Pacific Ponderings.

Yesterday evening we arrived in Puerto Chiapas Mexico after a 5 day 4 night passage from Northern Costa Rica. We were welcomed by the friendliest of drug dogs – a Belgian Malinois named Corona – who boarded O2 with nicely padded feet to protect our deck from toe scratches. After enthusiastically having sniffed us out she lay herself down and we had a chat with her proud bosses about her Belgian race and beauty. At the moment, My Captain is on his way to the Guatemalan border with the Mexican Officials to get the paperwork (a frightful lot of it!) done. Perfect conditions for an update.

It was a smooth 500 Nm run with a functioning autopilot thanks to My Captain’s diagnostic and electromechanical troubleshooting skills. Although the software issues had been solved, we still couldn’t trust the autopilot which was functioning in a random on and off fashion. But it hadn’t taken My Captain too long to realize that the carbon brushes were the ones to blame. Heat and friction had caused them to partly pulverize in a heap of carbon dust which had piled up inside the pump coils causing the problems. My Captain blasted the whole contraption clean (and a cloud of black carbon dust settled onto the white deck)by using the pressurized air of a scuba tank. It is not the first time that we could blow away trouble like that. What was left of the original carbon brushes was still functioning but getting spares was a wise and necessary precaution for the trip to Mexico we had planned. So we left O2 docked in Marina Papagayo, rented a car and turned the 4 day long quest for the appropriate “escobillhas de carbones” into one last Costa Rican sight-seeing tour. 

Costa Rica still ranks nr 16 on the World Happiness Index 2021 list, in spite of the current situation.  And we can easily understand why. 

But Covid is causing havoc in paradise. Lack of tourism is forcing the hand of small entrepreneurs and property owners alike so that “se vende“ signs are sadly scattered all over the country side. A lot was also closed down during our trip and of the places still in business rates and occupancy were cut in half . Although it was amazing for us, we did worry about them. Apparently, people had gone back to illegal fishing and gold panning in the rivers just to survive.

At the same time Costa Rica’s strategic plan to lure in the wealthy with their motorized super yachts is starting to bring in new money. Top notch and frightfully expensive marinas have popped up in the most idyllic of places offering full service to the international crowd on board luxury ships that carry names like Lunasea, Seaquest, Lonian with its supply ship Hodor and the like. (Google them and you will see what I mean) In those marinas also the motorized deep sea fishing vessels and diving RIBS abound whereas masts of individual sailing yachts can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Most sailing vessels have the cheap habit of anchoring in lonely coves or just outside the marine. As do we. It is not frowned upon and it is for free. A Marina comes in handy though to get maintenance done, to fuel up and to clear in and out of the country. To get on shore when the surf is up and the dinghy has the tendency to capsize. Or to grab a fancy bite in Covid proof surroundings and meet up with the other few sailors that are around.

And so we have entered Mexico now after an awesome sailing trip past Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. As we were motor sailing 50 nautical miles off the Nicaraguan coast the Pacific Ocean was undulating not unlike the way Einstein’s spacetime model gets depicted in science documentaries. 

Gazing over the tranquil expanse of blue, we wondered out loud about the dozens of similar sized wooden logs that were gently drifting by . How bizarre . Until we nearly hit one. A head popped up, the log produced flippers and slowly paddled out of harm’s way after which it took on its former prone position again. The logs were in fact turtles floating on the surface face down with their shells up and out, glistening in the sun. Seabirds also used them as a resting place. Some “logs” had even white bird poop on them.

Further away in the distance, several black devil rays kept flashing their white underbellies as they executed perfect triple somersaults before crashing down with a white frothy splash.

As we were slowly sinking into a trippy trancelike state, we suddenly perceived serious agitation on the horizon. The dream-inducing gentle swell of the spacetime web was no more and the ocean seemed to boil with frantic bubbles as far as the eye could see. Spinner dolphins ! Hundreds of them! 

Jolted wide awake, we immediately changed course – carefully avoiding the floating turtles of course – to join what looked like a giant dolphin mosh pit. A huge pod of spinner dolphins – our favorite dolphin species because of their upbeat behavior and sleek design- was putting up a show just for the hell of it, so it seemed. The water was so clear we could see meters down, but we couldn’t spot the fish they were probably hunting. Or maybe they were celebrating a successful roundup with their bellies already full. Some of them came over to say hello before joining the action again.

It’s at moments like these that my inner Julie Andrews gets unleashed. With O2’s upper deck posing as my alpine meadow, I felt the urge to break out in song. Blame it on the heat or on a night watch too many.

Daydreaming turtles and devil rays jumping
Sun shining bright and wind that is pumping
Moonlight at night with shooting star strings
These are a few of our favorite things…

I had more where that came from but I wisely refrained from doing so. My Captain did seem puzzled and had a worried look on his face.
I guess I am no match for the Mariachis who are about to enter the scene.