Tag Archives: adventure

Sailing the “Bat” Islands & drone theft! Sailing Zingaro – Ep 47

Every cruiser’s nightmare: thieves. They stole our drone, radio, tools. Now the police are here investigating, taking fingerprints, and for what? Watch and find out…

See how the crew of Zingaro handled it in this installment of the life and times of Zingaro!

I take a Tico (that’s what they call a local Costa Rican guy – girls are Ticas) on a 200nm sail from Isla Caño to Isla Murcíalagos. What a great time. Here’s the real story on that one…

So we get up to this beautiful island chain, the “Bat” islands – named because of the shape of a bat made by the second island (you can see this very clearly at 2:39). This island chain is very rarely visited, mostly because it lays in a very dangerous zone – the Papagayo wind zone. This is an area of the Central American peninsula where the eastern trade winds from the Caribbean shoot through the mountains and make their way (very strongly) to the Pacific. Within 5 nm of land you are subject to 40kt catabolic winds, sometimes out of nowhere. Needless to say, it’s a dangerous place to bring a boat… so we went!

I laid out two anchors, about 60degrees from each other, and faced the boat dead east in a little cove (also visible in the drone shot). Super cool spot, but ass puckering dangerous. We were so close to the rocks that I barely slept, always coming out to shine a light and check to make sure the anchors were holding. It’s one thing to be anchored in 40kt winds, it’s another to be anchored 20ft from rocks, in 6ft of water, in 40kt winds.

But OMG the diving! It was amazing. We talked to the rangers, and got permission to spearfish. I actually took a shot at a mahi-mahi while we were out. We ended up getting lots of fish, and bringing the rangers a bunch, to which they were very thankful, as they had no boat to fish so were eating canned foods for weeks. Ugh. Great view though.

Bottom line: If you are ever in Costa Rica, try to get out to the Murcíalagos Islands. They are very special. Bucket list item for sure. Climb to the top of one of the islands and watch the sunset. You may get lucky like us and see whales breaching right afterward. What a night… Why is this not in the vid, you ask? We had the footage on our failed hard drive, not backed up. 100 videos are gone. That sucks, but you get the real story here.

The rest of the film is pretty self explanatory, Kim comes back (Happy Captain!), and we haul the boat…

– James

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The end of days (for the dink) | Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 44

Can you see what’s wrong with this picture? Find out in this week’s adventure sailing around Costa Rica on a plywood catamaran. The where, why, and when of one of life’s most intriguing questions: When will Zingaro’s dinghy die??

In this episode you’ll see “the incident” that finally killed our outboard. We ended up giving it away to a dock worker when we arrived in Ecuador. Funny enough, I needed some parts off of it later on and we were able to track it down and get the little pieces I needed for the new one.

Hope you like! This is a LONG episode, and took us quite a while to make. We think it’s got just about everything you’d need to get your sailing/maintenance/adventure fix today!

-James & Kimmi

PS: Big thanks to Sue and Pirate Pawl of Pitcairn island for the hospitality, food, drink, and love. We have some lifelong friends on one of the most remote islands in the world.

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We CREW for a long line fisherman in Costa Rica | Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 43

Ever wonder how long line fishing works? We met Arturo while we were hanging out in Costa Rica, and asked him what he did all night. He invited us to come along, and we couldn’t say no (though when he told us what time we were leaving we had second thoughts).

We hauled in a lot of fish that night, slept on a lancha (Spanish for dinghy, uncomfortable as hell), almost got stuck by numerous hooks, and got a very fast ride in/out of the bay.

We are exhausted by the end of the day, but pull in over 40 mahi mahi, and even get to take home the biggest one! It was definitely an experience.

Big thanks to Arturo for inviting us into his life and taking us on this adventure! Muchas gracias Arturo!

Much love, Pura Vida!

Kim and James

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Our dirtiest day on Easter Island

What started of as a harmless afternoon hike, soon became the dirtiest adventure of our lives. I didn’t look as bad as James, but I was just as dirty! Good thing we were able to wash off well. Thanks to our sponsor Spectra Watermakers ❤

Dirty hiking on Rapa Nui

Sailing Zingaro | Pretty dirty and happy hikers on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Sailing Zingaro | True adventurers need to be muddy

Sailing Zingaro | True adventurers need to be muddy

Our friend Valentina send us into the ‘Cave of Virgins’ and waited for us at the entrance, because she ‘had seen it before’ 😂. We had no clue what was awaiting us!

It took us around 2h round trip, crawling through this lava tunnel with puddles and openings in the stone sometimes as small as 30cm (~1ft).

Lucie says goodbye | Sailing Zingaro – Ep 41

We’re loosing our crew! You guys have no idea how bad it’ll get without Lucie. She was the only cook aboard. She came, she cooked, she conquered. Bye, bye Lucie!

We’re just getting to Costa Rica at the end of this episode, and good times await us here! We’re going to sail the entire coast, all the way to Nicaragua. Islas Caño, Merciàlago, and even the elusive Cocos… Stay tuned!

We had some amazing adventures in CR. It was beautiful, expensive, crazy, locals came to the boat, Kimmi went back to Berlin, and James and a local went on a spearfishing/sailing adventure with a friend. We can’t wait to share all of this with you.

But, first, hope you like this one.

Pura Vida!
James & Kim

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Sailing through 7 Storms in One Day! | Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 40

This is the very last Panama video, it is our longest (and best) episode to date, and it has a bit of everything you guys love in a sailing video: storm sailing and spearfishing on this uninhabited island (Isla Montuosa), when we run into the navy! Watch what happens, you won’t believe it!

We also go to Isla Coiba and show you some amazing dive footage from there. What a beautiful place.

