO |
Marc |
1-Jan-03 |
South
Pacific |
|
|
VORTEX III |
Bill/Shirley |
uncertain |
uncertain |
|
|
WATERDRAGON |
Taryn/Graham |
5-Jan-03 |
Costa
Rica |
|
|
*second
time down south! |
|
|
|
|
NOTE: There were other
Southbounders, headed for Zihuatanejo and points south at the time of this
writing, who were not included in this list.
“The
rainy season is great, we used our rain catcher and showered on deck.
The rain would hang with us for 1 to 4 hours and then sun.
Mold life was enhanced and things on the boat would get fuzzy.
Vinegar and water or bleach would fix that for a day or two.
We stayed at both Del Sol and Barillas in El Salvador (just south of the
Tehuantepec). Chat with Mat on
Elsewhere as they have been in Bahia Del Sol for 8 months via the SSB,
8143 at 9 am eastern time. Barillas is a gold cage where you’re at a compound for the
wealthy and they take you to town twice a week for groceries.
Both are calm, either anchored in the river or tied to a buoy.
The bay of Fonseca was beautiful and so were the many kids.
We stayed at Conchita (sp) island. From
the Bay of Fonseca to Northern Costa Rica, in my opinion is barren.
We past the area three times as the anchorage called No
Name was
where we found the lightening. The
bay Santa Elena in CR was beautiful. From Santa Elena to Coco first place to check in is a long
day's sail. Hang above Cocos and
delay checking in, as this is the best of Costa Rica. Once south of Coco, the water clarity sucks and is very very
dirty. The advertising on Costa
Rica is overstated. Once you visit,
Nicoya, Golfito and hit Panama, slow down and enjoy their islands.
They are the best; Parida,
Seca's, Contradras and the Las Perlas. Undiscovered
and wonderful. Panama is a great place. Undiscovered
Islands, wonderful fishing and great resources.”
“We
actually left Puerto Vallarta on 4-20-2002, and with a few stops, arrived in El
Salvador on 5-9. We left El
Salvador on 5-23 and arrived in Costa Rica 5-25 and stayed until 6-27, Panama we
arrived 6-28 and stayed on the Pacific side until the last week of July and went
through the canal on 8-3. The
islands of Panama are so wonderful, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy them.
They are all within a short distance of each other and uniquely beautiful
in their own way.
We
traveled from El Salvador to and through Costa Rica with 2 other boats, Trilogy
and Good Medicine. From Costa Rica
and through the canal with Sea Loco. We
arrived in the San Blas at the end of August 2002.”
SSB Nets:
Panama Connection:
8107.0 at 1330 UTC (7:30 AM local time except Panama, 8:30 AM)
Panama-Pacific Net:
8143.0 at 1400 UTC (8:00 AM local time except Panama, 9:00 AM)
Note:
All of Central America is on CST all year round except Panama, which is
on EST. No change for daylight
savings.
Western Caribbean/Panama
Area Nets:
Central American
Breakfast Club – 7083 LSB at 1300 UTC --
Ham Net, Willie, TI8ZWW of Pacific Child, irregularly comes up to give weather.
He is very knowledgeable about this coast. He has been based in Golfito
when not cruising.
Panama Connection Net
– 8107 USB at 1330 UTC – SSB Net for both sides of Panama.
Pan Pacific Net – 8143
USB at 1400 UTC—SSB Net for Boats cruising Pacific side of Central America.
North West Caribbean Net
– 8188 USB at 1400 UTC – SSB Net for NW Caribbean
Other Nets/Eastern &
Central Caribbean:
Caribbean Emergency WX
Net – 7165 LSB at 1030 UTC – Earliest weather report, from Barbados &
Trinidad. Note:
Can’t participate without and Extra License
Alex’s Net – 8155
USB at 1130 UTC – more informal chat net by Alex of sv Albatross, usually
based in Margarita. Does a brief
but good weather report for southern Caribbean right at start.
Cruiser’s Hailing Net
– 8104 USB at 1200 UTC – Open boat to boat contact for 15 minutes, mostly
eastern Caribbean
Safety and Security Net
– 8104 USB at 1215 UTC – Slightly obsessive report monitoring theft and
security problems throughout the Caribbean.
David Jones (uses call
sign “Misstine”) Weather -- 8104 USB at 1230 UTC - Rapid fire delivery of comprehensive weather for Caribbean
and SW North Atlantic. This is the
net you have to pay $100 (or whatever is current) to be able to talk to him.
He offers the useful emergency contact service. If you wait until the
absolute end of his broadcast you can call as a non-subscriber to get info about
his service. He also has a very good website at www.caribwx.com.
David Jones Weather
Redux -- 12359 USB at 1300 UTC - David
does a second broadcast aimed at Western Caribbean.
Same deal. (Also does one on
16 megahertz.)
The
NWS HIGH SEAS FORECAST is just that; seldom any help for Central America
coastwise passages. However, I use
it twice daily as input for my forecasts. Whenever offshore winds are expected
to be less than 20 kts they do not consider it significant weather and rarely
give a forecast. Whenever there is
no mention of winds east of 090W, one may reasonably assume that coastal winds,
Nicaragua and western portion of Coast Rica will be less than 30 kts. However,
when they forecast winds of 20 kts or more, then one should double the speed to
get an idea of what it really could blow close to shore.
Their forecasted wind direction is usually reliable.
Note from the
editors:
Don, on SUMMER PASSAGE, based in Newport Beach, provides
an invaluable ongoing service to
cruisers on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America. Don’s cheerful
disposition, insightful analysis, darn good weather forecasts, and easy
availability on multiple SSB and Ham Nets make him a major factor in safe
cruising on the Pacific Coast. Get acquainted with his radio schedule, and
listen to the various SSB and Ham nets for his forecast information.
Patrick and Alicia, on NASTALGIA, based in Puerto Lopez
Mateos, on the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula, also provide an invaluable
service, by regularly transcribing and distributing Don’s weather information
via voice and email. You will find them on practically every Ham or SSB Net.
Patrick provides weather information just prior to the start of the SSB
Southbound Net every evening.
The cruising community is deeply grateful to Don, Patrick and Alicia for making our cruising life safer and much more fun! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
There
are 2 places to haul this side of Canal. The
better facility is next to the anchorage at Flamenco, and very nice.
Flamenco Marina runs the haulout facility; $300 in and out, $75 per
layday, excl. day in and day out. If
you haul at high tide in the early AM, there is no wind.
You can splash late on your day out also, and this is like getting two
long work days free. They charge
$10 per hour for self-service pressure wash, $16 per hr if they do it.
$10 per day for power and water. One
shower in the office was available. There are LOTS of guys to take your lines coming into
lift, and a diver goes down to guide the straps into position. We also have a cutaway forefoot, so we had to insist they
angle the forward strap back a little so it didn't slip.
Their
labourers are about $6.50 hr but we hired our own and did better. Enrique worked
for 3 days tirelessly; pressure washed & sanded hull, cleaned upper hull, 2
coats of paint, waxed hull and polished brightwork all for $100 - on a 50'
boat!!! We were very pleased;
fed him lunch and gave him lots of water and soft drinks. He gave me a huge hug
when we paid him with a tip. There is another guy, even better, Robinson, aka
Tula, but he was already working for a month elsewhere.
Enrique's Tel. No is: 620
7086. Robinson-Tula's is: 643 4566 (cellular). There was a
rumor that Marina Flamenco marks up outside labour by 10%, and we were willing
to pay that, but it did not appear on our bill.
Enrique
and Tula work quite a bit at Balboa Yacht Club yard (BYC), which has a railway
haulout, so you can look them up there in person perhaps when you check in at
the Immigration desk next door. Several
folks used the railway, but check it out first, it is about $50 per day and
about the same for the haul, but getting around the rail is very hard to do
work; but if you are only doing bottom paint and hiring workers, then maybe it
doesn't matter. At least they got
to use the BYC facility for showers.
On
the negative side, the scheduling in Flamenco is a little off, and there is
nowhere to side tie when you are waiting for the lift to pull you - we had to
hover for over an hour. That may
change as they continue construction and improve.
You
have to INSIST they use plastic on the straps on their very large 150 Ton lift;
if you don't you will end up with black marks on your hull and some boats had
chunks of bottom paint lifted off. They have carpets they can put on for your
haul out which is OK, but for splashing if they don't put any plastic on, insist
on it or use lots of trash bags or wax paper, and tape on yourself.
Costa Rica Yacht Club,
in Bahia de Coco: This is the only
place in all of Central America that we know of that can dry store your boat for
any period of time. They have a good-sized travel lift that can handle almost
any vessel. They also have a
special haul-out railway for multihulls for work on the boat, but as to dry
storage, maybe not. A catamaran was
hauled in June of 2002 for $80 per day flat fee and that included the labor to
do the painting on the bottom. For
monohulls, haul-out fees in 2002 were $10 per foot out and about $400 per month
for the average 36-42 foot boat.
ATMs:
In most Central American countries you will find only a VISA card (Plus
System) is valid for ATM cash withdrawals.
The exchange rate in El Salvador is a flat 8.75 colones to the dollar.
In October, 2002 the exchange rate in Costa Rica was about 368 colones to
the dollar and the exchange rate doesn’t seem to fluctuate as in Mexico...it
just keeps going up.
Provisioning: Liquor is
less expensive in Central America than in Mexico. Food is somewhat more expensive, closer to US prices.
Most fresh foods in El Salvador are imported from Guatemala.
Panama is lower on food prices than Costa Rica and El Salvador.
During the rainy season (June to December) you will be lucky to find
produce of any decent quality except in El Salvador or Puntarenas in Costa Rica.
There is a Free Zone in
Golfito, Costa Rica; it is called the “DEPOSITO LIBRE”.
You get your “tarjeta” at the Customs office in the free zone, a
piece of paper that permits you to shop, and it limits you to something around
$500 US...and you have to wait 24 hours before using it.
You may purchase goods there once every six months per passport from June
30 to December 24 and January 1 to June 30.
The only really good
value in this free zone is the liquor and wine. You are limited to the following liquor and wine
purchases per “tarjeta”: 12
units of hard liquor (a unit can be any size from airline type bottles to half
gallons); 24 units of wine, size of units the same as with liquor.
Everything else is TVs,
Refrigerators, Washing Machines, clothes, and the like.
Inland Travel:
El Salvador is an excellent place from which to make relatively
inexpensive trips to Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
In Costa Rica, the best place from which to make visits to the volcanoes
and the rain forests is Puntarenas. Puntarenas
is the closest port to the capital, San Jose, only about a 2 hr. bus ride away.
If you are in Golfito and wish to travel to San Jose, you can take a
9-hour bus ride or a short airplane trip on Sansa Airlines ($60 one way as of
October, 2002).
Veterinary Services:
There is a veterinary store and consulting vet in Puntarenas.
They sometimes have Science Diet food products and kitty litter.
In Golfito, see Katie of
Land & Sea Services and she will put you in touch with Francisco, an
excellent veterinarian from Cuidad Neilly (45 minutes away) who makes house and
boat calls...we know this from personal experience when one of our cats needed
surgery for bowel impaction. He
lives today thanks to Dr. Francisco.
7.4 Anchor Log for Randy and Eileen aboard the Valiant 40’ AVALON, Panama to Zihuatanejo, spring, Fall 2002
The anchorage is
littered with crazy motorboats, jet skis, etc.
Also, 60 feet deep.
Did I mention the 200
foot long derelicts that take up almost the whole anchorage?
Oh, and the marina was destroyed by a hurricane.
Club de Yates is still fine, but full.
For 24 bucks a day you can land your dink, and have full run of the
place. But, at least the water is clear.
Acapulco is a real city.
Kinda culture shock. I
recommend a visit for that reason only. 3
to 1 scope should do for anchoring, or pick up a mooring ball, which is kind of
a gray market thing, you just grab one and see what happens.
Usually nothing for a few days. They
are for the fishing boats during bad weather.
Acapulco Yacht Club:
Quite expensive (don’t remember how much), very tight med-moor on non-floating
concrete docks. We stayed on a buoy for 20 pesos/day. The guy who collects for
the buoys asked $ 10/day, but the price is very negotiable. The Acapulco Marina
docks are in a very bad state, but they let you use their docks for dinghy
tie-up and access to the road. Fuel and water is available at the Yacht Club
fuel dock.
You don’t need to
check in with Immigration, only with the port captain (near the cruise ship
docks). API fee is quite expensive (about $ 7/day). Most cruisers check in and
out with the port captain in one visit on the assumption that they are leaving
the next day, thus avoiding API and a return visit. Nobody seems to check if you
stay for another few days after check-out.
ACAPULCO
It was no problem picking up one of the mooring bouys, which reportedly the owners don’t mind when they’re not using them. The staff at the marina (the older one, not the Acapulco Yacht Club, which wanted twenty bucks a day to land your dinghy) was most friendly and helpful, letting us leave our dinghy at their dock; and getting a bus to anywhere (even Wal-Mart) was easy. The marina guard let our taxi come in the driveway, and they provided a cart for hauling our provisions to the dock.
GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC
We stayed close to shore
and had no problems,except occasionally dodging a fishing panga or their buoys.
Our first night out from Huatulco we anchored in Bahia Chipehua which was calm
and restful.
Huatulco
(15*45.10N; 096*07.70W) is a kind of crossroads for cruisers.
Because it is 353 miles south of Zihuatenejo, typically the southernmost
destination of the Mexican winter cruising contingent, the only boats that come
through here are passage-makers, either those headed south to Central America,
or, in a smaller proportion, those headed north to Mexico like us.
Because it is adjacent to the “dreaded Tehuantepec,” the cruisers
that do pass through Huatulco are more focused on watching weather windows or
recovering from their crossing than on the area in its own right and move on
quickly.
This
is a shame. We have now spent two
weeks here, and could easily spend longer.
There are nine or so small type anchorages, mostly uninhabited, along a
ten-mile long stretch of coastline, that runs, surprisingly from northeast to
southwest on either side of Huatulco. In addition to the attraction of these
small private anchorages, there are 40 new dive mooring installed by the Mexican
government along with Huatulco’s Triton Dive Shop which are available for
anyone’s use for diving.
On
the most detailed navigational chart we have, the bays look rather like someone
cut the coastline with pinking shears. In
reality, each has a tremendous amount of personality, which includes all sorts
of submerged rocks and reefs!
. Rains’ Boating
Guide to Mexico has the only detailed chartlets we’ve seen, however if you
don’t have the Rains Guide, you can go to Huatulco before exploring where you
can obtain a small chart of the area from the Triton Dive shop next door to the
Capitania.
Working
(backwards) from Huatulco going SW (toward Acapulco!) the first two bays are the
double-lobed Maguey (W) with the palapas and Organo (E.)
We anchored happily in Maguey 15*43.89N; 096*09.07W in about 25’ in
sand. There is nice
snorkeling all along the shore, and several dives in dinghy reach.
The next “anchorage” is NE of Isla Cacaluta, between the craggy
island and the beautiful long beach. Great
bottom for holding; a bit rolly. The
mooring ball close in to the NW side has great coral in snorkerable depths.
We did not stay the night but returned to Maguey; probably could have
remained with a stern anchor. Next
is La India, a hidden baylet (15*42.6N; 96*11.9W) on E side of B. Chahacual. Go
in behind the rocks. Stern anchor good here, especially with more than one boat.
Good sand. Absolutely
gorgeous here and protected, but tour boats will besiege you for a couple of
hours midday. Next bay we liked was
all the way to Sacrificos. Pass N
of Isla Sacrificio, anchor north of the two rock piles in the middle of beach
(one tall one low).(15-41.40N; 096-14.10W) This put us fairly close to beach,
but good sand and depth right to shore. Set
your stern anchor to shore. Great
snorkeling on the rock pile right up near the beach palapas.
Lots of coral! Lots of
stingers in the nearer rock pile??? A
few vegies for sale at one palapa in middle of “town”; block ice delivered
Mon (at least); good food there. 3 Hermanos (to right) super nice couple, and good, slightly
more $ food. She got vegies for me
in town; He returned a forgotten knapsack by panga
We
did not check out any of the bays to the NE of Huatulco (toward Tehuantepec) as
they are more developed with resorts, although we have been told that the Club
Med is currently closed.. In
Huatulco itself, the beach of Playa Entrega (looking seaward, the second on your
right before the point) has lots of palapas, a roped off swim area and great
coral and boulders, with big schools of fish.
Favor the NW side. The dives
around Piedra Blanca were quite rewarding, especially on the east side.
Don’t
eat out in Santa Cruz!! Very $$$$$. However, great coffee beans available in
Santa Cruz at Cafe in center of zocalo (park).
Wish we’d bought more. Taxi into La Cruceita to eat and shop—13
pesos. Cheaper and better.
Great mercado central.
Very clean, and nice lunch counters. Also a nice bakery on
Flamboyant, I think. Fancy ice cream/internet place a block to left of church.
Yamaha dealer, stationers and another Huatulco coffee vendor farther
along. We had a good pizza along
the north side of square. Can’t
remember the name.”
