El Salvador

April into May, 2005

Friday, April 1, 2005

Easter Sunday the Bahía area calmed down, with very few tourists left here.  We used the pool in the evening and there was maybe one other family there besides all the cruisers.  Mangos are falling from trees on Isla Cordoncillo, plenty around Murray and Colette’s place.  Tuesday I gathered up a bucket full to make jam with.  I added a few sour oranges to the mix and ended up with three pints of quite tasty jam. 

Yesterday we went into the big city of San Salvador, as we needed to have a part made for the saltwater foot pump in the galley.  It broke Tuesday night just before we went to the hotel for our swim and since it was below sea level, water leaked into the boat.  Bill got the valve turned off and we ignored the problem until Wednesday morning.  When he finally got the pump out and dismantled he discovered a nylon part that had broken.  Our spare pump had the same part cracked although not yet completely broken.  Bill decided that the part would be much better in metal so it was off to the machine shop in San Salvador yesterday to get one fabricated out of stainless steel.  From San Salvador we continued on to Zacate for shopping and a few hours at the internet café.  Bill not only got our web page updated, but electronically filed our 2004 income tax forms as well. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

We had a quiet weekend on the boat with late afternoon swims in the pool and visits with our cruising friends.  Yesterday we were again into the big city to pick up the pump part.  After we returned from town, Bill got the pump repaired, installed and working.

Friday April 8, 2005

We took off in the car today to explore eastern El Salvador arriving in Zacatecoluca in time to enjoy a lunch there.  From there we drove toward Usulutan stopping along the way to photo late-season sugar cane harvesting.  We took the side road to Puerto El Triunfo where we discovered a developing tourist complex at the water front and a long dock out into Bahía de Jiquilisco.  Three sailboats were anchored near its end.  Back on the main coastal road we took another side road, this time into the mountains to the north and thru Santiago de Maria, ending up on the Pan-American Highway.  Along this road we passed four volcanoes, three of which are visible from Lanikai.  On reaching this major road we turned right toward San Miguel and stopped at a motel in the outskirts of this city.

Saturday April 9, 2005

After breakfast at the hotel we were off again.  We passed thru the west side of San Miguel taking the highway to the north up toward Perquin.  In San Francisco Gotera we got lost passing through the town and did a bit of exploring before we finally found the road north out of town.  The road climbed up to Perquin and the narrow streets of this small town were also very steep.  We found the museum to the civil war just above the town.  It was an interesting, although crude, museum to the recent struggles in this country.  After visiting the museum we drove down thru the town and stopped at a hotel on the cliff above the road for lunch.  We got a table at a window overlooking the valley but it was too cloudy for much of a view.  After lunch we continued downhill, passing easily thru Gotera this time and taking the fork toward the Honduras border.  Before we got to the border the road met the Pan-American Highway again.  This time we turned toward La Union.  We spent the night in another motel just outside of La Union.

Sunday April 10, 2005

We were up early today and since there was no restaurant in the hotel we took off toward the town.  Before getting to La Union we were given several choices and opted to head toward the port area first.  The road to Las Playitas took off near the port and since it announced the ferry as well, we turned down it hoping to find a breakfast near the ferry docks.  The ferry docks never showed up but we continued along the dirt road, ending up in the little beach town of Las Playitas across the bay from Isla Conchaquita in the Gulf of Fonseca.  They were just setting up for the Sunday beach crowd that they hoped would arrive later in the morning.  We finally convinced the proprietor at one of the beach restaurants to fix us some coffee.  She later fixed us some beans, cheese and eggs for our breakfast.   We returned back along the dirt road making a pass thru the port area before heading south to the Eastern Beaches.  The port has a beautiful four lane divided highway leading to it, but the road stops in a cliff that is not quite yet dug out.  There is an almost-completed dock for large ships but not much else and no work seems to be going on a present.

We drove through the town of La Union. The port area, even on a Sunday, seemed “dead” although a market was going on in the main streets of the town.  We continued to the Eastern beach area and drove all the way out to Playa Tamarindo at the point between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Fonseca.  Back along the ocean side we stopped at Playa Negrita for lunch and ended up spending the night in the nice beachside hotel.  We enjoyed watching the fishing pangas come in and out through the surf while we sat in the restaurant reading.

Monday April 11, 2005

Today we worked our way back to Costa del Sol and Lanikai.  Along the way we drove out to the beach at El Cuco and along both sides of the Rio Lempa.  We did not eat until we got to Zacatecoluca as we found no food on the Rio Lempa roads and we were out at Cuco too soon after our big breakfast at the hotel.  In Zacate we picked up some groceries and Bill picked up our e-mail before we returned to the coast in time to enjoy a few beers and an evening swim with our friends.

