We are home. When last seen the boat was floating peacefully on a mooring in a river in El Salvador. Hopefully it will be in the same place, safe and sound, when we go back next Spring to continue our southbound trip.
We got a great flight back from El Salvador on TACA airlines. TACA still serves free cocktails and dinner to all of its passengers, has good size seats in the economy section, and they apparently give extra points for being good looking when they hire the stewards and stewardesses. Just the way it used to be.
For now it is cold weather (actually it is 75 degrees and sunny here so not too cold), taxes, golf, and old friends for the winter months. Sounds good to us.
We had a specatacular time over the past three months sailing from Puerto Vallarta, along the southern coast of Mexico, through Guatemala and into El Salvador. We got to anchor, swim and snorkel on exotic beaches and in remote anchorages, we played with dolphins, we caught fresh tuna, we made quantities of boat drinks, we sampled at least 20 different brands of Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran beers, we spent dollars, pesos, quetzales, and lempiras on our trip, we hung out with sailors from all over the world (though mostly Canadians and Americans), we read a LOT of books, we got tan (and a little thinner, I think), we took wild bus rides, we shopped strange marketplaces, we ate pupusas and tacos and fajitas and ceviche, and we generally "cruised". The current definition of "cruising" is "making boat repairs in exotic locations". Yep, done that. Done a lot of that. But very best of all.... we think that the best sailing and the best beaches and the best adventures are still ahead of us, and we will be back on the boat in May to find out.
January 15, 2009
January 13, 2009
Never Leave the Boat
I’ve thrown a lot of stuff into this e-mail, but the past weeks have had some strange and entertaining glimpses of Central America . Hopefully you will be entertained also.
We are still traveling by bus through Central America . The visa we received when we arrived in El Salvador covers the four original Central American countries of El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras and Nicaragua . Belize was a British territory and Panama was a part of Columbia so they were termed Central America at a later date. We will sail on to Nicaragua next spring and Belize will have to wait until we sail north from the Canal on the Caribbean side. This venture is taking us from Guatemala to Honduras to visit the large Mayan ruins at Copan . It is a long trip to Copan , but we figured if there are going to be ancient ruins anywhere they are going to be a little off the beaten path.
Almost all of the shuttle buses leave Antigua , Guatemala for the 5 hour trip to Copan , Honduras at 4 AM . Too early for Andrea who dug her heels in and insisted there must be a better schedule. So we shopped all of the travel services in town until we found a 1 PM bus. Even better… the bus was ½ the price of the other shuttles. Is that great? A promotion they said. And what do we all know about “if it seems too good to be true?”
We ended up in a beater van set up for 15 passengers (which is all we had if you didn’t need a driver, which we did), top speed 40 mph, and which finally left Antigua at 3PM (but not before all 15 passengers PLUS the driver PLUS the travel agent crammed into the van for a ride to the gas station and then right back to the office. Seems the travel agent had to load us in before she could collect the money for the gas and then she had to go with us rather than giving the money to the driver). 16 people in a van for a 5 hour trip is a very tight squeeze. Our scheduled arrival in Copan was 6 PM . We pulled in around 9:30 .
Along the way we had plenty of uncomfortable time to reflect on our choice of transportation. I was reminded of the gunner on the Mekong River gunboat in the movie "Apocalypse Now" who ventured into the jungle, got spooked by a noise, shot up the trees as he sprinted back to the boat, and then uttered the classic line “never leave the boat”.
But, no, that doesn’t tell it all. We had a reservation at a Copan hotel. We don’t usually travel with reservations, but we knew our arrival would be after dark and we were traveling during the holidays. Why not plan ahead. Of course when we were 3 hours late the hotel gave up the room. No, no other rooms available. No, all the other hotels are full. No, you should have taken the 4 AM van like everyone else.
We did find a friendly Honduran who said he knew of an inexpensive room. So we followed him out into the night, along the cobblestone streets, past the cobblestone streets, up the dirt streets and over the hill to the edge of town where he knocked on a small door set in a single story concrete wall. Inside was a very crude home of grey concrete. We walked past the living room, through the kitchen and out the back door to find four concrete rooms for rent. On the plus side the rooms were nicely decorated, had soft beds and clean bathrooms and suicide showers. By now it was 11 PM so we breathed a sigh of relief and shut the door.
