June 19, 2009

Back to El Salvador Mar 09


Leaving the boat in El Salvador for a year was really not the smartest thing we have ever done however, we are convinced that it makes more sense to bring her home rather than leave her in foreign waters for a couple of years until the G.D.K.'s are out of the house!
We arrived during the Easter holy week which is crazier than Christmas. Everything was closed and our pre arranged rent a car drove off without us. Apparently, Avis rented all their cars and closed up shop for the holidays.
Only in El Salvador.
This capped the "oh shit" moment we had waiting in the Houston Airport while looking at gift shop electronics. Michel realized he forgot our navigational chart dungle in his desk at home. We can't go anywhere without it.
We Fed exed ( is that a word??) it to to Quebec in hope that Giles our other crew member who was leaving in a few days to join us in El Salvador could bring it with him. As luck would not have us the "package" arrived the day after he left.
This little package would hold us up and keep us hostage to the bureaucracy's of El Salvador.
Waiting....waiting ....waiting...cleaning, fixing..fixing...paying...paying..
Some may think we were relaxing in the sun drinking icy beverages - that is a sailing fantasy.
The reality for us:

Our lovely Jovietal is covered with two inches of bird crap!
Our dingy has 29 holes in it, sails jamming, upside down& backward equipment and $$$$$
leaky shafts.........the list goes on
Without the help of and Fred and Giles the boat would probably still be at anchor.
Giles was a real gift as he has an amazing ability to fix corroded electronics and trouble shoot most of the troubles.
We did manage to take a small break to visit with our wonderful friends the Dardano's which is always an exciting time.
Stay tuned for the posts sailing from El Salvador to Huatulco Mexio!