FLEET UPDATE 2018-12-20
1) Zihuatanejo, MX
We had a great time in Zihuatenejo but are itching to spend
time in Huatulco and Chiapas so chugging south.
Mid-cruise to Acapulco today with ETA of 17:30 and mooring with
Vicente.
Saw two humpbacks breach then we cruised along with them until
they took a deep dive.
Some porpoise too. 5k wind, dead calm sea, 29.5C, clear skies.
Beautiful!!
Eric & new Crew Kim
SPREZZATURA
2) Acapulco, MX
Meet Vicente and his sons - our Panama Posse man in Acapulco -
Vicente Herrera, phone +52 (1) 744-439-8184.
Moorings near 16° 50.4735 N 99° 54.3468 W
Approach
SPREZZATURA Eric & Kim
3) Bahias de Huatulco National Park, MX
The national park of Oaxaca, Mexico ~ 30,000 acres.
There are 9,000 species of plants (about 50% of the species are
reported throughout Mexico) in the forest and mangroves on the
coast.
264 animals species, which includes armadillos and white-tailed
deer
701 Bird species including hummingbirds, pelicans and hawks
470 reptile include the Black Iguana, salamanders and snakes
Dolphins, whales and turtles are sighted species off the coast
line, out of the identified 100 amphibian species.
Vegetation is dominated by the low forest growth with high trees.
Lot's to discover - details for these anchorages in
goodnautical.com
As a side note for you movie buffs - Bahia
Cacaluta (15°43.3053'
N 096° 09.8316' W)
was the filming location for the "secret" beach scenes from the
award-winning Mexican cult flick
"Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN" -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qg6n7V3kO4
4) ACAPULCO - MX
I think Vicente was very disappointed when we left for the
marina. He was very friendly and willing to take us ashore, but we
really did not want to have to call him every time we wanted to go
ashore. And we do not have toilet facilities on board which last
longer than a few days. We have a pro forma very small waste tank.
And I wanted to wash the boat. From capt Pats Guide you might get
the impression that Marina Performance really is the best to go.
But the slips are med mooring right on the street. Not a nice
environment, busy and air pollution. We tried to dock the dinghy
there and we could, but at a fee of MXN 190 per hour. In the Yacht
Club we waited endlessly for the harbormaster and then left.
Marina Acapulco, where we are now, is under construction and will
become nice. Much space. Toilet facilities are now in the cantina
for the personnel, clean, but 1 shower and toilet for men and 1
for women. Closed at night. Water not potable. Wifi is bad, you
have to be in the harbormasters office to be able to connect. But
it is directly on the main Avenue Aleman. Supermarket is across
the street, Superama, very good. Capt Pat speaks about swimming
pool and laundry in the marina, but no. Laundry is not very far
away and cheap, though. We are here for convenience and have a
nice place alongside, at the bay. Clamps on the pontoons are not
spaced very well, so when the wind picks up in the afternoon you
have quite a job to tie up well. Sometimes across the pontoon.
People are very friendly, relaxed atmosphere. For us, 42ft, it is
50 USD per night. Mentioned the Posse and showed him the burgee.
We left Zihua earlier then we planned. We never realized that
there are no dinghydocks in Mexico. We traveled quite a bit and
everywhere there was a dock, sometimes in bad shape, but it was
there. We have a hard bottom dinghy, so not very light. Good for
rough water. In Zihua we had to bring in on the beach, helped by
fishermen. I had back surgery a few months ago and Huib has
attacks of cardiac arrhythmias every now and then. Next day my
back was really hurting and Huib had an attack. So you can imagine
how reluctant we are for this kind of exercise. I will send you
pictures from the laptop. I think we will leave one of these days
and not be in Acapulco for Christmas. We have seen the sightings
and move on. Keep you informed,
Huibert & Maaike
MADELEINE
(note on availability of dinghy docks - there are very
few dinghy docks in Nicaragua - Costa Rica and Panama due
to the increasing tidal range so be prepared to haul your dinghy
up and down the beaches as a quick fix you can use 2 wheel
barrel wheels and rig a temporary attachment to your dinghies
transom)
5) Panama Posse Safety Alert
Please, please, please always hoist your dinghy up and
lock it at night !
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 coated wire - see a sample lock below.
6) HIP HIP HOORAY
the Panama Posse Fleet is at 72 vessels and 8
Flag States
7) Isla Tigre, Honduras
We visited Isla Tigre, Amapala, in Honduras, in the Gulf of
Fonseca.
We stayed a week and had a great time. Good food, safe, dinghy
security by Hector.
Free check in and out. ATM and Latin market style shopping. Highly
recommend this stop
Please note - no fuel, no services, little to no
repair options
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
View from the Check-in
Anchorage
Playa Grande
This is the ferry to the
mainland
Jim & Susy
OCTOPUS GARDEN
8) Bahia del Sol - El Savador
Fish Vicious arrived from Chiapas yesterday. They will spend
Christmas with Bill & Jean.
Doug & Nancy
FISH VICIOUS
9) 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 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.
11) Panama Posse 2018-2019 Burgees are being hoisted -
thank you Chris from Seaglub and Michael Footloose for the latest
deliveries
Panama Posse TAG @ ANY Restaurant in Zihuatenjo ( that's BIG )
COQUETTE has the Burgee
MALAKAI has the Burgee !
Tappan Zee has the Burgee
Kathleen with the Burgee
TOP CIDER - about to hoist the Burgee
SIRENA has the Burgee
10) Please reply to this email with any
updates - holiday decorations -
contenders for picture of the week - your favorite song for our
list -
and we'll include it in the next Fleet Update
Dietmar & Suzanne
SV Carinthia
Happy 30th pearl wedding anniversary to
my wife Suzanne - a true saint !
11) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply reply
with "REMOVE"
FLEET UPDATE 2018-12-23
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 couldn’t use the main. We anchored away from the winds that came along the mountain edge, around 10°54'41.7"N 85°47'29.6"W. We still had some 20 kt winds during the night. The Rocna 25 anchor and 140’ 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 “show stopping issues”. We rented a car (cheapest way to get around in the area) to provision and handle repairs. We couldn’t 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 Dennis’ birthday (don’t 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).
We’ve 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 “Dive Bar” 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"