Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Jan 9, 2002 - June 11, 2002
January 9, 2002 - WHITECAP here. I see the skipper has done an update on his log file and says that he'll be on his way back to me on Jan 11. He's bringing his First Mate along,,,,it'll be good to see her (Mary) again after having just the guys around so long. Dick says Christmas was great at home but he'll be glad to get back where there's no snow to shovel; here's one of the evening sunsets from his dining room window during the season,,,and here's Mary who got a little horse at the New Year's Eve Party (Marlene on the left).
January 13, 2002 - Hi
Everyone. We are in Belize City, a day late, having to overnight at
Continental expense in Houston!!! Thanks Gordon Bethune, me mother thanks ya,
me father thanks ya and we thank ya too...
Waiting presently for the San Juan shuttle bus to Tikal, and will overnight at
the Jaguar Inn there tonight. We now have picked up a sail bag for Shang at
Moho Caye last night, so we have another parcel to carry... Mary is outside on
the sidewalk sitting on the bags in the hot sun while I am inside with a big
fan doing this.... Air temp 95F All is well. Dick
January 16, 2002 - Hi
Everyone. Back on WHITECAP, everything going well; installed the new CD
player, wow decadent!!! with a remote control yet...
Went to Morales today, did the RR push cart thing; have pics, but for
some reason cannot hook up at backpackers tonight, will try again
tomorrow. Dick
January 17, 2002
- Hi everyone. We are back on board
WHITECAP; all is well; having a busy time showing Mary all the
places and things to do that we had 3 weeks to do before Christmas. Did
the tour in the dink, she thought I was trying to drown her... The same
crowd hangs around the CrowBar as before, but yesterday we went to Chiqui's
Tienda for some groceries and they were all there, and looked like they had
been for awhile... just so Jerry A. would know. And now I am
limited to shrimp once a week!!!
On the way up here, we shuttled to Tikal, got a room at the Tikal Jungle Inn
(US$48), and did the sunset thing on the temple of the Jaguars; did not
awake early enough for the sunrise view, because the walk is about 3/4 hr in
the dark, (forgot the flashlight on the kitchen window) up a mountain trail
with all kinds of wild animals making noises in the jungle, not the normal
jaunt for a 66 yr old Canadian Grandmother who wonders if her grandchildren
will ever see her again...
Yesterday I installed the new CD player and re-wired the windmill panel, it
took me most of the day... but the results are wonderful; now we have
Beethoven with our morning coffee, and "Jar o Comfort" for lunch,,,
with a remote control, imagine the decadence.
Today, Thursday the 17th, we, with Pat and Ray, took the 08:00 chicken bus to
Morales, a 30 mile run (23 stops) for Q5 (about 65 cents) only ran out of gas
once, tried to figure how far a 48 passenger bus will run on 5 gallons... Bet
the driver will chew out his kid brother for taking the bus last night and not
putting fuel in... The highlight of the day was a run on the "push
cars" on the old "abandoned" narrow gauge RR. For Q10, a
young man (aged 20 already 3 children) sat the 4 of us on his cart (they use a
6" ball bearing for wheels on the track), and push polled us at about 10
mph + for an hour through the valley towards Guate City. This valley is the
banana valley for the country. We walked for a half hour towards a ruin but
found out it was too far away so we turned back and he polled us back to
Morales. The only problem with this system, since there is only one pair
of tracks, is when two cars meet... one car has to disembark, lift off the
tracks and let the other pass... the major problem is which one will lift off
first, it appears to be a "chicken" type resolution and sometimes
they are only a few feet apart when they get stopped!!! At 10+ mph and
with Mary and I sitting
on the front, at times it looked like a head on collision.
We then walked up to the hospital (and Summerside is getting a new one???) to
get the results from Pat's PSA tests last month. The Doc says high, 7.8.
We walk back to the market and catch the 15:30 chicken bus back to the Rio
Dulce.
Here are some pics: Mary guarding the
bags in Belize City, Temple of the
Jaguars, our Jaguar inn "Bungalow"
at Tikal, our push car ride, our 20 year old
driver, relaxing at
the chicken bus stop on the way back
to the Rio. Dick and Mary
January 22, 2002, Tuesday - Hi
everyone. Slowly getting things done here, today we are
"equalizing" the batteries, in an attempt to bring them up to an acceptable
Amp Hour level, between recharges. From here on there will probably not
be many places to plug in to shore power, and we seem to only get 36 hrs of
use on a charge. The
alternative is new batteries, which are hard to come by here. Checked our
Honda Generator the other day, pull cord is seized, Lube said he would help me
take it apart, it also requires a new exhaust muffler, the old one is
pretty rusty, there is a Honda dealer here I must stop and ask.
Spent the day yesterday at Casa Guatemala, we put second coats on five sets of
bunk beds. All the new bunks are now moved to the new building, only
problem is the doors into the new dorms are too narrow for the beds, they had
to be lifted to the second floor through the windows. Glad those guys do
not build boats in their basements!!! Mecca in putting the finishing
decorations to the bed closets (each child gets to pick an animal design
from some computer printouts, and George is fabricating the small doors for
the closets, which will be installed later.
