Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador (Puerto Amistad)
I really wanted to like Ecuador. But for the average cruiser, there's a lot to deal with in order to get here and stay here, and the advantages are really few and far between. Quito We had a 7 day upwind slog to get here, and we were luckier than most since we actually sailed […]
Huanchaco, Peru
We spent a ten day week in Peru in February, mainly to extend the amount of time we could spend in Ecuador. Since the devastating flooding in Macchu Picchu occurred just as we were planning our trip, our original plans needed to change. We ended up staying the whole time in Huanchaco, a seaside town […]
Guayaquil
We visited the largest city in Ecuador, Guayaquil, en route to Peru. We spent only one night in the city, so didn't get to see much of it. However, we did have a chance to visit its beautiful Malecon 2000 a couple of times, which is a very nice, safe, modern waterfront park on the […]
Quito
We spent four nights and three days visiting Quito, the capital of Ecuador. While in Quito we met up with Humberto's family, and were shown around by his father who is also named Humberto. We visited old town and new town by ourselves. They are quite pretty and remind us more of Vancouver than of […]
Galapagos Cruising Permit / Autografo
[Last updated March 2010] There are all kinds of rumours circulating about the rules governing private vessels visiting the Galapagos islands. Vessels may visit the Galapagos under two different regimes: Any foreign flagged vessel arriving from a foreign port may visit either Puerto Ayora or Puerto Basquierizo Moreno in the Galapagos in order to "provision". […]
Review of Explore Central America!
Boaters in first world countries enjoy many amenities that are unavailable elsewhere. One of the most important differences is the lack of official publications describing the waters. While Latin American countries do make their own, high-quality charts, these charts are unavailable to the cruising yachtsman. I, and others I know, have tried to no avail […]
Getting to Ecuador
On November 4th, Scream left Golfito, Costa Rica for Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. We planned this trip excessively. The passage profile is uninviting, even at the ideal time of year, November through March. The trades here blow consistently out of the SW, shifting closer to S as the coast of South America is approached. This […]
Bahia Rincon
Bahia Rincon is the quiet, sheltered bay at the head of Golfo Dulce. The jungle encloses the bay on all sides. We saw all kinds of birds, that we can't identify. It rained steadily the two days before we arrived and the first two days of our stay, so the water was murky so we […]