If you read the last e-mail you know that we successfully crossed the Gulf of Tehuantepec and that we are El Salvador . We are, in fact, enjoying life at “ El Salvador ’s Most Exclusive Resort” although how exclusive can it be if they’ll take in two vagabonds from California aboard a small sailboat?
“The crossing” turned out to be boringly placid. If you had asked any of us under what conditions we would have liked to cross the Gulf you would have heard a lot of “flat, calm”, “no wind”, “full moon”, etc. Well that is exactly what we got… and we still weren’t happy. The lack of wind required us to motor almost 200 miles. That’s a long way in a sailboat, and it is extremely boring. We read, we fished, we slept, but we didn’t sail. Everyone says we were lucky. Bah!
We passed out of Mexico and into Guatemala at 3:30 AM on Tuesday (left Huatulco , Mexico on Saturday evening). We bypassed the Guatemalan ports because the country has no attractive stops on the Pacific Coast , and they also charge about $150 to enter the country by boat. It took us about 24 hours to traverse Guatemalan waters, but we took some of their fish with us. I dropped a line from the stern and in less than 15 minutes I had hooked a 20 – 25 lb. blue fin tuna. The blue fin has rich, blood red meat, and he was filleted and turned into a sushi lunch within the hour. We also got several dinners worth of grilled tuna for our efforts.
The winds picked up enough for us to fly our spinnaker for the next two days, and we sailed smartly down the coast of El Salvador . Our next port of call was to be Barillas where we expect to winter the boat, but Bahia del Sol (13° 16.500'N/ 88° 53.200'W) was 30 miles closer and we were very tired. We arrived outside the bar to BDS at midnight (bad timing due to the Tehuantepec calm) and decided to throw down an anchor and sleep. We nosed up to the beach (1/4 mile off actually) just outside the surf line, dropped anchor, and were quickly asleep. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful, palm lined beach with a huge volcano lurking in the background, and after a leisurely breakfast we called BDS for help getting over the bar. Even in Google you can see the large breakers that surround the entrance to the river estuary so it is necessary to have a pilot show you through the surf. The pilot came flying out through the surf in his panga, and then turned right around and to lead us back through the breakers. Hell of job.
Bahia del Sol is a resort, not too fancy, with pool, bar and restaurant some moorings and some dock space. You can pick out the pool on Google (13° 18.000'N/ 88° 53.550'W). El Salvador is typical of the Latin American countries in that there is significant poverty throughout the country. While we sit off the resort coming in to use the internet, buy $1 beers (it is very strange to be using dollars in a Spanish speaking country), swim, and eat we also see dugout canoes (literally carved out tree trunks) crossing the river with multiple water buckets to take home to the island in the river. There are no utilities on the island which is home to a large number of people. Yesterday we motored (dinghy) upriver to the town of Herradura (13° 20.600'N/ 88° 56.800'W) for the Saturday market. The market is a large metal warehouse with rows and rows of vendors selling produce and meats, prepared foods, clothing, and household items. Much of the clothing for sale was used and we suspect this is the final resting place for all those Goodwill contributions we make at home. For a population that speaks no English at all there are a lot of American t-shirts here (today I saw a “Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon” shirt). El Salvador has an 80% literacy rate, but 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, and it is a low poverty line. Before the most recent revolution (we supported the bad guys) 90% of the economic resources were owned by just 2% of the population.
While we were at the market we saw an amusing roadside accident. I am including a picture showing the three vehicles involved. What was amusing is that the accident was between the taxi (three-wheeled vehicle on the left) and the truck. The bicycle belongs to the policeman.
It is almost Christmas here. We have listened to Christmas carols at the bar in 90 degree temperatures, and we have seen a Santa entertaining the kids in full beard, red suit and boots. He must have been the hottest guy in town. We will make one more sailing trip before Christmas and then we will start exploring the interior of El Salvador . The country is about the size of Maryland . Our visa is for four countries ( Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua and El Salvador ) and there are numerous volcanoes, ancient ruins, and colonial cities to see.
Merry Christmas to all!