The Copan ruins were worth (almost) all of the hassle. We saw the ancient Mayan temples, royal ball courts, houses and statues built by a society that occupied the Copan valley for over 2000 years and then disappeared in the 12th century leaving no clues as to why they would abandon a populous village or where they went. Three hundred years later the Spaniards wandered by and noted the works of an advanced civilization lost in the jungle, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that a real exploration began. Some of the most remarkable structures have only been uncovered in the past 30 years as they uncover layer upon layer of building. Each new royal family would simply build on top of the previous structures creating pyramids in the jungles that are now being uncovered from the top down or explored through deep tunnels.
We also had one of our more memorable meals in Copan , memorable because of the waitresses. We found a pleasant bar with a restaurant specializing in meats cooked over open fires. We ordered a couple of beers and were trying to work our way through the menu when the waitress reappeared with my beer on her head. Through the course of the evening we watched as all of the beverages were served with at least one glass balanced on someone’s head. Milkshakes, juices, beers, margaritas, even appetizers were transported throughout the room and up the stairs with perfect balance. No trays, no special head gear, just bottles and glasses picked off the bar and placed topside center. Nothing was spilled. The waitresses might carry four or five drinks for a large table, but always at least one drink for each table moved across the room at a higher level. Amazing balance and very entertaining.
We took a much more pleasant van (which we shared with three goofy ladies from Great Britain ) for another 5 hour trip out of Honduras , through Guatemala and back to San Salvador . From there we needed to catch a local bus back to the boat so we headed over to the dirt field referred to in San Salvador as “the bus terminal”. Now I know I have told some bus stories over the past two years, but I have not yet referred to the buses as “chicken buses”. No matter what others call them I do not feel you can refer to your bus as a “chicken bus” unless you have actually been seated next to a live chicken on the bus.
We took the “chicken bus” back to Bahia del Sol (most exclusive resort in El Salvador ) and what a trip it was. The total distance was only 30 miles, but the experience took over two and a half hours. First we had to find the bus terminal. No problem, we had a map. The terminal however turned out to be a large dirt field where the buses started their routes and no one had any kind of printed schedule, price list, or ticket booth. Try to find your bus, climb on, and wait. If it’s a long wait you won’t get lonely because a steady line of food vendors will walk in the front door and out the back door… and they all want to see you. The bus moved along well but the route quickly left the main highway for a circuitous visit to a large number of small villages. The bus regularly pulled over at small intersections so more food vendors could come in the front and out the back, and we even had a surprise change of buses along the route. The bus was packed and, yes, Virginia , there were live chickens on board.
Another aspect of local bus travel in El Salvador is the presence of small groups of cows in the roads and the total disdain the drivers have for the cows and that the cows have for the buses. Apparently the best grass in El Salvador is immediately adjacent to the blacktop because that’s where the cows gather. Of course it could be that this is the free grass and if you are a poor vaquero why should you have to buy land to graze your cows when there is free grass along the road. We also noted that the vaqueros all rode bicycles. You can see that it would be difficult to herd cows on a bicycle if the cows were in fields, but if keep you cows on the roads riding your bicycle is much easier.
We survived this excursion. We recharged ourselves with $1 beers at “the most exclusive resort in El Salvador ”, and we are now preparing boat and selves for our trip home for the winter months. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip through Central America . We have ignored the inconveniences and we have put it all down to “experience”. A very good experience.
We are still traveling by bus through Central America . The visa we received when we arrived in El Salvador covers the four original Central American countries of El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras and Nicaragua . Belize was a British territory and Panama was a part of Columbia so they were termed Central America at a later date. We will sail on to Nicaragua next spring and Belize will have to wait until we sail north from the Canal on the Caribbean side. This venture is taking us from Guatemala to Honduras to visit the large Mayan ruins at Copan . It is a long trip to Copan , but we figured if there are going to be ancient ruins anywhere they are going to be a little off the beaten path.
Almost all of the shuttle buses leave Antigua , Guatemala for the 5 hour trip to Copan , Honduras at 4 AM . Too early for Andrea who dug her heels in and insisted there must be a better schedule. So we shopped all of the travel services in town until we found a 1 PM bus. Even better… the bus was ½ the price of the other shuttles. Is that great? A promotion they said. And what do we all know about “if it seems too good to be true?”
We ended up in a beater van set up for 15 passengers (which is all we had if you didn’t need a driver, which we did), top speed 40 mph, and which finally left Antigua at 3PM (but not before all 15 passengers PLUS the driver PLUS the travel agent crammed into the van for a ride to the gas station and then right back to the office. Seems the travel agent had to load us in before she could collect the money for the gas and then she had to go with us rather than giving the money to the driver). 16 people in a van for a 5 hour trip is a very tight squeeze. Our scheduled arrival in Copan was 6 PM . We pulled in around 9:30 .
