ASTILLERO
Back on course and with a heading of 90 degrees magnetic from a
safe off shore ocean waypoint of 11’30.53 N and 086’13.75
W, Vesper easily sailed into the bay. I dropped anchor 200 meters
off the beach of a fishing village called Astillero. The anchor
set well in 20 feet of water, sandy bottom. When arriving in port
from a passage, on average it takes the better part of two hours
to lock down the boat, furl and cover the sails, coil the sheets
and halyards, tidy up below, fill out the final report in the log,
pump up and deploy the inflatable and so on.
SHORESIDE
I anchored here aboard Chickadee a few years ago with my pal Guy
Counsell. We met the locals, drank cold beers, mapped out the town
for CCA and the rest is history. This time I am here alone with
the key objective to get some much needed rest, then go ashore and
update the Astillero report for CRUISING CENTRAL AMERICA.
Astillero when translated into English means “Ship yard”.
In the mid to late 1800’s paddle wheelers, brigs and steamers
heading north to San Francisco, stopped here and loaded up exotic
lumber. In those days the hillsides were covered with hardwood trees
such as guayancan, caoa, nambaro, moran, brazil, cedro, panama and
pochote.
Today the trees are long gone. Fishing is the mainstay of Astillero.
The folks are super friendly and hard working. The little town itself
is rather scruffy. Unfortunately garbage is strewn every which way
but loose. There is indeed tourist potential here but the locals
must first figure out what to do with their rubbish. Debris harms
marine life, which in turns affects the livelihood of the very people
who fish the waters.
I think the only tidy spot in the village is the grounds of the
local Evangelical church. The community comes across as being quite
pious. I met the pastor. He seems like a decent fellow. I am convinced
that between the local churches, local schools, corporate sponsorship
and positive community effort, coastal communities can infact clean
up and maintain their (and our) beaches.
SHIPWRECKED
Arsenia Argentina, one of the girls that works at Nayita’s
Bar Restaurant remembered me. Nayita, the bars name sake, died only
2 weeks ago. Heart failure. She was 53 years old. Trippy ole gal.
I was hoping she would still be above ground. At anyrate, Arsenia
brought me up to date with local Astillero news. She asked me where
I had sailed in from this time. I told her El Salvador. While on
the subject of talking about sailing, Arsenia said that a big boat
with a white post sticking out of the deck (a mast) hit the beach
and broke up in the surf one mile south of Astillero. There were
two people aboard. I find it odd that I never heard any news of
a sailboat going around in Nicaragua recently. For the most part,
I’m tuned in with what’s going on up and down the coast.
When a boat breaks up in foreign waters, it usually makes news.
Curious as a cat, I asked if some one could lead me to the location
of where this so called boat with a white post sticking out of the
deck, hit the beach.
Arsenia’s husband Mario grabbed us two bicycles and off we
went. By now I’ve caught a second wind, still not having slept
since departing Corinto. We pedaled along the gravel road south
down the coast for about 10 minutes, then up a hill overlooking
the bay. I could see little Vesper at anchor. She was too far away
to get a photo but a nice sight to see just the same.
The bike Mario gave me had no brakes. I found that out rather quickly
as we free wheeled down other side of the hill at 30 miles per hour.
Mario wasn’t short changing me. The brakes on his bike didn’t
work either. The only way to slow down is to apply pressure with
ones shoe sole on the top of the front tire. The trick is not to
apply too much pressure. Doing so would result in a broken foot
and pitch poling the bike head over tea kettle. Not to mention the
acquisition of a raw hide!
We turned off the main gravel road down a goat trail leading to
the beach. Well son of a gun! Sure enough a sailboat did in fact
run aground. Judging by the debris and bits of hull scatter up and
down the beach, it looks to have been about 40 feet LOA.
A piece of what appears to have been the bow section had a drawing
of an eagle in flight etched into it.
Mario said the boat went aground in the early morning hours of
February. Apparently the person on watch fell asleep. By the time
the short handed crew came to attention, the boat was already in
the surf at high tide with no hope of turning around. At day break
the couple aboard were able to make it ashore at low tide. A guard
was posted to watch over the yacht while the ship wrecked crew went
to Managua to report to the embassy.
The hull started to break apart by the unforgiving sea. It doesn’t
take long. Word traveled quickly up and down the coast that a prize
catch had washed ashore. Like piranhas, the stricken sailboat was
stripped, skinned and digested of every valuable item conceivable
above and below. Electronics, tools, winches, anchors, sails, gear,
computers, rigging, clothes, personal effects, wiring, nuts, bolts
and screws, engine and everything imaginable that comes along with
a 40 ft yacht, was taken.
The only thing remaining is the name on the transom. CARRA ll
VANCOUVER BC.
The shell will soon be eroded into sand. The mast is now planted
on a hill side next to a small house over looking the bay. I’m
curios to learn more about what happened in detail. If anyone has
any news about this shipwreck boat and its crew, please contact
me.
More news to follow.
Next port...SAN JUAN DEL SUR!
Capt Eric
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