| BARILLAS MARINA TO ACAPULCO
We finally got away from Barillas on Thursday the 18th of October, the tide was just right and it was a very smooth passage outwards; the Marina Panga lead the way and three yachts followed behind, two headed south and us headed north. We were somewhat sad to be leaving, the beautiful volcano’s of southern El Salvador were nice and clear in the morning light, they begged us to return and explore. We knew that we were leaving with so much we had not seen or experienced and regretted it, however life is short and there is only so much you can cram into one lifetime. Once the Panga turned back we unfurled the Genoa and came up on a westerly heading; within an hour we had to furl-up as the relative wind went over seventeen knots. I hoisted the inner headsail and as the wind increased further, contemplated a second reef in the mainsail. By midday we were crashing into a rain squall and 27 / 30 knots of head wind. Our forward progress was about three knots as we seemed to have a strong adverse current; however we stuck it out till 1340hrs when we gave way to the inevitable and turned back. Barillas was not an option as the weather and tide conditions had closed that door firmly, thus we ran off at great speed to the Gulf of Fonseca. The current was now in our favour but we still couldn’t make it before nightfall; however with the westerly wind we were able to lay a course for Tamerindo Bay, just inside the western entrance. This was a wide bay with no surprises and was good for a night time approach; by 1900hrs the wind had increased further and we were surfing at 7-8knots so our decision to turn back was somewhat affirmed. It didn’t however make us feel any better, we were both in low spirits at having lost so much ground; Mexico was looking further away than ever! We dropped our hook in Tamarindo Bay at 2142hrs, happy at least to be in a safe anchorage, by then we were to tired to worry about where we’d gone wrong and turned in to dream on more positive thoughts. In the morning we took the forecasts and concluded that NOAA has little idea of what is going on down here in Central America and probably doesn’t care. The only forecast that had any indication of what was going on came from ‘Wetsand.com’ and we concluded that we should have paid more attention to it as we had noted in the passed that the ‘Wetsand’ forecasts had been consistently accurate; even though they are more aimed towards surfers than sailors. We spoke on the radio to “Seascape” an MFV type yacht that had left Barillas at the same time and gone to Moneypenny Anchorage. They had also had some excitement having been boarded by Para Military from Nicaragua soon after arrival and at first had been told they could not stay, then been given permission but left on tender-hooks as to how long they could remain. To remove the uncertainty they had tried to leave earlier this morning but found the weather so bad outside they’d been forced to return. That didn’t work however as the weather conditions were now so bad that Monneypenny had become untenable, so they had heaved up once again to join us over in our anchorage. It turned out to be a memorable voyage for them as big seas were now rolling into the Golfo Fonseca making it very uncomfortable to cross the wide opening. They arrived in the early afternoon having had solid water thrown over the top of their pilothouse as they bashed and crashed across in conditions that were as bad as any they had encountered since leaving from Canada! We had come to know Simon and Sunny in Barillas, they were good cruising folk and I do believe that they went out of their way to join us and give us a little company and support over in our corner of Fonseca. We had three nights here and during the days the wind howled in from the northwest then shifted more to the west; as it did so the swell started to get into our anchorage; not enough to cause concern but enough to become tiresome after a while. On the second day Simon and Sunny came over for a visit and whilst we were all together a local canoe rolled up; they were after just about anything they could get, particularly money. One of them spoke quite good English and had a nice tail of woe, however we never hand out money to anyone no matter what and eventually we got them to move on with a little rice, sugar and a few cookies which I think were the icing on the cake! Unfortunately they were only with paddles and begged a tow ashore; the wind was still strong off the beach, which was some distance away. Simon came to the rescue and towed them in with his dinghy but got cold and wet in the process; we were getting some heavy rain squalls with our wind! The Next day wasn’t any better, we had 23-25 knots of wind and the rain was coming in by the bucket-load on a sideways slant, in the afternoon I was sitting on the saloon floor sorting through nuts, bolts and screws when we thought we heard something outside. An inspection revealed nothing so I went back to work; five minutes later we could here it again, definitely someone calling; I went up on deck in the rain and found some guy hanging on to our anchor rode mouthing something unintelligible in the wind and the rain. Wow, but this was something new; I had about two million things running through my mind and none of them were good. The guy was in the sea and obviously in some sort of distress, clearly I had a duty to fish him out. On the other hand my professional seafaring training and experience told me that this could be a huge can of worms and that I was responsible for any person I rescued; that it may be a long time before I could land this person and then at great expense. Although most cruisers sail around unaware of the facts, I knew that by picking up a refugee (s), the Masters responsibilities could amount to such a large sum of cash that it could