Maintenance/Cruising Log

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

I spent most of the day working on the computer. One of my new year’s resolutions is to work real hard to stay caught up on my Maintenance/Cruising Log, and to work on getting current with my updates.

With that commitment in mind I am not getting into any major DREAM AWAY projects until I get the Key West to Guatemala passage update finished, and the Christmas 2014 update done.

Of course I am also way behind on getting my financial files current, and a mountain of documents that must be scanned in. It seems like I will be chained to the computer for the next couple of weeks.

I took about 100 pictures of the passage, but between Jeff and Danny they left me with over 2500 pictures and videos! I have decided that I do not want over 200 pictures in the passage update. I have to go through all of the photos, decide on the ones I want to use, then name them all, make thumbnails, and also shrink the photo size to around 300K each. This is to keep from using too much bandwidth when folks look at the update.

We needed to run some errands, so we got into the tender, and went upriver to Hotel Backpackers. We dropped off our laundry to be washed, dry and folded, and to pick up some finished laundry. We also stopped in the store at Hotel Backpackers and purchased a loaf of bread. They bake their own bread, and it is delicious.

We left Hotel Backpackers, and went into Shell Bay and stopped at RAM Marine. We went there to purchase chocolate, ice, and cream. I needed the cream to make some peanut butter ice cream for our good friend Paul. We promised it to him as a Christmas present, so I needed to deliver!

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, I made the ice cream, and put it in the freezer in the ranchito, to harden. I spent the remainder of the day working on the computer, and keeping track of the college football bowl games. Texas A&M won their bowl game on the 29th of December, but the other SEC teams are doing very well!

Just before the sun went down another rain storm went by, but it produced a rainbow, which we took as good luck being the first day of 2015

Rainbow On The Rio Dulce

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Went into town to do some shopping. The town here is named Fronteras and is on the north side of the Rio Dulce. we went to a feed store to try and purchase some Purina ProPlan cat food. It was a no go!

We went to The Dispensa Familiar grocery store for a couple of groceries. We wanted to purchase some veggies and fruit from the vendors on the street, but there was not much available, so we declined.

We left Fronteras, and went across the Rio to Hotel Backpackers to pick up the laundry we left yesterday. We then went on the other side of the bridge and stopped at Tienda Reed. We had not been to Tienda Reed since arriving, so we just wanted to see if much has changed.

We headed back to DREAM AWAY, as I was not feeling real good. I had a bit of dinner, and was in bed by 1800.

I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and then went back to bed. The body hurts!

I spent all day in bed. I am pretty sure I have Dengue Fever again. My joints and bones are hurting, and I going from hot to cold! Kitty says I have a fever. Depending on your outlook, I feel bad if I am in bed or if I am up!

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Felt a bit better today, but not at 100%. I ate a bit of dinner with a little wine and then went to bed again. Perhaps I have Dengue Fever lite? Last time I had Dengue Fever, I was down and out for 10 days, and after only 2 ½ days I am feeling better.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Started the day by pumping out the tender. It had rained hard all night, so it was pretty full of water. It rained pretty heavy in the morning, so the tender got pumped out again at midday. More rain in the afternoon, so the tender got pumped out again before I went to bed.

Rainwater In The Tender

Got to work on some minor projects today. One project that needs done is the workbench in the garage needs cleaning off. I cannot use the workbench until it gets cleaned off.

Pile Of Stuff On Workbench

A lot of the stuff on the workbench just needed to be put away. The workbench just seems to collect stuff when there is no good quick place for it to go. I got a fair amount of stuff put away, but had two water pumps in my way.

As mentioned in the Passage Update from Key West to Guatemala, I had to replace one of the Shurflo fresh water pumps. I had to replace that pump once we got here to Monkey Bay Marina. So now I have two pumps that will not operate properly.

When the pump is in the freshwater system, the pump is located under the floor of the main cabin. It is a pain to work on and test, so I decided to build a test jig so I could take the pumps, a bucket of water, the jigs and a battery back to the shop at Monkey Bay Marina, and work on the pumps and test them before I put them back into the fresh water system.

The test jigs are nothing complicated. Some connectors, some hose and a valve on the output of the pump to make sure the pressure switch works properly.

Pump Test Jig On Workbench

I then put some more soap in the bilge to work on getting the bilge clean. I also put an oil soak pad in the bilge to try and clean up any residual oil that is still floating around.

Some oil got into the bilge during the passage. I have not looked, but the platform I had positioned under the engine with an oil soak pad on it must have moved. I will plan a day to check it out, and then fix the problem.

Cleaned up from those projects, took a nice shower, then got back to work on the passage update.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Still raining when I got up this morning, but cleared up around 1000. We wanted to run a couple of errands, so had to pump out the tender before we could leave the marina.

We headed out and stopped at Hotel Backpackers to drop off a bag of laundry for wash dry and fold. We also wanted to purchase a loaf of bread, but they were sold out. I was able to order two pounds of ground pork. We love to mix the ground pork and ground beef together to make really great hamburgers. We left Hotel Backpackers and then headed up river to Rosita’s restaurant for lunch.

When we lived on the Rio Dulce before we would go to Rosita’s for lunch on Tuesday to enjoy the chicken or beef burrito. We were looking forward to enjoying the lunch again. We were denied! They were not open, as they were still cleaning up from New Year’s!

Not to be deterred, we headed across the Rio Dulce to Hotel Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas. We had a great lunch. I did have the burrito and Kitty had the flautas. After lunch and a visit with Gary, the owner, we headed back down river to our marina.

When we got back it was time to work on the Sharp R-930-AW combination microwave and convection oven. A couple of days before we left Key West, for the passage to Guatemala, the microwave portion of the Sharp R-930-AW quit working. Everything seemed to function properly, but the food would not get hot.

Kitty and I got the microwave out of the Galley, and put it on the table in the main salon. I removed the cover, and with the troubleshooting guide, I determined that the magnetron was bad. A replacement was available in the US, but could not find one here in Guatemala.

Microwave On Main Salon Table With Cover Removed

Inside of Microwave

Magnetron In Microwave

Since we could not repair the microwave, and would have to put it back into it’s place in the galley, we decided to give the unit a good cleaning.

Kitty Cleaning The Microwave

When we had completed the cleaning, I put the cover back on the microwave, and put it back into it’s place in the galley. Now I had to try and get the part physically on DREAM AWAY.

Our friends Nicola and Noel, who live in England, are coming to the Rio Dulce in a couple of weeks. I asked them to look online at some web sites in the UK. They said they could not find one. They did offer to have one sent to them, and they would bring it down for us.

In the meantime, Kitty had contacted John, the marina harbormaster, about shipping the magnetron here via FedEx or DHL. He did not think that option would work, but he had another one!!

