Departure not imminent

Estero Jaltepeque, El Salvador

Originally we thought we would be out of here long ago.  We were just waiting for the rainy season to end and we would be gone.  The reality is that we don't really want to leave just yet.

Even though the rainy season has lingered on quite late this year, it is pretty much over.  We have seen virtually no rain for a week now.  A couple of the boats that left here a couple of weeks ago, heading south, have run into a bit of rain, but nothing major, so we can't use that excuse any more.  The big problem, if you can call it that, is that we really like it here.  And the price is right too.

Low tide

Staying on a good solid mooring costs us $125 per month.  To keep taking advantage of the nearby Bahia del Sol resort cruiser package (Use of their pool, showers, garbage disposal, dinghy dock, Internet WIFI at the bar, $1 beers and 30% off of other food and drink) costs us $14 per week.  The El Salvadorian government demands $1 per day to keep the boat in the country (no limit to how long you can stay).  A 3G internet chip from the local phone company (Claro) costs $28 per 30 days, with an 8GB download limit, which is way more than we ever use, so we have full internet access from the boat.  We use a little bit of gas to run our outboard and occasionally our Honda generator (when our solar panels can't keep up with the demand), amounting to maybe $30 per month.  Good water, delivered to the boat, costs us $25 per 100 gallons (which is at least a month's worth for us).  That makes our total fixed expenses at about $300 per month.  Of course, we do have to buy food, we do eat out quite often as it is relatively inexpensive, and we do like to travel around when the opportunity arises.

In the last couple of weeks, we have not gone far.  We did take the dinghy into the town of La Herradura (where they have a new supermarket), in the company of another cruising couple.  This is always a nice break from the tranquility of the estuary.

La Herradura

Our new friends Lynn and Lou took us on another cruise up the estuary and they also hosted a wonderful turkey dinner for American Thanksgiving.  Pretty much the entire "gringo" population was there.  Right now, there are only 4 cruising sailboats, including us, with anyone on board - this is really off-season here for cruisers.  Lynn and Lou and Bill and Jean and Jan (another Canadian) make up the only non-El Salvadorians who make their permanent homes here, as far as we can see.  Everyone is very nice and they are making a good case for us staying until Christmas.  Susanne is all for it - she says it would be really nice to be somewhere where we know people for the holiday for a change.

On the boat maintenance front, we have had some issues.  First, our trusty solar charger decided it didn't want to cooperate any more.  It started flashing its "Internal Failure" sequence of lights and would not allow any current to flow.  After resetting it a couple of times, the problem kept coming back.  So I did my usual fix, taking it apart, cleaning everything and putting it back together again - it has worked flawlessly since.

Then, our Engel freezer, which has run continuously and reliably for about 4 years now, suddenly started making a lot of noise.  As far as I can tell, there is a small fan inside somewhere that is biting the dust.  Since it is still working OK otherwise, I am taking a wait and see attitude.  Either it will get worse and stop spinning, or it will fix itself - either way it will be much quieter.  Since I had installed an additional fan on the back of unit last year, I am not too worried about overheating.

As for elective surgery, Susanne was worried about the rusty condition of the last couple of links on our anchor chain (I am sure it was still fine), so using my trusty Dremel tool, I was able cut off the last 3 links - looks much better now.



Before

After



Meanwhile, life goes on.  In the last few days, the wind has been blowing more than we have seen it since we arrived.  Nothing spectacular, and rather refreshing after the heat and humidity we had been experiencing.  It is definitely less humid now than it was a month ago, which is great.  The temperatures are still reaching 30+ during the day, but now dropping to 25 at night.  Today, so far, the wind has died and it is bright and sunny.