Costa Rica - Ups and Downs

I did want to finish up the Costa Rica trip with one more post about the zip line (the good) and the trip back to Alejuela from Montezuma (the near death experience).



The zip line was absolutely amazing. It's not the biggest one in Costa Rica by far, but Ben and I had a blast. It consisted of a total of 11 "zips" with a visit to a waterfall after the 6th and a beautiful view of Montezuma Beach from the top of the platform for the 8th. The waterfall visit was my favorite part. Ben and I were the first ones in the water, and we led the way - most of the rest of the group was pretty quick to follow once they saw how much fun we were having on the rope swing. Ben harnessed his old diving skills and executed a perfect backflip off the swing. We were glad we saved the zip line for near the end of the trip - we were sore!



The town we stayed in - Montezuma - is about a 5 hour trip by van and ferry from the airport in Alejuela. Both times we've arranged transportation through Montezuma Expeditions. It was fun this time having 8 people because we got a party van to ourselves. On the way back to Alejuela at the end of our trip, as we were coming off the express way the brakes on the van went out. Thanks to extremely quick thinking on the part of the driver who pulled the emergency brake, and a little bit of luck, everyone ended up being ok. We pulled over to the side of the road and waited for another van to pick us up and take us the last 20 minutes to Alejuela. I feel like I should have more commentary on our near death experience, but other than being very happy not to have been pancaked by a semi or thrown off a cliff, I don't have too many other thoughts on the situation.



On the way back to The Bahamas, Ben and I had a layover in Miami. Our flight out of Costa Rica was delayed and Tristan and Erin and Seth and Justine ended up missing their flight to Chicago and joined us for dinner in Miami at an interesting steak joint. After two weeks of fish we were all excited to eat large portions of meat, although we were a little taken a back when we walked in and were asked "Cuantos personas?" We answered back seis before realizing we were back in the US and probably could speak English.

The next morning, Ben and I had a pretty busy day before our flight. I needed to get a prescription filled, and Ben really wanted to get a haircut. We didn't quite have time for the haircut, but we did find, what turned out to be an excellent Cuban Restaurant for lunch. We used the "Around Me" app on the iphone and everything coming up at first was fast food, but finally a Cuban restaurant a few miles away came up and the reviews looked ok so we decided to check it out. As soon as we pulled up we knew it was going to be authentic - there was a long line of Cubans hanging out in front drinking coffee. The winning dish was a black bean soup which was beyond excellent.

Jack Be Nimble Jack be Quick: Limbo and Conch Cracking at the Jib Room

After recharging at Treasure Cay, we headed back to Marsh Harbor for two fun nights at the Jib Room in Marsh Harbor.

Wednesday night was Rib Night. The ribs were excellent and it was tons of food. Both of managed not to eat too much, although I think Ben may have drank a little too much with Kenny from Eva Marie. After the ribs there was singing, dancing and limbo. Ben and I, having a combined age younger than the average (not combined) age held our own in the limbo contest, although the Jib Room has a local ringer. After successfully limbo'ing at about 18 inches, he replaced the limbo bar with one he had wrapped in cotton and doused in rubbing alcohol and proceeded to limbo under the flaming bar, stopping only to light his cigarette. (Our video camera broke, but we do have some footage from our regular camera. Once we have a reliable method for charging our computers for a few days, we will try our best to post a video montage).






Thursday at the Jib Room was a conch cracking session, so we knew we were staying in Marsh Harbor for the day. We decided to take advantage of the lazy day, and Kenny from Eva Marie's free labor. Ben and Kenny lowered the angle of the bow sprit, to - in theory - solve the problem we sometimes have furling (rolling up) the large head sail. Then they hoisted me up the mast to I could attach booties to the spreader. Basically, boot caps are rubber feet which attach to the end of the metal spreader to reduce the chances of ripping the sail if it rubs against the spreader. After all that work we went to Conky Joe's for another excellent lunch.