The owner of Monkey Bay Marina had a trip planned to go to Miami for three or four days. John said I could get the part shipped to his hotel, and he would bring it back with him. The owner lives in Guatemala City, and comes down to the marina at least once a month. I ordered that part, so now I have to wait until I get it in my hot little hands, and see if that is the problem with the microwave.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

After breakfast, I pumped out the tender, and we went off to run a couple of errands. First stop was Hotel Backpackers to drop off a bag of laundry.

We left Hotel Backpackers and went to the other side of the bridge to Tienda Reed. We asked about getting some kitty litter. They did not have any, but we put our name on the list for a bag of litter when it came in on the following Monday.

Kitty also asked if they could find and order her favorite wine, Frontera Moscato. It was actually here on the Rio Dulce that we were introduced to the Frontera brand several years ago. Chiqui, the owner of Tienda Reedsaid he would check into the Frontera Moscato and let us know.

We left Tienda Reed and came back to DREAM AWAY. I spent the remainder of the day working on email and the passage update.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Spent entire day on the computer working on the passage update and uploading photos. Finally got everything uploaded to the web page.

I got the emails sent off to everyone on my DREAM AWAY update list notifying them of the latest update.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Spent most of the day working on the computer getting and staying caught up on email. Also worked on more scanning in of paper documents to have electronic copies, and get rid of the paper.

We heard the howler monkeys close by in the trees, so attempted to get some good pictures. It is amazingly difficult to get good pictures with good light when you are on the ground and they are in the trees.

Howler Baby In The Trees

Howler Monkey In The Tree

We decided to go to Movie Night at Tortugal River Lodge. They show a movie on Friday night. The deal is two pieces of pizza, a salad, and a soda or a beer for Q50. They also send a launcha to your marina, pick you up, take you to the Lodge, and then deliver you back to your marina after the movie is over. The movie this night was Grand Seduction. It was enjoyable and at the same time uplifting.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time attempting to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

When we were not running errands, I spent all of my time on DREAM AWAY working on the computer and scanning in documents to get rid of the paper.

We left DREAM AWAY and went to Tortugal River Lodge to get a copy of a movie. We visited with the folks that had the movie, and then we headed down river to Hotel Backpackers to pick up the laundry we had left there a couple of days ago. While there, Kitty called John, the Monkey Bay Marina dockmaster. We agreed to meet John at a new marina that is located between Fronteras, and Hacienda Tijax.

We meet John at the marina, which is named Mangle Marina. Mangle is the spanish word for mangrove. The owner of the marina is looking for someone to manage the marina, as he would like to fill the marina up with cruisers. We looked over the facility, and were really impressed. It has a very nice swimming pool, very good docks, shower and restroom facilities, and cable Internet. It also has road access to Fronteras.

We left the marina and headed back to DREAM AWAY. Kitty and I discussed the possibilities, and decided we did not want to get involved in another job. That may change in the future, but for right now, I want to try the retirement gig, and work on DREAM AWAY.

Because we do not have the opportunity for TV here in the Rio, I removed the cables and the Roku from the Nav station. This really helped clean up the Nav station.

Cables Hanging Out Of Nav Station

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and spend time with them brushing their beautiful coats.

Today is backup day. I have two Toshiba Satellite C55 laptops that I purchased to be my navigation and general use computer. I went this route to have a 100% backup system. I have since purchased a 512 Gbyte SSD for one of the laptops, and that is the laptop I use on a daily basis.

So this is my backup procedure. On the daily use laptop I use one of my external drives in a case and do a data backup to this drive. This is all of my personal data, and pretty much no system data. When that is complete, I insert a DVD into the DVD drive and boot up Linux Mint 17. When I have that up and running, I connect another 512 Gbyte external drive, and use the UNIX “dd” command to copy from the internal hard drive to the external hard drive in a USB case.

I this point, I now have two hard drives with the exact same information on them. I now get out the second laptop, and remove the hard drive from it. I remove the 512 Gbyte hard drive from the external case and insert it into the second laptop. I boot up the second laptop, and verify operation, specifically testing to make sure my virtual machine comes up and I can run the CAPN navigation software.

The hard drive I removed from the second laptop, I put it into the external USB case and connect it to the second laptop. I insert a DVD into the DVD drive and boot up Linux Mint 17. When I have that up and running, I use the UNIX “dd” command to copy from the internal hard drive to the external hard drive in a USB case. When that is finished, I have two laptops with the exact same information on them, and an external hard drive also with the same information.

A bit time consuming, and hardly automated, but I am pretty sure I will not have the problems I had last year when I lost my MACBook Pro. Of course if I could afford it I would have two exact same MACBook Pro’s and do the same type of backup!

Getting Ready To Remove The Hard Drive From The Laptop

Linux Mint 17 Booted Up

Executing The UNIX “dd” Command From A Terminal Window

The UNIX “dd” command take about 2 hours to do the bit to bit copy on a 512 Gbyte hard drive, so I had plenty of time on my hands.

I used the time to find some small pieces of chain I can use to put around the pilings here at the marina, and the attach my dock lines to the chain. Less wear on my dock lines.

I knew I had some pieces of chain in the forward aft deck box. I also had some shackles and thimbles, all I had to do was get them out. I knew they were on the bottom, so I had to remove a lot of lines to get to them. I also had some help!

Removing Lines From The Forward Aft Deck Box

Getting Help Searching For the Chain

Chain, Thimbles And Shackles

Jordan Resting After A job Well Done

I was able to find four shackles, and four thimbles, but I could only find two pieces of chain. I need four pieces of chain, as I use four dock lines to secure DREAM AWAY to the dock. I know John, the marina dockmaster, has some chain in the shop, so I will ask about purchasing some for my dock lines.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

When I came back from Paul’s boat, I got back on the computer and got to work on the January Maintenance/Cruising log.

After breakfast, I got the two bad freshwater pumps, the test jig, some tools, a bucket for water, and the tender battery together, put them all in the wheelbarrow, and went back to the shop.

One pump would not run at all, and the second pump would not stop running! I worked on both pumps, and the problem with both of them is the pressure microswitch. In both cases I sprayed some corrosion block on the inside of the switches and got both pumps working properly.

Working On Water Pump, Pressure Switch Off

Water Pump Being Tested

Water Pump Test Setup

Testing Second Water Pump

A Bird Watching Me Work On The Water Pumps

I also worked on the Jerry Can I use to have gasoline on DREAM AWAY for the outboard on the tender. It is the new environmentally conscious Jerry Can that is supposed to prevent spills. I guess mine never worked properly, because I have spilled more fuel with this can that I ever had with all my other non environmentally conscious Jerry Cans. It appears I now have that Jerry Can working.

