Back in the Sunny Caribbean!

 

Unloading Aspen in St. Thomas, USVI

Conditions in Patagonia at exactly the time I would have been there.  It would not have been pretty with hurricane force winds and nearly 40 foot seas...

Maria enjoying St. Thomas again

Dinner with Fred on his catamaran, Dakota Dream

Maria and Fred, leaving Charlotte Amalie Harbor, St. Thomas; going to meet Aspen

Aspen transiting the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean, back into the Caribbean Sea

Maria and I dropping Aspen off in Golfito, Costa Rica on the transport vessel Yacht Express

Visitors in Golfito, Costa Rica

Steve, Maria, Peggy and Bruce playing golf in Costa Rica.  Great venue!

 

S/Y Aspen – March 25, 2022 – Log #181

Aspen Position: 18 degrees 21’ N, 64 degrees 44’ W

Francis Bay, St. John, USVI

 

Back in the Sunny Caribbean!

 

Aspen arrived safely in St. Thomas, USVI aboard our transport ship Yacht Express.  What fun was that, seeing her glide into the warm Caribbean waters once again?

 

With Aspen loaded onto the ship in Golfito, Costa Rica, Maria and I had time to explore Costa Rica.  Everywhere was where the jungle met a blue Pacific Ocean with so many endless beaches.  It was stunning, to say the least.

 

The active Arenal volcano, with Baldi Spa built on its’ flank, was so relaxing, along with the vibrant and active beach towns of Dominical, Jaco and then Flamingo Beach.  We watched the sunset every night at Flamingo Beach with our Colorado friends Peggy and Bruce, who spend winters in the tropical sun.  Golfing, beach walking, dinners and hiking passed the time while we waited for Aspen to arrive in St. Thomas.

 

Then it was a redeye flight to Houston, followed by a direct flight to St. Thomas where we felt at home again.

 

Our friend Fred, who spends winters in the Caribbean aboard his catamaran Dakota Dream, invited us to stay aboard his catamaran before Aspen made it safely to St. Thomas.  It was so much better and fun living on his boat, rather than on land while the time slipped by.

 

Unloading Aspen from our Dockwise ship in St. Thomas was easy and smooth, helped by our friend Fred who got to experience a float on-float off transport ship.

 

Once Aspen touched the warm Caribbean waters in St. Thomas, we prepared her for the sea again: rigging sails, cleaning and getting all the onboard systems functional after her long Pacific Ocean wanderings.

 

As I write this, we are tied to a national park mooring at Francis Bay, St. John, USVI.  Warm tropical breezes are wafting through Aspen’s rigging with a brilliant white sand beach off our bow and endless hiking trails disappearing into the surrounding hillsides. 

 

It just doesn’t get much better than this.

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

 

Spending Time in Costa Rica

 

 

Panoramic view of Banana Bay Marina, Golfito, Costa Rica

Maria's tree top flyer ride to Golfito

The Bay

Earthrace, the anti poaching vessel

Appa, the anti poaching dog. They train him by using coconuts in the water

This is the anti poaching drone, wow!

Mess hall onboard the anti poaching ship

Maria enjoying the spacious engine room

At the top of our rain forest hike

Sunset at Golfito.  The photo is un-retouched and as it happened. Notice the raindrops on the water too.

Lunch with our Maine friends, Lisa and Justin, in Golfito after their diving adventure.

View from our rain forest hike

 

                                                Video of the view at the top of our  rainforest hike

S/Y Aspen – February 3, 2022 – Log #180

Aspen Position: 08 degrees 37’ N, 83 degrees 09’ W

Golfito, Costa Rica

 

Spending Time in Costa Rica

 

Maria flew into Costa Rica, nearly a month ago, and instantly recognized Steve waiting for her at the airport in the dark of night.  That was nice!

 

Flying back to Aspen in Golfito, on a tree-top flier, was Maria’s thrill the next day.  I kept telling her the plane seemed high enough to clear so many endless ridges on the way down to the Pacific Ocean.  Luckily, I was right as we landed in Golfito without any pieces of jungle hanging off the plane’s wings.

 

Maria got Aspen and the galley back in ship-shape, after Captain Steve’s big adventure out on the ocean.  That took a while and a lot of work but Aspen looks great once again and is ready for more sailing.

 

Aspen even had her bottom cleaned by a diver in the marina.  Gooseneck barnacles hung like stalactites from Aspen’s stern after being so long at sea, so it was time for some scraping and scrubbing under the water.

 

Captain Steve opted not to do the underwater work and pay someone instead.  Why?

 

Ha!  It seems a salt water crocodile lurks underneath Aspen and can be seen swimming about every now and then.  Bottom scraping was better left to the professionals who don’t mind swimming with that kind of danger, Steve thought to himself.

