| We are now in Golfito, Costa Rica at the Banana Bay Marina after several very eventful weeks in Panama City. As mentioned in the last log we did leave Flamenco Marina for theLas Perlas Islands as planned. We had a wonderful time on Contadora with our new friends that have a home there and eventually became our guardian angels as events developed. We went to pull anchor and it became clear that we had snagged something heavy. I volunteered to get in the water to see what we were dealing with and it turned out to be a 25ft boat complete with motor that was imbedded on our chain. Somehow while diving I managed to lock my knee in a 90 degree angle. Now we had two problems getting me out of the water and releasing the boat from our chain. Our friends came to the rescue and arranged for a diver and doctor in a matter of minutes after our desperate phone call. To make a very long story short: the boat was released, I was given a shot of pain medication and Steven ran the boat back to Flamenco single handed. A trip to the Doctor and an MRI resulted in arthroscopic surgery and another few weeks in Panama!! We have very high praise for the medical care in Panama . Panama City has excellent private hospitals and appointments can be had in a matter of days not months, The Doctors actually give out their cell phone numbers and call to check on their patients. We love Panama City but the Flamenco Marina was a very difficult place for us to stay. The water is calm but the surge is tremendous. We managed to break a floating dock, tear a bow dock cleat free in the night and snapped a one inch line in two pieces. It is a shame that the best marina, Shelter Bay, is on the Colon side of the Canal instead of the Panama City side…..we may have stayed there forever if that was the case!! Cruising the coast this time of year is interesting. We cannot travel at night because of all the logs in the water due to the torrential rains. We made a few stops in route to Golfito but it was difficult finding anchorages that are not affected by the southerly swells. Two good stops were Bahia Honda and Parida Island. Golfito is a town that time has passed by. There was once a large Fruit Company here and when they pulled out the town fell on hard times. It has a certain charm and a lot of characters that have decided to make this home. It is a Central America’s version of Marathon Key, Florida in many respects. We walked the town this morning and it has several grocery markets and good hardware stores. The Marina has a great restaurant and the scenery is lush and tropical. We hope to explore southern Costa Rica from here and then travel north in a week or so. Adios for now………….. | |