Along the way we had plenty of uncomfortable time to reflect on our choice of transportation. I was reminded of the gunner on the Mekong River gunboat in the movie "Apocalypse Now" who ventured into the jungle, got spooked by a noise, shot up the trees as he sprinted back to the boat, and then uttered the classic line “never leave the boat”.
But, no, that doesn’t tell it all. We had a reservation at a Copan hotel. We don’t usually travel with reservations, but we knew our arrival would be after dark and we were traveling during the holidays. Why not plan ahead. Of course when we were 3 hours late the hotel gave up the room. No, no other rooms available. No, all the other hotels are full. No, you should have taken the 4 AM van like everyone else.
We did find a friendly Honduran who said he knew of an inexpensive room. So we followed him out into the night, along the cobblestone streets, past the cobblestone streets, up the dirt streets and over the hill to the edge of town where he knocked on a small door set in a single story concrete wall. Inside was a very crude home of grey concrete. We walked past the living room, through the kitchen and out the back door to find four concrete rooms for rent. On the plus side the rooms were nicely decorated, had soft beds and clean bathrooms and suicide showers. By now it was 11 PM so we breathed a sigh of relief and shut the door.
The Copan ruins were worth (almost) all of the hassle. We saw the ancient Mayan temples, royal ball courts, houses and statues built by a society that occupied the Copan valley for over 2000 years and then disappeared in the 12th century leaving no clues as to why they would abandon a populous village or where they went. Three hundred years later the Spaniards wandered by and noted the works of an advanced civilization lost in the jungle, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that a real exploration began. Some of the most remarkable structures have only been uncovered in the past 30 years as they uncover layer upon layer of building. Each new royal family would simply build on top of the previous structures creating pyramids in the jungles that are now being uncovered from the top down or explored through deep tunnels.
We also had one of our more memorable meals in Copan , memorable because of the waitresses. We found a pleasant bar with a restaurant specializing in meats cooked over open fires. We ordered a couple of beers and were trying to work our way through the menu when the waitress reappeared with my beer on her head. Through the course of the evening we watched as all of the beverages were served with at least one glass balanced on someone’s head. Milkshakes, juices, beers, margaritas, even appetizers were transported throughout the room and up the stairs with perfect balance. No trays, no special head gear, just bottles and glasses picked off the bar and placed topside center. Nothing was spilled. The waitresses might carry four or five drinks for a large table, but always at least one drink for each table moved across the room at a higher level. Amazing balance and very entertaining.
We took a much more pleasant van (which we shared with three goofy ladies from Great Britain ) for another 5 hour trip out of Honduras , through Guatemala and back to San Salvador . From there we needed to catch a local bus back to the boat so we headed over to the dirt field referred to in San Salvador as “the bus terminal”. Now I know I have told some bus stories over the past two years, but I have not yet referred to the buses as “chicken buses”. No matter what others call them I do not feel you can refer to your bus as a “chicken bus” unless you have actually been seated next to a live chicken on the bus.
We took the “chicken bus” back to Bahia del Sol (most exclusive resort in El Salvador ) and what a trip it was. The total distance was only 30 miles, but the experience took over two and a half hours. First we had to find the bus terminal. No problem, we had a map. The terminal however turned out to be a large dirt field where the buses started their routes and no one had any kind of printed schedule, price list, or ticket booth. Try to find your bus, climb on, and wait. If it’s a long wait you won’t get lonely because a steady line of food vendors will walk in the front door and out the back door… and they all want to see you. The bus moved along well but the route quickly left the main highway for a circuitous visit to a large number of small villages. The bus regularly pulled over at small intersections so more food vendors could come in the front and out the back, and we even had a surprise change of buses along the route. The bus was packed and, yes, Virginia , there were live chickens on board.
Another aspect of local bus travel in El Salvador is the presence of small groups of cows in the roads and the total disdain the drivers have for the cows and that the cows have for the buses. Apparently the best grass in El Salvador is immediately adjacent to the blacktop because that’s where the cows gather. Of course it could be that this is the free grass and if you are a poor vaquero why should you have to buy land to graze your cows when there is free grass along the road. We also noted that the vaqueros all rode bicycles. You can see that it would be difficult to herd cows on a bicycle if the cows were in fields, but if keep you cows on the roads riding your bicycle is much easier.
