The Ostinal Turtle Migration is in full effect! From August to December these ancient creatures arrive to nearby Playa Ostinal to lay their eggs; after 14 days the hatchlings make a mad dash for the sea. Due to human interference, there are only 6 places left on Earth where this phenomenon can be witnessed.
If you are planning on visiting the Nosara area in the next few months you do not want to miss this event. FishingNosara offers guided Safari Tours to Ostinal for both the arrividad and regresso, so make sure you plan a day for the turtles.
The beginning of the rainy season in Costa Rica is September 1st. While most resorts furlough their employees, at Nosara Paradise Rentals and FishingNosara we keep our full staff together for two months of intensive maintenance and expansion of our boats, vehicles, safari carts, and properties.
In this special edition of the Costa Rica Fishing Report, we will take a behind-the-scenes look at the projects and people that will make 2012 our best year to date.
The Wanderer will be entering her third year of service (man, time flies! It seems like yesterday we sent the Wanderer to Nosara) and she was ready for a major refit. An every-day boat like this demands lots of annual upkeep, and this season put a few new scars in the blue beauty that would take Craig Sutton Jr.’s expertise to repair.
In late August, the Wanderer was damaged when she was engulfed by a rouge wave at her mooring point in Garza Bay. As the 31-foot craft bucked in the waves, the entire weight of the boat clung to the rope through the steel pulpit on the nose.
Here is what Craig was looking at upon his arrival on September 1:
The first step was to prepare the work area with a makeshift tent to keep the exposed fiberglass dry; this ensures that the new fiberglass resin will set up and harden without trapping any air bubbles or wood-rotting moisture.
Once Captain William and First Mate Alex completed the rain guard, Craig and Matty got down to the dirty work of sanding/grinding the damaged material.
Now it’s time for some fiberglass. Because of the huge industries of boating and surfing, the quality of fiberglass resin and hardener in Costa Rica is actually better than what we get in the USA; it has less impurities, sets up faster and sands cleaner.
Notice how Craig puts a wad of material as deep in the hole as possible; this works in conjunction with the layers inside the anchor box to create a pure fiberglass plug that is form-fit to the hole.
After the first day of fiberglass, the nose of the Wanderer was watertight once again.
However a few more coats of resin and a lot of fine sanding would still be required to bring this area back to pre-damage conditions.
Notice how the deck line is still not quite straight (see right); we let the repair cure and dry before coming back a few days later to sand, add more fiberglass, and put the finishing layer on.
Craig and Matty were back at it on September 7 for the final touches. By using a flat edge of cardboard rather than a paintbrush, Craig was able to create a near-perfect flat surface for the final layer.
One more late night of sanding, and Craig stepped away from this repair confident that the nose of the Wanderer is stronger than before and the surface under the pulpit is as smooth and level as a dance floor.
Of course it is easier to have a professional do your fiberglass work (or any boat work for that matter), but the quality and attention to detail that comes from working on your own boat can not be understated.
Take for example the passageway to the forward observation deck. The Wanderer‘s clients have grown to love this panoramic view of the Pacific for photography and the easy access to sunbathing on the prow.
These photos (right, below) were taken in November 2009 when this boat was fresh as a daisy.
Unfortunately this porthole has taken a beating over the last two years and the bolt hinge got completely stripped.
While waiting on fiberglass to dry, Craig tracked down a tap-and-die set and cut a fresh hole for the hinge bolt. This repair, while small in scale and expense, is an example of the attention to detail required to keep a 31-foot boat running in Costa Rica.
The final step to get the Wanderer ready for many more years of bad to the bone billfishing was to tighten the canopy top and freshen the 5200 Marine silicon that keeps the sea spray out of the cabin.
After lifting the roof and supporting it was some trees we found laying around (“Costa Rican jackstands” Matty called them), we applied fresh 5200 and 3.5 inch new stainless screws to replace the 20+ year old, 2.5 inch fasteners.
The increase in strength all-around is obvious, ensuring many more years of service from the rugged Wanderer. Craig and Matty left Nosara on September 10, then Captain William and Alex finished the paint work on the nose,
First Mate Alex is also a first class carpenter as evidenced by this beautiful new rigging table in the cabin of the Wanderer. This replaces a worn piece of paneling that did nothing to add to the look or function of the cabin. Now we have this great multi-use space for years to come.
From the nose to the propellers and the bottom paint to the roof, the big blue beauty will be all fixed up and ready for action come November 1.
Meanwhile Captain David was busy prepping the Explorer to get back on the water ASAP. The next few months will be a ‘soft’ off-season, meaning that if there is a break in the rainy weather then the Explorer will be ready to go fishing.