I have pretty well determined that the wind instrument problem is at the top
of the mast. By testing the voltage between the neg wire and the yellow and
then the neg and the white wire we get 5.3V DC each time. The manual
says
if that is the case the problem is up top, if the reading is 2.5 to 4.5 the
problem is in the wiring. So it looks like a trip up to the top soon.
We should be heading back out the river either at the end of this week or
early next week. There is a new Port Captain in Livingston, and they are
doing everything by the book for awhile. Hope to be able to do the sail
from the Sappodilas to Utila on a full moon or at least close to it.
Will be in touch again before we head out. Mary and Dick
January 27, 2002, Sunday - Hi
everyone. We are getting ready to head out the river sometime early next
week, wind does not work even with the new mast head unit, so I will take
everything home in May for a re-build and checkup, but there is chafe on the
wire up top; maybe that is it. Thought I would be up there for the
day because of a jammed wire but was able to extricate myself after a while.
Nice view at 50 ft...
Our friend Pat is going back to Florida for more PSA tests Feb 2;
hope it works out, and he has his sights on two aluminum masts on a boat about
to be abandoned here; hope it works out also. On Sunday we are
going to the Castillo for a tour. I suggested we go to the hot falls
also, but Mary forgot her bathing suit back home....
Here is a pic of Mary painting
red trim around the yellow stars on a bunk bed, looks like she has her heart
into it eh... Also the latest copy of Logfile jan2002 .wpd for all the latest
news. There are new boats coming and going every day, but overall the
count is down to about 75 or so, who will probable shrivel up here, from
a high in summer months hurricane season of 750+, so there is less activity
around. Looks like everyone is gone to Roatan, where we will be heading
next week. It will probably be crowded at the harbour at West End.
The plan is Utila for a few days then Coxen's Hole first so there will be less
traffic in these places. Have to repair the Honda, the pull cord is
stuck, before we leave just in case the windmill cannot keep up. No
place to plug in over there so we will have to rely on the windmill, the
Mercedes and the Honda.
Will be paying Lube the rent for while we will be gone just to keep our space;
there is someone here every day looking. Today there was a boat from
France here asking for space, Lube is full, he can only handle 5 boats, but
the space is at a premium because it is safe here. Just next door there
have been things missing, so they keep their boats locked even to go to town.
The Casa Guatemala painting is diminishing to the trim stuff, we spent two
days there helping finish up. Looks really good. The new
problem over there is there are Vampire Bats around and some of the kids have
been bitten at night. Difficult to resolve, because the eves are open to
the outside and these things can fly in and hide in the rafters anywhere.
They have been taking some of the handicapped children for inmune shots.
One kid is 18, and he is like a pretzle, his arms are only the thickness of a
human thumb, if you can imagine, and he can only grunt. This is a 1 on
one patient care thing, constant care, but everyone pitches in.
Here are some more pics: Lube's
from dock shows the house and deck,
Lube's
Landing shows Whitecap near the deck,
Yankee
Girl is the black boat at the next dock, Cookie and Lou are the only
live-aboards over there, Land
to Lube's is the lane coming down from the bridge to the shore. and the
shower
now also has a toilet and all the hot water we want, even has a light for nigh
time!!! Mary and Dick
January 29, 2002, Tuesday -Hi
everyone. Spent Monday doing the final fitting for the dinghy bridle,
now we can hoist her using the spinnaker halliard and she comes up level. In
the afternoon we opened up the poor little Honda generator; lots of surface
rust inside over the last 3 years, Lube says we can fix it, the pull cord was
seized was
the primary reason. Lube knows a mechanic who can rebuild the spare
transmission, we have the new shaft and gaskets on board, we get that out
also, and paint everything with a mixture of vasoline and gasoline to stop
the rust. Quit at 17:30, time for a hot shower, a walk to Chiqui's (Reed's)
Tienda for potatoes, (he had none seems he has everything but produce), walk
back to Whitecap with Cookie and Lou, on "Yankee Girl" from the next
dock,
Lou tells us he may be able to broker a deal for Pat on those aluminum masts
on Las Vegas Bob's old, soon to be junked, ketch, now anchored out front
of us, and dragging closer and closer to Yankee Girl. We give Pat the
word, go see Lou soonest, quick like tomorrow AM.... right after the
daily 07:30 Rio Dulce VHF net. After supper, we watch a movie, outside
it rained and rained, hard...... back home we say "cats and
dogs", like what a way to fill the fresh water tank... There must
be a low pressure system north of us somewhere, must get a look at Sailabout's
weather fax printout.
Tuesday 02:09 woke up to more rain, well the cats and dogs are all gone, but
during the night the "chickens and hens", and right now the
"horses and cows" are coming down also. No wonder this place
is a jungle!!! happy to
report we have no deck leaks, imagine!!! When the rain stops around here the
wind comes up, I can hear the windmill out there making juice. We have been
unplugged since noon yesterday and still have 12.40 V in the house bank, not
bad, considering we ran lights at supper, watched a TV movie, and read until
22:30 last night, and the fridge is going on regular cycle as usual.
Mary and Dick
February 01, 2002, Friday -
Hi everyone. Having trouble sending tonight, too many pica I
guess.. We fumigated the boat today, just to get rid of any creepy
crawlers just in case. We have ants, v small ones, but they appear to be
industrious. Hope this gets rid of them.
