FLEET UPDATE 2019-01-19
1) Palenque, MX
Five day trip to Palenque and San Cristobal with Luis Sanchez
Day 1
10 hour drive to Palenque. Beautiful trip, partly through the mountains.
Luis is a very good driver. No difficulties on the road. Spend the evening in Palenque
Day 2
In the morning visit the museum and the Mayan ruins in Palenque, very impressive.
Heard howler monkeys. Nice lunch with grilled mojarra.
Lots of rain in the afternoon during our visit to Misol-Ha waterfall. Spend the night in Palenque.
Day 3
Visit Centro Ecoturistico Cascadas de Aqua Azul with huge waterfalls. Because of the rain aqua is not azul but café. Drive to San Cristobal through Sierra Madre, beautiful trip. Visit Jade Museum and Chocolate Museum. Nice evening with life music in San Cristobal.
Day 4
Visit the indigenous Mayan villages of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan. In the church we watch Mayan people having their rituals with sjamaans. We visit a woman who shows us how to make tablecloths and embroideries on clothing. Very special. Visit Parque Ecoturistico Grutas de Rancho Nuevo and Amber Museum. Spend the evening in former Zapatista headquarters with life Latin American music.
Day 5
Make a tour by panga through the Canyon de Sumidero. Saw crocodile and spider monkeys.
On our way back to Marina Chiapas we have a nice lunch in Palapa Quetzal.
Luis is a very pleasant guy. Because we were only the two of us, he joined us for all meals. He was very informative about everything and liked to explain about the culture, the food, the politics in Mexico. We knew nothing of this country, so we appreciated this very much. He took us to nice places which were very affordable (hotels, restaurants). Everywhere he met people he knew and we noticed he is very popular. He always checked if we liked what we were doing. As said, he is an excellent driver, which is important because we traveled a lot since distances are long. We really felt safe. It was obvious he was enjoying the tour too.
We can fully recommend this tour. It is worth every penny.
Luis Sanchez
+529622166611luis86same@gmail.com
Huibert & Maikee
MADELEINE
2) PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Slow Dancer showing off the burgee in warm water
Kenneth & Dale
SLOW DANCER
3) Ports of entry & exit info in Costa Rica
These Good Nautical links below will provide you detailed Check-in and Check-out procedures for Costa Rica including exact LAT and LONG for all required offices and past commentary.
If you follow these instructions your total entry and exit fees for Costa Rica will be $ 25-50 and 1/2 days time for each to check in and out
but if you use an agent or marina - expect to pay $500 - 800 for them to do it for you. You can stay up to 90 days following these instructions.
https://www.goodnautical.com/costa-rica/port-of-entry/playas-del-coco
https://www.goodnautical.com/costa-rica/port-of-entry/golfito
4) Watertaxi @ Playa Cocos, Costa Rica - and ALWAYS LOCK YOU VESSEL Water taxi in Playa de Cocos fisherman, Henry and his son, to provide water taxi services,
delivery of water fuel and laundry. He charges 2,000 colones
(His number is +506 8849 1607 Spanish only but his son speaks English and it takes about 30 minutes
if he is not around for him to pick you up.
Always lock your dinghy - especially if you go on shore.
Tie it to a sturdy pole or tree and remove any valuables.
Thieves are opportunists may swim out to cut your dinghy's painter and
then use rocks on the beach to break off locks.
Please use a (PAD) lock with a difficult point of attack and a heavy chain
or re-in-forced stainless steel wire - see a sample lock below.
5) "Get out of the Papagayos" Anchorage - Costa Rica
After the howling Papagayo winds and whipping gusts of Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica here is a very nice and calm anchorage.
Your first remedy is: Isla Cedros - WAnchorage ⌖ 09° 50.5418´ N, 084° 53.0998´ W ~ 14 feet
A few miles down is a cruiser friendly resort is heaven on earth ...
Droneshot by Apape @ Punta Naranjo Anchorage @ 09° 56.3297 N 084° 57.9058 W
with a dock a nice pool and cold beers -
Brenda & Dietmar in the Pool at Oasis Resort (3,000 colones access fee x day)
Rick & Brenda
DAD'S DREAM
6) The2018-2019 Panama Posse has surpassed last season's posse.
