Moody 49 lost on bar at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

[mvweebles]

SHORT: In my opinion based on first-hand accounts of several recent boats, crossing the bar into Bahia del Sol, El Salvador, is not recommended, especially for slower, deeper draft vessels including my displacement trawler.

WHAT HAPPENED: At 12:30PM local time on March 7th, 2024, UK Flagged sailing yacht Rum Truffle was lost while being led by a bar pilot across the bar entering Bahia del Sol, El Salvador. Reported conditions were clear weather, 2.6-foot swell from the south; and 12-13 knots of wind. According to the hotel/management (who employes the pilot), the entrance channel has been measured at 12-feet deep. Rum Truffle draws 6-1/2 feet. The management states the pilot mis-read the wave set and a pair of unusually large waves pooped Rum Truffle and caused her to broach, then go hard aground. Management further states this is not uncommon though a successive wave has always lifted the vessel so it can continue. Indeed, another mono/sailboat earlier in the day grounded/broached (owner reported spreaders in the water) but was freed by successive wave.

The pilot - a panga - carries no GPS, no depth sounder, and no towing gear so was unable to assist in the possible extraction of Rum Truffle. Her keel broke away and she was eventually washed ashore. Thieves quickly stripped her of all personal posessions. It was a total loss.

Now that a major loss has publicised the danger of crossing the bar at Bahia del Sol, many other boats who recently crossed the bar told of their experiences that include several groundings and broaches (though no other losses).

We are in Huatulco and were looking forward to Bahia del Sol. The owners are supposed to be delightful and the facilities cruiser-friendly. However, we had no idea the bar crossing was as treacherous as we now believe it to be from first-hand accounts. Once I realized the panga has nothing but an outboard ad handheld VHF - no GPS/Depth Sounder, I concluded Bahia del Sol may mean well, but they have not come close to adequately mitigating risk for us. Too bad - looked like a cool place to hang out.

I only met Mark on Rum Truffle a few weeks ago at an anchorage near Acapulco. He helped me with some local information and spent an hour givng me the lay of the land. Sadly, my chance to pay-back his generosity came too soon. He was a full time cruiser - the type that most would gladly buy a beer for. I have given to 3 or 4 GoFundMe pages over the years but this one I was glad to do. I know even a token gift would mean a lot to him.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/rum-truff...d-then-striped

PICTURES: I snapped the attached picture of Rum Truffle 3-4 weeks ago at Isla Roquettas (Acapulco). Next picture is shortly after she grounded. Final picture is the next morning after the thieves were done picking her clean. Insult to injury.

[BlueH2Obound]

I posted this on Trawler Forum, but wanted to post on Peter's thread in order to help desiminate the information as widely as possible. I posted this on our PNW to Florida thread, but have been asked to post it as a separate, stand alone thread so members could be appraised of this situation, and being forewarned with information, make their own decisions on whether or not it is in their best interests.

Short story. Experienced full time Sailor, Mark Thurlow, owner of Rum Truffle, a Moody 49, lost his boat while attempting to cross the Bahia del Sol, El Salvador, with the assistance of a Pilot Boat. After the disaster, Rum Truffle was then surrounded by pangas, and stripped/looted of everything that could be removed or unbolted. Marke lost everything except for his swim trunks, and T-shirt. Everything else was looted, down to his personal belongings and clothing. Further discussion is below.

Laura and I departed Bahia del Sol, the day prior to Rum Truffle attempting to come in. It was . . . interesting. The pilot boat was in front of us, until it wasn't. He had slowed back, moved to the right, then gone behind us by 100+ yards stating that it was too rough for him out in front of us! I asked him twice if we needed to back up and abort. No reply, then he stated that he could not see the way clear for us since he was in back of us, and that if we could see the way clear, to go!

