s/v Nine of Cups Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador July - September 2008

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Ecuador is a very special country and though disappointed that we weren't making our trans-Pacific passage this year, we weren't the least bit disappointed to be back in Ecuador. Instead of going further south to La Libertad & Salinas as we did last time, we opted to stop in Bahia de Caraquez. Located on the Rio Chone, Bahia (as the locals call it) was considered a major shipping port until the river starting silting. Now, the sand bar at the entrance to the river requires a crossing at high tide and a  pilot to advise how to negotiate the tricky entry. We arrived around 0530 and Frank "Tripp" Martin, owner of Puerto Amistad, met us along with the pilot in time to make the early morning crossing of the bar without incident. After 77 hours of motor-sailing, it felt good to drop the hook  and relax a bit. ("Hello World" got the last available mooring) "Cups" definitely needed tidying up and a good deck wash and the crew needed a cup of tea and a nap. An official from the Capitania's office came about 0930 to do an on-board inspection and completed preliminary paperwork and we were left to ourselves until going ashore in the early evening.

The Capitania, the white building above,  was close to Puerto Amistad. Tripp completed paperwork for the Port Captain and Customs. It took us three tries to get our clearance papers handled. Then two trips to Manta (2 hours away) to complete our immigration paperwork and get our passport stamps.

Our view of Bahia de Caraquez as we near the crossing of the bar.

Cups' view of Puerto Amistad  and its dinghy dock from the anchorage. The thatched restaurant and bar is pleasant and a good cruiser hangout. Laundry, a book exchange and hot showers are also a plus.

Nine of Cups anchored off Puerto Amistad.

Passenger ferries and car ferries run regularly across the Rio Chone to San Vicente and the towns across the river. A new bridge is planned and construction is under way and scheduled to be complete by 2010. There is much controversy among cruisers because the planned bridge will not be an opening bridge which will preclude cruisers from going up river any longer to a smaller marina/anchorage, Saiananda.The debate rages.

The street entrance of Puerto Amistad is pretty classy.

Bahia de Caraquez...the town

This is a typical Ecuadorian hardware store which sells everything from toilets to nails, rebar to meat grinders. This is David's favorite store in town and he's on a first name with the owner.

Bahia de Caraquez (ka-RAH-kez) is a resort town of about 30,000 people  which lies on the Ecuadorian coast between Esmeraldas to the north and Manta to the south. It is strategically located on the Rio Chone and though no longer considered a strategic shipping port, it is a getaway place for Quitenos (folks from Quito) to come to relax during the vacation and holiday months. A peninsular, with the Rio Chone on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, the temperate climate makes this a year round destination for Ecuadorians,cruisers and  tourists alike.

Eco-taxis or pedicabs are big in Bahia and they're everywhere. Above David bought a piece of plywood at Chavez and paid the 75cents to take an eco-cab back to Puerto Amistad.

The "mercado" or fresh market is held daily, but the best and biggest day is early Saturday morning. The whole town seems to be there and it's the best time to buy fresh produce for the week.

You can buy chickens "on the hoof" as it were or already killed and plucked. Fresh cheese, eggs, fruits and veggies are sold. There is also a fresh fish market. Shrimping is a huge industry in Ecuador and at $3/pound for jumbo shrimp, it's quite the bargain.

What goes on in a cruising community like Bahia?  Lots! Here's a sampling...

