FLEET UPDATE 2018-12-28
1) Bahia del Sol, EL SALVADOR
Toccata remains in Bahia Del Sol, has become a base for inland travel. After trips to Guatemala and Rivera Maya Mexico, the admiral has decided we should do land travel to Nicaragua and Costa Rica before heading for Panama. We will probably not arrive Panama until late March. I have to admit Bahia Del Sol is a great base of operations for Central American land travel. Will also give the Papagayos to soften.
Steven & Marilyn
TOCCATA
2) Golfito, COSTA RICA
Knot Right left Marina Papagaya CR on Friday 12/21 after refueling, traveled a whole 5 nm to Bahia Hermosa. Anchored, and dinghy to shore for an early dinner with friends who are local in Cocos. With 4 people, dinghy wheels and only a 9.9 HP engine, we were a little slow. It also didnโt help that we choose the wrong wave. Yes we got wet, but didnโt loose the boat. We still had an enjoyable time.
We left the next afternoon to head for Isla Tortuga, After we rounded the corner, we had a beam reach until 10 PM, with the Jib only, we exceeded my theoretical top speed of 8.8, we actually hit 10 at one time. Later that night and the next morning we had a wind and current on the nose. The period was less that 5 seconds, so we did take a beating.
We arrived at Isla Tortuga at 9 AM and motored around to find a go spot to anchor. We wanted to stay away from the human onslaught from the mainland to the island. We found 20 ft at low tide at 9 46.7147n 84 53.8016w. Calm evening, but some rolling in the AM (I think the workers for the party goers are coming ashore and it felt like the wakes of their transports). Did some snorkelling, not very clear. Heading to Golfito at 8 AM on 12/26.
Got to Golfito early, had to motor all the way. Went to the fuel docks (at IGY) and refueled, from there they permitted us to stay while we went to Customs, Immigration and the bank (donโt push it though).
There is also a Super (not so big) Mega for some provisioning. The customs office is 1 KM to SE walking distance, but very humid. Have three copies of everything, but if not he might be helpful to copy some papers. I think there is a copying place across the street. The Immigration is in the other direction about 2 (total 3) KM. Take a cab from customs to Immigration (anywhere $2-4). Immigration and the National Bank (third stop) is the duty free shopping area. If you want to buy anything here, I believe you need to stand in line to purchase a prepaid card of some sort. Didnโt bother because we wanted to hustle out of here. We purchased our wine when we got our provisions at the Supermega half way between Fuel Dock and Customs. The last stop is the port captain, his Zarpe did not list the personnel, so I asked and he gave me a stamped copy of my crew list (not taking any chances). The fuel dock charges for water and trash, but Posse people pay about half of that charge. Heading out to Pedregal Panama tonight 27-Dec at 4 PM, need to get to the mouth of the river just before high tide tomorrow at 7.
Walt & Jeariene
KNOT RIGHT
Note: Clearing in and Out of Costa Rica while time consuming and paperwork laden has been documented with detailed steps and all exact Lat and long of all government offices inside of Good Nautical
Here are the links for Playas del Coco
https://www.goodnautical.com/costa-rica/port-of-entry/playas-del-coco
and Golfito https://www.goodnautical.com/costa-rica/port-of-entry/golfito
3) The Panama Posse is now 76 vessels strong
Well on our way to the goal of 100 for this season - please help spread the word !
4) Here are the latest check ins from thePanama Posse 18-19 LINE Group Members
SPREZZATURA - Huatulco, MX
FOOTLOOSE - Leaving Acapulco, MX
WINE N DOWN - Approaching Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
KNOT RIGHT - Checking out of Golfito, Costa Rica
EPIPHANY - Heading south from Barra de Navidad, MX - see long line alert below
SANS CLES - Chiapas, MX - reporting plenty of room in the Marina
SLOW DANCER - Marina Vallarta, MX - discount confirmed but only pablo@marina-vallarta.com.mx has the info
MARIAH - La Paz
LIQUID - Barra de Navidad, MX
COQUETTE - Leaving Acapulco, MX
NILAYA - Leaving Puerto Vallarta
MAI TAI - Mazatlan heading to PV by the 26th and Barra after New Years
MADELEINE - Leaving Acapulco
AVANT - Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
FLOATING STONES - Barra de Navidad, MX
PARADISEA - Leaving Zihuatanejo for Acapulco, MX
FIREFLY - Barra de Navidad, MX
SEAGLUB - Barra de Navidad, MX
XENIA - Las Perlas, Panama
CARINTHIA - Vista Mar Marina, Panama
FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE 5) Huatulco Marine Park & Tehuantepec, MX
We are currently (Fri Dec 28th, 4.30 pm) in Chachacual Cove (La India), Huatulco.