Jerry Can With Spout Removed

Jerry Can All Back Together

I then took the Jerry Can, water pumps, and all of the stuff back to DREAM AWAY, and felt like I had accomplished a bit for the day.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I have been making a habit of going to friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. It had started raining around 0400, and it was still raining hard at 0730, so I stayed on DREAM AWAY, and listened to the cruisers net. Did not get off of DREAM AWAY until after 1000.

At this opportunity, I pumped out the tender. With all of the rain, it was very full, so had a fun time getting that done! It is ready for the next batch of rain.

Spent several hours working on updating the Maintenance/Cruising log, and started working on the Christmas 2014 update. Like the passage update, I have a large amount of pictures (1600) from Jeff and Danny to go through and decide which ones I want to use!

I also spent time working on scanning in a lot of paperwork from last year. I need to keep all of this information for my records, but not as paper!

The Casa Guatemala grocery launcha came by the marina about midday, so we purchased some pork chops, sausage, fruit, and a fresh loaf of bread that was still warm. We ordered some ground meat and ground pork from the boat, so hopefully it will be delivered on Saturday.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, we got the fixins’ out and Kitty had a ham sandwich, and I had a peanut butter and onion sandwich on the fresh bread. It was wonderful! I finished the day back on the computer!

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 the rain had let up a bit, so I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

It rained, or had a very heavy mist all day today. I worked on the computer scanning in documents, and working on the Maintenance/Cruising Logs.

Kitty and I had planned to go into town to do some shopping, but it just did not get clear enough to take the chance, so we were on DREAM AWAY all day.

We did go through our Galley utensil drawer. It seemed to suck up an amazing amount of utensils that we did not need. I also had a knife storage area in the bottom half of the drawer, and we had not used any of the knives in years since we got our set of Cutco knives.

Drawer With Top Half Empty

Drawer With Bottom Half Filled With Utensils

Utensils To Go Into Top Half Of Drawer

Some of the extra utensils, and the knives we gave away to the Guardian’s wife Yinera. We then put the utensils that we rarely used in the bottom section. The top section is now much better utilized, in that it is much easier to get utensils when you need them.

Top Half With Utensils In The Drawer

We then put the drawer back where it came from, and I got back to work on the computer.

Jordie Inspecting Shelf Before Drawer Goes Back In

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, attempt to brush their beautiful coats

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

It did not rain today, and the clouds went away by noon. I emptied the tender of rainwater, so it was ready to be used. I loaded the cooler into the tender, and some other goodies, and we were ready to go into town.

After breakfast, Kitty and I went into Fronteras to do some much needed grocery and cell phone shopping. The cell phones here work a bit differently than they do in the states. You purchase money on the phone, and as you make calls, the cost of each call is deducted from the credit you have on your phone. When the money runs out, you have to add more money to the phone.

Today is TiGo triple day. That means if you purchase 100 quetzales for the phone, you get 100 principal quetzales, and 200 promotional quetzales. How the two are deducted from the phone as you make calls, I do not know! Any way we purchased 200 quetzales principal, and 400 quetzales promotional. That will keep Kitty talking for a while.

We also purchased groceries, eggs, fruit, veggies, and some cat litter for the dear ones.

When we returned to DREAM AWAY, and got everything put away, Kitty baked some oatmeal raisin cookies for John, the harbormaster. Of course I worked on computer stuff, and did some reading, and helped sample the cookies from bowl to oven!

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, attempt to brush their beautiful coats

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

After breakfast, the beautiful Mimosa tree next to the Ranchito at the marina is in full bloom, and attracts a huge amount of hummingbirds. I attempted to take a couple of pictures of the hummingbirds, but it was impossible. I did get a couple of pictures of the Mimosa tree!

Mimosa Tree Next To Ranchito

A Shot Of The Mimosa Tree

While I was trying to get a photo of the hummingbirds, I came across a blooming orchid on one of the trees near the Mimosa Tree. The orchids here are amazing! you walk by these trees, and there is a green thing hanging onto the tree, and then all of a sudden! The beauty hits you right in the face.

Blooming Orchid

When the picture taking was finished, I got in the tender and went over to RAM Marine to visit with Jon, who has purchased a new boat. The boat is out on the hard, and he is doing a lot of work on it to make it into a real cruising boat.

He purchased some used Lewmar Ocean Hatches from a man who is completely rebuilding a big cat. Jon said he had some small hatches, so I am going to go over to where this person is and see if he has any of the Size 10 hatches for sale.

Jon Beside His New Boat Out On The Hard

When I finished chatting with Jon, I headed off to Tortugal. A friend of Kitty’s had left some DVD’s at the front desk and she asked me to pick them up. I got the DVD’s and headed back down river to Monkey Bay Marina. On the way I snapped a couple of photos of the bridge over the Rio Dulce.

Bridge Over The Rio Dulce

When I got back to DREAM AWAY, Kitty and I spent some time trying to locate a leak that is coming out around the forward port on the port side of the aft-cabin. Ran the hose over the area for about 15 minutes, and of course nothing.

Outside Of Port That Leaks

When we came back from dinner, it was raining, and when we got on DREAM AWAY and looked at the suspect port, you guessed it, it was leaking!

We got cleaned up after the leak finding attempt, dressed and went over to the front porch of the owners house. There we awaited the launcha from Casa Perico. We were headed over there for the Friday night buffet.

While we were waiting for the launcha, I saw a snake on the porch. We called over John, the harbormaster, and also Efrain, the guardian, and they both said the snake was a coral snake! They tried to get it with a stick, but it wiggled away, and then went into the water.

We finally got over to Casa Perico, and really enjoyed the buffet. There were some old friends there, and by the evenings end, some new friends! They had pork cordon bleu and chicken cordon bleu, and a good supply of vegetables and salads. It was a great meal, and was throughly enjoyed by all.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

As mentioned last night concerning my new port leak, it rained last night, so I pumped out the tender, and then dried it out with the sponge. It is ready to go if we need to.

Another day on the computer working on catching up on the updates and Maintenance/Cruising Logs.

I did have a couple of interruptions, as I again attempted to get some good photos of the howler monkeys that live around our marina. After all, that is why it is called Monkey Bay Marina.

Male Up In The Trees

Male Monkey Climbing Along A Branch

The pictures are not great, but I will keep trying! Later on in the afternoon, we heard the monkeys again. Kitty and I went out into to the cockpit with our binoculars to see if we could spot them.

Did not have much luck seeing any monkeys, but Kitty spotted a huge green iguana up in the trees. This one was probably 3’ long or more, and it was yellow! As I read up on the green iguana, it seems they come in many colors.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee. No cruisers net today, so we just talked about issues, and of course Paul brought up the issue of the Dez Bryant catch - again.

After breakfast, we went to Bruno’s for the monthly swap meet. Did not have anything to sell or buy, so it was mostly a social event for us. Met and talked with several friends.

