Tough Transit: El Salvador to Nicaragua

We left Bahia del Sol with high hopes for a safe trip to Puesta del Sol, Nicaragua. Our friends Bill and Jean crossed the bar just ahead of us (above) and then headed north toward Mexico. We turned southeast, planning to anchor in Golfo de Fonseca the first night out. The early part of the day was nice, but then the seas picked up. It was 4 PM when Bill noticed that the engine had overheated... it took seven gallons of water to fill up the heat exchanger! At that point we could not travel on to the islands in the gulf, so headed straight for shore. The sun set shortly before we reached the shallow water we were seeking, but we could sure see the surf on the beach as we finally anchored in 30 ft. of water. The night passed uneventfully even though we were in open roadstead (no protection). The next morning Bill was up early to patch the heat exchanger hole with epoxy and good old duct tape! The wind was really blowing, so we headed on to Isla Meanguera where we anchored in Guerrero Cove and found three sailboats and an El Salvadoran Navy boat already there! We wound up staying three nights, meeting the other boaters, and even taking a hike on the island. (You can just see Grey Wolf in the center of the top photo) Once the winds had calmed down we all decided to beat it to Nicaragua. The sailboats left before we did but we figured we would catch up with them... wrong. When Bill went to pull the anchor he found that the bridle had gotten wrapped around our bow thruster and nearly pulled it off. He had to dive into the water to secure lines around the broken thruster and then we took off, listening to the thing bang the front of the boat incessantly. We almost caught up with the sailboats, as they were hanging out waiting for the pilot to guide them in. About that time Bill noticed the engine overheating AGAIN, so we added eight gallons of water and then found that the entire bilge was awash in water that had poured in through the bolt holes of the thruster... later we were able to move into the estuary and finally reach Marina Puesta del Sol!!! We are so grateful for Heavenly Father's watchful care over us~

El Salvador ~ The Savior !

As we continued east along the Central American coast, we were accompanied by the ever-present Ring of Fire. The twin peaks of San Vicente are shown in the photo above, as viewed from our dock in Bahia del Sol. We traveled overnight from Guatemala, arriving early afternoon and just in time to WAIT four hours for the tide to turn so we could enter the estuary! Rogelio from the marina and our friend Bill from sailboat Mita Kuuluu came out to guide us in and take photos, too! (top photo) After checking into the country and paying our dues, we decided to stay in a slip instead of on the hook so we could more freely run our A/C. The humidity is relatively low this time of year but still high for us desert rats...

The whole atmosphere of El Salvador seems friendly and welcoming. Prices are reasonable and the money is the U.S. dollar! It is funny to walk through an open air market and hear the hawkers calling "Diez por 2 quarters~" One of Alice's first ventures for shopping was to Zacatecaluca by local bus with friend Jean. By the time we got there on two different buses, walked through the huge marketplace, ate lunch and returned to the marina it took six hours- a good day's work...

Bill and Jean needed to go to the capital for dental appointments, so the four of us rode the bus to the city and got rooms at Myer's House B & B. Between appointments we were able to make a day trip to two smaller communities with Jorge, who runs a tourism service and has become Bill and Jean's friend. First we drove east through the huge city where half of the country's population lives. We stopped in Ilopango to visit a factory where clay figurines and plaques are manufactured. Dozens of shops lined the street as we drove into town, displaying a variety of souvenirs, many made from the local clay. Alice got a little carried away, but by buying only the miniature figurines she hopes to get them all home safely in March.

The next town was Suchitoto, a community of classic colonial architecture and one of the first areas where the war took its toll, with some buildings still showing bullet holes. We ate lunch at a lovely French restaurant and looked around the beautiful hacienda-style hotel adjacent to it. Then we did a bit of shopping, ending on the plaza where La Iglesia de Santa Lucia is under renovation. Jorge is a walking encyclopedia and gave us many insights into the history and culture of El Salvador. One of the causes of the war in the 80's-90's was injustice to the indigenous people. Many moved away and those who stayed do not wear native dress or practice native customs, as they have tried to blend into the modern culture. In fact, he called Salvadorans imitators of other cultures. Western dress, food, and music is very apparent.

Our third day in the city found the two couples going separate ways- Bill and Jean on a hunt for two guitars and Bill and Alice to spend the day with a 'new' friend, the sister-in-law of friends in Indio! Elizabeth and daughter Mariel came to pick us up at the B & B and then took us on a tour of the western part of the city. We stopped at the Guzman Museo and enjoyed seeing the interesting archeological displays there. We also went to Las Galerias, one of the many huge malls in the city. This one was actually built around a lovely old home which today is divided into several shops! After picking up her son at school we went to their home for a very traditional lunch: bean and cheese pupusas and vinaigrette coleslaw~ yummy. We had planned to ride the bus home, but failing to find the terminal, Elizabeth insisted on driving us all the way to the marina ~ what a dear!

