Life is complicated

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

 

On the last day in April, I joined our friend Wally on his boat, Stella Blue, for a quick passage to Chiapas, the most southerly port in Mexico.

We left the estuary around noon, to catch the high tide over the bar, and experienced a very exciting exit. The swell was running pretty high and we had to climb several breakers on the way out. Just when we thought we were through and the pilot boat was saying goodbye, we got hit by one more, seemingly enormous, wave. Wally steered us bravely into it and when we came over the top, the boat came down with an incredible bang.

After that is was a piece of cake.

 

We motored for most of the two day passage, managing to sail for only a few hours on the first afternoon. Other than dodging a few fishing boats in the night, it was a very tranquil trip. On the second day, we saw a lot of turtles passing by, each with a single bird standing on its back. Unfortunately whenever I tried to take a picture, the turtle would hear the boat approaching and dive underwater, forcing the poor passenger to take flight, leaving me with a picture of water.

 

By the time we got to the entrance to Puerto Chiapas, the swell was running more than 2 meters. This proved to be no real problem but sure looked impressive as the waves broke on the breakwater. Everything was perfectly calm in the marina of course, being as well protected as it is.

 

Marina Chiapas has changed quite a bit since we were here a couple of years ago. They now have their travelift working and the yard was full of sailboats on the hard. The restaurant was very busy, and the food was good as well.

 

We arrived at the marina around 10:30 in the morning. By the end of the day, both the boat and Wally and I were checked into the country, and I caught a ride to Tapachula, where I took a room at a hotel for two nights. The next day, I walked to the TikaBus depot and bought a ticket for the bus from Tapachula to Guatemala City and on to San Salvador, leaving the next day, Monday, at 7 AM.

 

The bus ride was OK, except for some delays in Guatemala, leaving Guatemala City late, running into a funeral procession in some small town along the way and a very slow border crossing into El Salvador. I did not arrive in San Salvador until after 8 PM. I took a room for the night, then completed my trip in the morning by using a taxi to take me to the marina at Bahia deal Sol.

 

Meanwhile, on the same Sunday that I was booking my bus trip. Susanne had taken a last minute flight to Edmonton, after receiving news of her mother's failing health. She is currently staying with her brother in Edmonton, while I am working on getting the boat ready to be left for an extended time here in the estuary.

 

Tomorrow, Wednesday. I plan to take the boat some 5 miles up the estuary to the Paradise Fishing Lodge, where we had left the boat the last time we were here. After that, I will have to see what kind of deals I can get on flights back to Canada.

 

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