Pavones, CR - 27./28.1.2013
Andromeda
Michael
Wed 30 Jan 2013 01:11
Pavones, CR
27./28.1.2013
In Golfito, we did the hike the cruiser's guide suggested, up to the ridge and all the way down to where the telcom towers are. What the guide didn't mention is that it takes about 4 hours - without stopping! Anyway, was certainly worth it. Beautiful lush jungle, heard a lot of birds and animals and saw a few, too. Met an interesting fellow, he's a property guard (very common here, if people don't live in their house, they have locals who do, otherwise, by Costa Rican law, anybody could come and settle down) and had a lot to tell, got great pictures from his place, too, will post when internet available again. Guess there aren't too many people who come up here. He also showed us a little path that shortcuts down the relatively steep mountain range through lush djungle, so we didn't have to go back on the road we came from. Since it took 5 hours in total, we decided to stay another night in Golfito.
Spent the next night at Pavones, a famous surf spot with one of the longest left surf breaks in the world - that is, if there's any surf. It's just not the season, but there was a little bit of swell and we caught some small rides. The rest of the day was dedicated to a bigger and exhausting project:
The last torrential rainfalls enabled us to find some leaks. One around the only 2-year old big forward window in the salon, the other around a stantion, letting water drip in really slowly, between the wall and the wood panel of the aft cabin. The panel looks pretty bad by now and will need some replacement, soon. At least we could fix the leakages, which was a major project.
In the evening, we were both kneckered and suffered from severe back and knee pain.
So no surfing the next morning. Set sail around noon, direction Panama!
Started off with wind on the nose, but then could sail pretty well til sunset. With the sun gone, the wind died. Had a short episode of stronger wind, just in time for dinner (so much nicer eating with sails up and noisy engine off).
Got to Islas Ladrones just after midnight. Fortunately the chart was very detailed and the moon was bright and shiny, so Michael could find us a safe spot in between the rocky islands.
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