Our day was spent catching up on laundry and other jobs we've been putting off while company was here. We took all the laundry in to Yacht Services before breakfast and managed to get to the machines ahead of the crowd. By also using a couple of five gallon pails we did all the dirty sheets and other laundry in about an hour and a half. We took it back to the boat where Lois hung it up to dry on the deck while I went off to town on a shopping mission. With Eggert's help I managed to find some marine plywood with which to replace our boarding step, although I had to take the whole sheet to get it....that cost $48.00 and how do we stow a 4'x 6' chunk of plywood? I also found a new 7 psi pressure cap to replace Gennie's which disintegrated in my hand the other morning. That took a bit of looking...I didn't realize that most radiator pressure caps are 14 psi. On the way back to the boat I stopped at the wholesale booze place and ordered a couple of cases of Conche y Toro Chilean Chablis which we've found to be a very nice white wine and relatively inexpensive...Costa Rican wines are bad and most imports very expensive. We went through one case of the Conche y Toro while Bob and Kris were here...these ought to last us into Mexico where better and cheaper wines are available.
They delivered the wine plus a case of vodka (The vodka is about half the price of wine) to the dock and by the time I got all my stuff to the boat I was pooped! Suspecting a bit of dehydration (It was awfully hot today) I drank a glass of Electolite and lay down for a while. That still didn't really do the job and I was in bed by seven. Sure can get drug out when the temperture gets above 95!
We walked up to the center of town, had a brunch in a small cafe, watched a marimba band in the plaza, and looked at dozens of hammocks being offered for sale around the square. When we finally got pooped out - I'm still hurting a bit from a bruised toe - we got on a bus to Alajuela and headed for the hotel. There we found that our telephone "reservation" hadn't taken... no record! Fortunately, they did have two rooms. We checked in and went upstairs for a nap. After our rest we had dinner at the Cerrero again...very good as before...then went to the airport to wait for Sis and Paul. They were right on time but it was still almost eleven before we got back to the hotel and settled. Long day!
El Martes, 20 Marzo 1990
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We all slept in a bit this morning. It was almost seven o'clock before I headed out to find a cup of coffee. I found it in the little Soda Parque off the square and before I'd finished Lois showed up leading Paul and Eleanor. We had breakfast, did a sightseeing tour around the town and open market, then some serious grocery shopping at the supermarket where it's a little easier to get things all together. Roberto at the Hotel Alajuela had arranged for a van to meet us at 11:00 and it was there on time, so off we went on the heartstopping ride to Puntarenas, this time with Javier Perez as our driver. That ride is always a thrill for us and especially for our visitors! Buses, cars, and trucks pay no heed to curves or double yellow lines as they pass each other in the race for position. Javier was no exception.
With Homer's help we made it to Puntarenas alive but he did little to make it easy for us the rest of the afternoon. The wind was blowing pretty hard when we got to Yacht Services so we decided to have lunch and see if it would abate a little. No luck...by the time we got back from lunch it was gusting to 35 and waves were a couple of feet high in the anchorage. I made the first run out alone with four cases of beer, managed to get it aboard and out of my clothes and into a swim suit, then went back for the others. On the way back the wind was threatening to flip the Metz, so Paul changed to his swim suit and went along on future trips as aid and ballast. While we were in the process Don and Shirl showed up fresh from their tour of the pennisula. It took five trips to get people and goodies aboard.
We sat around on the boat visiting and comparing experiences until the wind died down, the three grandmas showing pictures of their repective offspring. It's been several years since the three families have been together...who would have predicted that it would be in Costa Rica? By 5:30 it was calm enough to travel again so I ran the Metz shuttle while Don did the land shuttle to the Portabelo in his little rental car. We had the usual good dinner and lots of good conversation before Don and Shirl bid goodby and headed back for their condo at Playa Hermosa. We'd planned to take a taxi back to Yacht Services but when the girl in the office tried to call found that their radio was out and none were available. Homer was still with us though; we walked out to the highway, waved down the first bus, and were back home in about fifteen minutes. I think we're ready to travel!
09:30 Off to a leisurely start after making one last run to dump garbage and pick up pop from Anna. The wind was strong and gusty again last night, but this morning as we cleared the point there was just a little chop left. I had planned on going to Tortuga and got Paul set up with all lines out fishing, but then the wind started again, this time directly out of the east, the worst possible direction to make Tortugas a comfortable anchorage. So, change of plan and direction...we headed into it, across the gulf to the east side where, after about an hour, Paul got hooked up with a nice Sierra. That was about all the excitement we had on the trip, other than for once when Sis got drenched by spray when she got too confident and sat on the foredeck when she should have been aft.