It seems as if we're always busy. Everything seems to take longer when you're cruising. For instance, we need to haul or have water delivered on a regular basis since the river is too silty for the watermaker. Once on deck, the water needs to be decanted into the tanks. Going into shore requires launching the dinghy which is usually kept out of the water because the growth on the bottom is a pain to clean. You dinghy to shore with your garbage, perhaps your laptop if you want to do internet, anything else you might need ashore (including shopping bags for the market). You invariably forget something (like your shoes or hat or glasses or camera) and have to go back for it. Tie up the dink and head out to do your errands or perhaps have lunch or dinner or a drink at the bar. There's always someone there to chat with...it's hard to move through the bar area quickly...this is a center of cruiser activity. If you're doing a boat project (and few aren't), there are the multiple trips to the hardware stores for miscellaneous hardware, supplies and lumber. Perhaps what you need is available in town. If not, it's off to Manta, the closest "big" city, two rough-road hours away from Bahia. Need a loaf of bread? The closest place is about a 10-15 minute walk. You can take an eco-taxi (the fellows who pedal you around), but sometimes it takes just as long. Produce (fruits and veggies)  is primarily sold at the fresh market and bread at the panaderia or perhaps we'll buy some of the local pan de yucca sold warm by vendors on the sidewalks.  Ah, but there's quite a lot of social activities, too. In fact, it's hard to find a free night just to spend on your boat as there always seems to be something going on. Just a few of the things we've done since we've been here: *Cat sitting and boat watching                                                          Ongoing boat projects include: *Met with Ecuadorian Minister of Tourism                                   *3 new fuel tanks designed/modelled/fabricated/installed *Gave two cruising presentations: Peru and  Chile                         *New bimini and boom crutch cover and miscellaneous canvas projects *Judged singing/dancing competition at Interamericano School       *Update to the website *Potluck socials                                                                         *Annual maintenance on engine *Resurrected cruiser "movie night" at Puerto Amistad                    *Repaired refrigeration (again...and again...and again) *Italian night at the local Coco Bongo hostal                                  *Annual stove/oven removal/cleaning (yuck) *Organized a tour with English-speaking guide to                           *Stripped dorades and repainted   local Museo de Bahia de Caraquez                                               *Repaired/rebedded several hatches, chainplates, hawser holes *Attended Giti Neuman "Handmade Paper" exhibit and                     *Varnishing   met the artist   *Visited Museo de Bahia de Caraquez to learn about   history & culture of the indigenous people here *Miscellaneous dinners/drinks aboard lots of other boats *Edited a book for a friend

The immigration laws changed in Ecuador in June 2008. Now only a 90 day visa is issued and is non-renewable. Tripp and I met with Veronica Sion de Josse, Ecuador's Minister of Tourism in Puertoviejo to present our case for allowing visitors the ability to renew their visas for an additional 90 days as they had in the past.

Ziggy Stardust was adopted by John & Linda on "Nakia" and needed watching while they did a bit of inland traveling. We needed a "cat fix" with Jelly gone, so we volunteered.

Tripp & Maye's daughter, Francesca Maria, celebrated her first birthday while we were there. You've never seen a first birthday bash like this birthday bash...200 adults and 85 kids in hula skirts and Hawaiian shirts. Maye poses with Francesca below.

A healthy cruiser and fellow SSCA member, Terry Bingham, went traveling in Bolivia, developed pancreatitis and died within a week, leaving the cruising community in shock. At the same time, we were notified that our good friend, Noel Marshall died. The cruisers got together for a memorial service celebrating the lives of two men who lived life well.

John on "Nakia" organized a swap meet at Joe's (cruiser/ex-pat)house. Lots of locals stopped by as well as cruisers and we sold a ton of stuff which of course we promptly replaced with a ton of different stuff.

The Giti Neuman exhibit at the local museum was extremely well done and thoroughly enjoyable. All of her pieces are constructed from handmade paper.

Singing and dancing competition at the local bilingual school...Grades K-12! Move over American Idol!

Every step on the Saiananda grounds is a treat. Partridges ran loose as did the peacocks including solid white ones. Lily ponds and frog ponds, ferns and bamboo, a gazebo for meditating or wifi, hammocks for hanging out. It's quite the place! We had lunch there...excellent, tasty vegetarian fare. The owner Alfredo Harmsen, a biologist by training, raises peacocks, macaws, partridges, ostriches, tropical fish and more! He's also involved in shrimp farming.

Despite the controversy over bridge construction, several cruisers are still moored at Saiananda further up the river. It's an interesting place, an eco-retreat of sorts with lots of animals roaming the grounds.

We had lunch with Judy & Dave on "Revenir". They are in the process of building a home on the riverfront next door to Saiananda. Above, Judy feeds a banana to a critter with sharp teeth, long claws, long tongue and a prehensile tail. It's a  kinkajou... a new one for us, too. Learn more by clicking this link!

A closeup of this peacock's tail feathers netted me a great screen saver!

Sidetrips...

Though we've been to some of these places before, it was fun to go back and see some of them again as well as to discover new places to visit. Montecristi is a small, dusty, but colorful town known for its Panama hats and baskets. They also make great hammocks and swings. David got himself a new Panama and I got myself a swing. We still haven't figured how to hang it from the boom, but that's the plan.

We bought a fine sampling of all that was offered, but no tagua...we were holding out for Sosote, the tagua town of the area.

Baskets, hammocks, tagua and Panama hats are the main offerings in Montecristi.

We stopped in Sosote on our way back from Manta one day to take a look at the taller de tagua (tagua workshops) that line the side of the road there. We watched in fascination as dozens of workers, sometimes whole families, ground, carved and dyed tagua pieces.