Our SKY Mexico TV has been put to good use lately, what with pro football playoff games and the presidential inauguration where our salon was full of spectators. The same will happen for Super Bowl, complete with a potluck dinner. There are numerous sailboats here, occupied by Americans. The lovely sportfishing boats in the marina are either owned by locals or sit here idly waiting for owners to fly in for the occasional fishing trip to locate dorado or sailfish (catch and release).

As our two weeks here stretch into three, we continue to enjoy the boat, our friends, the marina and beach within walking distance. This is a place we will definitely visit again.

GUATEMALA ~ Land of the Quetzal Bird

Our first impression of Guatemala was that we were getting ripped off with high prices... The marina was $425 for a week, the paperwork for entry was $165, the fellow who took us on our one day tour wanted $300 (paid $250). Most cruisers bypass Guatemala, but Alice really wanted to stop since her son-in-law Rod had service his two year mission for the LDS Church here. Also, we were HERE, so why not see the country?

We were pleasantly surprised to find that our driver, Noe Urias, had brought a friend along for our excursion who spoke excellent English. Elias had studied in Belize and had lived in the U.S. for ten years, so he was extremely helpful. We left the marina at 6 AM for a LONG day of sightseeing. The hardest part of the entire trip was the miles we spent traversing a portion of the Pan American Highway. Where it is finished it is a nice four lane road, but every so often there were portions that were either in disrepair or under construction. It took about 3 1/2 hours to drive to the furthest destination- Chichicastenango, high in the mountains to the northwest. Here we saw the most colorful native market in the country. The children hawk their wares with dogged persistence, knowing enough English to press a hard bargain! La Iglesia de Santo Tomas has stood for hundreds of years, blending Catholicism with Mayan beliefs.

Working our way over to Lake Atitlan and the town of Panajachel, we were amazed at the farming being conducted on every available piece of land- small individual plots of every color of green created a pathwork quilt effect on the countryside. As we neared the lake we stopped for a photo op. Sadly, the sky was gray and overcast. Then we worked our way down to the shore and the town which turned out to be horridly commercialized. The natives were well-prepared for all the tourist traffic, of course. It would have been neat to go out on the lake, but then, we LIVE on the water... As we looked for a place to park, a gaggle of LDS missionaries spilled out a gate and onto the street!

Noe had agreed to take us three places for our price. Then Alice got on the internet and found the Mayan ruins of Iximche only a few miles off the Pan American Highway. So she begged to go there, too, even agreeing to skip Antigua if it took too much time. Interestingly, neither Noe nor Elias had ever been there! Still on the altiplano, the highlands, the area is covered with evergreen trees and is very cool this time of year. Some of the buildings have been excavated and are in fairly good shape. We were surprised to find people climbing and walking all over them. There was also a simple museum with a few artifacts and an interesting scale model of the entire community. This settlement has been dated at 1470 AD, not long before the Spaniards arrived.

It was late afternoon when we arrived at Antigua, a beautiful city reflecting the colonial period. It was awarded the rare title of a World Heritage city by UNESCO. We walked the lovely city park and took as many photos as possible in the fading light. Most everyone looked like turistas, save the people working the shops and cafes. Curiously, the photo of the ladies in their long aprons was shot here- not the typical Antigua dress which is western.

In the early light of morning we had seen several volcanoes, one spewing smoke. Our hope was to get photos going back, but by then it was dark. We did take some shots from the roof of the boat later, which are shown above. Guatemala is an interesting mixture of old and new, traditional and modern, rich and very poor. Please view the slideshow on the side bar by right clicking on the photo. You will want to slow down the slides to 8-10 seconds depending on how fast you read! Enjoy Guatemala!

Goodbye to Mexico...

As we drew ever nearer to the Mexican border, we could see the landscape changing. Everything was greener and food a bit different. We did not linger long in Huatulco when we learned that the weather was good for crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepec. There are terrible winds that blow from Texas across the isthmus of Mexico and into this gulf that can make passage impossible for a week at a time. We had such good luck with calm seas, plus a current pushing us along, that we decided to stop for six hours and just float in the middle of the gulf to insure a morning arrival at our last port, Puerto Chiapas! Once we entered the port we were surprised to find that we were the only small cruising vessel anchored there, among sophisticated tuna boats complete with their own helicopters (top), a Naval base, a fishing fleet, and a cruise ship center (bottom)! It took three trips to get all the paperwork done for our exit papers. The day we needed to pay for our anchorage we could not find a way to access the east dock... a security guard, complete with gun, told us to tie up to a panga that was tied to a tugboat, that was tied to the cruise ship dock! We scrambled out of our dinghy, over the panga and tug and onto the dock where we met David, the chief of security for the port who personally drove us to the payment office, then gave us a tour of the new cruise ship facility.(middle) This is a place we'd like to visit again! However, they are in the process of building a marina, so our reception next time may be very different.