13:30 Punta Liona. We anchored here one night last summer but never went ashore. We anchored, got into "home" configuration then went in to the beach to check things out. Open to the northwest but otherwise secure, the anchorage at Liona is off of a nice curving white sand beach popular with more affluent Ticos. There's a nice hotel and restaurant there with a large fresh water swimming pool plus a fairly large trailer/mobile home park. Condos line the hill above. We looked around the grounds then went to the restaurant and had lunch for a very reasonable price. Today there were only a handfull of people around the pool and in the restaurant, perhaps because last weekend was a four day holiday, or maybe just because it's nearing the end of the season. After lunch we swam in the surf then showered beside the pool at the invitation of a young security guard we met on the beach.
Back at the boat, Paul took the Metz out fishing while I looked at our mail and the ladies rested. He got no fish but did see his first wild monkeys, a troop of whiteface swinging from the trees near the water. Lois had made a big batch of ceviche which we nibbled during cocktail hour and, after our late lunch, we decided to save the Sierra for tomorrow...Big mistake! The night was a bit rolly, but not bad enough to make things uncomfortable.
08:45 On our way again on a calm quiet morning. We were out about a half hour when I decided to check my ETI...it read the same as it did when we started! I checked the alarm bell...it was hot again! There's still a short in the system. I cut the wires I'd just connected, let the bell cool, and all is well again with the alarm system; but the ETI still isn't working. What a pain!
Other than for that bit of bad news, we had a nice run out of the gulf and around Punta Judas to Quepos. Paul hooked three bonito, two of which we kept, and we had several visits from dolfins on the way. We ran fairly close in shore and could see the shoreline and mountains quite well in spite of all the smoke from burning cane fields.
15:00 Into the anchorage at Punta Quepos. There's one other cruising boat here in addition to the SHIRALEE which belongs to the Hotel Mariposa...DAUNTLESS, a small sailboat we'd seen before at Isla Gitana. The water was clear and pretty and we could hardly wait to get the Metz down, the awning up, and get into the water. Sis and I scrubbed some of the Puntarenas crud off the Metz waterline, then Paul set off swimming for shore while the two ladies rowed along beside. We had more ceviche along with a wild concoction which Sis and Lois made from our Guamavana, then the ladies broiled the Sierra for dinner. What a disappointment ...it had spoiled! We should have eaten it last night! Oh well, Lois made a magnificent recovery by fixing up the bonito with soy sauce in a way that even made Paul, a conservative eater, complement her cooking.
Refreshed for the moment, we then started the long downhill walk to Manuel Antonio. It's about two miles along a steep asphalt paved road, but a lot easier going downhill than up. Quite a bit of the way was shaded but we were still ready for another cold one by the time we reached the Mar y Savor, an open air restaurant on the beach. After downing a cerveza this time, we continued the walk for another half mile to the park entrance, where we found that they had raised the price from 25 to 100 colones, and then along the park trails to Punta Catedral. There were quite a few people in the park but it wasn't crowded. Near the point we found most of a family of Whitefaced monkeys taking a nap in the trees while one or two performed antics for all the funny people watching from the trail. At Punta Catedral Sis, Lois and I decided to wait on the beach while Paul took the climbing trail around the big jungle covered rock point. He said it was interesting but that there were only a few places where you could see out from the jungle trail.
Back at the beach we ran into Daniel again who pointed us toward a beach restaurant for lunch. It turned out to have fairly good food and some fine bikini watching which both Paul and I enjoyed. It was now well after noon and much too hot to consider walking back the way we came. Fortunately, Manuel Antonio is a busy place and we'd just walked out of the restaurant when a taxi came by. We flagged him down and he took us to the top of the rutted road where it was an easy walk down to the beach. We just goofed off the rest of the day, swimming, doing a little scrubbing on the Metz and Sea Raven waterline, and resting up from our day. It's a tough life out here!
We weren't far out of Quepos when we started seeing turtles and they showed up regularly all the way into Ca|os. I'd originally been planning on going into Drake Bay but at noon as we neared the area the sea was so calm and the weather so nice that I changed course. Ca|os was a little closer and a little clear water snorkling sounded good.
14:30 Anchored at Ca|os. Not many of the tour boats here today ...just one little launch from Wilderness Camp with four or five people on the beach. We got down the Metz, put up the awning, and got into home comfiguration, then Paul, Eleanor, and I went snorkling. Paul and Eleanor haved never done much snorkling but this is a great place to learn. They started out hanging on to the Metz while I steered it around, but it didn't take long before they were chasing off on their own, pointing out all the pretty fishes. We spent more than an hour in the water and I managed to spear three fish with the big gun Bob brought down. The only problem was that they all managed to wiggle off the spear! Something is wrong with the spear tip...the tangs (barbs) don't come out when the spear goes through the fish and the spear can just pull back out. Anyway, my aim is improving and the gun seems to be working better than my little one. After our sightseeing we ran over to the beach and took a fresh water shower at the ranger station. There, Sis managed to crack her head when she slipped on the concrete pad under the shower and fell. For a moment we were worried, but she ended up with only a sore knot on the back of her head. The little guy at the station was very concerned and offered her a bed and cold pack for her head. He had us sign his book but didn't charge us the park fee...I think because he was sorry for her.
