DATE _5/19/08__    TIME __3:30 AM_

START PORT _Puesta Del Sol, Nicaragua _______END PORT ___Golfito, Costa Rica Nicaragua _____

START MILES_17783_  END MILES _18171____ LEG MILES __388____TOTL MILES ___17783____

START HOURS  _2870__   END HOURS __2934___LEG HOURS __64___TOTAL HOURS __2934___

START FUEL(6446) _2975_  END FUEL _3189___  LEG FUEL ___214___ TOTAL FUEL  _526_____

AVERAGE MPGs __1.81_____ REMAINING RANGE __1.325___ GEN FUEL _5679_/_5809_/ 170___

END PRT __325__ END STRBD  _350____  END SPLY  _60______FUEL BALANCE ___735_______

SEA STATE__Mostly Calm –2 to 4 foot swells_______________________________________ _________

WIND DIRECTION_____10 to 15 changing mostly East South __________________________________

5/19/08 We cleared immigration this morning and got ready to head to Costa Rica.  The officials in these countries are much different that the official in the United States.  The immigration and Port Captain asked for beer at 10:00 AM when they came by.  We also gave them Nexus T-shirts.  Interestingly the immigration officer came back in about 30 minutes and we think he was asking for a tip.  He was saying Propina which we believe is Spanish for a tip.  We thought this was sort of odd and forward.  We were not 100% sure that was what he was asking for and we just said “no entiendo” which we means we do not understand.

5/20/08 We headed out about 3:30 yesterday and we were about 20 miles behind some other boats that had left earlier.  Tropical blend, Wahoo and Moody Blues.  The first night was a little lumpy but it smoothed out today.  The other three boats stopped at an anchorage in the northern tip of Costa Rica and we are heading on to Gofito, Costa Rica.  It is about a 400 mile trip and that should take us three nights and three days. 

Today we felt a vibration in the boat.  It was slight but noticeable.  We stopped the boat but could not find anything stuck to the prop.  There was some growth on the prop so Larry scraped that off.  While he was under the boat a large group of dolphins were circling him and just watching.  The water here is just an incredible color of blue.

The vibration is still there but it is very slight.  We are not sure at this point what it may be.  The injectors are overdue for inspection and testing so one of them may be not perfect. 

May 20, 2008 – From DeeDee’s Personal Log

We are on our 2^nd night cruising from Nicaragua (Asserederess) to Golfito, Costa Rica.  We were about 12 miles behind Wahoo, Tropical Dance, Moody Blues, and Hiatus, but they pulled into the first bay in Costa Rica and we kept right on going.  We needed to take advantage of the good weather.  We are trying to make it through the canal and into our reserved slip by June 1^st on the other side of the canal, at the Shelter Bay Marina. 

We have had quite an emotional year so far, and are trying to decompress from such sadness and stress, all the while being thankful for our family still being together and making through the rough times.

