El Salvador revisited

Paradise Fishing Lodge, El Salvador

Baby, it's hot out there!

Three days ago we gave up our beloved transportation (the van so kindly lent to us for the summer) and our comfortable lodgings at Sue's mom's house in Edmonton, flying to El Salvador via Houston, Texas.  It was early morning when we took off, with a temperature just a few degrees above zero.  When we landed in El Salvador, around 7:30PM, it was pitch dark and about 27 degrees outside, and very humid.  We were met at the airport by George, one of the marina staff, who whisked us to the marina in his little, air-conditioned, pickup truck.  We were back on board Sine Timore by 9PM.  We have traded fall for summer.

All of the flights were on time and we were even treated to a complimentary dinner on the flight from Houston to San Salvador (yes, that does still happen in some parts of the world).  Customs and Immigration at the San Salvador airport were quick and polite and we are now in possession of  brand new 90-day visas.  In fact, the only mishap on the entire trip was when we were carrying our bags to the boat through the marina yard - Susanne failed to notice a step up in the dark and fell on the cement floor, dropping her glasses and then promptly picking herself up and stepping on them - ouch!  Fortunately, the lenses were not broken (one just popped out) and I was able to unbend the frames and all is well again.

The boat appears to have weathered our absence quite well - just a small amount of mildew in the forward cabin - otherwise dry and dusty.  From what the marina staff has said, it has rained a lot since we left.  As you can see from the pictures, there appears to be lots of room in the marina right now.  At least one boat that was here when we left last June has left.  The other sailboats are still here but I think a couple of the power boats are missing.

One thing that did not happen was the bottom cleaning that was supposed to have taken place every 3 weeks while we were away - it looked pretty grungy so we immediately hired the guys to do it now.  When I asked them about the status of our sacrificial zincs, they said "What zincs?"  Yesterday we had them dive again and put on all new zincs - better late than never.  There is one other boat here whose owner came back the day after us - he had scheduled a lot of other work to be done as well as cleaning the bottom - none of it was done, and he had paid in advance.  Needless to say, Isabel, the manager, is no longer employed by the marina, and they are scrambling a bit to find out what work was owed, etc.  Welcome to Central America.

Another casualty.  Yesterday, while walking down the dock, I managed to slam my toe into a cleat.  Now I have one of those unsightly swollen toes again.  Note: This is not a new experience for me - with my large feet, I am forever stubbing a toe on something or other - this time it is just a different one than usual - the next to smallest toe on the right foot.  And before you ask, Yes, I was wearing sandals at the time!

Since we did not have much food on the boat, we have taken advantage of the fact that the restaurant near the entrance to the marina is actually open in the mornings for breakfast.  For a flat 4-dollar fee, you get a choice of some simple but good fare.  I think we are virtually their only customers - this morning our waiter took our order, then quickly got on his bike to ride to some nearby tiendas (stores) to get the ingredients.  As a result, service was not quick, but we are not exactly in a hurry either.

Later, we got George to give us a ride into the town of Zacate so we could visit the supermarket.  We did a minor re-provisioning so we can eat again.  We will have to make a trip into the city of San Salvador sometime to get the things that we just cannot find locally.

Meanwhile, we are trying to work on a list of boat chores that need doing, but are having a hard time getting motivated.  It is really hot and humid.  Every day, the sun comes out in the morning and heats things up to around 32 or 33 degrees, with almost no wind at all.  In the afternoon it usually clouds up a bit but does not really cool off at all - just seems to get more humid.  Every night, around midnight, the thundershowers start - really impressive lightning and thunder, followed by torrential rains, followed by more lighting and thunder - usually over in under two hours.  The worst part is having to close all the hatches during the rain.  After the storm has moved through, the temperature drops to the very pleasant low 20s and it is really nice for sleeping, so we tend to sleep in.  If we want to get anything done, it is best to do it in the early morning before it gets too hot, but that is when it is so easy to just sleep.

 

In spite of the heat, we do believe it is somewhat cooler that it was when we left 4 months ago.  Since the thunderstorms are still pretty active, we may have returned a bit earlier than we had to.  Oh well, there are a lot worse places to be.  Life is good!


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