Up and outta here....

Bahia Drake to Gulfito.
The anchorage sucked! Huge rollers came in around 11 PM and peaked at about 3 AM. We were literally tossed out of bed. Pissed off we got up and finally said lets get the hell out of here…or something like that.
We pulled up anchor at 4 am and tried to slip out in complete darkness only to have the damn GPS navigation program quit. We had only a lighted boat in the anchorage to give us our bearings so I spend my time hovering in circles keeping my bearing trying to avoid land and other targets. After farting around and changing computers we got the GPS up an running again. Windows vista gives the navigation program troubles. It took over an hour of aggravation to get things going again to safely navigate out of the bay just in time for sunrise.
We hooked onto an odd looking kind of tuna fish that we later identified as a jack fish. We tried the cruisers trick of pouring alcohol in the gills to kill the fish so we don’t have blood all over the deck. It seems a little more humane than bashing it on the head with a winch handle. This guy was got the Smirnoff treatment off to la la land which worked quite well.
It was going to be another long day, no wind again. We motored along for the most part of the day then put of the sails as we rounded the corner to enter Gulfo Dulce. This is a large gulf surrounded by lush rain forests and parks. The lands are greener and the seas bluer here. I saw lots of sea snakes and turtles floating by. Dolphins are an hourly occurrence in these waters.
The entrance to Gulfito was well marked and the anchorage promised some tranquillity given its isolation from the Pacific swell that had become such a nuisance for the past few weeks.
We were pleasantly surprised at how developed the anchorage was for cruisers
We dropped anchor among the mooring buoys set out by Land and Sea services and Banana Bay Marina. We had not reserved and decided just to anchor until we investigated our options. Banana Bay Marina offered slips at a whopping 2 b dollars a foot. They offered showers, Internet and a hot tub. Big Deal who wants a hot tub in this weather…I can’t even stand a hot shower.
I could not stand a hot tub in this heat and I guess no one else could either because I never saw anyone use it.
Land and Sea offered use of their facilities a dock and a house with cold drinks on the honor system, Internet, showers, TV room and library. Well set up for cruisers. They charged 4 dollars a day for this and 6 dollars a day if you wanted to tie up to one of their mooring buoys. Cruisers are penny pincher's so I don’t have to tell you where everyone hung out. We were happy to meet friends from our El Salvador anchorage on Desadarada a family from California. Nancy, Mike.
They had left Bahia del Sol in November and we did not leave until January so we felt good about catching up and a little bit bad for rushing through Costa Rica.
We also met up with cruisers from Puesta Del Sol in Nicaragua.
We are the Southbounders for this season it appears. Not that many cruisers are cruising these areas anymore we are told.
On the Walls of the TV room at land and Sea we see boat names/logos from cruisers that have passed through. We recognize many names from Bahia del Sol and are happy to see their names here.
Genevieve painted a beautiful Jovietal sign surrounded by mermaids.
The port Captain clearances have to be made here and Michel spends all day doing it. It was a major hassle and he came back ready to check out of this cruising life.
We all were feeling pretty deflated ready to call it quits. The engine on the boat and dingy are giving us troubles and Michel seems to be overloaded with boat issues with no time for fun.
The girls are fighting and I am fighting or as its refereed to by others Bitching. I still have not discovered a way to have the kids do school work or chores with out "bitching".
Gulfito came into existence from United Fruit Company who had shipping based here. The company provided jobs, schools, and fueled the economy. There was a fairly large "red light district with lots of bars servicing merchant ships etc which still exist today.
1986 United Fruit pulled out of Gulfito because of labour unrest, falling revenues from increased shipping costs and banana diseases.
The Story about United fruit company is interesting. The Banana republic virtually started in Costa Rica and moved around where ever there was "political" allies and cheap labour. (protecting the interests of UFC. The more I learn about this the more I am incensed about American foreign Policy. United food corp later moved headquarters to Guatemala where the Government was a little more "cooperative" Military Dictatorship Gov'ts seemed to work best for the United Fruit Co. Its a long contentious story that fueled wars, and discontent which continues to this day. The company built schools and had facilities available to workers that never existed. Some say that despite the evils that United Fruit co engaged in such as; testing Chemicals in the rain forest and subjecting its employees to dangerous environment they benefited Costa Rican's by providing housing, jobs, schools etc that benefited the impoverished.
After the United Fruit Co packed up and left the town struggled and almost became a ghost town. The Government introduced a Duty Free Zone to generate some money into the local economy. Bus loads of Costa Rican's venture into the zone to buy electronics or booze. We toured the facility and it was pretty strange, about 100 stores all named union number 1 though 99 most offer the same things. The same brands at the same price; blenders, TV. appliances etc.
Booze was cheap but they had little to choose from, nevertheless, cruisers load up on Cheap rum and whiskey.
The red zone is still here and there are plenty of bars still operating. There are over 60 bars in this town - It is strange to see a place where every third building is a bar.
It rains almost everyday here. At least it did when we were there. Apparently it rains over 200 inches a year. This is why it is so lush.
Our dingy trips at sunset were amazing, all the birds and monkeys come out and make their noises. We had fun watching white faced monkey jump from the coconut trees to the rainforest's canopy trees. The howler monkeys make the strangest noise- kind of like a gorilla and bullmastif dog bark. I am told they are the loudest animals on earth. They howl at sun rise, sun set and when they are upset.
After sunset the rains come in torrential down pours. We shower and wash the boat under the deluge. It cools things off for a short while then steams it up for the hot humid days.
We met a New Yorker who offered to take us on a hike on his property. He and his partner bought a half finished retreat in the rain forest. It was beautiful surrounded by mango trees and rain forest. The previous owners had planted a lot of tropical floral arrangements that made the place like the garden of Eden.
We saw a 8 foot long black shiny snake. I think it is called a rat snake. I hate snakes and got a little freaked out. We ate fruit from the trees, and marveled at the cashew trees. It is a long involved process to harvest these nuts.
The highlight of the day was watching the leaf cutter ants go about their business. They blaze trails through the forest and tunnel under growth to their nest areas. Each ant has a job. We watched the cutters stack green leaves in a pile and the gatherers pick up the pieces to haul away to the nest. The lines of ants were amazing. There were lines of green leaf carrying ants and flower carrying ants. They chew up the stuff to turn into some mold type stuff that is the food for the colony.
We met a lovely French family aboard Casa del Mer who are sailing for 5 years after selling their business. We were invited aboard and amazed at how large a 44 foot cat is . Their boat is very much like a floating home.
We were anxious to leave as the hot humid weather is getting to us. Michel worked on the engine with a local mechanic and he diagnosed our dingy motor problem- Corrosion in the exhaust - time for a new one. Problem is they can’t be found - Panama is our only option.
We watched Yacht Path load up the boats to ship up North and were quite impressed at the procedure. We had serious considerations to pack our trip in at this time and asked about including Jovietal with the cargo. Fortunately, or unfortunately there seemed to be no room. Part of me wonders why the arrival of Dockwise coincided with our arrival….
30 thousand bucks and change can get Jovietal home in 3 weeks.
We opt for a longer challenging proposition.
Panama or bust.