I no longer have the desire to write about the places we have been or the people we have seen because at the time of meeting the people or seeing the places I am usually just trying to recoup some sanity, serenity and tranquility from our hectic times back in the States.  Maybe it’s because we are just going through the motions, so to speak, and trying to get off this coast, (which is still pretty and holds fond memories of great people we have met), because we have been sorely disappointed in the fact that there so few great beaches and the water clarity out right sucks.  We are all about being in the water, getting exercise by just being active in the water and enjoying great beaches,  thus we moved on to a boat.  When your daily routine is built around being in the water, snorkeling, diving and just playing around, going to the beaches, hanging out with your kids, having drinks and foods from restaurants and bars within a few feet of your children playing at the water’s edge with their friends, it can get boring really fast on the Pacific side because the coast line doesn’t offer that.  The water is either too cold to get into at all, or you can’t get your dinghy to the beach because of this enormous swell that is too difficult and uncomfortable to navigate, or the water is too unhealthy from dumping waste that you fear to go into because of getting sick (which we did every time we visited Zihuatanejo, Mexico—still one of our favorite places to be due to people, lifestyle, etc.).  My motivations have changed.  I no longer seem to care anymore even to keep up the game.  I want less people that I truly “know” in my life and want acquaintances to just hang out with and have light hearted fun and conversation.  I am so tired of being serious and having a point to everything.  I used to be able to just be silly.  That is one of the great things about having young children around.  They are light hearted and don’t take anything too seriously.  That is why I like hanging out with Isabella so much.  She’s easy.  Some how I have just let life and the crap in other people’s lives get to me and it takes me longer to shake it off.  I am so tired of needing down time.  I need the downtime because I am too wound up in bullshit that just doesn’t matter and accomplishes nothing.  I want meaningless fun and no-nothing days.  I miss being a kid.  Nobody expected you to solve all problems, be effective, be punctual, be productive or efficient all the damned time.  I’m tired of being a grown up all the damned time and I’m tired of being around people who hold on to only crap in their lives and want only to pass that misery on to everybody else because they don’t have the balls to be anything but be miserable and lifeless.  Every time Isabella says she wishes she was a big kid I tell her that she should really enjoy the heck out of being a kid.  It doesn’t last long enough and, while you get to do more things when you’re older, you also get more responsibility and accountability, which isn’t that fun.  Whenever she says things like that I put on one of two movies, which are great examples of freedom as a kid:  “Goonies” and “The Sandlot”.  I loved these movies when I was younger and she loves them too. 

We are traveling about 9 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.  We have 2 more days before we reach Golfito and I have so much I would like to get back to doing.  I would like to clean the boat.  I did laundry today, but was so wiped out from the massive, hectic traveling that I did before that I just didn’t have the energy to even stay awake for long.  I slept through most all of my shifts last night, barely keeping my eyes open.  I would like to start back working out and get on my little 90 day schedule again.  I started school again with Isabella today and it was great.  We have never been able to do school while under way because she usually gets sea sick, but today was very calm and she was obviously not sick because she was playing her wii (not misspelled—it is her favorite interactive, roll playing game) all day and watching movies.  So, it was a good day to give it a whirl.

While in Phoenix, taking care of Mom’s situation, we were all reunited with our long-time family friend Arlene.  She moved from Monroe to San Francisco many years ago and is still in the business of electrolysis and permanent make up.  She looks great and seems not to have changed at all.  She brought us her famous, delicious pralines and we were so happy and sad to see her.  It’s so hard to believe how much she has been gone from our lives.  She was with us all of the time, being such good friends with mom, and then she moved on in life and we just lost touch over the years.  One thing about cruising, you get to meet so many people and there are usually a few that you hang on to, but due to moving on so much, you really don’t get to see the ones you connect with because everyone has their own agenda and it usually never coincides with yours.  We say that there are only a handful of people that we will stay in touch with, the ones we will keep “for life” and that when we do settle somewhere and aren’t living on as tight of a time schedule and as tight of a budget, we plan on visiting them and keeping them around.  I think back to how many people have grown out of our lives and seeing Arlene made me miss her so much and made me realize how much I have missed her.  She was such a big part of our everyday lives and it doesn’t seem that long ago, but it has been 20 years.  I don’t want to wait 20 years to see anyone again.  It’s just difficult, because these days, even if you’re not a cruiser, most people move away from each other and don’t see each other for many years.  I guess that is just progression, but I remember there was a time, not too long ago, when people lived in the same neighborhoods for 20, 30 years and had the same friends for ever.  I guess that was kind of boring and it definitely isn’t my style, but it’s so sad that kids aren’t truly friends for ever.  Larry had a great child hood, living in the same neighborhood for several years and his family, the whole clan, got together at someone’s house every weekend and all holidays.  He is still friends with the guys he went to school with as a young boy.  I think that is so wonderful.    