Captain David was hard at work redoing the bottom paint and some light maintenance to the cockpit, while Craig and Matty went about strengthening the hull supports of the Super Panga.
When we first launched the Explorer in December 2010 it was obvious that the added weight of the aluminum superstructure would eventually wear out the hull. To remedy this Captain David installed wood blocks between the gunwales and the consoles to share the load throughout the hull.
With 9 months of fishing under her belt, the Explorer shows no signs of wearing out; therefore it is time to make this quick fix into a permanent solution. Once again Craig’s skills with fiberglass were put to the test.
After scraping and grinding off the old fiberglass patch that had been holding the wood (above), Craig encapsulated the entire wood block in fiberglass while permanently securing it to the consoles with 3.5 inch screws.
The result is stunning! Once sanded, primed and painted these supports will look like they were part of the Explorer from the beginning. Excellent work by Craig, especially getting to the cramped underneath areas with hot fiberglass resin.
While Craig was up to his elbows in fiberglass, Matty went around the boat ‘freshening’ the hardware. Saltwater has a nasty habit of eating away at metals, and anything less than 100% stainless steel will not last very long in Costa Rica. It turns out that the hull manufacturer made a mistake when they installed the cleats and used less-than-stellar metal for the hardware. See the rust stains:
These will only get worse, and left unchecked will leave nasty brown streaks on the hull. Fortunately, this situation is easy to address with simple hand tools, a green scouring pad and a few dabs of that magical 5200 marine sealant.
In order to create an even bead of 5200 it is best to apply a small dab to the threads and turn the screw as it is inserted. This makes an even seal that keeps the saltwater out for years to come.
For the final look some people like to leave the rounded bead of 5200, though Matty picked up a neat trick from a local Tico for creating perfect seals without making a giant sticky mess.
“Back in December I was 5200-ing the footplates for the superstructure and making an awful mess,” Matty recalls. “This 10 year old Tico kid was watching and came up to me with a bucket of soapy water and begin pointing at the 5200 mess.”
“After some futile Spanglish and confused looks the kid put a bit of soap on his finger, swiped it down the bead of 5200 (leaving a perfect seal) and showed me his finger…which didn’t have a single molecule of sealant on it!”
“Since then I never run 5200 without some soapy water nearby.”
Check out the improvement from the unfinished bead (above) and the finished seal (below)
Craig and Matty also did some finish work on the Explorer. Captain David installed a new cutting board on the rear of the boat, and some work with a finish sander got her looking like a factory option rather than a DIY project (Special thanks to Dan Rey for letting us borrow the sander).
Lastly, we did a little cabinet work on the consoles to reinforce the factory shelves under the consoles. The little fiberglass nubs that held the shelf up were not destined to last very long, so Craig built a dead leg under the shelf and tied it into the newly fiberglass support block.
The result is a shelf that can stand up to the rigors of daily big-time sport fishing. On September 16 we received this email from Manuel:
“The super panga is ready for the action again on Monday.”
Here looking forward to another great season on the barroom brawler called the Explorer!
The Guiones Beach Safari Carts have become a staple of the Nosara community in just 8 months on the road…you can’t go anywhere in town without seeing one of our carts. With demand skyrocketing for carts in 2012, we enlisted FishingNosara Technical Director Jack Weinmann to set up seven more carts for the rough roads of Costa Rica.
This batch includes four standard carts complete with turn signals, seat belts, headlights and more. Also included are a pair of 6-passenger shuttles and a customized pink cart; a portion of the proceeds from this cart goes to benefit breast cancer research.
We also enlisted the newest member of the team for this project, Mr. Mitchell McQuien of Arlington Auto Sales. With Captain Jack handling the modifications and Mitchell taking care of the details, these carts came together quickly and smoothly. By early August, they were packaged up and ready for shipping.
Regular reader of this report may recall that in January we tried to load these carts into the container with a pickup truck and some ATV ramps in the middle of a driving rainstorm.
This time we chose to use Dewey’s Towing and load them on a sunny day. Not surprisingly we got it done in a fraction of the time and without nearly killing ourselves.
On September 14 the container was safely delivered to our office in Guiones Beach without incident, and the boys have them ready for action.
I appears that Arturo is already imagining how sweet he’ll look in this 6-passenger shuttle. Look for these hot wheels to be kicking up dust this season and beyond!
One thing should be clear to all of our readers, guests, and friends: All the boats and houses in the world are useless without an excellent staff working to keep it all up.
Thousands of you have lounged around our pool, and strolled through our gardens and generally soaked up the ‘Pura Vida’ spirit at Nosara Paradise Rentals; however almost nobody knows the massive amount of work required to keep our little slice of paradise in good working order.