We just hit the 84 vessels milestone !
Thank you to everyone for signing up and participation in this journey.
What a good looking group !
(note: If you do not see yourself in the gorgeous panama posse mosaic please email us your picture)
7) Marina Puerto de la Navidad, Barra de Navidad, MX
Renovations are underway !
We are pleased to inform you that mayor improvements are taking place throughout the resort.
During 2019 we plan to continue with much needed improvements and we will keep you updated as soon as they are completed.
Harbormaster Secundino Alvarez
Marina Puerto de la Navidad https://panamaposse.com/start
8) WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
It's a new way of doing things - please download and install LINE https://line.me/en-US/
Works on Android / ios / Windows / MAC OS
- Register using your vessel name as the USERNAME ie SV SEAGLUB
- Next search for panamaposse or SV Carinthia or Seaglub and befriend us -
- wait and accept your PANAMAPOSSE GROUP INVITE
Next call on Monday January 21th, 2018 at 16:00 UTC
We have over 59 vessels in LINE and the calls are great and very efficient and SEAGLUB does a full route weather summary !
TIP Use your status to indicate your current location and drop a pin to share your actual location (+) menu in the chat room
9) CROSSROADS ( from last season )
SAFETY/SECURITY TELEPHONE NUMBERS (Diane last season actually called every number)
U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUE COORDINATION CENTER
Rescue Coordination Center: (510) 437-3701. This is the number for group receiving EPIRB emergency beacon distress signals. They will coordinate with local country Coast Guards if boater is outside of the U.S. and they have translators, as the numbers at the local country Coast Guards in Central America will speak Spanish. They said it would be ok to call them in emergency.
CENTRAL AMERICA COUNTRY COAST GUARD CONTACT NUMBERS
These numbers were given to me by the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center. The individuals from these local Coast Guards will speak Spanish when you call them. If you cannot communicate with them, the Rescue Coordination Center can call them, but that will take more time.
El Salvadore Coast Guard: (505) 22500210, Extension 5103
Nicaragua Coast Guard: (504)22342507
Costa Rica Coast Guard: (506) 22314924
Panama Coast Guard: (507) 60451197
CALIFORNIA COAST GUARD OFFICES WHO COULD BE called if you cannot reach rescue coordination center, however the local coast guards will likely just go through the Rescue Center:
Coast Guard Sector LA/Long Beach: 310 521-3815
Channel Islands office: 805 985-9822
VHF EMERGENCY CHANNEL FOR MAYDAY: 16
U.S. COAST GUARD EMERGENCY SSB CHANNELS
MHZ UTC time
4.125 2300-11
6.125 24 hr.
8.290 24 hr.
12.290 1100-2300
HAM SSB NETS
World wide emergency Ham net: 14.313 24 hr.
Pacific Seafares Net 14300 @ 0300 UTC
Central America Ham net: 7.083 UTC time 1300
CENTRAL AMERICA EMBASSY CONTACT INFORMATION. Go to www.usembassy.gov/ for further information. For Central America embassies, emergency number is +1-202-501-4444, and press “0”, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. EST. When dialing embassy numbers below probably start with “ +” depending on phone service.
COSTA RICA
+506 2519 2000
Calle 98 Via 104, Pavas, San Jose, Costa Rico
EL SALVADOR
+503 2501 2999
Final Blvd. Santa Elena, Antiguo Cuseatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador
GUATEMALA
+502 2326 4000
Avenida Reforma 7-01, Zona 10, Guatemala Cuidad, Guatemala
HONDURAS
+504 2238 5114 (after hours X4100)
+504 2236 9320 (per embassy website, but not communications received: 011-504 2236 9320)
Avenida La Paz, Tegucigalpa MDC, Honduras
MEXICO
+52 55 5080-2000
Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtenoc, 06500 Mexico, DF
NICARGUA
+505 2252-7100
Kilometer 5.5 Carreter Sur, Managua, Nicagagua
PANAMA
+507 317 5000
Bldg 783, Demetrio Basilio Lakas Ave, Clayton, Panama
REPORT U.S. CITIZEN MISSING ABROAD: 1-888-407-4747
GLOBAL MARINE DISTRESS SAFETY SYSTEM: 1-888-407-4747, press “0” for overseas citizen emergency services.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION MARITIME ADMINISTATION, OFFICE OF MARITIME SECURITY.