May 21, 2008 From DeeDee’s Personal Log

Our 3^rd day on our voyage from Nicaragua to Golfitto, Costa Rica.  We cannot seem to wake up on this trip.  Isabella seems to have more energy than Larry or I.  I just can’t seem to shake the “sleepies”.  Usually I use the down time, when it’s calm, to clean house, dusting, vacuuming and what not, but I can’t seem to keep my eyes open past completing one task, usually preparing a meal.  I guess we have not recuperated from our trip to Phoenix.  That return was a very long day and we barely got any rest the next day or so before we had to prepare the boat for our departure on Monday. 

We have had calm seas and good weather for the most part.  We foresaw bad weather in a certain area before we left but decided it would pass before we got that close, so we went anyway.  Only a few spots have we had rough seas and it only lasted a short while, but last night, or early this morning before the sun was up, I had a scary experience with a thunderstorm (or papagallo as the natives call them) and it included lightening.  I came on watch at 3 a.m. and was on edge until a little after 5 a.m.  I saw how big the storm was on the radar (thank God for radar---to think some cruisers don’t have one on board) and I could see that it was moving pretty quickly, but if we didn’t get moving the wind was going to blow the biggest portion of it right on top of NEXUS.

I am never worried about storms.  I get uncomfortable in rough seas and I don’t like traveling in dense fog or heavy rains only because it wipes out your visibility on your radar and makes for a tougher passage.  You just have to be on the look out for other boats by looking for their navigation lights and sometimes, when it is really “soupy” you have to make security calls over the VHF and blow your horn at regular intervals.  Nothing complicated; it just means more work and being sharp.  But I cannot stand lightening.  No boater/cruiser wants that to deal with it.  If rust is a boat’s cancer, then lightening can be a boat’s cardiac arrest.  We were involved in a situation many years ago, aboard our first boat, trying to outrun a storm for 80 miles.  We just felt it was a matter of time before we got hit, because lightening was striking all around us.  We were never struck, but the water near us was and Larry felt it through his contact with the radar screen.  Anyway, last night, I have to admit was not as intense as my first, bad experience in a lightning storm, but I was intimidated and prayed constantly, watching flashes of lightening strike the water or in the air just above us.  It was difficult to tell how far away it was, actually, because it was dark and my frame of reference was gone.  But it was close enough.  Just a soon as we would get close to the edge of the storm on the radar the wind would kick up and the rest of the storm would blow in.  On the radar, the storm had the shape of a walking cane, mostly just the handle part of the cane, with the worst of the storm on my starboard, to the west of us.  I was hoping to get out of it before that part hit. 

Around 10 ‘til 5 the sky starting getting that beautiful color of blue, which sort of looked like the night before when there was a full moon.  We weren’t completely out of it yet, but would be soon and the lightening seemed to be behind us.  There was still a lot of cloud coverage and the sky didn’t turn that beautiful pink and bright yellow it does when the sun peaks over the horizon, but it was light enough for me to see these huge trees floating in the water just to my starboard bow.  One was about 20 feet long and less than a foot in diameter.  But there was what looked like an upside down tree floating, with its root system on top.  The last time we saw something like that, we were in the Tobago Keys area of the eastern Caribbean.  We stopped the engines and Larry jumped in to get a better look at it and found that it extended about 30 or 40 feet down into the water.  That’s probably what the situation was this morning.  Another couple of trees floating adrift were at least 30 to 40 feet long and 2 feet or more in diameter.  I cannot imagine what it would have done to the boat had we hit them.  It was almost like being back in Alaska and British Columbia last summer.  Due to all the logging up there it was like a floating forest in the water, which is why you can’t cruise at night up there.

We have seen a few pods of dolphins but not much other sea life.  A few birds have landed on the boat and even stay when Larry shoots them with his sling shot.  They must be brave or Larry’s not hurting them or maybe they’re just stupid.  I seem to be rambling.  It must be because I am tired but cannot sleep. 