We left Bruno’s, and went to Backpacker’s Hotel and purchased bread and sausage. From Backpacker’s Hotel we went over to the Nana Juana Hotel and Marina. There is a cruiser selling some used Lewmar Ocean Hatches, and I wanted Kitty to see them before I actually purchased the hatches. Kitty was pretty hot, so we decided not to stay and headed home to DREAM AWAY.

We got back to DREAM AWAY, and I started in on the computer work again. Later in the afternoon, we received a call from our daughter Judy. She told us the wonderful news that the gentleman (Aryeh) she had been seeing and dating for the last eight months has asked for her hand in marriage! She has accepted, so a wedding is in our future.

Of course, this was very sudden, happy news, so we do not have a date or any details as yet. I know all of that will be coming over the next couple of months.

Kitty and I are so very happy, we just had to have a toast, so we did! We had some Champagne on board to make Kir Royale drinks, but this toast seemed a better use of the Champagne.

Kitty And I Toasting Judy’s And Aryeh’s Engagement

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Today I decided to help friends, Gil and Marina, deliver their boat TRUTHSAYER, a Formosa 51’ ketch. They are in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and needed crew to get the boat to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala.

Once I get to Isla Mujeres, the trip down to Livingston, in Guatemala should not be too much of a problem. The normal thing on a sailboat, wait for a weather window, and then go!

I had also contacted friend Wayne who had made the most recent Gulf Crossing on DREAM AWAY. It looks like he will be helping with the passage from Isla Mujeres down to Livingston. He will be flying into Cancun then getting the ferry over to Isla Mujeres. I will be taking the bus from the Rio Dulce to Cancun, then the ferry over to Isla Mujeres.

Went into town to run a couple of errands. Completed the errands and we went to Bruno’s so Kitty could have some lunch. I had had a big breakfast, so was not hungry. Waited almost an hour before it finally arrived. When Kitty finished her lunch, we went back to DREAM AWAY.

Worked on a couple of small projects. I traded a wire I use to lock the engine to the tender. Paul on SERENITY, has a smaller wire that I wanted to use. As it turned out, the wire was too short, so I went back to the original locking wire.

I also looked into repairing the left front bumper on the tender, but it was a no go. I will have to pull the tender out of the water and do a proper fiberglass repair. That is a future project.

Running low on coffee filters, so took them into the garage. I drilled out the center of the filters, and then cut down the side of the filters so they would fit into the coffee percolator.

Coffee Filters On Garage Work Bench

Leftovers From Trimming The Coffee Filters

Got back on the computer and made my hotel reservations in Flores, Guatemala.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

We have a beautiful Mimosa Tree here at Monkey Bay Marina, and when it blossoms, it fills with hummingbirds. I spent about 30 minutes standing beside the tree to get a good shot of the hummingbirds. Needless to say there are no pictures here, and none of the pictures I took turned out! Very disappointing.

However, there is a beautiful orchid blooming here at Monkey Bay Marina, and I did get a picture it it. The orchid did not move!

Orchid In Bloom

Orchids In Bloom

They are doing some repairs on the thatched roof of the main house and the rancho here at Monkey Bay Marina. A day or so ago they had unloaded a lot of the palm fronds to be used to repair the thatch.

Early in the morning, a young kid was moving these palm fronds from the front of the main house to the back of the house. First thing in the morning he was really hustling, and moving a lot of thatch. As the day wore on he was carrying less and less, and a lot more time between trips. By the end of the day he had a helper to move the palm fronds.

Palm Fronds In Rancho Ready For Use

Area In Rancho Needing Repair

Young Kid Looking For Light Palm Fronds

Young Kid Moving Palm Fronds

Young Kid Chopping Palm Fronds

Young Kid And Helper Moving Palm Fronds

Since our tender has an electric start motor, and a battery in a nice box, I thought I would add a pad eye to the battery box so it could be locked with a cable around the battery box. The battery box is fiberglassed to the deck of the tender.

Padeye, Bolts and Drill Bits On Workbench Ready For Installation

Battery Box Ready For The Padeye Installation

Padeye Installed on Battery Box

Padeye, Lock, and Cable, Installed On Battery Box

I finally had a freed up five gallon bucket, so I removed the mainsheet, and all of the hardware from DREAM AWAY, put it all in the bucket, and the bucket went back to the storage area in the shop here at Monkey Bay Marina.

Mainsheet Missing From DREAM AWAY

Mainsheet In The Bucket

I was able to find a leak around the port aft cabin forward port. I got down and looked, and I could see where the sealant had split, and there was a space where water could run into the boat. As soon as we have a few hours in a row, with no rain, I will apply some more sealant on the port and stop that leak.

I had thrown an oil soak pad in the bilge a couple of days ago, to soak up the last remnants of oil. The pad had a bunch of oil in it, but not as bad as it could have been. I pulled the oil soak pad out of the bilge, and put it into the trash.

I worked on getting ready for the bus trip to Isla Mujeres. I needed to get together clothes, and the safety gear for the sailing trip, but also wanted to have some Belize Dollars and Mexican Pesos with me when I crossed the respective borders. The good news on this front is actually two fold. John and Betty off of SECOND WIND had just made the Isla Mujeres to Rio Dulce and back bus trip just last month.

They were able to advise me on the what, where and how to make the trip from Rio Dulceto Isla Mujeres with very recent personal information. They also had Belize Dollars and Mexican Pesos that they gave to me to use on the trip. All they asked was I returned the cash to them when I returned. So things were falling into place.

The last thing I did today was to inventory the Northern Lights generator parts. I needed to find a part, but my inventory had not been updated since I did a lot of work on the generator. Now was the time! I got out all of the generator parts and inventoried them, and then put them all back under the workbench in the garage.

Generator Parts Laid Out On Nav Station

Parts Being Entered Into Spreadsheet

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats,Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Worked on an email to Connie and Wayne explaining to Wayne how to get to El Milagro marina in Isla Mujeres from the airport in Cancun.

I also sent an email to Connie explaining how to get from Guatemala City, Livingston or Puerto Barrios to Rio Dulce, depending on how she decided to come. She is planning on meeting Wayne here on the Rio Dulce when we finish with the TRUTHSAYER delivery.

When I finished the email we set off in the tenderto run some errands, and to have lunch at Rosita’s restaurant. We went into town and got a new SIM for Nicola’s Guatemalan phone. It was TiGo triple day, so we got some time put onto her phone also.

Then we went around to Nutria marina where Nicola & Noel keep their boat, TANTALUS. We were looking at the boat to see what general condition it was in, and also to pick up a book we needed, “ Spanish For Cruisers”. We could not find our copy, as we must have left it in Louisiana, so Nicola said we could borrow her copy.

We had a short visit with John & Betty who were working on moving all of their goods from their old boat SECOND WIND to their newly purchased boat FREE RIDE. When we finished with the visit we headed up river to Rosita’s restaurant.