We survived this excursion. We recharged ourselves with $1 beers at “the most exclusive resort in El Salvador ”, and we are now preparing boat and selves for our trip home for the winter months. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip through Central America . We have ignored the inconveniences and we have put it all down to “experience”. A very good experience.
January 3, 2009
New Year's in Guatemala
Originally we had planned to leave the boat in Barillas at the end of an extensive river estuary in El Salvador while we returned to the US to work for the winter, but we were enjoying Bahia del Sol so much that we were waffling on those plans. We did sail the 35 miles south to spend Christmas in Barillas in the company of a half dozen boats that we had met at various stops on our cruise south, and we all enjoyed a pot luck Xmas dinner in the jungle, but finally we decided to return to Bahia del Sol. We will spend some time traveling in El Salvador and Guatamala before we put the boat to bed for the winter. In El Salvador December to April is referred to as summer even though we are still in the northern hemisphere. The rainy season from May to September is referred to as winter.
While in Barillas we got to visit the town of Usulutan which was a 45 minute bus ride on unpaved roads to a fairly large town with an outdoor market that seemed to specialize in “Chicken in a Basket”. Apparently with little refrigeration available the best way to insure fresh chicken is to buy it live and squawking. As many as twenty chickens and turkeys were stuffed into large baskets with nets over the top and displayed for sale at the market. The old ladies were happy to grab a chicken by the feet and pick through the feathers to show you the plumpest parts of the poor fowl. Pick your favorite and take it home for either dinner or as a new pet.
We returned to Bahia Del Sol shortly after Christmas and then left the boat for a week of travel by bus through El Salvador , Guatamala and Honduras . I should mention that both El Salvador and Guatamala were the sites of civil wars as late as 1997 and there are many, many guns in evidence. Here at the “most exclusive resort in El Salvador ” there are armed guards at all of the gates and armed security (shotguns or automatic weapons) wandering the fenced in grounds. In the city of San Salvador EVERY modern business had armed security at the doors (read Burger King, Radio Shack, Goodyear, Ace Hardware, all restaurants, hotels, bus stations, etc.) and it is considered part of the price of doing business. With that said we have seen absolutely no evidence of crime of any kind while we have been traveling, but we do get lots of warnings in the travel guides.
We rode to San Salvador in the back of a pickup truck and spent a day exploring the city on foot and visiting the anthropology museum to get some history of the country. This is a very poor country (about the size of Maryland ) and approximately 1/3 of all Salvadorans live in the US . Fully 30% of the Gross Domestic Product is money sent back from the US to relatives in El Salvador . We see dugout canoes fishing with nets along the river and we can hire someone to work on the boat for as little as $1 per hour.
From San Salvador we caught the $15 TICA bus for the 5 hour ride across the border to Guatemala City , and then we shared a cab for another 15 mile ride to the town of Antigua , Guatemala . Antigua is the old capital of Guatemala , and they have preserved much of the colonial village with cobblestone streets, buildings opening directly onto sidewalks, a beautiful parque centrale, and the ruins of many of the 38 churches that existed when Antigua was the capital.
I am including a picture of the McDonalds in Antigua because we thought that this has to be the prettiest McDonalds in the world and it reflected the ambience of the town. No golden arches here, just a small plaque on the wall, a rustic door, and inside a tiled restaurant (that I would have loved to own as a bar/restaurant) with an open courtyard for relaxing. The picture is the courtyard with Ron McD lounging peacefully.
Antigua is a destination for all of the tourists in Guatamala and caters to the backpackers, hikers, and volcano climbers from all over the world. Antigua is also filled with many artisans markets featuring homemade Guatemalan goods. It is almost impossible to describe the vivid rainbow of colors involved in these markets as the vendors display woven goods (tablecloths, scarves, shirts, dresses), ceramics, leather goods, wood products, etc. Most of the women were of Mayan descent and dressed in the traditional colorful wraps of the country. Bargaining was de rigeur and original asking prices dropped as much as 50% just for saying “no, gracias” to any offer.
