Tag Archives: sailing on a catamaran

Baguette search day #5

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Still no baguette to be found not even the smell of fresh ones baking in the distance.  

As day broke, you could see rain squalls on all sidss, I think I counted a magical 7 of them, suited up for battle.  Foul weather gear ready for day of rain.  Happy to report I won the battle, the rain mainly just sprinkled a time or two early in the day and put up the surrender rainbows.   Surprised as the forecast had a bit of rain all day long.  

The battle I did lose was the waves, I stood tall and said go away, but they came anyway.  3 meter waves relentlessly kept appearing out of magical hiding spots.  We were running in retreat which was actually toward out destination as luck would have it.  Found a nice rhythm and boat speed that made most of them tolerable.  I tried to take a picture of the horizon lost with nothing but wave touching the sky, but simply didn’t do it justice.  

Another round or sea sampling was on the agenda.  It’s recommended not to sample in big seas and fast speeds.  We were just under the guideline of less than 12 knots of boat speed, we surfed down a swell at 11 knots on one of the samples.  

Played chicken with 2 cargo ships one in the dark, eventually Christine told him she had right away, well not exactly like that.. simply asked if he saw us on his screen which he said yes ma’am.   We took that as a win and no insurance exchange was necessary.

Grilled our last pork chops and blanched some fresh green beans, and by grilled I mean pan-seared.  Hard enough to cook at the stove that keeps moving about as it goes over 3 meter waves.

Just over 230nm to go, too far to make in the next daylight so shooting for a Friday day break arrival at outer reef, then another 17 miles to the customs and immigration offices.  

82 hours into the passage to Marshall Islands

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Should have bought a “trawler” for this passage! Motoring continues, with some mixed motors and sails.

Today was a big day, we changed our sail! The “Iron Jib” has been doing great job keeping us on course and heading the correct direction despite the lack of wind. So was time for a big change. The Iron Jib got a reprieve from pushing us forward. We broke out the “Iron Genoa” the Iron sail on the other side of the boat. They are very similar in the wind range they can support. Some times you can even use them together, for example when trying to go fast or docking and you just need more Umpff! But since we are being conservative and want those Iron sails to last, should we need them for the entire trip, just using one at a time makes more sense, and uses a lot less diesel. So port is getting its turn.

With little wind, and what wind there is is following us, its frigging HOT and sticky ,so today was a good shower day. Cooled off and made me smell less. Feeling proud of my accomplishment, it was time to take a nap.

On the horizon, could it be, something to look forward to? Yes, Happy Happy, Joy Joy.. it is a squall, and a big one at that. Now normally these things wreak havoc with your planned sail route. But today it’s celebrated as something different from the flat clam windless days. I really should have waited for a shower. The adage says, if you take a shower a free one will come your way. Just extra clean.

Here comes excitement

First check radar, it’s a biggie, 6 miles thick, no going around it. Study the gray mass in front of you. Check radar again, yes the radar alarm had already gone off. Do your best to skirt the edge and look for a “less gray” place to cross. Next comes the cool breeze, the 4 knots of wind from behind changes to 22 knots from the front, the calm sea changes to, “Where did all these short choppy waves come from?”. Rain comes from everywhere. Once through the front wall, the winds change from east to west so out comes the actual cavas sail on the other side and sail for an hour or two until the previous no wind condition returns and back ot your normal programming.

All good, boat got a little rinse, some excitement for a bit and it was daylight so easy to see it coming.

This area with the SPCZ and ITCZ zones is notorious for squally condition so we are counting our blessings for the boring passage. Even though we are motoring more than any other time, ever, the comfort level onboard is perfect for catching up on sleep.

Friday, aka another 48 hours from now should be favorable, fingers crossed, for sailing along through the weekend. Assuming the forecast actually comes through.

So we have completed 1/3 of the passage in real rough math, we started with 1300 miles, we made 430 miles, and have around 834 to go, but who is keeping track of those pesky numbers, really. The little guy remembering all those numbers says we have been only averaging a little over 5 knots.