On our last visit to the Rio Dulce in 2009 - 2011, we would go to Rosita’s almost every Tuesday and have their Burrito special. We knew it was not Tuesday, but we wanted to see what was going on. When we got to the restaurant and sat down, we were given the menu, and we were overwhelmed.

Things had changed while we were gone, and Rosita’s is not a cruisers restaurant any more. Nothing on the menu was under a Q100! (1 USD = 7.5 Q) We said thanks, but no thanks! we got up, got back into the tender and left.

Since we had a hankering for Mexican food, we headed across the river to Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas. We know the owners, and were rewarded with a nice visit with Gary, one of the owners. The special they have on Monday is pork ribs in a pasilla sauce, which turned out to be excellant. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the visit.

Entrance To Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas

Our Table Inside Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas

We left Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas, and stopped at Tienda Reedfor some cat food, and then onto Nana Juana marina. I was checking on some hatches I want to purchase to replace the last three wooden hatches that are on DREAM AWAY.

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, I applied some Boat Life Life-Seal to the port side aft port. It had a leak, and I finally discovered the source, and sealed it up.

I spent the remainder of the day getting myself organized and packed for the trip to Isla Mujeres.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan, and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Around 0715 I went to my friend Paul’s boat, SERENITY, for coffee and to listen to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Left Monkey Bay Marina around 1200, and went to John's hangout for lunch. We were served, and I was just finishing up when the Linea Dorada bus pulled into the Fuente Del Norte bus station at about 1230. John ran over to the bus and made sure it stopped for me to catch up.

Kitty and I went over to the stopped bus, and I paid my Q 120 for the trip, gave Kitty a big kiss, and I was on my way. A couple of miles out of town, the bus stopped, and one of the drivers got into the luggage compartment. We then continued on. I thought that a bit strange!

Passing A Truck On The Two Lane Highway

Going Over A Creek On The Way North

Around 1400 we stopped at a fruit inspection station. Some officials in uniform walked on the bus and asked if we had fruit. I did not, but in a country that grows so much fruit, I can not imagine what they were doing. During this stop we could get off the bus and use the restrooms or buy snacks and drinks. After this short break, we were under way again.

We made two additional stops to drop off passengers, and one stop to drop off a package at Sabanitas Gloria

The bus went directly to Flores Island and dropped us off. Flores is an island in the Lago Peten Itza. A Tuk-Tuk took me to the Casazul hotel, where I had a reservation. It was a very nice hotel, and my room was very nice, with private bathroom, two beds and a microwave and refrigerator.

Main Bed In Hotel Room

Decoration On Bed In Hotel Room

Bed In Second Room Of Hotel Room

Refrigerator In Second Room

Other Side Of Lake From Hotel Balcony

Sunset From Hotel Balcony

I settled into the room, and had a cold beer. I called Kitty, and she said she had had an accident on the way back to Monkey Bay Marina. John had let go of the steering wheel, and the boat did a hard swerve. This threw Kitty to the side of the boat and bruised her arm and shoulder badly. Kitty said it was not bad enough for me to return, so my impression was it was not bad. I was to find out later it was pretty bad.

I went out to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the front desk at the hotel. It was a very nice restaurant, and I had the special, which was a rabbit burger, and it was very good.

Went back to the hotel, and took a shower, and went to sleep. I had arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 0600 in the morning.

This was a long day, and I did not take any pictures, which I should have done. I was up at 0500, packed and down in the lobby by 0545. I had asked reception last night if they would have a cab for me at 0600. I did not even finish my coffee, and the cab showed up! The cab driver took me to the bus station in Santa Elena and helped me purchase the bus ticket at the Linea Dorada office as he spoke some English.

I think I will be left at the bus station in Belize City? We left Santa Elena 15 minutes early at 0645. We did not get on a large bus, but a minibus, of approx 20 passengers. We had two drivers, and I was not sure why. As it turned out one driver was for Guatemala, and the other driver was for Belize.

We arrived at the border around 0815. We got out of the bus, and walked to Guatemala Immigration, and checked out of the country for Q20 We then walked across border to Belize Immigration, then customs. No charges, and no customs inspection. We waited for the bus, and when it arrived, we got on and headed for Belize City. Total time to check out of Guatemala and check into Belize was approximately 45 minutes.

On both sides of the border, there were many men trying to get you to exchange money. I had brought plenty of Belize Dollars, so I did not need to be bothered.
I did not go to the bus station in Belize City, but we arrived at the boat landing in Belize City around 1115. I got off the bus, and caught a cab right away to the downtown bus station. Charge was B8.00, and I added a B2.00 tip.

I needed to go to a bank and get some more Belize Dollars from an ATM machine, but I could not leave my luggage. I ended up leaving my bag with a vendor who charged me B7.00 to watch the bag.

I went out of the bus station and down the street a block, and then down another street for two blocks to the bank. I got my Belize Dollars from the ATM machine and made my way back to the bus station. On the way I stopped at a bakery and purchased a slice of pizza, and a doughnut.

When I got back to the bus station, I was not able to purchase the ticket to Cancun. The ticket agent for ADO bus lines did not start selling tickets until 1700, so I had a long wait. I sat down and enjoyed the pizza and the doughnut. It was great people watching.

Sign Explaining ADO Pricing

“Official” Signage In The Bus Station

I was finally able to purchase the first phase ticket at 1715, from the ADO ticket agent in the bus station. As the sign says, you are only purchasing a ticket to the Belize/ Mexico border. When you get into Mexico, then you purchase the ticket for the remainder of the trip. The ADO bus arrived around 1920, and we were loaded and underway by 1934. It is so nice to be on a soft seat after 7 hours on the hard wooden seats at the bus station.

As you will see for the remainder of today, and the entry for tomorrow, I tried to keep a good log. I wanted to be able to pass the information along in case someone else needed to make this particular trip.

There were plenty of speed bumps on the road, but we made good time. There was a five minute stop in Orange Walk, from 2104 - 2109 to pick up passengers. We made a three minute stop in Corazul@ 2200 to pick up passengers.

Next stop was for the Belize border crossing from 2215-2243. Here we got our passports stamped by immigration for a fee, and then we had to pay a conservation fee, and this all totaled B37.50.

We got back into the bus and headed for the Mexican border to clear customs and immigration. The difference was amazing. The border crossing in Belize was pretty shabby, and the road was not in decent shape and not much lighting on the road.

When we crossed into Mexico, the difference was startling. The buildings for Immigration & Customs were all brand new. The roads were new and four lane, and extremely well lit. We got our passports stamped, and then our luggage was X-rayed. When all that was finished we got back onto the bus and headed north. This stop was from 2247 to 2321.