We arrived in Antigua on New Year’s Eve, and it was appropriately crowded with young international travelers and Guatemalans out for the holiday. After exploring the town for most of the afternoon and into the evening we found a beautiful restaurant with a Latin American house band (La Pena de Sol Latino) and enjoyed one of the truly romantic dinners of our entire trip. We wandered through the streets waiting for the New Year’s celebration, and as we gathered near Los Arcos (overhead nun’s walk from cloister to church) we were reminded of the crowds gathering at Times Square with little room to walk, lots of gaiety, restaurants emptying into the streets, random fireworks, etc. At midnight a “2009” lit up in bright fireworks above the arches and then fireworks exploded all around us illuminating the skies with color. On the ground two enterprising celebrants had strapped on their backs large quantities of fireworks on a wooden frame and were dancing along shooting rockets into the air (and walls, and crowds, and trees). Fireworks continued for another hour over all parts of the town and there was even a boisterous (and well organized) explosion of firecrackers and noon the following day. A great New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Bienvenidos 2009!!
While in Barillas we got to visit the town of Usulutan which was a 45 minute bus ride on unpaved roads to a fairly large town with an outdoor market that seemed to specialize in “Chicken in a Basket”. Apparently with little refrigeration available the best way to insure fresh chicken is to buy it live and squawking. As many as twenty chickens and turkeys were stuffed into large baskets with nets over the top and displayed for sale at the market. The old ladies were happy to grab a chicken by the feet and pick through the feathers to show you the plumpest parts of the poor fowl. Pick your favorite and take it home for either dinner or as a new pet.
We returned to Bahia Del Sol shortly after Christmas and then left the boat for a week of travel by bus through El Salvador , Guatamala and Honduras . I should mention that both El Salvador and Guatamala were the sites of civil wars as late as 1997 and there are many, many guns in evidence. Here at the “most exclusive resort in El Salvador ” there are armed guards at all of the gates and armed security (shotguns or automatic weapons) wandering the fenced in grounds. In the city of San Salvador EVERY modern business had armed security at the doors (read Burger King, Radio Shack, Goodyear, Ace Hardware, all restaurants, hotels, bus stations, etc.) and it is considered part of the price of doing business. With that said we have seen absolutely no evidence of crime of any kind while we have been traveling, but we do get lots of warnings in the travel guides.
We rode to San Salvador in the back of a pickup truck and spent a day exploring the city on foot and visiting the anthropology museum to get some history of the country. This is a very poor country (about the size of Maryland ) and approximately 1/3 of all Salvadorans live in the US . Fully 30% of the Gross Domestic Product is money sent back from the US to relatives in El Salvador . We see dugout canoes fishing with nets along the river and we can hire someone to work on the boat for as little as $1 per hour.
From San Salvador we caught the $15 TICA bus for the 5 hour ride across the border to Guatemala City , and then we shared a cab for another 15 mile ride to the town of Antigua , Guatemala . Antigua is the old capital of Guatemala , and they have preserved much of the colonial village with cobblestone streets, buildings opening directly onto sidewalks, a beautiful parque centrale, and the ruins of many of the 38 churches that existed when Antigua was the capital.
I am including a picture of the McDonalds in Antigua because we thought that this has to be the prettiest McDonalds in the world and it reflected the ambience of the town. No golden arches here, just a small plaque on the wall, a rustic door, and inside a tiled restaurant (that I would have loved to own as a bar/restaurant) with an open courtyard for relaxing. The picture is the courtyard with Ron McD lounging peacefully.
Antigua is a destination for all of the tourists in Guatamala and caters to the backpackers, hikers, and volcano climbers from all over the world. Antigua is also filled with many artisans markets featuring homemade Guatemalan goods. It is almost impossible to describe the vivid rainbow of colors involved in these markets as the vendors display woven goods (tablecloths, scarves, shirts, dresses), ceramics, leather goods, wood products, etc. Most of the women were of Mayan descent and dressed in the traditional colorful wraps of the country. Bargaining was de rigeur and original asking prices dropped as much as 50% just for saying “no, gracias” to any offer.
We arrived in Antigua on New Year’s Eve, and it was appropriately crowded with young international travelers and Guatemalans out for the holiday. After exploring the town for most of the afternoon and into the evening we found a beautiful restaurant with a Latin American house band (La Pena de Sol Latino) and enjoyed one of the truly romantic dinners of our entire trip. We wandered through the streets waiting for the New Year’s celebration, and as we gathered near Los Arcos (overhead nun’s walk from cloister to church) we were reminded of the crowds gathering at Times Square with little room to walk, lots of gaiety, restaurants emptying into the streets, random fireworks, etc. At midnight a “2009” lit up in bright fireworks above the arches and then fireworks exploded all around us illuminating the skies with color. On the ground two enterprising celebrants had strapped on their backs large quantities of fireworks on a wooden frame and were dancing along shooting rockets into the air (and walls, and crowds, and trees). Fireworks continued for another hour over all parts of the town and there was even a boisterous (and well organized) explosion of firecrackers and noon the following day. A great New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Bienvenidos 2009!!