WARNING: DO NOT GO TO ACAPULCO IN DECEMBER!!

It was a little too late to change plans when we read that December is the busiest month of the year in Acapulco. We had timed our travel to arrive in the afternoon, in time to anchor before dark. The current slowed us down, but we did arrive in this huge bay while the sun was dropping quickly in the west. Our guidebook is now several years old, and the area designated for anchoring has become rows of mooring balls controlled by the two local marinas. SO, we made a dash across the three mile wide bay and around the corner to Puerto Marques, a much smaller bay just southeast of the city. By the time we got there it was pitch black... another night anchoring, which we hate, and in a strange port. Just to be safe, we anchored in about 60 feet of water. The next day we called for fuel and a mooring ball, drove over to the far end of Bahia de Acapulco, and found a line-up of vessels in the very congested fuel dock area. Frustrated, we returned to the relative safety of P. Marques. With it still being Christmas vacation, the bay was full of pleasure boats, jet skis, kayaks, speed boats with skiers, etc. making circles around us!
The next day we started earlier, and did not call until we got to the marina, and then were told "Take a place in line- we have many boats wanting fuel." It was nerve-wracking for both of us, but we did finally get the fuel and a mooring ball (too expensive). We only stayed one night- long enough to go to shore for supplies and to check out the city. We walked to an auto parts store for engine oil and they were kind enough to take us back to the marina by car with two 5 gallon buckets! Then we rode the bus downtown, past dozens of huge hotels and restaurants- from Planet Hollywood to McDonalds, finally getting off at... Walmart! Once we had all supplies on board we ditched the mooring ball and went back to the circus in Puerto Marques for one more night. We know we will attempt to bypass this port on our way north in a year or so. The above photo, taking at 6:30 AM, is a poor example of the reason why this bay is called the Bowl of Diamonds~ very beautiful at night! The other photo is a shot of a very busy sailboat~ most boats in Acapulco are owned by Mexicans and they do love to party on their boats...

Zihuatanejo: Hard to Say~ Easy to Love

When we first arrived in Zihua we thought we'd stay a couple of days and push on to Acapulco for Christmas. The more we read about Acapulco in December, the less likely we felt that we would enjoy ourselves there. On the other hand, it was easy to anchor and go ashore in Zihua. Alice was able to attend church services on Christmas Sunday. We made one BIG provisioning trip to Mega Commercial, a huge supermarket/ variety store not unlike a Super Walmart, but affiliated with Costco! We walked the old downtown streets over and over and had a couple of delightful lunches at beach cafes. Bill's brother Barry warned us that the food would change the farther south we go, and we have experienced that already. What we think we're ordering from the menu and what is served has been two different things... We met nice people on two different sailboats and shared our HOMEMADE vanilla ice cream (Bill did that) and brownies (Alice did those) with Chris and Tamara from Camarillo one day and on Christmas Day with the McConnells- mom, dad and two children who just returned from Ecuador- we picked their brains. The days went by and we actually pulled out on our eleventh day there! Above photos: Grey Wolf all by herself at Caleta de Campos, just prior to Zihua, and the lovely buildings that line the east shore of the harbor in Zihua.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Merry Christmas from Bill and Alice Johnson on the motor vessel "Grey Wolf"

At the time of this writing we are anchored in the harbor at Zihuatanejo. Some call it Z-what and others call it Z-town. When you look at the spelling you understand why I just call it Z-town.

Every day we are so thankful that we are able to travel south and see the beauty of God's creation. As I looked out the window this morning I saw banana trees and coconut trees with a variety of shades that surround this bay. We are taking some pictures but they will not do this place justice as there is always a bit of haze. (The common way to get rid of trash in Mexico is just BURN it.)

But even with these great gifts that God has given we are now coming to the time when we celebrate the greatest gift of all: the birth of Christ and His coming into the world to provide our Salvation.

When you have time, read Phillipians 2- the whole chapter, but concentrate on verses 6 through 8. This gives us insight into the great love that God has for us. We think of the wise men who came and brought gifts to the Savior, and it is still the wise man or woman that sees Christmas as a time to bring our thanks to Him.