Good anchorage but very
busy with pangas, jet skies, tourist boats. The port captain will give you
weather info, but I found it’s easy to predict a Tehuatepecker: If there is a
high over Texas, stay put; when the high moves out and a low moves into the Gulf
of Mexico, go for it. Some cruisers cross on the rhumbline directly to El
Salvador, which can be risky if your weather window slams shut. We hugged the
beach – had to motor all the way to Puerto Madero!
When checking out of
Huatulco, get your intl. Zarpe to Bahia del Sol, El Salvador with puntos
intermedios, that way you don’t have to stop at Puerto Madero.
Puerto
Madero: Entry is fairly easy at night unless there is a big swell running into
the entrance. The port captain is the friendliest we’ve ever met. We told him
that we were in transit and only came in for fuel and rest. He merely made a
note on the back of the Zarpe and asked to call him on the VHF when leaving. All
boats, commercial or pleasure, have to check in and out with the Navy (they come
to your boat) because they are trying to clean up drug trafficking. Fuel and
water are available at the fuel dock.
PUERTO MADERO
Great place to stop,
check out of the country, and provision. Tapachula is an interesting city and
has excellent hardware stores, etc. The port captain here is exceptionally
helpful. Anchor in the back bay.
Guatemala: Puerto Quetzal: 13.55N
x 90.48W:
This
can be a good stop over point, especially if you do the rhumb line across the
Tehuanapec or need to stop. You anchor in the middle of the naval base, so it is
probably the safest anchorages around. There is easy (and inexpensive) bus
service to Antigua and Guatemala City (12 quetzales, about a $1.50 US). The navy
personnel are wonderful. However, it is an expensive stop. $100.00 US to check
in (which includes the first 5 days of anchorage), then $10.00 US a day after
that. Visas were $10.00, but some were charged more (depending on the mood of
the immigration officer I guess). Immigration is a short bus ride and then a
short walk. When arriving, call the port captain for permission to enter (there
is a
lot
of commercial traffic, so they like to know what’s coming and going). If there
is no answer, proceed in anyway. After anchoring, raise your Q flag and then
wait for them to come to your boat to check you in. It could take them up to
about 3 hours to show up, so relax and have a beer.
The
crew of Pipe Dream have bid farewell to Mexico and are off on another adventure.
We were holed up in Huatulco for several days waiting for a weather
window to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec. This bay, at the southern end of
Mexico, is 250 miles across. The absence of a mountain range running north/south
between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico forms a venturi between both bodies
of water. If there is a significant northerly wind blowing in the Gulf of
Mexico, it funnels through this valley and, as we say in the sailing world, it
creates a blow known as a Tehuantepecker. For
you land lubbers, it blows like stink. In
the Gulf of Tehuantepec, it usually blows a full gale about 150 days a year. Sudden storms can come up with winds in excess of 50 to 60
miles per hour creating huge waves. A
boat can easily be blown several hundred miles out to sea. The best way to get across, is to find a good weather window.
You are advised to hug the coast, or as Captain Rains puts it, “keep one foot
on the beach”. If the wind picks up, you get pelted with sand from the beach
but Mother Nature doesn’t have time to elevate the seas. Our crossing was
perfect and we sailed in 15 knots of wind during the day and motored at night.
We spent the night in Puerto Madero, the most southern port in Mexico.
The next morning, we entered Guatemalan waters.
Our
first port of call, don’t you just love this sailing jargon, was San
Jose/Puerto Quetzal. We dropped the
hook, (the anchor), and checked into the country with a crisp $100.00 American
greenback for the Port Captain, and $40.00 dollars for immigration.
This allowed us a 5 days’ stay in Guatemala. Jutta and I jumped on a
chicken bus for a 2 ½ hour ride to Guatemala City, where we changed buses for
another hour to Antigua. Oh, by the way, there were actually people holding live
chickens on the bus. One guy had two chickens in a plastic shopping bag with the
heads sticking out of two holes. If you ever wondered where all the old Blue
Bird school buses go, they are all in Guatemala. Some of them still wear their
yellow coat of paint, while most are painted in bright colors and patterns. One
of the buses still sported a large sign in English above the driver reminding
him to check for sleeping children on the seats before the end of the
run.Antigua, a quaint old colonial town, is nestled in a mountain valley about
5000 feet above sea level and surrounded by three smoldering volcanoes towering
to 9000 feet. It is the Spanish
language capital of Central America. Foreigners
from all over the world come here to take full emersion Spanish lessons.
Antigua is a don’t miss stop for anyone visiting Guatemala.
After two nights’ stay we boarded our chicken bus and were off for
Panajachel on Lake Atitlan.
Panajachel,
nicknamed Gringotenango, is a small tourist community on the shores of the lake.
The lake was formed from a volcanic crater and is also bordered by three
active volcanoes. It is about eight miles across and 1000 feet deep.
Both, Antigua and Panajachel, are relatively “new”, 400 years or so,
as you can probably guess they have been destroyed several times by mud slides
or earthquakes from the volcanoes.
Our
last, and most interesting, stop of the trip was Chichicastenango, which is a
mouthful in any language. The
natives just call it Chi-chi. This
town, in the dry highlands, is not very scenic but on Thursday and Sunday every
week all the Indians from miles around come to Chi-chi to sell their wares.
Everyone arrives in native dress, the women in woven skirts and
colorfully embroidered blouses and the men wearing similar garments. The goods
offered include anything from beautiful textiles to everyday staples such as
beans, rice, spices, fruits and vegetables. The women balance all their goods in
huge baskets wrapped in colorful cloths on their heads. We saw men carrying
enormous string bags of oranges or firewood on their backs with most of the
weight concentrated on the bag strap around their forehead.
Bargains
are plentiful after a little bit of haggling over the prices. Jutta and I spent
more money shopping in Chi-chi than we have anywhere in our travels in the last
two years. I even have my own purse
now. If there is any question, no,
I have not switched my earring to the other side!!!! We left Chi-chi on a
chicken bus that afternoon bound for Guatemala City (a very dirty, noisy,
dangerous, sprawling metropolis) and on to Puerta Quetzal, and finally back to
Pipe Dream. On the bus, my camera
slipped off of my belt and it was gone forever.
Someone picked it up and exited the bus. I wish they had left the roll of pictures.
Ferdy and Jutta
“When you check into
El Salvador at either of the locations listed below you have a renewable visa
for 90 days. Entry cost is $10 per
passport for Americans and Canadians. UK
citizens pay nothing. New
Zealanders aren’t allowed off the boat unless they have a prior paid visa.
There is no import
permit for your boat and the length of time you keep your boat in the country
doesn’t seem to be of any concern to them.
(Foreign registry automobiles have to leave the country every 3 months or
something like that, but not boats, as of 2002.)
There is no limit on the
time you can leave your boat in El Salvador.
Barillas: The consensus
is that the best place for long-term storage is Barillas Marina Club.
It is totally secure. Charges
in 2002 were $8 per day, considerably less than most marinas in Mexico or other
places in Central America. They
will also provide, for a small fee, boat cleaning, bottom scrubbing, and other
services such as you may want to use.
Barillas Marina provides
a free bus ride twice a week into Usulutan, a fairly large town, where
provisioning is very good. There is
only one place in town where you can use your ATM (and it has to be a VISA) to
get cash. That is the Super Selecto
Store. The big yellow ATM machine
delivers dollars. The exchange rate
is 8.75 colones to $1 US although the country is quickly changing over to the
dollar as its only currency and is fast phasing out the Colon.
La Despensa de Don Juan has an ATM machine but it doesn’t take foreign
debit cards. This store, however,
has the best deals and selection of products.
Note:
You will probably have heard that there is a boat yard adjacent to
Barillas Marina Club. It is
basically a yard for the shrimper fleet of the yard’s owner.
They have hauled out a few yachts there but that requires a lot of
shoring up inside the cradle that’s set for 25-ft. wide shrimpers.
They hauled a Norseman 447 and a Saturna 32 in 2002 but refused a
Peterson 44 and a Whitby 42 and some others.
There is no way you can store your boat on the hard there, either.”
One
of our best stops was at Barillas Marina, El Salvador.
We do not recommend stopping at Bahia del Sol.
It was far too dangerous to go over the bar and if I had to do it again,
I would not. Other people loved it.
On Monday, April 15, we
went to the Port Captain and checked out of Guatemala bound for El Salvador.
Thursday morning we sailed and after 20 hours of motoring in windless
seas, we arrived in Bahia Del Sol, El Salvador.
The anchorage is located inside
a beautiful lagoon surrounded by jungle. To get to this paradise, one has to
enter in between two shoals with breaking waves. We were advised to wait at a
certain waypoint in front of the entrance and to call a local panga for
guidance. For several days, boats had to anchor in front of the
entrance to wait out a large Pacific swell, which made an entry too dangerous.
We had timed our arrival to coincide with the peak of the high tide and it
looked like the seas had calmed down some. The panga finally appeared and we
followed his zig-zag course in between the breaking waves. It was quite a ride
and we breathed a lot easier once we were inside the lagoon. After listening to
some of the harrowing tales of other cruisers, our entrance must have been a
piece of cake!
We
are now anchored in a huge lagoon in front of the Bahia Del Sol Hotel.
This hotel loves cruisers and gives a 30% discount on food and bar.
They offer 1 free night stay including breakfast, use of all facilities
(there are two large swimming pools), and every Wednesday night they have a
hosted happy hour with a speaker. To
top all this, there are no port entry fees!
The only fee is for a 10 Dollar tourist visa. As you can probably tell,
we are basking in luxury! A new
adventure begins!In reflecting back to our leaving Mexico, the one thing we will
miss is the food. Mexico has the
most wonderful flavors and varieties. The
cuisine in Guatemala is very simple, black beans, rice, chicken, and corn
tortillas. You can get rice soup
and for variety they will put chicken in it, black bean soup with chicken added
upon request, or each item separate. The
national dish is some sort of chicken broth with a piece of chicken in it,
believe it or not. It helps keep
the weight off.
El
Salvador: There are two places in El Salvador: Bahia del Sol and Marina Barrias.
General
info: check in is free. Visas are $10.00 US each. Both anchorages have full time
navy presence, and (at this time) Bahia del Sol has
Immigration present during the cruising season (about November thru
June), and Barrias has full time Immigration. Money is being converted to US
dollars and is accepted everywhere, although 'colones' are still used and many
of the prices are still shown in colones.
Bahia del Sol (in the 'Estero
de Jualtepeque'): 13.16N x 88.53W
Good
calm anchorage, with easy access to buses. It is about 80 km from the capital of
San Salvador. Bahia del Sol resort (hotel/marina) has the following cruiser
services:
30% discount for food and drink,
happy hours on Mon, Tue, Thurs, Fri.
Cruisers night on Wed.
a free hotel room for one night. (as of this writing).
Anchorage
is free. Moorings are $5.00 US a day, and floating dingy docks and a marina is
under construction. Very little English is spoken. Call Bahia del Sol on channel
16 before trying to enter the estuary. Generally, they don't answer, but one of
the cruisers will, and will set up a time to have someone come out and guide you
in. The Navy will come out to your boat to check you in. Sometimes immigration
will come out with them. If not, you may check in with Immigration on the hotel
grounds.
Marina Barrias (in the 'Bahia
de Jiguilisco'):
Barrias
is very isolated, about 10 miles up the bahia/estero. Access to a bus is very
difficult, and taxis are expensive. They do take cruisers in (via van) to a
local town twice a week. Almost all employees speak some English. Call Marina
Barrias on Channel 16 before entering the bahia/estuary to set up a time to have
someone come guide you in.
Pros/Cons:
Bahia:
Pros: Cruiser friendly, easy bus access, free anchorage, good
restaurant/bar.
Cons: Entrance can be a *fun* ride sometimes, poor (and expensive)
internet access, Only some of the office personnel speak English.
Barrias:
Pros: Very cruiser friendly, private, isolated, easy entrance, good
internet access.
Cons: isolated (no access to bus), expensive (moorings), snack bar only
(which closes early), more mosquitoes then Bahia.
Please
note: I have only been to Marina Barrias by land, so all information is gathered
from other cruisers and the Marina personnel itself.
SSB
net info for El Salvador area:
Marine:
Pan/Pacific net: 8143.0 (8137.0 backup) at 1400Z
Panama Connection: 8107.0 (8167.0? backup) at 1330Z
Ham:
C/A Breakfast Club: 7083.0 (plus/minus) at 1300Z
Cruisers
in both anchorages monitor channel 16.
Please
feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions (I'm sure
there
will be plenty). Tootles, Diane,
svWindBird
As
you know, we are at Bahia del Sol and love it.
We have been here since May and have left the boat here while we went
back to the States and again for a land trip into Guatemala.
Here
is how to find us. Call on channel 16 as you get near the rendezvous point.
The hotel or one of the sailboats in here will answer you and send a
guide out to bring you in. The rendezvous point is 13°16.5N
88° 53.5W . This will put
you right in front of the entrance (boca).
Don't go by the chart. The
entrance has moved several miles since they made the charts.
You may need to anchor and wait for an incoming tide, best close to high
tide. Anchor to the north/west of
the above coordinates in 30 feet of water.
There is a big white house on the point.
It makes a good landmark. Stay
on the north/west side of it. Come
in close enough to get into about 30 feet of water but don't come in closer than
this. You need someone to guide you
in. The bar deserves respect and
you want a guide but don't let it scare you off.
This is a wonderful protected anchorage. Only rarely is it dangerous and if it is, you will be told
that.
Last
year we did have big swells in the late spring. Three boats arrived here at that time and anchored out for
three days. During that time the
Navy put a man on each boat to guard it while the cruisers enjoyed free hotel
rooms at Bahia del Sol. The
anchorage out front is safe enough but rolly.
The bar may keep you here a couple of days longer than you want once you
are in but that is just waiting for a good weather window like anywhere else.
The bar has not been closed since last summer so it is not an everyday
affair. Sports fishing boats go in
and out every day.
Bahia
del Sol is not a body of water. It
is the Hotel. The bay here is
Estero Jaltepeque, a totally protected anchorage with room for more than a
hundred boats. It is huge and also
very pretty. The hotel wants us
here, the more the merrier. They
give each boat one free night in a hotel room.
There is no charge to anchor or to use the hotel facilities. They do want you to spend a little money but $20 a week is
enough to keep them happy. They
have an excellent restaurant, a bar, huge swimming pool, new showers will be
completed in a couple of days, laundry, garbage disposal, a fuel dock, etc.
Happy hour is from four to six on weekdays, two for one. There is not a haul out
facility or repair facilities. The
buses to everywhere stop at the front gate.
The beach is beautiful and only walking distance away. We make good use of it.
The
town of Herradura is 25 minutes away by dingy. Supplies and hardware stores are
available there but really are kind of limited. There are also a couple of little tiendas and local
restaurants just down the road here from the hotel.
For major provisioning we take a bus in to Zacatecoluca or San Salvador.
We prefer going to Zacatecoluca which has an excellent US style super
market and it is not as far as the city. San
Salvador is a big city of several million people and anything and everything is
available there if you can find it. Taxis
are available too and for $35 Jose will take you in to San Salvador and be your
chauffeur and guide for an entire day. His
phone number is 747-2104. Jose
speaks good enough English and is very knowledgeable about the area.
There
are lots of places to go from here by bus, car, airplane or dingy.
You can leave your boat with confidence and you don't have to worry about
your dingy. We can leave them in
the water overnight without worrying about theft.
People that go inland can also leave their dingy on shore and the
security guard will watch over them. When
I had to go home for surgery I was confident that everything would be OK when I
got back two months later.
(Note
from Matt: we had to divide what we wrote into two segments.
Afraid Sailmail would truncate the message so you missed some of it).
Segment
2: As you can tell I am very partial to Bahia del Sol.
My info on Barillas is sketchy. We
did drive down to see it and were pleasantly impressed.
It also is a very pretty place
with lovely pools and restaurant. Security
is very good. The marina is
surrounded by a barbed wire fence and there are lots of security personnel. At Barillas anchoring is not an option. You must stay on a mooring ball which costs you $8.00 per
day. To our point of view, the
negative is the isolation. It is
very isolated, no buses here. They
have a van that will take you into town for shopping on Tuesday and Thursday and
give you about 4 hours in town at no charge.
There is a boatyard next door so some repair facilities are available and
I was told that a boat could haul out but only in an emergency. There is a Habitat for Humanity project ongoing here but I
don't have any info about that*. There
is also a free panga to take you to and from your boat. I think they want you to schedule your trips on the hour, or
maybe the hour and the half hour. They
have a very good internet setup. There
is a charge for using it; I am not sure of the amount.
*Note from Anne on MichaelAnne on Matt’s information
above: The project at Barillas is an Earthquake Relief Project that was started
right after the 7.9 Richter Scale earthquake that struck El Salvador on Jan. 31,
2001. Several cruisers got together
and collected money and chose a particular village where homes had been wiped
out to help. They managed to get a
$10,000 grant from the Canadian Government and lots of private donations.
Barillas Marina Club donated the use of a van and a generator.
The money collected was and still is used for rebuilding destroyed homes
and facilities. Between Jan. 2001
and now, cruisers have in the village of Santiago de Maria helped the villagers
construct 6 duplexes and 6 individual houses with better construction material
than that of the homes that were destroyed.
Homes were built only for people who owned the land, not rented.