Cannot go back on board until 20:00 then we will have to wash all the dishes
etc... Had to remove the diesel air intake today and free up the butterfly
valve again. made a mod so I think it will be ok for a year or so, will
bring a new one next year...
Looks like we will do the Super Bowl at The Catamaran, free munchies and beer
is 10Q, then we will hit the river for Livingston in the AM. Mary and
Dick
February 01, 2002, Friday - Update - Hi
everyone. Here are some pics from the last few days:
El
Estor Boulvard. Dick doing laundry
with the dink full of soft rain water. Mary on
rampart
at Castillo from our tour. A dental lab
sign
at El Estor for Dave and Nan Perry, The lady stuffing her
rooster
into bag (was under Mary's bus seat for the bus ride), The
sign
in front of the Castillo showing date of 1651, and the El Estor
Super
Store.
Fixed up with Lube, we are now paid until the end of April and have a $40
credit on May dock fees. He says We can pay him when we come back in the
fall, but I said I will send 2 months at a time instead.
We are leaving here on Sunday around noon for Livingston, the port captain
charge is double on a Saturday and Sunday, so we will check-out on Monday, I
had forgotten about that. The weather here has cleared up, no rain for
the last 2 nights, so it is hot hot. We have a fan in the vee berth, but
should be OK when we go out where we can use the wind scoops again.
Most of the maintenance is up to par again, had the windmill churning out 4
amps last night for a bit, so it is working now, just not quite putting
outwhat I expected; the new choke cable is installed; the bridle
for the dinghy is finished and lifts her almost level (stern down for
draining) using the spinnaker halliard. The dinghy painter has been re-nicopressed
to get rid of the sharpies; the rope cover helps and shrink wrap covers the
ends nicely.
After this message goes, if we do not send again from here, we will message on
guest book from Livingston.
Money is tight, the banks will not advance Q's at the end of the month on
visa, we are down to 10Q about 80 cents! We may have to use some US$.
Gave "I Am Canadien" teeshirts to Heather and Jason the two Canadian
kids who work at Backpackers, they were some proud and put them on right
away. Mary and Dick
February 3, 2002, Sunday - Hi
everyone, we are tied to the pier at Backpackers, doing the last e-mail
for awhile. All fueled up, and African Queen is down. We will probably
stop for the night around Ak. Tenemet the small hospital at the entrance to
the gorge. We can anchor there safely, we hope...
Livingston tomorrow to check out, then the Sapodillas. We have a norte
going so the winds should be favorable for several days, they tell me it
is nice at night but builds up during the day.
Will message tomorrow, on guest book. WHITECAP
February 04, 2002 at 18:51:33 (EST), Monday- Hi Everyone, we are in Livingston; arrived around 11:00, spent the night anchored at AK Tenimet, a small maternity clinic in the gorge, Went half mile up river to the hot baths and soaked for awhile. We have 3 guests aboard from Ottawa and Toronto, Kendall, Kaelin and Erin, they speak Spanish and are coming to Utila with us for the ride; everyone having fun, and now I have 4 cooks AND I do not have to wash dishes for awhile... Our laptop crashed this AM, just will not boot after the Toshiba logo, sending it to Peurto Barrios at 06:00 and they said it will be back tomorrow afternoon. We will double back to La Marina, about 1 mile up river for the night. Dick
February 15, 2002 at 18:19:00 (EST), Friday - Hi Everyone, Whitecap arrived in (at) Utila 15:30 today Friday, beautiful harbour, the girls got off in Peurto Cortez where we had to take refuge from a nasty norther. Definitely not a place to go in a norther!!! 6 ft seas in the harbour and no place to go... finally a tug led us to a spot behind 2 dredges the only place in the bay. Checked into Honduras and are now here. will send more tomorrow. Mary and Dick
February 16, 2002 at 15:55:14 (EST),
Saturday - Hi Everyone, Sent message
yesterday, but it is not on guest book today so I do not know if it went
through. Anyway we are in Utila, a kind of Caye Caulker place, like if
you lost a buddy in the 80s you may fine him here... Last night there was
music until 3 AM, even a midnight power outage did not stop them... My
laptop mother board is cooked, so perhaps Bill, when you are looking for a new
machine for you, ask about a new board for me eh. Perhaps an upgraded
chip version. Everything else is apparently OK, it is the pits going
back to paper charts, hand bearing compass and all that stuff...
I will send this in two or three messages, in case one does not go through,
there will not be any e-mail for a while, as I do not have any addresses
except the few I remember. Perhaps Bill could you go through the
accounts, leave the messages on the server, junk the Brittany Spears stuff,
and forward any important mail to the hotmail account... at least anything you
think we will need. Thanks. Dick
February 16, 2002 at 16:19:49 (EST),
Saturday - Update log stuff, we left La
Marina at Livingston, on Saturday around 1400 as soon as the charter "Tri
THAT" arrived with our computer, and motored over to Puntas Tres Cabos
where we anchored for the night. 3 days at La Marina, and our three girls
played ping pong and Frisbee, and taught the two Quicchac indian girls a new
game. Erin is apparently on the Canadian National Frisbee team, did not know
there was one...
Sunday we sailed the 30 miles over to the Sapodilla cays, spent the night and
the next day touring the abandoned resort, which never was finished,
what a shame, 23 cottages a lodge everything abandoned because of hurricane Mitch.
