Do History Lessons Change Depending on Where You are From?

We hastily checked in with the Port Captain receiving our National Zarpe to continue on to Quepos and Golfito. We took the opportunity to drop off our bimini for repairs, did some provisioning for the next 8 days and were ready to depart by the rising tide at 1400 hr. Puntneranas was an interesting stop.
We headed over to Isla San Lucas. This island was once the site of a forbidding prison. Central Americas answer to Alcatraz. It was abandoned in 1991. It is now a National Heritage Site and a National Wildlife Preserve. I am not sure what kind of animal that we could hear howling that night.
The following day we motored to Bahia Herradura. This protected bay is a hot spot for fishing. Many large vessels were anchored along side us. The very expensive marina was not an option for us. They ask $4.25/ft . That would put us over $200.00 a night. Our pool was just fine, a balmy 87 degrees, and free.
Quepos was our next stop. They are building a massive marina here. It was scheduled to open 2005. I think they missed their target. The locals figure it will be opened by next year.
Quepos is a quaint little town with lots of restaurants and tourist activities. I am not sure how this new marina is going to effect the town but it has effected the anchorage by pushing boats further out into the open sea making it not quite as calm as it once would have been.
Bahia Dominicalito is hidden away from tourists in a very quiet protected bay. It was obvious to us that this little bay isn’t visited very often by cruisers as we were checked out by the local fleet of boats. They all liked the name Genesis. I do believe it could keep us safe. Who knows? This by far is one of my favourite anchorages. That evening the night winds came off the land but not where we expected them to come from. We were abeam to the swell. Not a comfortable way to try and sleep. The sounds in the boat were keeping me awake so I opted to sleep up top. This made the side motion exaggerated. Needless to say I did not sleep well. We wanted to stay another day, so in the morning we put out a stern anchor and had a much needed comfortable sleep the next evening.
Our next destination has me checking the internet for history as what I learnt in school is not what they are taught down here. Bahia Drake.
In Canadian history we learnt that Sir Francis Drake was a hero. He is famous for (among other things) leading the first English circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580. Queen Elizabeth "I" knighted him for his accomplishments. Not to mention the large amounts of cash he brought back to her. In 1577 Elizabeth"I" sent Drake to start an expedition against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas. Did she know what he was up to? Only she knows!

His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English, but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'.
In 1579 Francis Drake landed in Bahia Drake. The history here says that he attacked and stripped a boat named Nuestra Senora de la Conception, in Ecuador before reaching Isla del Cano. It is said that he snuck up on this ship pretending to be a merchant vessel. The surrender was quick. As a result, Queen Elizabeth scored a fortune worth in today’s terms $200 million. It is believed that he took some loot for himself and buried it in Bahia Drake located 12 nm from Isla Cano. We didn’t go treasure hunting. Maybe we should have, any extra cash would be nice.
We are now in Golfito after a very bumpy ride south. We were having inverter issues so Ken sourced the problem and today is re-routing wires to have the inverter now rest in the salon. The problem seems to be that it was too hot in the engine room to allow it to work properly. I know the feeling. We have 90 – 105 degree days. I am not working too well these days either. For the first time since we began this trip I got burnt. It was a deceiving cloudy day, still in the 90’s. I now look like a red panda. Raccoon looking.
Sunday was an election in Costa Rica. A woman was elected President for the first time in Costa Rican politics. Things are a changing; maybe the all ole boys’ clubs of the world will be replaced by people that want to help the people of their country. No I didn’t fall and bang my head, it’s just a wish.
Our next guests, Angela and Ed Look arrive tomorrow and we will spend the week in the Golfito Dulce area fishing and checking out the jungles and towns.