How beautiful it is here! We were thinking of crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec starting on Sunday Dec 30th.
We based our decision on Saildocs and Windy. Can you confirm Chris if that is a good time? If you please would answer in Sailmail as well as in Line that would be great. Both SSB and internet via Telcel are difficult here. We are sometimes successfull with one, and sometimes with the other system. We left Acapulco Sunday dec 23rd. Had a beautiful trip to Huatulco. 1/3 was sailing. Nights with full moon. Calm weather. Beautiful coast. Dec 25th we arrived in Puerto Sacrificios (San Agustin), Anchored 15 41.36 N 96 13.98 W in 9.6 meter, good holding, sand. Beautiful bay, much tourism during the day, restless water. Maybe not so nice for monohulls. Tried to reach the beach by dinghy, but too much swell, was no success. We left today for Chachacual, also very very beautiful and much quieter. More protected. All tourists left at 3 pm. Anchored at 15 42.61 N 96 12.18 W, in 7.1 meter. Sand, good holding.
Thanks,
Maaike & Huib
MADELEINE
5) Long Line alert - Mexico
Long Line at 19ยฐ 04.435' N, 104ยฐ 42.369 W
EPIPHANY
George & Suzanne
6) Fuel in Huatulco, MX
Due to the silting of the channel Marina Chahue is closed until further notice -
But you can use your dinghy to get it from the marina or approach the
commercial fuel dock in the next bay with lot's of fenders.
The location below has the working fuel dock
Eric
SPREZZATURA
7) Bahia del Sol - EL SALVADOR
Picture of the Week from El Salvador Rally - FISH VISCOUS exiting over the bar
Doug & Nancy
FISH VICIOUS
8) The Panama Posse 2018-2019 burgees are flying -
please take pictures for next weeks update of your new years celebrations !
SIMPLIFY - Robert
HALF MOON - Elizabeth & ?
CHARLY - Andrรฉ-Philippe & Sylvie
ARGUS - Bryan & Stephanie
Mattias and Regina of JASINA after a delightful Christmas dinner prepared by
Patrice of SONOMARA aboard FOOTLOOSE with PARADISEA
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 โ0โ, from 8 a.m. โ 5 p.m. EST. When dialing embassy numbers below probably start with โ +โ 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 โ0โ 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 (we wish you a speedy recovery Diane)
10) HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!
Please reply to this email with any
updates and we'll include it in the next Fleet Updates.
Please take pictures of your new years celebrations.
Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia
11) Opt-out from Fleet Updates simply reply with "REMOVE"
FLEET UPDATE 2020-12-23
1)
Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica
After
we crossed the bar at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
we encountered some fishing vessels, so we decided
to motor past them before we unfurled the main. We
needed to get out further for a better coarse to
sail. We unfurled the main and it looked like we
needed to tighten the halyard, but no matter what
we did, nada. Dennis went forward to touch the
tack, and the main started to drop. (Expletive -
deleted). So we brought it down, flaked it on the
boom, looked down on the deck, and there was the
very narrow, long shackle without the pin. It
appeared that the pin on the shackle stripped out
and the head was no longer attached to the top
furler mechanism. It would have been a much better
problem to solve if the halyard had broken.
Anyway, what ever sailing we did, it was head-sail
only.
We
continued to Bahia St Elena, Costa Rica. The
Papagayos were kicking up, so we did have some
interesting winds and swells, especially since we
couldnโt use the main. We anchored away from the
winds that came along the mountain edge, around
10ยฐ54'41.7"N 85ยฐ47'29.6"W. We still had some 20 kt
winds during the night. The Rocna 25 anchor and
140โ of chain was very comfortable.
We
spent two nights there to rest, did not go ashore,
but there was a young couple that went exploring
each day for about a week.
We left
to go to Marina Papagaya, planned to get a shackle
and handle all of the other โshow stopping
issuesโ. We rented a car (cheapest way to get
around in the area) to provision and handle
repairs. We couldnโt find the shackle, but we
found a machine shop and for $8.11 there were four
people working on re-tapping and aligning the old
one for a new larger pin that we commandeered from
an oversize shackle.
