The dinghy problem
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Fri 30 Mar 2012 18:28
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10:33.567N 085:41.84W Playas
del Cocos
We are now at the northern part of Costa
Rica - in a bay called Playas del Cocos (Beach of the coconuts.. I think!) We
took a few days to get up here, passing some of the legendary surf beaches of
Costa Rica. And there lies the problem! Because there is surf, and because there
is a big tidal change (2.5m) ..there are no dinghy docks. So here we have this
lovely fast, comfortable dinghy, and we are anchoring off these fun towns..but
we cant get to shore! In Bahia Ballenas
we got swamped trying to land on the beach, and luckily I was able to hold my
computer over my head and keep it dry. In Samara we did not even
try!
Cruisers in the know ..not us
obviously!... have smaller dinghies, with light engines and little wheels on the
back, so they can get thru the surf and then drag them up to beyond the high
tide mark. Our dinghy and 40hp engine, on the other hand weigh about 400kgs
...and is not getting dragged up any beach! Bit of a problem and we now hear
that this is the way it is all the way up the Pacific coast. So, a second
smaller dinghy with some wheel modifications may be needed.
Luckily we met a very friendly Canadian
couple - Sunny and Simon, who took us to shore this afternoon. We have started
the check-out cha-cha! Visited the Port Captain, the Immigration and the bank
(to pay for our exit ..$50) ..and tomorrow we need to take a taxi about 20kms to
Liberia airport to clear Customs! The Latin Americans LOVE
paperwork!
This town looks very festive - lots of
bars and restaurants and lots of Gringos (White Americans). We stopped off for a
few refreshing Margaritas this afternoon, before heading back to the boat for
dinner. It would have been fun to stay longer, but you have to launch out into
the surf, best done in daylight..and we still got wet! We cannot find our
dry-bag, so have been packing all our documents into a big tupperware ..ha.ha
not very sophisticated for a couple off a Nordhavn!
We will move to a bay north of here for a
day or two and then should be in El Salvador by about Tuesday... Easter is
approaching and is very serious business down here - we need to hole
up!
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