El Salvador

Time flies. It has been two years since I through off the dock lines in San Francisco on March 30, 2008. Up until 2 weeks ago, my time spent has been in Mexican waters. I am now in Central America in the country of El Salvador. I had thought I would spend no more than 1 year in Mexico before leaving for Central America and passing through the Panama Canal. So I only missed my so called schedule by 1 year. Actually it will be more than 1 year since I don't plan on going through the Canal until late this year.

I had a wonderful time in Mexico, most of which was spent in the La Paz, Sea of Cortez and Mazatlan. I met many wonderful people along the way, most of which were other cruisers and also some very wonderful local folks. One in particular is Alvira who works in the Marina office in Mazatlan. She is able to make everyone's stay in Mexico a wonderful experience.

A new chapter now begins to unfold. Central America is similar to Mexico in many ways as Canada is to United States but under the surface you find that the countries and their people are very different. The first difference is the food. Sorry El Salvadorians, but the food in Mexico is better. Next you recognize that most of the Central American countries are poor making Mexico seem rich in comparison. There is a lot of security here in form of men standing in the doorway of all businesses holding a big gun. People pass without giving a second notice. The national currency here is the American dollar. They changed to this currency in 2001. I will report back to you after I find out the reasons for the change. Many people resisted since it caused an increase in inflation. There are several volcanoes in El Salvador. It is reported that they have more volcanoes per square mile than any other country in the world. Finally, if any of you had visited Mexico 30 or more years ago you would find many changes visiting today. If you were to visit El Salvador today you would say it reminds you of Mexico back in the 80's.

I am docked in a marina that belongs to the Hotel Bahia del Sol. They are working hard to reach out to cruisers and invite them to stop here rather than pass it by as many have in years past. One reason for passing is the bar that one must pass through to enter the lagoon. You are cautioned NOT to enter without an escort. The only time that you can enter is slack at high tide. The waters, well of the shore, are shallow and as the swell enters the entrance the waves transform into big breakers that at times can be compared to the north shore at the island of Hawaii. The management here is giving discounts to all cruisers that stop by. The fees for the marina is 50 cents a foot per day. There are mooring available for $5 per day and you can anchor for free where the holding is good. Food is 30% off already cheap prices and you can use their pool and showers. The hotel here is very nice and today I am treating myself and renting a room for one evening. Air conditioned with television and movies. YEA.

This is a small breaker coming up from behind. The breakers during low tide where MUCH larger. That is the reason that I am puckered up in the second photo. I didn't have time to turn around to see what was coming, nor did I want to know. Just hang on and hope for the best.


































Buses here are a treat. They are colorful, and noisy. We call them chicken buses since people will bring their favorite chicken with them on-board.






























































The horn you hear in the video is used to alert riders that the bus is approaching. What you may not hear over the noise is the load music that they also play. Boring is not the word that you would use to describe riding a bus down here.








Speaking of chickens, here they are. This is a small restaurant on the beach that advertises fresh eggs and fresh fried chicken the the menu. These birds are about to be served up.


































I took one of these buses into San Salvador, the capitol of El Salvador. The churches as you see are just as grand as they are in Mexico but the architecture is much different and less ornate.
Sorry for the photo on the side.


















































As in Mexico, there is and area in each city that is called market central . This translates to downtown. Here the central market is much larger that what I experienced in Mexico. It covers many blocks and you can find everything here that one might need from pig heads to a new scarf and matching shoes.
































Back in the lagoon where I am at anchor, I took the dingy up to a little village about 4 miles up to the north. There is a central market there where one can find fresh produce and some meat and clothing. The town takes you back many years to when things were very simple. I thought I had seen every style of taxi ever built in Mazatlan but I was wrong. These are scooters with a cab attached. We visited the one bakery in town that supplies bread for the area. The bread was very tasty. The ovens where the bread is baked are large stone caverns that reach back around ten feet or more. They are fired by wood and they retain their heat for long periods because of the thickness of the walls.













































































These are photos of the bakery































































The oven



















I am going on a tour, possibly next week, that will take me through old ruins in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras which will be posted in my next blog.

As I wrote earlier, I am tonight in a nice hotel air conditioned room with internet connectivity. I think I have died and gone to heaven. Tomorrow I return to the boat in the high heat and humidity. Until then I am enjoying every moment. My crew mate has moved onto another boat going south to Costa Rica so I have my boat to myself again. As I am moved to, I do a few things on the boat that need attention or preventative maintenance as I prepare for when I return to sea. I have a rule. I do no more than two tasks a day and they must be finished by 9:30 in the morning. If I have not finished the tasks by 9:30, I quit and finish them the next day. Life is good.

Well that is all for now. Until next time, be safe out there.