Just before dinner, almost like he wanted to join us, another marlin takes a liking to our offerings. Spectacular water show was displayed by Mr Marlin. So spectacular and skilled he was, even ended his performance with a bow. While taking a bow, he said “pffffft”, your dinner needs to be seasoned and spit his dinner back at us and stormed off. Didn’t even want to hear about the desert menu. I certainly hope he does not leave a bad Yelp review.

International Taco night for dinner, some Chicken Curry wrapped in a tortilla and same with some chicken fajitas. Finished up some left overs.

Manuel Antonio Residents

Manuel Antonio National Park

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Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the most popular national parks in Costa Rica, yet it is one of the smallest at only 1983 hectares.  The park has a well built hiking trail, half a dozen beaches, a variety of flora/fauna, 109 species of mammals, and over 175 varieties of birds.

Matt and I took the public bus from Quepos to Manuel Antonio which was a short 25-minute ride and cost a whopping $.75 each.  The town is relatively small, but it is packed with lots of eateries, bars, and tourist traps.   We did a quick walk around before heading into the park which cost $18 per person.

Many people hire tour guides to tour the park at $20 per person, but Matt and I decided to explore on our own.  There was a really nice wooden trail and lots of maps around so we figured we couldn’t get too lost.

We started at the top left of the map (Bahias) and followed the yellow trail to the water where we picked up the dotted pink line (Sendero Miradoras Trail).  We took this new trail all the way to the left and walked until we hit the dead end.  This was up many, many stairs, then down, then up and again, then down.  We ended up at the top of an overlook.

Manuel Antonio National Park Map

Manuel Antonio National Park Map

The overlook, Puerto Escondido (Hidden Port) is 25 meters above sea level.  During low tide you see these small bridges of sand that link the islands to the continental part of the coast.

Beautiful sandy beaches at Manuel Antonio Park

Beautiful sandy beaches at Manuel Antonio Park

After turning around, we took the same trail back until we got to the Sendero Congos Trail (left at the fork).  Then climbed to the Sendero Puerto Escondido Trail which led to a nice beach.  We back tracked again and found ourselves on the Sendero Playa Gemelas Trail which led us back to the yellow line below.

We landed at Gemelas Beach which is divided into two by a rock formation.  The waters from the creek merged with the sea currents have given life to the twin beaches providing a sanctuary for many sea and wild life.

Instead of leaving the park, we took the Sendero Playa Manuel Antonio Trail to Punta Catedral and eventually out the Sendero Perezoso Trail.

At first, we were a little put out that it was so expensive to enter the park.  But as we walked through it and saw how well maintained the trails were, we understood the cost.  If you weren’t walking on a nice wooden plank trail, you were on cement, or a very well maintained dirt road.  Check out the funny sign I posed with below.

Hiking Trails at Manuel Antonio Park

Hiking Trails at Manuel Antonio Park

There were these really strange prickly things growing on some of the uber tall trees.  At first, I thought it looked like fur, but up close, they are strong, sharp, needles growing out of the trunks.

At the end of our trail we ended on the most popular beach in the park. Most of the tourists stop to admire the monkeys and enjoy the beach.  There was a tourist eating a banana that attracted a funny pair of monkeys – they entertained us all.

Beautiful sandy beaches at Manuel Antonio Park

Beautiful sandy beaches at Manuel Antonio Park

We saw this really odd looking critter – cross between a rat and rabbit..  Never did find out their name – can you help?

We also, did not get to see the howler monkey, but we heard them throughout our adventures.

Wildlife at the park

Wildlife at the park

After our crazy long walk/hike we treated ourselves to a nice cold beverage.  As we cooled down, a light rain started.  We decided to catch the bus back so we did not get stuck in the pending downpour.

As we were waiting for the bus, my phone rang, it was a friend of ours from Texas, Tom Faulk.  He mentioned he would be in Costa Rica, but we did not nail down a meet up.  As fate would have it, he was sitting at the restaurant right behind the bus stop!

Friends from Texas at Manuel Antonio

Friends from Texas at Manuel Antonio

We had a great day of exercise.

Manuel Antonio walk-hike

Manuel Antonio walk-hike

Successful day:

  • Almost a 9-mile walk/hike
  • Climbed the empire state building (which is 101 floors)
  • Met up with some Texas friends
  • Played with a lot of wildlife