Before leaving Hautulco, Mexico for El Salvador, we decided to give away the kids bicycles, which we had carried aboard since Seattle, but had been cluttering up the aft deck and in all honesty, had seen better days and little use since Ixtapa .  On the recommendation of Enriche, the Marina Chahue harbor master, we sent them, along with an accompanying letter, to the mayor of a small, nearby town.  Although the kids had some grievous concerns about saying goodbye to their bikes, it was a good lesson in generosity for them and we are quite sure they are being well used and well loved by some deserving kids in Mexico.

Our 500 mile passage from Hautulco to Bahia del Sol, El Salvador was uneventful.  (Here is the email we sent out as we departed Mexico, describing what we expected crossing the Gulf of the Tehuantepec.)  In fact, it was downright wonderful.  We had perfect winds for the first half of the trip and calm conditions the second half.  We even had dolphins accompany us (video) part of the way.  (Note, we used a different camera for this video, so it needs the Apple Quicktime player to play).

However, we did have some exciting times crossing the bar to get into the anchorage inside the salt water estuary at Bahia del Sol.  Here is the toned-down email we sent to our friends and family upon arrival.  Here is the email we sent out to the 'southbounders alias' describing our actual experience crossing the bar.  We did not send this out to our family and friends list so as to not freak out the grandmothers!

As always, click on the images to see a larger view.