December 20, 2008
What T-Pecker?
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!
“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 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.
.
November 28, 2008
Zihua and Acapulco
Zihuatenejo was both a pleasure and a disappointment. We had heard so much about this small, Mexican city and were anxious to spend some time here. From the water the town is very pretty with palm treed beaches and a large, calm anchorage. Ashore the beach restaurants and bars are pleasant, the clubs and restaurants in town were lively, and the entire city is geared towards tourists from all over the world. It is a walking city with small streets and alleys, a large mercado centro, and many small stores selling t-shirts and souvenirs. We had one memorable dinner when we found an old restaurant that specialized in “pozole” the spicy Mexican soup that is the specialty of the state of Guererro. We dined in upper 80s temperatures (10 PM) eating soup that definitely had some kick. Crazy, but the complimentary Mezcal served with every dinner was a help. Late beers at the Sunset Bar on the beach also helped. We sat on the beach under a thatched roof watching our boat float calmly just 200 yards away. We could have swum home.
The disappointment in Zihua was the quality of the water in the bay. This was the worst water we had seen in our travels and, despite the constant temperatures in the 90s, we were unable to swim in the area. The bottom of our boat grew foul with marine life (or death), and although we enjoyed our time ashore we were uncomfortably warm with little hope of cooling off even on the boat. We elected to cut a few days off of our stay in Zuhua for the next leg of our sea passage where the ocean breezes would be a welcome change from the sweltering heat in the bay.
We had almost decided to bypass Acapulco (24 hours from Zihua) in favor of sailing all the way to Puerto Angel (another 40 hours south). Normally we like to limit overnights to one at a time, but we had heard many bad things about Acapulco from crime to dirty water to lack of anchorage or mooring space, but we had two good reasons for stopping and we thought we would make the decision when we approached Acapulco.
Our two reasons for stopping were (1) I had seen the cliff divers of Acapulco years ago on Wide World of Sports, and I really did want to see them live and (2) way back in 1945 Andrea’s parents had taken a delayed honeymoon trip (delayed by WWII) driving from Minneapolis to Acapulco. Driving from Minneapolis to Acapulco would be enough of an adventure now with highways, regular gas stations, etc., but we think it must have been a true odyssey in 1945 with limited roads, hard to find fuel, and a population that had not been exposed to the English language via TV and music. We had talked about this trip before and of course we had talked about Acapulco.
We approached Acapulco at 9 AM after a day of sailing and a long, dark night of motoring with just the stars. There are no other boats out here, no moon and, alas, no wind. We decided to pass on Acapulco and continue on to Puerto Angel thinking “we are young, we are fresh, why not?” when a quick check of our fuel tanks showed that without better wind we would either run out of gas or it would take us several days to sail the entire distance. Great decision. We loved the Acapulco stop as you will see.
We managed to get a mooring at the famous Acapulco Yacht Club and after a swim in the club pool, pina coladas at the club bar, and showers at the club spa (our first hot showers in over 3 weeks) we felt human again, This is a first class yacht club and they took good care of some second class boaters. Then it was off to walk the malecon and find the cliff divers. Acapulco is a huge city and it shows in the streets, the traffic, the air pollution, and the crowds so the long walk in the city heat was not a highlight. But we did find the cliff divers and for $3 each we got a place on the observation deck some 70 feet above the water and some 60 feet below the divers. The jagged cliffs are separated form the observation deck by a 20 foot wide arm of the ocean that surges with each incoming wave. The divers, 5 of them, entered the water on our side of the cove swam across to the cliffs, and then started climbing the rocks straight up. Just the climbing of the rocks was breathtaking. Barefooted, wet, wearing only bathing suits these guys climbed straight up the 140 foot cliffs Just watching them climb, knowing that the only fall would be onto the rocks, not into the water was scary. As cliff climbers they would have been worth the price of admission, no diving necessary.
But dive they did. Huge arcing swan dives out over the rocks and into the narrow slot of water at the bottom. They timed the dives from the top so that they hit the water when the waves surged into the cove. This seemed to require that they make their leap at exactly the wrong time, when the wave had surged out of the cove leaving little water behind. Fantastic. I don’t think I can adequately describe how high above the water the cliff divers were. We were on an observation platform halfway down the cliffs and I could feel the vertigo there. The divers perched on narrow rocks, wind blowing, looking at the ocean surge, and then leaping out and down were twice as high as we were. Muy loco Mexicans is the only way to describe these daredevils. Muy loco.
