The harbor at Golfito, like the Gaul described by Julius Cesar, is divided into three parts. One is the industrial anchorage. We had nothing to do with that. The others are the Banana Bay Marina and the Tierra Mar Anchorage. These we did have something to do with. We made our landing at Banana Bay, the upscale, relatively expensive marina with every possible convenience. Bruce, the owner and operator, ushered us through the paperwork process. He gave me a sheet detailing where to go (and in what order) for our immigration, port captain and customs stamps, as well as something called MAG which had something to do with a charge on the tonnage of the boat. I spent the afternoon hopping from office to office with the help of Uriel, the cab driver I'd randomly flagged on the street. It just so happened that Uriel had a friend with him who worked for the Aduana (customs) and was able to facilitate a quick and smooth processing of the Faith's paperwork. I bought Jose (the friend) a beer once it was done and he assured me we'd have a fantastic time while in port.
Which we did. We spent the night at Banana Bay, recharging our batteries and enjoying access to the internet, phones and restaurant. Dockage there is relatively expensive so the second day we headed the hundred yards over to a mooring buoy at Tierra Mar ($5 a day!). Our transportation to and from the boat became the small inflatable raft we'd brought along, which had, of course, developed an inflation problem. Eric and I searched out the puncture and patched it, but only after the raft almost sank with Brian frantically rowing (he made it aboard just in time). To my melancholic disappointment Erin was not waiting on the dock when we pulled in, but I did receive an email from her. As it turned out captain Phil called off the trip and flew home. She and the other crew dispersed. She was on her way to the Galapagos nevertheless (I've since gotten word that the wildlife was beautiful and all the men from age ten up assume a single woman wants to sleep with them....How that differs from anywhere else in the world I'm not entirely certain but Erin was apparently able to fend them off � with great effort I'm sure...)
Patrick (our Costa Rican contact back in Colon) did not make it back in time for us to go croc hunting either. I'm certain this pleases those of you who might be uncomfortable with the idea of killing and eating wild animals, and I have to admit that a certain part of me would have been slightly remorseful had we done so, but then where else are we ever going to eat a crocodile? Well, there's always Australia I suppose...
Using Patrick's name opened doors left and right. In the notes he'd given us, outlining where to go and what to expect, he included personal messages for the owners, operators and patrons. We'd deliver the message, tell the person Pat was doing fine last we saw him, and suddenly we had the all-access pass. Bruce at Banana Bay gave us free electric and water (normally charged for), one guy, Mike, had us over for roast pig, and Tim and Katie who run Tierra Mar warmed immediately to our presence and told us stories of taking Patrick on as crew (their first choice) on various sailing adventures. Thanks Patrick! We walked on gold in Golfito, Goldwalker!!
One last event of import occurred on the last day we enjoyed Golfito's balmy cordiality. A pair of sailors aboard the Aurora, moored nearby at Tierra Mar, advised us that we could, in fact, go to Nicaragua. Nicaragua! The Forbidden Country! We'd been told on the Caribbean side to avoid it at almost any cost. No cruising guide we knew of recommended it, and most don't even mention it. But we wanted the stamp on our passports....and suddenly the one nation we'd figured we'd have to avoid (OK, besides Columbia and Cuba) opened before us as the perfect alternative to the planned stop in northern Costa Rica we'd learned no longer existed. (The government took Flamingo over and shut it down completely.) Not only that, but the place was reputed to be brand new, beautifully kept, and very inexpensive. Hurray! Uh, that is, Huzzah!!!
We left the next day, Saturday the 18th, on what would be an epic five night, six day, sail into the unknown seaside pasture of a land we'd thought denied us. Damn the sea snakes, full speed ahead!!