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Travalog
Five After almost five months since our departure, VIVA arrived in Huatulco to prepare for our crossing of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, and the 460-mile trip through the "Forgotten Middle" of Central America. Huatulco turned out to be a very pleasant stop. Actually, Huatulco consists of five different anchorages, ranging from beaches with first class hotels to completely isolated coves with no facilities. The little village at the main anchorage is all quite new with numerous small shops, restaurants and boutiques. We completed our final clearance from Mexico, loaded up with fuel, and then kicked back for a couple of days to wait for our weather window for the 250-mile Gulf of Tehuantepec crossing. The little town of Las Crucecitas was also a pleasant surprise, incredibly clean with many nice restaurants featuring the local cuisine. The only negative factor was the jet skis by day and a local disco by night, usually jumping until 3:00 AM. The
crossing of the Gulf is not to be taken lightly, as the area is famous
for its gale force winds, which can kick up at a moment's notice.
These winds blow offshore and mixed with the fairly shallow bottom
and onshore wave action, make for an extremely dangerous crossing
if caught offshore. It is tempting to head directly across the Gulf
as one can knock about 50 miles off the trip. However, the general
rule of thumb is to sail with "one foot on the beach" in
case the winds kick up. It's amusing to listen to all the cruiser
weather gurus, waving their weather faxes, trying to predict the proper
time to leave. We timed our departure for 6:00 PM so we could arrive in Puerto Madero at daylight 1 1/2 days later. The first night was spent motoring along the shore quite peacefully. At daybreak, I happened to look up and saw the mainsheet shackle, which attaches to the deck had sheared off and allowed the mainsail to swing all the way out! Wow, great timing! After rummaging through the spares, I found that I had every shackle but the right size. So, we finally ended up lashing the mainsheet block to the traveler with some nylon sail ties. No sooner had we finished, than the wind kicked up to 20-25 knots. Fortunately, the wind was behind the beam and never increased the rest of the trip. We finally arrived in Puerto Madero, the last stop in Mexico, 45 hours later. I'd rather be lucky than good!! Puerto Madero is a pretty depressing spot, consisting of a small harbor with some shark fishing camps, a Port Captain/Immigration office and a Navy base. Everyone gets boarded upon entering and exiting the harbor; and other than refueling and a day's rest, there would be no reason to stop. The fueling operation is handled by two brothers, who jerry jug the diesel to your boat. The following evening, we headed south, and after 15 miles crossed the Guatemalan border. Adios Mexico! We did not plan to stop in Guatemala, as the port city of Quetzal is primarily a big coal loading operation, with an $80.00 port clearance fee! I can get coal piles in San Pedro without paying! However, we had heard from another northbound cruising boat and some e-mails that there was an interesting anchorage in El Salvador called Bahia del Sol, in a beautiful lagoon, called Estero Jaltepeque. This area is a big vacation spot for wealthy Salvadorans, and cruisers have been welcomed to stop, refuel and explore the area for a few days. One group of cruisers had been royally entertained and hosted by some wealthy Salvadorans, who had beach homes there. Since this spot did not show up on our charts, we were relying on coordinates supplied to us by the other cruisers. After a beautiful sail the previous day along the Guatemalan coast, we had our first real mechanical problem. Up until this time we have really been blessed for not having the multitude of mechanical problems which seem to plague cruisers constantly. One of the high-pressure injector fuel lines had developed a small leak, due to some vibration and chafing by a shut-off lever. This had caused a considerable loss of power and a fine mist of diesel spray over the engine. After locating the pinhole leak, I was able to partially seal it with some epoxy, but not 100%. The wind was slowly dying with about 80 miles to Bahia del Sol, which we were trying to make at dawn. At this point, Bob on CHARIS offered us a tow. Since we didn't want to arrive before daybreak, the 4-knot towing speed worked out well. Sure nice to travel with a buddy boat! Upon arrival at Bahia del Sol, we didn't realize that the entrance to the lagoon is made through a surf crossing without any breakwater, channel markers or other navigational aids! It was also necessary to wait for high tide at 2:00 PM that afternoon. We contacted the hotel by radio and they informed us that they would be escorting a 52-ft sailboat out at high tide, and would then lead us