Our first stop of this day, another long one, was right at midnight. This stop was to purchase the bus ticket from the Mexican border to downtown Cancun. I was first off the bus, and had the cost in Mexican pesos, so I was finished quickly. Since I had time, and there was a small hot dog stand next to the office, I elected to have a hot dog. and it was delicious! Our total time at this stop was from 0000 until 0037.

Our next stop was at Tulum from 0317 to 0320 to drop off passengers.

We stopped at Playa del Carmen from 0417 to 0425 to drop off passengers.

Our next to last stop was at the Cancun Airport from 0514 to 0517 to drop off passengers.

We arrived at the ADO bus station in downtown Cancun at 0542. I had planned to stop at the Commercial Mexicana, a big grocery store across the street from the ADO bus station. The grocery store was not open, and it was raining, so I decided to continue the journey to get out to Isla Mujeres, and aboard TRUTHSAYER.

I took a taxi from the ADO bus station to the ferry landing at Puerto Juarez. This is the older ferry, but it did not even start operation until 0800, so I had the cab driver take me to the Ultramar Ferry. I got very lucky, as the ferry departed at 0604. We arrived at the Isla Mujeres ferry dock at 0623.

I was pretty tired and I was not sure about the weather, so instead of walking to the El Milagro Marina, I took a cab.

Isla Mujeres Anchorage From El Milagro Marina Dock

Main Dock At El Milagro Marina

Landside Facilities At El Milagro Marina

I got to TRUTHSAYER around 0645, and was greeted by Gil & Marina’s new dog Luna. We had a quick visit, and then listened to the Chris Parker weather forecast on the SSBradio. Marina made me a cup of coffee, and we caught up on my trip to Isla Mujeres, and plans for TRUTHSAYER to make the passage to the Rio Dulce.

TRUTHSAYER’s New Dog Luna

Gil Hard At Work On The Computer

Marina Relaxing With Her Tablet

I took a much needed shower, and then Gil & I walked down the main road on Isla Mujeres to a new megastore, Chedraui. Marina rode her bike so she could carry the groceries back! It is an amazing store, and to have it on Isla Mujeres is great. it sort of reminds me of the big HEB stores in Texas, with a large section of clothes and appliances, etc.

Jim After Much Needed Shower

New Mural On A Wall On The Main Road

Entrance To Chedraui Mega-Store

Front Of Chedraui Mega-Store

We did some grocery shopping for TRUTHSAYER, and I did some grocery shopping for myself. Mostly, I looked around in wonderment!

Gil and I walked back to TRUTHSAYER. When we got back, I got on my computer and sent out emails to those concerned about my welfare. Of course I was sending out SPOT messages during the entire trip from Rio Dulce to Isla Mujeres. When that was complete, I had a bite to eat, and hit the sack. I had been up for close to 36 hours, and needed the sleep.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather. When Gil got up he made a pot of coffee, and showed me how to do it. I tend to rise early, so needed the instructions!

After breakfast, I helped Gil with a repair of his dinghy. It had a slight leak and need a fix, which we did. I also helped with a couple of small projects that needed to be accomplished before we headed out on the passage. I also spent some time on my computer catching up on email.

I was not sure when Wayne would arrive on the ferry at Isla Mujeres. I knew when his plane was “scheduled” to arrive in Cancun, but had no idea if it was going to be on time. My plan was to walk into town, and wait at the ferry terminal when the first possible ferry would arrive that he could be on.

The walk into town was wonderful, but a lot of changes had taken place since I was last here in 2011. Of course the harbor pretty much remains the same, just different boats.

The road itself had been repaved, new light poles, along the road, and a new “ornament” as a tourist thing. Even so I really enjoyed the walk.

Another Small Hotel & Marina That Has Opened Up

Boats Out In The Harbor

Big Power Boat At Anchor

Sailboat At Anchor

Newly Paved Street Going Into Town With New Street Lights

Cement Launcha On Street

Whale Shark In Cement Launcha

Mexican Navy Base Just On The Outskirts Of Town

Mexican Navy Dock

I went to the Ultramar ferry landing and waited for the next ferry to arrive. When it finally got in, Wayne was not on it.

Ultramar Ferry Coming Into The Dock

Ultramar Ferry Getting Ready To Offload Passengers

Since Wayne was not on the ferry, I decided to take a walk into the city center and look around. I also wanted to look into the Super Express grocery store on the square to see what brands of cat food they had. They did not have exactly what I was looking for, so just did some looking around. I saw a really neat bell hanging from the city hall building. It really looked like a ship’s bell. Across the square is the Catholic Church.

Bell On The City Hall Building

Catholic Church On The Square

I went back to the ferry landing in time for the next ferry, and lo and behold, Wayne was on this ferry. Wayne had packed pretty light, so we walked out of town to El Milagro Marina. On the way, I had Wayne sit down so I could get a photo.

Wayne On The Way Back to El Milagro Marina

When we got back to El Milagro Marina there was some excitement on the dock. A sailboat at another marina had been asked to leave, and they were coming into El Milagro Marina. The problem was the sailboat did not have a working engine!

They were being pushed into the marina by a small power boat, and there were many chiefs. The boat coming in was captained by a German, the folks on the small power boat were Mexican, and the folks on the dock attempting to help were American, Mexican, and German! You can imagine the fun.

As I stood and watched, I realized two of the Germans on the dock were good friends of ours! We had planned to meet in Marathon, Florida, but because of our problems and their weather issues, it did not happen.

We were both surprised to see each other. It was nice to see Theo and Rosmarie from the catamaran TITARO. Once the motorless boat got into the dock we had a nice visit. They had some plans that evening, so we made a date for the morning.

Motorless Boat Coming Into the Dock

Pelican Watching The Excitement

While I was on the dock watching the show, I took a shot of TRUTHSAYER at the dock. This is the yacht we would be sailing back down to the Rio Dulce.

TRUTHSAYER At The Dock

We got Wayne settled in on board. We had a fine dinner, and since we were all pretty tired we all hit the sack.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather. I am the one getting up early, so I stay in my cabin until I hear someone else up. Then we can make a pot of coffee.

Listened to the weather, then went to visit with Theo and Rosmarie on TITARO. they are in the marina next door, Marina Paraiso. Checked issues on boat, engine generator, engine start battery was dead, blew a fuse, fixed problem, trickle charger for engine start battery not working, had to charge engine start battery with external battery charger borrowed from marina; Wayne and I went to big store to go shopping for cat food and some rum for the arrival tot; chatted with Kitty via Skype; Gil and Marina went out and did some shopping; Wayne and I went to the Soggy Peso and had a margarita, and lobster tacos, back to TRUTHSAYER and on to bed.

We were all up so we listened to the weather given out by Chris Parker at 0730 local on the SSB. The weather is still shaky to be leaving today, so I think we will wait until tomorrow to make a decision.

