San Jose, Costa Rica

"Do you know the way to San Jose?"

We didn't, but our phone did, so we easily found the capital and largest city in Costa Rica. The traffic is crazy with lots of horn honking as buses, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and pedestrians fight for their share of the street. We quickly realized that stop signs are only a suggestion and drove accordingly after that.

Our first stop was the National Museum which is housed in an interesting old army barracks building. At the entrance is this modern glass and steel structure that protects one of the famous Stone Spheres. You might wonder what they are. So does everyone else here.

They were first found in 1940 in an area near Golfito on the southwest coast. Banana plantations were being developed, and the tractors kept unearthing these big stone balls. Several were pushed aside, broken up, sold as garden ornaments, and generally vandalized before someone (Doris Stone) said, "Wait, these have archeological significance. We should study them".

They range in size from 12" to over 6' in diameter and are still scattered all over the country. These were inside the museum...

and there were more outside and also some in the butterfly garden.

Unfortunately, no one really knows who made them, how they were made, or what they were used for. The secrets of the culture that created them has been lost with the passage of time.

We also visited the National Theatre. This gorgeous building is almost 120 years old and still used regularly for performances. The inside is gorgeous too, with marble sculptures, gold leaf mouldings, and etched glass.

We really enjoyed visiting San Jose, but two days of the noisy, hustle bustle of the city was all we could take so we're off to the mountains next.

Doka Estate Coffee Tour

The Captain was released by his surgeon on Monday, so Tuesday morning we checked out of the hotel near the hospital, rented a car, and drive up to Doka Estate for a coffee tour.

We were greeted with a tiny iced coffee and promptly joined a tour group. Harvest starts in October so our timing was perfect for seeing the ripe cherries and witnessing the drying process.

First our guide showed us the baby Arabica plants. Only Arabica plants are allowed in Costa Rica because they are the best and Costa Rica wants to produce only the finest coffee.

The trees start producing at about three years of age and are replaced at twenty-five years as their production starts decreasing. This tree was loaded with beautiful red cherries.

The cherries are harvested several times during the harvest season; the first few times just the red ones, but eventually all of the cherries are stripped off. The red ones produce the best coffee.

Most of the coffee pickers come from nearby Nicaragua and are paid only $2.00 per cajuela (basket). The baskets look to hold about a bushel and weigh 28 pounds when full. Good pickers can fill a basket in 45 minutes , but that isn't much money for an eleven hour day in those muddy, sloping fields.

The cherries are brought to this processing plant where they cull out the bad ones, peel off the various coverings, sort them by size, and dry them in the sun. Winter is the dryer season here, but they still must pile up the beans quickly and cover them with plastic when it rains.

Doka Estates ships the dry beans out unroasted, but roasts some to sell in their gift shop. Below you see their products: breakfast blend, peaberry, French roast, expresso.

We also enjoyed lunch at Doka Estates and wandered their beautifully landscaped property. I was surprised to see so many hydrangeas; all blue. Boy, could I have a lovely garden here.

A Trip to the Mall

We can see the mall from our hotel room in Escazu, Costa Rica. It's a short walk and I made it nearly every day to buy groceries or just to get out.

But here in Costa Rica things are different than back in the US of A. The sidewalk stops when you get to the underpass so you have to walk in the street along the guard rail.

Then you have to cross this little bridge over the river. One could cross the street and use the safer sidewalk on the other side of the yellow barricade, but crossing the street requires stepping over the guard rail and dealing with more traffic, so we just walked in the road.

And besides, if you walked behind the barricade you wouldn't get this great view of the river gorge 100' below. Just over that 30" tall guardrail. Shear drop. Creepy.

Luckily, the lanes are wide and the traffic moves slowly along here.

Almost back; see the hotel in the distance? Even though we have been without a car for two years and have gotten used to walking or bussing everywhere, there are times when I really miss my car.

Our Affordable Health Care Plan

For our ages (61 and 62) we are extremely healthy and have cruised the last two years without medical insurance. If one is out of the US more than 350 days in the calendar year, that's perfectly okay, but now that we are back in the US for several months we decided to look into medical insurance.

Using the terribly difficult-to-navigate Healthcare.gov website, we were offered a policy for $1600.00 per month with a $9000.00 deductible. That could add up to $28,200.00 annually if we had to use it. And, $1600.00 per month is HALF our income. How could that possibly be considered affordable?

It's not.

The Captain recently developed a hernia which is fairly common for men his age, and surgical repair is the only solution. We've had lots of things to take care of in the last two months what with the generator repair, moving the boat to St. Augustine, and dealing with Hurricane Matthew, but finally we were ready to get his hernia repaired.

And what do you think we did ?

We flew to Costa Rica where he had his hernia repaired in a first rate hospital for a fraction of the cost an American hospital would have charged. The hospital was clean, modern, and efficient. The staff was skilled, kind and many spoke English. The doctor was gentle, compassionate, and spoke excellent English.

