Thursday, May 13, 2010

Crossing the Papagallo

To sailors along the Central American Pacific Coast Papagallo Bay is as respected as Tehuantepec Bay for its strong winds driven by the weather in the Caribbean Sea. We set out from Bahia del Sol in El Salvador with a predicted wind peak of 24 to 29 knots in the center of the bay. We were given good advice to keep within five miles of the shore to avoid the worst winds. This advice squared with the wind pattern shown on BuoyWeather.com. It appeared that the strongest winds formed a sort of vortex in the center or the bay. I did decide to cut the corners a little with results you will see as you read on.


Papagallo 20100508 AM



First we had to deal with an equipment failure. Luckily, Bill Eddy was doing an inspection of the rig before we were due to head out from Bahia del Sol. He noticed that the toggle that holds the headstay to the stemhead of the boat had been bent. In any serious wind, this fitting would have failed and jeopardized the entire rigging and perhaps the ship itself.

Headstay Failure
Headstay Toggle Failure

Furler Disassembled
We tore down the entire furler so we could remove the broken toggle for repair at the local boatyard.
Murrey Repairs Toggle
Murray of Island Marine promised to repair the toggle the same day and good to his word he delivered it to the boat in the early afternoon.

First we had to cross the bar at Bahia del Sol. This was not as exciting as the crossing on the way in, but still it gave us a little thrill. The small buildings to the right are high at dry at low tides and are a popular place for the locals to enjoy the beach and some food.


Sunset with Spray Drops

The first part of the trip across the Papagallo was a wonderful smooth sail. We enjoyed a fine sunset although the drops on the window were a little fore taste of what was to come. Later, we even had a couple of small hitchhikers along for the ride.

 

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Avian Visitor 1 Avian Vistor 2

As the day went on, though, we began to feel the true nature of the Papagallo. Buoyweather.com had predicted a maximum wind of 24 to 29 knots. We thought that we would be far enough from the center that we would not feel the full force of the winds. Instead, we had two days of 25 to 30 knot winds first to beat against and then to reach with. It was an exillerating experience, but very uncomfortable and tiring for the crew. We got the boat rig "dialed in" with about one quarter of the sail out and doing 8 to 9 knots steady. (Remember that Virago's hull speed is only about 8.4 knots--so we were partially surfing without any following sea!)


You can see Bill watching through the open center windshield, Harry sleeping on the starboard seat, and the captain (although not seen) was taking photos. Maybe not comfortable, but for dedicated sailors just another part of why we sail.

Early Morning Puntarenas

Early on the third day after two long nights of sailing and one of motoring, we saw Puntarenas. It is several miles up and estuary to the Costa Rica Yacht Club, so we had to wait for high tide and for a pilot from the club to lead us in. Even then, we ran aground and spent about fifteen minutes motoring and being towed to get us back in the channel. Once we were tied up to a floating dock we enjoyed a fine lunch at the club restaurant. (The fuzzy spot in the photos is a little left over from the photo taking done in wind and seas—a drop of salt water.) Unfortunately, Virago is somewhat obscured within that fuzzy spot.

Costa Rica Pilot Diner at the Costa Rica Yatch Club

 

Finally, we were tied up almost exactly 72 hours after leaving Bahia del Sol and having traveled about 360 nautical miles. That meant we had averaged about 5 knots. Not bad given that we sailed about 250 miles of the trip and had to wait at anchor for nearly four hours in the estuary for high tide.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Woodpiles

One of my most powerful memories of El Salvador will be the woodpiles. Being from Maine and having heated with wood I was familiar with woodpiles. However, here in El Salvador, wood fires are the most common source of heat for cooking. There are several problems caused by this phenomenon: deforestation, health problems , and continuing poverty.

  • El Salvador is second only to Haiti in the New World for deforestation with only two percent of its land forested.
  • The World Health Organization says that respiratory ailments brought on by household smoke are the number one cause of death in children under five years of age. Papusas or thick corn tortillas are a staple in the local diet being served with every meal. They are usually cooked on an open fire within the home. In addition to air quality related issues, many children are burned on the open fires.
  • The average poor family in El Salvador spends about a dollar a day on wood or an equivalent amount of scarce of labor to gather and prepare wood.
Home Woodpile Papusaria

Home Woodpile

Roadside Papusaria

Woodcutters Shop Woodcutters Tools

Woodcutter’s Shop

Woodcutter’s Tools

There have been many efforts to design and distribute cleaner burning woodstoves for developing counties. One of the most successful efforts is lead by Stove Team International http://www.stoveteam.org .