Okay, big problem here. We’re not from here. Our sole experience with crossing an entrance bar was coming in days previously, where we made it in safe . . . but there was not a lot of information communication between the pilot and us. For instance, once we got over the bar, the pilot asked "Do you have the channel?" For information, there IS NO channel marked on the chart. There are red and green buoys marked on Navionics just inside the two sand spits to right and left, but they weren't actually there in real life, just on the electronic chart. No depth soundings, no channel marked. I just picked midpoint between the two sand spits, and headed in, watching the depth sounder while the pilot boat headed back over the bar to guide the next boat in. The channel widened out, and got deeper, but I had no way of knowing for sure that was going to happen.

The pilot boat headed back out to bring in three more power boats who had come down from Chiapas, MX with us.

Back to the exit on Wednesday morning, 6 March. When the pilot told me to "go if we could see the way clear", other than seeing the area, where we assumed the bar to be where the waves marching in were not breaking (as much), we had no idea where the deeper water was supposed to be. That's what the pilot boat was for. Still well short of the bar, the water depth was getting shallower, decreasing from 13' to about 11'. I felt I was getting closer to the sand spit to the West, since I was edging over to where the pilot boat had been before he unassed the AO and got behind us.

If we had aborted, it would have required going astern in the breaking waves, steering with the bow thruster, not knowing exactly how deep it was behind me, or attempting to turn around to right or left in the time period between wave sets, using thrust, rudder, and bow thruster to maximize the rate of turn. Problem with that is that at 50' and 85,000 lbs, this boat doesn't exactly turn on a dime, so based on the experience of attempting the departure on 2 March, which was aborted due to worse conditions at the bar than were forecast, I knew that we were going to take one set of waves broadside while in the middle of the turn. The elephant in the room, was not knowing exactly where the channel was (that's what the pilot boat is supposed to be for), We didn't know where the deeper water was, so we didn't know which direction to turn.

So I made the decision to go straight ahead, picking the point midway between the breaking waves and hoping for the best, as the decision that had the best chance of success. Apparently I guessed correctly, as we crossed the bar without further incident. Video Laura shot showed the depth sounder reporting a depth as shallow as 8.2 feet, so one of three things happened.

• First, that may indeed have been the max depth of the actual, if I was in it
• Second, the 8.2 foot reading may have been when our boat was in a serious trough
• Third, I may have not been in the actual channel, if such indeed indeed existed, but may have been off to one side or the other. Not knowing where the “12 foot deep” channel actually was, this is a definite possibility.

The two boats following us out, a catamaran that drew about 4’, and a mono-hulled sailboat, draft unknown, also successfully crossed the bar after us. We’re not sure if the pilot boat was in front of them, showing them the way, or behind them, as it was for our exit.

As far as we know, we were the 5th to last boat to successfully cross the Bahia del Sol bar inbound or outbound prior to the Rum Truffle’s disastrous loss. The reported 4.5’ draft power boat who came in first reported no issues.

The owner/operator of the 2nd boat, Long Windid, drawing 6 foot draft, stated that they hit bottom multiple times during the crossing in, then broached, laying on their side with the spreader bar in the water (so about 90 degree roll), then righted itself and passed over the bar. Rum Truffle, reported draft at 7’, drew 1 foot MORE water than Long Windid. Long Winded reported what had occurred to the pilot boat, who replied that they mis-read the waves . . . . Rum Truffle viewed the entire encounter, and asked the pilot boat what had happened. The pilot boat reassured Rum Truffle that all was okay, and they would guide them safely across the bar. My opinion: Rum Truffle should have been waved off by the pilot boat. But I wasn’t there.

We had serious concerns about crossing the bar into Bahia del Sol. Frankly, we had no prior experience navigating entrance bars, and were also concerned with potentially getting stuck inside the bar, unable to leave BDS, and potentially missing our 19 March, scheduled Panama Canal Transit. If we stayed in BDS for 1 week, we would still 15 days to get to Panama City, a straight through run of 4 days, or about 11 days leeway for unexpected weather, or other issues, which would have left us with some time to slow down and visit more places on the way to Panama City.