We sailed out of there at 1600 for the all nighter to Utila, but the winds did
not cooperate and it blew to 40+ with 8 to 10 ft swells, so we decided to head
for Puertos Cortes. Well that was not a good decision, as once in the
harbour we still had 6 footers and no place to go in the whole bay...
finally a tug felt sorry for us, and guided us to a corner where two dredges
were sitting on their spuds. so we were at least out of the swells.
The girls left the next day, due to time constraint and they had to be back in
Antigua for their final Spanish studies.
Mary and Dick sailed to Punta Sal the next day, and found a beautiful enclosed
basin, hills on 3 sides, 40 ft deep through the cut and anchored in 8 ft
behind a hill. Perfect... no sign of any living soul, and very few birds
or animals. The next day, it rained and blew from the NO all day, so we just
sat there and read.
The next day, Friday, we sailed the 44 miles to Utila. The GPS was set to km
and I did not notice until halfway. once I made the change we were only
20 miles from Utila. There are 5 other boats in the anchorage, two were
behind us but arrived before, Flash Dancer from Port Isabel Tx and the freedom
cat ketch Camila, which we met in Livingston.
Dinner was lobster tails, 2 each for 100 Limpira about US$6, tonight we are
going out to a dive hotel restaurant just where we are anchored, for b-b-que
chicken.
If the weather is fit tomorrow the three boats will leave for Roatan, but the
wind has veered to the trades, so it is on the nose for the 30 to 35
miles. Dick
February 20, 2002 at 12:08:08 (EST),
Wednesday - Hi everyone. We are now at French Harbour, anchored in the
basin last night, blew to 50kts, dragged anchor, powered up again dropped both
with 140 ft chain and they held!!! but in the darkness, I managed to cross the
anchors, and this AM it took me 1 hour of my valuable time to extricate the
mess...
Yesterday, at Coxen´s Hole, I had to repair the alternator bracket, which had
separated itself from the engine... snapped one bolt off and the other
unscrewed, do not know in which order, during this process the pulley or the
belt chewed its way through the cooling water rubber hose creating a natural
flow of water into the bilge, which was promptly returned to the ocean by the
automatic bilge pump, hereby creating a perpetual machine powered by our
difficult-to-keep-charged batteries... but all is well, just have to pick up a
new piece of rubber hose today and replace it.
French Harbour is quite a spot, the YC is owned??? by a Swiss gentleman;
we came in to a dock this AM and are finally getting tank water (none for the
last 8 days), and doing a laundry, about time the sheets got changed!!!
We will spend a few days here, touring around, and then head further east to
Calabash Bight, and eventually Isla Guanaja (guan-ah-ha) where there is a
village of 7000 living on stilts over the water, it is the only community and
is called the Venice of Honduras.
Do not know what the date or day it is anymore, and I do not carry a watch,
but is time to start thinking about Spring Thaw, and Jr Sailing... more on
this later. Dick
February 23, 2002 at 16:42:12 (EST),
Saturday -
Blew like hell here last night, two boats went ashore in West Bay, and the boats in the anchorage were up all night... The Formosa 60 behind us dragged all the way to the houses on the other side of the basin... they could have stolen a pig from the pen by simply reaching overboard...
Had dinner today with friends on Grey Starling, a HFX rosbourough, Mary, Ken and Ian from Toronto. Fueled up this AM took 40 gal in the main tank, and 10 in deck jugs, so we were pretty low... US$1.30 per gallon.
Weather says we will be staying here for 2 more days before heading out to Port Royal, Calabash Bight and Guanaja.
We are fine at the dock here, US$10 per night and safe...Whitecap.
February 28, 2002 at 18:05:14 (EST), Thursday - Hi Everyone.
Arrived back in French Harbour at 16:00 today, all the way from Guanaja, motor
idling and full jib, 35 kts wind on the port stern quarter, at times we were
doing 7.5kts on the GPS... WOW and towing a dinghy and motor too...
Splash Dance and Eros started out for Panama this AM but turned back, just
goes to prove, the only day you get to pick the weather is the day you leave,
after that just take what comes...
Our propane sensor packed up on us, I disconnected it, tried plugging it into
#2 slot, still no go, had to disconnect from the battery, now we cannot cook
anything; so tomorrow I will check the marine store here and if not will
remove the solenoid and shut down by turning off the tank like the olden days.
Otherwise all is well, we have gone as far south as we planned for this year,
and are now heading back towards the Rio Dulce, where we hope to be on March
20 to 23, for out trip to Antigua for Semina Sancta. After a few days here, we
will head out for Cayos Chocinos, and Le Cieba on the mainland then slowly to
Punta Sal and the Belize Islands. Dick
March 01, 2002 at 11:41:25 (EST), Friday - Having trouble finding parts
for the propane sensor, walked at least 3 miles already and no luck. The
stores here are spread all over the place, along the highway, trouble is when
you walk up the road you have to walk back down the same road...