Paul had caught another fish with bait here at anchor, one of the ones with long pectoral fins that make them look like giant flying fish, so we had fish for dinner in spite of the poor bite today. Always good when Lois does it!
Sis, Paul, and I spent another couple of hours in the water this morning before leaving for Drake Bay. By now they both are getting comfortable with the snorkle and fins and are ranging far from the Metz. I took along the little underwater camera that Nan sent and this time it seemed to work well...won't really know until I can get the film in for processing, but at least the flash kept working and didn't fill up with water. I also tried the speargun again with a different tip. Shot one trigger fish and the danged thing wiggled off again! Guess I'm not much of an underwater hunter!
10:30 We were well waterlogged as we hauled the anchor and headed out for Drake. The seas were perfectly flat so this time we went around the south side of Ca|os. It looks pretty much the same on that side, lots of rocks interspersed with sand beaches, the difference being that the surf is much larger. About mid-island there is a twenty or thirty foot high waterfall coming down over the rock cliff on to a andy beach...very pretty!
As usual Paul had the lines out before we hardly got out of the anchorage and this time he had a little better luck...about half way across he hooked a nice big Sierra. This time we didn't take any chances. The minute we got anchored he fileted the fish and we got it into the freezer, ready for dinner tonight.
13:00 Anchored at Drake. While Paul was taking care of his fish I drained Gimmy's oil, burning my fingers in the process and also managing to spill a bit in the bilge. Sometimes the oil changing goes really well...this wasn't one of those times. By the time I got through I was ready for a nap and so were the ladies, so we all slept for an hour while during the afternoon heat.
About 4:00 o'clock a nice breeze had sprung up and it was beginning to cool off, so we all piled in the Metz and ran to shore at Javier's place. Cecilia, Javier, and little Helena all came out to greet us. Javier has a cast on his left wrist and he told us that he'd broken three bones in it the day that he took Bob, Kris, and Lois for the ride. He says it's healing well now and he has fair use of the hand in spite of the cast. He agreed to take the three of us riding at 8:00 in the morning...Lois has decided that twice is enough for her. From there we headed for the river and a fresh water swim. It was as nice as ever although the water wasn't quite as clear as it had been...maybe there's been a bit more recent rain.
We had our Sierra for dinner, with a caper sauce that really brought out the flavor. I also got out the barbeque and cooked a little boned turkey so we can have sandwiches on our ride tomorrow...we do eat pretty well!
Our ride was pretty much like the one on which Javier had taken Lois and I; up to Jose' Manuel's farm to stop for a chat with the old man, from there down into a deep valley and up to the school on top of the mountain, then across the top through the deep jungle where Pauls' camera was showing low light even at ten in the morning. We heard Howler Monkeys off in the jungle but never got close enough to see them. The only new animal we saw was a big Toucan, the bird with the long, heavy, curved beak shown in so many pictures of the tropical jungle. I'm not sure how Javier spotted it sitting on a branch high above our heads in the jungle canope. The bright yellow beak and head was it's only giveaway. We forded the Rio Claro as usual, then down through the Marenco ecological preserve to the beach. We spent more time on the beach than before, probably because it was closer to low tide and the hardpacked sand was available.
It had started to rain as we were coming down though the forest and out on the beach it started coming down harder. We stopped for a while under some palm trees and ate the sandwiches which Lois had fixed for us. The palms didn't provide much shelter from the rain, only seeming to make the drops of water larger as they dripped off the fronds onto our heads. When we left the beach and headed up the steep hillsides toward Jose's finca again the red clay which makes up the trail had turned to slick grease. The horses had to scramble up and skid down, sometimes with all four feet locked but still sliding. I thought once that my horse and I were both going into a ravine, but her feet held just in time. We got back to the ranch at about 1:00, sat and chatted for a few minutes while we got our legs back in shape, then walked the trail back to the Metz. By the time we got to the boat we found that Lois had collected about fifteen gallons of water from the awning and everything under control. We were ready for a change to dry clothes and a nap.
The rest of the day was uneventful. After my nap I did take our printer, which had been hiccuping lately, apart and cleaned all the contacts and connectors. That seems to have done the job, at least for the moment, and it's printing like it should again. We made a run up the river for our swim and bath, stopped at Wilderness Camp where Herb agreed to fill our gasoline jug and feed us dinner tomorrow, then had our evening cocktail and another fine dinner of Sierra. We're out of fresh fish now...got to get Paul to work again!
