Like many others unable to find work at home in Nicaragua, Jaime crossed the southern border in 1991 to find employment in Costa Rica as a commercial fisherman. Two days out of port in 1993, the crew awoke at night to find the boat flooding and sinking rapidly with all communication equipment unusable. The six person crew launched the 3 Meter ( 10 feet ) life boat.
Adrift on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean in a small boat, without protection from the tropical sun, and fierce storms, they searched for rescue from any passing boat. Fortunately, it was in the rainy season, and they were able to capture drinking water from the sky, and occasionally to find something to eat from fishing or catching a passing turtle.
However, conditions were harsh and after 10 days, one man died. Some boats passed from time to time, but did not rescue them, whether out of fear of piracy, or simply because no one aboard noticed them. At one time, a storm with a waterspout approached the boat, and while the survivors were planning how to react, bypassed them at the last moment.
One day, a tanker crossed their path nearby, but these are mostly automated, and no crew were in sight. As the stern went by, a crew member at the back of the boat looked down and saw them. He ran forward and alerted the captain, who stopped the ship and rescued them, in the territorial waters of Mexico. They had been adrift for 34 days.
The Coast Guard alerted the Costa Rican authorities, and so the news came to the small port of Playas del Coco, where their families and friends had given them up for lost. Of the 5 survivors, 3 had had enough of the sea, and found jobs on the land. The fourth was the fishing boat's captain, who still works as a commercial fisherman. And the fifth is Jaime, who still earns his living from the sea as a divemaster.
The little boat is now in the church of Playas del Coco, across from the playing field, and one block from the sea, with the names of the men hand painted in black letters, an offering of thanks from the people of the town, and a reminder of divine providence over forces mightier than ourselves, the Pacific Ocean.
In the block between the church and the sea is the diveshop SummerSalt, where Jaime is a divemaster, and I had the pleasure of diving with him for 5 days in mid February in many locations of the Gulf of Papagayo. The water was still warm 26 27 C ( about 80 F ) , only moderately cooler at depth. On the first day, we saw a formation of about a dozen eagle rays passing close above us. Every day we saw good numbers of white tipped reef sharks, sometimes more than eight on a single dive, and sting rays, some really large. Also daily, we saw a big variety of eels, green moray, dark moray, spotted, jewel, and others. Several days, we saw venomous sea snakes close at hand, waiting for passing fish among the rocks, usually near the bottom. And it was nice to see and listen to large healthy colonies of Pacific and brain coral. I especially enjoyed swimming with a large Hawkbill turtle who didn't object to our company while bottom hopping in search of food for a time. At depth on a point facing the open sea, and at several other times, we were immersed in large schools of tuna and jack. As usual in the Pacific, visibility was variable, even on the same dive. Usually it was pretty good, about 20 Meters ( ~ 65 feet ), but occasionally it could be half of this, or even a little less.
On the final day, the wind had changed overnight, and Jaime and the boat captain Juan Carlos knew immediately on awaking that the water would be much cooler and visibility would be poor. In cooler water, the sharks disappear, and in their place are more sting rays. Also we saw golden rays on that day, and for my first time, an adult Pacific turtle, tortuga Pacifica, who was not quite as sociable as his Hawkbill cousin. Best of all that day were the Humpbacked whales, las balleinas jorobadas, passing through the Gulf of Papagayo on their journey south. We passed our surface interval accompanying them on their way, as some spouted, occasionally showed fin, raised their tail and dived every few minutes.
Several people with long experience in the region told me that no one was better acquainted with the sealife in the Gulf of Papagayo than Jaime. One day we were joined by a lady from Arizona who had searched for years without success to observe a seahorse, including a week recently spent in Bonaire. Jaime located a large, healthy, beautiful sea horse for her and all of us to see on the first dive.
It was one of those coincidences that remind us that it's a small world, after all. Over breakfast one morning at the B&B where I was staying, Casa Talamanca, I learned that in 1993 Günther , our amiable German speaking host, had been the person who drove to Puntarenas and returned the missing seamen to their town. His description of their appearance after more a month's exposure to the elements on the open sea was memorable. But it was time to follow the example of the whales, wise in the ways of the sea, and set out to the south where other stories waited.
