El Salvador to Golfito, Costa Rica

After two weeks at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador our friends from Effie, Equinox, Cygnus, Pancheeta and Cygnus waived good bye from the docks as we left to cross the bar and head to Costa Rica on what was planned to be a three day sail.

Rojelio, the pilot, guided us out through the surf as perfectly as he brought us in. Our friends Alex and Hank rode in the panga for moral support and photo opportunities.

Excited to sail off to new adventures, it was sad to leave our friend and the happy, ever-smiling Salvadoreans.

After 2.6 days of straight sailing we arrived at Bahia Dulce, a huge bay which leads to Golfito (which translates as "little bay")

Golfito is located about 340 kilometers south of San José. The small port city with about seven thousand inhabitants on the one hand by the Golfo Dulce, on the other by green hills with pristine rain forest trees.

The small town offers rustic hotels, ATMs, restaurants, Internet cafes and in the northern zone in the colonial style houses of the banana company. It was a "company town". Golfito was the main port in the southern Pacific with only huge banana plantations. Because of diseases with which the bananas were infected and massive strikes by the workers the United Fruit Company decided to abandon the area. Poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism and general depravity ensued. The government decied to help the impoverished region by establishing a duty free zone. Tourism in general has helped the area recover. Close by there is a national park, beautiful beaches such as Playa Zancudo, the surfing paradise Pavones, fishing, snorkelling, hiking and other activities

El Salvador Still - Delantares, Stilt Restaurants, Cruiser Notes

These photos are: Randy playing the guitar by the pool; me trying on my delantara in La Herradura and the ladies of La Herradura in their delantaras. Delantares are elaborately embroidered aprons with lace and ribbons. The Salvadorenas use them as an apron/fanny pack/cash register. Almost all rural Salvadorenas wear them. They cost about $10 each.

We also went to Ilobasco, the pottery town. Most of the pottery is trashy touristy pieces with sunflowers and lizards painted on them. However, there is one shop on the main street that sells black pottery and terracotta pottery that is well designed and tasteful.

After a long bumpy trip on a rock (not cobblestone; rock) road we found San Sabastien. The country's famous weaving town. Beautifully woven cotton blankets can be purchased for $10... if you can find the place.

En route we stopped in San Vicente, a town slightly larger than Zapotecaluca, where we had a lovely chicken lunch for $1.50. El Salvador uses the American dollar as its currency. At the market in Zapotec (as they call it) you can get a bunch of radishes for "a quada".

Another interesting mini trip was to the "stilt restaurants". Down the estuary, close to the mouth and behind the bar, there are a few restaurants built on stilts in the shallow waters. The sit about 12 feet above a mid tide made of bamboo, wood and a palapa roof. The women wave and shout trying to lure you from the competition. They serve, ceviche (not as good as mid-Mexico), whole fish and $1.50 beers.

Tomorrow at 3:30 pm we are going to go back out through the surf out to the sea to head for Golfito, Costa Rica. Rojelio, our trusty pilot will guide us safely through the breakers and the bar. His words of encouragement are typically "no problema, no problema".

Other random things to note for cruisers (God I hate that word): Rojelio's brother will clean the bottom of your boat, your propeller and check thru hulls for about $50 for a 50 ft boat; the restaurant will sell you "garafones" of water (about 5 gallons) for $2.50 less your cruiser's discount; get your Zarpe the day before you leave if you can from the navy down the estuary past Mar Y Sol where the huge blue white and blue flag flies; the water at the marina is slightly salty - DO NOT put it in your tanks; Alex (Reflections on VHF 16) is a diesel keener and can fix almost anything.... and he's Canadian; you can provision at Zapotec; Alex also knows everything about this area; Jan (also Canadian) live on the island and teaches English to the island children for FREE. She has a lovely chicken barbeque if there are enough boats..... please go, the funds go to her school and the kids; Jan welcomes volunteer English teachers; you can haul out your boat here (see Alex on Reflections).