It about nine o'clock and Gennie had been running for about two hours when I decided to load some pop and beer into the freezer ...it gets colder that way. When I opened the lid I found that one plate was half defrosted! Checking, I found that the freezer wasn't running even though there was power! I got out the gages and it didn't take long to determine that the reason it wasn't running was that the vacuum side was extremely low. When I'd force the compressor to run the vacuum would immediately drop to -20 inches Hg! I got out the books and, after studying them for a while, Paul and I agreed that it almost had to be a plugged expansion valve. Well, our expansion valve is completely wrapped with insulating tape and I've never touched it before now but, after considering all the possibilities, including having to go without cold beer, I got out my knife and started unwrapping it. Under the tape it, like almost everything else on this danged boat, was rusty and corroded but, once exposed, I was able to get the cap off the adjustment screw. Since we don't have a spare expansion valve what we hoped to be able to do was to change the adjustment enough to let some freon to get through the valve. By golly, it worked! After I'd taken about four turns on the screw and had tapped on the valve and diaphram a few times, the suction side pressure suddenly jumped up to about 25 inches and the valve started frosting over. With a bit of experimenting I found a setting where the pressures and temperatures in the lines seemed about right and the system seemed to be working...at least the cold plates in the freezer started frosting over again and the return line to the compressor wasn't frosted.
I spent the next six hours on the boat running Gennie and watching the gages. In the meantime, Paul and I tore our old boarding step apart and put on the new plywood while Lois and Eleanor worked on making shell earrings as a present for Cecilia. Then Paul, Sis, and Lois went to the beach to deliver their package and find Paul a coconut to crack...he loves coconut almost as much as Lois does. They stopped at Wilderness Camp, confirmed our reservation for dinner, picked up our jug of gas for the Metz, then walked all the way down to the village and the two little stores there. When it came to presents Cecilia, as usual, outdid them. They came back loaded with coconuts, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, and even a picture drawn by one of the kids.
About the time they got back I noticed that my ETI had stopped running. It wasn't shorted but it had just stopped. I suspect that the problem has been in the ETI all along. I think that what has been happening is that, when mounted down below, the pressure of the mounting screw caused it to short...when I took it out it ran properly for a while. I probably needn't have replaced the pressure switch. Next time I'll have Nan send me two of the stupid things!
In the evening we did our usual thing in the river, although this time the tide was so high that we had to really squeeze to get under the log bridge on the way up. Dinner at Wilderness was good even though Marlina was out of her shrimp and we had to eat chicken. She said that the shrimpers had stopped coming into the bay and she didn't expect them again this season. Again, it was hard to say goodby, knowing that it was probably for the last time.
09:20 Anchored as planned, but from where we sit it doesn't look like we're going to want to do much river running. We've got a minus tide this morning and waves are breaking all across the river bar. Lois stayed with the boat while Paul, Sis, and I took the Metz in for a closer look. That was even spookier! There was a pretty good swell running and at this tide the bar must be very shallow. We couldn't see any break in the line of breakers across the river mouth. To get through you'd have to run in between breakers which we probably couldn't do with three people in the Metz, and it sure wouldn't be fast enough to avoid them on the way out! We decided to skip the river this time.
10:00 Off again, this time for Isla Ca|os. It was a beautiful, sunny morning with just enough breeze to keep things comfortable. Paul had the fishing lines out and we were almost to Ca|os when I happened to be looking out to the starboard beam and saw a huge whale rise out of the water, rotate slowly to the horizontal, and come crashing back into the sea. I hollared and the others saw the splash but it never breached again. We followed them, for there were more than one, around for half an hour. First one and then another would surface, blow, and then slide beneath the waves. One time nearly identical fins surfaced simultaneously...they seemed to me smaller than the one we'd seen before. I think it may have been a cow and two calves.
12:30 Isla Ca|os. There were four of the little Tico fishing boats anchored off the ranger station, otherwize the place was deserted. We put down the hook, had lunch, and were sitting sipping a beer and considering our next move when one of the launches from Wilderness Camp came into the beach, let someone off, and then came out near us and started cleaning fish. I didn't think much of it until I saw the crewman throw a double armful of guts over the side and heave a big fish forward, then I suggested to Paul that we run over and investigate. It was three of the guys who'd been having dinner at Wilderness last night and Wow, did they have the fish! A huge Red Snapper, or Pargo, lay in the bottom of the boat and they said they had two more forward. It must have been at least thirty pounds and a good four feet long. They said they'd been trolling and had caught some bonito, so their guide put a bonito on a big double hook and started bottom fishing off the west end of the island. He hooked Big Red and they had the fun of bringing it in. That set Paul off...he spent the next couple of hours without success trying to catch a bait fish. Maybe tomorrow we'll have better luck, but I don't know what we'd do with a fish that size anyway. We'd have to give most of it away.