Dinner at the Yacht Club last night, thought we would have a night out, could
not cook on board anyway, Filet Mignon in peppercorn sauce, baked potato,
salad and a bottle of wine. all for $24US, including several drinks at the bar
first. Met up with friends on "Drifter" from Finland again, they are on their
way to La Cieba, where they will leave the boat and fly home. Trouble is they
have a dog, and it cost as much to take the dog as it costs to fly both of the
humans. During dinner a new couple came in, he had a "Cows" tee shirt on, and
Dick remarked about it. Turns out they are from Bathurst, NB and are visiting
his parents on a sailboat in the anchorage. The boat is registered in St
Andrews, but the parents live in Fredericton, and are curlers. Dick.
March 02, 2002 at 17:26:33 (EST) - Saturday Mar??? 2nd?? maybe..
Just came back from a tour by taxi of the east end of Roatan, had lobster for
dinner at the Parrot Tree Plantation, and are now back at the Yacht Club.
Found a fractured Norseman fitting on the stbd upper turnbuckle, will cut her
off tomorrow, and put a new turnbuckle on, shroud was too long anyway...Dick
March 04, 2002 at 12:42:19 (EST), Monday -
Well here
it is Monday morning, Mar 4 or something... we are still in French Harbour,
finished replacing the broken turnbuckle with a new one, and completely
disconnected the propane, including removed the solenoid at the tank, and now
we will cook and turn off at the tank each time. It was beeping continually
and getting on our nerves...
There is a large front coming through, from the Gulf of Mexico, pushing some
dirt down on us here so we will stay until it passes. Mary and Dick
March 05, 2002 at 15:08:28 (EST), Tuesday
- We had hoped to leave yesterday Sunday for the Chochinos, but a front
came in and thing deteriorated fast here, we had at least 10 inches of rain
and high winds, last night we had to close up all the hatches and turn on a
fan...
Looks like tomorrow might be a better time to leave. Plan to spend 2 days
there, then to La Ceiba, for a few days and then start our way back to the
Rio. If we have extra time we will do some of the Belize Cays first.
Please look through the log and find us Lisa the taxi driver phone # in Belize
City, I had it in my card holder, but when I fell in, it floated
away...Thanks. Dick
March 06, 2002 at 09:43:16 (EST), Wednesday - Good morning everyone.
Looks like the norther has gone by finally and it is starting to clear up. We
plan on leaving for the Cayos Cochinos, before 11 today if all goes well, it
will be a close reach the way the winds are now, but we will make it by mid
afternoon, not far, but the water is 10,000 ft deep....
We will be out of touch for the next few days, until we reach La Ceiba, where
we will travel in land for a few days. Dick
March 09, 2002 at 10:11:06 (EST),
Saturday - Hi Everyone.
We are presently in La Ceiba, Honduras. Arrived here in a 50 km blow from the Cayos Cochinos. Tore a 3 ft hole in the jib clew, and of course the furler jammed and would not work, had to make 25 circles to wind up the jib, or what was left of it. The owner of the small marina came out to the river mouth to guide us in past some dredge spoils. the waves were 6 to 8 ft, but we showed a least depth of 12 in the river entrance. At the dock 2 miles up river you would not know it was blowing... It is called Lagoon Marina, and is only 4 years old. A young German couple started it and seem to be doing well.
We will be here for a few days, then will head for Punta Sal and Belize Islands before the Rio and our land trip to Antigua.
Mary and Dick
March 11, 2002 at 09:58:26 (EST), Monday - Hola everyone. It is Monday AM, I am in town La Ceiba, and have cleared customs and Port Captain. Weather permitting we will leave Tues AM 06:00 for Punta Sal and anchor there before heading to Belize Cays. Dick
March 14, 2002 at 17:52:26 (EST),
Thursday - Hola everyone.
Arrived at Placentia this afternoon, Thursday at 15:00, via Nicholas Cay where we arrived at dusk, and made it through the gap in the reef with the help of a cayuga fisherman. We spent Tuesday night at Puerto Escondita at Punta Sal. Escondita is not really a port, only a lagoon with a narrow gap to get in.
Tomorrow we have to go to Big Creek, about 5 miles from here to check in with customs and stuff. Then we will spend the next week wandering around the cayes until we go back up the river to Lube's wharf.
Dick
March 18, 2002 at 17:25:35 (EST),
Monday - Hola everyone, we are in Sittee River, a new little marina with electric and Texaco fuel. We bumped over the bar, and dragged a bit but the river is 18 ft all the way up...
Belize City is about 40 miles further up, but if David is not coming down, we will turn around from here and head back to the Rio, where we have to be by next Monday at the latest.
As for Whitecap... the transmission shift lever is stuck in forward gear, I have unhooked everything and everything else including the cable is OK. Not a problem, except that we cannot run the engine to charge batteries when at anchor because we are always in gear, kind of
embarrassing when we are sharing an anchorage with 20 other boats... We shut down the fridge and cooked all the chicken,
but today we got the batteries back up to 14V and now we are plugged in.
All is well, except for the transmission problem as above, and today our VHF radio also quit, maybe just a fuse... but why???
Anyway all is well,
Mary and Dick
March 21, 2002 at 12:20:45 (EST), Thursday - Hi
everyone, We are in Punta Gorda, arrived this AM at 09:30, we anchored for the
night in the Mangrove Cayes, with another boat "Wanderer" out of Vero Beach
Fla. There appeared to be no movement aboard, either last night, no anchor
light, and this AM, when we left, we circled her 3 times blew our air horn 6
times into his cockpit, and still no one appeared. Either they were very
tired, or on their honeymoon, or there was something wrong.... We reported her
to the police in Punta Gorda...
