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"
FLEET UPDATE 2018-12-13
1) The Panama Posse is now 61 vessels strong and
growing and on the move with 7 flag states flying the
Panama Posse burgee !
2) Picture of the WEEK from SV FOOTLOOSE
Thank you for sharing this lovely moment and for a great write
up on the Panama Posse on your blog
https://www.sailfootloose.com/index.php/2018/12/09/season-three-panama/
Michael & Lisa
FOOTLOOSE
3) Marina Puesta del Sol, NICARAGUA
Now at Marina Puesta Del Sol, very reasonable price with the
Posse discount.
Highly recommended. We are doing some tours of the country with
Luis.
Be sure to negotiate prices for the tours.
Jim & Suzy
OCTOPUS GARDEN
4) PIRATES in Barra de Navidad, Mexico
Pirates!! We had our first encounter with true pirates
last night. We're all safe but I can't say the same for
our food! After a day trip to Manzanillo where we bought some
fresh avocados and other items, we woke up this morning to a
mess in our forward stateroom. Even though we may not really
need it, we're still running with air conditioner at night as
long we're plugged into the dock. We close off the forward
stateroom by closing the connecting door, no need to air
condition a room we really are not using, but we do leave the
forward hatches open. Barra Marina has a lot of hungry little
coatimundi raccoons. They found their way into our forward
stateroom last night and had their way with the groceries
we had failed to put away. Clever little critters.
Chris, Monica & Penny
SEAGLUB
(note1: Penny - you had one job ... ) (note2: wait till you encounter the Capuchin Monkeys at Manuel Antonio Park in
Costa Rica )
5) LONG LINES - Mexico
Long Line Alert
17 54.678 N102 22.397 W
10 miles off from Lazaro Cardenas.
Saw nothing until 2 pangas heading my location at high speed.
Then saw one small white float. Fortunately we didn’t pick up
anything and pangas went on their way. Proceeding to Isla
Ixtapa.
Long Line semi-Alert
Another long line 6 miles out about 15 miles from Isla Grande
(Ixtapa).
We headed toward the panga tending the line and asked how far
was the end and he said 1000meters. All orange floats.
Then he told us to go between floats. I asked was the line deep
enough and he said yes. Went through without issue.
Sample image of a Longline marker
Eric
SPREZZATURA
(note as we mentioned in the safety seminars - be
on the lookout for these long lines - here is
what they can look like -during day time - imagine spotting
this at night ;-( and have a plan to stop your vessel - stop
your engine(s) and cut them off - kitchen knife attached with
hose clamps to our boat hook )
6) Maruata Bay, Mexico
Ahoy Panama Posse,
Dec 5th
Mad and Simple Life anchored in Maruata Bay, a lovely
piece of water and beach. Lots of room.
Our pos was 18 16.06 N 103 20.5 W in 10.4 meter, good
holding in sand. Saw turtles swimming.
Simple Life went ashore, we did not. People were friendly. No
cell phone coverage.
https://www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/anchorage/bahia-de-maruata
We had to replace the remote control for the anchor winch next
morning and as we saw on the gribfiles from Sailmail we would
have wind in the afternoon. So we all set sail and had a lovely
sail on spinaker, sometimes making 7-8 knots.
7) Of course we realized we could not reach Caleta
de Campos before dark, but we figured the bay would not
be that difficult. We barely reached Caleta at 7 pm, could see a
little bit. We anchored near the breakwater. Simple Life
came in an hour later and they anchored a bit more in, to the
east. We both had not expected the bay to be so small and
hearing the surf so close by was not very nice.
Our position was 18 04.32 N 102 45.02 W depth 7.7 m
good holding. We were comfortable but Simple Life was
not and they left very early this morning for Isla Grande. There
is not much wind, and on the nose, we will anchor just east of
Lazardo Cardenas and continue tomorrow. We did not have GE
charts of Maruata and Campos.
https://www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/anchorage/caleta-de-campos
OpenCPN was way off, Navionics fairly accurate. I will send you
pics when on land, not by Sailmail.
Huibert & Maaike
MADELEINE
8) Good Nautical is now an official 501(c)3
and holds the detailed links for anchorage info and
sooo much more.
Just follow these links
above and 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
9) Costa Rica - For those of you heading their please
feel free Alejandro on SV REBELLIOUS
our Panama Posse participant. He'd be happy to meet up with you
in Costa Rica !
donacuisa@gmail.com
+506 881-00001
Alejandro
REBELLIOUS
(Note: he may be able provide some logistical help ;- )
10) High resolution Pictures of the Panama
Posse kick off event are available for all to see and
download !
To check them out go to https://panamaposse.com/2018-vessels/2018-2019-panama-posse-kick-off-party
11) WEEKLY 2018-2019 PANAMA POSSE FLEET CHECK IN
and MORNING NET on MONDAY'S at 16:00 UTC via LINE
We have over 40+ 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
- holiday decorations of your vessel - 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) Panama Posse Teaser
Preview of Maya script, also
known as Maya glyphs the writing system of the Maya.
The only Meso-American writing system which has been substantially
deciphered.
Palenque a mayor archeological site has an excellent museum
so you can view them up close
- reachable from the Chiapas Marina with an organized
tour
https://www.goodnautical.com/mexico-pacific/point-interest/palenque
14) Keep em 'coming
Dietmar & Suzanne
Carinthia
15) opt-out from the Fleet Updates simply
reply with "REMOVE"