overwhelm the average cruising budget and even cause seizure of the vessel. I have to say that there are some areas of the world that professionally (on the big ships), we don’t look too hard at who is waving to us from the many little boats we pass along the way! In this case I had no option and told Paula to explain the situation to Simon on the VHF whilst I went forward and helped pull the guy on board. We were very fortunate that Simon, who was watching the whole thing from his wheelhouse, was able to use his horn to attract the attention of a passing fishing Panga and direct him to assist us. So it turned out that our swimmer was on board only a matter of minutes before we had him discharged again and safely away……. Of course, I got another nice scratch on my beautiful paint job but I’m now reaching the position where these scratches are accepted as a matter of course. We never really did figure out exactly what happened, it seemed to take place so quickly; Simon thought he may have been out fishing without a boat (yes, some of them are that poor!!), it would at least explain why he had a large lump of wood he was pushing around and a couple of lengths of line (although I didn’t see any fish hooks!) I wasn’t too sure about that but I am certain that he was not at all happy to stand on our pitching and rolling deck, I don’t quite think it was quite what he’d expected and was at least one of the reasons he departed so rapidly into the Panga. We puzzled over that one for some time, added it to the problem of the swell we were now getting and decided to move first thing the next morning; we would go and see if we could find an anchorage less stressful!!!. We had an uneasy night, awake at every little noise wondering if we had yet another unwelcome guest…… The next morning we heaved up the anchor and accompanied “Seascape” up into the Bay in search of a better spot; this we found on the north coast of Isla Conchaguita, a small island belonging to El Salvador. Simon anchored first and the weather being relatively calm, we went alongside for a while, it was of course still raining, as it had been on the way up so once tied up we didn’t have to get wet in the dinghy……Unfortunately when the tide turned we ended up beam on to the swell and it was a little to much to expect Mr John to handle so we separated and went to anchor. The rain eased off in the afternoon and we were able to get a couple of jobs done. In the evening Simon very kindly came by in his dinghy and collected us to go aboard “Seascape” for a really great Stir-fry and a really great evening. The next day we sadly waved goodbye to “Seascape” as she exited the anchorage at 0530 for Puesta del Sol, about 40miles distant, in Nicaragua; we were left waiting for our weather window to head north. That seemed to come the next morning so on the 23rd of October at 0830 we heaved up anchor and attempted to sail out of our anchorage. That didn’t last long, for there was so little wind all we achieved was to drift sideways towards some fishing floats. Reluctantly I started the motor and we motor-sailed / motored our way out of the bay and up the coast until late afternoon when we got breeze, then wind, then too much wind. By 2000hrs we were beating to windward again, with thunder and lightening to weather of us, under reefed mainsail and the inner staysail! Fortunately it died enough by 0100hrs the next day, that I could unfurl the Roller Furling Genoa and increase our progress. The rest of the trip was spent between motoring into light headwinds or on a flat calm sea and just a couple of periods where either the sea or land breeze became just strong enough to sail and we could give the motor a break; it was tough going!! On the positive side, we moved away from the threat of the thunder storms, suddenly we had beautiful starry nights and clear days. The humidity level dropped dramatically and it seemed much cooler. In fact we were finding it so cool that on the morning of our arrival in Puerto Madero we were both wearing our jackets……… This was probably due to ‘mountain air’ coming down with the offshore breeze. On Friday the 26th October at 0206hrs we anchored in the East Basin at Puerto Madero, Mexico. The approach had been very strait forward and the entrance well marked; this is now a Cruise Ship destination and thus boasts very good navigational marks and lights. I had called the Capitania on the way in and it sounded like we would be left in piece till morning when we’d been instructed to take our papers over to the Port Captains Office. So we turned in immediately on arrival only to be woken ten minutes later by a boat load of Navy personnel who had come out to inspect us and brought their dog along. The inspection only took half an hour and most of that was ‘form filling’. There was only one small moment of excitement, when their dog, in a playful mood, tried to grab Teddy (our mascot) off the bunk. Fortunately the handler intervened before there was a diplomatic incident! Before they went off, the Lieutenant advised me that I’d anchored a bit close to a sand bank and should re-anchor more towards the middle of the channel; this we did and thus it was 0400hrs before we actually got to bed. By 0845hrs we were in the dinghy and headed over to the Capitania; unfortunately though it was, we discovered, actually 0945hrs as we had forgotten to change our clocks onto Mexico Time. The Port Captain however, wasn’t at all worried and was most helpful in guiding us through the ‘Clearing in’ procedure. The only bit he did get wrong was to suggest that the Immigration people at the airport could handle our Tourist Cards, when we got there they didn’t want to know and sent us to the office in Tapachula (note: they MAY however stamp people ‘OUT’ of Mexico??). In actual fact this situation works well as the Immigration, the Bank where