Now they are working closer to Barillas and of late have helped to
rebuild and re-supply a local school. Work
still goes on wherever needed as over 1,000,000 people were left homeless by the
earthquake. All of this was done by
and through cruisers who were at Barillas.
The owner of Barillas has been extremely supportive.
We worked right along side the people when we helped them to
put up the homes...Dennis of KNEE DEEP taught several villagers how to weld.
Village women and children hauled buckets of cement for pouring
foundations. Villagers learned how
to lay out a foundation plan. Kids pitched in to paint the steel supports for
the wall frames. We all hammered
and banged and painted. Cruisers taught villagers to use a chop saw.
Neil of PARAQUINA helped with the wiring and taught a couple of local
villagers how to do it themselves. It
was a very worthwhile experience and all just by cruisers and locals doing it.
Barillas
is the easier approach in bad weather. I
understand it is accessible in just about any weather. Like here, you call them
on channel 16 and they will give you rendezvous coordinates and come out and
guide you in. You then have a 7
mile ride up the river. The
approach coordinates are 13° 06.77 N 88°
27.65 W. These coordinates may be
out of date so check with another source on this.
Don't
miss El Salvador, they even use American money here exclusively.
Notes
from Matt: the first message meant to say that sailing the rhumb line only saves
a few miles and the coastal route is safer in the Tehuantepec.
(Our opinion)
Boats with 8 1/2 feet
draft have been in Bahia del Sol. We
draw 6 feet. At low tide Murray was
out checking the channel and the lowest he saw was 9 feet and we have 6 to 7
foot tides. The sports fishing
boats seem to in and out at any time. However,
you need to come in on a rising tide. When
the current is going out and the swells coming in, they trip over each other and
it gets messy. With the tidal
current coming in it settles right down. Usually
boats come in within the last two hours of an incoming high tide. It is quiet
then and there is lots of water. We anchor in about 17 feet on a sand bottom - good holding.
Matt, S/V Elsewhere
“I
have been working on the log of the Chula Mula with way points, anchorages etc.
for you but it has been slow going. So
I want to tell you briefly that some of our best stops were at Barillas Marina,
El Salvador. We do not recommend
stopping at Bahia del Sol. It was
far too dangerous to go over the bar and if I had to do it again, I would not.
Other people loved it.”
“Barillas Marina
Club: (Waypoint at the entrance: 13°07.079’N/088°25.163’W.)
You can call them on Channel 16 anytime from 7 AM to 5 PM on Thursdays,
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The
rest of the weekdays, you have to wait until 8 AM.
It is a good idea to let them know ahead of time when you expect you
might arrive. The e-mail for the
General Manager of the Marina Club is: hpineda@barillasmarina.com.
It takes about 20 minutes for the panga to get to the waypoint from the marina.
He will then lead you the 10 miles up the estuary to the marina mooring
fields. (There are NO berths, only
mooring balls.) Once the panga gets
you placed on a mooring ball, the driver will bring the customs and port captain
representatives out to your boat along with someone from the marina office.
Then they give you a ride into the marina complex and you go see the
immigration guys who have their office right on the property.
Bahia del Sol:
(Waypoint at the entrance: 13°15.760’N/088°53.479’W.)
We don’t really know the procedure there.
For a while they had immigration at the associated hotel, then they
didn’t, then they did. Check with
Matt on Elsewhere who is almost a permanent resident there now (or Colette and
Murray on Terezad who are residents, having purchased property nearby.
Personal note:
Bahia del Sol has a very shallow bar over which big waves break all the
time. It can be a dangerous ride,
surfing in over the bar and is even more dangerous when you are trying to leave.
Many vessels leaving even when the panga driver says its safe have taken
damage. People have been stuck here
for weeks on end, particularly after February when the big swells begin to roll
in from the southwest. These swells
last through October.
Be warned.”
“Bahia del Sol:
Although we did not stop in Bahia del Sol, which is about 30 miles west of
Barillas, we have had many good reports of the facility, with the chief
reservation being the approach across the bar.
The resort will come out and guide you in the daylight hours, and slack
tide is the preferred time. In any
kind of sea, it would be prudent to give it a miss.
The advantage of Bahia del Sol over Barillas is said to be more
“independence” with public buses outside the gate, plus a very attentive
hospitality. Neener 3 sent us this information for getting into Bahia del
Sol.”
“The stand by waypoint for Bahia del Sol is: 13'15.7N 88'53.48W
which is 2 miles offshore, we anchored 3/8 mile from shore, with offshore
breeze, at: 13'15.050N 88'52.190W
which is 1/4 mile east of the entrance, in 38' good holding sandy
bottom.........if it is blowing, the depth at the waiting waypoint is still only
58', 2 miles off, possible to anchor with plenty of room to the beach, try to
time arrival to high tide (La Libertad +40 minutes), we went out Monday on the
hotel 700 hp boat and check depths, found 2 channels through bar, never saw less
than 16' at either channel, the channel is deep at the narrowest part, 30-50',
it's were it(sand) fans out in front that gets shallow and moves around like
sand dunes on land.....the 2 big tides a day move lots of water through the bar,
both ways.......also flushes the lagoon and you can go in the water at the
higher tides, some boats make water then too, not us.............there are lots
of people here on weekends, only an hour to San Salvador by car, 2 by bus, many
wealthy Salvadorians have beach homes here, with hot boats and jet
skis......-FRI, very quiet again.......The lagoon is huge, will handle many
boats, ranges from 15-30' depth and runs beyond the hotel for 16 kilometers,
paralleling the beach on other side of peninsula, that's about it, oh, their
building 16 slips at the hotel, 2 showers by pool for cruising boats, this is
going in now, as we speak, 30%
discount on all meals, drinks, internet, laundry,
have a few moorings you can hook up to to go inland, the hotel picks up
at the airport and brings them to the hotel to do your check-in/out......”
“Barillas Marina:
Rendezvous waypoint is 13*07.126N; -88*24.977.
Call Barillas Marina one hour before reaching waypoint and panga will
meet you to guide you in behind the reef and up the maze of mangrove channels.
Reef entry is wide and easy. Manager is Heriberto Pineda.
You can email him in advance at hpineda@barillasmarina.com,
but it is not necessary. Marina has
75 moorings along the mangrove channel at $8 per night. Very tranquil with lots of bird life, cool nights and only
about an hour of bugs before sunset. Hourly
panga service to shore. Compound
has lovely pool, jacuzzi, palapas with Internet hook-ups, air-conditioned
computer room with a dozen or so machines, tiny convenience store, laundry
service, fuel dock (Diesel @$1.75) and a pretty restaurant facility with very
limited and pricey choices as well as limited hours.
Assume all services to cost you, except for the Tuesday and Friday
shuttle to Usulutan for shopping. Nice
supermarket and great street vegie vendors, especially back in.
Very nice golden cage! If
you want to do a tour to San Salvador or anywhere, including Guatemala, inquire
about Discover El Salvador. The
guides, Celina & Max, are truly special people, with a very nice
air-conditioned van. A trip to San
Salvador can include a stop at Price Smart.”
BAHIA DEL SOL, EL SALVADOR
We anchored off several
hours at 13°16.395N,088°53.391W in relative comfort. A navy patrol boat came
out to check on us and communicate when the panga would guide us in, at high
slack tide. We were the first boat in after the bar had been closed a couple of
weeks and had a bit of an exciting ride through the breakers, but if you follow
the panga and DON’T LOOK BACK it’s really a piece of cake. Dolphins escorted
us in. We’re a 31’ trimaran with a 8hp outboard motor… a little more power
would be better.
The little village of La
Herradura, a 20-minute dinghy ride up the estuary, has a good public market and
is like going back fifty years in time, while San Salvador, a two-hour bus ride,
is a big modern city. The Express bus direct to San Salvador comes by the hotel
entrance at 5:30 AM and 11:00 AM; otherwise transfer at Los Arcos.
The last return bus
leaves San Salvador at 4 PM (or a little before!); look for #495. Do you have a
copy of CRICKET’s very informative email about El Salvador? Our only
correction is the address of COPLASA, the excellent commercial fabrics store in
San Salvador centro which is hard to find: it is on Calle 1a Poniente, one block
north of Calle Arce. On Saturdays
you can call the States for about 15 minutes with a three-dollar phone card.
There are card phones in La Herradura; the closest one is about five miles up
the highway.
Jim went out almost every day to observe conditions at the bar and got to know the bumps and channels, so when we went out it was like slicing through the Red Sea with Moses, although the boat right behind us took a header from a sneaker wave. Timing is all. Dolphins also escorted us out.
The Passage from
Barillas Marina, El Salvador to “No Name” Anchorage, Nicaragua
“Some impressions on
the next leg of the journey . . .sv RAGTIME traveled from Barillas Marina to No
Name anchorage, Nicaragua. leaving outside the Barillas channel at noon 10
January, arriving No Name anchorage at 1 am on 12 January.
After exiting the channel from Barillas to the open ocean, we turned left
approximately 1.5 miles from shore and almost immediately hit a current running
west (north) against us. At best
the current ran 1 knot, at worst 2 knots. Probably
60% of the time it slowed RAGTIME down 1.5 knots; nothing we did to get the boat
moving at her regular cruising speed, 5.5 - 6.0 knots made any difference . .
.so we went. . . 3.5 to 4.9 knots 85% of the time.
We traveled approximately 4 miles offshore after trying unsuccessfully to
shake the current further in. Frankly,
we were hesitant to travel out further because of potential Papagayo winds and
wanting to be close to shore if the winds gusted up.
After speaking with and obtaining the recommendations from three boats
heading north, Annie Two, TACKLESS II and Po Oina Roa, we traveled with 2 reefs
in the main and the full head sail. We
encountered 5 - 25 knot winds, a crazy choppy confused sea and the
aforementioned current. Sailing was
great!! Mostly on a port tack. Off
the Nicaragua. coast, we encountered many lighted fishing pangas; the nets we
saw were parallel to shore, 0.75 - 1.0 miles offshore, all were marked with
flags and REAL colored buoys - red, yellow, orange and white.
The most concentrated area of nets was after Cabo Desolando, along the
"Venadillo Road", (see chart book, page 57) just after the power plant
at Puerto Somoza. We entered No
Name at 1 am, pitch dark skies. ENTRANCE WAY POINT FROM TACKLESS II: 11.30.036N, 086.12.572W; ANCHORAGE WAY POINT FROM THE
FORGOTTEN MIDDLE: 11.30.4N, 86.10.2W. The
anchorage is a WIDE crescent, easy to enter right down the middle. The bay is
well lighted and you can identify it from off shore. Look for lots of lights on beach at the head of bay,
specifically 4 "street light" lights in a row off on the SE end of the
bay. Drop hook in 22 - 26 ft water
0.25 miles off beach in SE corner. NOTE:
there are rocks and reefs on both the north and south sides of the bay,
but it is easy to enter right down the middle and anchor toward the southeast
corner at the head of the bay. You
will be very protected from the wind here.
As I write this, the wind is gusting to 45 knots off the land with calm
seas, no chop at all in the bay. Holding
is good. The pangas are NOT
anchored; they are beached. The
fisherman set nets close to the rocks and reefs at both sides of the bay. There are no nets in the middle of the bay.
This is a rustic anchorage with no services, very raw and beautiful with
friendly pangaroas. We hope to see you all in Costa Rica very soon.”
Ragtime
“No Name”:
(about 30 hrs at 5kts from Barillas) pretty much as presented in The
Forgotten Middle. For offshore
waypoint use 11*30.036N; 086*12.572W. You
can turn in a little earlier if you can see.
Waypoint in the book is the at-anchor waypoint.
Try to get in before dark and note position of buoys marking traps if
planning a pre-dawn departure. We
found clear passage out before dawn from the anchoring waypoint on a course of
260*C.
San Juan del Sur:
We enjoyed our stop here. Very
dramatic entrance with big cliff on south side.
Lots of fishing vessels on south side of anchorage.
As you enter try calling “Ivy Rose” on VHF !6. Sid is a cruiser who has been hanging out there awhile.
We anchored in 28’ (HT) at 11*15.390N 085*52.590W.
The surf will break in front of you, but the wind will hold you steady. The Port Captain & aide will come to your boat in blue
camies! Their Spanish is hard to
understand, but very welcoming. They
will do a search. I called the
Capitania on VHF 16 out of politeness as we anchored.
Capitania is the brown A-frame on the hilltop. If you just want a quickie
rest stop, with maybe a meal ashore, he will probably let you stop with no
paperwork. If you want to stay
longer, you will have to take a taxi (around
$15) to “frontiera” for Immigration.. This allows you to see Lago Nicaragua
with its two impressive volcanoes in the middle.
Fees were $15 Port Captain arrival, $9 pp Immigration in-and-out; $15 for
the boat at Immigration (?Customs) and $10 for the zarpe.
San Juan del Sur is a
charming beach town, relatively upscale for Central America.
A launch – a be-fendered local fishing boat – will collect you and
carry you to port facility. From there an easy walk into town. No supermarket, but there are corner tiendas and there is a
fresh market about two block in. We
bought Flor de Cana rum by the case for about $4.80 a bottle from a corner
tienda (ask Sid) and you can do a $1 better if you are there on a Wednesday
buying from the truck (See the gal at Ricardo’s Bar – burgers –real and
tofu – etc and young beach scene.) Good
breakfast at Sunrise Café (aka Iguana Bar) offered by Canadians morning through
midday. We had a great shrimp
diablo from El Globo.
No Name Anchorage – Nicaragua
Outside Waypoint at Edge
of Deep Water
11˚30.036” N
86˚12.572”W
Watch out for buoys on
either side of entrance…rocks on SE outer side, also middle to N.
Stay on the SE side of anchorage.
Inside Waypoint
11˚ 30.4 “N
86˚10.2 “W
San Juan del Sur,
Nicaragua and miscellaneous weather information:
“RAGTIME is sharing
information with all of you that was given to us by Gwen and Don on TACKLESS II,
with whom we spent several days at Barillas Marina.
All credit for this information goes to TACKLESS.
WEATHER:
David Jones Weather (call sign “Misstine”), 8104 USB at 1230 UTC –
Rapid fire delivery of comprehensive weather for Caribbean and SW North
Atlantic. This is the net you have
to pay $100 (or whatever is current) to be able to talk to him.
He offers the useful emergency contact service.
If you wait until the absolute end of his broadcast you can call as a
non-subscriber to get info about his service.
He also has a very good website at www.caribwx.com.
David Jones Weather Redux – 12359 USB at 1300 UTC – a second
broadcast aimed at Western Caribbean. Same
$ deal.
ANCHORAGES:
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua: We
enjoyed our stop here. Very
dramatic entrance with big cliff on south side.
Lots of fishing vessels on south side of anchorage.
As you enter try calling “Ivy Rose” on VHF 16.
Sid is a cruiser who has been hanging out there awhile. We anchored in 28’ at ll.15.390N, 085.52.590W.
The surf will break in front of you, but the wind will hold you steady.
The Port Captain and aide will come to your boat in blue camies.
Their Spanish is hard to understand but very welcoming.
They will do a search. I
called the Capitania on VHF 16 out of politeness as we anchored.
Capitania is the brown A-frame on the hilltop.
If you just want a quickie rest stop, with maybe a meal ashore, he will
probably let you stop with no paperwork. If
you want to stay longer, you will have to take taxi ($15) to “frontiera” for
Immigration. This allows you to see
Lago Nicaragua with its two impressive volcanoes in the middle.
Fees were $15 Port Captain arrival, $9 pp Immigration in AND out, $15 for
the boat at Immigration (Customs) and $10 for the zarpe.
SJdS is a charming beach town, relatively upscale for Central America.
A befendered fishing boat will collect you and carry you to the port
facility. No supermarket but many
corner tiendas. Fresh market about
two blocks in. Good breakfast at
Sunrise Café aka Iguana Bar. Good
shrimp diablo from El Globo. Hope
this is helpful and thank you TACKLESS.” Patricia, Don and Pike
From MICHAELANNE:
“We
never checked in at Nicaragua but others have stopped at Corinto and San Juan
del Sur. Overall, the costs have
been around $100 per boat (with two on board). “
NICARAGUA
We anchored just outside the breakers each night, which was much more comfortable than bashing around in the lumpy seas.
“Most cruisers stop at
beautiful Bahia Santa Elena first (or Salinas or some of the smaller bays prior
to Santa Elena...see Charlie’s Charts of Costa Rica) and no one has ever been
hassled by the Costa Rican navy or coast guard about hurrying on down to Playa
del Cocos to check in. So don’t
sweat it. When you do get to Cocos,
the check-in procedure is pretty easy. Stop
at the Port Captain’s office (Charlie’s is incorrect as to placement) and
let him know you’re there...then go to immigration way up the street, give
them what they want to see (boat papers, passports, zarpes) and know you might
have to make some copies, no big deal. Go
back to the Port Captain who in the meantime will have called the customs guy
(aduana) who is in Libertad, some 30 minutes away. The customs guy will come to Cocos and make out your
temporary boat import permit.
There was never a charge
for any of this. In October, 2002
the aduana tried to eke out $10 from Dreamweaver and some others but they said
“you’ve never charged any of the other boats anything.
Why are you trying to charge us?”
The aduana gave up the attempt. So
be warned. You will have to pay about $20 plus some exit stamp fees when
you check out of the country but there’s no charge for getting in so far as we
have known.