December 20, 2008
December 13, 2008
Last Stop in Mexico
Our last e-mail had us heading from Puerto Angel to Huatulco on the southern coast of Mexico . Huatulco will be our last stop in Mexico and we have covered over 2400 miles (at about 5 miles per hour) since leaving San Diego and Ensenada.
Huatulco and the town of La Crucecita turned out to be one of the nicest places we have seen on this trip, and Andrea and I agreed that if we were to choose to live in Mexico that this would be the place. Because the town was “planned’ it has wide boulevards leading to town and the small streets in La Crucecita are all paved. The result is much less dust, fewer bouncing undercarriages, no small restaurants in the middle of the street, and a more pleasant, modern feel to the town. The town square (zocalo) featured many shade trees and a gazebo and was surrounded on three sides by nice restaurants and cafes an. The fourth side features a new church (20 years) built to resemble an old church. Huatulco is in Oaxaca , Mexico (remember this is the Etados Unidos de Mexico and they have about 30 states) and the indigenous background of the population is much more visible than in other areas we visited. There is very little English spoken here despite the prevalence of American music on the radio and TV. Oaxaca features some of the best food in Mexico and that added significantly to our experience here. We ate in the restaurants nightly and had one excellent meal after another (although if you were in NYC you wouldn’t cross the street for the “Best Pizza in Mexico ”).
We were again in Mexico for the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe and again we gaped at the parades and bands that wove their way through the streets to the church. Same song, over and over, played on trumpets and saxophones with a strong drum accompaniment. For variety the bands would break into a rendition of Cielto Lindo. And the culmination of the evening was the tremendous (different) fireworks display. Outside the church they had constructed a giant erector set with 8 foot metal wheels lined with fireworks. At dark they lit the lower levels of the fireworks which created spinning outlines of dolphins and stars, and circles and squares. As each level burned out it would ignite the next level up until it reached the top some 70 feet in the air which was an outline of the Virgin along with a spinning, multicolor display of fireworks that spelled out “Virgin de Guadalupe”. Then the big fireworks started looking very much like our own Fourth of July celebrations.
We stayed in the Marina Chahue which is a small, well protected marina where all the boats (power and sail) crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec wait for a favorable weather window. Our entire trip south from Puerto Vallarta has been with a wary eye and ear towards Tehuantepec, discussing best times to cross (May), worst times (Dec/Jan) and whether a full moon is necessary. The advice from all is to keep within ¼ mile of shore (even with rolling breakers nearby) and follow the 30’ depth line all the way around the Gulf along the beaches. Death (or at least severe discomfort at sea) awaits those who challenge this wisdom by cutting across the Gulf. Our next stop will be El Salvador (about 500 miles), and we will only be exposed to the dreaded T-Peckers for about the first 200 miles. Of course it takes us almost 2 days to cover a 200 mile stretch. We waited for 7 days, experiencing only mild breezes and hot weather in the marina, while just 40 miles east there were huge wind gales blowing through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . We had several boats for company, and we had good weather reports available so everyone waited patiently for what is usually 5-7 days of waiting in order to get a 3 day weather (low winds) window. On Saturday night (Dec 13) around 6 PM we left the safety of the marina to challenge the Gulf of Tehuantapec along with 4 other boats ranging in size from 30’ to 50’ (Manana is a modest 33’ long).
We are safe, we had a good crossing (5 days at sea), and I am sending this e-mail from Bahia Del Sol in El Salvador . We have spent the past 3 days enjoying the hospitality of the Bahia Del Sol Resort with its swimming pool, ocean beaches, and bar overlooking the anchorage. More later.
Best to all,
Tom and Andrea
Huatulco and the town of La Crucecita turned out to be one of the nicest places we have seen on this trip, and Andrea and I agreed that if we were to choose to live in Mexico that this would be the place. Because the town was “planned’ it has wide boulevards leading to town and the small streets in La Crucecita are all paved. The result is much less dust, fewer bouncing undercarriages, no small restaurants in the middle of the street, and a more pleasant, modern feel to the town. The town square (zocalo) featured many shade trees and a gazebo and was surrounded on three sides by nice restaurants and cafes an. The fourth side features a new church (20 years) built to resemble an old church. Huatulco is in Oaxaca , Mexico (remember this is the Etados Unidos de Mexico and they have about 30 states) and the indigenous background of the population is much more visible than in other areas we visited. There is very little English spoken here despite the prevalence of American music on the radio and TV. Oaxaca features some of the best food in Mexico and that added significantly to our experience here. We ate in the restaurants nightly and had one excellent meal after another (although if you were in NYC you wouldn’t cross the street for the “Best Pizza in Mexico ”).
