PJ and Loretta Visit in El Salvador

November 2005

Tuesday November 8, 2005

PJ and Loretta arrived yesterday, lugging four large bags and several smaller ones.  They brought parts and pieces for us and many toys for the local children.  We sorted the bags at the hotel restaurant while we enjoyed beers and breakfast.  Bill and PJ made two runs to the boat and to Murray and Colette’s with the bags full of separated goodies.  Loretta and I took the last load so that I could stow the parts and pieces left on Lanikai.  We deposited three large bags of toys and some clothing at Murray and Colette’s for their distribution, although we will probably fill our pockets with some of the smaller toys as we travel this next week.

We walked down the beach to Puntilla for a fish lunch today.  Loretta and Pj were impressed with the long beach and the buildings that the sea is slowly destroying.

Wednesday November 9

We took off in the car to visit Copán in Honduras and several towns in El Salvador.  The plan was to drive around for a week returning to Bahía in time for the annual fishing tournament.  We left Bahía at about 8 AM heading off to San Salvador where we enjoyed a nice lunch before continuing on to the small town of La Palma where we found a nice hotel for the night.  La Palma is known for its brightly colored paintings and the hotel had many examples of this artwork on its walls.  We walked around the town before finding a small restaurant for dinner and then the local ice cream shop for desert of big banana splits.  Thursday we continued on into Honduras spending three hours to get the car across the border and arriving in Copán Ruinas by 5PM.  We checked into a small hotel that was quite inexpensive but had a TV in each room.  Dinner was at Carnitas, where we enjoyed wonderful beef dinners, a real treat since most of the beef down here is quite tough so we usually settle for chicken.  We stayed in Copán Ruinas three nights, eating each night at the same restaurant but picking different lunch spots.  Friday we spent the entire day exploring the ruins and Saturday we explored the little town.  Bill found an internet café where he spent many long hours while the rest of us explored the side streets and visited the little museum off the plaza Saturday.  Sunday we returned to El Salvador spending only 1 ½ hours at the border and stopping for the night in the same hotel in La Palma where we stopped on the way going.  Loretta and I spent some time shopping in the little town.  I purchased a letter for each of the grand children with the bright painted houses and birds that the town is noted for.  Monday we continued into El Salvador stopping for the night in Suchitoto.  It is a colonial town with most of the old buildings kept in good repair.  The church was open and has been under restoration so we took peak inside.  Tuesday we returned to Bahía with a stop in San Salvador for lunch and so Bill could use the internet.

Wednesday was a hot day so while Bill did some boat projects, I took Loretta and PJ into the pool to spend the day.  The boat was reported to be smoking a lot of white smoke when we moved it the day after PJ and Loretta arrived.  Bill checked out the problem and soon realized that it was not smoke but steam.  The raw water was not flowing as it should.  He spent several hours tracking down constricted plumbing in the raw water system and that seemed to improve the water flow but it is still not quite right.  Thursday started off cloudy so I fixed spaghetti for lunch and then transported PJ and Loretta to the pool again.  I returned to the boat to help Bill as he changed the raw water pump impeller.  After five tries he finally got the new impeller installed with the key in place and in the process he found a torn blade of a much older impeller stuck in the pump outlet.  Removing the old blade piece seemed to solve the problem. 

All four of us had volunteered to be observers on the fishing boats for the tournament.  We had a short meeting Wednesday afternoon to sign papers so that a list could be formed.  On Thursday we attended the skippers meeting and were each assigned to a boat in a drawing with the 12 volunteering cruisers in the hat with the members of the press that had also wanted to be observers.  The four of us got on boats of about 28 foot long with two big outboard motors to push them along at planeing speeds.  Friday and Saturday we were up by 3:30 AM and into the hotel before 4:30 so that we could join the boats which started to head out at first light.  I was on the 10^th boat in line.  The wind had been blowing from the north all night so the bocana was a little rough, but the big motors on the boats allowed them to time the crossing and scoot across in a window.  A cheer went up as we passed the last of the breakers and were free.  It was still quite choppy outside but that did not slow us down as our boat moved at top speed to over 50 miles offshore.  We all hung on as the boat pounded through the meringue-pie chop.  Our boat had a marlin on the hook by 9:30 and on board an hour and a half later.  We never hooked another, although trolling around floating logs and palm trees we picked up lots of dorado and a few tuna.  Bill’s boat and PJ’s also landed marlin.  Saturday was a slower fishing day, although trolling around the floating trees netted us many smaller dorado.  While trolling for marlin we hooked a sailfish that was brought along side for photos and then released.  Dolphins were also plentiful and everyone on board enjoyed watching their antics.   All the observers were given complementary tickets to Saturday nights award banquet.  We attended, although we were all so tired that we almost fell asleep before the food was served.  Dinner revived us enough so that we could last through the ceremony.  Both nights of the fishing tournament, while the fish were being weighed, Flor de Cana Rum set up a booth to pass out free rum and coke.  We definitely took advantage of the drinks.