Now it is coming out that many MANY boats have apparently struck the bar while attempting to cross, sustaining damage during the passage.
It has also come out that the pilot boat does not have any way of determining depth except a lead line, and also has no GPS to accurately determine or chart depths, or the location of any passage they may actually find . . . . This is irresponsible, if not criminal in my opinion.

As soon as Mark was safely recovered by the pilot boat, the pangas descended and immediately began stripping the wreck. No attempt was made by any authorities to prevent the looting. By the next morning, Rum Truffle had been stripped of anything that swimmers, divers, or looters could take, steal, or unbolt from the wreck.

Based on what we knew at the time, we elected to go into BDS, being swayed by the argument that “Thousands of boats have made the crossing before you, without incident, you’re being overly cautious!”

We did the risk assessment, looking at the risks, looking at possible outcomes ranging from best case of: “Successful crossing, no issues”, to worst case: “Loss of boat, loss of life”. I’m not being melodramatic here. My career background is Aviation, flying fixed wing aircraft, rotor wing aircraft (helicopters), single engine, multi-engine, instrument flight, NOE (Nap of the Earth), Night Vision Goggles, private and commercial, etc, for 30+ years, as well as being an aircraft mechanic, Aviation Safety Officer, and Aircraft Accident Investigator. I did risk assessments all the time, both formal, and informal. It was a way of life, and in many respects it has translated over to boating as well.

Conclusions:

• Knowing what we knew prior to crossing into BDS, had we done a formal risk assessment, our decision to cross the bar with a pilot boat would still have been to cross.
• Knowing what we knew AFTER crossing the bar into BDS, had we done a formal risk assessment, our decision would have been NOT to cross the bar into BDS, even with the assistance of a pilot boat, instead, bypassing Bahia del Sol due to safety concerns.
• Once we had crossed the bar into BDS, our choices were limited, as we HAD to cross the bar outbound in order to continue our cruising life. We felt the risks were mitigated by doing the smart things, using a pilot boat, aborting the first exit attempt due to high surf, picking our window/bar conditions/tidal conditions, but if we had not already been inside the bar, we would not have intentionally chose to do the crossing again given the limited risk mitigation we had control over.
• If our boat drew 4’ or less, rather than the 5.5’ it does, our decision might well change, but apparently a catamaran, drawing only 3' is reported to have touched bottom several weeks ago, following the instructions of the pilot boat. Knowing what we know now, and given the mitigation efforts in effect up to time of the Rum Truffle loss, and the only mitigation efforts that BDS has stated it will be doing, I do not feel that the Bahia del Sol bar is safe for regular traffic drawing more than 4’.
• There is much institutional knowledge coming out now regarding how many boats have suffered damage or loss crossing the BDS bar, but it is as if that information, to this point, was intentional stifled.
• There is a serious lack of communication between the pilot boat and the boats being assisted in and out that needs to be addressed.
• We were never asked if we had any experience with any bar crossings, or BDS in particular. Communication between pilot boat and assisted boat in my opinion needs to be more like what happens when an aircraft is doing a GCA (Ground Control Approach). The aircraft is taking heading, altitude, and speed instructions from the Ground Controller. On final approach, the Ground Controller talks continuously to the aircraft, so that the aircraft knows that the line of communication is open. If there is a break in communication for, say 10 seconds, the aircraft assumes that communication is lost and executes a missed approach. A similar approach (no pun intended) is recommended for crossing the bar. The pilot boat should be in continuous communication with the assisted vessel, reassuring the assisted vessel that all is well. For us, there were multiple times when we weren’t sure whether we were still in communication, with our calls being unanswered by the pilot boat
• Just because we made it over the BDS bar and back out again without damage or injury does not mean that we had made the right call. In retrospect, for Rum Truffle, even for the best of reasons it was the wrong call.