While Paul was fishing I changed Gennie's oil and the ladies did a wash and hung it out to dry. There was a nice hot breeze blowing so drying didn't take long and as soon as it was put away we all piled in the Metz and headed for the beach. Another thing Paul has discovered he likes is coconuts and there are lots of them along the beach by the ranger station. It was close to high tide as we ran in through a bigger than usual surf and tied the Metz to a tree. Before I'd finished signing us up in the book at the station Paul had three coconuts in the Metz. We wandered up and down what little was left of the beach for a while...a big wave caught Paul and rolled him down...then took a fresh water shower and headed back for the boat. Two others had come in by now: SATORI, a sailboat we'd seen in Puntarenas, and GRAND CAYMAN, the big sportfisher which had anchored near us at Quepos. We had beef for dinner, out of the freezer which seems to be working again. Got my fingers crossed!
Retracing our steps back to the junction, we then took the trail we thought led toward the pre-Columbian burial site. There are no markers along the trail and the only clue you have to where you are or where you're going is the memory of the map on the ranger station wall and the amount of wear showing on the trail itself. The trail was similar to the one leading to the lighthouse, wide, quite level and well maintained, and paved with the huge leaves fallen from the forest canope above. For some reason the hermit crabs didn't seem to come farther than the junction, and many of the trees were covered with huge philodendrons which we hadn't seen on the west trail. In a couple of places we passed small plantations of bananas and coconuts. Not surprizingly, since there are so many visitors here, none of the bananas were ripe, but Paul managed to find a couple more coconuts which he hid away for the trip back.
After taking one wrong fork in the trail and backtracking, then sending Paul on ahead to scout, we finally stumbled onto the burial site we'd been looking for. It wasn't what you could call impressive. There were several of the granite spheres lying on the ground at the end of the trail, one almost two feet in diameter, plus many fragments of worked stone tools or decorative articles which someone had layed out around the spheres. We sat on the spheres, the only halfway dry spot to rest, took pictures of each other, then headed back. We'd found ourselves walking sticks along the way, and the trail had dried a bit by the time we came to the steep part, so we were able to find our way down without too much slipping and sliding. At the ranger station we stuck our heads under the shower, washed the mud from our shoes, then hauled the Metz down the long beach (it was low tide), and shoved off for home.
After a cold beer and lunch, Paul managed to snag a good sized fish of some kind off the stern, so we decided to have a try at the big Red Snapper. We hauled anchor, and ran around the west end of the island to where the guys in the Wilderness Camp launch had said they caught the fish while Paul trussed up his bait on a couple of big double hooks. What a fiasco! First, we weren't sure whether we should be trolling or still-fishing. The guys we'd talked to were using no weight on their tackle, but implied that the fish were deep. Secondly, there was a fair breeze blowing which, with the swell, had the boat rolling around wildly. We tried drifting downwind ...the bait rode on the surface; we headed into the wind and it sank but it was hard to stay over the rocky shallows in which the big fish supposedly lie. After about an hour even Paul was ready to give up. If you want to find the big ones, it's worth hiring a pro to take you to them.
Back at anchor, Paul and I went out snorkling for an hour. I managed to finally get one medium sized parrotfish with Bob's speargun...after again loosing a larger one. I think I've figured out that a small rubber bumper which is supposed to make the barbs expand when the spear is backed out, is rotten. The fish I finally got was after I'd manually expanded the barbs and made sure they were loose before shooting.
The trip to Quepos was pretty boring. Other than for the usual turtles scattered along the way and a couple of short visits by dolphins, all we saw was a flat, undulating sea. Paul did pull in a couple of bonito, but we were hoping for a dorado. They seemed to be everywhere a month or so ago...wonder what happened to them.
15:00 Into the anchorage at Quepos where there was lots of company waiting for us. The NO PROBLEM and GRAND CAYMAN are back plus a big shrimper called the MARIA AURELIA and a little ketch we've seen before in Puntarenas called EPIPHANY. They had saved our favorite spot for us though, and we parked near the small local sailboat, SHIRALEE.