This is what our usual cruise mode is like:  We take off, either from a marina or from being at anchor.  Everything has been put away so it doesn’t fly around in the event the seas pick up.  Isabella gets comfortable on the port side sofa in the salon.  Larry’s at the helm.  I float between the two of them, getting them stuff to drink or eat.  Then I read a bit and get sleepy.  Just as I drift off into a little nap I feel a little, bitty finger poke me in my head until I open an eye.  It’s Isabella.  She wants another video or for me to set up her wii so she can play Super Mario’s Brawl.  She plays for a while and then she gets me to play.  I like it but only play about 5 or 6 games with her and then move on to other things like preparing lunch or finding a video for Larry to watch.  Larry turns on the generator because it’s hot and muggy, which means I can do some laundry.  I usually have 2 or 3 loads.  I get that started and go back to reading a book.  I ask Larry if he wants to take a break (I can read or watch a video while on watch during the day) and he usually says no because he is cursed with never being able to sleep when the sun is up.  Thank goodness I don’t have this problem.  As Larry says, I can sleep on a picket fence.  So, I go back to the laundry and try to entice Isabella with treats if she will do some school while underway.  She usually gets sea sick with the least bit of motion, so, in the past I have not made her do school while underway, but lately we’ve been successful.  I have a feeling that will all change when we get back on the Caribbean side.  It gets quite choppy and uncomfortable over there. 

Anyway, later I cook dinner, clean up after that.  I can use this time to break out the bread maker and make the boat smell really good.  Yesterday I made 3 loaves of bread to have some to freeze.  (I also made brownies—Larry’s favorite).  Sometime after dinner, I take Isabella downstairs if it’s not rough or we go outside in the cockpit if it is rough and I give her a shower, make her brush her teeth and put on fresh, clean bed-time clothes.  We have a great hot/cold shower on the back in the cockpit and a sink by the grill and icemaker.  All of this makes it easy to shower and get cleaned up if it’s too rough for Isabella to go down stairs, or when we come home from a long day at the beach.  I try to spend a little time cuddling with Isabella, reading a book, watching a good movie, and get her ready for sleep.  I go on watch at 9 p.m. and prefer that she is asleep or close to it.  I stay on watch until midnight.  Last night I went on watch early because Larry was tired and I had gotten some rest during the day.  I’m usually better about staying up late and don’t mind pulling longer shifts at night, sense I can sleep on a picket fence, anytime, anywhere.  Larry comes on at midnight to 3 a.m.  I go back on from 3 to 6 a.m., which is great because he usually gets up that early anyway.  If Isabella lets me sleep I have no trouble staying asleep until 9 or 10 but sometimes that doesn’t happen and it’s usually o.k. with me because I know I will get some rest later.  And then our whole cycle starts all over again.  Pretty uneventful (hopefully) and can get mundane, but after the 3^rd day it gets pretty easy to do.  The first day isn’t so bad but the 2^nd day is sometimes hell.  After the 3^rd day you get used to sleeping for 3 hours and even wake up earlier than when your next shift begins.  It’s like a little internal clock that works on its own.  However, when you finally make your destination and are staying there for a while, I find that I still wake up in the middle of the night, after about 3 hours.  I usually go back to sleep pretty quickly, though. 

This day has been nice because it is cloudy and rainy with a cool breeze.  You rarely see this.  The sun is usually up high and hot and there isn’t always a breeze at all.  The humidity is what makes it uncomfortable and the reason everything sweats on the inside of the boat.  Being sticky and not being able to get comfortable for sleep is why we turn the generator on.  We try not to run it too much because Larry has to change the oil more frequently, and now the fuel prices are so high, much higher than when we began cruising, so now we try to tough it out more than we have in the past.

5/22/08 We had an easy and uneventful balance of our trip to Golfito.  We like or should say love it when it is calm and easy cruising.  It is much different on the Pacific side as everything is usually big slow swells.  The average interval between waves is about 12 to 14 seconds and on the Caribbean/Atlantic side it is usually about six seconds and 8 seconds is a good day.  The work Pacific actually means calm or tranquil. 

