Long Beach to Cost Rica

Long Beach to Cost Rica

Sailing with Dummies (California to Texas, Day 7)

Monday, June 15, 2009

by Mike

Land Ho Ho Ho!

Before sunup Isla Socorro was visible as a shadow in the distance. A low cloud layer obscured whatever mountain tops would have been seen. As we got closer, a ragged shore became noticeable. Isla Socorro, or “Help Island” is a rough place. A quarter mile (1320 feet) from shore the depth was more than 2200 feet. Heading around the west side of the island to the south side, to a sheltered bay, “Bahia Braithwaite,” there were no beaches, no sand, only ragged, rough rocks.

The bay was edged by these igneous rocks. At a depth of 55 feet, there was not much width for dragging or error. We wondered how our anchor would hold, expecting the bottom to be rocky like everything else. I dropped the anchor and it held.

 

After trying to hail the harbormaster, or “Capitan del Puerto,” for a few minutes and getting no reply, Bob headed to shore in the dinghy with a backpack full of paperwork and a bicycle. Before he got there a boatload of six uniforms were headed for the Minnow so he turned back and met them at the boat.

Bob pulled up to the left stairs and the Mexican boat pulled up to the right ones where I was waiting to take and tie off their painter to our cleat. It was kind of wavy so I helped them onboard.

The first man had a handgun in a holster on his belt. Pearl handled, probably a revolver. But I’m not a gun nut so I don’t know any more than that. It looked well worn. Wondered if that meant worn out and lousy, or worn in and reliable and accurate. Didn’t matter. However, when I see people carrying guns for purposes other than hunting animals, it makes me uneasy.

The next three guys handed their M16s back and forth as I helped them aboard. (Bob told me what kind of guns they were after they left, does that make Bob a gun nut?) One stationed himself at the front of the boat and the other two at the back corners of the boat. All three stood erect and were posed looking out from the boat, as if protecting it from attack. From the water?

It was hot. Bob and the first guy were sitting in the living room. The first guy was doing paperwork. Bob was watching. After a few minutes I offered everyone a Coke. Everyone knew the name Coke. And everyone took one with a smile and a “thank you,” except for the guy up front, who took one with a serious look and a “gracias.” After the Coke, the guys on the back relaxed, slinging their guns over their backs and laughing with each other. The guy on the front continued to stand erect, gun in two hands in a semi-ready position.

By now Bob and the first guy were playing some version of “Do You Know This Word” and Bob was cheating using a Spanish Dictionary. Also by now I had tried to make conversation with the other five (“Do you speak English?” … “No”) with no luck. So I opened a new bag of Chips Ahoy cookies. Even thought they didn’t speak English, they all seemed to know the word “cookie.” Got five thank-you’s and a gracias out of the cookies, too.

They eventually left. They were all extra nice, except for the serious one who wasn’t bad, just serious. But the guns were still scary.

Fine Arts:

There was no other place around the island we knew of to anchor the boat. So after the Mexican boat left we donned scuba gear and went down to explore the artistic beauty of the undersea world of Bahia Braithwaite. We followed the anchor chain to the bottom – there was some sand amongst the rocks there – and found that visibility was less than 10 feet. We gave each other the thumbs up (meaning go to the surface) and did some other pointing and gesturing (I took it to mean “meet at the boat” since that’s what I meant).

We proceeded to use the entire contents of our tanks cleaning the barnacles and growth off the bottom of the boat. About an hour and a half. And yes, that’s the closest we got to fine art on this particular day.

Fishing Report:

No luck. Didn’t get a blasted bite before the island. Didn’t get a danged bite after the island. Going to change lures tomorrow. That’s what fishermen do.

 

Fine Dining:

Although I started the day baking a quality loaf of banana bread, the highlight of the day was the post-diving plate of nachos. Cheesed up and salsa covered.