Aphrodite's Album:
Conchigita
Casey
Norfolk
La Rochelle
Current Lat/Long: 12' 36.6N 87'22.4W

And it’s been forever since I updated our blogspot - my apologies - so this is going to be a quick round-up to bring us up-to-date through July and August. We left Barillas (El Salvador) on 28th June 2007, along with Daryl on Liberty Call, heading for Nicaragua via the Gulf of Fonseca, which has borders with El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. We followed the Barillas Pilot nine miles down river and through the break in the reef. The surf was up and pounding on the reef and our exit was far more uncomfortable than our entry several days earlier, but once out to sea the swell was relatively low and the sun was shinning. From mid-day onwards we saw the squall clouds building (now re-named the ‘Alien Cloud’ by SV Hurrah who we were to meet later in Nicaragua) and at 1350 hours - just as we were about to round the point into the Gulf - it hit us. Around 35 knots on the nose and building seas, (we had already dropped sail) and so we pointed due west out to sea to ride it out, finally dropping our anchor off the shore of Isla Conchagita at 2130 hours. Spent the next day relaxing then the following day sailed around the top of the island, passing it’s one solitary village, and on to Isla Meanguera where we anchored in a small cove at the south east end of the island. We’d caught fish on our way across so Daryl joined us as we fired up the BBQ and we contemplated what the ‘really quite nice building’ could be in the bay. It was so unexpected that we assumed it was either the President’s summer house or a drug baron’s hide out. The next morning Daryl kayaked ashore and returned to us with the news that it was an ‘American-style’ hotel - no mention of it in any pilot book, and totally unexpected. We all went ashore and met Richard (American) who owns the hotel with his Salvadoran wife and their children Rachel and Arturo. We were made very welcome and spent the next two days eating fabulous meals prepared by Richard’s wife and chilling on their patio. The hotel is called El Joya Del Golfo and Richard can be contacted at the following Richardshagen@aol.com. If you’re heading down that way it’s well worth a stop - pretty much protected from any south westerly swell but open to anything big from the north. You could however always up anchor and in twenty minutes be around the bottom of the island in the anchorage to the south which affords shelter in a Papagallo, according to Capt. Pat Raines’ Cruising Ports, The Central American Route.
So, reluctantly we upped anchor on the 4th of July and headed out to Puesta del Sol in Nicaragua, arriving just in time to be invited to the Independence Day BBQ and celebrations! The entrance into Puesta is very straight-forward as long as you do your ‘tidal homework’ and enter on an incoming or high tide. It would be nearly impossible to enter on the ebb (around 5/6 knots against). We entered on the flood and had difficulty staying in the channel!!! But the entrance is short and you’re in within minutes.
On arriving in Puesta, and now fully into the rainy season, which sees huge tropical downpours with winds up to 50 knots and enormous thunderstorms, I suggested that it would perhaps be a good time to go home, if indeed we were going to go home. Paul’s son Adam and his wife Vicky were due to give birth to their first child - our first grandchild - on August 19th and so, after much debate we decided to book our flights. As we were now heading home, Daryl (Liberty Call) decided to continue on down to Costa Rica and a visit from his girlfriend.
Before I go any further - A BIG APOLOGY TO THOSE OF YOU WE DIDN’T SEE - our trip home was extremely hectic and absolutely flew by. We returned to England to MASSIVE flooding with large areas of the country without water and electricity - thankfully not Nottingham where we were staying with Mum, but my sister in Gloucestershire was without water for 2 weeks. In between ordering and supervising the fitting of new windows for my Mum, we caught up with local friends - and once again whiled away the wee hours at Gary and Dawn’s with Pat and Max. We also managed to fly out to La Rochelle and spend a lovely few relaxing days with Martin and Shirley on their boat Kismet, moored in the inner harbour in La Rochelle enabling a short walk ashore into this beautiful town/city? On returning, Vicky very conveniently gave birth the very next day - two weeks early - which was great for us as it meant we now had two weeks longer with our new grand-daughter. Mum and baby went through the usual trials but both were and continue to be very well - and naturally, she‘s gorgeous. Following that, many visits with family, placing daily internet orders for boat things that are impossible to source in Central America; the luxury of eating soggy white English bread and many other totally bad but uuuummmm so much missed foods - curry to name but one!!! We also arrived home in time to join our friends’ Helen and Richard for their wedding celebration. They had married in February but decided to delay the celebration until the summer where they planned a BBQ at the gliding club. It rained ALL DAY (!!!) but we nevertheless had a lovely time.
More shopping and baby cooing. Grandad was occupied for a week decorating the nursery - oh - baby’s name by the way is Casey and is a girl!!
A weekend with our friends Michael and Anne on their Contest 44 Nimue, along the south coast of England and across to the Isle of Wight, gave us the best sail we have had in months!!!???!!! A trip to Norfolk to visit John and Judy in their lovely cottage alongside the wharf in Wells Next the Sea came complete with a local regata and sailing races thrown in for good measure. Next a cross-country trek to the Cotswalds for a last visit with my sister Helen and her family.
Before we knew it time had run out and it was time to return. It had been lovely to catch up with friends and family, but sadly we only got to see half the people we had hoped to see - including 45 minutes with my elder sister and an unsuccessful trip to see Paul‘s sister. It’s amazing how my brother’s and sister’s children have changed in just over one year, but equally good to see that Mum hadn’t changed much at all, if anything looked better! My lovely brother rose at 4 a.m. on Sunday 2nd of September and delivered us back to Heathrow. 48 hours later we are back on our boat - tidying up and preparing to leave shortly for Costa Rica. It is still rainy season and I AM NOT looking forward to the lightening storms and 50 knot squalls, but Paul reassures me its only water and we might get wet!!! Hasn’t said much about the lightening though! More to follow in the next couple of weeks, assuming our safe arrival in Costa Rica.