Saturday April 16, 2005

Seven more boats crossed the bar into the estero this week.  Bill has spent more time fixing bugs in his latest version of his FotoAlbum program.  I will use it for a few more days and then it should be ready for distribution.

Wednesday Bill took his computer into the bar at the hotel to work on his bugs and to help Bob, Horizons, with his computer problems.  While Bill was gone, I took over the table in the boat to do some sewing.  I made a new shade cover for aft of the cockpit and extended the old dinghy cover by 19 inches so that it will fit on our new dinghy.

It looked like we might get some rain last evening but the storm passed off shore of us.  It still provided some relief to the heat and humidity allowing us to get a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

After a few days of strong, dry winds out of the north, last night the weather returned to the more normal pattern and the humidity rose. 

Sunday evening there was a cruiser’s potluck at Murray and Colette’s home.  There was too much good food as usual, and also lots of fun visiting with the other cruisers.  Earlier in the day Amanda and Roberto with several of Amanda’s relatives showed up at their rancho.  As they passed by Lanikai on their way to the island they invited us over.   We gave them about half an hour to get settled, dropped our dinghy into the water and went over there, intending to have a short visit.  We ended up leaving with just barely enough time for a quick swim in the pool, heat up my casserole dish and head off to the evening potluck.  The guests at the rancho were interesting folks and we had a good time visiting and improving our Spanish.  Tuesday we went into Zacate where Bill updated his web page with his latest FotoAlbum program (see www.7milesys.com/index2 if you are interested) .  The folks from WoodDuck rode in with us and spent most of their time, like Bill, at the internet café.  I did some shopping, mostly at the open air Mercado near the plaza selecting fresh vegetables. 

Friday, April 22, 2005

Yesterday we went to visit with Murray and Colette.  Bill spent some more time on their computer both setting up things for Murray and checking out his FotoAlbum program on a Windows 98 machine.  I walked around the back yard and picked up another bucket of mangos.  After our return to Lanikai, I made some mango chutney.  The process was interrupted when two more boats were brought in.  We dinghied out to the boca to help guide the first boat to the anchorage after Murray and Colette guided them over the short bar.  The waves were quite large today so it took some time for a good “window” to be found thru the breaking waves, but the two boats did get across. 

This morning the surf sounds to be larger than even yesterday and it was hot and muggy.  We decided to drive into San Salvador to have lunch up on one of the hills overlooking the city where it was cooler.  Judy, Paradiso, rode in with us, so after lunch we drove into town to visit Metro Centro, the BIG shopping center.  Judy said that she was in sensory overload with all the available shopping, after having spent the last year along the coast of Mexico. 

Monday, April 25, 2005

Last Saturday six more boats crossed the bar.  The bar was quite rough, but with the exception of a few bent dinghy davits all but one crossed safely.  The last boat in, Sula, was the unlucky one to get dumped on by a wave that filled their cockpit, which has happened to others, but they did not have a sealed companion-way door and much of the salty water went below!! 

Yesterday two more boats crossed in in much calmer conditions. 

Saturday night after our evening swim many of the cruisers, including some of the new arrivals, went to MarySol’s for dinner and on Sunday evening we all met at the pool.  There is quite a group here now with many planning to stay until after the rainy season and use the time to travel both to home and inland in Central America.

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Yesterday we took another trip to the Rio Lempa.  This time we went by covered panga.  There were two pangas full of cruisers as many of the new arrivals decided to take the trip.  This time we stopped at the small fishing village of Colorado on Isla Tasajera to visit the school.  The school building has three classrooms and about 100 children; half attend in the morning and the rest in the afternoon.  We continued on to the river and upon reaching it followed it to its mouth where we again disembarked from the pangas on the river side of the sandbar, walking across the sand for a swim in the sea.  After our salty swim in the waves we again loaded onto the pangas and traveled up river to a sand bar for a fresh water swim.  It was then back into the mangroves returning just past the town of Colorado where we stopped for a fish lunch and cold drinks.  The restaurant was on stilts over the water and the proprietor brought everything including tables and chairs from their house in town.   After our wonderful lunch we returned to Bahía via a winding path thru the mangroves instead of the straight shot along Isla Tasajera.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The last day of April already!!!.  Two more boats crossed the bar into Bahía yesterday, Friday, and today there are several more either anchored outside or on their way, waiting for to right conditions to come in. 