Adrift on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean in a small boat, without protection from the tropical sun, and fierce storms, they searched for rescue from any passing boat. Fortunately, it was in the rainy season, and they were able to capture drinking water from the sky, and occasionally to find something to eat from fishing or catching a passing turtle.
However, conditions were harsh and after 10 days, one man died. Some boats passed from time to time, but did not rescue them, whether out of fear of piracy, or simply because no one aboard noticed them. At one time, a storm with a waterspout approached the boat, and while the survivors were planning how to react, bypassed them at the last moment.
One day, a tanker crossed their path nearby, but these are mostly automated, and no crew were in sight. As the stern went by, a crew member at the back of the boat looked down and saw them. He ran forward and alerted the captain, who stopped the ship and rescued them, in the territorial waters of Mexico. They had been adrift for 34 days.
The Coast Guard alerted the Costa Rican authorities, and so the news came to the small port of Playas del Coco, where their families and friends had given them up for lost. Of the 5 survivors, 3 had had enough of the sea, and found jobs on the land. The fourth was the fishing boat's captain, who still works as a commercial fisherman. And the fifth is Jaime, who still earns his living from the sea as a divemaster.
The little boat is now in the church of Playas del Coco, across from the playing field, and one block from the sea, with the names of the men hand painted in black letters, an offering of thanks from the people of the town, and a reminder of divine providence over forces mightier than ourselves, the Pacific Ocean.
In the block between the church and the sea is the diveshop SummerSalt, where Jaime is a divemaster, and I had the pleasure of diving with him for 5 days in mid February in many locations of the Gulf of Papagayo. The water was still warm 26 27 C ( about 80 F ) , only moderately cooler at depth. On the first day, we saw a formation of about a dozen eagle rays passing close above us. Every day we saw good numbers of white tipped reef sharks, sometimes more than eight on a single dive, and sting rays, some really large. Also daily, we saw a big variety of eels, green moray, dark moray, spotted, jewel, and others. Several days, we saw venomous sea snakes close at hand, waiting for passing fish among the rocks, usually near the bottom. And it was nice to see and listen to large healthy colonies of Pacific and brain coral. I especially enjoyed swimming with a large Hawkbill turtle who didn't object to our company while bottom hopping in search of food for a time. At depth on a point facing the open sea, and at several other times, we were immersed in large schools of tuna and jack. As usual in the Pacific, visibility was variable, even on the same dive. Usually it was pretty good, about 20 Meters ( ~ 65 feet ), but occasionally it could be half of this, or even a little less.
On the final day, the wind had changed overnight, and Jaime and the boat captain Juan Carlos knew immediately on awaking that the water would be much cooler and visibility would be poor. In cooler water, the sharks disappear, and in their place are more sting rays. Also we saw golden rays on that day, and for my first time, an adult Pacific turtle, tortuga Pacifica, who was not quite as sociable as his Hawkbill cousin. Best of all that day were the Humpbacked whales, las balleinas jorobadas, passing through the Gulf of Papagayo on their journey south. We passed our surface interval accompanying them on their way, as some spouted, occasionally showed fin, raised their tail and dived every few minutes.
Several people with long experience in the region told me that no one was better acquainted with the sealife in the Gulf of Papagayo than Jaime. One day we were joined by a lady from Arizona who had searched for years without success to observe a seahorse, including a week recently spent in Bonaire. Jaime located a large, healthy, beautiful sea horse for her and all of us to see on the first dive.
It was one of those coincidences that remind us that it's a small world, after all. Over breakfast one morning at the B&B where I was staying, Casa Talamanca, I learned that in 1993 Günther , our amiable German speaking host, had been the person who drove to Puntarenas and returned the missing seamen to their town. His description of their appearance after more a month's exposure to the elements on the open sea was memorable. But it was time to follow the example of the whales, wise in the ways of the sea, and set out to the south where other stories waited.