After the weather, and the decision was made that we were not leaving today, I went next door to Marina Paraiso to visit with Theo and Rosemarie. It was nice to catch up and find out what they are doing.

We lamented the fact that we did not get together and spend time together in Marathon as planned. I had many problems on DREAM AWAY, but the weather really slowed them down. They just could not get out of Guatemala and make their way north.

We enjoyed our visit and the coffee, but I had to get back to TRUTHSAYER, and see if there was anything I could help Gil with to make sure she was ready for the passage.

On the way back to the marina, I encountered an iguana on the pavement. They actually have quite a lot of these all around the island.

Iguana Sunning Himself

Wayne and I helped Gil get his anchor line snubber ran properly. This was in case we had to use the anchor for some reason. Always good to have those kind of things done before you actually need them.

Gil Getting The Line On The Bowsprit

Line Is Run To The Bowsprit

Gil checked the oil and water in the generator, and in the main engine. When he went to start the main engine, it would not start, the battery was dead. Gil did some troubleshooting and discovered that a fuse was blown. He replaced the fuse, and that fixed that problem.

Gil Troubleshooting Start Battery Problem

When Gil got the fuse problem on the start batter repaired, we discovered that the trickle charger for main engine start battery was not working. Gil went up to the marina office, and borrowed the charger they had.

After about 30 minutes on the charger, the battery was able to get the main engine started. Once the engine was started, the alternator charged the battery. We ran the engine to make sure the battery was up.

Marina then fixed us lunch, so she had to get the goodies out of the refrigerator. Meals on TRUTHSAYER were always good and very nutritious.

Marina In The Refrigerator

I got out on the dock and watched the local sights and took a few photos.

Fisherman’s Dock Next To El Milagro Marina

A Couple Of Pelicans Discussing The Spoils

Party Boat Going By The Marina

Frigate Bird Looking For Lunch

Wayne and I decided we wanted to get some groceries, and I wanted some cat food to take back to Guatemala, so we walked down to the Chedraui Mega-Store. I enjoyed looking around the store and seeing what was available.

They did not have the specific Purina Pro-Plan cat food for which I was looking, but I did find some Whiskas in pouches. I purchased 30 of the pouches, but I probably should have purchased more. I also purchased a bottle of Ron Matusalem. This rum was to provide our tot when we arrive in Guatemala and put the anchor down.

After our visit to the Chedraui Mega-Store, Wayne and I went back to TRUTHSAYER. I got on the computer and called Kitty via Skype. Wayne and his new best friend relaxed and took a break.

Wayne And Luna

Gil and Marina were going out for the evening, so Wayne and I decided we would go out and treat ourselves to a meal, and a real Mexican margarita!

Wayne and I walked down the street towards town and stopped at the Soggy Peso. We had some wonderful lobster tacos, and of course the margaritas. We hung out for a bit and swapped stories, and then went back to TRUTHSAYER and hit the rack.

Started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee.

At 0730, while enjoying our coffee, we listened to the weather delivered by Chris Parker, on the SSB. The decision was made that we would leave tomorrow in the morning, when the wind would be down. Right now the wind is blowing so hard, it would be very difficult to get TRUTHSAYER out of her slip, and turned out into the harbor.

The Admiral (Marina) and the Captain (Gil) conferred, and they decided that if we could get the marina dockmaster to help us get out of the slip without mishap we would leave as soon as we could.

Because of how we were in the slip, we could not get the dinghy into the davits, so we would have to leave the marina, anchor in the harbor, then put the dinghy up.

Gil contacted Julio, the dockmaster, and made arrangements to leave. Julio was also the agent for Gil and TRUTHSAYER, so while Gil, Wayne and I worked on getting the final preparations done on TRUTHSAYER, Julio got the paper work taken care of with the Port authorities.

The immigration representative came out to the marina, and checked us out of Mexico. So officially we were ready to go.

Julio got the launcha with a couple of helpers, and got us out of the slip, and turned the correct direction. As Julio untied the tow line, Wayne jumped on the launcha, and went back into the marina to get the dinghy.

We got TRUTHSAYER out to the anchorage and the anchor down and secured. As we finished that Wayne came out to TRUTHSAYER with the dinghy.

Wayne In The Dinghy Coming To TRUTHSAYER

Gil had to go back into the marina to finish paying his bill, and also to leave a tip for Julio and his helpers. While Gil was gone, Marina, Wayne and I did the final tiedown of stuff on deck.

Marina Tying Down Fenders

We finished up with that project, and Gil came back to TRUTHSAYER.

Gil Coming In To TRUTHSAYER

We got the dinghy put up in the davits, and the outboard motor secured. When that was complete, we raised the anchor and got underway. It was about noon when we got the anchor up.

Sailboats In The Anchorage

Mexican Navy Patrol Boat At Navy Base In Isla Mujeres

As we were leaving the harbor, we had some problems with the chartplotter, and I had some problems with my GPS being seen on my computer with the CAPN navigation software running. Before long we got all of the problems sorted out, and we were heading to the first waypoint.\

As we moved southeast out into the Caribbean Sea, the waves were pretty sloppy once we left the lee of the island of Isla Mujeres. This was expected, but also as we expected, the further out we went the waves got much better.

Gil With Luna In Her Gear

Marina With Luna In Her Gear

The watch schedule was set, and my first watch was from 1500 to 1900. We had four hour watches during the day, and three hour watches at night. With four in the schedule, that enables you to get some good sleep when you were off watch.

Jim On Watch Drivin’ The Boat

Watching The Chartplotter

Day One Sunset

When I finished my watch, I left the boat in capable hands, and headed to bed.

I got up at 0400 to stand my watch from 0400-0700. Pretty uneventful watch, only saw one ship, and it was pretty far off. The CAPN and GPS still working properly on my laptop.

Wayne Relieving Me From My Watch

When I got off watch, I got out my Cuban reel and started fishing. It was not easy as there was a lot of sargassum in the water. The sargassum gets caught on the line, and no fish will hit the lure. So you have to reel in the lure, clear the sargassum from the line, and then put the lure back into the water.

It was a lot of work, because it seemed all I was doing was pulling in the line, clearing the sargassum, and then letting the line back out again. As it was getting late in the morning, I gave myself until 1200. If I had not caught a fish by then, I was quitting!

On my last cast, just before noon, I yelled “I need a strike”, and I got one! I pulled in a small Bigeye tuna that weighed about four pounds. When I filleted it there was enough for each of us to have a good sized piece.

Gil and Marina cooked the Bigeye tuna, and we had the filets along with the pasta salad Marina had made yesterday. She added some more goodies to the pasta salad, so with the filets we had quite a nice lunch.

