Right through my back yard

Had I known about this, I would have been there for the first few boats and taken notes. We were feasting at Banana Bay last night and watched two of the first boats come through. Alas I was without camera at that time.

Clipper Round The World Yacht Race 08

Apparently these boats are midway through their race of yet another lap around the world and they had miserable sailing these last few days and had to cancel this leg from Santa Cruz to Panama. They have been burning way too much of their fuel and are making an unscheduled stop here in Gulfito.

Team Nova Scotia came in at first light this morning and took on their load of fuel and provisions. Hull & Humber came in right after that. The well worked crews were in great spirits, but were really disappointed they could not step off the boat even to walk up for a visit to the bar at Banana Bay Marina, let alone have a good look at Gulfito.

From what I understand that there are about 4 pros aboard for the whole race, but the rest are strictly amateurs. Some are going all the way, but others are called "leggers". They hop on and off at planned stops along the way. Crew compliments ranged from a minimum of ten to a full boat of seventeen. They all were quite friendly and it was neat hearing of their adventures which are quite different than ours.

Some official paperwork process is completed faster than the time it takes to fuel. Bags of fresh mangoes, papayas, pineapples, and apples are handed over to the crew as well as a fresh brewed pot of Costa Rican coffee, cases of cold beer, and the bonus surprise of ice cream cones are dished out as long as the supply holds. Marina Manager- Bruce hosted them right. A quick check of internet was appreciated by a few then in an all too short of visit time, lines were cast off again to get back under way.

As the morning boats head out I hear Western Australia on the radio. They arrive early afternoon with another team Durban 2010. Again the marina crew goes to work with the same routine. As the work was finishing up the last boat Liverpool came in but had to circle around until the two boats did final checks and untied off the fuel dock.

I had the grandest time socializing with all of the boats and teams as they came in. They all had different, but somewhat the same stories of how they came to be aboard.

I wished them all fair winds for the rest of the trip. I handed out some of my freshly minted boat cards, so maybe some will even write.

They looked like they were having way too much fun.