The Conch Cracking Class at the Jib Room was one of the most fun nights we've had since being back. Kenny from Eva Marie knows just about everyone, so it's fun to get introduced to everyone by the "cool kid." Keith, a local Bahamian, employee at the Jib Room, and captain, ran the class. He demo'd opening 3 conchs slowly, starting with counting to the third ridge and cracking it with a hatchet, to pulling out the ugly white, red and black piece of meet. Kenny's wife Sandra and I agreed we were glad we had enjoyed conch before seeing what the meat actually looked like. After the demos two volunteers had a chance to "race" for the title of fastest new bee conch cracker. The woman who went first made Keith look good - she took about 7 minutes, but was eventually successful. I think I would have given up! Ben went next, and used the extra demo to his advantage - he was not cautious with the hatchet! He clocked in a few minutes faster, but both participants were winners and went home with Jib Room T-Shirts. Ben is excited to have an actual CLEAN (and white!) shirt on the boat.

After the race, Keith finished the demo by showing us how to clean the meat and making delicious scorched conch - conch + lime - basically conch salad minus the peppers and other veggies. We also learned how to saw the end off a conch and blow one, so that we can make one to blow at sunset. Although sometimes people but epoxy over the hole, the best way to make a conch for blowing is to forgo the meat (and cracking it), freeze the shell, tap out of the (dead) conch, and then saw and file the end.




We decided, even if we couldn't quite sail to the Little Harbor, it would be worth the trip down for Pete's 16th Annual 50th Birthday Bash, so yesterday we headed south. We were pleasantly surprised - because there were several jogs around shallow sandbars and we were able to sail (or motor-sail) more than half the way here. We were worried the harbor might be crowded, but didn't have any trouble finding a mooring ball. We did have a little bit of trouble actually mooring because the line on the mooring ball was several feet long and our normal bridle assembly did not work. After a few tries we ended up attaching directly to the mooring ball and heading to shore for a well deserved Blaster (Pete's Pub's house rum drink), a tour of the art gallery, and a walk on the beach. When we got back to the boat, a Manta 40 catamaran was moored next to us. Mike, Cheryl, and their 14 year old daughter Mikala invited us over for drinks which turned into a wonderful chili dinner. Mike retired from IBM, they moved to Florida, bought Happy Times, and are living the dream - sailing south with not much of a plan beyond Georgetown next month and BVI after that.

Location:Little Harbor

Let's name the zones, the zones, the zones; let's name the zones of the open sea!

source: http://pixar.wikia.com/Mr._Ray

Probably one of the most exciting wildlife moments, for me at least, occurred Sunday at Guana. There were several people on the Grabber's dingy dock. I assumed they were looking at the sunset, but when we got closer they yelled that we were actually really close to a huge ray. He stayed around until we got up on the dock. He was huge - probably at least 5 feet across and a very long tail - and looked just like the teacher from Finding Nemo. The biggest difference is the tail was a lot longer, Ben and I estimated 10 feet in total length. We had been snorkeling earlier so I had already said I wanted to watch Finding Nemo, which we have with us on DVD. We decided to just watch the scene with the teacher that night.

The day of the ray was a Sunday and we were on Great Guana Cay for the Nipper's Sunday pig roast. It was excellent, but we ate way too much. We snorkeled right off Nippers after each enjoying a Frozen Nipper and before the pig. The water was clear and I saw a ton of Dory fish (from Finding Nemo again), but snorkeling off Hope Town seemed to be a little better.

Whisper anchored off Tahiti Beach

On Monday we sailed down to Tahiti Beach, which was recommended as one of the best beaches in the area. At first it didn't seem very nice, but once we walked around the point, to where a group a Spanish speakers were playing soccer, it turned out to be very beautiful. After that we sailed back to Marsh Harbor.

This morning we called in reservations to the Jib Room for rib night tomorrow night, did some grocery shopping at Maxwell's and then motor sailed up to Treasure Cay to park ourselves at the bar and charge our electronics.



We're really enjoying our new schedule - which basically consists of us listening to the Cruiser's Net in the morning and figuring out what we'd like to do and what the weather says we can do, then figuring out if there's anything we need to do (water, gas, groceries, etc) and then making a tentative schedule based on that. This week there is a conch cracking lesson at the Jib Room on Thursday night, and rib night on Wednesday, so we will head back to Marsh Harbor tomorrow. This weekend there is a party Saturday night in Little Harbor, but it doesn't sound like the wind will be right, so we might skip that and instead plan the weekend around which ever bar is having the best Super Bowl drink specials.