The Acapulco bus ride: We have traveled by bus frequently in Mexico. We take the buses everywhere and have seen La Paz,, Mazatlan, La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, and many other smaller towns via bus. We have had varying experiences. Some towns have small, crowded buses, some have modern air conditioned buses, most have buses with badly worn seats and shock absorbers, and the buses in Manzanillo were somehow built without any shock absorbers. We even had the memorable “suicide bus” in Manzanillo where we got a crazy guy at the wheel who apparently got to go home as soon as he could finish his route (he was fast, cut people off, drove up the sidewalks, and grazed at least one road divider). But Acapulco has our best bus memory.
We were walking back to the Club de Yates and looking for a bus for the two mile trip. We found a bus pulled up outside a small liquor store and asked the guy sitting in the driver’s seat in fractured Spanish if the Yacht Club was on his route. No luck. “Club de Yah-tays” apparently needs to be pronounced “Cloob de Yah-tays” for anyone to understand. Go figure. But from behind us a voice said “Si, this bus is for the Yah-tes”. So we get on . No one else is on the bus except the guy who couldn’t understand my question. We pay him our $.70 and sit down. A few minutes later the fellow who told us the bus went to the Yacht Club climbs on board with two quarts of beer in his hand. He proceeds to sit in the first passenger seat, gives the other guy a large cup of beer, and starts drinking. He is the driver. His friend he makes the designated driver and indicates he can take the bus. The regular driver is in the passenger seat, drinking from the bottle, the new driver having trouble shifting the bus is drinking beer from his own cup, and both of them offer us some of their beer. We are the only passengers. And awa-y-y-y we go. Apparently this is a non-stop. We pick up no one else. We wander down the road towards home. We wonder. Where are we going. The guy driving the bus does not know where the Yacht Club is, but his passenger directs him. At the Yacht Club the bus drops us off at its only stop, says goodnight, makes a u-turn, and heads back the way we came (maybe back to the liquor store). Whether we stole the bus or just had a private ride we don’t know. We do know that we were in stitches the whole way.
Finally the last Acapulco thought: This is a city and not the prettiest sight during the day, but back at the Club we could see all of Acapulco across the bay. The town sparkled. To say it was diamonds in the night is not enough. You couldn’t have decorated someplace as beautifully as this. Several hills had lights sparkling throughout. No clusters of lights like we have at home from the auto dealers were apparent. Everything looked like you’d want your Christmas tree to look. Incredibly beautiful and incredibly romantic, we sat on the boat for hours looking at the lights before bed. We had a great visit to Acapulco and now we are ready for the long sail to Puerto Angel.
The disappointment in Zihua was the quality of the water in the bay. This was the worst water we had seen in our travels and, despite the constant temperatures in the 90s, we were unable to swim in the area. The bottom of our boat grew foul with marine life (or death), and although we enjoyed our time ashore we were uncomfortably warm with little hope of cooling off even on the boat. We elected to cut a few days off of our stay in Zuhua for the next leg of our sea passage where the ocean breezes would be a welcome change from the sweltering heat in the bay.
We had almost decided to bypass Acapulco (24 hours from Zihua) in favor of sailing all the way to Puerto Angel (another 40 hours south). Normally we like to limit overnights to one at a time, but we had heard many bad things about Acapulco from crime to dirty water to lack of anchorage or mooring space, but we had two good reasons for stopping and we thought we would make the decision when we approached Acapulco.
Our two reasons for stopping were (1) I had seen the cliff divers of Acapulco years ago on Wide World of Sports, and I really did want to see them live and (2) way back in 1945 Andrea’s parents had taken a delayed honeymoon trip (delayed by WWII) driving from Minneapolis to Acapulco. Driving from Minneapolis to Acapulco would be enough of an adventure now with highways, regular gas stations, etc., but we think it must have been a true odyssey in 1945 with limited roads, hard to find fuel, and a population that had not been exposed to the English language via TV and music. We had talked about this trip before and of course we had talked about Acapulco.
We approached Acapulco at 9 AM after a day of sailing and a long, dark night of motoring with just the stars. There are no other boats out here, no moon and, alas, no wind. We decided to pass on Acapulco and continue on to Puerto Angel thinking “we are young, we are fresh, why not?” when a quick check of our fuel tanks showed that without better wind we would either run out of gas or it would take us several days to sail the entire distance. Great decision. We loved the Acapulco stop as you will see.