Tuesday November 22, 2005

PJ and Loretta left yesterday morning.  Bill drove them to the airport early in the morning where they caught a direct flight to LA.  Sunday after the tournament they spent the morning packing.  For lunch we walked down the beach to Puntilla in the sand of a very low tide.  We all enjoyed a fish lunch and a long visit before walking back up the beach just before the water got too high to pass the awash house that was being destroyed by natural changes to the beach near the boacna. 

Leaving Loretta and PJ to enjoy the pool, Bill and I dinghied over to the ranch to say our good-byes to Amanda and Roberto.  Amanda and Roberto were visiting the rancho for a few hours just to “get away” - only the second time that they had visited in the last three months.  After we returned to the pool it was decided to go out for pupusas at Pupusa Emily’s for dinner so PJ finally got his taste of pupusas. 

While Bill was off to the airport Monday I started the cleaning process, doing a railings worth of laundry and leaving more to soak and cleaning the floors both inside and out.  Bill returned in time for a pizza lunch after which we moved the boat to closer to Murray and Colette’s, as Murray was hopping to get our bow pulpit welded later in the day.  Just about sunset the wind died and Murray was ready for the welding.  Lanikai was moved to their dock where there was enough water for us as the tide was in.  The welding was done and we had Lanikai re-anchored by 7:30 just in time for star viewing and bed.

Today Bill re-plumbed the water heater into the fresh water system after washing it out with many rinses of fresh water.  He then tackled the genset motor again.  The injector looked good so he reinstalled it, but even after bleeding the system it refused to start.  He squirted some WD40 into the air intake but the starter solenoid decided to fail so we gave up and had lunch.  After lunch the motor started easily.  Big Question ???

Thursday November 24, 2005     Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday we spent most of the day on projects, continuing to get things ready for heading out of the boca on Saturday.  In the morning while Bill worked on getting the batteries tied down I dove on the prop to remove its thin layer of barnacles.  The boat bottom was clean with its new bottom paint working.  Then Bill spent more effort on the genset.  He took out the injector again and took it up to Murray for him to test it.  Too bad, but it was already set correctly and working perfectly.  Bill reinstalled the injector and after bleeding it the genset started right up.  While he was off at Murray’s shop I hanked on the two jibs that we usually use.  We went into the pool just before 4PM for a much needed swim but were so tired that we returned to Lanikai and bed before the sun had set.  It got very cold overnight!! 

Today we continued tying up the loose ends for leaving.  Bill put new spark plugs in the outboard motor and I got the kayak tied on, although Bill retied it with two new lines later in the morning when we realized that we had time to do it right. 

Thanksgiving Dinner was a potluck at a local restaurant that has become the cruisers hang out.  Two of the cruisers cooked turkeys and they both took longer than expected so that dinner was a little late but no one seemed to notice.  The food was great and plentiful.  It was another early to bed night, with full tummies.

Friday November 25, 2005

We went into San Salvador today to pick up some last minute parts and groceries.  Gail and Dick of Kimtah rode along with us.  Bill spent some time at the internet café and then we all had lunch together.  Gail and I had discovered that the new Harry Potter movie was showing at the mall with some of the showings in English with Spanish subtitles.  We all decided that that would be a great way to spend the afternoon.  We walked over to the mall, purchased our tickets and then wandered the mall with the Christmas shoppers while we waited for show time.  It was an enjoyable show.  We got back to the hotel late, but not too late to pay our final bill and start the check out procedure.   

Saturday November 26, 2005

Today we tied up the loose ends to leave Bahía and head south.  Bill and Dick did the check out around noon after both boats were topped up with water and Dick’s Kimtah with fuel.  Dick and Gail on Kimtah are heading out with us in the morning; theirs is a power boat so they will be ahead of us, but we hope to meet up with them in the Gulf of Fonseca.  We had dinner at the Galley Restaurant which in its short time since opening has become the cruiser hang out.  Said our good-byes, although many of the other boaters there are planning on heading south in the next week as well.