 

Waiting for our ship to arrive in Golfito, we hike in the rainforest that is at our doorstep, besides taking long walks to the grocery store and little restaurants that sit beside the only road in town.  Yes, this is a very quiet and remote part of Costa Rica, not really visited by many gringo tourists since it is in the very south end of the country.

 

Once the ship arrives, we will do more exploring of fascinating Costa Rica by car, instead of boat.

 

Stay tuned!

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Down to the Banana Republic

A helmet???  Wonder why I needed that?

 

 Bashing in the Pacific Ocean.  Notice the diesel containers taking a beating, along with Aspen and Captain Steve!  Yes, we are heavily reefed for a reason...

Sunrise approaching Golfito, Costa Rica, after 50 days without touching land.

 

How Captain Steve felt after making landfall at Golfito...

Historical marker at Golfito, marking the end of a thriving banana industry.

Rusting debris in the jungle at Golfito, Costa Rica.

Aspen on a mooring in the river at Puerto Amistad, Ecuador

Aspen secured to a dock for some R&R at Golfito, Costa Rica, Banana Bay Marina.

 

More historic sites from the banana industry at Golfito, Costa Rica

A world-class protected Bay, at Golfito, Costa Rica, just waiting to be discovered.

 

S/Y Aspen – January 3, 2022 – Log #179

Aspen Position: 08 degrees 37’ N, 83 degrees 09’ W

Golfito, Costa Rica

 

Down to the Banana Republic

 

Oh my, who would have thought this is where I would start a new year, in Golfito, Costa Rica?  Least of all me!

 

Let’s see, it was 3,000 nm from Easter Island to Golfito, Costa Rica and it took me 26 days for that leg, since they didn’t want me at Easter Island.

 

That is not including 20 days at sea from Ecuador to Easter Island or the four days rolling my guts out while anchored at Easter Island.  So, a total of 50 days before I touched land once again.

 

For an ultrarunner like myself, that just isn’t right.

 

How was it walking on land once I arrived in Costa Rica?

 

‘What do you say to a drunken sailor’, as the song goes? 

 

I was bobbing and weaving like Mohammad Ali in his fighting days, along with crashing into walls and people while trying to walk into the customs office.

 

‘Ah, too much rum’, I heard them mumble or at least what my saltwater logged brain thought they said.

 

Golfito, where I docked Aspen, is truly a backwater and forgotten place.  Every banana consumed by North America, until the mid 1980’s, came from Golfito.  Then labor strikes, banana disease and economic factors caused a complete collapse of banana exports, leaving Golfito essentially a ghost town.

 

Today, relics from plantations owned by United Fruit/Chiquita litter the jungle everywhere you look.  Locomotive engines, warehouses and once majestic houses paint hillsides with decay, rust and memories.

 

The largest sailor’s paradise in the Eastern Caribbean is called Le Marin on Martinique, home to well over 1,000 sailboats.  That is nothing compared with Golfito.

 

Golfito’s Bay would very easily swallow Le Marin in size.  It is truly a world-class harbor here.

 

But there is clean water in this bay, enormous calm anchorages, no mooring balls, small marinas and an undeveloped shoreline that is unsurpassed compared with anything in the Caribbean. 

 

Ah yes, there is also spectacular jungle enveloping everything with toucans, pelicans and so much wildlife everywhere, not to mention world class fishing.

 

Small restaurants are everywhere, including at the marinas, and very reasonably priced.  Oh yes, beer is 50 cents in case you were wondering.  They also have good rum!

 

Maria is flying in to see me after so long away.  I just hope she recognizes this sea-worn, battered, skinny, longhair and sun-burnt sailor.

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Steve

PS - More pictures can be found at:  http://syaspen.blogspot.com/

1.     You can follow Aspen’s tracker and see my route: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_Aspen

2.     Aspen will also have a Garmin tracker working so you can follow along:  https://share.garmin.com/SYAspen

3.     Our updated sailing book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com (www.voyageintohell.com)

4.     And the new edition for the book, Leadville Trail 100; History of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Running Race is also available at Amazon.com (www.LT100history.com)

Land of Giant Statues

As close as Aspen can get to land at Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Chile

Aspen anchored at Easter Island!

Easter Island statues, taken with a long telephoto lens!

 

S/Y Aspen – December 3, 2021 – Log #178

Aspen Position: 27 degrees 08’ S, 109 degrees 26’ W

Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Chile

 

2,414.8 nautical miles in 20 days!  It is a long way to this rock called Easter Island or Rapa Nui.

 

Sunrise on my 20^th day at sea found me just off the North Coast of Easter Island, where the ancient people first landed.  Giant stone statues line the shore, symbols of a failed society from historic times.

 

I sailed around the island to the only settlement, called Hanga Roa and anchored in the roadstead. 