They provide information on piracy and safety and security, and you can sign up for alerts by going online.
Emergency: 1-202-501-4444 (8-8 EST, M-F)
Stan & Diane
10) HAPPY SAILING Please reply to this email with any
updates and we'll include it in the next Fleet Updates.
Please take pictures of your celebrations and excursions
Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia
11) Opt-out from Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"
FLEET UPDATE 2019-01-14
1) Paradisea Anchorage, Marina Chahue, MX PANAMA POSSE NAMING RIGHTS !!! Thanks to Bob from Paradisea we have the location for a new anchorage outside the Marina Chahue and we have aptly named it
the Paradisea Anchorage - so as you need to wait for your weather window to jot across the Tehuantepc to Chiapas - here is the link
https://www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/anchorage/paradisea-anchorage
(note A big thank you from all of those who will follow in your wake)
The Marina Chahue is closed to new sailboats because of flooding.
But, harbormaster Ezekiel is helpful. We dinghy into the marina to dump trash, park dinghy to eat in town. Local worker Tito brought out diesel and LP gas, cleaned bottoms, laundry. Anchorage remains rolly & windy afternoons. No other anchorage with marina access & internet connection ( via Skyroam). Day trips waiting for WX window...limited. Bob
Bob & Maureen
PARADISEA
2) Tangolunda Bay - Toccata Anchorage, MX PANAMA POSSE NAMING RIGHTS !!!
And not to be outdone around the corner is the newly named Tangolunda Bay - Toccata Anchorage
So depending on your needs / wind and swell conditions you now have 2 choices !
(note A big thank you from all of those who will follow in your wake !)
"we anchored in Tongalunda, the bay east of the marina lined with high end resorts. We never went ashore, we did however notice buses and shuttles headed that direction when we were in the marina. The area on the west side was sheltered from the swell when we were there."
Steven & Marilyn
TOCCATA3) Bahia Samara, Costa Rica
Happy Dance is currently anchored in Bahia Samara, and will be sailing to Bahia Ballena in the morning (Sunday the 13th). We are happy, HAPPY to be past the papagayos and enjoying some calm anchorages. After checking in to Costa Rica in Playas del Coco (which was not an easy process for us due to closures), we spent a few days having some boat work done while anchored on the north end of the gusty bay. After finally getting our papers stamped we enjoyed a few peaceful nights anchored off of Playa Iguanita listening to the howler monkeys and the birds. Then we went a few miles south to Playa Guacamaya and really enjoyed it there, walking the long beach, snorkeling, and playing in the water. It felt like we were finally back into cruise mode after fighting winds and gusty anchorages for so long. For those of you heading south, we recommend Guacamaya!
Here's a photo our friends took of Happy Dance in the sunset next to Isla Chora.
https://www.goodnautical.com/costa-rica/anchorage/bahia-guacamaya
Sue & Marty
HAPPY DANCE
4) Punta Cabeza, MX - Acapulco, MX
Punta Cabeza Negra South – 18 35.352 N 103 41.892 W – 35 feet in sand/mud. This anchorage doesn’t offer much other than turning the trip to Z-Wat into a few day trips versus an overnight. Again, great weather conditions but very rolly and I didn’t want to deploy a stern anchor or flopper stoppers in the event we needed to make a quick exit if the weather changed on us because the anchorage was fairly small. Both C-Map and Navionics charts were not accurate at this location.
- Caleta de Campos – 18 04.337 N 102 44.905 W – 35’ in sand. This was a very nice anchorage, both scenic and interesting. We had one other boat with us and this spot could have probably fit another 2 or 3. We didn’t go ashore but there is a small, very active beach town, with what appeared to primarily consist of locals. It would be a great beach to stretch the legs on and probably a pretty easy landing with the dinghy to the north.
