Sailing to Costa Rica with dolphins, lobsters and naked Germans

Sailing south through the Golf of Panama we encountered the notoriously strong winds and swell around Punta Mala and were in for a long trip through the night taking shifts battling with the helm and getting doused by waves. This was suddenly very different to cruising around Turkey in the sun and after rocking about all night we were pleased we could anchor the next night in a beautiful bay on the Azuero peninsula to rest. It then took one more day to reach Santa Catalina, a small beach town where Fritz agreed to stop a day and we arranged a scuba diving trip to nearby Isla Coiba. This was previously a prison island but now one of the biggest national parks in Panama and having enjoyed many large dolphins swimming alongside us whilst sailing, we were keen to get in the water. Here the Pacific delivered lots of large white tip sharks and a beautiful large sea horse but the whale sharks we hoped for eluded us once again - although from the boat we saw a Moibus ray somersault in the air!

Arriving back to the boat we found Jenny had acquired lobsters from a passing fisherman on Fritz's request but whilst enjoying a beer on deck, suddenly the wet season arrived in force and a heavy thunderstorm transformed our peaceful anchorage with a cold wind and blinding rain battering the boat. Just as we took shelter below and began to debate whether these really were lobsters, we heard a crash - Fritz rushed back upstairs and shouted "all hands on deck" as a neighbouring boat had slipped its anchor and was colliding with us. What startled us the most was that the German man on board was entirely nude. As he bent over to operate his anchor winch, we all got a view we would rather forget. Now our anchors were crossed and we were both drifting and he had no engine power. Although in his state of undress he was looking rather reckless at this stage, he did heroically jump in the water to wrestle our anchors apart (a dangerous move in the nude) and ultimately saved the day. After safely anchoring once again we returned down below to dry off and Leila found herself with the responsibility of cooking lobster for the first time. She is pleased to report there were no incidences of food poisoning and it proved to be a quite tasty meal thanks in part to a large quantity of garlic butter.

Our next leg took us into Costa Rica overnight and we arrived into the small fishing village of Golfito which was apparently once famous as a boating destination for John Wayne and Ronald Regan. However, Easter weekend had just begun and most of the town was shut down - including immigration. So we had a couple of days to relax and enjoy being on land once again surrounded by rainforest. Fritz was keen to keep moving so we set sail once again headed up the coast. Sailing past some incredible national park whilst Fritz fished for tuna we had an unsettling moment as both Ali and Fritz were convinced they heard a human cry from the sea. There were no boats nearby and so we spent a couple of hours searching the area for a possible person in the water. We found nothing and had to accept it was more likely the beers that had been talking but realised how difficult it really is to search for a body in even light seas. Fish, however, had been picked up and the dinner was made as we settled into our last night of sailing, or more like motor-sailing, as winds were very light.

Arriving into the port of Quepos to make our official entry into Costa Rica we were told by the port authority that we were in quarantine and unable to leave the boat until we paid an agent to help us complete immigration procedures on our behalf. Infuriating every instinct we have learned travelling we eventually found no other reasonable option so agreed. This was a tough day; we could practically smell the proper showers and cold beers in the marina but had to stay and sweat it out on the boat, huddling under a tarpaulin for shade. Thankfully in the afternoon very friendly immigration and customs officials arrived to complete a whirlwind of documentation, stamp our passports and welcome us to Costs Rica.

After three weeks on the boat we had enjoyed the adventures and experiences and certainly learned a few things. However it was clear that Fritz was in hurry to get his boat home and we had much else we wanted to see so we were leaving the boat here. To be honest we were also keen to have our own space again and escape the sound of the engine! So we said our goodbyes and booked into a hotel with a large clean room with air conditioning!

Sailing the Panama Canal

Eager to see the Panama Canal up close and travel some way up through Central America by boat, we trawled the internet for spaces on boats looking for crew and spent a day at the port in Panama City accosting boat owners. In the end we were found by Fritz, who had just sailed his 42 foot sail yacht across the Atlantic and was headed down through the canal and up the Pacific coast, eventually to his home of San Francisco, California. We travelled up to the marina near Colon where his yacht was berthed to find Fritz amidst a flurry of boat maintenance and got to know him over several beers. He's a successful 60 year old engineer and bewildered us both with anecdotes about his flux gate and alternator, and though rather brash and clearly a lover of meat, we seemed to get on well enough.

