Saturday, March 22, 2014
Come to the Island, Mon....
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| sunset on East Harbor |
The architecture on the island is somewhat like New Orleans or Key West, of course not as nice and on a much smaller basis. The streets are very narrow and crowded with people walking, riding bikes, motorcycles and ATV's. Not to be missed is the Jade Seahorse, a extremelyfunky hotel owned and decorated by a German guy, who was busy working on the art as we walked around admiring everything.
We found a great resturant, The Driftwood, run by a Texas that had the biggest pork chop we have ever seen. The beer was cold, "so cold it will hurt your teeth" and the food was good. Our good friends JD and Linda on s/v Kokopelli arrived and we enjoyed snorkeling with them and having some beers.
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Saturday, March 15, 2014
Laundry
Ok, before I begin, I have to tell you that this blog post is not about an exotic island or a wonderful sail, it is about LAUNDRY, and specifically, laundry in Central America. This is something I have always taken for granted in the states. And, I promise, when I return I will appreciate it so much more.
12/8/13
Roatan, Honduras
In Guatemala, at Mario's marina we had a laundry on the premises. It had 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. There is NO hot water anywhere that I have found in Central America to do your wash. It is cold water only and then the dryers work off of propane and the only way you know that the propane is out, is to wait the 45 minutes or so it takes to dry your clothes and then you open the dryer and low and behold, they are still wet. But, of course, if someone before you let's the marina know the propane is out they will switch over to a new tank, but this doesn't always happen or I was always the first to get the empty "dryer". The convenience of having the laundry near your boat was a great thing, though, plus I could have Judy do it for me for an extra few "Q's".
Now, I am in Roatan, staying at "Fantasy Island" Resort and Marina. Sounds great, sounds like this is the place to be, but NOT for laundry. There is no laundry available to cruisers at this marina, which is strange since there is a huge laundry facility for the resort. So, instead, we have a "laundry service". This too, sounds great, except you send your clothes out at 10:00 am and get them back at 10:00 am the next day. Then don't make the mistake of sending them out on Saturday, because then you have to wait for Monday. This particular service...I think the guys name is Steve....always returns my clothes semi dry (after being washed in cold water). The 3rd time I sent my laundry out and it came back even wetter than before, I sent it back the next day with a note, requesting that they only be dried, as they were still wet. Steve had plans on charging me for this drying service, but I was not about to dish out more lempiras for something that should have been done right the first time.
So, today, Charlie and I gathered up all our laundry and took the dingy to Brooksy Point, another marina "just around the corner". Brooksy Point, run by Mike and his family, is a lovely small marina and it has 2 washing machines and 2 dryers right next to the bar...how convenient is that! So, you can do your wash and have a beer at the same time. Again...no hot water and then after 2 loads of laundry, and one beer, I find out that one dryer is not working. This necessitates another beer as I wait for the second load to be dried. Charlie had a great time chewing the fat with Mike at the bar as I slaved to do our laundry, but he did learn some good things about sailing in Panama that will come in handy for us in the future. So, after about 3 hours, we loaded our laundry in the dingy and turned on the light, because now it is dark thirty...and made our way back to Island Sol.
So in conclusion, I hope all my friends and family in the states appreciate the task of doing the laundry in the comfort of their own homes with HOT water. I know that I certainly will when I return. No more bitching about the laundry, because, doing the laundry in Central America is a real effort...and that is my motto on my boat...."Everything is an effort"!
PS...after sleeping on this "rant", I decided that I had better humble myself and be glad I have a laundry to go to, even with cold water.
12/8/13
Roatan, Honduras
In Guatemala, at Mario's marina we had a laundry on the premises. It had 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. There is NO hot water anywhere that I have found in Central America to do your wash. It is cold water only and then the dryers work off of propane and the only way you know that the propane is out, is to wait the 45 minutes or so it takes to dry your clothes and then you open the dryer and low and behold, they are still wet. But, of course, if someone before you let's the marina know the propane is out they will switch over to a new tank, but this doesn't always happen or I was always the first to get the empty "dryer". The convenience of having the laundry near your boat was a great thing, though, plus I could have Judy do it for me for an extra few "Q's".