Got our Zarpe for Livingston, will leave as soon as we re-board Whitecap...
Dick
March 24, 2002 at 15:27:52 (EST),
Sunday
- We arrived back at Lube's last night at 4:30, he has extended the dock out another 15 ft, and plans another 30 or so.
Seems we have created quite a stir finding that boat in the mangrove cays, it was broadcast on the SSB Caribbean Net and the US navy got involved. They apparently have a destroyer off Roatan. There were some strange things about her, the anchor rode was wrapped around a 4 ft stick, much like we used to use to wind up a kite string long ago. There were no "homes" or huts or camps within 5 miles of where she was, and no one seems to have seen her around. I suppose eventually we will find out the story. Guess I should have boarded her, after 6 blasts of the horn in the cockpit, they could not have been sleeping...
Leaving for Antigua on Tuesday AM 08:00 for 6 days and will pick up David at Guate City on the way back here. Took videos but nothing came out.
Dick
March 25, 2002 at 12:53:20 (EST),
Monday - Thanks for
the relay from HAWNALEE, wondered where they got to. Have arranged shuttle to
Antigua with 3 other couples, one BC, one from Annapolis Valley and the third
on Moonshine, a yacht we met in Nicholas cay 10 days ago.
Have not been able to find out much about the yacht we found empty, no one
seems to know anything about it. Anyway not our worry anymore.
Will contact tomorrow from Antigua, should arrive there mid afternoon
sometime. We are staying at the Poseda San Sebastien, and there are kitchen
facilities available.
Got some oil in the bilge, so am looking for JOY to clean it up, cannot just
go to the grocery here, but there is a new store going to open next week that
looks promising. Dick
March 27, 2002 at 15:03:42 (EST),
Wednesday - Hi Everyone,
Arrived Antigua yesterday afternoon, sore form sitting in a van for 5 hours.
Poseda is not bad, but overpriced compared to CDN standards. The city is busy
this week, you line up at the bank to get a VISA advance chit, then you line
up at the teller line for another hour to get your money... just got ours in
time because the banks closed at noon today until Monday!!!!, and the ATM
machines will not take pin # with letters and numbers...
Got the message re David, we will spend the night in Guate City, and go back
to the Rio the next day.
Mary is having fun buying all kinds of stuff... you start by quoting less than
half what they ask, and sold your price...
The churches take turns each evening with their displays of dyed sawdust,
flowers and fruit and veggies, almost like Thanksgiving time, and outside it
is carnival atmosphere.
Tomorrow night at 03:00 the parades (processions) start, so we will nap in the
afternoon.
Will send again tomorrow or Friday.
Dick
March 30, 2002 at 12:56:51 (EST), Saturday - Hi everyone. Well
Antigua is quite a place to be for Semina Sancta. They re-enact everything on
the streets here. Holy Thursday we stood in front of the cathedral with
about 200,000 others, and they did the whole sentencing thing, the Roman
guards on horseback, and the officials in horse drawn chariots, then the
procession started around 21:00 and lasted all night... Another procession
started at 03:00 and lasted until noon Friday. At 18:00 on Friday,
another procession started depicting the way of the cross, each depiction
being mounted on a large platform and carried by about 60 young men. It is so
heavy that they change the carriers every 2 blocks. On Friday the men were all
dressed in black robes, and there were thousands of them. Mix all this up with
incense carriers making lots of smoke, pick pockets in the crowd and Roman
guards keeping the crowd back, makes for quite a night.... We cheated and only
got out on the street at 0:600. By Friday night, we finally got to a
restaurant around 21:00 and were pretty tired... almost too much to eat, the
wine came to more than the Dorado fillets, but Bill Clinton ate there too
according to the sign.
We will be heading back down to Guate City on Tuesday AM and visit there
waiting for David and then will travel up to Lake Atitlan for a day before
heading back to the Rio. Have not been able to get Mary to carry the
bags on her head yet, like all the locals do...All´s well. Dick
March 31, 2002 at 11:27:04 (EST), Sunday -
Everything going well, we have had enough of Antigua now though for this trip,
we know every church, nook and cranny. There are many restaurants here and all
different prices, we only eat twice daily, there is just too much to do, and a
lot of walking.
I am trying to convince Mom to go to El Salvador tomorrow, US$28 and we can
stay there until Wednesday when we have to pick up David at Guate City. From
there we will go to Lake Atitlan for a day then back to the Rio.
March 31, 2002 at 11:34:51 (EST), Sunday - Hi everyone.
Well we got by Good Friday and Saturday. The procession on Saturday was
depictions of Calvary, and taking the body off the cross, again each display
all carried by 50 to 60 young men, the displays of the Virgin Mary and Mary
Magdallen are always carried by young ladies. We have many pictures, I am now
working on the 24 meg card, the 16 is full. Today is the Resurrection
procession at 13:00. and then it is over for the week. They keep re-decorating
the streets with beautiful displays, and as the processions pass over they are
all destroyed, some of them are re-done for the next one...