It was a hot afternoon and we were all ready for a swim, so Paul and I got the Metz in the water and we all piled in and headed for the west end of Jessie's beach which was already shaded from the sun. We swam there for about an hour then took a short run along the shoreline looking for the monkeys which Paul had seen the last time we were here. No luck on that, but on the way back to the boat the guys on the shrimper waved us down. The skipper thought that we were too close to a rock which was covered by the now high tide. I knew where the rock was and think we had plenty of room, but didn't argue and agreed that we'd move. I then asked if he'd sell us some shrimp (camerones). At first he said no, but then indicated that we should wait a bit. In a few minutes one of the several crewmen on the boat came out with a plastic laundry basket almost a quarter full of nice, already deheaded, shrimp. I asked how much and he said, "Nada." We took them home, then returned the basket with a couple of caps and a can of smoked almonds. Needless to say we had shrimp for dinner and have enough left for a couple of more meals!
Our run today was a bit more interesting as well as being a bit more rolly...it seemed we were always running in the trough. We had the usual visits from dolphins but, in addition, had displays of jumping technique from both rays and marlin. The marlin didn't seem to be at all concerned about the Sea Raven even though we ran very close to it. After two or three jumps it swam near the surface with its tall fin sticking up out of the water like a sword. Paul's luck also improved...he caught a nice Sierra. We passed another Seattle boat, the ALELIA, heading south and gave them some poop on Quepos and Manuel Antonio. As we got into the Gulf of Nicoya the wind started building from the southwest and soon I had to put down one of our flopper-stoppers in order to keep the splashy ride to Ballena from being too uncomfortable.
15:30 Anchored in the northeast anchorage of Ballena. I had expected to have to go to the southwest corner and anchor off the pier where another Seattle boat, GENESIS, is parked, but once inside the bay the sea was flat with almost no swell and the north anchorage is much prettier. We got down the Metz and, while Lois rested from the rolly ride, Sis, Paul, and I took a little tour of the area, planning on taking a swim to cool off. The wind was still blowing about ten knots and we were soon nicely cooled off by just the spray as we splashed our way around into the river and past the little village of Pachote.
Had kind of a special seafood dinner tonight. Lois and Sis had saved the largest of the shrimp, boiled, cleaned, and chilled them, and made a super seafood sauce; so we had a huge plate of dippers before settling down to work on the Sierra which I'd barbequed on the aft deck. Don't know how we're going to get the freezer cleaned out at this rate!
In spite of this warning we set off along the beach. The tide was going out so it was easy walking along the hard packed sand and there was enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable. It's probably a little more than a mile from the river mouth to the hotel with two or three little streams crossing the beach to the sea. We passed a couple of Tico families playing in the surf but otherwize the long, beautiful beach was deserted on this Sunday morning. The Hotel La Hacienda and its surrounding flower covered grounds were just as beautiful as we remembered except that, unlike last June when we were here, there were a few guests in the hotel and around the pool. The poolside bar was open and we sat at a table and had another cold one served by an English speaking bartender. He told us that a group of 22 from Costa Rica Expeditions had left just yesterday
The tide had receded even more as we walked back up the beach exposing some strange little creatures which I, at least, had never noticed before...little three inch long worms which decorate their entire length with bits of shell and rock. They look like pieces of a bracelet or necklace lying on the sand. We wondered what kind of advantage could accrue from such a strategy. By the time we got back to "Tom's" beach the tide had gone out so far that only a small channel remained at the river mouth. We were happy that there were four of us to carry the Metz across the gravel slope to the water where we had to pole our way along until we could fine water deep enough to run the motor. We made it across the bar without even getting wet though, and were soon back on the boat having another cold one to finish off our morning's hike.
13:10 Hauled anchor and said goodby to Ballena. We took the sightseeing route: around the point to the outer of the Tortugas, through the anchorage at Tortugas where a dozen boats and maybe a hundred people were enjoying their Sunday afternoon, then through the inside passage of the Negritos, and finally behind Cedros and Jesusita islands before heading for Gitana. It made a nice little tour.
15:45 Anchored at Gitana. As we'd heard on the radio, Spring Moon is here, along with several other boats of the "Class of '90": Aquilla, Goliard, Genesis, Alkatraz, and a couple of others I can't name.
We went ashore and found Al and Beth drinking beer with the bunch at the bar. They're looking good...the last time we saw them was for a few minutes in Puerto Vallarta. Lois, Eleanor, and Beth got their heads together and came up with a plan for dinner on the Sea Raven, so we had a nice visit while eating ceviche and flaked Sierra followed by shrimp spagetti with cabbage and carrots, topped off by Lois' chocolate cake. We've still got lots of stuff in the freezer!
We were never sure that we'd be able to go all the way around the island, but by the time we'd reached the high point on the north end (Great view from there) and slid down the steep slope, Sis and I had decided we wouldn't ever go back up...we'd slide down to the water and swim home first! Although we lost it a couple of times under broken brush and rock slides, the trail did lead us down and around to the west side of the island again. As we neared the water we envied the dogs all running down and wading in, cooling themselves after their hot and dusty run. Then when we finally got back to the bar, guess what. They were just loading the cooler and there wasn't even a cold beer! Oh well, even a warm one tasted good after our hike. We drank one, then each took a shower and were feeling back in good shape by the time we got back to the boat to see how Lois was doing.