Now, I am in Roatan, staying at "Fantasy Island" Resort and Marina. Sounds great, sounds like this is the place to be, but NOT for laundry. There is no laundry available to cruisers at this marina, which is strange since there is a huge laundry facility for the resort. So, instead, we have a "laundry service". This too, sounds great, except you send your clothes out at 10:00 am and get them back at 10:00 am the next day. Then don't make the mistake of sending them out on Saturday, because then you have to wait for Monday. This particular service...I think the guys name is Steve....always returns my clothes semi dry (after being washed in cold water). The 3rd time I sent my laundry out and it came back even wetter than before, I sent it back the next day with a note, requesting that they only be dried, as they were still wet. Steve had plans on charging me for this drying service, but I was not about to dish out more lempiras for something that should have been done right the first time.
So, today, Charlie and I gathered up all our laundry and took the dingy to Brooksy Point, another marina "just around the corner". Brooksy Point, run by Mike and his family, is a lovely small marina and it has 2 washing machines and 2 dryers right next to the bar...how convenient is that! So, you can do your wash and have a beer at the same time. Again...no hot water and then after 2 loads of laundry, and one beer, I find out that one dryer is not working. This necessitates another beer as I wait for the second load to be dried. Charlie had a great time chewing the fat with Mike at the bar as I slaved to do our laundry, but he did learn some good things about sailing in Panama that will come in handy for us in the future. So, after about 3 hours, we loaded our laundry in the dingy and turned on the light, because now it is dark thirty...and made our way back to Island Sol.
So in conclusion, I hope all my friends and family in the states appreciate the task of doing the laundry in the comfort of their own homes with HOT water. I know that I certainly will when I return. No more bitching about the laundry, because, doing the laundry in Central America is a real effort...and that is my motto on my boat...."Everything is an effort"!
PS...after sleeping on this "rant", I decided that I had better humble myself and be glad I have a laundry to go to, even with cold water.
Shopping Guatemala Style
11/11/13
Antigua and Chichicastanago, Guatemala
Now, I am NOT a woman who loves to shop. The thought of having to buy an outfit for some occasion sends me into a panic. So why did I say I would go on a 3 day shopping trip? My cruising friend, Terry (and knitting guru) invited me to go to Chichicastanango for their market day. We were in search of "back-strap looms", fiber/yarn, and indigenous art work of the area.
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| The "heater" at our rest stop |
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| McDonalds Guatemalan Style |
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| The food market |
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| a maze of shopping opportunities |
It was an exhausting day, but we walked to the local square where a Peruvian band was playing, the people were all grooving to this band, looking around, I saw families enjoying the cool night sitting on park benches, children running to and fro, it was just a great night to be in Antigua. We found a local travel agent on our way back to the hotel and booked our tickets back to Guatemala City and then on to Rio Dulce. We arrived after dark and waited for a local launcha to take us back to our marina. It was a very dark night, but we were so glad to be getting "home". We arrived just in time for Monday night "potluck" and our husbands had contributed to the nights' fare, so we sat down to eat and tell all of our shopping stories as well as showing all our goodies. So glad I had the opportunity to see those two wonderful cities' culture and colors and people.
Long Time No Blog....
My, my, where do I begin since last August? We have been to Ruinas Copan, Honduras to see the ruins of Copan. An amazing place with some absolutely beautiful stellas. Copan is liken to Paris and Tikal to New York in the Mayan anthropology crowd. I took way too many pictures and some of them were actually good, hopefully frame-able. But, it was a mesmerizing place and it made us want to read more about the Mayan culture. While in the area, we did a 16 stage zip line from the top of a mountain down. no helmets!!! Kinda scary, but very exhilarating too. Went to "Macaw Mountain", which is a bird sanctuary and saw many birds that are indigenous to the area and also a butterfly farm. While still in the area, we visited a hot springs up in the mountains that was so relaxing. The drive to the springs was over and hour and a half, but the country side was beautiful. Many terraced farms and just the housing was so incredible, and so primitive. It was a great side trip that we took with two other couples from our marina.
11/3/13
Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Oh my, it has been since August that I last submitted a post to my blog, can it be? I think I have writers block, because each day I wake up and say, "today I will do a blog post", and then the day is gone and I haven't done it. Trying to get, Charlie, the writer in the family to blog but for some reason he won't come anywhere near the computer for that, so it is up to me. Being that he is the cook, it is the least that I can
So, after 7 fun, crazy and hectic weeks in the states, it was back to Guatemala. Where again, we had to decompress for a few days and slip back into the pace of life here. I am taking watercolor classes every Wednesday, which hopefully is extending my brain power somewhat. Charlie is walking most mornings and Pot luck dinner is every Monday evening. There is always some sort of card game or dominos being played at the cafe in the marina. Never a need to find something to do, here. This past weekend has been Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and we took a walk up to the town's cemetery to see all the festivities. It is a day (actually 2 days) for families to clean the grave sites, place flowers, paint tombs bright colors and in general have a picnic at the family grave site. All of the vegetable venders in town now are selling beautiful flowers, too. We really enjoy seeing what other cultures find important and most in Guatemala are woven around their families.