We were again in Mexico for the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe and again we gaped at the parades and bands that wove their way through the streets to the church. Same song, over and over, played on trumpets and saxophones with a strong drum accompaniment. For variety the bands would break into a rendition of Cielto Lindo. And the culmination of the evening was the tremendous (different) fireworks display. Outside the church they had constructed a giant erector set with 8 foot metal wheels lined with fireworks. At dark they lit the lower levels of the fireworks which created spinning outlines of dolphins and stars, and circles and squares. As each level burned out it would ignite the next level up until it reached the top some 70 feet in the air which was an outline of the Virgin along with a spinning, multicolor display of fireworks that spelled out “Virgin de Guadalupe”. Then the big fireworks started looking very much like our own Fourth of July celebrations.
We stayed in the Marina Chahue which is a small, well protected marina where all the boats (power and sail) crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec wait for a favorable weather window. Our entire trip south from Puerto Vallarta has been with a wary eye and ear towards Tehuantepec, discussing best times to cross (May), worst times (Dec/Jan) and whether a full moon is necessary. The advice from all is to keep within ¼ mile of shore (even with rolling breakers nearby) and follow the 30’ depth line all the way around the Gulf along the beaches. Death (or at least severe discomfort at sea) awaits those who challenge this wisdom by cutting across the Gulf. Our next stop will be El Salvador (about 500 miles), and we will only be exposed to the dreaded T-Peckers for about the first 200 miles. Of course it takes us almost 2 days to cover a 200 mile stretch. We waited for 7 days, experiencing only mild breezes and hot weather in the marina, while just 40 miles east there were huge wind gales blowing through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . We had several boats for company, and we had good weather reports available so everyone waited patiently for what is usually 5-7 days of waiting in order to get a 3 day weather (low winds) window. On Saturday night (Dec 13) around 6 PM we left the safety of the marina to challenge the Gulf of Tehuantapec along with 4 other boats ranging in size from 30’ to 50’ (Manana is a modest 33’ long).
We are safe, we had a good crossing (5 days at sea), and I am sending this e-mail from Bahia Del Sol in El Salvador . We have spent the past 3 days enjoying the hospitality of the Bahia Del Sol Resort with its swimming pool, ocean beaches, and bar overlooking the anchorage. More later.
Best to all,
Tom and Andrea
December 5, 2008
Acapulco Redux to Huatalco
Lest you think any part of this trip was pre-planned… I had no sooner sent the e-mail saying we were departing Acapulco (16 49.4/99 53.7) when Andrea said “Let’s stay here another day to enjoy the pool, and then why don’t we rent a car and see Taxco ”. We spent a very leisurely day at The Club on Friday while Andrea tracked down a car rental for the weekend. Saturday AM we left Acapulco for the four hour drive into the mountains and up to Taxco .
Taxco is the silver mining center of Mexico and many of the artisans who fashion Mexican silver jewelry live and work in the town. In fact every second shop we saw was a “platera” or jewelry shop. The mountain town dates from the Aztecs and the name Taxco is from the Aztec language for “ball playing place”. Many of the Spanish colonial buildings have been restored and this is now a Mexican Historical Center so new construction is “supposed” to reflect this colonial architecture. We entered town during a strike demonstration by the silver miners that had closed the main roads into town. By following a line of taxicabs we were able to find the back streets through town going up and over the steep hillside. Taxco has the steepest streets I have ever walked or driven and some of the narrowest. Some streets had switchbacks that were so sharp that the taxis (all Volkswagen Bugs with the front passenger seat removed to allow access to the back seat) had to make three point turns to negotiate them. At one point Andrea had herself braced against the dashboard to keep from sliding forward and out of the seat.