When you check into
Costa Rica at Playa del Cocos, be sure you get a ZARPE NACIONAL from the Port
Captain. This is the internal zarpe
and with this you don’t have to check in anywhere else until you reach your
final destination in Costa Rica as stated on your crew list ... this should be
GOLFITO. Everywhere in between,
including Puntarenas, you don’t have to check in as long as you have a Zarpe
Nacional indicating your last stop is Golfito.
Your visas and temporary
import permit are good for 90 days.”
Costa Rican Marinas:
Costa Rica allows you to renew your temporary import permit once for
another 90 days. After that you will need to put it in bond if you will be
leaving the boat longer than the second 90-day period.
Only a “qualified marina” can bond your boat. They charge different fees for this.
According to Tim
Leachman and Katie Duncan of Land-Sea Services in Golfito, Costa Rica, “...you
can bond for up to a year, allowing you to leave the country or just extend your
stay in the port you bond with. When you bond your boat, it means you cannot
move the boat anywhere although you are allowed to stay on it.
As far as customs is concerned, the time you spend in bond is more or
less equal to time spent legally checked out of the country.
So if you use up the 6 months of cruising (temorary import) permits, you
can enter bond for 3 months and then be eligible for 6 more months of cruising.
The marina facility
must have an agreement with the customs office to provide the bonding services.
In Golfito the Samoa del Sur and Banana Bay currently offer the service. Since
they will be legally responsible for securing the boat, they do have the final
say as to where they want the boat and what they will charge to provide the
service.”
“Marina Flamingo: Near
Playa del Coco. Docks with electricity
and water. Not always willing to accommodate you, especially short term.
A 42 foot boat paid $17 per day to stay there for over 3 weeks.
Dinghy thievery in the anchorage area is pretty rampant, especially if
you’ve been anchored there for several days.
Nighttime theft most common...they have taken dinghies right off davits
while the people were on board and asleep.
Not many services or goods locally available...you need a cab to get
anywhere. They have a gas dock
(floating) and you can get diesel and gasoline there. Check the tide level though.
Pretty steep range here. Cost
in October 2001 for diesel was about $1.89 per gallon.
Costa Rica Yacht Club,
in Bahia de Coco: This is the only
place in all of Central America that we know of that can dry store your boat for
any period of time. They have a good-sized travel lift that can handle almost
any vessel. They also have a
special haul-out railway for multihulls for work on the boat, but as to dry
storage, maybe not. A catamaran was
hauled in June of 2002 for $80 per day flat fee and that included the labor to
do the painting on the bottom. For
monohulls, haul-out fees in 2002 were $10 per foot out and about $400 per month
for the average 36-42 foot boat.
They also have wet
storage on moorings, fore and aft tie-up. We
stayed there for about 10 days and the cost for the moorings was $15 per day.
They have a fuel dock and the water is potable.
Panga service from the yard across from the club and from the moorings
was free. They have the services of
one of the best mechanics we’ve ever encountered.
His name is William and he is very talented and his prices are very
reasonable.
The club is way up the
Naranjo River behind Puntarenas and tide range is quite wide.
Call them on Channel 06 VHF for a panga to guide you up the river and
around all the sandbars. Carlos Chinchilla is the manager there and speaks good
English. Contact him by e-mail at: cryachts@racsa.co.cr.
Los Sueños:
Located in Bahia Herradura at the southeastern end of the Gulf of Nicoya.
There have been mixed reviews from various cruisers for this very
expensive marina ($2 per foot per day for transient vessels).
The marina manager is VERY UNFRIENDLY to any boats anchored out in Bahia
Herradura and discourages their use of his dinghy docks.
The shore landings at Bahia Herradura are difficult at best.
Banana Bay Marina,
Golfito: All bright yellow
buildings make this facility stand out. Docks
have electricity and water and fuel (highest price for fuel in town) and a very
expensive restaurant (food is good, though).
They also rent motel rooms for $75 per night. Laundry service is available for $3 US per load. Transient
vessels pay $1.25 per foot per day at the dock or may take one of their 3
moorings for $10 per day or may pay $7 per day if anchored out and using their
dinghy dock. Security provided for
vessels on moorings, but theft has occurred on vessels at the dock.
Contact them at bbmarina@racsa.co.cr.
Land & Sea Services,
Golfito: Located immediately next
door to Banana Bay, owned by Katie Duncan and Tim Leachman who have been there
for over 10 years. They have a
small dock to which one large sailboat may med-moor and use electricity.
They have also a houseboat to which they can raft two sailboats, no
electricity. Cleaning and bottom scrubbing services are available.
Contact them at landsea@racsa.co.cr
for berth/tie-up charges. For
vessels anchored out and using their dinghy dock, water, garbage disposal, and
24 hour security services the charge is $15 per week or $3 per day.
Laundry services are available as well for $1.60 per kilo.
They also have a collection of some of the most beautifully carved and
painted balsa wood masks we have ever encountered...half the price you would pay
in San Jose during high season. Katie
has an exclusive contract with the Borucan Indian artist and you won’t find
these masks anywhere else in Golfito. Katie
is also a property manager and real estate agent for the area.
She can also make travel
arrangements for you.”
“The bay Santa Elena
in Costa Rica was beautiful. From
Santa Elena to Cocos, first place to check in is a long day's sail.
Hang above Cocos and delay checking in, as this is the best of Costa
Rica. Once south of Cocos, the
water clarity sucks and is very very dirty.
The advertising on Costa Rica is overstated.”
In your prev email you
mentioned that your friend was looking for marinas in CR to leave his boat, here
are the only 3 worth mentioning. Los Sueños has excellent security but it is
not a cruiser type place, he could anchor out in Bahia Herradura and check it
out though. Their website is www.lossuenosresort.com, I don't have an email
address for them.
We would strongly
recommend Banana Bay or Land & Sea in Golfito. They are next door to each
other, and a third marina is being completed next to them. Website for Banana
Bay: www.bananabaymarina.com. Email address for Banana Bay: bbmarina@racsa.co.cr
and Land & Sea: landsea@racsa.co.cr Hope
this helps. Give him our email address if he wants more specifics.
Notes on Bahia Drake,
Costa Rica (Oso Peninsula)
“Hi All! We wanted to
pass along our thoughts on Drake's Bay (Bahia Drake)...we really enjoyed it,
it's on our"want to return" list. We bow and stern anchored for 4 days
and the current in there made it very hard on ground tackle, and each swing was
a jerk on the anchors, we went to retrieve the stern anchor and couldn't break
it loose, free dove and couldn't even see it! Kurt on WILDBLUE came over and
with 2 dinghys and combined 23 hp we got it up, so watch the current (tide).
We enjoyed hiking in 2
places, go in the river and the first dock on left, we asked and got ok to leave
dinghy on back side of dock, looking at it to the right and around the end. Go
up the steps and to the right, the trail starts there, and goes across the
suspension bridge, up the hill, at top turn left and follow path with turtle
reserve release signs....it goes back down toward the ocean, beautiful beaches,
coves and the trail is maintained, walked every day by Leon, and his machete.
The trail goes many miles, all the way to Corcovado National Park. Along the way
are monkeys, butterflies, birds and 2 people! Our favorite spot has a swing,
grass, and palapa...a very special place.
Back to the river, on
the right side is Drakes Bay Resort, tie off to the big white panga by the
concrete dock...ask for Eddy, the manager, say hi for us, and he will give you a
tour and invite you to use the salt water pool and the bar, with a happy hour!
We had a meal there, was great but it's off season and supplies are
limited...Vanessa, the hostess, is from Santa Cruz, Ca., our home, and has a
beautiful daughter named "Star", and she really is! She will lead you
to where you can pick the 'star' fruit. Have you had this delightful fruit yet?
It's our favorite of the tropical fruits. Vanessa's husband, Shuan, runs the
diving and whale/manta ray watching expeditions, all are really neat people.
We also stopped at the Paloma Resort, you will see it on the trail to the
coast, at the top of the hill from the suspension bridge, great for a cold,
cold, beer or soda on the way back from the hike. Again, very nice people... we
asked if they served lunch. With limited supplies, they fixed lunch from
leftovers for 9 of us, NEENER, SEA LOCO and WILD BLUE...a half of pizza, cheese,
green salad with all the dressing bottles, they had left in various amounts, and
Quiche! It was great after our hike. There is a little tienda on the beach,
veggies on Thursday, if the truck can cross the river, and a
bar/restaurant(red/white building past the soccer field) And go up the river
past the resorts, under the bridge and up as far as possible...many monkeys,
Howlers very high up and white face monkeys by the water, good fresh water swim
in a pool just before the rapids. If
Eddy asks if you would like to see the farm, do it...it's where they raise
veggies and beef, pigs and is a very worthwhile trip.
“Bahia Santa Elena.”
As per the book, but definitely one of
the most beautiful bays we have ever anchored in.
We anchored in NE corner near fishing camp as shown in CC. No bugs.
We snorkeled out at mouth of bay on the rocks to the east.
OK. There is a river you can
explore by dinghy, and a road along coast to west you can walk.
Paper nautilus shells have been found on western beach.
Key Point, Cabo Santa
Elena. If you need or want to stop
at Cabo St. Elena, we overnighted at key Point only we anchored to west of the
rocks (10*53.790 085*54.95W) instead of east of them (like the book indicates)
based on the advice on Jim McVeigh of Flamingo Marina.
We did not feel we were more protected from the hefty gusts, but holding
was good with lots of scope. The
Bat Islands are very dramatic, and small rays leap like popcorn.
Snorkeling was so-so.
Bahia Huevos
has a good report, but we didn’t stop
Bahia Culebra
has several well-protected anchorages. We
spent several days at Play Iguanita. Almost
as restful as Barillas. The beach
to the west of Playa Manta is said to have good clams (little thumbnail-size
ones.) Playa Panama had great reputation with Sid & Manuela of
Paradise, but seems to be closed by reports?
Playa El Coco
is a required stop for entry into the country.
Anchorage is no great shakes, beach is 50% dirt, and town has reputation
for theft. Lock boat up, don’t
leave it at night, and chain your dinghy to the dock when ashore.
Official offices a little hard to find, but officials very friendly.
From the dock, walk along the beach to the right.
There will be a small park. Take
a left after park. Your will see
the post office on your left. Port
Captain is behind post office. He
will direct you to Immigration, which is along that same street but on the
right, just before the Tequila Bar. Had good meal at The Tequila Bar.
There is an Internet Café across the street.
Supermercado fairly well
stocked, but poor on vegies. I
think Tuesday is vegie delivery day.
Bahia Portrero/Marina
Flamingo: We liked this bay a lot.
Maybe because we had such a rough trip in around Cabo Velas, and it’s a
big change from points to the south. Very
gringo/ resort area. Winds can set
up a bit of a chop, but holding was good with lots of scope.
No roll. Jim McVeigh runs
the marina and small chandlery. Can
orchestrate needed parts with patience. Dinghy
dock in marina proper. Not much
dockage available for transients. Fuel
dock in the second basin to the right. Fuel
dock easy to get on, but only about 7’ of water at low tide! Fuel around $1.50/gal. Water
free. Hangout was the Spreader Bar
at Mariner Inn, bunch of gringo transplants.
Internet at Costa Rica Diving. Good dinner deals at Marie’s. Hair cuts
and all luxury salon services available at the Paris Salon at Flamingo Beach
Hotel. There are no flamingos
around, but there are said to be roseate spoonbills.
Rental car was available for $28 a day.
Nearby is Brasilito. We had
a great dinner at the Happy Snapper there (we won it in a raffle!)
Also in Brasilito, a top notch Internet café that will allow you to
bring in floppies for uploading and downloading. They also have nice breakfasts.
An hour away is Santa Cruz which had a surprising market – Kion –
with some gourmet items, including wasabi, nori etc. While we had the car, we
checked out Tamarindo a surfer dude town. (Tamarindo
is a popular spots with cruisers that surf.
Anchorage looked rolly.)
Bahia Carillo
is the recommended stop to break up the trip from Portrero to Gulf of Nicoya.
Although the bay is pretty, it’s an awful anchorage.
The book shows two spots. We
chose the one on the left for the room. Very
rolly, albeit with good holding. The
other spot near the handsome hotel seemed cramped for two boats, esp. with hotel
boats there on moorings; also the bottom was billed as sand and rock.
Note:
We caught three tuna between Carillo and Cabo Blanco.
Also a couple of mahi in gulf of Nicoya.
Bahia Ballena:
Delightful stop. Medium
pretty, but very calm with howler monkeys in the hills.
We anchored in western corner off the cement dock. There is said to be fuel, although none of us did any.
Excellent dinner at the Bahia Ballena Yacht Club – great ceviche, and
pargo a la plancha with garlic yum!. On
Fridays you can buy organic vegies from the owner of the restaurant (Honey aka
Mrs Heart Interface). “Tambor”
itself is down the road, bear to the right.
You can walk along the main road or along the beach road.
There is a Swiss restaurant towards town called Perle Tambor (on the main
road look for obscure sign with a tiny Swiss flag/on the beach road it is a
white two story with dense gardens.). Their
food was quite different, not local. Doris
can arrange horseback riding, which we did when our daughter was visiting.
Small horses but well cared for; very good value at $5/hr/pp.
Great ride out along beach with howlers overhead.
If you can survive a 5-hour ride, you can go to a nice waterfall that
drops into the sea!
Islas Tortugas
Very pretty spot with the clearest water in Nicoya.
Where CC shows “public access”, many day trip boats anchor during the
day and small fishing boats often pass the night. “They” charge for you to come ashore at the beach!
We anchored instead off the near corner of the other island
“Alcatraz” just on the other side of the cut.
Snorkel boats do the little islands to the east.
First visit was quite calm; second visit quite rolly.
Gorgeous sunsets!
Punta Leona:
A really worthwhile rest stop. Anchorage
was mostly settled when we were there, but others have chosen to use stern
anchor. The Resort is an older one,
with development scattered around the huge property, which include both primary
and secondary rainforest. Highlights
are the nice walking trails and the free nature tours available 3x day (not
every day) Sign up at front desk. The
pools are nice and there are so-so restaurants and bars.
Grounds are gorgeous. Beach
access by dinghy, and roll it up. Playa
Blanca is a nice beach accessible by stile at SW end of Playa Mantas, and there
is a little waterfall on the beachlet on the east side of anchorage.
This is a good place to
leave the boat for short inland trips, especially if there are other cruisers in
the anchorage to keep an eye on things. You
can arrange for rental cars, either National at the front desk, or Budget by
phone. Both will deliver the car to
Punta Leona. We made several trips
to Jaco, a surfer dude town to south with a good supermarket and produce market
and Internet. We also did a day
trip down to Quepos, managing to get in to “The Rainmaker”, a fabulous
private park with the suspension bridges in the treetops without a reservation.
Not cheap but we paid about half price making do with a local Spanish
worker as guide rather than the bi-lingual naturalist.
We had the place to ourselves! You
can email for info at erguti@racsa.co.cr
or call 506-777-3565. Quepos is a
sizeable little town with stores and restaurants for gringos. Nice feather art store.
We did not do Manuel Antonio.
We also made a day trip
to San Jose (Price Smart and MegaSuper supermarkets, also Ace hardware) about
1:15 hr drive on good roads with some beautiful mountain views.
Later we took an overnight (two nights would be better) to Monteverdi.
This is supposed to be cloud forest, but when we were there it was crispy clear.
The turn to Monteverdi is a fast hour north on the InterAmericana until
you turn off and then it is 37 kilometers and 3 ½ hrs on a mostly dreadful 4WD
road. Hard to believe this is their
major tourist destination! Still it
was terrific. We stayed at the
Sunset Hotel in Santa Elena, neat clean and I think about $40. Fabulous sunset view. Avg
food. We did the Monteverde Canopy
Tour (in Santa Elena) and it was a BLAST. Good
value, as canopy tours go (this is the cable ride thing.).
The sleeper highlight was a turn down a side road between Canopy Tour and
Sunset Hotel north to little Tico restaurant which I fear I don’t remember the
name. The sign has a knife fork and
plate on it. The road is dreadful,
but the reward is a nice simple meal and (depending, of course on clear weather) a
truly awesome view of Vulcan Arenal and Lake Fortuna, a real bonus if your
aren’t going there independently.
Bahia
Herradura/LosSueños: The new
Marriott Hotel/Marina has a fuel dock. Otherwise
a rolly anchorage and a pricey marina, although many people like it.
Drake Bay:
We did not stop in at Quepos or Manuel Antonio in the boat. Said to be really rolly and it was really rainy when we
passed by. We did an overnight trip
between Punta Leona and Drake Bay.. Lots
of fishing boats, lit but no running lights.
Drake can also be rolly, but was settled when we were there.
Nice rest. Fringed by
wilderness resort camps, simple to elegant.
The resort to west reputed to have nice happy hour.
Puerto Jimenez:
We were here twice. We liked
it. Narrow anchoring shelf between
deep and shallow! Plan ahead.
Crocodile Bay is a nice sport fish resort, but we’ve heard they are
back to discouraging cruisers using their facilities as high season is back in
swing. The town is full of
backpackers, Internet Cafes and tour operators to Osa Peninsula.
If you hike, a day trip is well worth it.