But, we have now realized that we need to get on the stick and get some things done as we will be leaving soon for the Bay Island of Honduras. We are ready for some salt water and white beaches, it has been too long. We will be hauling our boat out of the water next week to install a Dynaplate for the SSB radio, in hopes that this will fix our problems with it. The bottom just needs to be cleaned and then back in the water. So, I will blog again either before the trip or after reaching Utilia.
"Shells sink, dreams float, life is good on our boat!" ....Jimmy Buffett
On Assignment in Guatemala
8/11/13
Rio Dulce
It has been a while since my last blog and I have to say I am very frustrated with my inability to add photos to this blog. So bear with me and I will keep pushing this learning curve I am on.
As Linda's trip was coming to a close we were getting somewhat weary of making trips, so we decided to travel across the river to hear and hopefully see the howler monkeys. Unfortunately for those of us that are not "morning people" the howler monkeys are. So, up at 5:00am and off in the launcha by 5:30, since it wasn't a very far trip just across the river from the marina. We could actually already hear them in the distance. These are Black Howler Monkeys. They live in troops of 4-6 with usually one male and one or two breeding females and offsprings. These are the largest monkeys in the Americas. They have long black hair and a very visible white scrotum area.
We entered a small bay that quickly became a small creek but was navigable by our laucha. It twisted and turned through the jungle. Now, imagine being at your favorite nursery and any of the tropical plants there are then multiplied many times over here. The ferns, palms, and bromeliads are just beautiful and they are in every directions that you look. We passed a small hut built out of sticks with a thatched roof. One little girl was in the front "yard" with many chickens running around and one goat tied to a stick. She waved as we passed by these mayan people are beautiful. But our assignment was to find those monkeys, and we were feeling like we were part of a National Geographic expedition. Finally, we heard those monkeys. The sound is nothing like what you would expect a monkey to sound like. This is the sound of a pack of big rabid dogs. And, yes it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. There was movement in the tops of the trees and after turning off the motor and sitting quietly we found a troop of howlers. They moved back and forth through the tops of the trees with such ease by the use of that prehensile tail. We were getting cricks in our necks from watching, must have been a good 30 minutes. While watching them with my binoculars I noticed the male, ahhh yes with the white scrotum, was beginning to urinate. We were laughing and then realized that there were things "plopping" in the water all around us. Before we realized it one of those "plops" hit the boat and Charlie's arm, and not only were they urinating but they were defecating as well. Gives a new meaning to "monkey see, monkey do". We had all of the howler monkeys we wanted at that point and made our way back out and to the boat. And after note: Early this week Charlie and I made a return trip to the same area in hopes of seeing those crazy monkeys again, but we found that the creek was now impassable due to down trees from a storm we had had several nights previously. It was very disappointing, but probably a good thing for the monkeys as their habitat is now closed to human traffic.
Rio Dulce
It has been a while since my last blog and I have to say I am very frustrated with my inability to add photos to this blog. So bear with me and I will keep pushing this learning curve I am on.
As Linda's trip was coming to a close we were getting somewhat weary of making trips, so we decided to travel across the river to hear and hopefully see the howler monkeys. Unfortunately for those of us that are not "morning people" the howler monkeys are. So, up at 5:00am and off in the launcha by 5:30, since it wasn't a very far trip just across the river from the marina. We could actually already hear them in the distance. These are Black Howler Monkeys. They live in troops of 4-6 with usually one male and one or two breeding females and offsprings. These are the largest monkeys in the Americas. They have long black hair and a very visible white scrotum area.
