Jaltepeque Estuary, El Salvador
So far it has been a busy week for us wannabe sailors.
Our trip from Puerto Vallarta to here was relatively routine. The flight to Houston, on which we were forced to upgrade to business class in order to sit together, was very nice. Clearing in and out of the USA was, surprisingly, the fastest we have ever experienced, with no line ups at all for immigration or security - maybe all the travel bans are achieving their goal of keeping people away.
On the flight to El Salvador, we were seated in economy plus (they must have run out of room in steerage); the extra leg room was much appreciated. In fact, if it had not been for the screaming kids seated right behind us, it would have been perfect. At customs in El Salvador, I had my usual good luck, getting the green light so I did not have to explain all the booty we were carrying for the boat, and in spite of the late arrival, the hotel courtesy van was there to whisk us to our overpriced accommodation for the night. The included breakfast the next morning was to die for!
Leaving the hotel, we grabbed a taxi and persuaded the driver to take us to the nearby town of San Luis Talpa where we picked up a small amount of essential groceries, then on to the resort at Bahia del Sol. We were met at the docks by our friend Bill’s worker, who gave us a ride to the boat and took our outboard parts to Bill so he could finish putting our outboard back together. Later, we had a wonderful meal at Bill and Jean’s place on the island and got our dinghy and reassembled outboard back. We are mobile again.
The boat looks pretty good. Bill had opened up all the hatches and portlights for a couple of days prior to our arrival, so it was nicely aired out. The birds had done their usual number on the decks and in the mainsail, but the mess was nowhere near as bad as the summer we left the boat in Ecuador.
Our first 4 days in the estuary were unusually windy, which made the water a bit choppy. Twice we actually bummed rides with Bill in his Panga, to participate in a whirlwind of social engagements. There are not a lot of cruisers around this time of year, but they seem eager for company. In the last week, we have only had a meal on our own boat on 2 or 3 occasions. The breeze did have the benefit of cooling everything off - we actually had to use a sheet at night to keep warm. Overall, even without the wind, it is much cooler than we expected - very comfortable for us.
We did manage to get into San Salvador for a day, courtesy of Greg, a new cruising friend, who had access to a huge van. We were able to do a major provisioning run to hardware and grocery stores, and even PriceSmart (think Costco). Susanne also did a solo run into the town of Zacate by bus, for a few items we forgot, and to get a new chip for our phone (which is not really working 100% as yet).
We have started on the list of things we need to do to the boat before we can consider leaving. Each time I finish one project, it seems that 2 more pop up in its place. So far the only unexpected issues have been with a flaky fresh water pump and the failure of both the port and starboard runnung lights. I think I have those items pretty much in hand now.
Today, I started rigging the reefing lines on the mainsail and took delivery of 100 gallons of fresh water, supplied by Deny, who lives in a brand new 2-storey house on the island, just a stone’s throw from our boat. The bottom of the boat also got its monthly bottom cleaning - it takes 3 guys over an hour now as the barnacles are growing like crazy since we have not had anti fouling paint applied since we were in Panama, three years ago.
Who knows, we may actually make it out of here this season.
{GMST}13|18.4|N|88|54.1362|W|Jaltepeque Estuary, El Salvador|Jaltepeque Estuary, El Salvador{GEND}
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