Thursday, April 19 - Bahia Drake to Jiminez, Cr
Bahia Drake is a wide open bay on the northeastern side of the Osa Peninsula. The area has a number of small hotels and wilderness camps, and is a jumping off spot for backpackers and others visiting the Corcovado National Park, which comprises much of the peninsula.
Corcovado National Park, with almost 110,000 acres, is the second largest park in Costa Rica. It’s isolation has prevented the environmental degradation affecting so many areas. It is home to 300 species of birds, 139 species of mammals and 116 species of amphibians and reptiles. There are more than 100 species of trees.
The cruising guide speaks of a dinghy trip up the Rio Drake, accessible through the inlet at high tide just north of the beach. Captain Bryan and I set off after breakfast to explore. We didn’t find the entrance to the Drake, but did find another watershed entrance about 3 miles north.
The surf was breaking all around the entrance as a strong current was flowing out into the sea. There were also a number of large boulders and smaller rocks blocking the inlet, but we could see a path through and decided to make a go of it.
Captain Bryan did a superb job breaching the inlet, while avoiding a maze of rocks. However, we quickly found ourselves in shallow water, impassible current and our exit blocked by the waves behind us.
The current was flowing so strongly out the inlet, that with the engine wide open and bow facing upstream, all we could do was hold our place. It was now quite obvious we were in the wrong spot.
We held the bow into the current at a standstill to study the incoming waves so we could turn downstream and time our escape. A slight turn of the bow, and the dinghy would quickly catch in the current and be forced downstream through a minefield of rocks toward the surf, almost certain to be capsized.
We made our first run at it. A large, breaking wave appeared and blocked our approach. We turned and ran as hard as we could back up the inlet. The wave caught up with us, twisted the dinghy sideways, hell bent on toppling us into the sea. Captain Bryan fell out of the boat, and for a tense moment I thought the dinghy too was going to capsize. The Captain scrambled back in, and bow into the current, we waited and watched again.
A smaller wave pattern seemed to emerge. We turned downstream. The bow caught in the current and we went careening toward the entrance like we were in a log flume at Disney World, smashing into a couple of rocks along the way. The first breaking wave appeared. The Captain gunned the engine and made it over the top. A second wave appeared. We gave it everything we had, and made it through.
Back on the Allura we decided we’d had enough wilderness adventure for one day. Evan wanted to swim, so we swam off the boat, showered and prepared to leave for Jiminez, the most southern village in Costa Rica.
Without much wind we motorsailed down the outside of the Osa Peninsula. The Osa, and Corcovado park is a spectacular sight – dense, bright green jungle and hills that end in a rocky coastline. The swells smash into the coastline here with some of the biggest surf we’ve witnessed the entire trip.
Other than look at scenery, our only other distraction was fishing, at which we were quite successful. In all, we landed seven fish: three jacks, three bonito, and the prize for the day, a rooster fish. Not great eating, but fish with a good fight in them. With a little assistance, Evan hauled in the rooster and one of the jacks. He is definitely hooked on fishing.
Rounding the bottom of the Peninsula, we headed north again toward Jiminez. There was enough wind off the beam that we actually were able to sail for a change. We anchored with the sport fishing boats located off the famous Crocodile Lodge at about six.
Similar to Bahia Drake, Jiminez is a very small, remote village. It primarily supports backpackers entering Corcovado, and some sportfishing. There is also some illegal gold mining, spurred by finds such as a 7 pound nugget found just north of here.
We dinghied ashore for dinner at “Agua Luna”, only to sit down at the table and have the electricity go out. We were assured that would not be a problem, and our waitress was right, as we enjoyed one of our best meals yet.
There are very dramatic tides here. We knew that, but were surprised when we returned to the pier to find our dinghy gone. Although it was a rickety dock, we knew we had tied the boat securely, and even put out a stern anchor to keep it from banging into the jagged steel ladder.
A little commotion in a local boat 50 yards off the dock served up what had happened. They had come back to their dinghy to row out and were concerned ours might get hung up on the dock, so they had pulled it out with them. They rowed it back for us, and after several “muchos gracias” and US $s we motored back to Allura.