We saw all four monkey species, a huge flock of scarlet macaws up close,
toucans, sloths, etc. We booked our
hike through Escondido Trex in Restaurant Carolina, but you can get the same
guide – Pedro -- through the beauty salon next door (his girl friend) for less
$.
Golfito:
A pretty bay gone shabby. We
disliked it our first week there (in August), but when we returned everything
seemed much nicer, albeit rainier. The
bay entrance is buoyed and there is a range.
There are three places to go after you turn right past the last buoy
(almost ashore!). Samoa is the
first “marina” on your left, The docks are really in poor shape. I stepped between them one night! Can you say disappearing act!
But the restaurant is good. Second,
you can anchor or take a mooring off Banana Bay Marina for $7/nite which
entitles you to their services, including check in and out (we think @$35) their
2-for-1 happy hour, and laundry service, and the best efforts of the security
guard. Vulnerable time is in rain showers. Or you can take a slip if available.
Quite pricey, but very good facility; we left our boat there for two
months. Only really secure option.
If you crave a burger this is the place to get it.
$5, but definitely, $5’s worth! Other
cruisers anchor off Las Gaviotas Hotel farther along in the bay.
Quite nice facility with good weekend BBQs and a nice pool.
Willie of TI8ZWW weather fame, often hangs out here on Pacific Child with
his young wife and her son. Prettier,
but downside is no security and vulnerability.
Golfito has surprisingly
good provisioning. Vegie truck come 2x a week, I think Monday and Thursday, but
ask. A Monteverde “cheese
product” truck comes about once every 9 days.
Great cheese and yogurt. (Try
the smoked cheddar.) . Most
convenient Internet Café is Coconuts Café.
They have a GREAT vegie burrito. Bought
a lot of meat from the butcher (; its on the side street that slopes up from the
main street just before Coconuts) and it’s the right hand (uphill) of the two
side by side meat markets.) Pork
and Lomito. 3 supermarkets,
the first on the left being the best. Mike
Restaurant, out of town to the south, has excellent Hungarian type food, and
Mike makes real sausage, breakfast and Italian, the you can buy in bulk.
Order ahead.
Also you have the Free
Zone. Taxi to the zone with your
two passports and obtain your “tarjeta”
(looks like an invoice) . Then
window shop and make your list of what and where.. 24 hours later you can return and buy two cases of beer, two
cases of wine, one case of liquor, and $500 of other merchandise per person for
good prices. There is one little
store that sells Planter’s Peanuts, candy, and sundries (shampoo, sunscreen
etc) for good prices too.
On
Cocos Island, Costa Rica: Chatham Bay, Isla de Cocos, Costa Rica
Latitude: 05-33.097N;
Longitude: 087-02.528W
24 June 2001
Our 364nm leg from
Genovesa Island in the Galapagos to Cocos Island was as gentle a trip as we have
ever had. The weather was mostly
gorgeous and sunny, the water temperature steadily warming degree by degree
enabling the 2Cs to shed clothes layer by layer. We haven't been in swimsuits underway since the Caribbean!
The winds were light, 8-15 kts from behind us, and we sailed most of the
way, resorting to the engine only in the wee hours of the night when our speed
dropped below 4 kts. It was during
one of these motoring sessions that we had our only boat mishap.
With a hefty pow, the exhaust pipe flange blew clean off the engine
dumping smoke and cooling water into the bilge!
The good news is that Captain Don had been suspicious, and we were ready
with replacement parts purchased when Captain Gwen was in Ft. Lauderdale last
February.
We caught no fish.
Every time Don would go to put the lure out, a booby would show up.
On our first day out we had a seriously bad booby day.
At 0630, just over the dicey part of our exit from Genovesa, a young
booby hooked himself and was being dragged until we could reel him in.
Fortunately it proved his upper bill was more wedged in the hook than
anything, and Don was able to shake him off with a little judicious use of the
pliers without major damage to his bill or the new lure.
Last we saw him he was upright in the water shaking his head, obviously a
little boggled from his experience. Unfortunately
our next booby incident around midday didn't end so well.
What we heard was a couple of thumps, and next thing a booby body dropped
into the water at my elbow! Our
best guess is that he flew into some rigging or maybe the wind generator and
ricocheted off the mainsail. He
landed head down and never moved. Very
sad. For this reason perhaps we
were much more tolerant of the pair of blue-footed boobies that rode through the
night on our bow pulpit. The fact that they will stay there with the sail
luffing and snapping amazes us. They
were, however, unusually considerate, sitting with their business ends forward
over the water!
We allowed ourselves to
go very slowly the last day in order to approach Cocos in the morning light as
opposed to midnight. This prudence
rewarded us with a spectacular arrival. Around
4am the last bit of moon rose with a bright planet alongside, and dolphins
paralleled the boat making comet-like vapor trails through the bioluminescent
plankton in the dark water. The
island was black and mystical, rising steeply to a cloud around the summit, and
as dawn gradually broke it became greener and greener until it was a color so
bright we couldn't believe it. Dodging
the seasons back and forth across the equator, we'd completely forgotten what a
dense tropical green could look like, although in truth I don't think we've ever
seen an island this lush anywhere! Waterfalls
actually burst from the sides and tumble directly into the sea!
(Opening scenes of Jurassic Park were filmed here!)
As we rounded the point
into the Chatham Bay anchorage, hundreds of frigate birds circled the boat along
with dozens of boobies, to the point camera work on the bow could be considered
risky business! Ahead in the bay
was just one boat, our friends Kathy and Bob on Briana.
We picked up a mooring, had a bacon and egg feast and a short snorkel
just to remind ourselves what warm water was, and had just dozed off in the
cockpit when the park rangers showed up to do business.
Before we knew it we were all arranged to do a dive that afternoon.
A little background.
Cocos, plus a dozen or so satellite rocks and islets, is one of the
premier diving destinations of the world. Belonging
to Costa Rica, it is entirely a Marine Park and is totally uninhabited but for
some park rangers and volunteers who reside in one of two stations, a small one
here in Chatham Bay, the other larger base half-way around the north side of the
island. There are no facilities
ashore for tourists, so all must come by sea.
The bulk of visitors to Cocos are scuba divers coming on one of two
top-notch liveaboard dive boats, the 115' Sea Hunter and the Okeanos Aggressor
(the latter at one time was skippered by my old Tropic Bird friend Dan
Morrison.) The other vessels that
trickle in are either cruising boats like ourselves, or fishermen, who, though
they can't fish in the park waters, are permitted to seek shelter here.
The fees for cruisers to be here are a bit steep, although not so steep
as rumor had it. For us it costs
$15/day for the boat plus $15pp/day for us, which is a total of $45 a day.
About like being in a marina. For
this you have a nice mooring (yes, we checked all its attachment points!),
access to fresh water (they have a pipe rigged in a waterfall that carries fresh
water out to an offshore buoy!) and an onshore laundry tub and showers, none of
which we need on TII but which are welcome amenities for many cruisers.
Diving requires having
all your own gear, including dive compressor.
Fortunately, since ours is still down from the failed hose in Galapagos,
the Sea Hunter was here and the very friendly captain filled all our tanks for
us. Then, as he was leaving on
Monday, he went one step further
and lent us a fill hose for our compressor.
The other hitches with diving here are we must be accompanied by a park
ranger and we have to get there in our own dinghies. This puts us at the mercy of the rangers' schedules and
restricts our range to how far we can practically get by rubber duck.
However for $4/day it's a good deal as you get a guide and, as all the
dives are drift dives, a chase boat that tows the dinghy along after you.
The diving had been
great. Similar to the Galapagos,
the waters are thick with fish, with 3-5' foot white-tip sharks as common as
trumpetfish in the Virgins and lobsters carpeting the rock faces (which may well
be a main reason we have to be shepherded by rangers!).
Unlike the Galapagos the water is warm enough for skins only and the
visibility is a clear 70', but there is still very little coral, which we have
since learned is thanks to the disastrous El Nino of 1987.
On one dive - Roca Sucia - we had dolphins leaping around the dinghy
topside and several schools of hammerheads swirling around the underwater
formations. Lots of marble rays and
turtles too. We've seen four huge
Manta rays, but every one of them was from topside.
It seems they like to glide just inches below the surface with their wing
tips curling into the air! I did
managed to get in with one briefly on snorkle and we hope we got a photo of
another at least 12' wide!
The downside of this
paradise is the amount of rain they receive -- 280" a year.
There's a reason it's green! Given
that, it's been relatively nice weather during the time we've been here, with
only one full day of rain and but two days of nasty roll!
The rangers say the best time of year is November through January.
Briana left Thursday
for the Galapagos, leaving us all alone ...for about four hours, the Okeanos
Aggressor arriving to fill the void of the departed Sea Hunter.
Friday afternoon, Kaylor the park ranger picked us up in the drizzle for
our last dive and took us back to Isla Manuelita, which is just north of Chatham
Bay. This time we dove alone,
Kaylor having an ear infection; we deduce we have passed inspection as divers.
We had some misgivings about returning to Isla Manuelita, the site of our
first dive, but they were washed away by the best critter turnout of all.
Many, many MANY hammerheads, and QUITE CLOSE, too!
Two divers are clearly less intimidating to them than four or six! It
raises the question of who is watching whom?
There were actually more hammerheads on this dive than the ubiquitous
white tips! We must have seen ten
marbled stingrays, swimming this way and that or on the bottom, and five very
large green turtles, three of which were circling together (mating?) and two
swam right up to us curiously. For
a grand finale....no, not the infamous whale shark,..sigh... BUT that elusive
underwater manta ray! We surfaced
to find Kaylor and Gabriel shivering in the rain, so we brought them home for
hot chocolate (their choice). It
was the one time there were no English speaking rangers in the group, but it
went just fine. Don had fun showing
them his engine room and the computer charting, but they were most impressed
with the solar panel installation.
Saturday we dinghied
around to Wafer Bay for a hike to Cacades Genio (like the genie in the lamp!).
The park provided us with a guide, a thirty-one year-old engineer
volunteer from Spain by name of Luis Sanchez.
He proudly displayed to us his first contribution to the park, a
supension bridge over a river made of steel cable, turnbuckles and chain-link
fencing! From the bridge the
path led through true rainforest -- this is primary growth rainforest and this
is a 2 million year old island! -- and up the river course itself.
It was perfect for these old Trini-trained waterfall-keteers, (Snake
would have loved it!) and the
conversations in Spanish on the way up made for great camouflage for the 2Cs'
lack of conditioning! There was a
lot of evidence of the destruction wrought by the islands' feral pigs rooting
around in the moist soil to dig up roots. We
also saw some neat birds, both males and females of the endemic Cocos finch, as
well as a white dove that hovered overhead like a hummingbird.
Luis said the Spanish conquistadores took them for the "espiritu
santo!" and they were so otherworldy and out-of-place, that we could
understand the impression.
All the way up the
upper course of the river were secondary falls leaking down the sides of whole
hillsides. Still the
"cascades" themselves, when we reached them, were superb.
I'd guess a 100'+ drop into a pool from two separate falls, and the water
temp -- unlike Trinidad -- was mild. You
will have to take our word for all this as we discovered at the falls, that I
had left the chip out of the digital camera!
Back at the boat, our
anchorage had swelled to included five Costa Rican long-line fishing boats.
These are wooden craft about 30-45 feet in length, all brightly painted
with crews of four to six people aboard. From
the top stick up up to a dozen tall poles with garbage-bag "flags"
rather reminiscent of the Baptist residences in Trinidad, only these poles are
used to mark the long lines when they are deployed.
When we left for the hike, the crews were congregating for a game of
"football" on the low-tide beach.
Don had given one crew a lift to shore, and inquired if it was possible
to buy fish. "Mas tarde,"
they said. Well, upon our return
the fishermen GAVE us a huge wahoo, a 40 pounder, already beheaded and gutted!
When we pressed the subject of what we could give them in return, they
opted for cold pills...they all had the grippe!
Don worked away steaking the fish, but even after filling up the freezer
we had so much fish left we gave the back half of it to the park rangers!
It was definitely a more effective way of getting a fish than throwing
all those lures in the water!
By dark there were more
than ten fishing boats and by morning fifteen. There are only three other
moorings in the harbor, so many of the boats instead of anchoring tied up one
behind the other making a string! It made for a surreal night landscape for not
only were the boats lit up themselves, but the marker poles each had strobes
firing off! All this was quite
educational for us as we learned quite a bit about how they fish, how long the
trolling lines are (1000 meters, with 250 snap-on hooks along its length baited
with squid) and what to look for as markers when we cross paths with them at
sea. We certainly will feel more accommodating next time we encounter these guys
in our course!
On our last day in
harbor, Kaylor and Issaac came by to answer some questions for for a potential
article about the Park. In Kaylor's
six years as a Cocos Park ranger, he tells us he has never seen an assemblage of
fishing boats in Cocos like this. Apparently fishing has not been good.
Many Costa Rican boats have in the past edged in to Galapagos waters.
Now, with the aid of the US Coast Guard, Ecuador is clamping down on
this, and indeed several Costa Rican crews have been arrested.
Kaylor does much of the offshore patrolling, and he's up all night making
sure no fishing is happening within the eight-mile limit.
Isaac told us, "Kaylor has many friends (sic) in Punta Arenas who
would like to kill him!" which
immediately answered our question of whether the fishermen regularly gave the
rangers fish like our wahoo.
It is hard to imagine
that we almost didn't come here. It
has been a special stop, not just for the beauty of the island and the superb
diving, but for some nice bridges between interesting and different people.
Today we prep the boat for our eastward trek back to Panama.
We should be underway at sunrise.
Some Internet websites
of interest:
Isla de Coco National Marine Park:
islacoco@ns.minae.co.cr
mv Sea Hunter: www.underseahunter.com*
mv Okeanos Aggressor:
www.aggressor.com*
Even more than in the
Galapagos, the best way to visit Cocos is on a liveaboard boat.
Actually, it the only way! Okeanos
and Sea Hunter are both very top-notch ships, very oriented to high-tech scuba
diving, but they do make some provision for shore excursions and kayaking etc. We are also told that the small cruise ships we saw in the
Galapagos do a couple of tours each year that include Cocos.
It is, however, hard for us to even imagine more than 20 people here at a
time! It's just not that kind of
place.
The only other way to
spend time at Cocos, it to come as a volunteer, minimum commitment being a
month. You can get information
about volunteering from the Marine Park website.
Bahia Santa Elena/Costa
Rica is a beautiful bay - can be very gusty. The enlarged insert of this bay on
our computer chart is completely off - use the regular scale chart. The entry
waypoint on the1991 Charly's Chart is also wrong. Correct entry waypoint at
Bahia Santa Elena is 10 56'708"N, 85 48'654"W, at a depth of 118'.
Explore the mangrove channel at the end o f the bay.
After that we anchored
at every anchorage listed in Charly's and found them all beautiful. Check-in
into Costa Rica is at Playa de Coco. Very friendly port captain, NO FEES! Get an
internal zarpe to Golfito. You also need a copy of the capt.passport and boat
documentation for the boat import document. The aduana comes to Cocos from
Liberia. Good provisioning at the super mercado in Cocos. There is an excellent
machine shop in Liberia but we don't remember the address. It's about 3 blocks
from the Central Market. Internet and Laundry are available in Cocos. Laundry is
expensive in Costa Rica.
Bahia Brasilito:
beautiful, anchored in north corner below Punta Salinas. Don't attempt a dinghy
landing at the beach. Marina
Flamingo looks pretty bad, fuel is available there.
Bahia Carillo: Another
beautiful bay, very rolly - we put out a stern anchor. Walk up to the Hotel
Guanacaste - gorgeous views - small grocery stores.
Puntarenas: Enter the
estuary to the Yacht Club at high tide only. Follow the line on Charly's. When
you get to the Muelle Moreno, call the Yacht Club on Channel 6 (Manager Carlos,
speaks English) for a guide to lead you in. (note your GPS points, then you can
enter/leave on your own). Buoys at the Yacht Club are $ 16/day. There is a
bar/restaurant/swimming pool. Fuel, water and laundry available.
Haul-out: Very
efficient, $ 400 in and out, no daily charge. Bottom paint labor:$200,
Petit-Trinidad Paint $ 95/gallon. They also have Oceanic Paint.
Certified Surveyor: Ing.
Mauricio Gomez Francescolo, Cell (506) 389-7340, FAX (506) 641-0241, 661-3836,
Email: GOVAFRA@hotmail.com, Tel.Home: 663-7925. Price for survey: $ 300. He
prepares the survey in English and Spanish. He wants pictures of the hull out of
the water. We had him survey Pipe Dream and found him to be very efficient.
We are presently in the
Gulf of Nicoya - don't miss this area. There are so many beautiful bays and
islands. Still don't know when we will cross the canal - heard lots of good
things about Ecuador and may head there first - who knows.
PUNTA LEONA, COSTA RICA
Pleasant anchorage,
pretty grounds. We sailed out on a heading for Bahia Herradura, and after three
miles were just able to tack back into Punta Leona. The currents are strong!
MANUEL ANTONIO
Follow the directions in
Charlie’s for entering. We entered from the north and discovered that a reef
extends well out from Islas Gemelas. Better to enter from the west and go
between Isla Salera and Islas Gemelas.
