After spending a couple of days in No Name Point Belize where we had our nightly entertainment of a spectacular lighting shows we started our 35 mile motor down towards the Rio Dulce. As we made our way down between the reef and the coast we started to notice a few bees swarming us we were not too concerned until the numbers started to increase dramatically. Then the bees started to use our boat as a resting station. Karen armed with an old rag started to swat them away after a couple of hours of swatting we left the bee path and anchored for the night of the coast of Honduras.
Early the next morning we hauled anchor and made our way the famous bar in Livingston Guatemala. No we are not going drink at a bar first thing in the morning and no we have not gone off to Law school. The bar is a sand bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce, it is famous because for those boat like ours you need high tide to go over it. So that morning armed with everyone’s waypoints plotted into our GPS we made our way nervously towards the bar. The theory is that you line up your course and go full speed ahead at near high tide and if you touch bottom you have enough momentum to get you over or really stuck. As we are approaching and are ready to line up for our run a group of fishing boats decide to drag there nets across our path. You have to understand we only have about 1 hour before we will lose the high tide and we would have to wait another day. After circling around and probably Cheryl’s evil eye scared the fishing boats away and off we went. As much as we are trained to go slow when you know it is getting swallow we toss caution to the wind and went full bore watching the GPS and the depth sounder. Yeah we made it with a few inches to spare.
We had made arrangement with this guy that all the cruiser use to organize all the officials need to check in to Guatemala and as soon as we radio he brought our a herd of officials. The whole process took 45 minutes with many forms to be signed and we were then free to come to shore and pay the fees. After heading to the bank and paying our fees we were giving a welcome package from the Port Captain. This was one of the easies and nicest experiences we have had checking in, although far from the cheapest.
Once you raise you anchor in Livingston you start your meander down a winding river with tall pine, palms and sheer cliffs with an occasional howler monkey hiding behind a tree branch saying “Welcome to the Guatemala”. We stopped of at an anchorage called Texan Bay where the Texan flag flew high above the trees. The Rio Dulce is a fresh water river so we both jumped in for a fresh water swim. It was like swimming in the northern lakes in Ontario except a lot warmer. Even Interlude enjoyed the fresh water as she had never been in fresh water before.
The next morning we hauled anchor to head to our new home for the hurricane season. We did notice that the navigation marks a little on the rustic side. In fact we have discovered that poles or stakes with the Pelicans on them are really the navigation marks marking the route up the river. We also discover if there is a Pelican on the pole which usually there was, if you look at the way he is facing he is showing you where the swallow water is. Who needs charts when you have a Pelican?
We arrived at Mario’s Marina to warm hug and kiss from the owner and some of our friends we have met over the past year. We knew we would have fun here because before we had our boat secure we were invited to play volleyball.
As with most hurricane seasons it is the time to spend fixing things, not that you don’t do boat work on anchor, but now you attack the big jobs. We have 2 leaky water tanks and a leaky diesel tank, those are priorities. Last season we dealt some big items like the water maker and electric windless. This season is about tarting Interlude up. She is going to be 30 next year and deserves a make over. New wood in the main saloon, varnish all doors, repaint walls and floors.
No comments:
Post a Comment