9:00 AM in the morning came the next day and we moved to the fuel dock to take on some fuel prior to departing towards Panama. Coda had not been run for two months and she was a bit sluggish. I fueled and headed out of Papagayo Marina. It was good to be out on the water again.
As a side note: The TIP (temporary import permit) for CODA in Costa Rica expired August 25. The boat had to be out of the country by then. Cost Rica offers only a 90 day TIP. I received a dispensation from the insurance company which allowed to move CODA from Costa Rica to Panama because of this. I am just happy to be moving and exploring again.
As I headed out I noticed the fuel consumption was 5.8 gallons per hour! Almost twice it's normal consumption for the cruising speed of 1250 RPM and the speed was lower than normal. I stopped in the middle of Bahia Culebra and donned my diving gear to see if the prop was fouled. Was it ever. There was three quarters of an inch of barnacles on both sides of the four blades of the prop. It was a mess! I used a metal spatula to scrape the barnacles off since I did not have a scraper. It took over a half an hour of Scuba time to get them off. The bottom of the boat and the thrusters were just as fouled. I only did the prop at this time but the barnacles were to become a major challenge over the next couple of weeks.
I continued with much better mileage, but I still had a great deal of work to do at some point that I was not in the middle of the ocean.
One last look at Papagayo Marina after 2 and a half months of stay. Fun place but ready to move on.
We ended up at Tamarindo. A nice cove just a short distance to get back in the cruising groove again. We anchored and had a pretty rolly night. Cruising in a world famous surf area has some drawbacks. It is good to be moving again.
The prior night we had a last supper at the dive bar. Farewell to all.
Technical Data:
Time: 5 h 55 m ( 09:24 to 15:19 ) Distance: 29.14 nm
Fuel: 14.86 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.51 GPH Fuel Economy: 1.96 NM/G
Avg Speed: 6.92 kn Max Speed: 10.09 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 3707.75 Hours Runtime End: 3712.15 Hours Fuel: 14.86 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.51 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 16.96 GPH Avg RPM: 1177.46 Max RPM: 2060.00 Avg Oil Pressure: 52.42 Low Oil Pressure: 0.58 Avg Temperature: 186.71 Max Temperature: 197.60
Wow! Those barnacles seem to be a big problem after only a couple months. It is wonderful you knew exactly what to do to solve the problem. Good luck at your next stop and hope you can find adequate help to clean the entire bottom. I hope you can continue on your way via safe ports. Good to hear from you again.