Manta is the closest "big" city offering two modern supermarkets and pretty much everything else a cruiser could want (within reason). Manta is also the "tuna capital" of Ecuador and a "Big Tuna" (he's a yellowfin) adorns one of the roundabouts in town.

We watched as pieces of jewellry were created.

Hundreds of shaped tagua pieces in a myriad of colors lay on sidewalks, in bins and buckets.

A drive along the beach in Manta is quite interesting. Boatbuilders work on boats right on the beach...new boats, old boats for refitting. Sometimes they are just careened on the beach during low tide and the bottoms are painted...one side at a time as the tide comes in and out.

To learn more about TAGUA, click here!

Sosote was a good buying trip for us. Marcie was looking for gifts for her Solstice friends and tagua was perfect.

New Fuel Tanks

We've needed new fuel tanks for quite some time. David replaced one when we were in Ecuador last time. He constructed an epoxy tank which fit inside the old steel tank and it has worked quite well, but it's a major project to undertake. We had gone across the Atlantic twice with only one fuel tank and some jerry jugs on deck, but we thought it was time to take the plunge and get the tanks handled. We got quotes in the USA for replacement tanks...way too expensive. We got quotes in Panama...better, but still too expensive. We got a new quote in Manta and lo and behold, the price was reasonable and the company came with good references so we decided to go ahead. The process was a long, arduous one.

First, David had to remove the table and get access to the tanks which are under the salon sole (of course)... not an easy project. It involved cutting up sections of the teak and holly sole. He used a Fein tool which he borrowed from our friends on Hello World and it made all the difference in the world.

Now big squares of the floor were removed to expose the old tanks.

We draped the whole area in old sheets and David looked like an alien as he began grinding off the tops of the old tanks.

We ended up with a rather large hole in the sole which made navigation within the boat a challenge.

Next, David made wooden models of the three tanks to be fabricated with all fittings in place.

Once he was sure they fit properly and that we could access the fittings, we hauled the models ashore for one last round of measurements and checks. Then we hired a "flete" (a pick up truck for hire) to haul them to Manta.

The new tanks were made of steel and very heavy. We lugged them one at a time from the dock to the boat in the dinghy, then aboard via a winch and halyard.

David verified that they would fit through the salon hatch to make getting them below much easier..

It's easier, but not necessarily easy!

Final fuel tank shots will be posted here...as soon as we have the tanks totally installed! As of 21 September, we're still struggling and they're fighting us every inch of the way.  It's a continuing saga. After getting all the tanks aboard, we found that the hose pipes were not to specification...something we hadn't noticed when we looked at them at the fabricators...and thus wouldn't fit. Out they came, hauled them back to shore in the dinghy, hired a flete and took them back to the fabricators. Oh, man! By the end of the week, they had fixed the problem and they were re-delivered to us. Back out to the boat, they fit this time!  Hoorah! Got them all in, plumbed and ready for the final pressure testing. They had been tested at the fabricators, but this was the final check before filling them with fuel. Leaks...leaks...leaks! More than 30 in all! We were sick about it. We've removed all the tanks and are repairing them ourselves. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

We got the first tank in with no problems, but tanks 2 and 3 did not fit and needed to go back to the fabricators for modifications. Their error, but it lost us a week.

A Day at the Beach...Canoa

Cruisers going to the beach? You bet...even we like a day off from boat life once in awhile. So a group got together to take the ferry across the Rio Chone and then we caught a bus to the beach town of Canoa, about a 1/2 hour away. Above, our friend, Marlene,  ("Diesel Duck") boards the ferry.

We rented a cabana and beach chairs for a total of $8 for the day and set up camp. We lived the high life as a beach vendor delivered cold beers to us while we sat and relaxed.

Canoa is a lazy, little beach town that perks up on the weekends.

John ("Nakia") brought colorful flags to fly on our cabana as well as kites. The adults took their turns at kite flying, but it was the local kids who got the biggest kick out of trying to keep the kites airborne.

As usual, the kids stole the show.

Beachcombing net us lots of shells including some "prostitute venus", a new shell experience for us.

Random Views

My favorite character at the market...I call her Dona Concha...she sells clams for 10 cents a piece.

Never miss an opportunity for a siesta!

Curbside chickens at the market...buy 'em live!

More to come. We're hoping to be finished up with chores and leave Bahia by the end of September (it was mid-September, but those delays just keep on coming!).

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A rice paddy on the way to Portoviejo.