I'm at NoName anchorage in Nicaragua ... Well kind of. The actual spot where people normally anchor didn't look good to me when I arrived here so I have tucked in behind some large cliffs to rest a bit. The Papagayos winds are in full force. I sailed quite a bit yesterday in 25 to 30 knot winds. At one point, the gusts were so strong that even bare poled I was being blown out to sea. Unfortunately, there really isn't an end in sight for these winds so I plan on making hops down the coast. Once south of Tamarindo we will be out of the effects of the Papagayos.
Well everyone warned me about the Gulf of Tehuanepec, and from experience I can now tell you that it should be the least of your concerns when heading south. The conditions in the Tehuanepec are easily predicted and usually their forecasts are dead on. About 50 miles past the Mexico - Guatemalan border is where the real fun begins.
When I left Mexico, I was headed simply for N 13 30' W 89 50', no town, no people, nothing, just a spot where hopefully there would be a huge right hand point break to surf. Unfortunately, this all changed the second night out. Around sunset I recieved a call from Waterdragon via VHF, they had been hit with 30 knot winds without any warning whatsoever. Luckily, they had been motor sailing and already had two reefs tucked in the main. When it first hit them they were about 5 miles offshore and were going to head in closer hoping to find less waves. At this point I was about 10 miles off, went on deck drop the jib, replaced it with the storm jib and tucked two reefs in the main. I changed course and also headed in closer to shore. By ten o'clock I had fully dropped the main and sailed under storm jib alone, making 4.5 knots. I don't have wind instruments aboard so I can't be sure of what my winds were, but Jaberwoky was a few miles ahead and they were showing gust of 48 knots. Luckily, closer in shore the waves were minimal and the sailing was fairly pleasant.
The next morning when I was near the coordinates where I expected to stop the winds were too strong and the anchorage unsafe, so we all pressed on. It was decided that we would sail another few hours, hoping to drop anchor at La Libertad, El Salvador. Not many cruisers stop here; in fact most speak unfavorably of the place. One thing I've learned so far is to heed the warnings of others, then check it out for yourself. La Libertad turned out to be a very pleasant anchorage. We all dropped hook just east of the pier tucked in behind some cliffs.
The holding ground was good and in spite of the 30 knot winds throughout the night, the water was glass calm. Also there was some decent beach break a quarter mile from the boats. Even though we were tired Graham and I could let the surf go unridden. Now, with all that said we shared anchor watches between the three boats in case the wind shifted. This would not be a spot I would want to anchor in anything other than Northeastern winds. Around eight the next morning we all weighed anchor and headed for Bahia Del Sol.
Here is another of those things where you listen to people's advice, use caution, then make up your own mind. All through Mexico nobody spoke highly of Bahia Del Sol. Whenever mentioning El Salvador, people automatically told you to go straight for Barrillas. The reasons were the bar crossing was nasty and no source of fresh water, and periodically people also brought up security as an issue. With the wind on the nose we all knew there was no way we would make the 55 miles to Barrillas in one day. Bahia Del Sol was only 25 miles from our position and we could easily make it there in a few hours. We decided to motorsail, trying to make the best time we could. It is necessary for safety to cross the bar at or near high tide.
At about noon we hit the entrance to Bahia del Sol roughly 1 hour after high tide. The navy came out and escorted us. WHAT A RIDE. Tramonto and I surfed in on two 6 foot waves, hitting 10 knots over ground at one point. Once accross the bar we dropped into a beautiful tropical lagoon and headed for the anchorage a mile away. This place is one of my favorite stops. You anchor right in front of a resort that you have full use of. The resort even offers cruisers one free night stay and a 30% discount on food and beverages the entire time your there. Also, they have recently added an Immigration office on the resort. As soon as we dropped anchor, the navy and immigration came aboard took my paper work and handle everything from there. What a change from the process in Mexico.
I found everything I needed here and more. I spent the first two days getting Tramonto back into shape and lounging in the pool. There was some surf here that we tested out, but for the most part it was closed out beach break. After checking the place out and seeing that everything would be safe we decided to do some inland travel. The initial plan was to head for Tikal, Guatemala aboard a bus. Hoping we could catch an overnight bus from Guatemala City to Tikal, we caught the first bus out of Del Sol headed for San Salvador. We had to change buses there for Guatemala.
After spending 6 hours aboard buses we reached Guatemala City and decided, instead of spending another ten hours on a bus, that it would be better to head to Antigua. After seeing the filthy and bustling Guatemala City, Antigua was a shock. Such a gorgeous town, surrounded on all sides by volcanos, one still active, it reminded me of several small towns throughout Europe. Full of travelers from all parts of the globe, most there studying Spanish in one of the many schools. The center of town has a great park surronding an incredible fountain. Here is where most people congregate and where I spent several hours every day drinking coffee and socializing. It's been a while since I've done anything remotely this civil that I decided to skip Tikal and spend a few days enjoying the town. WaterDragon went on to Tikal, and the guys from Jaberwoky and myself spent the next three days in Antigua. Our last day there, we rented endro motorcycles,and explored most of the surronding villages and rode up one of the volcanoes. Once I was back at Tramonto, I spent a day getting ready and handling the process of checking out of El Salvador. Waterdragon was still doing some land travel as Jaberwoky and I shoved off. We crossed the bar without issue and headed east towards Costa Rica.
About an hour after leaving, Jaberwoky called to let me know they would be returning to Bahia del Sol to fix their alternator which had just failed. The wind was about 15 knots, so I decided to keep pushing forward and hopefully I will hook up with them later. Currently, I find myself once again tucked in behind some cliffs trying to hide from the wind, only this time it is in Nicaragua. For the last two days I have been beating into the famed Papaygayo winds. These are the winds you need to be concerned with. There is no system for predicting them and usually no warning. Often you get gust up to 40 knots depending on you location, sometimes higher!!
For two days Tramonto resembled a submarine as I beat into the oncoming seas, her decks constantly awash. Yesterday, I spent 6 hours beating 4 miles into this anchorage. Traveling and times at an incredible speed of .5 knots. Normally, I try and keep some amount of sail up even when motoring because it's easier on me and on the boat. Unbfortunately, I had to run bare poled for the last two hours yesterday, even with my storm jib up and sheet flat I kept getting blown out to sea. I've been here now for about 24 hours. I'm well rested and most likely will leave tonight at mid-night. By leaving at mid-night depending on the conditions I should be able to round Cabo Santa Elena during daylight hours. This is one of the worst spots, so I would rather do it in the daylight. Tondelayo went through the yesterday reporting 50 knot winds. Until next time from the land where you realize if there was no adversity there would be no joy.
