The Travels of Tricia Jean
El Salvador
(April-September, 2005)


Click on the photos to see full sized views of them.


In El Salvador the boat was anchored in an estuary (Estero Jaltepeque).  In order to enter the estuary  a river bar with breaking waves had to be crossed.  Here is a photo of boats milling about waiting their turn to cross the bar (Tricia Jean is the boat on the far left).


Here we are actually crossing the bar.  Tricia Jean is the boat with the breaking wave right behind it.  We were lucky and had a very easy crossing.  The boat right behind us got sideways at one point and took a breaking wave on her side, resulting in some sea water in the cabin of the boat.

A shot of us avoiding yet another breaking wave.

From our anchored boat in the estero we had a view of a distant volcano.

Shortly after we arrived at Bahia del Sol (aka Estero Jaltepeque), hurricane Adrian came by for a visit.  It missed us by about 35 miles, so while we had some wind and torrential rain, no boats in the area sustained any damage.  Here is Dan about to go topside during the height of the storm and check the anchor lines to make sure they are not chafing.

Notice the line in the sky.  Bright sunshine to the left and shadow to the right.  We saw this happen a couple of times at Bahia del Sol, but never figured out what caused it.

The water supply at village school on one of the nearby islands was this hand cranked pump that produced brackish water.  The wells and pumps were built many years ago by a French  government aid mission.

A friend, Joe from Panacea, sits with his ever present fiddle surrounded by local children at a mother's day celebration.

These dugout canoes, cayugas (pronounced ki-u-gas, long i and u, short a), were everywhere.  Most of them were unpainted and unadorned in any way. This one had recently been painted.

Near our anchored boat, there was a small mangrove covered island (called by the cruisers, Bird Island) that housed an enormous number of nesting birds.  Mostly cattle egrets and some herons.

Dan collecting rain for the water tanks.

Here's Joe in the pose in which I (Dan) will probably always remember him:  Violin tucked under his chin, eyes closed and his large fingers somehow drawing forth sweet music from the instrument.

Bill from Mita Kulu.  Bill could be described as a proselytizing musician.  He was forever encouraging others to let him teach them to play an instrument or to join him in practice sessions.

We accept a number of compromises to enjoy the cruising lifestyle.  One of them is the lack of living space.  Here is the entire kitchen area of Tricia Jean.  On the plus side, you don't do a whole lot of walking around, but there is a distinct lack of counter space and a teeny, tiny sink.

One of the three school rooms on a nearby island was little more than a mud floored lean-to structure.  The cruisers took on as a project replacing it with a far better structure.  Here we are tearing down the old room.

The locals enthusiastically join us in the work.  Here, we are moving a big pile of sand to fill in the foundation to raise the floor up above the flood level.

A very exhausted Dan after a day of hard work tearing down the old school room and preparing the foundation for the new one.

Four year old Andrew from Soy Libre is checking out the new school room the cruisers built.  He likes what he sees.

Dan and Kathryn all dressed up for the inauguration ceremony for the new school room.

Most of the Salvadorans were very patriotic.  Here is a family rendering the civilian salute as their national anthem is played at the start of the inauguration ceremony.

The day included local dancers who entertained us with folkloric dances.  The new school room is the one on the left with the sheet  metal walls and blue trim around the windows.  Philip from Carina is the light haired man is seated with his back to us.  He was the primary organizer of the project.

Another "be grateful for what you've got" photo.  This one of a typical Salvadoran home.  In fact, it was right next door to the school.