We entered a small bay that quickly became a small creek but was navigable by our laucha. It twisted and turned through the jungle. Now, imagine being at your favorite nursery and any of the tropical plants there are then multiplied many times over here. The ferns, palms, and bromeliads are just beautiful and they are in every directions that you look. We passed a small hut built out of sticks with a thatched roof. One little girl was in the front "yard" with many chickens running around and one goat tied to a stick. She waved as we passed by these mayan people are beautiful. But our assignment was to find those monkeys, and we were feeling like we were part of a National Geographic expedition. Finally, we heard those monkeys. The sound is nothing like what you would expect a monkey to sound like. This is the sound of a pack of big rabid dogs. And, yes it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. There was movement in the tops of the trees and after turning off the motor and sitting quietly we found a troop of howlers. They moved back and forth through the tops of the trees with such ease by the use of that prehensile tail. We were getting cricks in our necks from watching, must have been a good 30 minutes. While watching them with my binoculars I noticed the male, ahhh yes with the white scrotum, was beginning to urinate. We were laughing and then realized that there were things "plopping" in the water all around us. Before we realized it one of those "plops" hit the boat and Charlie's arm, and not only were they urinating but they were defecating as well. Gives a new meaning to "monkey see, monkey do". We had all of the howler monkeys we wanted at that point and made our way back out and to the boat. And after note: Early this week Charlie and I made a return trip to the same area in hopes of seeing those crazy monkeys again, but we found that the creek was now impassable due to down trees from a storm we had had several nights previously. It was very disappointing, but probably a good thing for the monkeys as their habitat is now closed to human traffic.
The "Hard" Life on the Rio
7/27/13
sunny, hot, then rainy, repeat!
Living this life on the Rio is hard, before you know it the day is over. Susi, has left for the states, but our dear friend Linda is here until her departure in 2 days.
Last Saturday, the marinas in the area hosted a "Poker Run". We register at Vista Rio with an entrance fee of 40Q (approximately $5.20 US). Each participating marina offered a beverage and/or appetizer and you got one playing card there. After visiting all seven marinas you had your poker hand. This was a great way for us to see the marinas in the area. We returned to Vista Rio for all hands to be tallied and Linda came in 8th with 3 Kings, but alas no $$ prize for 8th place. Such a "hard" day on the river.
Charlie has had a new "launcha" built and in only 5 days. It is 14' and fiberglass. The dinghy just didn't cut it on the river, too much chop and we always ended up wet. So, now we are riding into town in style in our little "Solita". Another "hard" day on the Rio.
We had to move our boat to a new slip, so we took the opportunity to go sailing on the lake - El Golfete. We motored, with the help of the out going current, across the lake and to the beginning of the gorge. We wanted Linda to see that, plus the locals living in their palapa huts on the water. The men fish out of cayucos, which are dug out canoes that sit very low in the water. There is a very close mountain and today the top was obscured by low hanging rain clouds, the air was thick with humidity. After turning back toward the lake, Charlie was just itching to put out the spinnaker. We sailed back with it until the wind picked up and we had to take it in, but it was nice to see it fly. Of course, with the wind picking up, it brought the rain and we had a good soaking sail back to the marina. We got back just in time before the bottom dropped out. I have never seen rain like this or it's duration, but then again we are in the rain forest and it is the rainy season. Yeap...another "hard" day.
Another excursion, was to visit the Castillo San Felipe. This fort sits at the entrance to Lake Izabal from the river. It was built in 1594 and is part of a beautiful park. It was built by the Spaniards to ward off pirates entering the lake. You are able to tour the castle at your leisure as there are no guides or anyone standing around making sure you don't touch anything, like it would be in the state. But, it also had open stairways where you could have fallen to your death because of no railing. Our two instructions were to 1: watch your head and 2: it is slippery. The castle was like a maze with low archways from one room to another. It contained a church, capitan's kitchen and several dormitories. There were also many lookout towers that contained several cannons. Thus, the end of another "hard" day.
