Life in El Salvador, Continued

It has not been dull here.  One thing I did not report about was the big storm we had here last Sunday night (actually it might have been Saturday night).  We had just moved from the dock to the mooring ball, and had taken the dinghy to shore.  We were sitting around the poll laughing and talking and drinking, when we noticed lightening off in the distance.  Everyone noted and wondered how close it would get, and stuff like that.  All of us had our boats open, otherwise it gets real hot inside.  this wen on for about half and hour, when all of a sudden (and I am not exaggerating) the wind came up hard and really fast.  We ran for our dinghy, leaving half eaten sandwiches and our drinks on the table.  We were mostly concerned about rain getting in and getting things like our bed all wet.  but by the time we got to the boat, which was only a few minutes, the wind was a real concern.  We got the dinghy loaded (these days it is suspended above the water hanging off the deck) just in time and ran to close all the windows, hatches, and the companionway door.  It began to absolutely pour down rain, so hard you couldn't look into it or it would hurt your eyes like needles blasting towards them.  The wind howled - one of the other cruisers clocked it at 76 knots per hour, which is considered  hurricane strength.  It maintained that speed for about ten very long minutes, then slowed to 40-50 knots.  We were battened down well, the boat was not leaking, and our mooring held.  Other boats were not so lucky - a number broke free from their moorings and hit other boats, and the ones at the dock really suffered.  One guys boat has a big hole in it.  Parts of the dock were broken, some of the houses lost roofs, and the place was really knocked around.  The locals said there had been nothing like it since the 30s. I was not really scared, because I knew the boat could take it.  I was a bit worried about our mooring, but we were ready to turn on the engine at the first sign of trouble so as not to hit anyone.  Here are some pictures of the damage - I felt sort of ghoulish taking them.

This boat has a big hole torn in the side.  This boat had the most damage.

This is what happened to our friends' solar panels.

Here is the torn up dock.

A local man trying to repair his roof.

The roof torn off a local boat landing.

  
So, it was all pretty sobering.  I feel really lucky that nothing bad happened to us.  So many things could have gone wrong.  I am also extremely happy that we chose to leave the dock.  Although it seems like you would be safer tied up, that is not always the case and often it is worse than being out in the water.  Everyone was pretty traumatized, and we all sat around the pool the next day debriefing each other.  Everyone shared what went right and what went wrong, and all and all it was not a bad experience for me.  I learned a lot, especially about what the boat can take.  As Mike said, "she can take more than you and I can." 

Since that time we have kept busy rearranging stuff on the boat, visiting with our friends here, participating in a pupusa making class (A stuffed tortilla that is the national dish of El Salvador.  I made some for breakfast this morning and they were really good.), had a movie night, and took a buying trip into San Salvador.  We had heard terrible things about San Salvador - that is was dangerous, dirty, rundown, war torn, and a host of other cautions.  We found pretty much none of them were true.

Yes, El Salvador is recovering from a long, brutal, civil war.  But it has been over for several years now, and the city was not any more rundown than a lot of cities in Mexico.  There is a very heavy presence of armed security.  Besides the regular police and army, every business has its own armed guard.  And yes, there are more visible firearms than we saw in Mexico.  It all seems more relaxed here, though.  The guards are friendly and smiling, and they will talk with you, something you never have happen in Mexico, where the regular army troops wear balaclavas.  A guy with a gun wearing a balaclava looks much scarier than one without one who is smiling at you.  There was new construction going on, and everyone looked busy.  It is poorer here than in Mexico, but not so much that it was shocking.  I am sure there are dangerous areas of the city, but I saw nothing to justify such paranoia.  We went with another couple and shared a taxi - it is about one and a half or two hours from here.  There is a strong American influence here, so there are some items available here that were hard to come by in Mexico.

Last night we all had a bonfire on the beach.  Some of us brought our guitars and played and everyone sang.  It was so much fun.  I am going to get more experience playing with other people, and there is a wonderful jazz and classical guitarist who has graciously offered to give me lessons.  I have been away from the guitar for so long now that I have forgotten a lot of things, and I would really like to get to the next step above where I have plateaued out, so to speak.  I still love it here, and we are discussing where our first land trip will take us.  There are ruins, active volcanoes, coffee plantations, beaches, indigenous people, and all sorts of adventures waiting for us.   

This will do it for today.

"I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence.  I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love."  (Leo Tolstoy)