We visited their plant in Sonsonate, El Salvador. The factory builds several versions of the Ecocina stove. They have a capacity to build about 800 stoves per month and are currently turning out about 300. They cost about $42 to build and are sold to other NGO’s for about $48 including the taxes. Homeowners can buy them from various NGO’s including ESNA for $21 spread over 4 payments. If wood is costing a family one dollar per day and these stove cut wood usage by about forty percent, the payback period is about two months.

Stove Factory Entrance

The Plant Shows its Solidarity with Social Justice Advocates

Woodstove Showroom Demo 1 Demo 2

Oven and Three Stove Models

Starting Fire

Mature Fire – Little Smoke

Forms Stove Factory Add Insulation

Forms for Cement Body

Metal Fabrication Shop

Adding Insulation

Adoption is the Key
Here we saw the old and the new, but the old was being used and not the new. The volunteer mother said that she had not been trained how to use the new industrial Ecocina. As always adoption is the key to long-term success.
Industrial Stove at Suquiat
On the next day with a new volunteer mother, we saw the new stove in use.

 

 

 

And here's what it's all about--feeding the children

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

We Meet with Her Honor

Months ago when I was planning this trip, Harry Reppert had told me of his plan to visit a school in El Salvador that his church was helping. As plans became clearer he told me that he would be delivering some clothing and school supplies directly to the schools. He also mentioned that he would be meeting with the mayor of Caluco where the school in located. Jim Labbe and I decided to accompany Harry on his trip to the school and we all fully expected that meeting the mayor meant a five-minute photo op and a thank you. We didn’t know the mayor!

Visit with Mayor 011  Blanca Lidia Orellana did met us at her office, but proceeded to serve us coffee and pupusas. (These are like a cross between a crepe and a thick corn tortilla.) We were being escorted by Alvaro Carian (on the left)who is with ESNA the El Salvador North America Village Network--the NGO that has the relationship with Harry Reppert’s church back in Alameda, California. Alvaro who is a native of El Salvador has spent many years teaching English, so he was our interpreter.

Her Honor told us that she has been in office for five years and that Caluco is made up of eight cantones that we might call hamlets.  Across from her office there is the Zocolo and Church we have come to expect in all Latin American towns.

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The Zocolo at Coluco

The Church at Coluco

The mayor has only two taxable businesses in her town: a small tienda and a hardware store, so she supplements that budget with income from several entrepreneurial ventures.

Visit with Mayor 012

Visit with Mayor 013

The Tienda on the Square

The Ferreteria on the Square

One of these ventures is a Tourist Center. It is aimed mostly a local tourists. It consists of a park on a river with a restaurant complex that is rented out to family cocinas. The center is only two years old and is one of the mayors projects.

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The Tourist Center

Restaurants within the Center

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One of Many Pools on the River

Local Tourists Enjoying the Pool

To give us some idea of the level of development in Caluco, the mayor told us of a project to provide potable water and electricity to the Palistina Cantone. It is the only remaining cantone not to have what we would consider to be the most basic of public services. A German NGO has put up one million dollars to fund the project, but the mayor must provide one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of matching funds. To do so she has gotten an agreement from the other cantones to forgo all of their funding from her office for a year.

Here are a couple of scenes at a river crossing on the way from the mayor’s office to the tourist center that seemed to me to show the simplicity and dignity of life in Caluco.

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Women Washing Clothes at the River

Riverside Restaurant

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Agape Association of El Salvador

Today, May 5, 2010, Harry Reppert, Jim Labbe, and myself are staying at the Agape Hotel in Sonsanata, El Salvadore. It is part of a campus created and run by the Agape Association of El Salvador. The association was started and is still led by Father Mucci Gaglili Flavian. You can check it out at www.agape.com.sv.

I’m experimenting here with the ability to insert a photo album. The pictures include the usual: here we are arriving, here is my room, here is the courtyard, here is a map of the grounds, and maybe a few more telling shots: armed guards at the gates, dinosaurs and tigers helping with the construction, teenage mutant ninja turtles illustrating the ratio station mural, extensive play grounds, and of course the Catholic Church.

 

This hotel stay is just a side light to our trip here. We will be having breakfast with the Mayor of the nearby town where the school we came here to visit is located. Later we will visit the school to bring supplies brought by Harry from his church and carried by Virago from La Cruz. Stay tuned. And let me know how the album worked.