Here is our head groundskeeper Grevan finishing the new gardens for Los Quartos. This is the man behind our world-renown privacy gardens and nature preserve. Grevan’s expertise and dedication are of paramount importance to the continued success of Nosara Paradise Rentals.
The extreme conditions of the rainforest are murder to the house paint. We are incredibly lucky that the boat crews are great painters and most importantly work well together. David, William, and Alex show great pride in their work on and off the water.
There is plenty of work to do in the office as well with Arturo and Manuel busy painting and laying out the new fishing wall to Matty and Javier working to perfect our new state-of-the-art computer system.
With all of this activity in the office it was hard to believe that this is technically the ‘off-season’. In fact, Nosara Paradise Rentals has remained open in the rainy season while other resorts are shuttered and many guests have enjoyed their stay.
Scooter and Christa Newell from Florida had a relaxing surf vacation, and Robyn Nutt and her family enjoyed our beautiful garden campus.
Of course we have learned to expect the unexpected; on September 4 a powerful lightning storm hit our campus and blew a wireless router clean off the wall of Casa Tranquilo. It also took a fist sized chuck out of our poolside pumphouse.
Still we like to keep the atmosphere light and fun during these long months of maintenance. Check out ‘el jefe’ Javier Hernandez showing how to get the ripest papaya from the tree behind the office:
And check out First Mate Alex showing off some mechanical skills in restoring a rusty old beach cruiser up to near-perfect condition.
Even Concierge #1 Manuel is using his time this off-season wisely; he is going back to school to pursue a degree in financial accounting. So far so good!
Things are really looking good for the 2012 season and we can’t wait for visitors to start showing up in droves come November.
However for those of you who want to see a different side of Nosara, think about coming down in September and October for peaceful, uncluttered access to this rainforest paradise. The ‘off-season’ in Nosara is a perfect time for people who want to lay back and recharge themselves for their own upcoming seasons.
FishingNosara and Nosara Paradise Rentals have kept the foot on the gas despite the off-season rainy conditions and the subsequent effect they’ve had on conditions in Nosara. Check out this shot from our buddy Coconut Harry of the gas station in Nosara:
Manuel contributed this shot from earlier in the week:
Still, work continues around the Nosara Paradise Rentals campus as we prepare to make 2012 a banner year. Casa Neptune was the final house to get a fresh coat of paint and it came out perfect as always.
Meanwhile Captain David and Cumy have given the trusty Land Cruiser a thorough bumper-to-bumper inspection and she is all set for another great year ferrying our clients to and from the airports, not to mention hauling the boats in and out of the water!
Captain William and First Mate Alex have the Wanderer almost all the way tightened up and ready for another season of great fishing; Alex applied his carpentry skills to this new tabletop in the cabin which will serve as a great place to prepare tackle at the start of the day and prepare sushi at the end of the day!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and FishingNosara is proud to introduce our new Pink Safari Cart! A portion of the proceeds from the rental of this beautiful buggy will benefit breast cancer research…not just in October but forever! Special thanks to Craig Sutton Jr. of All Jakd Up Motorsports in Jacksonville for the custom paint job.
Finally, Craig and Matty are beating a path all over the Southeastern US promoting FishingNosara. We have begun offering a stellar vacation package at select Coastal Conservation Association Florida events and have had super time meeting all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts at the banquets.
Also Craig has been making the rounds at the New Smyrna Billfish Invitational and the El Pescado Tournament spreading the Pura Vida spirit. We are looking forward to the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show later this month as well. If you’re in the area c’mon and see us!
The Wanderer and Explorer both had outstanding results this season; though we are slightly sad to see the season go, we are already gearing up to make 2012 another banner year! Both boats have been pulled from the water and the all-important work of off-season maintenance has begun.
The Wanderer will be entering her third year of service (man, time flies! It seems like yesterday we sent the Wandererto Nosara) and she is set for a major refit. First up we will be doing the basic annual maintenance and painting that an every-day boat like this demands, plus we will be patching a few small rough spots in the fiberglass near the pulpit.
You can see Captain William and First Mate Alex prepping the area for Matty and Craig, Jr.’s arrival next week. Once that is finished we will be cutting the existing top and replacing it with and aluminum/clear vinyl top. This will retain the general functionality of the spotter’s tower while saving several hundred pounds of useless weight.
Stay tuned to the FishingNosara blog for pictorials as this project unfolds. Meanwhile Captain David is speedily prepping the Explorer to get back on the water ASAP. The next few months will be a ‘soft’ off-season, meaning that if their is a break in the rainy weather then the Explorer will be on standby to go fishing.