More El Salvador

Wooden Canoe Bahia del Sol







Parrot Bahia del Sol



Thea - ready to hoist anchor

Cockpit Underway

Dock Party

Following a terrific dock party organized by SV Effie, we left Huatulco at about 9:30 am on Saturday March 7 to cross the Tehuantapec with Effie, Ecos, Equinox and Inspiration. Lost Elvis arrived at the entrance to Bahia del Sol, El Salvador on Monday March 9 at about 7 pm. We decide on Bahia del Sol rather than Barillas because we wanted to spend some time in El Salvador and Barillas is remote and does not have much to do. See http://www.sailsarana.com/ – they have a whole guide on Bahia del Sol.

The actual crossing of the Tehuantapec was unenventful; other than Effie and Equinox bragging about the Dorado they caught. The gulf was like a lake with no wind. We got a bit of a push from a strong current for the first few hours. The second morning I woke up for my 6 am, 6 hour shift and Randy went to bed for 6 hours as he had just finished his midnight to 6 am shift. It was still flat and calm so I did my exercises on deck, did some Sudokus, read my Spanish for Dummies book and watched the dolphins surfing in our bow wake. The next morning was quite the opposite. I woke up for my early shift and just as Randy was heading below we got slammed with offshore winds of up to 30 knots. Randy didn’t want to leave me up there in that kind of weather so he stayed up in the cockpit. Once the winds diminished to about 15 knots, he went back down to sleep but couldn’t so he rejoined me in the cockpit where within minutes our autohelm quit and the winds picked up again. Exhausted, Randy manually steered Elvis. I relieved him occasionally for a few minutes and my shoulders felt the strain of old Elvis bucking through the seas and the winds. The wind tapered off again and was right on our nose (as usual) so we took the sails down about 5 hours before our arrival. Of course with the wind in our face and no sailing, the seas grew to 12 feet swells on our beam. As our friend Paul says “that was the opposite of ‘fun’”. We finally arrived at Bahia del sol at 7 pm on March 9 but it was too late to cross the bar so we anchored in an uncomfortable swell. The next day Equinox, Inspiration and Effie arrived and anchored with us to wait for the panga to guide us through the surf and the bar. Going through the surf and the bar was a piece of cake. Me raising the anchor in a 12 foot pitching sea just prior to that was more dangerous than the bar. The pilot, Rojelio was an expert and just kept saying “no problem” over the radio.

The marina is part of a quiet hotel complex with a pool, power, cable, a restaurant and $1 beer. The estuary is huge with interesting “stilt restaurants” to have fresh fish and a small town called La Herradura. We are tied up at the marina but may move out to anchor (which is free).

El Salvador seems to have a greater gap between the rich and the poor. That’s probably why the FMLN did so well in the elections yesterday (51%). It is a beautiful country and the people (with the exception of my former cleaning lady in Vancouver) are very nice, honest and pleasant.

We took a quick trip in to San Salvador to go to PriceSmart (Costco) and to Burger King (for Randy). Tomorrow we are going to visit a weaving town, some ruins and a volcano.

I don’t know when I have to return to Vancouver so we might leave here in the next five days or so and head for Costa Rica.

Today I am going to help a local woman from Vancouver teach English. She has about 30 children, twice a week in several classes. She has cashew trees on her property so I have seen the fruit and the nut. No wonder they are so expensive.

El Salvador Details

This blog site is very cumbersome. I will start over with a new post.

Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

We made it to El Salvador after a 2.5 day trip across the Tehuantepec. It was exhausting. Internet and cell phone service is sketchy due to the El Salvador elections on Sunday. I will add more information tomorrow or after the elections.

Next Stop - El Salvador

We are checking the weather constantly and it looks like we will leave Bahia Chahue direct to Bahia del Sol on Saturday morning. The passage takes about 3 days and 4 - 5 sail boats will make the transit with us ( within 6 hour or so ). Seas, winds and currents are all favourable. Check magicseaweed.com or NOAA - UGribs. We also pay for a transit weather service wrix.com (weather routing). They tend to be the most accurate.

