Hello Ecuador!

  Salinas, Ecuador
Friday, February 8, 2008

We sailed from Panama City 

Motoring to Taboga

on Friday, February 1, leaving at 4 in the afternoon. We had spent the day provisioning fresh food, saying goodbye to friends, and making last minute Internet emails. At last we deflated the dingy and tied it on-board, pulled anchor, and motored away from Causeway Amador. A few people on other sailboats waved as we started our journey of 680 miles to Salinas, Ecuador. 

The captain wanted to motor to Tobago Island and spend the night there on a mooring ball. I hand steered and kept a close watch for freighters heading into the Panama Canal while Bill and Marjorie stowed things downstairs. We arrived without incident at Tobago at sunset. The bay was exposed to the wind and three foot seas. It was not an ideal place for peaceful sleeping. I managed to snag a mooring ball on the first try and threaded our mooring bridle through it. But Bill couldn't remember if this mooring ball was strong enough to hold us. Someone asked him to move the last time they were there because the ball was to weak to hold his 40,000 pound sailboat. Right behind the ball we chose were two other balls, one of which looked big

A tern on our canvas

enough to damage the boat, and the shore was only 100 yards away. If the mooring failed we would only have seconds to respond! Bill didnīt trust the mooring ball, so we slipped our bridle and motored away. I was just as happy to begin the journey, I didnīt want to spend the night in the vee berth bouncing around in the waves! We set off in the darkness, with the stars shining above and a soft warm wind behind us.
In the excitement of trying to snag a mooring ball, we had neglected to prepare the boat for sailing. It took a few hours to get everything ready, but by 9 pm we had the jib and main up and are sailing at 7.0 knots. We split the night into 3 hour shifts, I was assigned the 3 to 6 am watch.

The hardships of watch keeping while sailing across the ocean

Sailing with Spinnaker

For those of you with visions of racing in Alaska, of standing in the howling winds wearing full rain gear, wool cap, and your icy hands clutching the steering wheel as you peer out through the darkness trying to locate the deadly rocky shore, Iīm afraid this next paragraph is not for you. 

I woke up early for my 3 am watch. Now that we were past the freighters and out of the shipping lanes, watch keeping duties consisted of sitting in the pilothouse and checking the radar and horizon every 15 minutes. The WH autopilot did all the steering, and the sails were set for hours between adjustments. This isnīt a bad life I thought, as I sipped my cafe con leche and read a hundred pages of ĻThe Path Between the SeasĻ. Some people took naps in between horizon checks.

A Sunset

Sometimes I would go out on deck to study the stars. It was so warm that I felt perfectly comfortable in shorts, tee shirt, and inflatable harness with tether. We were sailing quietly along on a beam reach. I had seen Orion above us at 7:30 pm, but at 3 am Orion was falling quickly over the western horizon. In front of me and low to the South is Crux, the Southern Cross. A beacon to sailors all the way back to Greek times when it could be seen as far North as the Mediterranean Sea. Behind me the Big Dipper pouring downward, with handle to the east, and north star barely visible on the horizon. Around 5 am two stars come out low to the Southeast. One may be Venus, it has a bright white glow to it.

Watch keeping during the day was shared by all the people who were awake. During our travels there were a couple days where we didnīt see any other boats, and a couple nights where we saw two freighters or fishing boats. Our farthest distance from land was a little over 100 miles while we passed Columbia.

We spent two days sailing like that. Then the wind died ( or was on our nose) and we spent three days motoring. We easily sailed 6.5 to 8 knots, with one burst up to 11 knots during a dark windy night. Apparently the wind had been adverse during most of the trip from Alaska down the West Coast to Panama, so Bill was happy to have two solid days of sailing.

