At 7 a.m. on Tuesday, August 5, we pulled up the anchor and headed around the Osa Peninsula to Golfito in Golfo Dulce. It was a beautiful blue-sky day over the entire peninsula, most rare indeed at this time of year. As we left Bahia Drake, the current was with us but we were motoring against the swell. Once we hit the southern part of the peninsula, both the current and swell were with us and we were �motorsailing� on a reach, using the motor only for that extra knot as we had a long ways to go and wished to arrive in Golfito before dark. As we went up Golfo Dulce, the entire area surrounding Golfito was immersed in dark black clouds and rain. Upon approaching Golfito, our radar made us look like we, too, were being engulfed into �the black hole�. Luckily, the main part of the storm passed just as we were approaching the entrance to Golfito Harbor. As it was getting dark, we followed the range lights into the harbor. About 15 feet away from an unlit channel marker directly in our path, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky allowing us to quickly change course - just in the nick of time. Normally, cruisers do not like lightning as a number of boats have been hit by lightning causing much damage to their electrical systems. This time, though, lightning was our friend. We put down the anchor at 7 p.m. - both of us totally exhausted. This past week we had had two �wildlife adventures�, one overnighter, and two very rolly nights at anchor. Our lack of sleep finally caught up with us in Golfito.
We spent the next three days in Golfito catching up on needed sleep, obtaining fuel and water, and running around getting needed supplies. While in Golfito it rained a lot, and we definitely noticed the increase humidity. Friday afternoon we checked out of Costa Rica, going first to the bank to pay the $20 exit fee, then to customs, next to immigration to get our passports stamped, and last to the port captain to obtain our international zarpe.
Saturday afternoon, August 9, we departed Costa Rica for Panama. Our 25 days in Costa Rica had truly been full of so many fond memories. Like when exiting Golfo de Nicoya, we motored out Golfo Dulce against the swell and straight into the wind. Once pass Punta Banco, though, we had no wind. As we traveled along Costa Rica�s coastline throughout the night, we had many squalls. We ended up motoring the entire way to our first anchorage in Panama - Isla Parida, 80 miles away. Our arrival at Isla Parida on Sunday, August 10, was timed for an hour after daybreak as sunlight was needed in order to navigate around all the islets, rocks, and shallow waters that surrounded the island. We finally dropped our anchor in the beautiful clear waters off Isla Gamez, located just off the northeastern coast of Isla Parida. As Panama was on Eastern Standard Time, we set our clocks ahead one hour. |