you have to pay your fees and the Mall with two large supermarkets are all within walking distance in Tapachula which is only $1.50 per person away from where you are anchored in Puerto Madero. We got everything done in town and then returned with just enough time to visit the Port Authority where they charged us $7.50 for the pleasure of anchoring in their harbour; for what we were getting, I thought that was a bit steep! We paid for four days and actually spent six nights, I guess that’s what you call a successful business deal; where both sides go away thinking they got one over the other party! In actual fact, we were not in Puerto Madero, we were in Puerto Chiapas, Chiapas being that whole geographical region of Mexico. The powers that be have renamed the port for the benefit of the Cruise Ships that visit rather infrequently at the moment. The Mexican government however has sunk a lot of money into this Port Project to promote tourism in a part of Mexico which up to this time has been rather neglected and left only with its agricultural economy; I guess they hope to see quite a few more cruise ships as the port gets established. As far as yachts are concerned, this is a very good stop-over point at the South end of the Tehuantepec, fuel and water are available on the dock, there is good shopping in Tapachula and there are some things to go and see if you wish or need to tarry. A Marina Development is in the pipe line, however this looks like it could be very small and more aimed towards local boats; Pemex is building a new fuel dock and this will improve the existing arrangements which leave a little to be desired (especially at Low Water when this dock would not be a good place at all!!). The new dock may well improve dinghy landing facilities which up until now were virtually none existent. We used the old Pemex Dock and had to rig a rope ladder to the bottom of the ladder they have already on the dock which is way to short at low water. It sounds bad but once we were organised it was no problem, certainly we didn’t have to traipse through the mud in the way that previous reports have suggested! We had one adventure when we took a taxi up town. We were first into the taxi then discovered we were sharing it with a 25 stone burly fisherman and his son who also shared the back seat with us. In the back of the hatchback went the fisherman’s catch in an open fridge box……. What a lovely smell of fresh fish! When the driver tried to get in he discovered he couldn’t, the drivers door was locked and wouldn’t open despite other taxi drivers gathering round offering advice on the problem which they all thought was a good laugh and went on for quite a while. In the meantime I pointed out there was another door ‘otro puerta’ plus we wanted to get going. Hence the driver went round the other side and with much difficulty slid over to the driver’s seat and at long last set off. The fish in the back wasn’t getting any better with the heat either. We bounced our way up town whilst jammed under the armpit of the sweaty monster wishing a speedy end to our journey which normally takes about 15 minutes. This however was not to be as we dropped the fisherman off first in a small suburb of Tapachulula that the taxi driver had never visited. So once again we bounced off the roads that became one long pothole and the slightly run down housing gave way to something you only expect to see in movies and never quite want to experience first hand. Guided by ‘Gonzilla’ we eventually arrived at his house where the car grounded to a halt in a pot hole big enough to stop a M1 Battle Tank. Gonzilla and protogee decamped and struggled to open the hatch back. We spread out ourselves on the back seat and would have taken a deep breath had it not been for the fish! Meanwhile our driver was still trying to get out of his door and the door was still having none of it. After a few moments, when he realised that Gonzilla was about to rip the backend of his vehicle to bits in his struggle to regain possession of his fish, he slid across to the passenger side with all the grace of a bloated Rhino performing Swan Lake. Not improved by getting his foot stuck in the pedals whilst negotiating the gear stick. He eventually tumbled out of the car minus his shoe only to find he was no longer needed, the hatchback had yielded to pressure and Gonzilla tugged out his not so fresh fish onto the ground. Our driver collected his fare and tumbled back across to the driving seat where his foot was once again reunited with the lost shoe. With some screaming and tearing sounds coming from under the car we forcibly extricated ourselves from the hole and backed up away from that place just missing a small pile of burning logs with a determination and speed befitting a formula one driver in urgent pursuit of a toilet. We eventually engaged a forward gear and trundled off but it was clear the driver was as completely lost as we were. Very sensibly he stopped and asked directions which turned out to be just up the road and once we arrived with out further a do we were out and very glad to have survived. We enjoyed our break here; it was a good place to wait for a window to cross the dreaded Tehuantepec. We checked the forecasts every day and when the window came, we were ready to move. First there was going to be a big window, then a small window, then a two day window and eventually, when we were already underway, no great window at all……. Such is life! We left on Wednesday 31st October early morning having taken the 0600hrs set of faxes. There was little wind outside and we motored up the coast picking up quite a favourable current. It was the 1200hrs set of faxes that suddenly changed and showed our window to be in doubt; however we decided to push on and see what we could do when we got nearer. In fact we almost made it to the 16N