- Zihuatenejo – no need to provided anchorage info as it is well covered. This was our first time visiting and we liked the town a lot. Local info can be found on facebook and www.porlosninos.com . We ate at a place called Tentaciones which has fantastic views of the bay and first class food. Set menu and a little pricey but well worth the cost. Probably in the top three restaurants I’ve been to in all of Mexico.
- Playa Escondido – 17 16.073 N 101 03 .357 W – 35 feet in sand. We tried anchoring in the town to the north (2 times / Bahia Papanoa) and in each case we couldn’t get the anchor to set in what appeared to be a rock shelf without anything to catch the hook on so we went around the corner to the southern anchorage and the anchor set hard and fast. This was a great anchorage although a little rolly. We could have deployed a stern anchor or flopper stopper to mitigate this but it was fine enough conditions for the people we had on board. Decided to stay and extra day here as it was a great bay to boogie board, kayak and walk the beach. A number of palapa restaurants, ate at one, nothing to write home about but the setting was fantastic and the beer was cold. Bonus, we had the entire anchorage to ourselves.
- Acapulco – Acapulco Yacht Club docks – this was a very difficult marina to get a hold of prior to arrival and nobody we have met on site speaks any English, so with our limited Spanish it makes it even more difficult to communicate other than face to face with Google Translate. We decided to just show up and if they didn’t have room we’d drop the hook or see if Vincent had a ball that could accommodate our size. I was able to hail them on 16 but due to my limited Spanish, all we understood was gas dock so we went and docked there. It is about 120’ long, and is a fixed concrete dock. The office gal Mary was out of the office so we arranged to stay on the gas dock for the evening without power. The next morning we talked with Mary, checked in (Mary takes care of signing you in and out of the Port also) and moved to a side tie floating dock at a rate of 1.50 per ft plus power and water. Fantastic facility with all the normal yacht club amenities eg restaurant, pool, locker room with showers, spa, tennis court, gift shop and small tienda with a few grocery stores within a couple of miles. We’ve been here a couple of days, saw the divers which was worth the effort to get there, went to Puerto Marques by cab to check out the marina but the office was closed and no one was available to answer any question on rate or availability for transients. Our take away is that this is a great stop over for transiting north or south but we wouldn’t consider it a destination stop.
Our plan is to stay at the YC until tomorrow, move to the Puerto Marques anchorage, then head south to the Huatulco area on Monday via overnight trip in order to catch a T-Pec window currently forecast for this coming Friday/Saturday. FYI – the zip line in Puerto Marques is so high there is zero chance that even the largest sailboat would have to worry about striking it and we hope to see a few people cross when we are over there because none of us are brave enough to try it ourselves!
Cheers,
FLOATING STONES
Bryan & Cheryl
(note - Bryan's excellent reports have been added to Good Nautical and are now geo referenced accordingly)
https://www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/anchorage/punta-cabeza-negra-south
5) Near Acapulco, MX
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
"Schooner Winds of the World finally escaped from Barra de Navidad!! Crew members Mike Talotta and Curtis Davies are a great help.Had good sailing conditions to
Ixtapa with the typical light winds at night and in the morning; a bit blistery during afternoon and evening. We plan to continue on the 17th to Huatulco, with a brief afternoon stopover in Puerto Marques (Acapulco)"
Dan, Mike & Curtis
WINDS OF THE WORLD
6) THE BURGEES ARE FLYING
YOSHAN has their burgee !!!
BANDIT has their burgee
7) Pie del Gigante, Nicaragua
Safely anchored in Pie de Gigante. We got up at 4:30. It was blowing about 10 knots. No real gusts.
We were up anchor and going by 5. Out of the bay and down the coast 10 miles. We saw some gusts but short lived.
We have observed it’s often calmest from about 4 am to 8:30 am.
That is our best window for this windy windy Place !
Also often calm around sunset
Jim & Suzy
OCTUPUS GARDEN
8) Puerto Quetzal -GUATEMALA - UPDATE
Has any one have comments on Puerto Quetzal- Guatemala ?