We truly hope that you will take time and Praise Him and Thank Him that we have Christmas! And, remember that as we share our gifts, we have received the greatest gift ever. BNJ

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Scarier than a Disneyland Ride!

The idyllic scene above, complete with an egret in flight, in NO WAY shows you the beginning or the end of our Jungle River Trip in Tenacatita! Alice had read about this little adventure in our Mexico Travel Guide, and did note that the 'best time' to enter the mouth of this little river is when the tide is coming in and the river is rising. However, by the time we got up, had breakfast, took the dinghy down, and drove to the Boca del Rio Iguana the tide had turned and was going out... We thought we might have to pull the dinghy over the entrance bar, but did not count on: 1) getting drenched by a rogue wave that filled the dinghy with several inches of sea water and got both camera cases wet, 2) that the entrance was so shallow that the motor was useless, 3) that Bill could NOT pull the dinghy past the mouth because of the tide going against him, 4) that Alice would have to relinquish the already wet camera cases and get out and help push and pull until we finally found the channel!
Once we succeeded in getting into the channel the ride became enjoyable, in spite of our both being soaking wet and hoping the cameras were okay (which they were as wintessed by the accompanying photos). We saw/heard numerous water fowl, spotted one lazy iguana sunning on a mangrove branch, and were amazed at the overgrowth of the huge mangrove trees which shot new roots downward above our heads! Eventually we arrived at the lagoon which marks the source of the 2 mile river where we rested, enjoyed drinks we'd packed, and actually succeeded in bailing out most of the water using... Alice's Croc shoes, even though they are very holey! The trip back out was quicker, except for the point when Alice decided to shift side on her perch in the bow of the dinghy, blocking Bill's view and sending us sliding into a snarl of mangrove roots. We both worried about what would greet us at the mouth of the little river, and it surely looked shallow. Bill raised the motor when it hit sand and we sat in the surf for a minute or two and then a pretty good wave just carried us out into the edge of the bay where we could again employ our trusty motor. Needless to say, a hot shower and a load of laundry were our first two items of business once back on Grey Wolf! Should we still be doing this stuff? Of course!

Our day trip to La Noria

Before we left Mazatlan we made a day tour with a group of ten to the small town of La Noria, an hour into the foothills east of the city. There were several interesting points of note for the day, not to mention a pleasant ride, a delicious lunch and a well-mannered young guide who was very fluent in English. Our first stop was at the blue agave plantation and distillery of Los Osuna, which has been in business for over 100 years. In the above photo you can see Alice standing by a blue agave that is still not ready for harvest. When ready for harvest, the plant is at least seven years old and the core, called the pineapple, weighs about 300 lbs. That is chopped up and then cooked and pressed to begin the fermentation process. You will see the vat of agave juice with yeast in it in the photo column to the right of this article. Between the sweet juice of the agave and the bountiful bouganvillas, the plantation was alive with butterflies. We both took tons of photos! Then we drove on to La Noria itself where we toured a leather factory where men were making everything from belts and purses to shoes and saddles, the old fashioned way! We also saw the barn where they were tanning cowhide, the old-fashioned way... the stench was almost more than one could handle! The above photos show one of the huge old sewing machines and also a table covered with white-tailed deer legs, waiting to be made into whip handles! Hopefully, we can do more shore excursions as interesting as this one.

We Came, We Saw, We Left~

Last year there were too many boats on anchor for us to tuck in and go ashore at Isla Isabela, the frigate bird observatory and rookery. After traveling all night, we arrived to find only two sailboats anchored, but in the very best spots... Bill cogitated a while and then decided to chance anchoring outside of them in 40+ feet of water. We ate breakfast and watched the waves break on a rock outcropping some 200 feet away, then decided to make a quick run to the island! There is a small fishing village there, but we did not see families- only men and boys, so it is probably a seasonal camp. We anchored the dinghy and walked over to the area where a grove of trees stood and hundreds of birds were either courting, resting, nesting, or flying about. These are NOT small birds: their wingspan is 6-7 feet! They seemed amazingly oblivious to us as we nosed around and took photos. The males have a bright red 'waddle' they can inflate, apparently to impress the females! Some were building nests, fighting over available material, while others sat on nests already formed at 5-6 feet above ground in the lush green trees. Frigate birds are often seen flying high above the water, but they rarely come down to rest on the water or on the boat, so this was a real treat, looking eyeball to eyeball with these gorgeous creatures!! AFTER the battery died we saw two small iguanas. Unfortunately, we were unaware that the blue-footed booby lives on the other side of the island... in too much of a hurry.