With the evening tide today, two of the boats got across the bar but the latest to arrive opted to wait until the morning.   The sun set as the second boat crossed and with our short twilights they barely got their anchors down before dark descended.  Tonight being Murray’s birthday, Marco invited us to join him for dinner with Murray and Colette.  Marco is the owner of Hotel Bahía del Sol and his wife and oldest son were also there.  We enjoyed the Saturday buffet and then Marco presented a special cake that the Hotel had fixed for Murray.  Even the band played happy birthday songs for Murray.  Of course, we had to toast Murray with shots of whisky and there was plenty of beer to drink besides.

Monday May 2, 2005

Yesterday it was too rough on the bar in the morning to bring in the two boats anchored off the bocana.  They decided to spend the day and try again this morning when the high tide would be a little later in the morning.  During the day they rescued a swimmer that was getting swept out to sea from the beach at Puntilla, but sadly his buddy could not be found in spite of many fishing boats that went out to search the area.  Puntilla is a favorite spot for the locals from San Salvador to spend Sunday at the beach, and occasionally the strong current claims someone.

By the time high tide arrived today there were three boats ready to come in and a fourth anchored off with their crew out surfing.  All four boats crossed into the estero with the fourth boat crossing just as the current was starting out again.  Also one boat left here, heading north to spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.  We now have 40 boats in the estero although two are “on the hard” at Murray and Colette’s. 

Friday, May 06, 2005

Monday night we got our first thunder shower of the season.  It rained again on Wednesday night and last night we got a real downpour.  The rainy season has started. 

Yesterday, Bill and I went into Zacatecoluca so that Bill could spend time at the internet café.  I went into the new hamburger restaurant and got a cup of coffee and read while he surfed.  On the way home we stopped for lunch at San Marcelino where the road turns to run parallel to the beach.  We had avocado stuffed with shrimp for lunch, yummy,  while we watched the surf land on the beach.  One fishing panga even surfed into shore as we watched.  We arrived back to the hotel with a new boat just arriving.  Murray had also gone to town leaving Colette to do the guiding, but Marco was there to help out as well.  Two more boats had crossed Wednesday making a total of 43 boats here.  There is always a crowd at the pool for the late afternoon swim even if not everyone arrives.  Last night a few of us went to MarySol’s for dinner, as she is now open some weekday evenings to take advantage of the many boats here, and there was a fairly large group of cruisers there.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Last night we had one of the longest lasting thunder showers that we have yet experienced here in El Salvador.  It started off with just a light rain about 11:45PM.  We got all the rain curtains up and I had gone back to bed when the wind picked up in force with much lightening and hard rain.  Quantum Leap (at 71 feet, the largest boat here in the estero) dragged down on us and caught on our bow, so there we sat for almost an hour until the wind let up.  Our anchor held for the two of us with Quantum Leap’s anchor helping some.  After the wind died, Murray and Colette came in their panga and helped to extract the extra boat from our bow.  Many other cruisers came in their dinghy’s to help as well.   Quantum Leap’s 120-pound anchor had to be pulled up by hand as her batteries were dead.  Also her engine could not be started.  Murray with his panga and help from some of the dinghies dragged her back to her spot and she got anchored again by 03:30 in the morning.   Fortune and cool heads prevailed during the incident and damage to both boats was minor.

Paradiso also dragged but cleared the fleet and got their anchor reset with only minor problems, only then to be struck by one of the lightening bolts.  They are surveying the damage today and it looks like many of their electronics were killed including their refrigerator controller.  They even had all their muffin fans demagnetized.  The EMF pulse produced must be VERY strong.

This morning, when we dinghied over to thank Murray and Colette for their help during the night, Murray asked us if we would come down and anchor near their place to keep an eye out on the many empty boats stored on anchor or on buoy there.  We upped Lanikai’s anchor only to discover that a big water-logged log was well entwined in the chain.  Bill had to get into the dinghy to unwind the mess.  Mike from Desiderata, noticing our predicament, came over to help.  We moved the boat to almost our old spot from last summer off of the two small docks near Murray and Colette’s.  It sure is nice to have a good electric anchor windlass, since it took us two sets to get anchored where we wanted to.