It was going to be a week before we could transit the canal and we spent several days in the marina organising provisions and helping with some repairs as well as taking advantage of the pool, gym and bar facilities where we got to know several other boat owners. The cruiser community really seems very friendly and helpful to one another, always chatting to neighbours on the quay and in the bar and helping with each other's problems. We were even roped into judging a cooking competition! The main thing we learned was that owning a boat was a very good way to spend a lot of time and money fixing things that continuously break. It seemed most people were working on or waiting for repairs and we realised how easy we had it when we had been chartering boats without all this hassle!

We convinced Fritz to spend a few days sailing nearby whilst we were waiting for other crew to arrive for the canal transit, and to prove to him that we had sailed before. It's a good thing that we had, because we were soon dodging approaching supertankers under sail on our way out to visit Portobello and nearby Turtle Bay. Returning to Colon just in time for some vital parts and with the arrival of Jenny, our fourth crew member also from the UK, and Dylan, a Canadian who lived locally and was helping out transiting the Canal, we were set to go.

The canal is said to be mankind's greatest ever achievement of engineering, its 70km length cutting across Panama with three sets of enormous locks to raise and lower enormous supertankers from sea level. However, the most challenging part of its construction was a large section in the south that had to be cut entirely through the land and the construction of this over a hundred years ago resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 labourers, mostly from disease, before health and sanitation were improved enough to allow the work to complete.

Our trip, along with two other sail boats with which we were going to raft through the locks, would take two days and we were joined by an 'advisor' from the canal authority who issued very direct advice to Fritz, who usually had different ideas. For a while at least we got away with sailing downwind just a few metres alongside a supertanker, involving several rather tense gybes. The most exciting part was was within the locks where we would catch and tie on mooring lines then take up or ease as the water level was raised or lowered. Strong currents meant quick rope work was essential and highly excitable advisors would shout contradictory instructions to crew and argue amongst each other whilst tying up. It was during one such flurry that Ali's brand new Ray Ban sunglasses slipped swiftly from his forehead into the swirling abyss, to his misery. However, beer, wine and snacks were enjoyed as we slowly worked our way down the 80m drop to the Pacific ocean. It was late at night when we finally made it through the final set of locks and then moored one night back in Panama City before beginning sailing up the Pacific coast.

We feel we can definitely now tick the canal off the Panama to do list!

Pana-ma-na

Part three of our big adventure brings us to Central America. Making it through the security checks at Newark we arrived late at night in Panama City, on the Pacific (south) side of Panama. Staying in a hostel in the Casco Viejo, we had a weekend to explore the city before getting stuck into our five-day Spanish course.

Casco Viejo is the old town of Panama City, although not the oldest town which is in ruins. A district once the grand home of the embassies and the wealthy but located next to the infamous Chorillo area it was invaded and overrun with crime, gangs and squatters. In recent years there has been extensive restoration and regeneration in the area with many of the dilapidated old buildings now restored to their original glory. Now beautifully restored buildings and very swanky hotels sit alongside those still run-down and artistic grafiti decorates the walls. Our hostel, Panamericana, whilst basic, was well located on the Plaza Herraro and benefited from a large roof top terrace which panaramic views of the town and Pacific Ocean. We visited the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal and several museums all with slightly different explanations of the history of the Canal.

In stark contrast to Casco Viejo, Panama City also has a huge commercial centre with hundreds of sky scrapers and large shopping malls. Thanks to the Panama Canal which runs across the country, connecting the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic and the Caribbean sea, as well as the country's location between North and South America there is significant wealth in the country and is currently growing at a rapid rate. Our stoll into the city was tough in the stifling heat and we sampled a shaved ice drink served by a street vendor with fruit syrup and condensed milk. We found a local Olympic-sized swimming pool which was provided respite in the heat as well as some regular exercise over the next week. Although it was free, Leila did have to hire an attractive red swimming cap.

The five day Spanish course seems to have been a good idea. Leila's beginners course with Fernando was considerably more fun than Ali's though, with teaching techniques that included compulsory singing and watching the Exorcist in Spanish! We joined some of our classmates in a bicycle trip along the Amadaor Causeway, a long breakwater for the Canal and which joins the mainland to islands where all sizes of boats were moored. We were lucky enough to spot a sloth along the way and the trip whetted our appetite for some sailing.