So tomorrow will be fixing, planning, stowing and provisioning (Super Che). Most of Friday will be Mexican Customs and port authorities to get our "Zarpa" (exit visa).

We will post our actualy departure as we approach Saturday.

Delivery of SV Endurance

"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen out there" - Captain Ron

His gut told him (mostly literally) to not sail the 70 ft ferro cement schooner. Endurance hadn't moved from her slip in 3 years. It was questionable whether she was up for the 5 straight days from Huatulco (Bahia Chahue) to Opequimar in Puerto Vallarta. But Randy offered to help with the delivery. His dear friend Doug had no other seasoned sailors who could help. On departure day, when his stomach was giving him particularly strong "vibes", Randy tried to back out of his commitment but it was impossible at the last hour to find a replacement.

So off they went with an SSB and a VHF that could only receive but not transmit. Thank goodness developing third world countries have cell phone towers sprouting out of the remotest hills and towns. These were some of the reports I received.

Day 1 (two hours out) - the engine overheated and failed but they repaired it. The radios could not transmit but they could hear me.

Day 2 - Endurance was only trudging along at 2 - 3 knots. At that rate, it would take twice as long to deliver her. It turns out the propeller was covered in barnacles so they dove in and scraped off as much as they could... still not much improvement in speed... hmmm

Day 3 - Food and water supplies were not good due to not enough provisioning or too much consumption or both. Fuel and water tanks are much lower than expected.

Day 4 - Considered stopping at Ixtapa Marina to refuel and fill the water tanks but their maximum draft on a high tide is only 7 feet. Endurance is verging on 10 feet. The crew decided (thanks to Ken and Marilyn's suggestion) to anchor at the Playa Principal in Zihua Bay, have fuel and water supplied by panga and zip in to town (not exactly zip as the dinghy had no engine) for food and drinking water.

Day 5 - After a near miss with a freighter at 2 am and near mutiny on board, they rounded Cabo Corrientes which was pleasantly and uncharacteristically cooperative, but by now the already failing refrigeration and the heads have died. The food that they remained is already starting to get slimy in the heat. Oh, and the reason for the lack of speed?? A built in drogue was deployed. With a simple press of a little button it was retracted and Randy headed old Endurance straight for McDonald's at 8 knots. He just called between bites of french fries and slurps of chocolate shake.

Tomorrow they all return on Mexicana via Mexico City and will be happily back in Huatulco by 3:30 pm.

Elta de Reyes - Oaxaca Part III

These images are in no particular order because this blog has a very awkward upload feature. While in Villa de Etla, we asked a pharmacist if he was familiar with the filiming of Nacho Libre. Of course, he was. He advised that the small church that served as the external shots for the Monastary, was about 2 miles outside of town. As we made our way toward Etla de Reyes (all the towns of the area are calle "Etla" which made it difficult to find our Nacholand), we could see the little church perched on a barren hill. This little church is a modest 16th century building. Since the filming of Nacho the locals have restored the building and added a hideous driveway as well as a circular cement slab that resembles a helicopter pad.


The three vallies of Oaxaca, while fertile, are very dry and extremely hot as you can tell by the cactus and barren landscape.

In it's starkness it is still very beautiful.

The agave plants used to make the local alcohol of choice, Mescal, grow on the sides of the steep mountains along highway 190. Here they are growing on unusually flat terrain.

There are two ways to get to Oaxaca from Huatulco. The first is along Hwy 200 East and then North on the 190. It's a somewhat triangular route but the highways is quite wide and well maintained. I recommend travelling on a Saturday. The other way is the absolutely gorgeous and dramatic Hwy 175. It twists, and twists and twists it's tiny little strip of asphalt high up into the Sierra Madres. DO NOT attempt this if you are at all prone to car sickness. Although the 175 route is more direct, it is only about 1 hour faster given the twisy twiny curves and the extreme grades. The locals say either way takes exactly the same amount of time. A safe plan is to assume the drive (not including stops) will take 6.0 hours.