[mvweebles]

I'll be blunt

DO NOT CROSS THE BAR AT BAHIA DEL SOL. THE PILOT'S PANGA HAS A HANDHELD VHF AND THAT'S IT. NO DEPTH SOUNDER; NO GPS; NO ROUTE TRACKING; NO TOW EQUIPMENT. HE HAS NO SKIN IN THE GAME. IF HE HAS A BAD DAY OR GUESSES WRONG, HE MIGHT LOSE HIS $10/DAY JOB.

[JPA Cate]

Here's the lesson in a different format:

Never assume any bar is safe. You need to assess it for yourself, with your vessel's capabilities in mind.

Rules about bar crossings in general: waves break on the bar. Often just watching the break for 20 min. or so will let you see if the entry is suitable for your boat. Sometimes entries for a keel boat are only in flat calm weather on the last half of a building tide.

In countries not your own, NEVER follow a panga. They tend to generalize based on their draft. I'd be d--n careful about it even if I were bilingual, because it takes time to establish meaningful communication.

Even if you had paper charts, they won't show you where the deep water is: they show you where it USED TO BE. The deeper areas tend to get filled up by naturally shifting sands. Currents flow around continents, and places like New Zealand. In Oz, the current on the East flows south, but the sand shifts north. Wierdnesses like that are why you should read up on how cruisers travel in their own country. There is a real reason that we used to hop on anything but a southerly to head south in Australia. It's super to use local wind to your advantage, at the sacrifice of missing some ports. If you're headed south but the land you need to get around is east, you can often use afternoon sea breeze to get into the anchorage, so you head out a little north of east and then turn south when you can fetch to where you want to go.

On the west coast of the US, the predominant wind is NW plus the current flows to the south.

The more impounded water there is behind the bar, the faster the current will be; so when there is wind against the tide, you get steep, almost square waves. Entry just before high water is best.

*******

Peter, I'm sorry your friend has had such a traumatizing series of events. As you point out, it is devastating to lose everything.

Most cruisers have possessions aboard that are attractive to people. Even in the US, there is the attitude that if it has come ashore, the owner no longer owns it. When we do our risk assessments, we should include "irrevocable" before loss of everything. No one anywhere will be interested to guard your boat but you. Don't kid yourself. Your mate was lucky to escape with his life., and there's no way to secure the boat.

The world is what it is. Rose colored glasses don't help.

Ann

[wholybee]

I passed Bahia del Sol northbound in 2022. I heard from others that it was treacherous, but the opinion was it was passable following the pilot. By the sound of it, it doesn't sound like it should be attempted at all. Maybe in calm seas if you send your own dinghy ahead with a depth sounder.

Very sorry for the loss.

[Pete7]

Dreadful news to see logging on to CF this morning. I used to work for Mark in a previous life, he wasn't the sort of person to take unnecessary risks. I feel for their loss of their home.

Mark is also a member of CF:

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ow-167030.html

.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Dreadful news to see logging on to CF this morning. I used to work for Mark in a previous life, he wasn't the sort of person to take unnecessary risks. I feel for their loss of their home.

Peter

Small world!

Shame about the boat, too, a real beauty. I think Bill Dixon's personal boat, which he kept moored quite near my former Hamble River mooring, was a M49.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Here's the lesson in a different format:

Never assume any bar is safe. You need to assess it for yourself, with your vessel's capabilities in mind.

Rules about bar crossings in general: waves break on the bar. Often just watching the break for 20 min. or so will let you see if the entry is suitable for your boat. Sometimes entries for a keel boat are only in flat calm weather on the last half of a building tide.

In countries not your own, NEVER follow a panga. They tend to generalize based on their draft. I'd be d--n careful about it even if I were bilingual, because it takes time to establish meaningful communication.