Bright (Stop)Light, Big City

We've back in Marsh Harbor for the past day and a half. Marsh Harbor is the third largest city in The Bahamas after Nassau and Freeport and also is home to the only stoplight in the Abacos. It's biggest asset, probably, is the large harbor with excellent holding, meaning we can anchor worry free.

After we set our anchor yesterday we took a very wet dingy ride to the fish store (no luck), and then decided to head to the other side of the Harbor to check out the Jib Room Bar/Restaurant at Marsh Harbor Marina. As we were dingy'ing up to the marina we spotted Eva Marie, the boat which docks next to us in Deltaville. We called out for Kenny, and he invited us aboard, and then to the Jib Room for a drink and to catch up. He's been down here for awhile - he took the outside route down and it only took 6 days!

Me, Ben, and the Camera Timer

Fishing in Hope Town

We ended up staying in Hope Town for two nights. Both days we were in Hope Town we headed over to the beach around 1:00 pm and watched an older man and woman escorting a very older woman with a cane a short distance down the beach. Then they all stripped down to their bathing suits and went for a dip before coming back out of the water and walking back up the beach. The first day Ben and I had already decided it looked a little rough and cold to go for a swim. We told the threesome that they were braver than us, and the man told us that the oldest women is 96 and has been swimming off the Hope Town beach for 51 years!

Pink Sand!

The second day we were inspired to go snorkeling off the beach. The water was cold, but we were ok in our wetsuits, and it warmed up as we moved around. Apparently, the water was not quite as clear as the time Ben went with Dan and Sarah, but we saw several fish and plenty of coral and it was nice to get in the water. Ben also had his new Hawaiian sling, but did not see any fish big enough to spear, except for two Nassau Grouper, which are out of season. He was excited to practice with his new toy though.

It was very calm the day we left Hope Town, and not great for sailing, but we decided to go out into the Atlantic via the North Man-O-War cut and try our hand at some fishing - no luck. We spent that night on a mooring ball in Man-O-War's Harbor. The following morning Ben got a much needed haircut. Between the haircut and shaving in Costa Rica he is looking very clean cut.

Conky Joe's, Marsh Harbor

Today we did some much needed boat tasks - mainly filling up on water (at $0.30/gallon) and gas, and taking showers. We also attempted to go for a little sail, but with the dials reading 0.0 knots of wind we decided instead make it a day for exploring Marsh Harbor. We found lobster at a small store with a dingy dock, had lunch at Conky Joe's, checked out the Art Show and then decided to purchase WiFi for the day - allowing me to simultaneously listen to the UVA-Wake Forest Basketball game and post this blog! Oh, Conky Joe's had the most tender conch we've had the whole trip. It was excellent.

Ben at Conky Joe's, Looking very clean cut

Wine Down, Sip Sip

For the price of a drink, free Internet is available at Wine Down, Sip Sip Wine Bar in Hope Town, which certainly beats Out Island Internet. Also, there is a Wii, which we have yet to take part in.

So anyway, we're in Hope Town, on Elbow Cay on a mooring ball waiting out the 50 knot winds which Chris Parker is forecasting for tomorrow night. The good news is that for the first time on our trip we were able to hear Chris's forecast, since we only recently got the new SSB receiver, and today for the first time were up by 6:30 to catch the forecast, so we are aware of the predicted 50 knot winds, and are prepared by being in a well protected harbor on a mooring ball.

Yesterday, after buying some bread and having our laundry done in Treasure Cay, we headed to Marsh Harbor. Predictably the wind was pretty much on our nose, although about half way we turned enough to allow us to motor sail. We went to the "big" grocery store to pick up a few more items, and try to replace our small pot which was ruined by being overheated. We were pretty worried because we use that pot all the time (when you have 3 pots and 2 pans they are all important) and all we could find were sets of pots and pans which were way out of our price (and weight) range. We also figured if we couldn't replace the pot in Marsh, we were going to have a hard time replacing it anywhere else in the Bahamas. Luckily, Ben was able to find a replacement this morning at the Corner Value store, while picking up some fishing gear which we lost in Costa Rica (surprisingly, the only thing that went missing from the porch of our house, luckily our hammock, which was hanging from the same hook was safe).

