Back Aboard for 2019

Just walking around in 

Placencia

Beauty is Everywhere

flying in we see the volcanoes of Guatemala

We’ve been at anchor in Placencia Harbor for a week. But our arrival in the Caribbean started with our flight into Guatemala City January 23rd. 

The really big news is that Roy has recovered wonderfully from knee surgery. By now walking is a breeze. There is still a little way to go on things like steps and getting into and out of the dinghy but he sees improvement every day. We are looking forward to getting out to the cays where we will spend lots of time snorkeling. That should be great therapy for both of us.

Lonely Wahoo at Tortugal Marina

The other great news is that our new Mantus anchor finally arrived on the Rio Dulce. It was delayed at Customs-gee who'd a thought! The delay is what kept us so long at Tortugal. We had both staterooms, heads and additional work on the cabin sole done while we were in the states and Wahoo, looking beautiful inside and out, was ready to sail away from nearly the moment we arrived. We were getting more and more eager to go as we watched cruising friends leave the Rio. Finally, we thought all was ready and had agreed to head out with Sue & Geoff on SV Blue Jacket when Customs found another monkey wrench to throw in the mix. But we did get it sorted at the last possible moment and the anchor and new chain were delivered to us as we were fueling up to head down the river.

The fact that two other boxes of boat parts plus the nuts and bolts to put the anchor together were missing didn’t cause us to miss a beat. We just figured it was par for the course and will work it all out somehow.

Doubt she looked

better even when new

I'm going to try out videos again they are fun and hopefully, someday, I'll learn how. Let me know what you think (or if they even work)

This one is a slice of life on a marketing day in Fronteras. This is the nearest town to us and it's always crazy, noisy and busy with trucks passing inches from us pedestrians. 

I want to point out that it's easy to buy sneakers and cell phones in any Central American city for your trek North to the American border. I'm absolutely floored by all the idiotic memes(and people) that ask how people have things like cell phones, sneakers and backbacks. And BTW - most things are MUCH CHEAPER than in the USA. Good doctors, great veggies AND cell phones.

Cooking corn tortillas on a hot plate on the street - often the only escape for girls from the brutal life in the small villages and plantations is slaving daily over a hot plate.

Okay, rant over - back to life aboard

Waterfront house in Cayo Quemado

It was a great trip over to Belize. Here's how we do it -  After leaving the marina and getting fuel we head down the Rio Dulce toward the port of Livingston which is at the mouth of the river and on the Caribbean. It’s about 30 miles and keel boats like Wahoo must cross the sand bar during high tide. The bar sits at the mouth of the river and is a constant source of angst. To make this work we spend the night in beautiful Cayo Quemado, a Mayan village with several safe bays for anchoring about half way down. Next day we complete the trip. The river winds down to the sea through a limestone canyon which never fails to captivate us. Next, we anchor in front of Livingston and go ashore to clear out of Guatemala. The agent, a boon to all cruisers at the port, is Raul. He and his nephew make clearing in or out a breeze.

The limestone canyon on the Rio Dulce

Afterward, it’s time to wait for high tide and cross the bar. We cleared with inches to spare. Because the bar has been silting up many more boats now need to be “tilted and towed”. Luckily Wahoo, drawing only 5ft is still good as long as we watch the tides. Our buddy boat, Blue Jacket, is not so lucky. At 5’6” last year, coming in, they got stuck. But Capt Geoff and Capt Roy being resourceful guys used our two dinghies with their 15hp engines to pull Blue Jacket into deeper water. This year Geoff installed a device to sound the bottom of the pass and create a map. He installed it in his dinghy and as we waited for the 5pm high tide he spent a couple of hours working a grid that produced a map of the bottom. This gives all of us safer waypoints to get in and out. What a guy! Using his new waypoints we made it with no problem. 

 Our next stop is across the bay where we find safe anchorage behind a peninsula at Tres Puntes. It was after dark, 7pm, when we arrived but the nearly full moon made anchoring easy. This year we also met up with SV Circa Trover and all three boats spent two nights before continuing on. We had great fun from eating Jennifer’s cinnamon rolls for breakfast to having the silly experience of eating delicious grilled lobster from a swinging table while sitting in our dinghies under a palapa and we then ended our day with sundowners and hors d’ouvres. The next day we all moved on but due to high afternoon winds we broke the trip to Placencia with a night in a cove at New Haven. 

Lobster for the crew of Circa Trover, Blue Jacket and Wahoo

Yep, that's our "restaurant"

After a quiet night in New Haven it was finally time for the last four hour sail into Placencia. Roy insisted on us going in with sails flying - good fun!

Placencia Harbor by day

 and at night - Our first night - full moon rising from Yoli's Beach Bar (the world's best cruiser hangout)

65lb Mantus Anchor - thank goodness for our Windless!

Meeting friends, eating meat pies and tamales with lots of evenings at Yoli’s Bar has made our stay fun even when the high winds and cross current waves have made for some rolly, roller coaster nights. A few boats have dragged at anchor a few more have gotten stuck on sand bars but each time the “cruisers' coast guard” powers up dingies to help their fellow boaters. It’s the way it is on the water. A great community having fun and helping out.

Trivia at Yolis with SV Scott Free (Heather & Scott) We won!!

 "Cruisers Jim... it's Life but not as we know it" Spock

“Cruisers Jim, it’s life but not as we know it.” - Spock to Capt Kirk