Sunday, Jan 19, 2013
We cleared customs and immigration (with Memo as our guide) and saved the normally charged check out fee of $35 per person. (so very Mexican – and in a good way !! one day it’s this and the next day it’s that…)
Kim and I enjoy a ‘farewell Mexico’ cocktail of ‘LaLa’ Café con Leche (and Vodka) as I maneuver Endorfin from the slip.. We blow kisses to Sue and Geoff who have taken a break from the football game to wave us a bon voyage. We make our way down the channel and out to the ocean. Next stop… El Salvador.
7:45pm we pass the Mexico / Guatamala border.
The almost full moon appears at 9pm.
Inverter fails at 9:30 pm – No espresso for me ☹ How will I stay awake until midnight for my watch??
At 4:30am, we see the Southern Cross setting off our starboard bow.

Monday, Jan 20
9:00am - I loose my red/white/green ‘Mexican flag’ lure to something with sharp teeth. At 10:15 am I yell ‘fish on!’ and throttle back !! I curse and swear at my cheap $50 ‘Boaters World’ reel as I struggle to reel in what I hope will be dinner. I make sure to take pictures to show Art (on s/v Eternal Bliss) – I may have won the bet !! Turns out, I’ve hooked up a Pacific Jack and he’s tossed back to the sea.

3:00pm - We are navigating to avoid coke bottle floats when Dan spots the green ‘clothesline’ running from float to float. We quickly alter course and avoid getting tangled in the line. The fishermen are grateful we have not destroyed their net and offer us a fresh Dorado ! We share cold beers in return. After what seems to be miles, we spot the two blue floats marking the end of their net and navigate safely around them. We are back on course!

Savannah is struggling a bit to get her little sea legs back, but continues to smile as she ‘tosses her cookies’ and comments on the PB & J taste ☺. Her third time to ‘feed the fish’ she is rewarded with two dolphins off our beam and we make our way to the bow to watch them play for the next 20 minutes. Savannah says ‘they made me feel better!’ She seems adjusted by 5pm and we head down below for Harry Potter and a nap.

I make our first flag change (Mexico to El Salvador) at 6:30 pm as we round the point at Puerto Acajutla.

With a new waypoint set for the entrance to Puerto Barillas, we re-calculate our arrival time. Only 15 hours to go !

At 9:30pm the moon appears and our course matches it’s reflection on the water – our path it lit by the bright beam making it easy to spot pangas and fishing boats that might be in our way.

I’m enjoying our Sirius Satellite radio and signing to the oldies to stay awake until midnight. Nothing like a bit of Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, or Billy Joel to keep you groovin.

Tuesday, Jan 21
11am - I hail Maria Barillas on the VHF and advise that we are one hour from our waypoint. Mary is super-friendly and tells me that Walter will be waiting at the entrance when we arrive. She instructs us to follow him closely. Sure enough, Walter is waiting – so we don’t have to. We cross the bar through a narrow opening at 12 noon and begin our two hour trip up the estuary. By 2pm we are secured to our mooring ball and greeting the boat-load of officials that are boarding our boat.
We meet Mary (the friendly voice on the VHF) along with Port Authority, El Salvador Immigration and Customs. After a brief inspection of Endorfin, we collect our passports and boat documents and join them in their air-conditioned office to finish the check-in procedures. Mary explains about the restaurant, laundry, pool, and monkey tour, then we are offered a complimentary welcome cocktail !! Celina smiles as she takes our orders for their signature fruity drink of starfruit, watermelon and papaya (oh yes, and rum !). It’s delicious and becomes my new favorite drink !!

After a 44 hour passage, there’s nothing better than a pool, a rum drink, and sharing stories with good friends. We cheers with s/v Eternal Bliss crew Art, Jenny, Lavonne and LC !! We are in El Salvador !!