Raising Flag 2

Fishing
Bill had a rod and reel that was given to him. On the third day I set a blue and white squid out on a 3 inch long J hook. I had three bites before I could hook a small Dorado. It quickly broke the line. After looking over the reel, I determined that the line was old, and I reloaded the reel with some new 40 pound test. Then I set a large green squid on a wire leader. I  quickly got a bite from a 15 pound Dorado. It was fighting away on the end of the line, and jumped a few times. I gave the reel to Bill to bring in, and halfway to the boat the reel quite working! We could only get a couple inches of line in at a time. I had to haul it in by hand, and even with the drag set hard we couldnīt get the the reel to wind properly. We finally got the dorado up to the boat, and just as we were getting ready to gaff it the fish took off and busted the line! It was a disappointment to all of us. Oddly enough a bunch of dolphins showed up next to the boat right as we were bringing our fish in, so maybe they got a free lunch. I learned later that many people fish with clothes lines. My conclusion, you need stout gear for ocean fishing, and pray that you only catch small fish!

Pirates?

Raising the flag

Right after we lost the fish we were approached by three men in a 20 foot long ponge. There was growing tension between us as we watched them approach. We had only seen a few boats from afar during the last few days, and now this skiff was coming right toward us. What did they want? Could they be pirates? We had no guns on board or any other means of stopping them from boarding. But is it realistic to think you can stop an armed group of men from boarding? Fighting would probably just make things worse. We decided to act friendly toward them. Bill spoke his best Spanish with them, and after learning they were Ecuadorian fishermen who were going to sleep in their open fiberglass skiff for three nights while they fished, he offered them three cokes. They seemed happy with the cokes and quickly motored away. The moral is: A friendly attitude is worth more than a suspicious nature when traveling in foreign countries.

Bill and Marjorie at Equator

The Equator 

On February 5 at noon we had a ceremonial raising of Ecuadorīs flag. It is horizontal banded with yellow, blue and red colors. The yellow band is twice as wide as the others, and flying on top.

We passed over the Equator on February 5, at 3:09 pm. We quickly stopped the sailboat. It was a hot day so we all went for a refreshing swim in the ocean and took photos of each other. Due to currents we drifted back across the line during our swim. So we actually went across the equator three times that afternoon. The sky had cleared off during this time and I managed to reburn my chest and back so that I turned a bright red that night.

Jim at Equator

That evening we celebrated with an appetizer of smoked oysters on crackers, and  dinner of steak, potatoes, squash, and cucumbers. It was washed down with plenty of water and sodas as we didnīt drink alcohol while sailing. 

Public Beach and Spit

 Hello Salinas!

We arrived in Salinas after 5 days around 4 pm. We were confined to the boat until we received clearance from the Port Captain, Police, Immigration, and Customs. They did not come until the next day at 3 pm. While technically we werenīt supposed to leave the boat, we did explore the marina and restaurant at night. The officials were courteous when they did arrive. One tip for all, have four copies of your passports and ship documents available for their records. Bill intends to haul the boat and leave it at Salinas for 3 months. He will have bottom work done before he goes across the Pacific. Cost for storage and haulout will be $2,500 for a 48 foot sailboat.

Our boat in background

It made me realize that you need to take a long look at the economics of sailing to other countries. You canīt spend money while your at sea, but the moorage costs are high after you arrive. With $2,500 I can rent a hotel room and travel by land for two months. Of course my costs are higher if I visit an expensive city or book a lot of

Other Sailboats

tours. The costs would be cheaper if you anchored out, but there arenīt that many good anchorages on the Pacific side, and most of them are exposed to the waves.

The Yacht Club Swimming Pool

Salinas has a great haul out arrangement, and manual labor is cheap. It is an ideal spot for cruisers to leave their boats while exploring inland.

We heard that 75 boats are arriving next week. This is probably one of those around the world organized rallies.

Condominiums

The local yacht club is nice. There is a swimming pool, restaurant, slow internet cafe with two computers, and some associated condominiums.

Around Town

We ate at a great restaurant in Salinas called Mars Y Tierra last night. Seafood is excellent here and I would highly recommend the Paella.

Catholic Church

There is a mall nearby with access to many things a cruiser needs including a large department store, fresh produce, sim cards for your phone, and a food court with 12 restaurants. 


I am catching the bus to Quito tonight. The direct bus leaves La Libertad at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 pm. I am looking forward to cooler weather in the 70s.

I hope my friends in Alaska are doing okay.