Backup a little, April 28, 1993

(Note: this is the log that describes the incident with "Trigana" referred in May 2nd, 3rd and 4th logs.)

We had a disconcerting and puzzling experience today. Very early in the morning, on Roy's watch, we passed a megabuck motor yacht, double hull, 95-100 feet long, streamlined, shiny new, gorgeous. She was easily capable of 30 knots, but when we passed her, she was just sitting there, not moving. Shortly after we passed, she began following us, going at our slow rate of speed. Hour after hour she stayed about two miles directly behind us. Then around noon, when I was on watch, she suddenly speeded up and went slightly to starboard of us, then turned at an angle and came zooming toward us as if she were going to ram us. At the last minute, she veered and passed in back of us, less than 50 feet away, which is much too close for comfort. I could clearly see four men on board her, and there could have been more below. I brought a can of mace up from the galley and nearly woke Roy but decided to see what they were going to do next. Believe it or not, they then pulled the same stunt on the port side--
zooming towards us as if they were going to ram us and then swerving around our stern. Fortunately, this time they kept going until they were nearly two miles from us, but then they slowed down and remained within two miles of us, going at our speed, all afternoon. Once they came up on our port side and crossed in front of our bow. While the boat was directly ahead of us, I was able to read her name and homeport through my binoculars: "Trigana" out of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. In the evening, she finally disappeared for good, thank goodness.
We have two theories:
1. They mistook us for a sailboat they were supposed to rendezvous with for some sort of drug smuggling transaction;
2. They were a bunch of rich dudes with nothing better to do,
trying to get their jollies from harassing a sailboat.
Either way, it made for an unpleasant and worrisome day for us.
Haven't had any wind since we left Golfito. We've been motoring all the way.
On top of everything else, I don't feel so hot. Guess I've got the Costa Rican Revenge. Felt fine all the time we were in Mexico, but Costa Rica brought a new set of bugs. Also, this chronic cough is driving me up the wall. The doctor said it was nothing serious, just an allergy, but it certainly is annoying. Plus, I never feel as if I've had enough sleep when we're going around the clock. Even though the aggregate amount of sleep is probably more than one would get in a full night, it isn't as satisfying. And there's also the heat. At night, the temperature is delightful, but during the day, I melt. We're only 7 degrees of latitude above the equator. I'm looking forward to going north to Florida.