Leaving Mexico for Central America

Where do I begin? It has been some time since my last blog if you don't count the small one from Ixtapa with the crocodiles. I have put a number of miles and a lot of ocean under my keel since leaving Mazatlan in January. Places where we have dropped anchor or stayed in a marina have been Acapulco, Ixtapa, Barra de Navidad, Isla Isabela, La Cruz, Bucerias, Chamela, Escondido, Impala, La Noria, Melaque, Puerto Angel, Zihuatenejo, Tenacatita, Puerto Vallarta and now I am in Santa Cruz otherwise known as Huatulco. Those of you that took out a map to see where I anchored will notice that the list is out of order so no I didn't go back and forth because I was lost. After leaving here our next stop is Bahia de Sol in San Salvador. El Salvador is in Central America for those of you that may not have found geography your best class in school. I also want to add that I took a bus trip inland to Oaxaca for three days to play tourist. More on that trip later in the blog.

In case you missed it, I picked up crew in Puerto Vallarta (La Cruz). A younger man from Spain who is staying with me for an undetermined time.

Two years ago on March 30th, 2008 I threw off the dock lines at my Marina and started my voyage. I didn't make it very far that first day because the seas outside the Golden Gate where too nasty so I pulled into a marina in San Francisco. Yes, technically I did leave if only travelling three miles. I have not added up the total miles that have passed under my keel but my guess would be a distance that if I were in a car I could have traveled from San Francisco to New York or at least close to the East Coast. Many adventures along the way. Some were not enjoyable but 99% of the adventures were wonderful and memorable. You can look back at my older blogs to read about the good, bad and ugly adventures I had.

So now let me bring everyone up to date so I need not feel guilty any longer.

Ixtapa was not one of those memorable locations. The marina we stayed in was expensive and there were very few sailboats. There was only one other sailboat there with people aboard. They are now beside me in the marina at Santa Cruz. Other than the crocodiles and the Tsunami that went through it was somewhat boring. You ask yourself; How can he say, with Crocodiles swimming around his boat and a Tsunami that went through and tore off two dock be boring? My response can only be that this is what happens when you have new and sometime exciting adventures day after day. It is like drugs. You must take more each time to get high.

After leaving Ixtapa, we were off to Acapulco. Acapulco was a place to be seen where you could possibly meet movie stars and other wealthy people. That was back in the 50s and the 60s. Now it is just another large city with a lot of traffic and noise. There are still many gringos there but few if any are rich and famous. There are so many gringos that one must stop to ask where you can find a Mexican to practice your Spanish.

I took a couple of photos one of which is of a business that was thought to have gone broke many years ago and were out of business. Woolworth. My mother spent many a day in that store when she lived in San Francisco during the war. I guess they moved out of the States and went down to Mexico. Just a reminder. You can expand a photo by placing your mouse over it and double clicking. To return to the original photo, press the Esc button. For those of you that are computer challenged, and I know who you are, this is the button on the top left on the keyboard.



















There are beautiful beaches in Acapulco which is its attraction. Spring break for the college kids here is a big hit. One thing that I may not have noted before is that Mexico must be the one country in the world that enjoys the most miles of unspoiled beaches on its coasts. As I have sailed south here on the mainland I have seen coastline covering a distance of 40 or more miles with uninterrupted and unspoiled beaches without a single golf course or resort.























Puerto Escondido was our next stop. This is a very popular location for surfers. I promised my son Steve I would stop there to check it out for him however we only stayed there for 30 minutes. It is good reason why this is a popular surf location. I was at anchor about 80 feet from the beach at a water depth of 45 feet. I couldn't get the anchor to hold so we pulled anchor and headed for plan 'B'. Plan 'B' turned out to be Bahia Angel. This is yet another small fishing village however the developers are moving in so there are a number of big expensive homes and resorts. The anchorage was small with swell coming around the point so we along with the other two boat there dropped a stern anchor to hold us into the waves. We stayed there three days and enjoyed the quiet location. On the way to Bahia Angel we had a number of giant turtles pass us by on their way west. I had stopped the boat at one point to go swimming and while Oriol was in the water a turtle came by. Oriol swam up to it and went for a short ride. We also saw a whale close by as we approached the bay. I wasn't able to get a good photo with his head out of the water. The size was about the same size as my fist if not larger. There must have been at least 100 turtles that we saw floating by the boat.



















This is part of the village where we were anchored. A good place to swim to shore for a cold beer or two, or three....


















One of the friends I met that came by to say hello. He wanted to know if I had any fish to spare. Sorry, all I have is coke and beer. WHAT! you promised me some fish yesterday!!!



















This is a seen that you often see around small villages where women are carrying produce or bread to sell to individuals or small restaurants.




















Here she is. Still looking good as she sits at anchor a short distance off of shore.




















Next stop was Santa Cruz. As I mentioned earlier, this is the last place we anchor and go ashore in Mexico. It looks like we will be here for two weeks as we wait for the weather to clear south of us. Once we throw off the dock lines, we will be sailing 4 days non stop until we pull into Bahia de Sol in El Salvador. This is a great area where tourists are welcome and you see many but you don't see the big hotels and resorts you see in many other locations around Mexico. Zoning regulations here do not allow buildings taller than 4 stories high. This keeps out the big U.S. developers since the return on their investment is not good enough. You won't see any photos since it is just another city without any special buildings and areas of interest.