Hertz in Tongalunda were amazing. We heard nasty stories about car rental companies gouging their patrons for scratches and dents that pre-existed the rental. Hertz was outstanding and the rental experience was a pleasure $3,300 pesos for five days. Thanks to Kevin at Hertz Tongalunda!!!

Oaxaca Part II - Villa de Etla

Villa de Etla is about a 30 minute drive on highway 190 North of Oaxaca. Do not go on the toll freeway to Mexico City. This town is where the interior and some exterior scenes from Nacho Libre were filmed.

This shot is the courtyard of the convent at the main church.

Market day is Wednesdays. We missed it by two days but a small market runs on the other days. This photo is of Randy coming down the steps from the market. If you are a Nacho Libre fan you will remember Nacho coming down these steps in is new white boots to the song "Bubble Gum for Me".

Just outside the market these small three wheelers serve as local taxis. They are very popular in the Oaxaca area.

Inside the market, on regular days there are fruit and vegetable stands, carnicerias, lecherias (selling the famous and delicious Oaxaca string cheese). I am at a honey, chocolate and cheese stand here (whatever that is in Spanish). The Oaxacan chocolate is said to have hypnotized the Spaniards but I think they might have just had a sugar overload. The Oaxacan chocolate, used primarily in making hot chocolate and moles is extremeley sweet and tastes slightly burned. Frankly, I don't get it. But they sell the sugary chocolate in beautifully hand molded balls, sticks and blocks.

This pup is looking for handouts from the polleria. We later saw him begging at the carniceria. He is of a healthy weight so someone is yielding to those big brown eyes.

....... to be continued in Part III

Nacho Libre Land - Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca - Part 1

Last week we drove for 6.5 hours on highway 190 to Oaxaca. There are two routes; a wider, better highway east along the coast which veers north just before Salina Cruz, and, the other (the 175) which is a twisty, steep smaller highway that is a north/south route. The latter is more direct and more beautiful but a very technical drive. Highway 175 is much shorter but because of its crazy turns and steep grades only saves about 45 minutes. Either way you slice it, it's about about a 5.5 to 6.5 hour drive from Huatulco.

We rented a car from Hertz in Bahia Tongolunda about 2.5 km from Marina Chahue. The economy c car that I booked was not available so they gave us a jeep for the same cost. We were warned that Mexican car rental companies (regardless of the brand) will gouge you when you return the vehicle for dents, chips and scratches. We took photos of the entire vehicle before we left. In the end, we had no problem and the entire cost for five days was about $3,300 pesos.

The drive through Salina Cruz and then North was a long hot drive..... the "opposite of fun" as a friend would say.

The City of Oaxaca, also know as Oaxaca Juarez, reminds me of small cities in Spain like San Sabastian. Oaxaca is one of the oldest cities in Mexico. Other than the corn on the cob on a stick, the mescal and the tamale vendors, you would think you were in Europe.

Traffic is usually congested because of the old narrow streets. Thank goodness, that each street is one way. Fortunately, most buildings were built with ample courtyards which now serve as parking garages. Most hotels, even 3 stars, have free parking. It's best to park your car and walk around the city.

We stayed at the Francia Hotel, and old colonial building, on 20 Noviembre Street which is about 2 blocks from the Zocolo (the plaza, piazza, town square). The rate was $500 pesos per night which worked out to be about $34 US Dollars.

Oddly enough, there aren't many bars in Oaxaca. There are plenty of restaurants and the odd club but not many places where you can walk in and have a drink. Of course, Randy found a great bar, La Farola, about a block down the street from Francia Hotel.

Our first excursion was to Monte Alban, an ancient Zapotec ruin that was constructed anywhere from 700 BC to 500 BC. I can go on and on about this civilization; their astronomy, anatomy, medicine, dentistry ..... check it out on the Internet.

Byte the way, the last scene of Nacho Libre was filmed at these ruins.

