We left Puesta del Sol on 01/04/11 at 3 pm in the afternoon - when the paperwork Cha-Cha was finally finished. Santorini and Passion headed south together for an over night sail to Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica. With her longer waterline, we knew Passion might not be able to stay with Santorini if there was wind, and BOY WAS THERE WIND!
We went offshore about 10 miles and and nice 20 knot breezes. That meant we were sailing over 7 knots, however the wind continued to build to 30-35 knots. With too much sail and building seas, we started surfing into waves coming our way, slamming down after going over the top of them. So everything in the cabin started flying. By now it was pitch black out as it was a new moon. We reduced sail and headed for the shore.January and February are peak Papagayo season and the further you go off shore the heavier the seas due to "fetch" - wind generated wave that build to greater heights the further you are from shore. It was a long bumpy run to the coastline, and finally morning light came. After sailing all night, very fast at times, we'd only traveled about 55 miles from where we started. The cruising guide recommends southbound vessels hug the shore line and only travel during daylight and "anchoring in uncharted nooks and crannies" - great. the problem it that there is a lack of protected anchorages in which to escape this Devil Wind.
After sailing in these conditions all night we were exhausted and urgently sought a safe harbor to wait out the wind - which can and did blow for 5 straight days. We saw a remote surf-spot beach that looked protected from the north east and decided to head there. We dropped the anchor in 15 feet of water with a sand bottom. Unfortunately there weren't high hills around the bay so it wasn't protected from the wind. Tom let out 125 feet of chain after dropping the anchor. Just then a 50 knot gust blew and 75 feet of chain came straight out of the water.
Before he could let out more chain or tell me to move forward with the motor, we heard a loud "pop", then the chain went limp. Our 75 lb CQR anchor was gone. Tom jumped overboard to see if he could find it, but the water visability was only about 3 feet. Due to the conditions, we had to leave without our anchor. I almost cried as we pulled out of the small bay.