Al and Beth plan to go to San Jose' on the train tomorrow and, since Sis and Paul were planning the same thing, they decided to ride into Puntarenas with us, leaving the Spring Moon at anchor at Gitana. About 2:00 o'clock I picked them up, we hauled our muddy chain and anchor out of the bay, and we headed off on a sightseeing tour. I figured that we couldn't get into Puntarenas until about 5:00 because of the low tide, so we cruised slowly out and around Gitana, over to Pan de Azucar (The high cliffs of which looked very secure despite the rumor that last week's earthquake had caused it to disappear), around San Lucas island to Narjana where the car ferry docks, and then back across the gulf to Puntarenas. It was a smooth trip until the last half hour when seas kicked up by twenty knot winds rolled us around a little. We managed to get into the estuary though with only a few bangs and crashes, and nothing broken. There are quite a bunch of boats in the estuary, more than we've seen before. Guess the Class of '90 has arrived in full force. We had to anchor well toward the west end...no problem unless the wind blows. Then it makes for a splashy ride to the dock.
While I was doing that, Lois was washing clothes and cleaning house, then we ran into Yacht Services and walked to town. I left Lois shopping for clothes, went to the copy shop to copy a couple of my tax forms, took my underwater pictures to the photo shop for processing, and went to the refrigeration shop to see about getting a new expansion valve. I didn't have much luck there...the only ones they had had a 3/8" rather than a 1/4" inlet fitting. I find that they are also rated in terms of "tons", the difference being in the orifice size, and the one in our freezer is so badly corroded I can't see any numbers on it. I guess if I really want to replace it I'm going to have to shut down the freezer, take the expansion valve out, take it in for a match, then recharge the system. Either that or pay somebody else to do the same thing. I have trouble bringing myself to do either when the system seems to be working.
Back at Yacht Services we ran into Kathy and Steve from Sasafrass and found that they have a couple of exposure suits that they want to sell; so I ran out to their boat to take a look. The suits are new, and appear to be in good shape but I think they want too much money for them, particularly when we won't have a need for a couple of more years. I told Kathy we'd think it over and went back to join Lois at El Fela for a lunch of corvina. We spent most of the afternoon on the boat puttering around. Paul and Eleanor got back about 5:30, brought out to the boat by a guy named Bob from a boat called Shangrila...they said Anna had tried to call on the VHF and got no answer. I think her radio is on the fritz because we were listening for the call. Bob came aboard and we all had a drink and chatted a while. He's a retired labor negotiator from Tacoma who is sailing with his son and daughter and, he says, a constant stream of friends and former associates who come to crew for him. He's hurrying to get to Europe, although I don't think he knows why. He wanted to know where to go in the San Blas for only a few days. I told him he might as well skip it. What's the point of cruising if you're in a hurry? Airplanes are much faster.
Sounds like Sis and Paul had a good time in San Jose'. They said there were ten Gringos on the train ride in. They split off at the train station in San Jose', walked to the center of town, went to the tourist center, shopped, gawked, and had a Costa Rican McDonalds hamburger before catching a taxi to the airport where they rented a car. Paul said the drive back was a lot less exciting than the ride we took with the taxi driver.
On the other side we went hunting for the Parque Naccional Barra Honda where the guide books say there are some beautiful caves. One of the books says that you have to call a week ahead to arrange to go down in the caves, but that the trip to see them is worth while anyway. We thought that because it was so late in the season that we might be able to get in even without a reservation. We needn't have worried. Our map doesn't show just where the park entrance is so we started by going to a little town on the southeast corner called Guero Barra Honda. They told us there that the entrance was eight kilometers farther west. Sure enough, there was a sign at a gravel road saying "Barra Honda -> 6 KM". We drove along that road which, as the book said, got narrower and bumpier until we came to a collection of buildings which was the village of Barra Honda. There, another sign said, "Parque Naccional Barra Honda -> 6 KM". OK, now the road was no longer graveled, but was dirt and deeply rutted where vehicles had sunk into the mud after a rain...Paul had to take great care not to become high centered or to run over one of the many Iguanas which were using the road as a napping place. Finally, after one more stop where an old man told us correctly that the last three kilometers would take us 25 minutes, we arrived at the ranger station. We were obviously the only visitor there, and probably the first for some time. There were several men working around the station, putting in some kind of a concrete structure. We asked about the caves and one of them who spoke fair English showed us a map, pointed out the general location, and arranged for the loan of a canteen with which to carry water. He said it was quite a hike but that we'd have "No problem" because there were signs to show the way.