........ to be continued.

Nacho Libre Land - The City of Oaxaca de Juarez

Poolside, La Crucecita - Huatulco

Randy on the beach in front of the Beach Club in Bahia Santa Cruz.

Huatulco Days

This is the view (downward) from one of the lots for sale in the bay; Randy and I call it "our lot". Someone has set up a massive development with street lights, electricity, water ... everything.

Here I am on "our lot". In front of me is the ocean and behind, the marina

Another view from our lot. You can see it's an arid climate here in Huatulco...but that doesn't mean it isn't humid. At 6 pm at night we are at 85% humidity and 75 degrees.

This is a shot of Marina Chahue where we are moored until we blast off for El Salvador. Our new neighbours Bill and Jean from "Mita KuuLuu" have written and produced a fabulous guide to El Salvador from the Bahia del Sol perspective. They can be found at SVmitakuuluu.blogspot.com

This is Maggie, the 18 year old boat cat from Effie who I cared for while Mac and Alan toured Oaxaca. She is a gem and we lover her. We have two other boat cats in the marina; one who rules the docks and stalks pelicans and the other who stays on deck on her leash.

Tomorrow we are driving to Oaxaca. We are staying in the Francia Hotel for $500 pesos per night. We are going to drive up to Villa de Etna to see a 17th Century monastery where part of Nacho Libre was formed. It's the only way Randy will take in any culture.

Lost Elvis Found Huatulco - 200 miles north of Guatemala

Thea had a nice visit with Dana in Phoenix on the way to Mexico. Although too short, Dana and I did manage to squeeze in a basketball game, a hike on Pinnacle Peak and a BBQ with some of Dana's clients. Next time ont he way back to Vancouver, I'll stay longer so I can get some shopping in.

From Phoenix I flew to Mexico City with US Airways and then to Huatulco on Mexicana. US Airways flies to Mexico City every day at 11 am from Phoenix. Mexicana flies to Huatulco three times a day for less than $80 one way.









Marina Chahue is a new marina which is still under development to accommodate the mega yachts. The construction becomes very apparent in the morning when the dump trucks release load after load of gravel to build the new breakwater. The swell is bad here. I've had more comfortable anchorages but there is no where else to shore up before the treacherous Tehuanapec (aka the "Pecker") crossing. There was a huge weather window starting yesterday so most of the boats are heading through the Pecker to El Salvador toda. There are about two or three of us left waiting to go through.

Effie from Barra (whereseffie.blogspot.com ) is back with us. Mac and Alan came in from Acapulco on Monday. I am cat-sitting Maggie while Mac and Alan visit Oaxaca for four days.

Here in Huatulco, Arcadio was instrumental in rebuilding Lost Elvis' alternator and lift can. He also serviced the transmission and added new filters and oil. Those of you who don't think BOAT doesn't mean "Break Out Another Thousand"; beware! However, diesel mechanical services here are about 1/3 of the price of Puerto Vallarta.

La Cruzecita is the closest town to the marina. It is clean, paved and brightly coloured. The gay bars are denoted by the Corona paint job, the curtains hanging at the door and over the windows and, as our friend, Douglas found out, by the fact that the patrons bought him beer all night.

It has a new "Super Che" which is like a mini Mega Commercial. It's about a 30 peso cab ride from the marina.



Douglas, aka Santa Claus, is on a 51' Fermosa ferro-cement schooner "Endurance". His wife Suzie and he are professional fisherman in the Kenai Alaska fishery. When he's not fishing, he's in Huatulco. He is getting ready to get his boat ready for a 5 day haul to Puerto Vallarta where he will put the boat in dry dock until the end of the next fishing season.






This is the 41' Canela crewed by three crazy Brazilians from the township of Canela. You can follow their four year round the world trip at www.destinocanela.com

They just left this morning to cross the Tehuanapec. We met these guys in Zihuatanejo and we hope to catch them in El Salvador. Be warned "don't leave your women, the Brazilian boys will take them".