Hola!

We were off the grid for a few days, so back to the blog – still updating the earlier part of our trip.

For our grand finale in Tamarindo, we decided to go sailing.

Larry and Frank met while sailing – Larry had a boat and they had many adventures, including sailing all the way to Maine!.

Larry met Candy in Singles on Sailboats (SOS), and I met Frank in SOS also. So sailing was a perfect activity for this crew.

We chose the schooner Antares, an 80-foot Sparkman Stephens design moored off of Tamarindo.

The first adventure was to get TO our schooner. We had to wade into the surf to board “pangas” – little motorboats – that whisked us to the Antares, where we had to climb the ladder up to the boat (and were rewarded with rum punches for our efforts!).

Once aboard, all deck furniture had been removed and replaced with cushions, so everyone found a spot and we were underway. Our captain was from Argentina by way of the Caribbean, where he bought the Antares.  A guitar player entertained us with jokes and songs, and the captain’s three sons came around for drink orders.  The captain’s wife, from South Africa, cooked a delicious 5-course gourmet dinner (really – better than many restaurants – and in the ship’s galley!).

After a rum punch (or two), everyone was happily singing along to the guitar player as we enjoyed the afternoon scenery. Eventually, we anchored near a secluded beach, where we swam and snorkeled to nearby coral.

Then back on board for the final course of our gourmet meal and even dancing – after a few rum punches, it was the “Macarena” all around!

We sailed back to our home beach as the sun was setting.

A perfect farewell to Tamarindo.