Day 16 - Surf's up - Barrilas, El Salvador

12/05/2007

N 13.17.7  W 88.25.2

El Salvador looks prehistoric; volcanoes everywhere.... big ones, with little clouds of steam occasionally rising. With a bilge full of fuel I decided to put into Barillas to make repairs.  To get there you must  cross a bar off the beach avoiding a reef of breaking waves.  The approach is only made with the assistance of a pilot.  He is in a panga and we follow him in.  Due to the urgency our problem this was an unplanned stop and we would be crossing the bar after dark?  So we passed down a flashlight to our pilot.  I knew he was good and all I had to do was follow the light and stay right behind him. Here’s a shot of the reef during the day.

About 6-8 ft.  Good thing is was to dark to see them.

So I did just that. Followed the flashlight and stayed directly behind the panga. The break in reef was in about 20 ft of water. Shallow enough for the waves to feel the bottom and build up, but hopefully deep enough that they would not crest. At one point I felt the bow drop and the stern rise.  The boat began picking up speed.  the GPS registered , 10, 12, and up to 16.5 kts!  FREEDOM was surfing. New territory for me...  We crossed the bar quickly. 

Once inside the estuary there is the 30 minute trip through the mangroves, all in darkness. and finally having to navigate the moorings on radar alone.

Later the next day Walter, the pilot, and I discussed the night-time transit, and I would learn that he was using the silhouette of a volcano as a range to find his range over the bar.

The next day Barillas Marina offered the services of their shrimp boat yard and crew to help us remove about 400 gals of diesel from our #2 Void. 

Our crew was busy while most of their crew offered their moral support. After a long, hot day, the void was emptied and determined safe for transit again.  We would do a final clean up in Panama.