This past Thursday, Linda and I signed up for a yoga hike. Charlie dropped us off at Tijax (/tee-ha-sh/) - Marina, restaurant and hotel. This marina is total enclosed by the jungle. We met our guide, Lucy, and around 10:00 off we trekked. Leaving the marina we traveled over a long length of foot bridges suspended over a swamp. At times we were 50' in the air. We soon got on the trail, which was very well maintained, and went up and then down, repeat. Lucy was very informative, telling us that we were in a secondary forest, where there is plenty of sunlight and new growth. But, this is thick, too. We passed down through a valley where the owner had pasture land for his Brahman cattle, then back up and into the jungle again. We finally arrived at the "shaman tower". This was a 4 story stone structure built by the land owner, it was approximately 14' X 14', with 4 large door openings, one on each wall, and we might add, no railings here either. We enjoyed a 360 degree view before we went to the 3rd floor for a wonderful yoga session. Lucy then provided us with tea and cake. It was a fabulous moment. Well, as usual the rain started and Lucy had her computer in her backpack and didn't want to get it wet, so she showed us the path to the final destination of our hike - a natural pool. Well, Linda and I paid for the whole Monty, so off we went back into the jungle, up and down (in the rain) until we reached the pool. It was a little gem in the jungle, filled by a small waterfall. How glad we were that we didn't miss this. Our arrival back at Tijax (2:30) was in a full deluge and everything was soaked, except my camera, because I finally remembered to bring a plastic bag. We had no way of getting in touch with Charlie to let him know we were back, so what are two wet girls to do but belly up to the bar. To our surprise after one beer, in comes Charlie totally drenched from his ride to the marina....our hero! And, this was truly a "hard" day on the Rio.
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| Diesel fumes are hard to take! |
Living this life on the Rio is hard, before you know it the day is over. Susi, has left for the states, but our dear friend Linda is here until her departure in 2 days.
Last Saturday, the marinas in the area hosted a "Poker Run". We register at Vista Rio with an entrance fee of 40Q (approximately $5.20 US). Each participating marina offered a beverage and/or appetizer and you got one playing card there. After visiting all seven marinas you had your poker hand. This was a great way for us to see the marinas in the area. We returned to Vista Rio for all hands to be tallied and Linda came in 8th with 3 Kings, but alas no $$ prize for 8th place. Such a "hard" day on the river.
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| Cocktails at Tijax |
Charlie has had a new "launcha" built and in only 5 days. It is 14' and fiberglass. The dinghy just didn't cut it on the river, too much chop and we always ended up wet. So, now we are riding into town in style in our little "Solita". Another "hard" day on the Rio.
We had to move our boat to a new slip, so we took the opportunity to go sailing on the lake - El Golfete. We motored, with the help of the out going current, across the lake and to the beginning of the gorge. We wanted Linda to see that, plus the locals living in their palapa huts on the water. The men fish out of cayucos, which are dug out canoes that sit very low in the water. There is a very close mountain and today the top was obscured by low hanging rain clouds, the air was thick with humidity. After turning back toward the lake, Charlie was just itching to put out the spinnaker. We sailed back with it until the wind picked up and we had to take it in, but it was nice to see it fly. Of course, with the wind picking up, it brought the rain and we had a good soaking sail back to the marina. We got back just in time before the bottom dropped out. I have never seen rain like this or it's duration, but then again we are in the rain forest and it is the rainy season. Yeap...another "hard" day.
Another excursion, was to visit the Castillo San Felipe. This fort sits at the entrance to Lake Izabal from the river. It was built in 1594 and is part of a beautiful park. It was built by the Spaniards to ward off pirates entering the lake. You are able to tour the castle at your leisure as there are no guides or anyone standing around making sure you don't touch anything, like it would be in the state. But, it also had open stairways where you could have fallen to your death because of no railing. Our two instructions were to 1: watch your head and 2: it is slippery. The castle was like a maze with low archways from one room to another. It contained a church, capitan's kitchen and several dormitories. There were also many lookout towers that contained several cannons. Thus, the end of another "hard" day.
This past Thursday, Linda and I signed up for a yoga hike. Charlie dropped us off at Tijax (/tee-ha-sh/) - Marina, restaurant and hotel. This marina is total enclosed by the jungle. We met our guide, Lucy, and around 10:00 off we trekked. Leaving the marina we traveled over a long length of foot bridges suspended over a swamp. At times we were 50' in the air. We soon got on the trail, which was very well maintained, and went up and then down, repeat. Lucy was very informative, telling us that we were in a secondary forest, where there is plenty of sunlight and new growth. But, this is thick, too. We passed down through a valley where the owner had pasture land for his Brahman cattle, then back up and into the jungle again. We finally arrived at the "shaman tower". This was a 4 story stone structure built by the land owner, it was approximately 14' X 14', with 4 large door openings, one on each wall, and we might add, no railings here either. We enjoyed a 360 degree view before we went to the 3rd floor for a wonderful yoga session. Lucy then provided us with tea and cake. It was a fabulous moment. Well, as usual the rain started and Lucy had her computer in her backpack and didn't want to get it wet, so she showed us the path to the final destination of our hike - a natural pool. Well, Linda and I paid for the whole Monty, so off we went back into the jungle, up and down (in the rain) until we reached the pool. It was a little gem in the jungle, filled by a small waterfall. How glad we were that we didn't miss this. Our arrival back at Tijax (2:30) was in a full deluge and everything was soaked, except my camera, because I finally remembered to bring a plastic bag. We had no way of getting in touch with Charlie to let him know we were back, so what are two wet girls to do but belly up to the bar. To our surprise after one beer, in comes Charlie totally drenched from his ride to the marina....our hero! And, this was truly a "hard" day on the Rio.