GOLFITO
Xinia at LandSea does
such a good job of washing, drying and folding laundry that we emptied our
lockers and took everything in for her to do… so nice to have sweet-smelling
clothes and linens again. The free zone is great for shopping. You have to get a
permit with your passport one day before using it, and it is a one-time use in a
three-month period. Five hundred dollars max; limit of 12 bottles of wine and 12
bottles of liquor each permit. A one-liter box of Clos chilean wine was $2.20;
here in Panama at the PriceSmart in David it is $1.89. A bottle of Flor de Cana
rum was also $2.20; in Panama it is $4.50. After we had purchased our booze (and
used up our limit) we learned that you can get the rum in 12 larger bottles.
Panama is well
documented by the Zydlers’ Panama Guide.
Be advised before you leave Golfito that Western Panama does not have any
easy access to shopping. There is
very little development along the coast, which of course is what makes it so
beautiful. Most cruisers clear out of Golfito for Balboa and skip checking in at
Puerto Armuelles. . Panama
doesn’t seem to care that you are in their waters for months before checking
in. We cleared out there, and it
had some charm, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.
Only options for
civilization on this coast are, first, Pedregal and David, and second,Puerto
Mutis. Getting up the river to
Pedregal is a pain in the ass, either in your own boat (for which you need a
pilot and maybe two days), or by panga (3-4 hours on a hard bench in the hot
sun!) David, however, is a nice
little city, and should you need to leave the boat or make a plane connection it
is a reasonable option. Another
alternative is Puerto Mutis, accessed up the Rio San Pedro in the Bahia Montijo
just before Punta Mala. This is a
relatively easy trip on your own. Go
on a rising tide and follow Zydler religiously.
A
nice sidetrip is Boca de Trinidad. Puerto
Mutis is a tiny town (eat at Gladys) in a muddy stretch of river.
We anchored in 13’ on the opposite shore.
There is an hourly bus to the city of Santiago.
The bus goes right by the Super 99, a modern supermarket. If you buy too
much to carry on the bus you can hire a taxi/pickup for about $12 to bring you
back. You can get fuel in Puerto
Mutis (there is a dock, but we jugged it).
You can even clear into Panama in Puerto Mutis.
If you need to leave the boat, (via bus through Santiago; its about 3
hours to Panama City) ask around for Carlos Iguana.
He is a fisherman who can watch your boat and even run the engine to
charge batteries. There is
also a young American – Tom Yust- with a sportfishing business based up the
river to chat with. The Port
Captain can call him. They don’t
get many cruisers up here and are tickled when you come.
Punta Burica -
A rest stop, protected to west. Anchor
waypoint is 08*04.16N; 082*50.84W
in about 22’, another narrow shelf!
Isla Gamez
– Small island west of Isla Parida. Gorgeous
stop. Anchor on North side of palm lined beach.
Islas Secas-
Clearest water in Panama. Anchor near 08*04.931N 082*01.897 in front of
isthmus. Nice snorkeling on south
end on the little island to NE.
Bahia Honda -
Gorgeous Bay in the same league as Bahia Santa Elena.
Sounds like its still rainy, even in the dry season.
That should be slowing down. There
is a little island in the center of the bay with a village on it with some
stores, ice and a telephone. Where
the book shows “Yacht Club” is a private construction project, part of a
huge private development taking place in several locations inside and outside of
the bay. They don’t seem to mind
curious visitors, and we got a tour of the whole premises, including a jaunt out
to the residence going up on the island just north of the bay entrance.
We chose to anchor away from the construction, way in the sw corner of
the main bay off a little honeymoon beach.
Gorgeous.
Isla Catalina
- Nice lunch stop with yellow sand.
Isla Gubernadora
– In July we had a good anchorage on the east side of the island.
We did not like any anchorage along north coast of Cebaco.
That’s where we came
in from Cocos, having taken the “long way” around Punta Mala.
We have no knowledge of the Punta Mala anchorages.
Gulf of Panama- By the
time you get this far there will be many contacts with people who have
spent time there. Anchorages change with the season and we were there in March.
We liked Contadora, off the nude beach on the south side.
We went next to Pedro Gonzales to the southeasternmost anchorage which is
a gorgeous palm-lined beach. This can get bouncy if the wind shifts a little
east of north, and be sure to stay enough offshore that you can swing. We especially liked Isla Bayoneta (p. 260, the anchor is
actually between La Vivienda and Isla Malaga, although it takes some careful
navigating to get in. We approached
from the south (do not go between La Vivienda and the reefs, although it looks
possible, several boats that did hit reef.
Take those reefs to port.) and departed, after reconnaissance by dinghy
up through Canal Gibraleon at high tide. It
is very protected, and a dinghy trip around La Vivienda and to the beach is
really nice. Finally, a truly
peaceful spot is Isla Espiritu Santo, on the east side of Isla de Rey. Launch the dinghy and drive around to the east side and to
the tiny unnamed island to the east. It
is full of white ibis and we caught some snapper.
We also spent a few
nights at Isla Taboga. It is
pleasant during the week, but on weekend is plagued by jetskiis and runabouts.
Best as a close-to getaway from Panama City.
I won’t go into all
the Canal Info, as you will get fresher info as you get closer.
Simply suffice it to assure you that you don’t need an agent.
Balboa Yacht club is more expensive than Flamenco anchorage, but a lot
more convenient. Your best source
of info in the area is Pedro Miguel Boat Club, which is worth visiting for
Saturday Night potluck even if you don’t plan to stopover there.
Good people and a reliable mail drop.
They have a Miami address for shipping in parts.
Very efficient.
Do try to take in the
Canal Museum, especially if you have been able to get through David
McCullogh’s The Path Between the Seas, a fat tome on the history of the
canal. Available in Panama City.
Shopping is outstanding
in Panama City. Special highlights.
Mini Max for veggies and any Japanese or Chinese product you can imagine!
Nearer to Pedro Miguel for daily vegies is Fung Sick, nice vegies and fruits,
oftenall cleaned and diced for you. Nearby is Super Kosher, only place for whole
wheat flour, but has many other gourmet items (Try the Syrian breads in the
freezer and great canned hummus and eggplant dip, bulk spices,couscous etc.) Price Smart and Mega Max for bulk buying, but Mega Max canned
stuffed all too big. Down from Mega
Max and Abernathy’s (marine supplies and fishing supplies) is a great
supermarket with a women’s name (escaping me at the moment.) In El Dorado neighborhood,
large Novey Hardware store. Just
beyond it is a small plaza with a corner grocery that stocks canned chicken and
turkey. Only one anybody found!
Good Rey Supermarket, too. Liquor
can be bought duty free from Motta in Panama City, but its is most economical in
a group. (here’s a $50 customs agent fee.) If going through Canal, duty free is more readily organized
from Free Zone in Colon.
Note from
MICHAELANNE on above:
We never got there. Most
cruisers report that the authorities are pretty lax about your timing to check
in as you wander through the islands on your way to the Canal Zone...Zydler’s
Guide is pretty accurate so use that for info.
One note: The Flamenco Yacht
Club in the Canal Zone is not cruiser friendly.
They were not allowing cruisers to anchor out near their facility or use
their dinghy docks when we left in October from El Salvador.
For the latest on that, listen to the Panama-Pacific Net on 8143.0 USB
daily at 1400 UTC.
Boca Chica, Panama up
the creek to Pedregal and David:
Here are
waypoints/verbiage to enter into lower end of Boca Chica river - if you need to
reprovision in David after a while in the islands, or make the land trip to
Boquete. We anchor just off
Franks's, a German owned very casual restaurant/bar -
0.80c beers and very very reasonable prices for GOOD food.
Veggie truck comes Fridays to Boca Chica, and there is a telephone there,
and soon a diesel pump. Reuben in
the first house on the right has a King Cab pick-up - $15.00 to get fuel - a
2.5Hr round trip bumpy ride to the main highway.
He charges $50 for the whole day to do PriceMart & Super Baru market
(w/nice Internet). He can seat 4
plus himself, it is a bumpy ride first 45 Mins.
Best deal we found this
trip however was Victor's 12 Pass. Van - $13 ea to Boquete for 5 of us -
negotiable with more folks. $10 ea
for all day shopping in David incl. laundry stop/pick-up too.
Victor's phone No. is: 697 2809.
If you're on your own, lots of the backpackers use Victor for the Boquete
and David runs; and you will meet lots of them at Franks which is highly rated
in Lonely Planet.
1-08 11.975N, 082
13.545W
2-08 12.040N, 082
13.522W
3-08 12.058N, 082
13.491W
4-08 12.104N, 082
13.390W
5-08 12.181N, 082
13.172W
6-08 12.463N, 082
12.670W
7-08 12.602N, 082
12.670W
8-08 12.734N, 082
12.308W
We anchored off Frank's
dinghy dock at 08 12.763N, 082 12.407 in 30'.
We use Chart View Pro
& had good accuracy using chart #21584S0 - Approaches to Puerto Armuelles
and Pedregal. Make sure your GPS is
set to WGS-72.
First waypoint is close
to the West end La Ventana (P 258 Zydlers Guide), then turn sharp right (East)
make a fairly broad curve to Franks Point, which is on Eastern tip of Boca
Brava. You cannot see blue/white
striped roof of Frank's until you get closer.
Best time to come in is on a mid rising tide, so you can still see the
rocks. Shallowest water we saw with
above waypoints was 11' but we were before mid tide. Also see page 250.
If you enjoy the
Parida/Gamez and Secas as much as we did, this is a good spot to have a few
cooked meals with lots of backpackers coming in daily from all over the world,
get more fuel or veggies. The
trip into David is a nice drive apart from the bumpy beginning.
Monkeys come right up to the restaurant and the breeze is great up there.
Oh yes, they have a good dinghy dock.
We have not heard of any boat security problems here.
Lastly, we highly
recommend BAHIA HONDA as a fresh fruit provisioning option.
A lagoon-like anchorage, best spot is in the NW corner where it says 30'
in Zydlers - 7.45.932N 81.32.608W puts you near the small waterfall during rainy
season where we did our laundry. Domingo
comes out to offer his great fruits - He never quotes a price, but will accept
Dollars to put his 2nd daughter thru school and will also trade for anything he
needs like soap, rice, etc. Plse
give special greetings from "Janice & Dorsey on Sun Dazzler and Ted and
Shari on Mystique", if you get there.
You can leave your trash
at the fancy retreat being constructed in NE corner, and water from a spigot on
the beach. Couple of small tiendas
in village on island, poorly stocked, but they often have good onions, eggs etc.
and a telephone. Domingo can
take you to get Diesel ($2.25 gall) and Gasoline ($3.00 gall), which we all
bought from the fisherman’s home - fuel was fine but of course higher, priced
than Panama City. You pay the man
direct, and tip Domingo who shows you where it is (high tide is better) and
helps you.
Please spread the word
about Domingo; lots of cruisers have been very pleased there.
We enjoyed this quieter anchorage to do sewing projects, varnishing and
resting up before the Punta Mala "bash"; and Domingo is a very nice
man.
Experience with the
Panamanian Coast Guard
Confirming the net-com
this morning regarding being checked by the Panama Coast Guard.
S/V AKAUAHELO checked
out of Golfito CR for Balboa. A
little concerned about this because we will not be in Balboa for about a month.
We did not want to check in at Armuelles because we have heard it is
sometimes difficult there.
Our second day in Panama
we were anchored off the east side of Isla Parida and were kayaking around the
many small islets. A large, grey,
twin engine panga approached us and identified themselves as the Panama Coast
Guard and wanted to see our passports and papers.
Right ... like we always carry them in our kayaks.
We explained they were on our sailboat way over there.
The CC said "fine, lets go see them."
Great! So they followed us
as we slowly paddled back to AKAUAHELO. We
tied the kayaks up to each side of AKAUAHELO so the CC would not be able to
easily raft up to our hull. No
obvious fenders.
Brent got on the boat
and got our Costa Rica exit documents and passports and climbed into our dinghy
to give them the papers. The CC
guys were friendly but quite serious. They
inspected our papers for several minutes, asked some questions about where we
had been and what our plans were in Panama.
There was no question from them about the lack of fishing licenses even
though our poles were out in the rod holders.
The leader actually had his shoes off which was encouraging if they
intended to board us. Finally he
said, "everything looks in order, welcome to Panama".
They did not board AKAUAHELO for inspection.
So, it appears that what
we heard is true, once checked out of CR, Panama will allow you to travel
through their country without checking in until you arrive Balboa.
Happy Trails... Brent & Susan, S/V AKAUAHELO, Panama
Bahia Honda, Panama
For those of you who are
coming down to Panama I suggest strongly that you stay over at Bahia Honda. It
is a very lovely, lush and peaceful place with many small secluded anchorages
and nice water to swim in and it is absolutely calm water without any swells
when we were there for the few days. It is in the same league as "Bahia
Santa Elena" (Costa Rica) and we think even better.
There is a little village on the island in the center of the Bay with 2
very basic tiendas and a police station - (don't ask me why - this is so
desolate) The people there are very friendly and like their pictures taken.
Where the Zydler book references the "Yacht Club" located next to
"Islote La Mona" there is now a construction site and apparently this
is being developed (we didn't find out into what) by an American and Italian. We
did not anchor there as there are two moorings in the deeper water occupied by
two small boats and we didn't think we had enough swinging room. Also, this
little Bay shoals very, very rapidly from 30+ ft to 7 ft. and less - so, be
careful. This applies to many of the secluded coves - depths vary rapidly and
the holding is dubious in some of the places as the bottom appears to be a
mixture of small stones and occasionally some mud. So, plenty of scope.
We anchored in the Bay
to the left of the "Yacht Club" and managed to finally get good
holding in 25+ ft of water after making several attempts. When you drop anchor
there you will be visited by "Joe Domingo" in his dugout canoe who
will trade fruits and vegetables for milk, sugar and detergent. He lives up the
river on the west side of the anchorage and his son, Kennedy and his family,
live just off this anchorage and you can be assured of a visit also. Very nice
people. There is also a gorgeous cove just when you enter the Bay on your port
side. Beware, there is a shoal in the middle and we almost run aground.
Supposedly there are also some rocks - so watch out.
Our waypoints to get in
to Bahia Honda were (for those who might arrive at night - but beware - at your
own risk):
Off Isla Pacora 07 43.265 N 81 35.403 W
Off Punta Guarida 07 44.120 N 81 32.348 W
Off Isla Talon 07 45.049
N 81 32.126 W
Our anchorage
07 45. 892 N 81 32.293 W
Fair winds, Tom and
Kathy, S/V Tai Tam
Just a quick note and
comments on our recent passages. We left Bahia Honda in Panama on the 9th and
made our way to Punta Mala to get into the Guild of Panama. On our way we
stopped at Puerto Viejo on Isla Gobernadora - a small island just north of Isla
Cebaco. This is a good anchorage - very isolated and we put the hook down at 07
33.995 N 81 11.526 W. Good holding
and not rolly. When you leave there to continue to Punta Mala you have two
choices: 1. Backtrack and go west around Isla Cebaco or 2. the somewhat shorter
way, go east across the north side of Cebaco. This requires some careful
navigation as the depths are limited i.e.
you must follow a channel and stay within it otherwise you risk running aground
at low tide.
We choose that option
but were confronted with another problem once we rounded Cebaco. The southerly
swell started building up in the channel between the mainland and Cebaco due to
the much reduced depth. And believe me, these were rollers. So, we had to follow
a zig-zag course to take advantage of the areas with greater depth and therefore
lesser rollers. So, be careful and watch for shoals and resulting swells. For
the night we put into Ensenada Naranjo - also a very picturesque anchorage and
only a little bit rolly. We anchored at 07 16.444N
80 55.531 in good holding ground.
From there the slogging
began the next day as we started to run into adverse current and strong winds on
the nose. The decision you have to make is to whether to go further offshore -
say 7 miles or so or stay in as we did about 1 mile off the coast. We talked to
someone who went further out and who had stronger currents than we did but much
less choppy seas because the water depth is much greater than the 100 feet or
less you find closer to shore. So, you pick your evil.
At times we were down to
2 knots punching into the seas. So, be prepared for that part of the trip and
have patience as you approach Punta Mala. We intended to put into Punta Guanico
but were advised against it by another cruiser who had been there a day earlier
- 6 ft seas and breakers in the anchorage. So, we went 10 miles further east to
Benao Cove and dropped anchor there amongst a just borderline swell. Just as
cocktail time started I looked off the stern and saw a big wave coming at us,
about 6-7 feet, that I thought was going to break into our cockpit - it didn't
but that was enough and we raised anchor just as it got dark and made a beeline
out of there and continued throughout the night to the Don Bernardo anchorage on
Isla Pedro Gonzales in the Las
Perlas Archipelago.
This is about the nicest
anchorage we have ever been at, small, white sand beach, clear water and palm
trees along the beach. No swell whatsoever and light winds from the north - just
lovely. The holding ground is sand and we are at 08 23.986N
079 04.966W - don't miss this anchorage! By the way all of these
anchorages are in Zydler's book.
