Huatulco to Bahia del Sol - Crossing the Golf of Tehuantepec (Part 2)

S/V Pacific Mystic
Eric & Valerie Wagoner
Tue 27 Apr 2010 00:00

Hotel/Marina Bahia del Sol, El Salvador:  3/17/2010 – 4/3/2010

 

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Stuck in paradise…

 

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Nasty! No it is not an oversized colon (sorry for the graphic analogy), but close. It is our waterlock damaged in the engine overheating incident.

 

 

Cool as a cat in the tropics

 

I just realized, I didn’t mention much about Miette in my last post. She’s been doing great and has become quite a good little sailor of the feline variety.

The latest thing she had to get accustomed to when we arrived in Central America was the brutal heat down here. Since we crossed into Guatemalan waters, I’ve pretty much been wearing a bathing suit 24/7 and sometimes I wish I had more clothes to take off still. But hey, looking at things from the right side, I have to say that walking around in a bathing suit all day is kind of a dream come true for me who doesn’t like to wear clothes to start with and had to be coached (by Eric) for years (still in progress) to wear nightwear at least around the house back at home. J

 

Speaking of coaching how to behave at home…

When we first arrived at Bahia del Sol, Miette kept insisting on sleeping on the floor of our back cabin at first, which is of course one of the hottest places on the boat. I had to coach her every day for a week to lie down on the floor under a fan in the fore cabin where the air is cooler to start with from the draft that occurs between the forward and center hatches. ( Some research I did on the Internet indicated that cat rarely suffer from heat stroke. They can’t regulate their body temperature on their own though as humans do, so it is best to keep the air flow around them for comfort.)

After about a week, she got it and started positioning herself on her own under the fan for her mid-morning and afternoon siestas. We now have fans all over the boat cabins and you can find Miette compete with humans on the boat to seek a spot under one of them pretty much any time of the day. J

 

 

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Watching the new boats crossing the bar

Because of our engine troubles, we got delayed and stayed at Bahia del Sol long enough for the next pack of boats from Huatulco to catch up to us.

Bill invited us to join him on a Panga and watch the pilot get the new boats across the bar.

 

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View of the pilot jet ski from the panga

 

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The 4 new boats (‘Ahwanee’, ‘Joyeux’, ‘Dolce Vita’ and ‘Shannon’) have lined up behind the bar, parallel to it, waiting for the pilot to guide them across.

 

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‘Joyeux’ turning in the direction of the surf.

( ‘Joyeux’ was the second boat to cross the bar. Our panga was not close enough to the first boat, ‘Awhanee’, for us to take good pictures when it went across the bar.)

 

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And here comes the first breaker wave…

 

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Nice job riding it, ‘Joyeux’!

 

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Keep up the good work, ‘Joyeux’! Almost there.

 

 

Leaving Bahia del Sol

 

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Pacific Mystic at the fuel dock during a national fuel shortage in El Salvador.

Have you tried to empty fuel out of a barrel into a filter on top of the boat fuel tank? It took us all afternoon till sunset…

 

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Returning to the dock after refueling

 

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Our last sunset at Bahia del Sol

 

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William, shipwright from San Diego; Jean and Bill of ‘Mita Kuulu’; Rob and Sue of ‘Joyeux’; Dennis of ‘Dolce Vita’; Bill of ‘Turn the Page’

 

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Dennis of ‘Dolce Vita’; Valerie of ‘Pacific Mystic’; Oriol formerly of ‘Dolce Vita’ and now ‘Pacific Mystic’; Bill of ‘Turn the Page’

 

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Oriol, Dennis, Eric and Valerie

 

 

Crossing the bar out of Bahia del Sol (take 1) – 4/2/2010

 

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Following the pilot jet ski

 

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Getting closer to the bar

 

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Not quite…

 

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…Turning around back to the marina after the engine alarm went off…

 

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…at the disconcerted looks in a panga passing by.

 

 

Crossing the bar out of Bahia del Sol (take 2) – 4/3/2010

Second time was a go...

 

Views of the estuary as we leave…

 

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