We managed to get a mooring at the famous Acapulco Yacht Club and after a swim in the club pool, pina coladas at the club bar, and showers at the club spa (our first hot showers in over 3 weeks) we felt human again, This is a first class yacht club and they took good care of some second class boaters. Then it was off to walk the malecon and find the cliff divers. Acapulco is a huge city and it shows in the streets, the traffic, the air pollution, and the crowds so the long walk in the city heat was not a highlight. But we did find the cliff divers and for $3 each we got a place on the observation deck some 70 feet above the water and some 60 feet below the divers. The jagged cliffs are separated form the observation deck by a 20 foot wide arm of the ocean that surges with each incoming wave. The divers, 5 of them, entered the water on our side of the cove swam across to the cliffs, and then started climbing the rocks straight up. Just the climbing of the rocks was breathtaking. Barefooted, wet, wearing only bathing suits these guys climbed straight up the 140 foot cliffs Just watching them climb, knowing that the only fall would be onto the rocks, not into the water was scary. As cliff climbers they would have been worth the price of admission, no diving necessary.
But dive they did. Huge arcing swan dives out over the rocks and into the narrow slot of water at the bottom. They timed the dives from the top so that they hit the water when the waves surged into the cove. This seemed to require that they make their leap at exactly the wrong time, when the wave had surged out of the cove leaving little water behind. Fantastic. I don’t think I can adequately describe how high above the water the cliff divers were. We were on an observation platform halfway down the cliffs and I could feel the vertigo there. The divers perched on narrow rocks, wind blowing, looking at the ocean surge, and then leaping out and down were twice as high as we were. Muy loco Mexicans is the only way to describe these daredevils. Muy loco.
The Acapulco bus ride: We have traveled by bus frequently in Mexico. We take the buses everywhere and have seen La Paz,, Mazatlan, La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, and many other smaller towns via bus. We have had varying experiences. Some towns have small, crowded buses, some have modern air conditioned buses, most have buses with badly worn seats and shock absorbers, and the buses in Manzanillo were somehow built without any shock absorbers. We even had the memorable “suicide bus” in Manzanillo where we got a crazy guy at the wheel who apparently got to go home as soon as he could finish his route (he was fast, cut people off, drove up the sidewalks, and grazed at least one road divider). But Acapulco has our best bus memory.
We were walking back to the Club de Yates and looking for a bus for the two mile trip. We found a bus pulled up outside a small liquor store and asked the guy sitting in the driver’s seat in fractured Spanish if the Yacht Club was on his route. No luck. “Club de Yah-tays” apparently needs to be pronounced “Cloob de Yah-tays” for anyone to understand. Go figure. But from behind us a voice said “Si, this bus is for the Yah-tes”. So we get on . No one else is on the bus except the guy who couldn’t understand my question. We pay him our $.70 and sit down. A few minutes later the fellow who told us the bus went to the Yacht Club climbs on board with two quarts of beer in his hand. He proceeds to sit in the first passenger seat, gives the other guy a large cup of beer, and starts drinking. He is the driver. His friend he makes the designated driver and indicates he can take the bus. The regular driver is in the passenger seat, drinking from the bottle, the new driver having trouble shifting the bus is drinking beer from his own cup, and both of them offer us some of their beer. We are the only passengers. And awa-y-y-y we go. Apparently this is a non-stop. We pick up no one else. We wander down the road towards home. We wonder. Where are we going. The guy driving the bus does not know where the Yacht Club is, but his passenger directs him. At the Yacht Club the bus drops us off at its only stop, says goodnight, makes a u-turn, and heads back the way we came (maybe back to the liquor store). Whether we stole the bus or just had a private ride we don’t know. We do know that we were in stitches the whole way.
Finally the last Acapulco thought: This is a city and not the prettiest sight during the day, but back at the Club we could see all of Acapulco across the bay. The town sparkled. To say it was diamonds in the night is not enough. You couldn’t have decorated someplace as beautifully as this. Several hills had lights sparkling throughout. No clusters of lights like we have at home from the auto dealers were apparent. Everything looked like you’d want your Christmas tree to look. Incredibly beautiful and incredibly romantic, we sat on the boat for hours looking at the lights before bed. We had a great visit to Acapulco and now we are ready for the long sail to Puerto Angel.
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