Tai-Tam on the Las
Perlas Islands
Just a quick note to let
you know that you should not miss the Las Perlas Archipelago in the Gulf of
Panama. This is an absolutely pristine cruising ground (top rated by us before
Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica)without civilization and just one beautiful
island after another. The water is fairly clear and somewhat cool and refreshing
(75 degrees right now) and allows excellent snorkeling or scuba diving around
the many rock outcroppings. All of the beaches have white sand and shell
collectors can also keep busy here
We are currently on Isla
Pedro Gonzales at the Don Bernardo anchorage. This has a very beautiful white
and palm lined beach with only one local resident who goes by the name of Leonid
living in a very funky house on stilts. Leonid is very friendly and loves to
trade fruit for anything "American" and basic supplies such as rice,
powered milk and clothing. At night only the stars and no electricity surround
us here and the light rocking of the boat puts us to sleep at an early hour.
Anchoring is a bit more
difficult here than along the more Northern Coast of the Pacific as there are
many rocks and shoals and one must use "eye ball navigation"
judiciously - although Zydler's "Panama Guide" is a must and of much
help. All of the Panamanians we have met on our way here from Costa Rica have
been great, very friendly, outgoing and curious. One thing to bear in mind
though is that there is not much opportunity for provisioning until one reaches
the Panama Canal, so stock up in Costa Rica.
If you just want to take
it easy and enjoy lots of nature, these are the islands to be. We strongly
suggest a week or two for those making their way to the Panama Canal - where we
will be a week from now.
Fair Winds, Tom and
Kathy Knueppel, S/V Tai Tam
In Panama, which we
liked a lot, Isla Gamez (my favorite), Isla Secas, Bahia Honda, Isla Pedro
Gonzales, and Contadora in the Perlas Islands.
Puerto Mutis & Bahia Montijo, Panama
Puerto Mutis, as a major
supply port for Western Panama fisherman, is the only fuel dock readily
accessible for cruising yachts between Puerto Armuelles on the Coast Rican
border and Balboa Yacht Club in Panama City!
At high tide a typical cruiser needing fuel could pull right up to the
wall and have the hose passed down. (We opted to jerry jug.)
It also has good road and bus connections to civilization, another rarity
in Western Panama.
The catch is that Puerto
Mutis is six miles up the Rio San Pablo, which is at the north end of Bahia
Montijo, which itself cuts a 15-mile deep wedge into the watershed of Veraguas
province. On paper it may look way
out of the way, but, just west of Panama's bulky Penisula Azuero (i.e Punta Mala
and Punta Mariaco), it is located ideally midway on a coast that offers little
other easy options for getting fuel. Additionally,
Veraguas, the only province in Panama with both Caribbean and Pacific coasts,
has, on the Pacific slope, lighter than average rainfall during the rainy
season, resulting from the unecological clearing of the natural forests to make
grazing land for cattle.
Fortunately, accessing
Puerto Mutis is straightforward on a rising tide with the Zydlers' indispensable
"Panama Guide" book (no boat should think of cruising Panama without
it; we have used nearly every page!) Plus, unlike Pedregal further to the west, the trip upriver
can reasonably be accomplished in a day by most boats, and the entrance to the
river system is protected by Isla Cebaco lying like a breakwater across the
Bahia. Although Pedregal, once you reach it, has an actual marina available for
cruising yachts and the larger city of David is much closer at hand, there is
much suspense about which entrance to the estuary will be usable given swell
conditions, the bars in the waterway shift about, and there are high tension
wires that cross the river inland from Boca Chica that sure looked low to us (we
went up river by panga from Parida.) Stories
about sailboats being stuck on bars for days and even one of a boat being rolled
in the surf, discouraged us from going to Pedregal!
Bahia Montijo has none
of these drawbacks. The bay itself
is quite shallow, and over a dozen rivers empty into it from all sides. Many of
these are navigable at least for a ways. Ever
prudent, we followed the recommended course which kept us in 30-40 feet of water
most of the way.
Before going on to
Puerto Mutis, however, we did take one of the many available side excursions up
a watercourse that led to an inland lagoon called Boca de la Trinidad.
Dense mangrove forests, much taller than we could have even imagined back
home in the Virgin Islands and matched by root systems able to survive the
ten-foot tidal range, encircled the anchorage. The lagoon was the most still
place Don and I have ever been in our lives!
Herons of several colors were the most common bird, plus a few parrots,
pelicans and frigates. There was no
hint of man in sight, no motors sounds or electric lights.
We were attracted here by reports of roseate spoonbills, but we had to go
hunt for them. Many herons later,
after puttering deeper and deeper into the low tide flats, we finally found one
dead tree with eight pink birds that, of course, all promptly launched
themselves and flew away! Clearly
this is an area worth visiting in its own right!
After a couple of days
relaxation we backtracked out to Isla Verde, and going all the way around,
continued on upriver to Puerto Mutis.
Travelling again on the rising tide, which is an hour later than the tide
station at Isla Cebaco, the lowest water we saw was nine feet.
In addition to refueling, our hope was to find Puerto Mutis to be a
secure place to leave the boat for several days while we traveled overland to
Panama City. The town proved to be
even smaller than we imagined, a single road climbing at an angle up a hill.
The basin off the town was dotted with a couple dozen wooden fishing
boats, but we found a spot for ourselves where we'd have enough water at low
tide practically on the opposite shore! Another option for deeper draft boats is
turning up the Rio de Jesus just before Puerto Mutix.
Despite the muddy river, the bottom was sand, and with plenty of scope we
had no problem with the 9' tides or any squalls.
Puerto Mutis proved to a
delightful place, albeit very, very small and simple. There are only a couple of eating/drinking places -- Gladys'
became our hangout--, and even fewer little tiendas with hardly any products to
sell. People, however, are very friendly and eager to chat!
When we checked in at the police station the officer promptly called the
only American in town, who turned out to be a young man named Tom Yust.
Tomas, as they call him here, is one of those folks who seems to have
been everywhere and done everything. Most
recently he has put several years hard work into building a sportfishing charter
business based on the wild island of Coiba, to the west of here.
(See Tom's fantastic website at www.coibadventure.com.)
Later we discovered that
we were able to get our cruising permit for Panama (we had just come in from the
Galapagos & Cocos) right next door to the police station.
Immigration, however, must be done in Santiago (or, as we did, in Panama
City if you are going there.)
Busses do the 50-minute
trip to Santiago every half hour for $0.95.
You could pop off halfway in the town of Montijo for basic groceries, but
in Santiago, the bus passes right by a well-stocked Super 99 whose manager Jose
Felix was particularly friendly and helpful. There is a panaderia right across the street, and if you have
all you need the bus stops there on its way back as well. If you have too much stuff, you can catch a cab back for $12,
and this will enable you to beg a stop at the fresh market, a street full of
fruit and vegie stalls, on the way. Prior to our provisioning run in Santiago,
we'd filled a cooler with "exotic...aka green" vegetables at Panama
City's wonderful Mini Max (oriental greengrocer in Patilla area) and brought it
back on the bus! You won't find a
lot of such "exotic" stuff in Santiago, although there is a second
modern supermarket called Machetes in a mall on the Pan-American Highway (but it
is not on the bus route) that has some different cold items, with a great
Spiegel/True Value hardware next door.
To travel to Panama City
you can catch a bus at the terminal in Santiago, or you can hop over to Los
Toucanes Restaurant, a few blocks away on the PanAmerican Highway, and try to
snag the Express bus from David making its pit stop there.
It is allegedly faster. Our
trip took us 3 hours for $6 on a Saturday.
The return was a bit slower on a weekday.
Everybody in Puerto
Mutis knew we'd be gone for three days. While
I doubt anything would have been touched regardless, we did hire a fisherman
known as Carlos Iguana to look after the boat, even to running the engine (from
the cockpit) and hour and a half each night.
He came recommended by Tom Yust, and it was a great choice as everyone in
town clearly held Carlos in esteem. The
boat was safe and sound with batteries fully charged upon our return. We paid
him $20 for his services.
PANAMA - We’ve been
here three months now and haven’t checked in, which doesn’t seem to be a
problem. Another boat did check in at Pedregal (only because they were flying
out of the country); their visas as well as the boat permit were given for 90
days, not the 30 days mentioned in most cruising guides.
The water is clean and
clear, fishing is good, islands are unspoiled, the people are lovely and
generous, and you can get almost anything in David or Panama City, cheap. Around
Isla Parida, local fishermen with lobster and dorado will trade for goods like
powdered milk and dulces; they will come to your boat. The shrimp boats will
give you iced camarones in trade for food and rum (no money); you have to go to
them.
PEDREGAL, the port of
David, is a five-minute taxi ride ($2.50) into David. You can anchor off the
Pedregal yacht club in about ten feet of water, and for fifteen dollars a week
get use of the dinghy dock, water, and trash. There is fuel there with gasoline
($2.20) and diesel ($1.70)… prices as of January 2003. The port captain and
aduana are right there at the yacht club; you take a taxi into David for
migracion. There is a small minimart and a restaurant.
There are several ways
to get to Pedregal:
1.
You can anchor your boat in Boca Chica and call Victor (cel phone
603-7511); he drives a 9-passenger van and will pick you up in Boca Chica, take
you to David, run you around, and take you and all your stuff back to Boca Chica
for six or seven dollars per person each way, depending on how many of you there
are.
2. From Isla Parida,
where you can leave your boat in relative security in Bahia Varedero, it is a
1-1/2 to 2-hour trip by panga. You can hire a local panga for fifty to seventy
dollars to take you in and bring you back the next day. We like staying
overnight in David.
3. If you take your own
boat to Pedregal, you can either go through Boca Brava if you have good local
knowledge, or from Boca Chica if your mast height is less than 50-58 feet (no
one seems to know exactly how high the wire is that goes across from Boca Chica
to Isla Boca Brava).
BOCA CHICA. There is a
big rock right smack in the middle of the narrow channel just past the wire.
This uncovers at low tide but otherwise you don’t see it.
This is a very dangerous rock, not mentioned in Zydler’s, and I would
not proceed under the wire until I had identified that rock by dinghy at low
tide. If you can get under the wire, you’ll see you have to cross over to the
Boca Chica side of the channel just before the wire and be sure you are very
close to the Boca Chica shore at the narrowest part of the channel. Also, the
current runs strong here so time it so you don’t get swept onto the rock. We
anchored close to the Isla Boca Brava side between Frank’s restaurant and the
sport fishing private dock, then explored by dinghy at low tide.
We were also surprised
at the location of the dock in the entrance, which is shown in various locations
on different charts. Page 250 in the Zydler guide is the most accurate; entering
up the recommended channel leaving Isla Linarte to port, continue that course
until you can see the channel opening past Boca Chica, and only then turn left
towards Isla Boca Brava to favor that side of the channel.
DAVID.
We really like David. You can walk almost everywhere, and find lots of
good stuff…industrial fabrics, hardware, etc. Lots of household goods for one
dollar. Taxis are one dollar to anywhere in the central city, two dollars
further out including Pedregal. Speedlan internet café is open 24 hours,
air-conditioned, with the fastest machines we’ve ever seen, for a dollar an
hour. It is safe to wander down there at night. PriceSmart, plus three very nice
supermarkets well stocked with American stuff and other goodies. A huge cartful
of groceries, including meats and booze, won’t cost more than a hundred and
fifty dollars. City water is potable (also at the yacht club).
Four-plex cinema with current movies. MacDonalds, KFC. Good barbecued
chicken dinner at El Molino ($1.50 taxi from town center). Yamaha (also handles
Yanmar), Suzuki, and Johnson outboard agencies. Three bus companies; trip to
Panama City is approximately eleven dollars, six and a half hours.
Very little in marine
parts in David, e.g. no epoxy resin; but Jim took the bus to PANAMA CITY and
found West System epoxy and just about anything you could get in the US. Four
nice marine stores in Panama City: Abernathy,
Centro Marine, NautiPesca, and Novey. All taxis know these. Travelift at
Flamenco: 150 tons, can handle beam to 25 feet, possibly 26. At this time $300
in and out, three lay days included, $1.65 per foot per day thenceforth.
There are many nice
beaches suitable for careening and taking the hard in the vicinity of Isla
Parida and Pedregal.
This passage takes you from Isla Parida via the channel leading westward from Boca Chica to Pedregal Yacht Club.
We anchored at Isla Gamez, off the NE side of Isla Parida. Many people were camping at Isla Gamez during Mardi Gras. Small boats were coming and going and the women were coating large pots of great smelling chicken and rice in red sauce. We were conversing with them when all of a sudden in this primitive setting, we jump at the sound of 2 cell phones ringing. I guess the men in Pedregal wanted to know if dinner was ready!
We decided it would be fun to go to Boquete, a mountain village 90 minutes from David by bus. David is a short taxi ride from Pedregal Yacht Club. From David, you take a bus to Boquete. You can also go to Boquete from Panama City, a 7-hour bus ride. We chose to go by boat!
We read the instructions on page 252 of the Panama Guide, but it seemed confusing. As we left Isla Gomez, we spotted a boat coming in and asked for directions. They told us we needed a guide, and loaned us their 16-year-old boat boy, Tatin. Tatin took over the wheel and guided our boat through the channels and surf safely to Pedregal Yacht Club. The trip took 8 hours for 35 nautical miles and the minimum depth found was 6.5’. The river scenery was interesting, with many channels, islands, and fishermen in dugout canoes. The current in the river approaching Pedregal can be quite strong, depending on the tides.
We anchored off the PYC, along with four other boats. Another sailboat arrived the next day. This boat was taking on water, since it had hit bottom so many times. It had no guide.
During the second night out, our boat dragged in the strong current and softly bumped another boat. Our anchor marker float had wrapped around the anchor and lifted it as we turned with the tide (no more anchor float!).
We went to David and then to Boquete by bus. The town of Boquete is a quaint mountain village with a mountain stream and two very interesting run-down bridges to cross (scary). We visited “Mi Jardín Es Su Jardín”, a wonderful artistic display of flowers and plants. This is a must see! There are many shops, restaurants, and places to stay. David has all the large grocery stores for provisioning.
We left PYC at 7am to go out the Boca San Pedro channel. We were told the shrimpers used this channel. All the cruisers (monohulls) said they would not use this channel in case they hit bottom. They were right. We managed to get all the way to the buoy and surf. We hit bottom (4.5’), a wave lifted us up and full throttle ahead, another wave or two, and then the big one came over us, and then all was well, except for the wet cockpit and salon (oops, two top hatches open!).
It was shallow for a half hour, and then we were safe in deep water. Quite an experience, but we would recommend returning via Boca Chica, with a guide, if possible.
It is interesting that these are the type of adventures you don’t want to experience, but once completed, you want to share with others.
Beverly and Paul
The Panama Canal is a
CASH operation. For boats under 50
feet in length, the transit cost on April 4th, 2002 was $500.00 US
Dollars. The measurement fee was
$50.00 US Dollars. A REFUNDABLE
deposit of $900.00 US Dollars is collected at the same time the transit and
measurement fees are taken. You can
use Visa, MasterCard, et.al., BUT while it appears that you are signing a credit
voucher just as any other purchase, it is a cash advance. You will not be informed, but it will show up on your next
statement. B of A was kind enough
to credit the cash advance charge when I complained a few months later.
Here’s how it works:
Call for a measurement. The numbers
are posted in several guides. The
measurer will come out and check your documentation, insurance, etc.
He will measure the length and width, ask you what speed you can
maintain, do you have line handlers, etc. His
tape is very liberal. This 42
Valiant grew to 46 feet under his tape. He
measures from the very end of your anchor to the last thread of the flag that
flies behind you. Pull everything in and take your dinghy off the davits if it
applies. Take his paperwork to
CitiBank and pay the fees. You will
sign two vouchers if you’re using a credit card, one for $550.00 and one for
$900.00. They will process the
$550.00 and it will show up as a cash advance on a future statement. The $900.00 voucher will be held until you complete the
transit and as soon as the paperwork is turned in, they will destroy the signed
voucher. That is unless you damage
the Canal and they want you to pay for something. The $900.00 is a security
deposit.
About 48 hours after you
pay, you can call and see when they have you scheduled through and whom you will
be going with. The measurer will
give you the number and what time to call.
If you are scheduled to make the transit in one day, the pilot will board
early. Ours arrived at 5:30AM.
Most likely you will be scheduled with one or two other boats, nested
together, and put in the center of the lock.
As with us, schedules and methods can change.
We were nested on the uplock but they split us up, delayed us at Gamboa
cut, and we tied to a tug on the way down.
We had entered Gatun locks just before 8:00AM and we cleared into the
Pacific just before sundown. We
arrived at the Flamenco anchorage well after dark.
If you can’t maintain enough speed to cross in one day, or if there is
a commercially generated delay, be prepared to anchor overnight in the lake and
continue the next day. It’s not
all bad, because the bass fishing is great!
You will need four
125-foot lines sufficient to hold your boat.
The measurer will want to inspect them when he comes aboard.
They can be rented, but we found it easier to purchase a 600-foot roll at
Nautipesca and make our own lines. I
intended to keep them and make new mooring lines but someone offered to buy them
from me at my cost on the other side. Tires! You will notice that boats getting ready to transit, and
those having just transited, will have automobile tires tied as fenders.
They can be obtained from just about any taxi driver for $3.00 apiece, or
you can just get on the radio and take them from someone who has come through
for no cost. Wrap them in trash
bags and secure the bags with duct tape. Use
old painters, lines, etc. to tie them to the cap rail.