We found a budget hotel where the principal features were cleanliness, proximity to the center of town, free parking, and that it happened to be the first hotel we saw after negotiating the steep streets into town. The room itself was nicely tiled, but had no window at all and no fans. A single cinder block had been removed above the door for air circulation. Fortunately Taxco is well elevated and temperatures were cool. We spent all of our time here wandering the mystery maze of streets sometimes running into the same street corner three or four times before we found our way out of the maze. All the streets were filled with either vendors or taxicabs, but when we did locate an exit they would open onto very pleasant plazas with restaurants and jewelry shops.
We drove back to Acapulco on Sunday afternoon and picked up our trip right where we were in my last note, just 72 hours later. By mid-morning Monday we were motoring out of Acapulco ready for the 48 hours to Puerto Angel. Well, almost ready. An hour into the trip our right engine overheated, but we decided to limp along on one engine (again) until we could fix it. The two day sail south (and east) was very pleasant. We sailed for good portions of the trip and we flew our asymmetrical spinnaker for several hours each day. For those of you who manage to get the spinnakers flying just in time to tack or jibe or pull it in we will only note that a 5 hour spinnaker run, autopilot, no change in course or wind direction, is an immense pleasure. When the winds died each evening we lowered sails and motored slowly.
We arrived in Puerto Angel (15 39.4/96 29.5) about 53 hours out of Acapulco . We dropped anchor of a small sandy beach lined with palapas and palms and immediately dropped off to sleep. Puerto Angel is a pretty anchorage in a small town. It is also located just a few miles from the famous (or infamous) Zipolite surf beach. We walked the three mile road over the steep hill to Zipolite which is renowned for both it’s beautiful surf and it’s dangerous undertows and has earned the name “Playa del Muerte” for the number of swimmers who drown here each year. The fact that much of the beach is a “Playa Nudista” also contributes to the popularity of the beach. Zipolite is budget Mexico . The lodgings are generally open air construction renting either rooms or just hammocks for the beach crowd. To say the beach is “beautiful” is an understatement. White sand, clear blue water, bougainvillea and hibiscus, palms, cheap beer, paradise found. For the return trip to Puerto Angel we grabbed the local bus which was a pickup truck with two bench seats mounted in the back. The bus was slow, full and fun and much easier than walking.
From Puerto Angel we moved another 25 miles along the coast to Puerto Huatulco (15 44.5/96 07.2) where we will wait for a good weather window before attempting to cross the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec . Huatulco is the Mexican version of a planned city with wide boulevards, paved streets, mostly finished construction and big ideas. The city was carved from the jungle less than 25 years ago and unlike most of the older cities it benefited from preplanned infrastructure. Sewer lines were laid, a water treatment plant was built and fiber optic cable was laid before the town was built. We think we will be here for at least a week… waiting.
if you like you can Google “ Gulf of Tehuantepec ” and see why we are proceeding with caution at this point. The winds in the Gulf average Force 6 year round and frequently exceed Force 8. (These gale force winds are called Tehuantepeckers and are a constant topic of conversation for cruisers along the southern Mexico coast. You cannot pass through this area without paying close attention to the T-peckers.) Add steep waves and surf to the formula and you have an uncomfortable and dangerous body of water. We will cross the Gulf in one quick dash sailing east to Salina Cruz (16 08.9/95 11.1) and then hugging the shoreline all the way to avoid the worst of the winds that funnel out of the Carribbean and across the narrow Isthmus of Tehuantepec. We will likely skip Puerto Madero (14 41.7/92 25.0) on the south end of the Gulf and make Huatulco our last stop in Mexico . If that is the case this leg of the trip will be a single 500 mile voyage to Barillas, El Salvador (13 09.4/88 28.1) and should take some 5 days at sea.
.
Taxco is the silver mining center of Mexico and many of the artisans who fashion Mexican silver jewelry live and work in the town. In fact every second shop we saw was a “platera” or jewelry shop. The mountain town dates from the Aztecs and the name Taxco is from the Aztec language for “ball playing place”. Many of the Spanish colonial buildings have been restored and this is now a Mexican Historical Center so new construction is “supposed” to reflect this colonial architecture. We entered town during a strike demonstration by the silver miners that had closed the main roads into town. By following a line of taxicabs we were able to find the back streets through town going up and over the steep hillside. Taxco has the steepest streets I have ever walked or driven and some of the narrowest. Some streets had switchbacks that were so sharp that the taxis (all Volkswagen Bugs with the front passenger seat removed to allow access to the back seat) had to make three point turns to negotiate them. At one point Andrea had herself braced against the dashboard to keep from sliding forward and out of the seat.
