Stravaig's Travels

BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS RAINSQUALLS OLD AND NEW IN THE PORT OF PANAMA WHERE WE HAD TO FIND THE PROT CAPTAIN FOR OUR CRUISING PERMIT ON SEPTEMBER CELEBRATING HANS BIRTHDAY A ROCK THATS ONLY VISIBLE WITH LOW TODE, SO THANKS VERY MUCH FOR GPS! SEPTEMBER MOTORING ALONG ON THE WAY TO PUNTA GUANICO, THE LAST NIGHT STOP BEFORE PANAMA IS THAT A SHIP?????? PANAMAX (WHICH IS THE BIGGEST SHIP THAT FITS THROUGH THE CANAL), SEEN FROM WHERE WE ARE ANCHORED THE BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS IN A RAINSQUALL, ALSO SEEN FROM OUR BOAT IN THE FLAMENCO ANCHORAGE, SORRY HAD THIS ONE ALREADY! A LOCAL HOUSE ON THE LITTLE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF BAHIA HONDA, WHERE WE HAD A TOUR AND VISITED THE SCHOOL GABY WITH SOME OF THE CHILDREN WHOM ALL WANTED TO HAVE THEIR PICTURE TAKEN JEFF IN THE LOCAL BAR IN BAHIA HONDA AFTER OUR TOUR THE REEF NEXT TO ISLA CATALINA WHERE WE SPEND ONE NIGHT ON THE WAY FROM SUNSET IN PLAYA PLANTANAL (BANANA BEACH) ANOTHER OVERNIGHT ANCHORAGE JEFF ASHORE IN THE ISLAS SECAS FOR A WO...

Very sad, this was what happened to our flag in Alma! We now have a new one, swapped it for a very big British flag in the yachtclub in Puntarenas. Hello to all our family and friends! We are on the move again! We finally got our parts, what a lot of problems and delays, but at last everything is there. Now we just have to install it all, but we decided we wanted to get out of Puntarenas. We had a great time there, but there is not a lot to do and we really would like to find some nice, clear water so we can go snorkeling again.Left early morning; you have to leave with high tide, the river is very shallow in places and high tide was at 07.00.They give you an escort in a panga, the guy will guide you out. We could have done it ourselves, but they are very happy to provide the service and you can then blame someone else instead of yourself if you run aground! SOME OF THE FISHINGBOATS COMING OUT OF PUNTARENAS Well, that was some weeks ago! Since then we have had a small engine problem,...

Here we are, in Puntarenas, Golfo de Nicoya, Costa Rica. We are on a mooring in the river in front of the Costa Rica yacht club. The river we have to share with some crocodiles! AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TEHUANTEPEC, VERY BIG WHITE SANDY HILLS. Nice place, bar, restaurant, swimming pool, showers, diesel and gas on the premises. We are almost the only cruisers left, most boats are further south in Golfito, where we hope to be going in a week or so, we are still waiting for some parts to arrive from San Diego. The time between us leaving Huatulco and arriving in Costa Rica was interesting to say the least! The weather window we took advantage of as we crossed the gulf of Tehuantepec turned out to be well chosen and we had no unpleasant Tehuantepecer winds to content with. We continued down the coast, past the Mexico-El Salvador border and eventually we began to make our way down the Niguaraguan coast. We encountered huge squalls with strong winds on the nose and 2 to 4 kts of adverse curre...

Well, just a short note today, there will be a long story soon, but will need to write it all down first. We managed to sail right through tropical storm Alma, the first tropical storm to form this far south in125 years! When we went through it, she was a hurricane and we are happy to have made it in one piece. We have some minor damage to the boat, nothing we cant repàir or has been repaired, a bit shocked ourselves, but just very thankful to be alive. Are now safely anchored in northern Costa Rica , have been looked after by lots of other nice yachties and will be going a bit further south tomorrow. The whole story will be posted soon, have patience, we are still recovering! Love to all, more in about a week!! Jose and Jeff and Stravaig, she helped us getting through it all!

You might want to zoom in on those pics, the top one is a bird on top of a turtle, we saw so many of them, very funny! This little guy hitch a ride for a while, the next one was trying to, but couldnt find a good spot! CABO SAN LUCAS Its been a while, we have not had much luck with internet connections. CABO AT NITE We are doing very well, the bay we are in now is about 100 miles north of Acapulco, which will be our next stop, need to get fuel there, some shopping and do some washing. WHALES TAIL Its the end of the cruising season and we only meet boats that are going north, away from the hurricanes. We go south to get away from them and there are quite a few boats ahead of us, we hope to meet some in the next couple of weeks. From Cabo San Lucas we set of to go to Los Frailes, about 45 miles north, on the way to La Paz. Left with Gil and Lexi on Sunday, but after half a day of motoring and then lots of wind on the nose, we decided to turn back, it was only going to get worse! LOS F...