in. So, we sailed back and forth for a few hours waiting for our entrance, Well, at 2:00 PM out comes the Tayana 52 "Attitudes". As they approached the surf line at full speed, a wave broke on the bow, and then a second wave.....all green water! They did manage to get out, but had to bail about 50 gal. of water from their main salon because of an open hatch. After watching this operation, we weren't quite sure about taking our boats in. Particularly, since the hotel's guide boat felt that the surf was too high. About this time we are greeted on the VHF radio by a local homeowner, by the name of "Don Juan", who has been watching us for hours from his home. He wanted us to come in and experience a taste of El Salvador, and offered to send out his boat boys in his 20-ft. Boston Whaler to assess the surf and then guide us in. Sure enough, a few minutes later out came his runabout. After a short radio discussion, he assured us that his boys could bring us in if we followed right behind them. Since the alternative was a few hundred-mile sail with our ailing engine, we decided to go for it! Well, true to their word, after a couple of heart-pounding surf rides, we made it into the beautiful calm lagoon and anchored in front of the Hotel Bahia del Sol, complete with fuel dock, and waterside restaurant. The first order of business was the engine repair. We removed the damaged fuel line and took it to the hotel lobby, where they contacted a mechanic by VHF radio. The mechanic disappeared with my part and returned within the hour. The fuel line had been brazed , polished and painted like new. Cost: $8.50 Welcome to El Salvador! Re-fueling was equally as easy, as there was a Shell dock right at the hotel. Obtaining provisions required a 30 minute bus ride down the peninsula to a small market. Not much in the way of fresh food, but plenty of staples. It also gave us an opportunity to see some of the elegant water front homes. The area turned out to be a truly memorable experience. The ocean side of the lagoon was lined with wealthy Salvadoran homes, complete with docks and large powerboats. The other side of the river was a dense tropical jungle, inhabited only by the occasional fishing village. We had the opportunity to take the dinghies for miles up the rivers feeding the lagoon, and visited a few of the little villages. It was like something out of National Geographic! The people were quite friendly, but I'm sure we were some of the first Americans they had seen. We had planned to stay for three days but the next problem came when it was time to leave. The area has extreme tidal ranges, which requires leaving at high tide. In addition, the surf had been building every day during our stay, which prevented our departure. Every day we would up anchor at high tide in the morning, motor out to the entrance, only to be told by the hotel guide boat that the surf was too high and they didn't want us to chance it. The departure of "Attitudes" had obviously made them more cautious. Since Don Juan's boys were not around, we were at the mercy of the hotel guide. Finally, six days later, the surf had subsided a little and we were able to make our way out. Another white-knuckler! The next stop after a full day's sail, was the remote corner of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, known as the Gulf of Fonseca. This large bay is way off the beaten path and consists of a number of volcanic islands inhabited by local fishing villages. The water was muddy brown from all the river runoff, not conducive to swimming. One memorable anchorage was off the little island of Meanguera, where we took a tour of the little village to pick up some provisions. Upon arriving ashore, we were greeted by a young Salvadoran, who had just returned from New York. First, he led us to the local pool hall for a couple of beers and a game of pool. Quite a local cast of characters! After a walking tour of the village complete with cows, pigs, chickens and a dozen curious kids, we picked up some provisions and headed back to the boat. We were anchored with CHARIS in front of a small hotel with restaurant, the only building on the beach, and that night treated ourselves to a delicious lobster dinner for $6.00! We again marveled at the remoteness of this part of the world. The following morning we left at sunrise for the long haul down the coast of Nicaragua to the Costa Rican border. We had a beautiful sail most of the day but by nightfall the wind had switched on the nose and built to 20 knots, our first taste of the Papagallo winds, which blow offshore in this area. The next 20 hours was a really ugly, pounding motor sail. Since there are not many anchorages in Nicaragua, we opted to continue on to Bahia Elena, our first stop in Costa Rica, arriving late afternoon with the wind still howling. Stay tuned for more adventures. As ever, Steve & Pam
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