We found a budget hotel where the principal features were cleanliness, proximity to the center of town, free parking, and that it happened to be the first hotel we saw after negotiating the steep streets into town. The room itself was nicely tiled, but had no window at all and no fans. A single cinder block had been removed above the door for air circulation. Fortunately Taxco is well elevated and temperatures were cool. We spent all of our time here wandering the mystery maze of streets sometimes running into the same street corner three or four times before we found our way out of the maze. All the streets were filled with either vendors or taxicabs, but when we did locate an exit they would open onto very pleasant plazas with restaurants and jewelry shops.
We drove back to Acapulco on Sunday afternoon and picked up our trip right where we were in my last note, just 72 hours later. By mid-morning Monday we were motoring out of Acapulco ready for the 48 hours to Puerto Angel. Well, almost ready. An hour into the trip our right engine overheated, but we decided to limp along on one engine (again) until we could fix it. The two day sail south (and east) was very pleasant. We sailed for good portions of the trip and we flew our asymmetrical spinnaker for several hours each day. For those of you who manage to get the spinnakers flying just in time to tack or jibe or pull it in we will only note that a 5 hour spinnaker run, autopilot, no change in course or wind direction, is an immense pleasure. When the winds died each evening we lowered sails and motored slowly.
We arrived in Puerto Angel (15 39.4/96 29.5) about 53 hours out of Acapulco . We dropped anchor of a small sandy beach lined with palapas and palms and immediately dropped off to sleep. Puerto Angel is a pretty anchorage in a small town. It is also located just a few miles from the famous (or infamous) Zipolite surf beach. We walked the three mile road over the steep hill to Zipolite which is renowned for both it’s beautiful surf and it’s dangerous undertows and has earned the name “Playa del Muerte” for the number of swimmers who drown here each year. The fact that much of the beach is a “Playa Nudista” also contributes to the popularity of the beach. Zipolite is budget Mexico . The lodgings are generally open air construction renting either rooms or just hammocks for the beach crowd. To say the beach is “beautiful” is an understatement. White sand, clear blue water, bougainvillea and hibiscus, palms, cheap beer, paradise found. For the return trip to Puerto Angel we grabbed the local bus which was a pickup truck with two bench seats mounted in the back. The bus was slow, full and fun and much easier than walking.
From Puerto Angel we moved another 25 miles along the coast to Puerto Huatulco (15 44.5/96 07.2) where we will wait for a good weather window before attempting to cross the dreaded Gulf of Tehuantepec . Huatulco is the Mexican version of a planned city with wide boulevards, paved streets, mostly finished construction and big ideas. The city was carved from the jungle less than 25 years ago and unlike most of the older cities it benefited from preplanned infrastructure. Sewer lines were laid, a water treatment plant was built and fiber optic cable was laid before the town was built. We think we will be here for at least a week… waiting.
if you like you can Google “ Gulf of Tehuantepec ” and see why we are proceeding with caution at this point. The winds in the Gulf average Force 6 year round and frequently exceed Force 8. (These gale force winds are called Tehuantepeckers and are a constant topic of conversation for cruisers along the southern Mexico coast. You cannot pass through this area without paying close attention to the T-peckers.) Add steep waves and surf to the formula and you have an uncomfortable and dangerous body of water. We will cross the Gulf in one quick dash sailing east to Salina Cruz (16 08.9/95 11.1) and then hugging the shoreline all the way to avoid the worst of the winds that funnel out of the Carribbean and across the narrow Isthmus of Tehuantepec. We will likely skip Puerto Madero (14 41.7/92 25.0) on the south end of the Gulf and make Huatulco our last stop in Mexico . If that is the case this leg of the trip will be a single 500 mile voyage to Barillas, El Salvador (13 09.4/88 28.1) and should take some 5 days at sea.
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