A Series of Unfortunate Events

It is said that there are two types of sailors: Those who have BEEN aground and those who WILL go aground!

As of yesterday, Chickadee now falls into the “BEEN THERE” category. There is simply no room for error on the seas. This is especially magnified when applied to the art of sailing uncharted waters. Well, for the first time ever in my 15 years of being with Chickadee, she went aground, oddly enough, on her own accord due to my inattention. Ouch!

The day started in the early morning hours of Estero Jaltepecque, El Salvador. Chickadee was at anchor. I was up before dawn preparing the sails, sheets, blocks and tackle, needed for when I finally get out into open ocean. The idea this morning is to do as much topside work as possible before the heat of sunrise further tans my already weathering hide. The day would be a long one. I’ve been trying like the dickens to get Chickadee turn key so I can be ready to cross the bar entrance before this weekend. A storm off the coast of South America is expected to generate large swell along the shores of Central America and hit sometime around Saturday/Sunday. The swell will inevitably close off the bar rendering it extra dangerous to exit.

This will put me yet another week away from Rosio and my babies. I really need to get going!!! I miss my kids!!!!! My Kaerolik, my Robin, my Erika. All this said, I have been pushing hard to tune up Chickadee. The compass is installed and the list of ship board projects is getting shorter.

Today I managed to dig out from my sail locker, the canvas I will use on this next passage south. I hanked on my working jib and genoa and put in one reef in the mainsail. Generally, other than the occasional 60 knot squall, the winds are gentle along the coast of Central America in May, June. The Trade Winds are down and won’t be back until November. Raining season is upon us and thunderstorms and lightening is more of a concern.

All I need to do now really is load up with a bit of food, about 25 gallons of gas for the outboard, and take care of basic shore-side business. Since Chickadee is an engineless boat (other than our 9.9 o/b) charging up the house battery with only one solar panel has always been an issue. The battery is over 8 years old and now only holds 70% of a charge. The solar panel works great when the sun is directly overhead and feeding it. I get 4 amps per hour of pure energy. When the boat swings around with the tide, the panel becomes shaded by the mast, sails and rigging.

What I have been doing to rectify the shadowing of the panel, is hook up a stern bridle to the anchor chain at the bow. I then let out 30 additional feet of chain, snug up on the stern bridle and it spins the boat around beautifully directly back into full overhead sunlight. The tidal current in the estuary is very strong and can ebb up to 4 knots on a high tide. My bridle has been working fine all week as I top up the battery prior to departure.

After a long day of working on the boat, I rowed ashore in late afternoon to the Bahia Del Sol clubhouse where the cruisers meet for evening entertainment. A tour company was giving a presentation by the pool. Everyone was gathered around listening to the speaker and asking questions about traveling El Salvador. I sat down and took some notes. About 1 hour later into the presentation, I heard Murray in the distance shouting, “Eric your boat is aground”! I was on my feet and in the inflatable faster than a meteorite.

The bridle I had been setting without fail all week…failed. And of course it would do so while I was shore side. The bridle tripped the all chain anchor and caused Chickadee to go adrift. The Bruce anchor should have reset, but as we found out later, it was chock full of hardened mud and bounced along the bottom like a bowling ball unable to grab hold again. The current carried Chickadee down stream into shallow water where she gently grounded. Its going to be a long night. By the time myself and the crew from M/V Way finder, S/V Sula, S/V Tarazed and S/V Paradiso got to Chickadee, her 7.48 tons of steel was already heeled over 45 degrees. Her 4000 lb keel was deeply embedded.

Towing would be out of the question but a rising tide would be the answer. Crew from M/V Way Finder and S/V Sula, with additional help from S/V Tarazed, used an inflatable to string out the anchor and 160 feet of chain set into deeper water. This would allow me to kedge Chickadee off the sandbar at midnight.

Crawling around below decks on a beached boat heeled over at 45 degrees is disorienting. Feels like walking around a slanted house at Disney Land. All I could do now is wait for the witching hour. Sure enough, like clock work, the tide started to raise Chickadee by 21:00 hrs. At 22:00 the deck was horizontal again, but we were still pegged to the sand bar. It would be midnight before Chickadee floated freely again.

A squall of lightening, thunder and rain showered the anchorage as I cranked on the anchor windlass and inched Chickadee into deeper water. The rain, though cold and shivering, felt terrific. It came at a perfect time, washing off the mud and sand that had accumulated from climbing up to the deck when the boat was beached.

I am pleased to report on this new day, that Chickadee is afloat and safely back at anchor in Estero Jaltepecque. Other than a small bruise to my pride and a bit of embarrassing entertainment before the fleet, Chickadee is in perfect form. Nothing more than a salt shaker out of place. The grounding allowed me to clean the grime off the depth-sounder and waterline. I know that under controlled circumstances I can voluntarily careen Chickadee for maintenance from time to time. The boat sits well on her side and doesn’t take on any water. The incident also reminds me to pay extra attention at anchor, especially in strong tidal currents.

Take Care Mates, More news to follow.

Capt Eric “Chickadee” B.

Estero Jaltepecque, El Salvador
CRUISING CENTRAL AMERICA
ES: 011-503-935-9541
NICA: 011-505-899-7201
Rosio: 011-505-868-4003
eblackb@worldkidsvoyage.org
rosiosjdsni@yahoo.com