Side Trips and Visitors
7/15/13
Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Charlie and I were blessed with a visit from our friends from Texas, Linda and Susi. They arrived in Guatemala on July 8th. We took the bus to Guatemala City and then a van to Antigua to meet them. Antigua is west of Guat. City and in the mountains, with the weather being in the high 60's at night, a great relief from the heat of the Rio. Antigua was the colonial capital of Guatemala until an earthquake ruined the city in the 1770s. It sits at the base of an inactive volcano. The traditional dress of the Mayan women in Antigua is quite different from the women of the Rio Dulce area. In Antigua, the women wear wrap around skirts (corte) with traditional shirts (huipil) tied with a sash. Of course , all from woven fabric of amazing colors. In contrast, the women of the Rio wear gathered skirts and lacey shirts. Linda had made reservations for us all at Posada St. Vicente not far off the town central, where a beautiful park is located. The streets are cobblestone and it is difficult to discern one street from the next because all of the store, hotel and restaurant fronts, although very colorful, are very plain . Once you enter the doors, you walk into a new and most often beautiful atmosphere. The girls were not at the hotel when we arrived, but we soon found them, shopping, imagine that! We then went to Frida's for Mexican food and tequila. It was a wonderful evening.
The next day began with a wonderful breakfast at SabeRico y Jardin. It was a beautiful restaurant with tables tucked into garden niches. The food was excellent and we ate there two more times. Antigua is a city that attracts people from many different countries. There were a lot of young adults backpacking. And, of course, many shops for us girls to spend money in. We took a taxi to a working Coffee Plantation and Museum in town and had a great guide (who spoke English) and took us through the grounds and explained the process to us. We met Maria Cristina Orive, one of the members of the family who owned the plantation. She was a delightful and informative woman in her 80's who is a photographer and journalist. We bought her book, Actos de Fe en Guatemala, (Acts of Faith in Guatemala). She offered us a ride back to our hotel with her driver, but we had a taxi, and in retrospect we should have ditched him. Oh well, live and learn.
On Wednesday, we set out for Panajachel, on Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan is considered to be one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world. We took a laucha from Panajachel to San Marcos. There are many villages all around the lake, and we heard that San Marcos had an esoteric vibe. We stayed at the most fabulous hotel any of us had ever been in, Aaculaax. It was beyond description, but I will try. The German owner, being an artist, built it from recycled materials. It had a wonderful garden and the hotel rose up the side of the mountain with each room being unique unto itself. The bathrooms had exposed rock and there were small porches to sit and gaze at the lake and the birds. It was truly magical. Instead of shopping,
Charlie got an hour massage, smart boy. Our next day was spent in San Pedro where the road rose steeply up to the city. Thank goodness for the Tuk-Tuks, another form of transportation, that got us up the hill. We purchased some woven material and a few small paintings typical of the region, but had to make our way back to the dock to catch the last launch back to our hotel.
Thursday, we left San Marcos, in a launcha for Panajachel around 4:00pm, then rode in a extremely cramped van to Antigua, getting there around 8:00pm. The next morning, was a tough traveling day as we left Antigua, again in a van to Guatemala City where we waited 3 hours in the bus station and then left for Rio Dulce around 1:00. We got to Rio Dulce after dark and had to find someone to take us down river to Mario's and our boat. We were all tired puppies when we got home, but luckily the cook made us dinner.
We have spent two days resting and laying around the pool, but today we took a short trip by van to Finca Paraiso. On the property of this large farm is a hot spring waterfall, which cascades into a very cold river. Another magical place and we were so glad Susi got the experience as she is leaving for the states tomorrow. Then off to the shores of Lake Izabal for lunch at Don YuYo's. We ended the day trip with a short canoe ride up a river into the Boqueron, 1500' high canyon walls with lush jungle plants. We saw a howler monkey in a tree and many kingfishers up and down the river. What a day! Again, we are so blessed to be in such a beautiful country with such beautiful friends.
