We continue our way on towards either Salvador or Nicaragua, but I think we have decided on Nicaragua. We haven't been there yet, and the facilities sound like we would like it. And if we don't, we can always head on to Salvador later. The place we are heading is called Puesta Del Sol, which means sunset. There is a marina, mooring field, and a hotel complex which means there is a pool, to cool off from the hot Nicaraguan weather. Friends of ours have been there, and speak highly of it. And I planned to visit there anyway, at least on a land trip from Salvador. That also means that the trip will be about 100 miles shorter than to Salvador, which helps with our fuel consumption issue. We also had a great discovery in the fuel realm - we have been averaging about one half gallon of fuel per engine hour, which is damn good.
Right now we are in an anchorage called Bahia Honda, and I think it may be the prettiest anchorage I have ever been in, bar none. We are surrounded by jungle, with birds and moneys calling out to us. The fish are jumping all over the place, and the rays are also throwing themselves up out of the water and landing with a loud splat. If you have never seen a ray jump, you have missed something. I have never seen anything that looks so simply joyful. A local man came by yesterday right after we got here, and sold us some avocados and limes. He is supposed to come by today with pineapple, onions, and potatoes, as well as bread. We still have plenty of meat in the freezer, and the other day we caught a big sierra, which Mike was able to filet into eight separate meals. So with this new produce, we have better meals than ever. The onions were the most important part, truthfully. Almost everything we make uses an onion.
Mike and I are lucky in that we have pensions, and don't have to live off a "cruising kitty." All we have to do is tighten our belts for a couple of months, and we an afford pretty much whatever comes our way, especially something bad (like a lightning strike) because we are insured. But there are a lot of cruisers who are not insured, and when something really bad happens, they are completely out of luck. Sometimes it means the end of the whole thing. We know a man in Panama City, whose boat was struck by lightning last year and all of his electrical systems were completely destroyed He can't even really live on it anymore, let alone sail it anywhere The sad part is he lives on social security with apparently little to no savings, and he is stuck. Really stuck. He can't afford to get it fixed, and now I suppose he will have to sell it for a song and where he can live as cheaply as he does now, I do not know. I suppose he couldn't afford insurance if he wanted it, but I know a lot of people who say their insurance is "prudent seamanship" I have also heard it said (by one who is not insured but I know could afford to be) that people who are insured are not has careful as those who aren't. Prudent seamanship is all well an good, but it is no good whatsoever against a lightning strike. We are at least as careful as the uninsured, maybe even more so. Interestingly, there are a lot of libertarian types out here who simply do not agree with the whole concept of insurance, asserting it constitutes "betting against oneself" I don't think so, but maybe I am wrong. All I know is that if something bad happens, we will be pretty much okay. If I decide I want to stop cruising, so be it, but I want to make the decision myself and not have it made for me by some horrid accident.
The local guy just came by and brought us pineapple, more avocados, the potatoes, the onions, plantains, bread, and some delicious bananas. We paid for the stuff and also gave him some fishing line, a nice lure, and some hooks. He promised to come by tomorrow with some papaya.
So I guess that is all for now. We got some rain, enough to wash the deck off. Now we need more so we can collect some water. Nothing beats drinking rainwater.
"For what's the point of breeding children, if each generation does not improve on what went before?" (Hilary Mantel)
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