Ben also purchased some heavier leaders, so this morning we were able to use one of the lures that Sarah's dad made. We didn't have any success fishing, but as always, that's why they call it fishing and not catching.




That's it for now, time to get back to sip sipping and wine'ing down.

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Costa Rica (Not Sailing)

I wasn't planning on blogging about our trip to Costa Rica since it did not involve Sailing or Whisper, but we had such an amazing time the trip deserves a mention. We missed Whisper and are happy to be home, but we really enjoyed relaxing, warm water (at the beach), cooking with friends and a few adventures. 

The meals produced in a very limited kitchen were not only the tastiest food we had all week, but also turned into adventures in themselves - both acquiring the ingredients and figuring out how to cook them with a few propane burners, a charcoal grill-pit, one cutting board (plus an extra "wood cutting board") and a small prep area. Luckily from being on the boat, we've been cooking under similar situations for the last two months. We also thought ahead and brought our kitchen knives and our spice rack from the boat (a large ziplock bag filled with small ziplock bags filled with spices). The first night we cooked we had purchased a jackfish from a Domingo on the beach, but after a little bit of research there was some concern about ciguatera. The fish taco meal turned into veggie tacos and as we sat down we realized the meal was completely vegan (except for a small about of fish consumed by Seth who volunteered to be the King's Taster). Later in the week we had a few rounds of ceviche (You know ceviche?) and an absolute feast of octopus and shrimp. For much better pictures of the food, see Justine's blog. Actually, referring to Justine's blog I realized I had completely forgotten lobster night!

The lobster night actually happened after one of our first adventures. Armando, one of our Costa Rican spirit guides, took us snorkeling off the Montezuma beach and was able to spear about 4 lobsters for us. We purchased the rest from Domingo, our favorite fisherman. The snorkeling was pretty good (not Bahamas good, but the water was clear and there were plenty of fish to see). The bad part for me was the  jellyfish I found as soon as we got in the water. I tried to tough it out, but eventually I had to go in and rest.

She said Yes! We also had an amazing day going to Saint Teresa on ATVs. It was a fun and dirty trip but especially exciting because it turned out to be Tristan and Erin's engagement day. We were excited to be able to celebrate with them and look forward to celebrating at their wedding as well.

The place we stayed is pretty janky - no hot water, limited kitchen, bugs, geckos and crabs in the rooms, small holes in the roof, and a caretaker with some late night antics and the ability to make liquor and cigarettes disappear overnight. All that aside, it's worth it for the amazing view right out the porch. One of the best parts about was the tide pool right out our front door. The tide pool had the infinity pool effect with the ocean and was pretty warm although during high tide the waves would bring in some refreshing cool water which would knock over your beer if you weren't careful. More on the trip, including the canopy tour will need to come later.

Because it's Sunday the laundry in Treasure Cay is closed, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get that big task out of the way. We have quite a few dirty clothes from Costa Rica - it was so dusty that clothes got dirty pretty quick (as compared to the boat where I'm pretty sure I've worn the same pants every day for 2 weeks without washing). We also have quite a few towels to be washed (we asked Ben's parents to bring their own towels to save us $8/load at the laundry, but we were not clear that meant they should take their dirty towels with them when they leave, so once they're clean we are also going to need to find a place to store our "new" towels). We also spent this morning cleaning out the starboard water tank which developed a scummy growth in our absence and smelled awful. Staying in Treasure Cay today will also allow us to buy fresh bread in the morning (the baker was at church this morning).

An Unexpected Sense of Accomplishment

We thought flying from Marsh Harbor to Miami was going to diminish our sense of accomplishment since it would only take an hour, but looking down at the dark blue water between the Bahamas and Miami made us realize how far we've come.

I wasn't able to post these pictures yesterday, but lets see if it works today.

Junkanoo Parade, Green Turtle












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