The doctor charged $3500.00, the hospital charged $2008.00, the hotel was $1500.00, and the airfare was $800.00. So for $8000.00 we got the Captain repaired and had a mini vacation too. We know we will be penalized on our tax return next year for not having medical insurance, but even adding that onto the cost of the surgery, we will still be money ahead.

Now I understand that this option might not be for everyone, but we are very comfortable travelers, and we've had lots of experience with hospitals. Our oldest daughter's medical condition has led us to experience many different surgeries, medical procedures, and situations so we feel comfortable, not stressed, in hospitals. If we had seen anything unusual we would have questioned it, but every step of the process was professional and predictable.

The point of this post is not only to demonstrate our frustration with, and lack of faith in, the American medical system and the Affordable Care Act, but also to offer an affordable option for others in our situation. Medical tourism is quite a common occurrence in Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand, Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia. The rich and famous have been doing this for ages, but with the increasing cost of health care in America, maybe it's time for the rest of us to follow suit.

For more information, check out this site:
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/12/top-destinations-for-health-tourism.html

Shoes....Let's Get Some Shoes

Before we went cruising I used to buy good quality, sensible shoes and wear them forever. I didn't buy cheap shoes, but I also didn't buy a lot of shoes, so it all worked out.

I set off cruising with a couple pairs of sandals, a couple pairs of running-type shoes, and a pair of heels (which I've never worn). Oh, and a pair of snow boots, and a pair of dress boots.

What you really wear everyday while cruising is sandals or flip flops. As my sandals succumbed to the elements I replaced them with super cheap flip flops. My latest pair cost $3.99 in Panama and are still serviceable after months of hard use.

When we arrived in Florida I thought I should get nicer looking shoes so I bought this pair of Crocs which cost like $40.00. I've been wearing them daily for only two months and today on the way to the mall they broke!

I'm sure everyone has had a shoe failure at some point in their lives, but mine could not have been at a worse time. We're in Costa Rica with no tape, glue, or tools, I was walking to the grocery store, my Spanish is not that good, and they were the only shoes I brought.

Luckily, the grocery store is inside a mall (odd how they do that in these Central American countries) and there is a Crocs store in the mall. I shuffle/flopped in and tried to describe my dilemma. They seemed sympathetic and asked me where I had purchased the shoes. It took me a while to remember, but I eventually came up with "Florida" and they groaned, "Flor-ee-da? We can't warranty them."

So I had to buy another pair of the world's most expensive flip flops. I should have stuck with the super cheap flip flops from Panama.

Tourists in St. Augustine

As we get acquainted with St. Augustine we are encouraged to see the resilience and determination of the locals. Everyone is still friendly, helpful, and patient with us "tourists" as they work to get back to normal.

St. Augustine is a great city; full of wonderful architecture, history, the fort, restaurants, bars, museums, and shops. Everywhere we look there is something interesting to see with historical plaques to explain it all.

We have seen some beautiful buildings in this town and we're particularly impressed with the Ponce de Leon Hotel, which was built by Henry M. Flagler in 1885-88. It is now Flagler College, but is still beautifully maintained and full of history. They offer tours which we intend to take when they are running again.

We also visited the Lightner Museum in the old Hotel Alcazar. This hotel was also an elegant showplace with a ballroom, beautifully landscaped grounds, and a huge indoor swimming pool. The swimming pool now houses a cafe on its sloping floor.

We also found the marker for the Old Spanish Trail that began here in St. Augustine and ended in San Diego.

But amid all this beauty we often stumble upon broken trees,

and piles of water damaged furniture. A sober reminder of the recent storm.

My favorite storm story (aka The Great Escape) regards these pumpkins at a local church.

They were all set out for sale before the storm, and the flooding carried lots of them away. They were found all over town and many of them magically reappeared afterwards; presumably returned by regular citizens because that's just what kind of town St. Augustine is.

I think we're going to like it here.

Hurricane Damage

Yesterday morning we walked into town to rent bicycles. On the way we walked by the fort where we could see the high water mark and wayward docks.

All along the streets in the oldest (and lowest) part of town we saw downed trees and telephone lines, stacks of soggy furniture, and piles of branches and debris as the residents work to get back to normal.

We made our way to the south end of Marine Street where nine boats ended up including our friends' boat La Luna. It has no hull damage, but is a long way from deep water. It will be a challenge, but somehow they will get her floating again and continue their adventure.

And here is our damage. With so much devastation all around us, we are thankful that our damage was minimal, but feel almost guilty when we look at other folk's problems.

NOAA has posted new satellite images of the aftermath of Matthew.  Google "NOAA Hurricane Married Imagery". This is the area where nine boats from the St. Augustine Municipal Marina ended up.