Even if you had paper charts, they won't show you where the deep water is: they show you where it USED TO BE. The deeper areas tend to get filled up by naturally shifting sands. Currents flow around continents, and places like New Zealand. In Oz, the current on the East flows south, but the sand shifts north. Wierdnesses like that are why you should read up on how cruisers travel in their own country. There is a real reason that we used to hop on anything but a southerly to head south in Australia. It's super to use local wind to your advantage, at the sacrifice of missing some ports. If you're headed south but the land you need to get around is east, you can often use afternoon sea breeze to get into the anchorage, so you head out a little north of east and then turn south when you can fetch to where you want to go.

On the west coast of the US, the predominant wind is NW plus the current flows to the south.

The more impounded water there is behind the bar, the faster the current will be; so when there is wind against the tide, you get steep, almost square waves. Entry just before high water is best.

*******

Peter, I'm sorry your friend has had such a traumatizing series of events. As you point out, it is devastating to lose everything.

Most cruisers have possessions aboard that are attractive to people. Even in the US, there is the attitude that if it has come ashore, the owner no longer owns it. When we do our risk assessments, we should include "irrevocable" before loss of everything. No one anywhere will be interested to guard your boat but you. Don't kid yourself. Your mate was lucky to escape with his life., and there's no way to secure the boat.

The world is what it is. Rose colored glasses don't help.

Ann

Good post as usual Ann.

To Anns point about shifting sands, attached are three pictures from Google Earth time lapse feature. Three successive years of the bar at BSD 2013-2015. Pics are a bit grainy, but the amount of change in a relatively short period is remarkable.

The hotel/marina at BSD is described as an enchanted place. Cruisers just love it there. They have provided a pilot boat (for a $50 fee each direction) for many years. As you stated, much of the trick is timing - waiting for the right set of waves. As part of their post mortem accident report, "Bill," the backbone of BSD marina and all things cruiser related, stated their pilot made a mistake in timing the wave sets.

There is a bit more to the story. Rum Truffle was the last of three boats to enter that day. When there are multiple boats, they enter one at a time each with the pilot, not daisy chained like ducklings. #1 entered in flat water. 20-mins later, #2 broached twice and was aground briefly before being lifted off (side note - turns out this is a common experience and considered acceptable - I don't think Bill/Pilot understand the full effect inside a boat that has been laid down hard). #3 - Rum Truffle - was understandably alarmed. Bill, the beloved mayor of BSD, assured Mark (Rum Truffle) that the pilot had mis-read the wave set and all was fine and urged him to go NOW before the tide turned further.. Mark had almost no time to make a decision and no great options if he declined --- and a slip was 10 mins away. My guess is he feels it was the worst decision of his life (I only met him briefly s few weeks prior). I know this not from Mark, but from boats #1 and #2 who were monitoring VHF comms. Listening to them recount the conversation almost brought me to tears as Bill says "Mark - I am so sorry. I am so sorry ..."

The big takeaway for me is small Central American bar crossings are a no-go. Period. However there are several places where a pilot boat is required due to lack of marked channel. I can live with that because there are no breaking waves to pummel the boat. Weebles is a full displacement trawler with protected running gear similar to a Westsail 32. At worst, grounding is inconvenient. Barilles in El Salvador is best done with a pilot boat.

We were really looking forward to leaving our boat at BSD for a few months. They offer wonderful caretaker services and have an exceptional reputation for hospitality and helpfulness. But my hunch is something has changed with the bar. With Rum Truffle's demise, a lot of people have come forward wirh harrowing crossing experiences in the last few months. I wish they had come forward before to make that information available to others. But it's out there now so folks can make their own decision.

Peter

[danstanford]

Seeing a lost boat like that is very sad and should make us appreciate one bobbing away all the more.

