We spent a couple of weeks on La Paz preparing for the pacific crossing. Bought food, prepared many meals, changed oil, filters, checked strainers, hydraulic hoses, steering, stabilizers, and many many more systems on board. Finally the day came, we went and bled money fueling up with the most expensive fuel in the region at 7.70/gallon and off we went, Kariwa and N40, Epic. The sea was pretty rough coming out of the bay of La Paz, if we were battling with all our fuel bladders in the cockpit, spare a thought for little Epic who were only managing about 3 knots at times. We lost sight of them pretty early. By morning we were passing Cabo San Lucas and heading out into the big blue. The sea calmed down eventually and we started to settle into the rhythm of night watches and catching some sleep whenever possible. On the afternoon of day 3, captain announce hat he does not actually want to cross to French Polynesia. So we changed course and turned 90 degrees to port. After about half an hour, he changed course back and continued as we started. The following night I came up to take over at 8pm and we had a bit of a discussion and again changed course, this time permanently. And off we went, heading back to the coast of Mexico. 3 days later we dropped anchor at (can’t remember the name). After half an hour we picked up and left again because we were rolling so much that things were flying everywhere. We headed South but had to stall for 12 hours to wait for the Tehuantepec winds to calm down. These winds blow violently from the Gulf of Mexico through the Chivela Pass, into the Pacific Ocean. They kick up the sea state making conditions quite dangerous at times. Once the winds had calmed down we headed south towards Costa Rica, bypassing Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. It was a great passage for the first 6 nights and then on the final night when we had high Papagayo winds and a lot of fishing boats out during the night. We docked in Marina Flamingo 15 days after leaving La Paz. It was bitter sweet. I love the freedom of being at sea but its always nice to be safely tied to the dock and being able to walk and walk and walk.

The marina was really nice, very nice showers and a great gym and pool area. There were a few nice restaurants within walking distance, and a grocery store but the main grocery stores were a bit further afield. You could walk but there is no safe passage. You are on the side of the road in the grass dodging cow pats and dog turds. The supermarkets were pretty good, you can get what you need but its not cheap. In fact the prices are the same if not more than USA prices. We rented a golf cart for 24 hours to be able to stock up at the shops.

We stayed for a month and the Papagayo winds blew for days on end bringing ash from the sugar cane fields. Everything was black with the dust and big bits of ash fell on the carets and cushions in the cockpit. I had to shampoo the carpets and wash all the cushion covers in the washing machine. Luckily they did not shrink.

There is a thriving catamaran day rentals market operating from the marina and every day at least 6 catamarans would go out laden with party guests,. We used to enjoy watching them return at sunset, guests singing at the tops of their voices. Some of the crew on Tom Cat follow us on Instagram and so asked if they could cone aboard Kariwa and have a look.

We were not allowed to have divers clean the hull in the marina so eventually we cut our stay short, checked out and headed straight to Panama. Check in in Panama was easy enough other than having to be taken ashore in the surf in a panga. There were no issues with ships stores, my little thriving herb garden or any other items. We stopped at a few islands on the way down the coast and also spent 2 nights in Bahia Honda. 5 minutes after dropping anchor, Olivia and her son Octavio paddled out, selling jewelry and fresh fruit. The fruit we got from her was really great. Next c are 2 guys in a manga asking for T shirts and pencils for school. Unfortunately we had not prepared for this and so had nothing to give them

Out next stop was in Vista Mar Marina. Its a nice enough marina but the surge in here is terrible. We almost lost 2 of our brand new lines and had to get towing straps from a place in the city to secure our lines to the cleats. We have lines going to the docks on both sides of the boat to stop the boat from bouncing up against the dock. Its rough. We got Wikus Marine Auto to clean the bottom and they came with the bad news that our bottom paint is peeling off so we had to get hauled out to have the bottom painted. Luckily the lift out on a Croc Lift was uneventful and Wikus Marine did a great job with the paint. Thanks guys.

We are now back in the water pondering our next move. Can you believe that the options are to either cross the pacific again or go back to Floria. Could not be more diverse.