Bahia Brasilito

As we disliked the constant winds and we found nothing of interest at Bahia Potrero (Costa Rica), we decided to motor around the point to the next bay for a few hours and then go much further south later in the day. We arrived, after trolling slowly for 1 hour, at Bahia Brasilito (N10°24.908' W085°47.841') at 10:00 and anchored off the shore in this bight, open to the northwest. Once again, as in Bahia Potrero, we dinghied over the precarious surf.

Sea Turtle in the background of this surf

There is a small village here where we bought a few groceries and looked up at all the mangoes overhead in the trees. Where's a ladder when you need one! The long sandy beach was fairly deserted and lined with a lot of poor looking homes. But the people were happy and friendly.

A bicycle in front of someone's home

Jordan timed the surf to return to Sea Turtle and we had an exciting ride, just barely making it! We raised the sails and pulled anchor at 13:00 in semi-overcast skies, temperature of 32°C (90°F) and winds from NNE, though not as bad and gusty as yesterday.

 After rounding the point at Cabo Vela, we were caught off guard with a full main and 3/4 headsail when we suddenly encountered very strong offshore gap winds. Jordan was able to furl-reef the headsail, but didn't want to fight to reef the mainsail. Sea Turtle was heeled over and screaming along for about an hour and then the winds completely died.

Heeling over just a bit...

A few dolphins joined us but only for a couple of minutes this time. At 18:00, we watched a glorious bright orange and red sunset and hopefully a bit of wind for the rest of the way.