More to come! Hasta luego!
Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Charlie and I were blessed with a visit from our friends from Texas, Linda and Susi. They arrived in Guatemala on July 8th. We took the bus to Guatemala City and then a van to Antigua to meet them. Antigua is west of Guat. City and in the mountains, with the weather being in the high 60's at night, a great relief from the heat of the Rio. Antigua was the colonial capital of Guatemala until an earthquake ruined the city in the 1770s. It sits at the base of an inactive volcano. The traditional dress of the Mayan women in Antigua is quite different from the women of the Rio Dulce area. In Antigua, the women wear wrap around skirts (corte) with traditional shirts (huipil) tied with a sash. Of course , all from woven fabric of amazing colors. In contrast, the women of the Rio wear gathered skirts and lacey shirts. Linda had made reservations for us all at Posada St. Vicente not far off the town central, where a beautiful park is located. The streets are cobblestone and it is difficult to discern one street from the next because all of the store, hotel and restaurant fronts, although very colorful, are very plain . Once you enter the doors, you walk into a new and most often beautiful atmosphere. The girls were not at the hotel when we arrived, but we soon found them, shopping, imagine that! We then went to Frida's for Mexican food and tequila. It was a wonderful evening.
The next day began with a wonderful breakfast at SabeRico y Jardin. It was a beautiful restaurant with tables tucked into garden niches. The food was excellent and we ate there two more times. Antigua is a city that attracts people from many different countries. There were a lot of young adults backpacking. And, of course, many shops for us girls to spend money in. We took a taxi to a working Coffee Plantation and Museum in town and had a great guide (who spoke English) and took us through the grounds and explained the process to us. We met Maria Cristina Orive, one of the members of the family who owned the plantation. She was a delightful and informative woman in her 80's who is a photographer and journalist. We bought her book, Actos de Fe en Guatemala, (Acts of Faith in Guatemala). She offered us a ride back to our hotel with her driver, but we had a taxi, and in retrospect we should have ditched him. Oh well, live and learn.
On Wednesday, we set out for Panajachel, on Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan is considered to be one of the 10 most beautiful lakes in the world. We took a laucha from Panajachel to San Marcos. There are many villages all around the lake, and we heard that San Marcos had an esoteric vibe. We stayed at the most fabulous hotel any of us had ever been in, Aaculaax. It was beyond description, but I will try. The German owner, being an artist, built it from recycled materials. It had a wonderful garden and the hotel rose up the side of the mountain with each room being unique unto itself. The bathrooms had exposed rock and there were small porches to sit and gaze at the lake and the birds. It was truly magical. Instead of shopping, 
Thursday, we left San Marcos, in a launcha for Panajachel around 4:00pm, then rode in a extremely cramped van to Antigua, getting there around 8:00pm. The next morning, was a tough traveling day as we left Antigua, again in a van to Guatemala City where we waited 3 hours in the bus station and then left for Rio Dulce around 1:00. We got to Rio Dulce after dark and had to find someone to take us down river to Mario's and our boat. We were all tired puppies when we got home, but luckily the cook made us dinner.
We have spent two days resting and laying around the pool, but today we took a short trip by van to Finca Paraiso. On the property of this large farm is a hot spring waterfall, which cascades into a very cold river. Another magical place and we were so glad Susi got the experience as she is leaving for the states tomorrow. Then off to the shores of Lake Izabal for lunch at Don YuYo's. We ended the day trip with a short canoe ride up a river into the Boqueron, 1500' high canyon walls with lush jungle plants. We saw a howler monkey in a tree and many kingfishers up and down the river. What a day! Again, we are so blessed to be in such a beautiful country with such beautiful friends.
More to come! Hasta luego!
Guatemala
7/3/13
Guatemala....Mario's Marina (Rio Dulce)
hot
Well, we finally made it to Guatemala. We arrived here on Friday, June 28th.