Monday, May 09, 2005

After a calm night Saturday we had a busy Sunday.  A local couple, Santo and Mady, got married on the deck of Quantum Leap and then had an El Salvadoran reception at Santo’s parents’, Santini and Elizabeth, place on Isla Cordoncillo.  In between the ceremony and reception, Bill and I stopped by the Rancho to visit Amanda and Roberto who arrived after a three-weekend absence.  We only stayed a short time as two more boats had arrived off the boca and Murray had asked Bill and me to help at the corner.  The two boats crossed the bar safely two-plus hours before high slack, as the bar was relatively calm.   Murray and Colette needed to get to the border in their car before dark as it was time for their visa renewals, so they took off as soon as the second boat was across.  We arrived at the wedding reception a little late and missed out on the meal that was served, but we arrived in time for the cake cutting and enjoyed pieces of it.  There was still plenty of beer and food including some special shark ceviche that was quite delicious.  Lots of young children were in the group and we enjoyed watching them dance, pop the balloons and generally run around.  

Friday, May 13, 2005

Bill has spent much of this week reverse engineering how our new radar/chart plotter stores waypoints, routes and tracks with the goal of getting some of our old tracks into the unit.  We even spent a day in San Salvador so that he could surf the web looking up formulas and information.  There were also a few parts that we hoped to find and even though we drove to Zacatecoluca on the return trip we could find none of them; more to add to our list of things to purchase stateside.

We have had rain almost every night since May 1, last night being one of the exceptions.  Although we did see storms passing both offshore of us and inland, we stayed dry last night. 

Today we took Dana, Paradiso, into the city to pick up from DHL the first of many replacement parts needed because of the lightening strike. He now has the part to get his refrigerator going again and his shipboard computer is up and running again as well. 

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

More boats arrived over the weekend making the total of boats here at just about 55.  Many of the folks plan on spending the rainy season here; doing some inland travel and trips to “back home”.  This is a great spot from which to travel to Guatemala, Honduras and supposedly Nicaragua.

Ed on Kuay crossed into the estero today although Murray recommended against it and he got seriously tossed by a big wave leaving the boat with lots of water down below and cupboards emptied onto the opposite side of the boat.  This boat has been here before but he had crossed the bar in the less-wild season, November – March.  Colette and I stopped by to check up on the damage and ended up spending several hours helping with the clean up.  Ed was most appreciative of the help and was quick to tell all that it was “his fault”.   He also broke his boom and had both the outboard motor and the kitty litter box washed overboard

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Yesterday morning the weather fax showed a Low pressure system forming that had potential to become the first named storm of the season and by last night it had been named TS (Tropical Storm) “Adrian”.  Instead of the usual path west it had turned and was heading East, towards us, expected to hit the coast tomorrow evening somewhere along the Guatemalan or El Salvadoran shore.  It is only the fourth such storm to move east since 1966, so this was a big surprise to all.  There is still the disabled boat outside the bocana and a second one on the way.  Murray’s plan is to either get the boats in, or at least well anchored and at least the people in to safety. 

Later:  Murray did get the disabled boat that was outside safely across the bar and anchored in the estero.  The other boat chose to head to the next port to the east.  The fleet in here has spread out in the estuary, some moving quite far into the mangroves.  More anchor chain has been let out on most boats and as much “stuff” as possible removed from the decks and placed below.  Bill and I helped to ready three of the unoccupied vessels.  We are not sure when the winds will pick up on Thursday but we wanted to be as ready as possible before dark today.  Murray had lots of sand bags that he filled with 100 pounds of dirt each from his land and many of the boats have tied one about 10 feet down their anchor chains to increase holding and help dampen the effect of gusts on the anchor and chain.  Lanikai has one as well!

Friday, May 20, 2005

Adrian passed onto shore sometime late last night near Acajutla and our strongest winds were around midnight, after he was over land.  These winds were only in the 30 to 40 knot range.  The winds arrived as gusts and from the NE - which was the opposite direction than we expected with the hurricane SW of us.

The rains started at 8AM Thursday morning and it is still raining as I type.  We experienced no wind until after 3PM yesterday, when we started getting 5-15 knot gusts.  These gusts continued until about 6PM when the gusts increased to 20 and sometimes 25 knots.  Adrian was originally expected to make landfall about 50 miles from us at 6PM, but finally reached land, as best as we could tell, about 9:30PM somewhere between La Libertad and Acajutla, perhaps only 40 miles away.  We had a few gusts above 40 knots but the winds mostly stayed at 30 and below and still dropping to 15 between the gusts.  The strongest winds came about midnight when the gusts more frequently reached to 40 and the lulls between were still above 25.  By 2:30AM we were back to gusts of only 20-25 dropping to almost 0 between.  The rain has been heavy at times but mostly just a steady rain.  Bill collected enough water in an hour to top off our water tank and collect a bucket of wash water, but since the clothes line is out in the rain, laundry will have to wait for another day.  It also has gotten quite cool and we snuggled in blankets last night.