To Date

We have been living here in Costa Rica ever since, then.  It will be three years in July.
We haven't just been sitting around the house though.

We spent two weeks last summer in Newfoundland, with our good friend Wayne.  We met Wayne in Bolivia, and we've been visiting back and forth and meeting in different places for about four years now.  He lives in St. John's, and as a restaurateur (among his many other talents) took us to all the best places there.  And the food was awesome.  I also learned to eat some local delicacies.  Cod cheeks are delicious other than one little part that is sort of slimy.  Then I had this fish and potato dish that was wonderful food in thee "comfort food" genre.  I just wish I could remember the name - it was kind of a funny name that sounded like it should have something to do with beer, but it doesn't.   I also had these little salted fish that were a snacky sort of thing - a bit too salty for me.  I also had cloudberry jam (called bakeapple but it has no apples.)  We had other berries as well - crowberries are the ones that I can remember now.  It was all wonderful.

It is also breath-takingly gorgeous up there.  It is all rocks and ocean and these strange little pools that pop up everywhere.  We took a boat ride and saw whales and puffins.  I have never seen a puffin before, and though I have seen a lot of  whales at different times while sailing, these were pretty spectacular as there were lots of them all around us.  It was a very rugged, rough seeming place nature-wise, and the people are wonderfully friendly.  When we told people we were really enjoying ourselves and wanted to return, they all said "Don't come in the winter!"  No problem there - Mike absolutely won't go anywhere cold.  I would be kind of curious.  After all, I am from Wisconsin.

Then at Christmas, we met up with Wayne and two other friends and spent the New Year in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua.  We rented a nice house with a pool and a great view - it was a good time.  We spent New Year's Eve literally drinking and dancing on the beach along with a ton of other people.  Mike and I not only stayed up past midnight, but we stayed up until like 3 am.  We even (or at least I did) took a swim in the pool after we got back from the beach celebrations.

Besides all of that, we have been enjoying the boat.  Like we planned, when we start craving hot weather and the beach, we make the 2 hour drive to the marina.  We've been going out for day sails, or spending the night at a nearby anchorage.   And believe me, the boat adventures have not been over.

I know that some of you (those who don't sail) wonder why we are always making repairs to the boat or having things broken down.  I do not blame you for thinking that.  As I know I have said before, it's the constant breakdowns that would drive me away from sailing.  But the marine environment is hard on everything.  So everything breaks eventually, and when you own a boat like Magda Jean, you must resign yourself to this reality.  It doesn't matter if the boat is 30 years old or brand new.  We all have these problems.

Anyway, we decided that this year we would get the cosmetic work done on the boat we have never ever done - painting the hull.  It was always in need of a new paint job, and it was further messed up when we were in a marina in Mexico - the name and most of the paint rubbed off one side because of the way they tied us up.  Further, when we changed the name of the boat when we got her, the style and color of the lettering we chose at that time turned out to be one of those things that looked way better in our heads than in actuality.  So we decided to renew the name as well.

The marina where the work is to be done is south of us, in the Gulf of Nicoya.  We figured it would be a two day sail, more or less, depending on circumstances, of course.  We were really excited about getting underway - it had been awhile since we undertook a multi-day sail.  So we headed off with optimism and high hopes (I know that is probably redundant but I don't care).

We sailed down the coast at a wonderful speed - way faster than usual and a comfortable ride as well.  Everything went well until we hit the mouth of the gulf.  Because of water pouring out of the gulf into the ocean, our speed dropped.  And we also lost our wind.  So we decided to turn on the engine and motor sail.

That was going very well - until it wasn't.  Of course the engine crapped out on us.  Right where it is most needed, too.  Mike worked and worked on it, and although he pretty well guessed what was wrong and that it would not be a hard fix.  Well that is all well and good - but we still had to get to the marina.  It was only 50 miles away, across the mouth of the gulf.  I swear we could almost see it.  But with what wind there was being unfavorable, it took us two solid days to sail that 50 miles.  You have no idea how tedious that gets.  You know it is going to be like that, but speaking only for myself, it is torture going back and forth, back and forth, feeling hopeful that you have finally passed some landmark you've been staring at all night, only to have it appear again, making it look as though you have made no progress at all.  And sometimes it's true - you have made no progress at all.  Hence 48 hours to go 50 miles.