TRUTHSAYER Under Sail

Captain Says “Where Are We”

TRUTHSAYER Under Sail

After lunch, I went below to go to sleep, as I came back on watch at 1900, so I wanted to get some sleep. While I was sleeping the wind clocked around so we jibed from a port tack to a starboard tack. this was good news as the wind was following the forecast.

First Half Of A Rainbow At Sea

Second Half Of A Rainbow At Sea

When I came on watch at 1900, the wind speed kept increasing. We were motor sailing, I kept unrolling the jib sail. As I unrolled the jib sail, I lowered the engine rpm’s so we maintained the same speed.

We were making a speed of 6.2 knots, so this was good. The goal is 5 knots or better. At 2130 I was able to completely unroll the jib and shut down the engine. When Wayne relieved me at 2200, we were making between 5.3 and 6.3 knots depending on the wind, and we were a sailboat.

I got off watch, and went below and went to sleep.

During my watch I got to witness the sunset, so of course it had to be recorded!

Day Two Sunset

Since I went to bed so early last night, I got a great night’s sleep. As is my norm, I awoke early and did some work on the Maintenance Log on the computer. It seems I spend more time keeping track of what I am doing instead of doing!

I came on watch at 0700. The wind is still out of the east and we are still sailing. There were a few clouds in the sky, but otherwise it is an absolutely gorgeous day.

It is a bit rolly because the wind and waves have been out of the north. The wind is now out of the east, but the waves have not caught up as yet. If the wind stays out of the east, as the forecast states, the waves will catch and it will be a great ride!

Gil ran the generator so he could run the watermaker and charge the batteries. Just part of the daily routine of a well equipped sailing yacht at sea.

Overall it was just a beautiful day, as the following pictures show. Click on the following link and see short video of us underway

TRUTHSAYER Under Way

A Beautiful Day To Be At Sea

TRUTHSAYER Under Sail

Gil On Watch

Wayne Drivin’ The Boat

Gil And Luna

Gil Luna And Marina

Day Three Sunset

It was a beautiful day until around 2000, when the wind died, and then it filled in from the southwest. The wind was blowing from 15 to 20 knots, but the really bad part was we were heading southwest, and no where in the forecast was southwest mentioned.

We were getting down into the Gulf of Honduras, so we did not have a lot of choice of which direction we could go. We had to drop all of the sails and motor as best we could into the wind and seas.

I was on watch from 2200 until 0100, and it rained all during my watch. Needless to say when I got off watch I was pretty cold and very wet. It took me a few minutes before I could get dried off and into my bunk to get some sleep.

A very slow day and the night from midnight on. We are heading into a southwest wind, and cannot change direction until we get around Cabo Tres Puntas. We rarely made over four knots, and if we hit the waves just right, we were slowed down to under 1 knot!

Instead of coming around Cabo Tres Puntas and anchoring and waiting for the high tide to cross the bar at Livingston, it looked like we were just going to make it to cross the bar at the high tide.

I had a Guatemalan phone, and as we were crossing Bahia De Amatique, I called Raul, at Naviera Servamar. He said because we would be getting in so late, that we would clear into Guatemala in the morning. Now we have a plan!

We crossed the Livingston sand bar at 1500. We bounced twice getting in, but we were anchored in front of the fuel dock by 1545. I got out my bottle Ron Matusalem I had saved for the occasion, and we had our tot of Rum. Gil joined in the celebration with a glass of water.

Fuel Dock In Livingston

A Catamaran That Followed Us In Over The Bar

While we were enjoying our tot, Marina surprised us with her own treat. She got out a huge box of cookies she had purchased in Mexico, and was saving for our landfall in Guatemala.

Box Of Cookies On The Table

Needless to say we hurt ourselves with the box of cookies!

I called Kitty and found out Wayne’s wife Connie, is delayed on her arrival into Rio Dulce because of a mudslide on the road between Guatemala City and Rio Dulce.

Marina and Gil prepared a very nice hot dinner which we all enjoyed. Believe it or not the weather was pretty chilly. After dinner everyone took a nice hot shower, and that made us all feel much better.

We were not sure of the security being anchored in Livingston, so we decided we would continue with our same watch schedule so someone would be awake all during the night.

Kitty called at 2130 and said that Connie had finally arrived at Monkey Bay Marina, and was safely aboard DREAM AWAY.

As mentioned yesterday, we stayed on our regular watch schedule, both as an anchor watch and a security watch. It was way colder than we expected, so the on watch person was in a sleeping bag or under a blanket while on watch.

The crew was up, had a couple of cups of nice hot coffee and a hot breakfast by 0800. Now we have to wait for the officials to arrive. as mentioned yesterday the catamaran came in just after us, and another monohull also came in. They had to be towed across the bar.

Monohull That Had To Be Towed Across The Bar

Shrimp Boat Coming In With Catch After Fishing All Night

Our hope is when the officials come out to the boats we would be first. Raul called us on the VHF radio and said the officials would be out around 1000. True to his word they showed up around 0950.

The port captain, the immigration official, and the health official showed up via launcha. They looked at all of the paperwork for the yacht, and our passports, and headed to the next boat.

We then got the dinghy into the water, and headed into the dock. We went to Raul’s office first. He said it would be about and hour and half before all of the paperwork was completed.

We headed off into town to do some shopping. We purchased some fresh fruit and vegetables. we also did a walk around Livingston. We headed back toward Raul’s office. We stopped at a restaurant and had lunch, which we all enjoyed.

After lunch we went back to Raul’s office. He had all the paperwork, and the cruising permit for TRUTHSAYER. He also had all of our passports properly stamped.

We left Raul’s office, and headed back out to TRUTHSAYER. We picked the dinghy up and got it stowed. We then picked up the anchor, and headed up through the gorge of the Rio Dulce.

I have made this trip many times, but it always fascinates me. It is truly amazing to motor up the gorge with the very high limestone cliffs and of course a lot of local traffic in high powered launches, and fishermen in the cayucas.

Wayne Watching As We Start Up The Gorge

Launcha Coming Down The River

Local In A Cayuca

Limestone Cliffs In The Gorge

Sailboat Following Us Up The Gorge

Sailing Up The Gorge

Another Launcha Passing Us In The Gorge

Buildings Of Ak Tenamit Near Rio Lámpara

When we got all the way through the gorge, we entered the El Golfete. The third bay on the left as you are heading west is "Gringo" Bay (Bahia Buena Vista). We had planned to anchor here, because it is too far to get all of the way to the marinas in the Rio Dulce.

We pulled into "Gringo" Bay (Bahia Buena Vista), dropped the anchor and settled in for the night. No anchor watch or security watch here, so we would all get a good nights sleep. We had a small dinner, because we all ate a big lunch, and then all went to bed for that good nights sleep.

Gil And Marina In The Cockpit At "Gringo" Bay (Bahia Buena Vista)