Well, we set off. The hill was steep, the sun hot, and we were soon looking forward to every little spot of shade offered by the mostly bare trees. When the trail finally leveled off and entered a draw where there were trees with leaves we were ready for a rest. That was only a brief respite though, and when we went on again the trail lead out on the open hillside, climbing toward a ridge far above. It took us more than an hour to finally get to the top of the ridge, but as we neared the top the forest thickened and we were treated to the sight of a family of monkeys swinging through the trees. At the crest the trail divided and signs, which gave names of different caves but no hint of how far away they were, pointed in opposite directions ...Paul headed off to the left. We waited a while, watching a howler monkey which we discovered in the tree right above our heads, then started wandering down the trail to the right. It was easy walking and we somehow just kept on, all the time wondering how far it might be to the elusive caves. There was lots to see...monkeys in the trees, magnificent butterflies, new birds and plants which we'd never seen before, but no caves. Finally, after again blindly choosing between two trails leading different directions, we found one hole in the ground...an erroded opening leading almost straight down for a distance which a sign said was 25 meters. Looking down as far as we could, all we could see was a stalagmite of bat guano sitting on a ledge. Sis took one picture then ran out of film. We tried one more trail but gave up when it seemed to lead down the far side of a ridge from which we could see far out over the Gulf of Nicoya. Paul hadn't caught up with us, so we turned back, meeting him halfway up the steep hill to the ridge. He had gone down to the ranger station, thinking we had gone down instead of taking the other trail, waited a while, then climbed back up. He had never found any cave in the direction he went.
By now it was 2:30 and we were hot, tired, and ready for a cold drink. We said goodby to the rangers, thanked them for the use of their canteen, and headed back down the road. We took the gravel road on to the town of Nicoya, passing through small farm country where every house has at least a couple of pigs, a cow, and a bunch of chickens in the yard. At Nicoya we were happy to sit on the patio of a restaurant, sip a beer, and chew on some fish & chips with the waitress brought us. The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. We drove through the town of Nicoya, then on to Liberia where we stopped for an ice cream cone at the Casa de Azucar, and finally ended up at our favorite restaurant, Rincon de Corobici'. There, we all had the "Lomita del Rez", a fine tenderloin steak which I've learned to look forward to, while sitting on the open deck and watching the white egrets come by the hundreds to their roosting perches in the trees overhanging the river. Corobici' is one of the prettiest places we've ever seen!
We got back to the boat about 8:30, tired but feeling like we'd had a successful day.
The afternoon was spent cleaning up a lot of the little jobs that we've been putting off while we had company. I got about half the long computer list of overdue job done, including checking all the engine zincs. In the morning I think we'll move in to Eggert's dock and see if we can get a refrigeration guy to come replace our expansion valve. We can have power and water there, wash down the boat, fill our tank, and load up some of the things we need before heading north.
We moved onto a dock this morning for the first time since we left the Panama Canal Yacht Club. Got all tied down to Eggert's satisfaction, hooked up to power and water, then went to work on the refrigeration problem. Eggert had a guy named Carlos come down who he claimed had done good work on marine refrigeration, but when I showed him our system he said our problem was lack of refrigerant...said we should be running at 450 psi on the high side. Well, we've been running nicely between 150 and 200 psi for several years now and I wasn't about to let this joker overcharge the system and possibly cause a real problem, so I told him all I wanted was a spare expansion valve which he agreed to try to get from San Jose'. After I'd sent Carlos on his way I started defrosting the freezer, figuring that I'd have to do that in any case and if we could get a new valve we'd be that much ahead. I spent most of the day doing that, running the heat gun in the box to speed up melting of the ice. It's been three months since we last defrosted and in this humid environment a thick coat had built up. When I finally got it all cleaned out and restarted the compressor, the pressure built up rapidly. I had to bleed off some freon to keep it under 250 psi for the first half hour or so. Then it started coming down and kept coming down even when I added the freon back in. I made a minor adjustment of the expansion valve to put the suction side close to zero psi and then let the system run all night long. It worked beautifully! The box came down to about 5 degrees, frosted evenly, and the frost line never went beyond the accumulator. We may just get away without having to change out the valve, but I'll make sure we have one on board anyway.
While I was fiddling with the freezer, Lois was catching up on the wash, keeping the old washing machine going with five or six loads. It was hot and dry enough for her to hang out a load on the deck and have it dry before the next was ready. We each did make one short trip to town, I to get tuneup parts for the Johnson (That old motor is still pounding along...we've never had the new one which Lois brought back a year ago in the water), and Lois to pick up some eggs. Other than for that it was a work day on the boat. We'll try to take advantage of the dock as long as Eggert will let us stay. More?