Captain David is nearly complete with redoing the bottom paint and some light maintenance to the cockpit. Good thing, because we have 10 clients booked in September and more in October who will be watching the skies hoping for a crack at some world-class fishing. Like a high-powered jet fighter on a carrier deck, the Explorer is standing by on ‘hot-ready’!
Likewise the FishingNosara Blog isn’t taking the season off…in addition to keeping you abreast on our off-season expansion plans (more houses, more Safari Carts, more crazy boat projects) readers can also expect an induction of a new Hall of Fame class, our highly-anticipated FishingNosara Year in Review, and the introduction of the FishingNosara Master Angler series (shhhh…it’s still a secret)
Beach Marine Gone Fishing’ Tournament – August 18-21, 2011
Lots of great kids and their families made it out to Beach Marine in Jacksonville for the Gone Fishin’ Tournament. A free trip to Costa Rica went to the aggregate winner of the Redfish and Flounder divisions.
Also on Saturday the Hook the Future Foundation was in full force with youth fishing seminars and some valuable giveaways, plus Capt. Don Dingman himself was filming for an upcoming episode of Hook The Future.
Remember to do your part to hook the future and take your kids fishing. You’ll be glad you did!
The Kayak Safari Tours are already hugely popular with the nature-appreciating, outdoor-adventuring crowd; now it is finally catching on with the fishing crowd. This river is chock full of Mangrove Snapper and Snook, so on your next Nosara trip you may want to take a day off of blue water fishing to sample this tranquil day of paddling and casting.
Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament – July 17-23, 2011
FishingNosara and Nosara Paradise Rentals were super-stoked to be a sponsor and exhibitor of the 2011 Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament once again. This tournament is the mother of all Kingfish Tournaments and FishingNosara has pulled out all the stops for this great week of fishing.
A free trip to Costa Rica was raffled to one lucky winner. Also we were running a complementary shuttle service in our brand-new 6 Passenger Safari Cart from the parking lots to the main tournament entrance.
Of course there we were loading people down with coasters, coozies, hats, shirts and tons more promo items. But the biggest moment of the weekend was this cover shot from the Florida Times Union:
Nice shirt and hat fellas!
What an great weekend for all the Jacksonville-based friends and family of FishingNosara! Both our sponsored boats made it to the leaderboard and the big winner was one of our favorite clients from the 2011 season.
Captain Jack on the Drifter II made his first run in the tournament and weighing in a nice 15lbs. Kingfish. With over 250 boats in the event and only 50 reporting to the scales, Captain Jack effectively is in the upper fifth of Jacksonville anglers in the tournament.
Over on the Fishtastic Craig Sutton, Mate Andrew Herbenick and Paula Price had rough luck the first day, but saved the weekend with a 28.75lbs. Kingfish that put them in the top 20. Great performance from a boat that always catches fish.
The big winner was none other than Eddie McGowan on the Tail Chaser. You remember Eddie, right?
Just a few short months ago Mr. McGowan had a fantastic week of fishing with Captain David on the Explorer. Clearly the time with a world-class angler like Captain David had an effect on Eddie and helped him win his first major Kingfish title.
Captain David sends along his best wishes and is very happy to hear of Eddie’s great tournament winning catch. Great work by Eddie McGowan and the rest of the FishingNosara team!
We are super-stoked to be a sponsor and exhibitor of the 2011 Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament once again. This tournament is the mother of all Kingfish Tournaments and FishingNosara has pulled out all the stops for this great week of fishing.
A free trip to Costa Rica will be raffled to one lucky winner. Also we will be running a complementary shuttle service in our brand-new 6 Passenger Safari Cart from the parking lots to the main tournament entrance.
Of course there we will be loading people down with coasters, coozies, hats, shirts and tons more promo items.
Look out for Craig and Captain Jack on the leaderboard later in the week as the general tournament gets rolling. Looks like perfect conditions and lots of Kingfish. Come on out to Sister’s Creek and say hello! Pura Vida!
Client Wendy Parker and Linda Jolly had a great day of action highlighted by a 60lbs. Rooster fish release. Rooster fish are a very exotic and unique species, so even though their release is not required by law (like Marlin and Sailfish), FishingNosara captains always release pez gallos.
Wendy did score two nice Yellowfin Tunas and a Ponpano for the dinner table, and got the thrill of catching the much-sought-after Roosterfish.
There is plenty of work to do in the office as well with Arturo and Manuel busy painting and laying out the new fishing wall to Matty and Javier working to perfect our new state-of-the-art computer system.
