Rincon ride

I rousted Jack as early as I dared because we planned to ride the dinghy into the mangroves at Rincon. The place seemed so out of the way and we were hoping to see monkeys and macaws and such.

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We were surprised to hear traffic noises and the binoculars revealed a road just at the water’s edge. We checked our map on Pocket Earth (a great app where you can download local maps for offline use) and saw that this is the main road to access the Osa Peninsula from the mainland. So much for wilderness.

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Still, we launched the dinghy and putted up a little river that didn’t appear on our nautical chart at all but looked on the Pocket Earth map like it went under the road and carried on inland.

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This is one of those times we wish we had a handheld depth sounder, but of course an oar in the water works just as well. And it was close to high tide so we had enough water beneath us that we weren’t too worried.

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We didn’t get very far before the mangrove closed in on us and we couldn’t get around them. We just sat for a while and listened for wildlife. We heard an owl-like bird sound, but didn’t see anything, and most of what we heard was cars on the road which at this point we couldn’t see. Still, it was beautiful.

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Back at the anchorage we beached the dinghy and walked the road about a half mile east, then turned around and went back to the only business we saw, a restaurant that appeared to be closed. When we got there a woman was outside and we asked about breakfast. Sure, she said, just give me a few minutes.

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After breakfast we returned to Escape Velocity for a short run to see if a nearby reef was snorkelable.

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We motored about an hour and a half to where the reef was marked on the chart, but as we’d heard from people who’d been there recently, the water wasn’t clear enough for snorkeling. Still, it was a nice spot and away from the road traffic so we dropped the hook for lunch and enjoyed the scenery.

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We had a long run back to Golfito so after lunch we weighed anchored and started out. The day was clear and the water calm but along about three o’clock the clouds started rolling in and we knew we wouldn’t make it back before the rain came. But we’re sailors, we said, we get wet. No problem.

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We just about got to the entrance to a Golfito Bay when the heavens opened up and visibility went to nearly nothing. Jack was cursing the worn window in the cockpit enclosure that makes seeing out a challenge, and I suggested we just wait it out for a few minutes before heading in.

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We circled for a while until the rain let up enough that we could roll up the window and the skipper could see well enough to steer us into the pass. We picked up our mooring in pouring rain but we were all buttoned up within a few minutes, back inside and dry again.

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