I decided to go inland for a change and visit an old city of Oaxaca. This is a colonial city that has the streets and architecture that reminds one of Spain if you have every been there. Very European. Parks, sidewalk cafe's, narrow cobble stone streets and colorful people and buildings. I was there on a Friday which was a holiday of sorts. Each Friday during lent women around town give you a cup of flavored water from rice, pumpkin, are tea from the front of their homes or booths that are set up. This signifies the time that Christ was on the Cross and asked for water. Also there is a tradition where young men and boys gather flowers to give to girls and women that they know or meet along the street. At the end of the day, the girls and women meet on stage where there is a band and many people looking on. The person with the largest amount of flowers is crowned queen for the week. You can probably guess correctly if you assume she is the hottest of the group.


Enough of that for now. Here I am waiting for my bus to Oaxaca. This turned out to be a 9 hour bus ride through the mountains. Switch back turns every mile. I swore I could see the license plate at the back of the bus on some of the turns. The bus was comfortable, air conditioned and they played movies throughout the trip. Unfortunately, the movies were dubbed in Spanish with no sub-titles.


















I took this photo as I began my walk around town. Building painted these colors are rarely found in coastal towns that I have visited.



















This is part of a large square in the middle of town where most of the days and evenings activities are seen and heard. Many people are just sitting around enjoying the shade from the trees and the company of friends and family.




















This is one of many sidewalk cafe's in and around the city.



















I have taken many photos of churches as I have visited many villages and towns around Mexico. They are all beautiful, artistic and rich in colors and screens. This is an entrance to one of the offices off of the main church.
























I always enjoyed photos of the beautiful churches in Mexico. It doesn't seem to make a difference if they are in a small fishing village or a large city. This church is just off of the main square in Oaxaca.
























This was in a small alcove off of the main floor. This is one of many, each with a different scene.
























The alter




















These panels of etched glass are near the front entrance of the church.




















This is a closeup of one of the panels
























A short distance outside of the city are ruins that go back to 600 BC. The photos do not do justice to the area so one must visit it to get a real sense of the architecture and the people that lived and built this place. It was built of top of a small mountain and before they could begin to build, they had to cut the top of the mountain off so they could have a large flat area to build on. This took them 200 years. There was no Home depot around to buy jack hammers. I won't comment on the photos below. Hopefully it will give you some idea what it is like if you were to visit it in person.


















































































































Several streets were being repaired in town. They were laying underground utilities, first pulling the cobblestones up one by one, next lay the underground utilities, and finally laying back each stone again one by one. Full employment.




















There is always someone that wants their photo taken.



















Finally! That is it. I am caught up and as the result, you are also caught up with me and where I have been and seen. I hope you enjoy this because it took me about 8 hours over 4 days to complete. Very slow network connections here in Mexico. Everything down here is slow and easy so why should the networks be fast.

Today is Friday. I hope the winds calm down from 50 KTS by Tuesday. If they do, I will set sail for El Salvador. Those of you including myself that thought I would never get out of Mexico are about to be proven wrong.

This fall, in all probability, I will be going through the Panama Canal. I will need four line handlers so invitations are open to come down and join me on an adventure that very few people experience. You could be one of those chosen few.

In the mean time, be safe out there.

Denny

Manzanillo and Ixtapa

I am going to see if this works. The further south I go the harder it is to finda working internet with enough speed to post photos.

I am currently in Ixtapa. This is a tourist are with many hotels and condos. The marina is expensive so my stay here will be short. Oriol, my crew mate, and I are resting before our next long sailing leg which will take us to Acapulco. We should be out of Mexico in no more than two weeks is the weather holds. Then we will be at anchor enjoying and visiting a new country which is El Salvador. The anchorage will be in the Bay of the sun.

Knowing that I like adventures her is a photo taking at the docks in the Ixtapa Marina where I am now at. There are two lessons that I have learned here will walking the docks. Carry dead chickens so you can make it to high ground. If a crocodile gives you a look, throw him a chicken and move on. Hopefully you don't run out of chickens before you reach the top of the docks. The second lesson is do not allow small children or animals to walk the docks alone. Crocodiles have bad eye sight and is they see something small on the dock they think it is a chicken or a turkey. They especially enjoy turkeys.



















Well this is not going to working. The site I am using is too slow. I promise to add photos and their stories as soon as I find a reliable network.

I the mean time I continue to enjoy this life style, the people I meet and the experience of the new and different cultures. Central America will be much different and will be South America when I touch soil there. I am still planning on going through the Panama Canal which should happen this fall but plan are said to be written in sand at low tide. That is what is nice about retirement, you don't have to plan. Just go with the flow.

The boat continues to test my ability to fix stuff and so far I have been up to the challenge because the problems have been small ones even though it sometimes takes a while to find the source.

I am sorry but that is all I have for now. Until later be safe out there.