But just as we started to approach the harbor entrance, the wind picked up and we were able to sail proudly to the breakwater, where we did need assistance to get into our slip.

The boat was hauled, and the work done was fabulous.  We took everything down to the gel coat, and redid it all.  The bottom not only got new paint, it got a new barrier coat.  The stripes are now bright and jaunty.  The name is on the stern instead of the sides, and is now easier to read and much better looking.  It took a month and a half, but it was worth it.  The shipyard is no south-of-the-border-bargain, but the prices were fair and they came in under estimate, which trust me never ever happens.

After the boat was splashed, the engine guys came to visit.  They agreed with Mike the problem was with the fuel system, and we did all kinds of things to the system, sine I am not a mechanic that is the best explanation you are going to get.  After they finished, the engine was working beautifully, better than it had in years.

While the boat was being painted, we stayed in a rented condo in Manuel Antonio, nearby the marina.  Again, this is an area we had not explored too much.  We loved it - lots of animals and birds (macaws right outside the windows) and the beaches there are really nice.  I liked renting an umbrella and chair, since I need to be out of the sun as much as possible and I liked the part that the guys handling the rentals would also go get you a beer.   The surf was gentle, an the next time I go I am going to make a complete fool of myself by taking a surfing lesson. 

We left the marina with some regret, as it was really fun there and no more expensive than where we are.  But it is further from the house, has more lightning, and the sailing is not as good due to the way the winds are.  Now understand they treat us really really good at our current marina.   But the new place was really hopping and we'd have more company, and you can walk to town for dinner and beer, or choose from the myriad of places right there at the marina.  Food for thought, any way.

One important thing to know is that part of our engine problems are due to under use.  Mike always wants to sail, no matter how slowly, so the engine never really gets to operate under what they call a full load.   We decided we should actually motor for much of the trip so as to give the engine a work out.

We motored along nicely, enjoying the beautiful day, watching seabirds, spotting turtles, all that sort of thing.  It was my birthday, and my only wish was to be underway.  So that night I went to lay down for awhile, while Mike was at the helm.  I was sleeping peacefully until I awoke when the engine stopped and Mike called me.  "I need you to put up the sails!  The engine crapped out!"  I got up and I do not mind telling you I was seriously pissed.  Mike kept apologizing, and I kept telling him it was not his fault.  He screwed around with engine, and again determined that this was not a big deal, he could fix it himself, but not until we got to the marina.

So again we found ourselves trying to sail out of the Gulf of Nicoya, with its strange, arbitrary currents (at least as far as I m concerned) and, of course, pretty much no wind.  When you have no wind and no engine, you have no steerage and just have to drift around, using the sails as best as you can to keep the boat moving forward.  It is hell, truthfully.  The winds flick around to all directions,  requiring tack after tack.  You have to go up on deck and pull the headsails round manually because the wind is not strong enough to push the sail around.  I get panicky and anxious because I can't control the boat, and that is no fun, I hate feeling like that.  Plus that means Mike doesn't get much if any sleep, since I can't always make the tacks by myself.

There are volumes and volumes written about storm handling tactics.  But there is literally nothing telling you how to handle no wind, no current, and no engine.  All you find are instructions to use a spinnaker,  but you can only do that with the wind on your stern.  We had the wind on either side of the nose.             

One we worked our way out of the gulf, we finally hit the Papagayo winds.  These are the same winds that pinned our ears back when we sailed up from Panama.  This time, we welcomed them.  We reefed  back the headsail and put three reefs in the main and sailed beautifully along the coast and again right to the breakwater for the marina.  Of course we then had to be helped to our slip.

So that pretty much brings this blog up to date.  The boat is in the marina looking gorgeous, although Mike has not fixed the engine yet.  We are planning a trip to the US starting Tuesday (it's Sunday today) and going to the 26th.  We will see Steve and get boat parts, and are going to spend two days in my most favorite city anywhere, Ensenada, Mexico.  I am almost more excited for that than anything else.  We are also going to go to Temecula with Steve and Danielle (my future daughter-in-law) to look at wedding sites.  They go to wineries up there all the time.  I am really excited about that, too.  Finally I am going to have a daughter!  Girl things!  Shopping!  Lunches!  Life could hardly be better!

"I detest all men; some because they are wicked and do evil, others because they tolerate the wicked." (Moliere)