There
is a Walmart in Liberia Costa Rica, but there are
many other places to provision that you would
definitely enjoy. There is a Do-It center (Home
Depot style) at the corner of the road from the
peninsula (where the marina is located) and the
main road. Turn left to go to the International
Airport and Liberia, turn right to go to Hermosa
and Coco. Dennis and Geri have some friends that
live near Hermosa so we went out to dinner with
them for Dennisโ birthday (donโt tell him I told
you).
Except
for the marina, the peninsula is a gated community
with a half dozen resorts and a dozen restaurants
(we didn't bother, we're cruisers).
Weโve
been staying at the marina because we need the
wifi access to try in get replacement parts
ordered. Most of these parts will be spares for
parts that we have seen some wear and tear
(anybody have a Volvo Penta PC-740 top mount
single lever throttle control, not having much
luck finding or getting it sent to Panama). The
marina has great security, fuel dock, a cable TV
room, coin operated laundry, showers with some
warm water, a small ships store open seven days a
week, with a very helpful staff that even handle
the rental car. The โDive Barโ is a little steep
in price, but the food is good. The coffee shop is
REALLY expensive. The resort pool is available to
marina quests. The docks have better than usual
wifi, high pressure potable water, 250 amp, head
pump at the slip. Almost all of the staff will
speak english and Dan Eaffaldano is the manager
who can help with most of your needs. Marina is
+506 2690 3600 email: dan.eaffaldano@marinapapagayo.com
or VHF 16 maybe 23A.
So our
plan is to leave the marina on Friday 12/21, go to
Bahia Hermosa (5 nm)
until Sunday 12/23, then probably to Bahia
Ballena, Tambor Costa Rica.
Walt
& Jeariene
Knot Right
2)
Mexico - Picture(s) of the week
Night over Maruata Bay
Manzanillo at night, from Carrizal
Cove
Sierra Madre
Huibert & Maaike
MADELEINE
3) Marina Ixtapa, Mexico
COQUETTE
! 90 US cents per foot plus
tax is the daily rate
Simple
Life is parked there for
Christmas. .70c +tax for 35 days.
Crocs
included. Dry storage more
expensive.
4) WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA
POSSE FLEET CHECK IN and MORNING NET
on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
We have been testing a new
"LINE" tool for weekly
vessel check ins and GROUP
calls -
last years SSB check-ins
had several draw backs due
to propagation -so we have
done some testing and came
up with something pretty
nifty ...
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
Connect every Monday at
16:00 UTC and send us
your position via the
message system and
listen to the vessel
check ins
(all free as long you have
IP connectivity which we
now know is pretty much
all along the coast)
The LINE system allows for
up to 200 live
conference call
participants.
Check in tomorrow at
Monday Dec 24th, 2018 at 16:00
UTC
with
your vessel location and
holiday updates
5) Panama - getting parts from
the US
Getting parts / mail into Panama. ( they
do also have offices in Costa Rica,
and operate in Belize, Honduras
and Guatemala )
There are several ways to get parts delivered
in Panama - but one of the more innovative
ways is
via Mailboxes Etc.
a) Register for a free unique ID
online at www.mbe-ca.com
(top right corner change language to English
and select a city near you depending on your
Marina / etc )
b) verify your email with a
picture of your passport and agree to their
terms.
c) Purchase anything in the US and
have it shipped to your unique ID and
Miami, Florida Address (you pay regular
US shipping charges or free if you use Amazon
Prime)
d) As soon as your package arrives
in Florida you get an email and it is
forwarded to the Mailboxes etc store (you
chose from the cities above) in Panama
e) 3- 4 days later you get
an email and go to the local store and pick
up your package for a nominal fee
(example a 8x5x7 inch box with a pound of
generator parts
was $ 11.95)
6) Vista Mar Marina - Panama
Holiday and Christmas Celebration setup -
Panama Posse meets first time Puddle Jumpers
The north winds are blowing and the local dogs
are lined up for Christmas goodies ...
The "cold" full moon
Happy Holidays
Dietmar & Suzanne
CARINTHIA
7) Good Nautical is an official
501(c)3 and holds the detailed Panama Posse
info
https://panamaposse.com/route
Scroll down
for stops - and there is also the link to
all the Sponsor Marinas and services at
https://panamaposse.com/sponsors
just follow
the link (icons) enter your membership
credentials which have been emailed to you
if you need help login in or how to use the
site just send an email to dietmar@goodnautical.com
8) Please reply to this email
with any updates - contenders for picture
of the week
and we'll include it in the next Fleet
Updates - happy happy !
Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia
9) opt-out from the Fleet
Updates ( especially if you are not in
central America anymore ) simply reply with
"REMOVE"