I am trying to convince Mom to go to El Salvador tomorrow Monday, US$28 each
and we can stay there until Wednesday when we have to pick up David at Guate
City. From there we will go to Lake Atitlan and Chichitatango for a day or so
then back to the Rio. Still having fun. Dick
March 31, 2002 at 20:54:09 (EST), Sunday - Hi everyone. We are leaving Antigua at 08:00 tomorrow Monday, for MonteRico, on the Pacific Ocean, and will stay there until Wednesday when we are booked at the Hotel Poseda Belen, Zona 9 in Guate City, it is only 10 minutes from the airport, so we can collect David. We presume it is Continental Airline??? if not please let us know. Dick
April 02, 2002 at 14:40:19 (EST), Tuesday - Hi everyone. Back from MonterRico, mistake... the bugs were bad, the sand is black lava and so soft you sink up to your ankles, and hot hot.... We stayed in an eco camp for US6 but is had ants, they even drank a half can of coke on me during the night... so we decided to come back to Antigua this AM and from there catch another shuttle at 15:00 for Guate City. We will be at the Posada Belen Zone 9 phone is 011-502-253-4530 for tonight and tomorrow night. Will be at the airport for David´s flight. Then we will go to Lake Atitlan for a day before returning to Whitecap. Plans change almost as fast as shirts around here. Will connect again when we pick up David. Dick
April 03, 2002 at 19:04:05 (EST), Wednesday - The Posada here is very nice, and super secure, the Gate is locked and you have to identify to get in. We had a parcel delivered and they made the person stay outside until I asked for her to be admitted. Everyone is super conscious of security here. Dick
April 06, 2002 at 11:52:59
(EST), Saturday - Hi Everyone from Panajachel (Pana-ya-kel) on lago Atilan.
We arrived here two days ago, after a 4 hr shuttle from Guate City, which took
us back through Antigua, so David got to see that too. The ride was up through
the mountains and it is all cultivated even on the slopes. Looks like small 1
or 2 acre subsistence farms, and the whole family works at it. The Hotel here
is very nice, we have the Presidential Suite, on the second (top) floor, but
we can hear the dogs barking, roosters crowing and cows mooing in the street
below.... most of the night... The cost is US$13. per plus tax, and includes
breakfast. We seem to be buying most of the goods the natives are selling, and
we will have to change the tablecloths daily to get to use them all. Already
we have bought two new bags to carry it all...
Today Saturday, we are on a ferry ride around the lake to see three of the
villages under the volcanoes. The lake was formed eons ago from a large
volcano and is over 900 ft deep. Three "new" volcanoes were subsequently
created, and are active. Quite a sight to see at sunset.
Tomorrow Sunday we have tickets to Chichicastenango, about 1 hour ride from
our hotel for their market day. Monday we will start to wind our way back to
the Rio, with a night stop somewhere to break up the 9 hr trip. At least it is
all down hill from here.
Got lots of pictures. David had a bout of the flu yesterday and slept for 36
hours, he is wired to go today, wants to get to Whitecap, so he will know what
he is eating...Dick
April 10, 2002 at 11:40:58 (EDT),
Wednesday - Hi Everyone,
We are finally back on the Rio Dulce, got on a shuttle bus on Monday at
Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, at 08:00 and changed shuttles at St Lucia after we
had to backtrack 15 miles because a "chicken bus" turned over on the way up
the mountain ahead of us... no one was hurt but only because the bus stayed on
the roadway, the cliff was over 500 ft down. When something like this happens
there are lineups for miles. Finally got to Guate City, and the 3 of us were
the only passengers for the Rio so we had the van to ourselves. Just at the
outskirts to the city, we got into a lineup, everything was stopped, police
came by and said a 18 wheeler propane tanker truck was overturned on the
highway about 2 km ahead of us, figured it would be at least 6 hours before
the road would clear. We decided to turn around for Guatemala City, got a
hotel and had a good night. Our driver came back at 08:00 and picked us up,
finally arriving at the Rio at 14:00, long day... Turns out it was a good
choice the highway was closed for 13 hours. If the truck had exploded it would
have taken out a large area of mixed residential ??? and commercial... like a
big bomb.
Dave is coping well, went for groceries in the dink, and could not get up to
plane with 3 on board, so we all got wet on the way back, even the grocery
bags were full of river water.
Today I will fix the transmission shift lever, or at least attempt to, and we
will head out the river to Livingston for a few days. Dave cannot wait to swim
in the blue water...Will send before we go. Dick
April 12, 2002 at 11:48:21 (EDT), Friday - Hi Everyone. Well life
in the Rio goes on... and on... Got word yesterday that the abandoned sailboat
we found in the Mangrove Cays (near Wild Cane Cay) is really empty, a couple
who have property in New Haven heard our message on the VHF and went over to
check. On board the dishes were set on the table for one and the boat had not
been ransacked or touched. Looks like the guy or gal, just went to the stern
for a pee and fell over... they towed the boat to Iacos Lagoon which is a
manetee preserve and left her there. The police we reported to never went to
check. Would like to know the whole story.... someday.
Getting along great, Dave has minor sunburn on his front, and absolutely none
on his hands as they are in his pockets, holding up his pants most of the
time... Went for take out pizza at Rio Bravo last night, as usual eyes are
bigger than belly and we fed Lube's brothers with the rest.
