Exiting the Bar -- Sandbar that is!
27 April 2016 | Bahia del Sol El Salvador
Linda
After a little more than a month of enjoying El Salvador, and the inland travel to Honduras and Guatemala, the high tide and weather forecasts were good for our departure -- to exit the sand bar at the harbor entrance.
Once a month, the high tide occurs early in the morning and late in the twilight so that there are theoretically two departure times that day. On Wednesday, April 27, the high tide was 6 am and 6 pm. In order to arrive in daylight two days later in Mexico, we choose the 6 am departure.
It was cloudy and overcast...and we even saw a few sprinkles as we exited the marina. Bill and the Marina pilot boat were right on time to lead us out the narrow channel. The swell was moderate that morning and we had a safe exit. The photo which Bill took from the pilot boat shows Purrrfect riding up over the swell as we crossed the sandbar. Later we learned that the swells increased a day later so that it wasn't possible to enter or exit for the next week. So we were lucky to have selected April 27 to depart.
We spent 2 days motor sailing 250 miles west past Guatemala on to the first port of entry in Mexico at Puerto Chiapas. It seemed strange after all these 5 years of cruising to be located only one country away from the USA.