Sailing Costa Rica
I’ve sailed all my life, in fact growing up on Cape Cod it’s pretty much the law for a kid in his teens to own a sailboat. In fact, I remember my dad helping me buy my first sunfish. I gave him the first thousand dollars he had saved in my life working summers and he came back with my new sunfish. I remember finding a two-wheeled hand truck specially designed for hand-pulling sunfish onto the beach. It had a metal loop like the top half of a giant paper clip that went through the hole in the center dash with two inflatable scooter tires. Hooray, I was sailing.
I now live in Costa Rica and still love sailing and am truly fortunate to sail in Costa Rica with a friend and several clients who have allowed me access to their boats. We recently had a wonderful sail out to Ollie’s Point and around Papagayo in a beautiful 32 foot trimaran that really pulls, if you know what I mean. The boat is so fast in the right winds that the dolphins were able to ride our bow wake like they do on power boats. In fact, the wake, as I recall, assured me that we could have taken out at least 1 water skier. The man was that funny.
We were sailing at the end of the dry season in Costa Rica, which has a surreal beauty of its own. The transformation from lush jungle to dry California foothills takes place in Guanacaste every year starting in December and lasts about two months, as the jungle transforms from an impenetrable green carpet to a stark, dry, brown landscape. of a desert covered with leafless trees. those of you unfamiliar with weather patterns in the world’s last dry tropical forest (I know it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but bear with me). The rainy season (green) lasts from April to December, then the winds come out of the north. and the rain stops on a dime. A perpetual sun embraces the region for five months without normally a single drop of rain. The days are beautiful and warm but definitely a tourist’s delight. The dry and sunny season coincides perfectly with the northern winters, making Costa Rica a very popular destination for snowbirds.
The best thing for boaters in Costa Rica is that at this time of year the northerly winds are strong and constant. On this really beautiful day we had a 15-20 knot northeast wind which allowed us to have a lot of fun with such a skinny lady and a captain who knew how to tune that boat.
We moor the boat in Playa del Coco for the after party that is always the custom after a day sailing around Costa Rica. Fresh seafood, buckets of beers and a party atmosphere really were the perfect climax to a great day of sailing.