[Benz]

I crossed that bar in 2010, and have a few thoughts regarding the pilots. Sure, there can be good and bad ones, but those guys, who come in and out every day, know where the channel is. Whether they can communicate that to a cruiser, or can understand the nuances of different boats' capabilities (our pilot back then would pilot some boats and not others based on their underwater profile/engine capacity/ current conditions, etc) is another matter.
Another thing is that a common complaint among pilots (I befriended several of them), is that some people will not or cannot follow instructions. Groundings, broachings, etc. are sometimes (note: SOMETIMES) due to a cruiser losing his nerve and trying to turn around; being unable to steer straight when surfing; or thinking he can read the channel better than the pilot.
I have more to add, but have to go for now.
More later,

[Kettlewell]

Very sad story. It reinforces my belief to never, and I mean never, trust local knowledge. They may know their local waters, but they do not know your boat and you. There are bar entrances in many places in the world, including the East Coast of North America. I have witnessed boats come to grief trying to get into places like Westport, Massachusetts, with an outgoing current meeting a big incoming swell. We nearly surfed up onto the breakwater sailing into Menemsha once. The Bahamas has numerous dangerous bar entrances. New Jersey has them. My two cents is that when in doubt, don't do it. There is always another harbor, even if it means a night offshore waiting for the right opportunity.

[Benz]

Returning to add another two cents: whether the pilot is good, bad, or indifferent, that bar is pretty dangerous. I'd say one in three boats that came in while we were had some sort of mishap--a broach or a pooping or a soft grounding. We waited over two weeks for a settled-enough day to get back out. When it finally came, there wasn't even breaking water, but that was a rare day, especially with rainy season beginning.
I'd hate to advise anyone against going in, since it is a nice place to visit, but I'd have to have more than ideal conditions to go in there again. Trouble is, once you're at the entrance, you've just made a long-ish haul from Puerto Madero, and it's still a piece to the Gulf of Fonseca, and no one wants to heave-to outside for several days to wait for a quiet day. The temptation to go for it is pretty strong.

[BlueH2Obound]

On 11 March, we participated in a Panama Posse sponsored line call in which the Bahia del Sol Bar situation was discussed.
Among other things discussed, Dietmar (the head guy of Panama Posse) solicited questions from the attendees to be presented to Bill for clarification/answers.

Among other questions, the following question was asked of Bill:

How many vessels hit the ground each season? Has this been a continual problem?

Bill's response was. "During a recorded 585 bar crossings there are four instances of touching bottom, Rum Truffle not withstanding."

Discussion: Around the time we were in Bahia del Sol the following boats struck the bar:

Fact: Coming into the bar, Long Windid, drawing 6' hit bottom multiple times on 6 March, broaching, and laying over 90 degrees (spreader in the water). (Bill personally witnessed this)

Fact: Coming into the bar, Rum Truffle, on 6 March hit the bar, broached, and sunk. (Bill personally witnessed this)

Fact: Coming into the bar, SV Karuna, a 42? foot sailing vessel, drawing I believe, 6' struck the bar, on or about 26 February 2024. (Bill was informed of this)

Fact: I had personal discussions with two boat owners at Hotel Bahia del Sol Marina, who stated that they had "touched bottom" coming into the bar recently (within the past two months). Both were sailboats. (I am unsure if Bill was informed of this or not).

Above are 5 (FIVE) boats that are known to me that have struck the Bahia del Sol bar within the past 90 days.

Bill, who owns a mooring field in Bahia del Sol catering to cruisers, has the pulse of all comings and goings in and out of Bahia del Sol, with a spreadsheet listing all the vessels, times of entrance/departure, bar conditions, photos, etc, once again, in responding to the question:

How many vessels hit the ground each season? Has this been a continual problem?

Stated:

"During a recorded 585 bar crossings there are four instances of touching bottom, Rum Truffle not withstanding."

I will let you draw your own conclusions.

[hpeer]

Just because someone touches or even lays over, broaches, does not mean they reported it to the guy running the mooring field.

That said my GUESS is that he likely had more inication something was not correct.

But? Who is responsible for the condition of the bar and for sharing that knowledge?
The mooring field owner?
The Hotel owner?
The local government?

[rslifkin]

I'm thinking that either people aren't reliably reporting the minor bumps, or based on the frequency of recent issues, the bar is getting shallower and worse to cross.