Post Hurricane Matthew

Here is how Thistle looked when we left her on her own Thursday, October 6th. We had removed the foresails, dodger, bimini, and solar panels. We wrapped the mainsail and put extra lashings on the liferaft and dinghy motor. We also removed as many lines as possible and secured the roller furlers with lines and zip-ties.

Since we had arrived here in St. Augustine on Wednesday night, we had to do all this work Thursday after it had already started raining. What a miserable, wet day that was. And everything we stored down below was wet.

We spent Thursday and Friday night at a nearby hotel. It was on high ground, but just behind it, the streets were flooded with the storm surge by Friday midday. Some homes had three feet of water inside.

About 5pm Friday night the power went out and never did come back on, but the hotel staff gamely carried on, producing hot coffee somehow, and food on a regular basis. The wind continued to roar around the building all night, changing directions as the hurricane passed.

At 8am Saturday morning we were able to walk to the marina and down to the boat. We found everything just as we had left it; nothing had let loose, no docklines had parted, and the mainsail cover had no damage. None of the portlights had leaked, but the forward hatch must have leaked a bit because one pillow was wet.

Our web of lines on the starboard quarter had held against the strongest winds and the only damage came from this nail...

on the port quarter. You can see our blue hull paint on this dock lines where we rubbed against that piling. We heard that the surge was about 6'; taking the whole dock almost to the top of the pilings. Thankfully Matthew was offshore further than predicted and the surge wasn't 8'. The whole marina would have been lost if it had been that high.

Here's a map of St. Augustine showing where we were and the other marinas where damage occured. What luck that we ended up in a marina on the Sebastian River on the inland side of town. And that the winds weren't quite as high as predicted.

The adventure continues!

Westerbeke Generator Runs Again

We are celebrating a major achievement here on Thistle. Watch the video. It's pretty funny.

 

 

It seem like it took FOREVER, but we finally got the generator running again on Tuesday.

We last ran the generator in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on March 9th, just before we went home to California for two months. When we got back we couldn't get it started. We thought it was the injection pump, so we had it rebuilt there in Puerto Rico, but it still wouldn't run. We decided to continue on to Florida and fix on it there, so we meandered up to the Bahamas using ice to chill our food and the main engine to charge our batteries.

On June 22nd we got a mooring at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, Florida, removed the cylinder head, and took it to a machine shop to be rebuilt. It was in pretty nice shape, but they put in three new valves just to be safe. We bolted it onto the engine., but it still wouldn't run.

Digging deeper we discovered that we had very little compression, so we took the whole thing apart and took the block to the machine shop. It took a week for them to figure out how much to bore it out, then we ordered the parts from Westerbeke and that took six weeks. Then another week and a half for the machine shop to actually rebuild the block, and five days for us to put it all back together.

We could do a lot of complaining about the service we received from Westerbeke, but what good would it do? We're just happy that the generator is running again and we can start cruising again.

Main Cabin Floors

We managed to lift the table up a few inches with blocks of wood and get those aluminum cleats out. It was a bugger because they were through bolted to those 3" thick floor beams and each one had two bolts. We used lots of those special sailor words though, and finally got them out.

After sliding out the aluminum cleats and the four small pieces, we set the table back down on the floor beams. It will be safe there while we refinish the floor pieces. It can't go anywhere because it fits so tightly around the mast.

Floor pieces are strewn around the cockpit while I apply the varnish.

Dani asked what we are using for the finish. It's just Pettit varnish. At some point in our boat's previous life someone used a water based finish down below and we quickly found that it gets milky spots from hot coffee cups and iced drink glasses, so we are gradually changing everything back to varnish.

We also put this tung oil on the backs and edges. Don't try to buy real tung oil at West Marine or Home Depot. They have something with the word "tung" on the label, but it's not the real deal. It has to say "100% Pure Tung Oil". We ordered this online from a woodworkers supply place.

Heart and Sole

While the Captain is working on the "Heart" of the ship, I am working on the "Sole".

The generator rebuild is perking right along and he is pleased to report that, as of this point, he has no leftover parts and we are ready to lower the carcass into the main cabin.

Meanwhile, the forward cabin sole refinishing is complete and we are quite pleased with it. It really wasn't that much work because it only measures 28" x 42" at its widest points. We live in small spaces, people, small spaces.

Here is an example of how our soles are constructed. They are 3/4" thick solid wood. The teak strips are 1 3/4" wide, and the maple (always called holly, but actually maple) strips are 1/4" wide. They are held together with beefy cleats on the back. After we varnished the tops, we scraped and cleaned the edges and applied tung oil on the edges and backs.

Today's task is to remove the four pieces that are under the table. Our table is a sturdy, heavy piece of furniture and after removing four bolts, we discovered that we could lift it up a bit, remove those aluminum cleats you see fore and aft of the mast, and slide the floors out. That is this afternoon's project.