Don’t tie them to the lifelines because they get some serious pressure
and pulling if you have to tie to a tug or the wall when going down. Avalon had
ten on each side.
We suggest that you
volunteer as a line handler one or two times before you take your own boat
through. The experience is
invaluable, you’ll learn about procedure, and you won’t be near as nervous
when you are at the helm.
Finally, it is a
tradition to feed the pilots and line handlers on the passage.
The easiest thing is a sandwich bar, but some get real elaborate and put
on a feast for the crew as they are motoring across the lake.
It really is a good experience and good food and drink make it more so.
A few facts from the
Panama Canal Commission plus the editors comment.
Entering a lock chamber
is a humbling experience in a small vessel.
These gigantic structures, when they were being built, required a
continuous pour of 3000 cubic yards of concrete every day for two and one half
years! To put this in
perspective, figure that your 2000 square foot house filled to the ceiling with
concrete would hold about 590 cubic yards.
The locks are 1000 feet
long and 110 feet wide, and each one is deep enough for a ship with a 39 foot, 6
inch draft. There are 100 four-foot
diameter openings in the bottom of the lock that allow it to be filled or
drained in 12 minutes. There are no
pumps; every thing is gravity fed. Every
time a lock is drained, 50 million gallons of water are released from Gatun
Lake. On average, 45 ships a
day, every day of the year, pass through the canal. Do the math, and you can see why Gatun Lake is the biggest
manmade lake in the world. Figure
also, that the only source of water replenishment is the rain that falls on the
Isthmus of Panama. No wonder that
there are some beautiful rain forests in this part of the world!
Sailing across Lake
Gatun, you pass over a part of the original Panama Railroad, built between 1850
and 1858. It was a popular route
for the forty-niners traveling to and from the California Gold Rush, and it
played a major part in the construction of the Panama Canal. It is said that a man died for every tie under the tracks.
That is probably an exaggeration, but thousands did die.
The fatality rate during construction was about 20% per month.
A train ran every day to collect the cadavers, which were pickled and
sold in the US and Europe for teaching and medical research.
Talk about recycling!
Fifty trainloads of rock
and soil were removed every day during the height of the excavation through the
Continental Divide. The French
failure in their attempt to build the Canal was partially because they
couldn’t figure how to get rid of all the spoil.
An American, John Stevens, an expert in railroad construction, designed
an ingenious rail system for removing the excavated dirt.
Today the cut is being continuously widened and dredged.
Mother Nature is still angry with man for making that scar and she
continues to try to fill it back up.
Finally, the average
ship passing through pays $50,000.00 US dollars for passage.
No wonder the Canal pays for itself!
Small boats under fifty feet such as us pay $500.00 US dollars.
It costs us more for the insurance than it does for the passage.
The Wet Bar is anchored
at the Bridge of the Americas, Panama City. What a place! Ships pass within 100
yards of us as they make their way to & from the canal, there's activity 24
hours a day. Panama is as beautiful as Costa Rica, friendlier, and alot more
affordable. There are lots of cruisers here and more arrive each day. Happy New
Year with best wishes for good health and happiness always.
We are anchored off Isla
Gamez, Panama and it is beautiful. Caught three yellow fin tuna on our way over
from CR and Greg has caught a red snapper and a giant needlefish since we've
been here. Greg & Meg
14.3 Tai-Tam on Preparing to Transit the Canal
We are now at the Balboa
Yacht Club after having spent some wonderful time in the Las Perlas Archipelago.
We have just completed all of our paperwork and the visit by the Admeasurer and
are now waiting to find out when our transit date might be. Here is some
information that might be of help to you once you get here.
Places to stay: You have
essentially two choices, namely going to the Balboa Yacht Club (BYC)or staying
at one of the anchorages at and around Flamenco Island.
BYC costs a one-time fee
of $ 25 and then $ 0.50/ft/day. You cannot use your dinghy and must use the BYC
panga drivers to get to and from other boats and/or land. You should consider
tipping these drivers occasionally if you do not want to wait an eternity. The
club responds (sometimes/mostly) to channel 06. There is a fuel dock (don't know
the cost) and there is swimming pool - military version, many years old that you
can use if you pay $ 35 instead of $ 25 one-time fee. There is a small toilet on
the dock with a shower. There is a small BYC tienda style restaurant (Hamburgers
etc.) and also a TGIF in the hotel just across - food is not too bad at US
prices. Before I forget it, there is a local Cruiser's Net from 0745 local time
on channel 67 which is also the local hailing channel.
Anchorages: We are
staying at the BYC as it is more convenient but have heard that there have been
two dinghy motor thefts last week at the anchorage. Water apparently you can
take on by taking jerry cans to a seawall and if the tide is up fill these cans.
Don't know about dinghy landings but there must be one. The anchorage is
obviously free of charge.
Getting to BYC
Stay in the shipping
channel (red-right-return <bg>) and wait until you get to Buoy 14 - don't
turn there!!! continue to 14 1/2 and then turn into the mooring area - you see
the masts. The panga drivers will help you with the mooring lines which are
attached to the mooring ball. Watch for anyone who approaches you to sell you
tires. Don't - this is all part of the package price - see below under drivers.
Cab Drivers outside the
BYC.
There are 3 main guys
(Tony, Enrique and Louise). All of them speak more or less fluent English and
they are the ones you should hire to get you to places and to get you the tires
and lines and line handlers (if you use locals). The cost appears to be $ 8 per
hour for them to drive you around. The cost of the line handlers is $ 50 per man
per transit - you need 4 people. The cost of the package (4 lines minimum 125 ft
and 7/8' plus mucho tires - we use 14 ! should be $ 65 to $ 80. This is for a
rental not a purchase!
Canal costs as of
4-22-02
Boats <50 feet (this
means from the bowsprit to the end including everything hanging over like
davit's is $ 550 plus a $ 900 buffer fee. Boats 50-80 ft are $ 800 plus $ 900
buffer. Here comes the trick: Effective May 1st if you stop over in the Pedro
Miguel Boat Club - PMBC -(we are doing so) you will have to pay a further $ 450
once you are ready to leave the PMBC. Also, rumor has it but the Admeasurer did
not confirm this is that there will be an issue with the speed of smaller boats
like ours. I hear things about 8kts. What this appears to mean is that if you
cannot go at a high speed i.e. not
make the transit within a certain time - you will pay extra - don't know how
much.
You can pay by Visa card
- contrary to what you might be told not Mastercard or American Express. The way
this works is that at the Balboa Citibank office they take an imprint of your
card and do not fill in an amount and you must sign it!! Feels good to issue a
blank check - doesn't it? Your only receipt is your copy of the Admeasurement
Clearance form on which the clerk writes your fees.
Paperwork
Assuming that you stay
at the PMBC and that you will stay in Panama
after clearing the Canal. You will need to go to the Immigration shack at the
foot of the BYC. Then to the Immigration office in Balboa. Cost $ 10 per person
to get checked in. Then to the Port Captain to get you cruising permit. $ 65 for
3 months. You will check in there and pay $ 4 in stamps which you have bought
before at a Bank. As I said earlier, the Cab Drivers will drive you around. It
took us about 1 1/2 hrs. So, you do not need an Agent!!!
If you just make your
transit and continue to get out of Panama you don't need a cruising permit and
you check in and out at about the time when you know your transit date
approaches. The number to call to check on your transit date is 272-4202. Fair
winds, Tom and Kathy, S/V Tai Tam
Tai-Tam on the Pedro
Miguel YC in Panama, Miraflores Lock:
We have now been here at
the Pedro Miguel Boat Club located on the Miraflores Lake in the Panama Canal
for over a week and I remember that when we came south we had heard and read a
bit about this Club but didn't have too many details on it. So, here it goes for
anyone who might be interested:
The Club goes back many
years and it is my understanding it was initially set up for "Zonians"
(the Americans who lived in the Canal Zone before Panama took over on Dec. 31,
1999) and was used by them to keep their boats in a club like setting.
Apparently, during those days the "Zonians" could move their boats
along the Canal for $ 20 per transit...so, it made sense to keep their boats
here even though there is not anywhere else to go unless you make a transit to
the Caribbean or the Pacific or go to the Gatun Lake which many years ago was
open to boats.
The Club is now somewhat
dilapidated (but quite charming and funky) and there is an ongoing dispute with
the Panama Canal Commission about the Club's future but apparently the land
title is in dispute and nobody seems to be able to resolve the issues. So the
Club moves along having become a haven for cruisers going South or North. It is
really the only place where one can keep his/her boat for longer periods of time
in a safe and protected environment in the Panama area and you can do your own
work on your boat as there is a crane and dry storage facilities are available.
Crane rental is $ 160/hr and 6 jack stands are included in the dock fees -
additional jacks for $ 3/mth. You can also rent scaffolds and high pressure
washers.
The current dock fee is
$ 0.35 per (Admeasurer!!!) foot if you stay less than a month and $ 0.25/ft if
you stay over a month in addition to a one-time Club membership fee of $ 15
every 3 months. The docks are
borderline and rickety and all of the boats are secured by many, many lines
running from pilings in the water to moorings, to other boats....quiet a spider
web <bg>. You should see the activity once a boat decides to leave! In
addition, the water depth is questionable all throughout but do not fear, the
bottom is very soft mud or crud that does not harm your boat's bottom. Most
boats appear to touch ground and slowly carve themselves a bed as they move
around from the wash of the commercial tugs moving the large freighters. We have
seen several boat pulling themselves over the mud to get to their destination.
Even though you might be apprehensive at first it is not an issue.
Theft is not a problem
at the Club as the facility is secured by an infrared perimeter alarm system and
patrolled by geese and crocodiles <bg>. The showers and toilets are very
basic but the water is very hot and has good pressure. In the clubhouse there is
a large kitchen for use by the club's members (you) with stoves, microwaves,
coffee makers, blender, toaster, kitchen utensils and several large freezers and
refrigerators where most of us store some of our food. There is also a soda
machine which sells sodas or beer for $ 0.50. The club also has several washing
machines and dryers and you can use the telephone system free of charge to make
local calls or long distance calls can be made if you pay for them. The club
also provides free Internet access using their machine or you can use yours for
$ 20/month. There is also a TV with Direct TV where you can get your fill of US
movies and/or news. Transport to and from Panama City is easy as the Club is
served by the SACA bus systems ($0.35 or $ 0.50 for the air conditioned bus)
For shopping you either
go into Panama City or each day the Bread man comes to the Club or on Fridays
the Vegetable Man. You can also walk about 1 1/2 miles to a small store or take
the bus. Panama City obviously has many large US style supermarkets and a number
of marine suppliers. You can also
get mail and parts easily to the club from the USA using the Club's Miami based
freight forwarding service.
Lastly, here is the
email address for the club: pmbc@pmbc.ws or you can email the Manager directly
(Katherine) at kat@pmbc.ws. The phone number is 507-232-4509/4184 and the fax
number is 507-232-4165.
If you need any further
info, you know where to find us. Fair winds, Tom and Kathy, S/V Tai Tam
Don’t try to get
your Chain Galvanized in Panama!
We are at last in
Ecuador at the Puerto Lucia Yacht Club. We
are at a slip surrounded by rock breakwater and travel lift so Net reception is
lousy. I have a QST that I hope you
can pass to other cruisers going to Panama.
GALVANIZING in PANAMA
Our anchor chain was
beginning to show a need for re-galvanizing so I investigated services in Panama
City. We had the chain galvanized
at CLAVOS Y ALAMBRES PANAMENOS. They
had a hot-dip tank and samples of their work that appeared quite good.
We got the chain back in about a week and the galvanizing looked
excellent, no burrs and a good price. But,
after leaving Panama and anchoring the chain is now a total rusted mess.
All the galvanization has disappeared and the chain is probably ruined.
And this result after about seven days anchoring.
We strongly caution all cruisers about galvanizing in Panama and
especially using CLAVOS Y ALAMBRES PANAMENOS.
Regards, Brent &
Susan, S/V AKAUAHELO, Ecuador
BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
Bocas del Toro YC and
Marina, where we are and are leaving the boat, is a new marina, not really a YC,
friendly people, Elaine & Cortney, clean showers, 3 each, calm,well
protected...we had a good feeling here as soon as we arrived. The water in the
marina is so clear, you can check out your keel and prop from the dock! Cost is
$7/ft/mo plus .20/KWH electricity. email: bocasmarina@cwpanama.net.
Phone is 507-616-6000, ask for Elaine. The town is a short dinghy ride,
very caribbean in a funky way, kinda laid back, you know, Cruzer
Style.........has internet, fast, Bank with ATM-Visa, Veggy stands, airport,
Gourmet store, small Marine store that can get stuff from PC on the shuttle
plan..........good walk around town. You won't believe the clarity of the water!
I haven't been to the other, Marina Careneros, 20 slips, med tie, no
finger slips, but had dinner with TAI-TAM Sat nite, They are there, and moving
over hear after their month is up.....1 shower, cold, and the managers fight all
the time.......same price, it's across the channel from town, more lights and
noise. email: marcar@cwp.net.pa
No phone.... for us, we love it, there are bugs, mangroves, no see-ums,
at sundown if it's not raining, RAGTIME was right, we leave in the morning, fly
to PC, Delta to ATL, on to LAX, rent and drive up to go Santa Cruz.
Panama Canal: (we transited canal from Caribbean to Pacific Feb 14, 2001)
- Approach from the Pacific – visit Las Perlas Islands, stay at Balboa YC vs near-shore island anchorages/bus trip
- Check-in in Balboa (country check-in, not Canal), Cab from YC
- Call the Canal Authority: Arrange Visit from Admeasurer
-
Measure boat (you hold the end of tape measure, so don’t go over 50’)
- Pay - $500 < 50 feet + $800
refundable “buffer” : Visa or cash only: Pay at bank.
Appointment to transit
– call anytime past the afternoon of making payment at the bank – they will
probably accommodate any date you want.
Trivia Question:
You’re going from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. What direction do you go?
West!
Before the transit:
Make trip on another boat
Line up yachtie linehandlers
Get lines in order: 4 @ 125 ft. (two 200’ anchor rodes will do) There are some available to rent, or you can borrow from your linehandlers boats. (Travel back and forth between Colon and Balboa is quick & easy by bus)
Tires – $3 each or free from boats coming to Pacific - $1 to get rid of in Colon or give/sell to people on Atlantic side.
(more people coming than going)
Food for crew & advisor for two days.
Day of transit:
Get
your line handlers on board. (early)
Your
transit will be announced on radio the night before and in the morning.
Advisor
arrives on Pilot Boat – they tell you when on the radio.
Probably
a waiting area on Pacific side.
Transit: All locks on both the Atlantic
and Pacific side go up in the morning, then down in the afternoon. Then up in
the evening (no yachts allowed after dark) then down at night. So the trick for
a one day passage is to start early, go fast between locks, and hope the right
ships are available to get in the lock with, since you can’t go in with a
Panamax ship, and they aren’t allowed at night either.
- First set of Locks is the
Miraflores double lock. This is where the WEB CAM is. Check the site on the
internet and have your friends watch. There are two sets of locks side-by-side.
-
Freighter goes in first going up from the Pacific. It takes a while to
get tugs/mules in place. Freighters use their own prop for forward propulsion,
so you’ll wait for him to stop. Your
advisor will tell you how they want you (center tie, rafted, alongside a tug or
side wall).
- Monkey’s fists from hand
line men. Put a 3 foot loop in end
of your lines ahead of time, then tie an easily untied knot with the hand line
(sheet bend best for different diameter lines)
- Up you go – 30 feet.
Stay tied up until freighter leaves (turbulence) and goes into the 2nd
lock. Then you go in behind him again and go up another 30 feet.
- Exit the lock into small
man-made Lake Miraflores. It’s about a mile across to the Pedro Miguel Lock
– a single lock. If you’ve arranged it ahead of time, this is where you’ll
stop at the Pedro Miguel YC.
- Follow your freighter into the
lock and go up another 30 feet.
- Now you’re up 80 feet and in
the Gaillard Cut. You’ll motor along the side of the channel for about 7 miles
until you get to Gamboa, where Lake Gatun starts. The Chagres River that feeds
Lake Gatun comes in from your right – it’s jungle and there are crocidiles.
We stopped and swam, then got warned by Canal Authority officers about the
crocs.
- You continue across Lake Gatun
another 20 miles or so and if you’re lucky, there will still be enough time to
finish your transit in one day, otherwise they’ll have you anchor nearby and
finish up the next day. They will pick up the pilot, though, so you’ll only
have your crew and line handlers on board.
- Going down, you’ll go into
the lock first and the freighter comes in behind you.
Can be exciting!
- Last lock and you’re back in
salt water in the Atlantic. Your advisor will direct you to the Mooring area for
yachts and his pilot boat will pick him up.
Now you can enjoy beautiful downtown Colon!
Colon and the Panama Canal YC:
Leave quickly! … Colon is not a
pretty place! OK cheap beer and
cheap food at YC, we did restaurant or two in town, great deals in duty free
shop for adult beverages, we used the MOTTA store (go in with other yachties to
share delivery cost … good Chilean wine $2-3/bottle).
Check out using a local
taxi guy, if you didn’t check out in Balboa.