 

There is no harbor, marina or anything protected on the island for an anchored boat.  Aspen pulls on her anchor, rocking and rolling constantly with the big Pacific Ocean swells that sweep in.  Oh, the price one pays for adventure.

 

Well, my voyage hit an unforeseen obstacle, hmmm, well an insurmountable wall, when I arrived.  The Easter Island government decided NOT to permit me to land, go ashore or even clear into Easter Island.  It was forbidden.

 

I had received permission to arrive and go ashore on Easter Island before I left Panama.  Now the officials changed their minds with nothing specific noted or cited.  Ah, never mind they just said.  We don’t want you.

 

Mainland Chile has decided to take the same tack, no vessels are allowed into the country, even in Patagonia.  We don’t want you here either, for any reason, the politicians declared.  

 

The world has gone mad, I believe.

 

Maria likes the expression, “Life is fired at you point blank.” 

 

It seems Aspen and I have been in front of a firing squad here at Easter Island.

 

My Father-in-law miraculously survived a Kamikaze attack on his ship in the Pacific Ocean during WWII.  His outlook became, “Man’s inhumanity towards man.”

 

There seems to be very little in the way of humanity or compassion left in the world.

 

You can follow Aspen’s tracker to see my route: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_Aspen

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

 

Fair winds,

Steve

PS - More pictures can be found at:  http://syaspen.blogspot.com/

1. Aspen will also have a Garmin tracker working so you can follow along:  https://share.garmin.com/SYAspen

2. Our updated sailing book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com (www.voyageintohell.com)

3. And the new edition for the book, Leadville Trail 100; History of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Running Race is also available at Amazon.com (www.LT100history.com)

Southern Hemisphere

 

Pilot boat guiding Aspen into Puerto Amistad

Neptune's toast!

Panama electronics expert working on Aspen's autopilot

A German Shepard dog searching Aspen in Ecuador!

When the sea was calm for 1 hour...

Leaving Panama with a calm sea.  That didn't last!

Puerto Amistad, Ecuador.  In the river where Aspen is moored.

Aspen's mooring, fore and aft, in the river.

It is very shallow in the river at Puerto Amistad.  The long bridge makes for a nice run too!

Drone picture of Aspen's mooring at Puerto Amistad, Ecuador

S/Y Aspen – November 6, 2021 – Log #177

Aspen Position: 00 degrees 35’ S, 080 degrees 25’ W

Puerto Amistad, Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador

Southern Hemisphere

 It took three attempts to finally leave Panama. 

 On the first try the alternator failed.  The second departure date, the autopilot quit.  Then the third time, Aspen worked great, all the way to Ecuador.  People say things happen for a reason but it was really frustrating to say the least.  At least the repairs could be done in a great place as Panama, instead of somewhere down the line where there are few facilities for fixing things.

Crossing the equator is always exciting, not related to the wind and seas.  Neptune was waiting for Aspen and wondering what gifts she brought:  Only the finest Panamanian RUM and M&M’s of course!  May Neptune help us on our journey around South America.

Puerto Amistad allowed us to arrive in Ecuador, since most ports are closed to marine traffic.  I applied 3 weeks before we set sail and was granted permission to enter Ecuador.  The COVID test upon arrival coincided with a three day fiesta so there was no leaving Aspen for dry land until the parties stopped.  My running legs wanted exercise in the worst way.

Aspen is tied bow and stern to moorings in the river, the only place to stay.  The river flows at 2.6 knots, both directions, depending on the tide.  Coming into the river a pilot is required to guide us in and the entrance can only be attempted at high tide, due to the shallow depth and breaking seas.  It was quite a ride on Aspen when we came in.  Kind of like driving a Formula 1 car, maneuvering to avoid shoals, rocks, and the huge waves, but without the blazing speed of a race car.

The marina people are very nice and helpful.  Between my poor Spanish language skills and their lack of English, we eventually get things understood:  Donde esta diesel?!?

The temperature is surprisingly cool, both day and night, considering we are sitting on the equator.  It certainly is not hot here compared with Panama heat!

This area is kind of an Ecuadorian resort town with wealthier Quito residents visiting and partying.  There is one modern grocery store in a small mall that has a very nice food court.  KFC and Carl’s Burgers are two popular eateries in the mall.  Ah, I won’t perish after all.

The sea and distant horizons are calling Aspen again.  Departure date will be this coming week for Easter Island, Chile. 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

Fair winds,

Steve

PS:

1.   Aspen has a Garmin tracker working so you can follow along:  https://share.garmin.com/SYAspen

2. Our updated sailing book, Voyage Into Hell, is available at Amazon.com (www.voyageintohell.com)

3. And the new edition for the book, Leadville Trail 100; History of the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Running Race is also available at Amazon.com (www.LT100history.com)