In the next episode we’re finally leaving for Costa Rica.

Much love!
James & Kimmi

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Did we ruin Cleveland’s dream?| Sailing Zingaro – Ep. 38

Remember the $5k boat? Well the guy that owns that boat came down to get a taste of cruising. This whole episode is about our time together, and at the end he gives us an “exit” interview.

Cleveland records his REAL thoughts before departing and gives YOU guys a heartfelt, no BS description of the two weeks he spent with us cruising southern Panama.

We love ya Cleve! Had a blast with you bud. Good luck on all your future adventures!

Got a bit of everything in this episode. Hope you guys enjoy!!!

James & Kim

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Beautiful Ecuador – the big surprise

Of all the countries we visited so far, Ecuador was by far the biggest positive surprise.

We wanted to come down here just to jump of to French Polynesia, but we ended up extending our visas and staying for four months to explore the whole country. We had 15kn of wind from the southwest every day and lonely islands to spend the night at. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Only a few days left in Ecuador – then we will set sail for Easter Island. Our next big cruising adventure… ⛵️

Sailing the Lost Isles of Panama | Sailing Zingaro – Ep 33

Theres nobody here. It’s paradise. The weather is perfect, the sea is calm, and the spearfishing is amazing. Follow us for an amazing journey into the untouched and rarely visited Isla Secas.

They’re often passed up by cruisers, because it’s hard to slog up the coast towards Costa Rica. Furthermore, there isn’t any widespread knowledge about these islands.

That is the kinda place I want to be. And this time it worked out so well… What a beautiful island chain. It’s very close to Isla Coiba (World Heritage site and same underwater archipelago as Galapagoes). Just amazing.

Hope you like!

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Season 1 FINALE | Sailing Zingaro Ep 29

The girls take the catamaran through the Panama Canal! We get some new linehandlers, struggle to get diesel, and finally get through the canal to the Pacific! What an adventure it has been so far.

As we say goodbye to the Caribbean ocean, we reflect on the memories we’ve made, the troubles, trials, and friendships. It’s hard to say goodbye, but exiting to start a new adventure in the biggest ocean on the Planet: Season 2 – PACIFIC.

Making this episode and looking back on the TWO YEARS we have spent cruising has touched us deeply.

Hope you guys love this episode as much as we do!

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Panama Canal – The Cheap Way (pt. II) | Livin la Vida Broka

In this episode we cover cost of the panama canal, how to pay, where to go, with maps to show you the way! This is the absolute cheapest way to do it!

We put this together as a help to future cruisers on exactly what needs to be done to get through the canal. We wished there was something like this when we went through, so we made it. Thanks for making it possible, and supporting us through this adventure.

Hope you like !

https://www.youtube.com/embed/74bbuSzLOUQ


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We tour a farm in Colombia | Sailing Zingaro – Episode 22

Do you see the SIZE of that thing?! There’s something in the water in Colombia … 🙂

We get invited by a local to his family farm, so we leave the boat at anchor and take a water-taxi, car-taxi, & 4wd jeep to one of the most biodiverse places we’ve ever seen. Wow they sure do grow everything mega-sized here. Join us on our private tour of a Colombian finca.

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The most populated island on earth | Sailing Zingaro – Episode 21

Join us as we discover the small, packed, island Santa Cruz del Islote (Colombia) – the most (or second-most) densely populated island on earth! We meet the local leader of the youth environmental club, meet some of the people that live here on the island, and see what there is to see on this small crazy place.

You’re in for a surprise too, Kim and Lucie made a music video at the beginning of this episode.

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Goodbye Panama! Off to New Shores!

Today we are leaving Panama for Costa Rica (this time for real!). We are looking back on 8 months full of adventures, doubts & challenges. The last weeks and months we couldn’t wait to get out of Panama to see different countries, but when we checked out we asked ourselves if we really had seen enough … All of the sudden it seemed as if we had so much more to do here!

And YES, there are tons of places yet (by us) unexplored places even here in this relatively small country. And yet it is time for us to leave, because there is a whole world to be seen. I guess it is like that with traveling. The more places You get to know, the more places you learn to miss.

Ahoy!
-James & Kim

Bye Bye USA!

We’re leaving back to go to the boat!!! We’re both a little homesick, and super exited to get back to the Seca Islands (Panama) to spear and swim.

Zingaro LIVE & with LOVE from San Francisco

Just a little update to let you know why we’ve been radio silent, announce a couple really cool things going on with Zingaro, and set to rest some questions we’ve had from our viewers. We’re talking about cats vs monos, cruising routes, our favorite places in the Caribbean (most of which you probably haven’t heard of) and our cruising plans for the rest of this season.

Ahoy Kim & James

Cartagena wasn’t ready for the Zingaro | Sailing Zingaro – Episode 17

We didn’t even look at a picture before we arrived in Cartagena (Colombia). So we thought we were in the WRONG place! It was a HUGE city, awesome people, great nightlife, and a Russian submarine turned bar. This is a cool one. Enjoy folks!

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We made it to Jamaica | Sailing Zingaro – Episode 15

Looks like the third time is the charm! The improved Zingaro is finally leaving the Cayman Islands. The ride to Jamaica started out very pleasantly, until we got smashed by a wave that killed all our electronics. I don’t think there is ever going to be a longer passage without a major drama …

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Sailing Zingaro – Live from Panama City

We’re giving back to the community that has made this adventure possible. We hit some major milestones this month: 1 million views, 20,000 subscribers, the Pacific!

In this livestream we discuss about transiting the Panama Canal, our cruising plans, Zingaro’s sails (old/new), travel to USA in April, thoughts on this channel after 1 year and about James’ sailing history …