line before we picked up some breeze on the nose, by this time we had expected the wind to be more offshore but it wasn’t; it tended to follow the coast and was firmly on the nose. We started short tacking, keeping close to the beach and as we proceeded the wind increased but it did start to slant a little offshore making our offshore tacks longer and more purposeful as we moved along. Sail was reduced in stages until we were down to the staysail (which is a small heavy weather blade specifically made for these conditions) and a double reefed mainsail. We had to physically sail the boat as the wind was shifty and we needed to stay right up close to the beach. Tacks had to be of the racing type, controlled and fast, to avoid sail flogging as the boat went round. By the time we were twenty miles from Salinas in the head of the bay, we were going hard to windward almost on the beach in thirty feet or less of water, we had about twenty-five to twenty-eight knots of wind but it was very gusty off the land, some of the gusts reaching close to forty knots! These would lay us right over with the decks well awash before I was able to spill some wind from the mainsail. We were not in a position to round-up as the beach was too close to windward; it was a situation that required some careful handling. About eight miles from Salinas we were able to reach off somewhat; I dropped the staysail and we were able to hold a reasonable course with the vane gear. It was by this time dark and we could no longer hug the beach; besides I was tired of the hand steering and needed a little rest. Paula took her through the separation zones off Salinas and we slowly blew out of the funnel so that by the time I came back on watch at midnight we were ready for more sail; confident that the worst was well behind us. Three hours later it was all over, the wind dropped to nothing and we motored the rest of the way to Huatulco where we arrived in the Marina Chahue a little before noon. The Dockmaster, Enrique, is as helpful as they come and made us feel right at home. The Marina is nice but does have a few problems; there is no fuel dock but arrangements for fuelling can be made through Enrique, either he will arrange a truck to come down for large amounts or he will take jerry cans up to the service station in his truck and get them filled. He also has a few spare cans laying about for people to use should you need more than your own jerry can’s will accommodate. We borrowed one of his big containers and did the run in a taxi as I didn’t need much and the cost of a round trip to the service station was only four dollars. There are no showers but they have an outside stall without screening…. Not really very appealing to the females! We used our hose and showered on the dock each evening. There is quite a surge in the Marina and you bounce about quite a bit even at the best of times. Whilst the Marina remains almost empty, there is plenty of room to rope off to the other side of the pontoon and Enrique arranges his visitors so that they can do this; however should this marina get full…. things could get difficult! On that note, I should add that this is DEFINITELY NOT a hurricane proof Marina; who ever spread that rumour has never seen a hurricane at work! Even a major storm swell could cause havoc here. The town and indeed the whole area, is nicely ‘up-market’ and a welcome change when coming up from the south. It is within walking distance of the Marina and most things are available if you just hunt around. Good news is that they are building a big Supermarket which will be even closer than town and I would expect it to be completed early 2008; at the moment they are sadly lacking in that department. ‘Huatulco’ refers not to the town but to the area and this comprises of many bays and beautiful beaches which I’m sorry to say we missed in our rush to get north. I think there is enough exploring here to keep the average cruising boat busy for a good three weeks and if we ever return this way I would certainly allocate that time. Whilst here, Enrique very kindly got our inward clearances sorted out, this had not been completed properly in Puerto Madero and we were not properly ‘Checked In’. We had a procession of officials come to the boat; they were all very polite and very efficient. The Customs man was about the most pleasant I’d met anywhere! Unfortunately the Health guy decided that our Brazilian Corned Beef wasn’t acceptable as Mexico has a ban on it, we lost eight tins (sixteen meals for two) and were a little sore about that. Still he was only doing his job and showed us all the official papers so that we would know it was all above board…… that didn’t stop us being sore about it. As we don’t have refrigeration, canned meat is quite important to us and the inability to find any Corn Beef in Mexico is going to be a bit of a bind. I guess we’ll just have to eat more fish although it doesn’t go so well in a Chilli! We left Huatulco on the 6th of November and motored nearly all the way to Acapulco although there was a time when we thought we weren’t going to make it at all. We pushed a bit of current down to Cabo Sacrificios about three hours west of the Marina and then, where the cast turned northwards, we were hit by almost three knots of adverse current, we were hardly going anywhere and knew for certain that if this was to persist we would not be able to reach Acapulco with the fuel on board. We discussed alternatives; we even discussed going back to Panaama!!!!! Fortunately we managed to get out of it after five or six hours and once we moved inshore picked up a counter current running in our favour. Next stop Acapulco John & Paula |
| 18th October 2007 |
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| Barillas Marina |
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| Overcrowded mini bus |