The owner of ADIOS, a steel hull next to Whitecap, is arriving tomorrow, so
Lube and Emi have been busy varnishing and cleaning, looks like a new boat.
Pat has not made a deal for the aluminum masts as yet, Las Vegas Bob is gone
back to the US for awhile. Two new boats are at the dock, both Canadian, a
Corbin 39 Neige d'ete from Montreal which we met in Placentia, and Sonata an
Endeavour from Vancouver, just through the Panama Canal. Lube is now full up
but thinking about stern-to docking on our side of the pier, for another 3
boats. Out of 7 boats , 4 are Canadian.
All for now, starting to pack up some of the stuff for home, looks like we
will have our limit...Dick
April 14, 2002 at 11:24:29 (EDT), Sunday - Hi Everyone. Problems
with the transmission again; she has been stuck in fwd since Placentia,
not really a big deal, except when we wish to set the anchor. When we want to
stop, we just shut the motor off and toss the drogue over the stern, I have
been down in the bilge trying to free the shaft with a better than wd40 stuff
for the last three mornings before it gets too hot; no luck yet, but
today the small ball bearing which clicks from fwd-neutral-rev popped out and
went to the bilge. Now I have to find it, or another one somewhere. Don't want
to spend any more on this engine, already cost us almost the price of a new
Yanmar 38hp which would fit nicely and weigh about half as much...
We went on a tour of the river yesterday, Swap meet and breakfast at Mario´s,
dinghy up the creek where the Howler monkeys live, back to Marios to pay the
breakfast bill, which we walked out on, then Hacienda Tijah for a walk to the
rubber plantation... too hot turned back. Then a whip through Susanna´s
Lagoona Marina for a look see, then over to the Castillo so Dave could see the
old fort built in 1516, and then lunch at Mansion del Rio an exclusive resort
up river, by then we were ready for a rest...
The dinghy would not plane with three of us, so I mentioned it to Lube and
asked him where I could pick up a set of wings for the shaft. Lube said he had
a pair, and damn, didn't he get them and installed them on our motor. You
know, it worked... now we can get up on a plane as soon as we rev her up. Next
we will have to try with four people... Everyone around here still wonders how
a 4.2 hp can go so fast.
Ray on Fleurs des Isles, just ahead of us has a birds nest on top of his mast;
we put some chicken eggs on his deck last night, wonder if he will notice...
There is a big carnival in town, rodeo and all; they blocked the traffic
on the highway for 2 hours for the parade, and horse show quite a sight
yesterday afternoon. Each evening they have live imported bands blaring music
until 01:00.
All for now, may go to Livingston tomorrow so Dave can see the canyon.
Dick
April 16, 2002 at 14:41:08 (EDT), Tuesday - Hi Everyone. We are
in Livingston, motored down yesterday aft, 20 kts on the nose through El
Golfete, we anchored across the river from AK Tenimet for the night.
David still not into the food around here, fish shrimp lobster.... well if all
else fails, hot dogs will prevail...
Been working on the transmission off and on, yesterday I took off the shift
lever, placed the washers, lever and nut on the cockpit floor, gave the shaft
a good spray of rust dissolver stuff, when I went to replace the hatch, the
pool cue we use to measure the fuel level in the tank, fell on the cockpit
floor... hit the 13mm nut for the transmission and in perfect tidily wink
fashion it flew up and over and landed directly in the bilge. damn... So Now I
have to fish around with a magnet, No luck yet.
Went to the Customs this AM in Livingston to do up the papers for the 9 month
extension to my 3 month one now in effect. Cost US$75 and another 80Q for the
Port Captain fee. A lot cheaper than Belize where it cost us US$1800. for 6
months...
We have had ants on board lately, just small ones, I found a chalk that I just
draw a line where they travel, and they get it on their little feet, go back
to their nest and infect the rest.... hope they get the Queen too. Anyway it
works.
Will head back up through the gorge this afternoon, David was suitably
impressed on the way down this AM. It was hard to get him going this AM, he
was up late last night reading John Grisham's The Testament, he is half way
through, and says he is going to read all the Grisham books before we head
back.... Ha Ha.
Rained very hard last night, drops were the size of nickels, we had a leak at
the foot of the V berth that we never had before, cannot imagine where the
water came from but Mary's sweaters were all wet this AM. We lift the dinghy
up to the rail at night, anyone planning to steal our Susuki 4.2 motor will
have to stand tippy toes to get it off. Met a German solo sailor last night,
Seigfred, he had just come from Mangrove Cays, Belize, a few days ago, the
abandoned boat was not there, so I guess the couple did tow it to Icacos
Lagoon after all. He said he spent a rough night anchored off Punta Gorda.
Plan to shuttle to Tikal on Monday next, then to Belize City. Dick
April 28, 2002 at 11:39:54 (EDT), Sunday - Hi everyone. Arrived
back home safe and sound in a blinding snowstorm!!! The drive across the
bridge was behind a sand truck at 30km hr.
All is well here and Bonnie and Clyde were happy to see us, but now will be
relegated to the basement and outside again. Cindy gave them the run of
the house while we were away.
Will have log and pictures up soon... Visited Lloyd and Donna this AM, the new
boat looks really beautiful, and will hit the water in June at last.
Mary and Dick
