The Adventures of the Vessel Condesa

Clark March 11th, 2008

Yellowfin tuna fever, that is! (Matt is the only person who will laugh at this joke.)

Condesa cleared into Nicaragua yesterday, after a long birthday weekend of living the life. Larry and I cleared out of Playa El Coco, Costa Rica, on Friday, and what a time we’ve had since then. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday…surfing like madmen, catching fish, drinking beer and rum, and with the Papagayos continuing to howl offshore at thirty knots, the sailing has been spirited too.

We began our little adventure by making a beeline from El Coco to Ollie’s Point, one of the most famous surf spots in Costa Rica. A few tourists came in a panga in the monning, but left just when it started to get good. Larry and I had it all to ourselves for all of my birthday. We surfed until we were exhausted, dehydrated, and sunburned, which was surprising since we spent most of the day in the shade of the barrels. As surfing goes, it was fabulous.

We raised anchor, hoisted a scrap of jib, and let the Papagajos blow us west to the Islas Murcielagos, where we spent a night. Just after our morning snorkeling expedition, a park ranger came in a boat to inform us that we were in a national park and it would be $15 per person per day, so $60 payable at the park office. Since we already had our exit papers from Costa Rica, and didn’t have any cash anyway, we pulled anchor and politely said ‘ba-bye.’ I figure this is fair enough when I just didn’t know. The ranger didn’t seem offended.

We spent a long day pinching against the Papagayos. Larry landed the 15 pound yellowfin tuna, pictured above, while I manhandled the boat in the blustery winds. This is the first proper fish I’ve caught since the Atlantic. We’ve been eating it for days: sashimi, grilled steaks, carpacio, and seared ahi…

Since we couldn’t make San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, by nightfall. We ended up blown about ten miles to the northwest, where we anchored in a likely cove with some promising waves. The next morning, this is what greeted us:

It’s always a little dicey, and exhilerating, surfing an unknown break for the first time, but when it’s breaking six feet…wow.

It is surely a known break – it’s too good not to be – but we still don’t know if it has a name. This can also serve as a lesson in anchoring your boat too close to breaking waves. As the tide went out they started breaking within a few boatlengths…oops. Again we surfed perfect, hollow waves all morning until the tide got really low and some rocks started sticking up.

Surfing is a fabuous sport when you’ve got some of the best breaks in the world all to yourselves. It sucks when you’re out at Zooport with 300 guys wanting to get in fistfights.

Checking into San Juan del Sur was quick and easy. The national policeman was conducting his search of Condesa when Larry jumped and said, ‘Señor! Señor! Tienes un escorpion on your leg!’ I jumped two feet, tripped on a bucket, and fell on my ass. There was indeed about a six inch scorpion on the guy’s leg, just above the top of his jackboot. He reached down casually, said, ‘He’s my pet,’ showed us that the scorpion’s stinger had been nipped off, slipped him back into his shirt pocket, and buttoned him in.

Larry just hopped a cab for the border, and I’m once again alone in some foreign port, another year older and probably not any wiser.

• South America
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