When we are on the Atlantic side we measured how rough it was getting by when the doors on the electric panel start sliding forward and back in a head sea.  As I think about it, that has not happened at all on the Pacific side. 

Clearing in here in Golfito is probably the most difficult we have had anywhere.  It is not that they gives us problems, it is just that they are rarely available.  Here in Golfito we start with the Port Captain.  He clears you in and makes sure we have all our papers in order.  Then we need to head to all the other places and we return to him when complete with our rounds. The other places all need to be reached by Taxi so we hired a taxi to take us place to place.  The next place is immigration.  We all need to show up in person there.  That was about 90 minutes to fill out paperwork.  After immigration we headed to customs.  That was about another 60 minutes to answer questions and fill out the paperwork.  Then we headed to quarantine.  We had called her and let her know we were coming from the Port Captains office.  She said she would be available but would be out to lunch from 12:00 to 1:00.  We went and ate lunch ourselves and headed over there at 1:00.   When we arrived she was not there so we waited.  We waited until 2:00 but no one showed up.  Fortunately, the taxi driver knew where she lived.  He drove over to her house to see if she was at home.  When he arrived at her house, she was not home but her mother told him she was shopping at the duty free shops.  Her mother gave the taxi driver her cell phone number and let her know she was waiting.  We waited another 30 minutes before she showed up.  She said she just forgot we were coming and apologized. 

We ran into this type of problem lots of times in the smaller islands of the Caribbean so we were not surprised by it.  However, it sure makes you miss the 1^st world way of doing business sometimes.

5/23/08 The bottom of the boat had not been cleaned in some time.  The last time was in Mexico.  We have a set up with air tanks and a 60 foot air hose to clean the bottom.  It takes about 2 hours to clean the bottom if it is not too bad but up to 4 hours if it has lots of growth.  When Larry jumped in the hull did not look bad but it was obvious that the metal was not done in Mexico.  This is why Larry prefers just to do the work himself.  50% of the time he ends up needing to do the work over.  In this case, the hull takes some time to do but it is easy as it is a flat surface and he just scrapes the hull with a plastic scraper. The metal is more intricate and a bit of a pain in the ass to do.  The metal includes the main prop, the wing engine prop, the blades in front of the stabilizers, the base of the stabilizers, the grounding plate, the bow thruster, the engine keel cooler and the stabilizer keel cooler. 

Getting behind the keel coolers takes a little bit of ingenuity.  The keel cooler is basically pipes that have oil or anti freeze running through them and the water cools the fluid.  The pipes are installed against the boat so getting behind them is quite a trick.  Larry uses some metal pipe tape that is bendable and can get behind them.  He wraps the tape around the pipe and slides it up and down to get the barnacles and growth off.  The bow thruster is a bit more challenging.  It has a counter rotating prop on each side and getting behind it is a bitch.

A few of the zincs had also gone bad.  The zincs are sacrificial metal which are designed to corrode first so the metal on the boat does not corrode.  They last forever if we are anchored out but when we are in a marina the stray electrical current chew them up pretty quick.  We have 5 large hull zincs, one on the prop, one on the line cutter which is a blade attached to the prop to cut any ropes or fish lines we pick up,  one on the wing engine shaft, one on the wing engine prop, two on the stabilizer blades, and two on the bow thruster.  This is also a bit of a trick to change because they each have a nut holding them on and a washer in front and behind them.  You need to remove this underwater when moving back and forth from the current.  (without dropping them)   There are just not enough hands to hold the wrench, the old zinc, the washers, the nuts, etc.  Larry just takes one trip at a time taking off one nut at a time.

We are still putting things on which we brought back from the states.  Today Larry also installed the new dinghy light.  The old one broke when the dingy got caught under the dock in Mexico and a swell came in and crushed it under the dock. 

Back to the “might as well do it yourself” mantra.  Larry found a guy to come help him wax the boat.  He came the first day and worked for three hours and then said he would come the next day and really get started.  We are anchored out here and Larry was to pick him up at 8:00 AM the next morning.  He was a no show.