Costa Rica








We arrived in Costa Rica on April 22nd after a 23 hour leg from Nicaragua and set anchor in Bahĩa Santa Elena which is described as “a pristine, nearly land-locked cove in northern Costa Rica’s Santa Elena National Park”. Basically you can only access it by boat.

When we anchored we noticed another Kadey Krogen in the bay (there were only 2 boats) and realized we had caught up to Hobo (same exact boat as ours with a couple and their dog who looked like combo of both our dogs). Every marina we have been at people had been perplexed because they thought we were Hobo so we were anxious to meet them and talk Krogens. The next day we landed the dingy on the beach so the dogs could swim and that they did, Monty jumped into 20 feet of water and Mazie followed (this is a dog who as of March barely would get her paws wet but big brother has helped her get over her fears). We saw that the Hobo crew was making it over to the beach with their dog and thought we should hold onto ours until they made it ashore…..but we didn’t. Both dogs jumped into their dingy and chaos ensued. Let’s just say we weren’t invited over for cocktails that night.


We made some great food and relaxed (my black bean & mango salsa & rice combined with Greg’s pork ribs that I crisped in the oven was a big hit). The next day Jeff and I took the dingy over across the bay and swam in crystal clear water, and then we hiked into the mangroves and saw a sloth. We almost ran out of power on the way back, oars were out and Jeff was ready but we made it.

We left Sunday early to head to Golfito. The seas were calm and it was uneventful, even the dreaded Papagayo winds were calm. I made some killer fresh mango daiquiris and smoked the rest of the Jack Crevali. Dolphins were everywhere and the dogs enjoyed a nice relaxing ride.

The plan is to stay in Golfito for a few days to clear in and out of Costa Rica. We’ll do some provisioning and use the internet so I can submit my final projects for both classes. We next head to Panama which should take about 3 ½ days. I am really excited about Panama! Maybe it’s because it’s a big city, or perhaps it’s because I get to meet Greg’s friend Rebecca who lives there and I get to talk to an actual female besides Mazie. Anyway the plan is to wait for our transit space and head to the San Blas islands where we will wait out a weather window to cross over to Aruba. We may stop in Cartagena where I will promptly become “Z Joan Wilder”.

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