El Salvador to Golfito, Costa Rica

After two weeks at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador our friends from Effie, Equinox, Cygnus, Pancheeta and Cygnus waived good bye from the docks as we left to cross the bar and head to Costa Rica on what was planned to be a three day sail.

Rojelio, the pilot, guided us out through the surf as perfectly as he brought us in. Our friends Alex and Hank rode in the panga for moral support and photo opportunities.

Excited to sail off to new adventures, it was sad to leave our friend and the happy, ever-smiling Salvadoreans.

After 2.6 days of straight sailing we arrived at Bahia Dulce, a huge bay which leads to Golfito (which translates as "little bay")

Golfito is located about 340 kilometers south of San José. The small port city with about seven thousand inhabitants on the one hand by the Golfo Dulce, on the other by green hills with pristine rain forest trees.

The small town offers rustic hotels, ATMs, restaurants, Internet cafes and in the northern zone in the colonial style houses of the banana company. It was a "company town". Golfito was the main port in the southern Pacific with only huge banana plantations. Because of diseases with which the bananas were infected and massive strikes by the workers the United Fruit Company decided to abandon the area. Poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism and general depravity ensued. The government decied to help the impoverished region by establishing a duty free zone. Tourism in general has helped the area recover. Close by there is a national park, beautiful beaches such as Playa Zancudo, the surfing paradise Pavones, fishing, snorkelling, hiking and other activities