(note from Carinthia
~ 500 usd + to clear in and only stop in Guatemala so most of us have cruised on by or
visited Mayan sites from Chiapas Mx. If you do go we'd love a detailed report .
Marina Pez Vela email is edonis02@gmail.com vhf 71 to clear in and out)
(note from RAVEN
You can get a Anclaje Permiso for around $100, but no shore landings are permitted. Really only worth it in cases of fatigue or emergency)
Argan & Gloria
MAI THAI
9) FLEET POSITION UPDATES
as of Mon Jan 14th 2019 from our weekly LINE call at 16:00 UTC
CHARLY - anchored at La Cruz, MX
SLOW DANCER - Tenecatita, MX SINGLE D - Barra de Navidad, MX
FIGMENT - Barra de Navidad, MX
...when you've a chance would really like to know your routing. Bahia del Sol to Gulf of Fonseca then SE or direct or ???
Answer by Sprezzatura
From Bahia Del Sol went straight across to Puesta del Sol. Pretty rough out from Fonseca. Took a ($$ costly) one day break in Puesta del Sol and would only stop if you need the break or want to stay for some time to explore NIC or leave boat for some time.
Then did a foot on the beach to B Santa Elena. Mostly pretty easy but last 8 hours pretty tough again. Santa Elena , Costa Rica was a fantastic anchorage.
FIREFLY - Barra de Navidad, MX
LIQUID - Barra de Navidad, MX
SEA GLUB - Barra de Navidad, MX but heading to the anchorages nearby tomorrow for a few weeks
DESTINATION - departing - Barra de Navidad, MX fro Ixtapa
JASINA - Zihuatanejo, MX
NILAYA - Zihuatanejo, MX
MAI TAI - 4 hours before arriving at Acapulco, club de Yates - I am heading to Huatulco Sunday for the crossing, what was the date of your pin drop I assume is the bay where the marina is? In navigating the tpeck what was your guidance on distance from shore, like did you stay 3 mi off or 1 mi off or always in 10’ of water or 100’ of water and how close did you get to Salina Cruz and what obstacles should I be aware of
(note check Carinthia's 2018 route in Good Nautical
double click anywhere to get LAT & LONG for WAYPOINTS
https://www.goodnautical.com/route/marina-chahue-marina-chiapas-gulf-tehuantepec
FLOATING STONES - en route to Huatulco, MX
MADELEINE - back in marina Chiapas, MX after a fantastisch 5 day tour with Luis to Palenque and San Cristobal
PARADISEA - Chiapas, MX
AVANT - Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
RAVEN - Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
TOCCATA - Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
FREE SPIRIT - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
SPREZZATURA - Playa de Cocos, Costa Rica
HAPPY DANCE - Bahia Ballena, Costa Rica
CARINTHIA - Vista Mar Marina, Panama
SEA GLASS - Vista Mar Marina, Panama
KNOT RIGHT - Vista Mar Marina, Panama
DAD'S DREAM - Vista Mar Marina, Panama
10) The Panama Posse is now 83 vessels strong and growing
and on the move with 7 flag states flying the Panama Posse burgee !
we had 83 last year by MAY so we are well on our way to our goal of 100
11) WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
We have over 57+ vessels in LINE and the calls are great and very efficient and the Chatroom is open 24/7
It's a new way of doing things - please download and install LINE https://line.me/en-US/
Works on Android / ios / Windows / MAC OS
How to use it ....
- Register using your vessel name as the USERNAME ie SV SEAGLUB
- Search for panamaposse or SV Carinthia or Seaglub and befriend us -
- wait and accept your PANAMAPOSSE GROUP INVITE
- join the group chat - it's awesome !
12) Please reply to this email with ... anything really
- your updates
- contenders for picture of the week - links to your favorite SONGS
- relevant blog posts - and of course your valuable suggestions
and we'll include it in the next FLEET UPDATE
13) Keep em 'coming
- we are currently dog sitting OPAL from Secret Water - T minus 3 days for generator FIX
Dietmar & Suzanne
CARINTHIA
14) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"