Let me begin, with our trip from Key West. Charlie and I made the 3 day trip by ourselves from Key West to Isla Mujeres. We were blessed with good seas and good weather, just no wind. We have basically motor sailed the whole trip so far. The drone of the motor became unidentifiable at times. Crossing the Yucatan Channel was a trip, though. We were sailing in 7,000+ depths of water. Passing Cuba by only 10 miles...I had no idea that Cuba was so mountainous (north side) and forested. It was sort of surreal to see it, the mysterious Cuba, but exciting all the same. What wind we had was at our nose and then there was the current to deal with which was also on our nose. That is the reason we sailed so close the coast of Cuba, to get into the counter current which helped us somewhat. But, getting closer to Mexico and with the updwelling sea floor + current, we had about 6 hours of the boat tossing to and fro and side to side, very uncomfortable. We were never able to really sleep due to the point of sail and our conversations soon centered on how much we were going to sleep once we reached Mexico and in the AC....needless to say it is hot as hell during the day. We got some relief with our fresh water hose at the stern...where we would perch on those back upper seats and shower. Night time sailing was actually somewhat of a relief. Fortunately, we never saw any other boats or tankers here, until we cleared Cuba.
Isla Mujeres was a wonderful sight to see as we were certainly ready for a good rest. The water out in the channel was the most beautiful color of blue I have ever seen and then coming into Mexico it turned a light turquoise. We could see rock and coral heads and I would yell out to Charlie, "OMG there is coral"...but he would then assure me all was OK, as we were in 20-30' of water. We anchored in the lagoon on the north side of the island for a couple of days while we did our entrance paperwork...with the help of an agent, can't imagine trying to do this on our own, as even with an agent it was crazy....that is a whole story unto itself. We did experience our first squall here. We had just gotten back on board from spending 4 hours doing paperwork, when we noticed that the sky was getting dark....now, we had our Shade Tree awning up covering our whole boat....not good when a storm is approaching. No sooner than we said, we better get this awning down, when we got hit with 20-30 knot winds and blinding rain. Of course, then our anchor pulled up and we were heading for the boat behind us. This was happening to several other boats in the lagoon, they just didn't have a gigantic sail to make everything happen in double time as we did....we learned many lessons from this event! After 45 minutes of Charlie at the helm trying to dodge boats and me at the bow holding down what I could of the awning ( there was damage to several of the tent poles that formed the arch of the awning) with the rain pelting us and making it difficult to see, we got the awning down and the boat under control. But, just as quick as it started, it stopped, no need for a shower that day as we were drenched, but hey all the salt was washed off the boat! We immediately got on the VHF and informed El Milagro Marina we were coming in for a slip!
We spent a total of 7 days in Mexico at a wonderful marina, El Milagro, owned by a Californian, Eric, and his wonderful Mexican staff. The place was very quaint. It was a hotel as well as a marina.We highly recommend it if you are coming to Isla Mujeres. We met so many wonderful people here, some cruising and some just tourist staying at the hotel, again, just too many wonderful things to report from here. The one thing we did that was a bucket list item, was we took a whale shark tour! We left at 8:30 am and had about an hours ride northeast from the Isla, when you could see a congregation of fishing boats (40 or so). As we entered this area, there were "fins to the left and fins to the right" (maybe Jimmy Buffett did this tour)....hell, there were whale sharks everywhere, it was unbelievable. The boat had 2 guides that would take 2 people each into the water at a time (there were 9 people + 3 crew on board). We had on short wetsuits and our snorkeling gear...and into the water and then those beautiful huge creatures were within arms length from us. It was amazing! These plankton eating fish have huge squared off snouts, unlike the v shaped noses of regular sharks, that are open wide as they skim the surface. Covered with white spots, they are 20-30' in length. We were in and out of the water several times during the trip and got to see an amazing number of fish. We were so glad we did this side trip.
Our friend, Dan, joined us in Isla Mujeres and we left the next day for Guatemala. No stopping in Belize. It took us 3 days, again going against the current. Got into Livingston around 9:00am, which was good as there is a sandbar we had to navigate, but it was high tide and we went right over it. We are now in a REAL 3rd world country. We were anchored out and the whole immigration group (6) boarded our boat. It took about 30 minutes and a round of oatmeal cookies and we had our paper work done. We had to dingy into town to retrieve our passports and pay 1300 quetzales ($170 US). If you think Mexico is 3rd world, you ain't seen nothing yet! But having said this, it is really neat, mayan women walking around in their native dress with bowls on their heads carrying laundry, or food or whatever. We hit the ATM and the bank, armed guards let you in and out of the bank, to exchange our $, then back to the boat.
It was then a 17 mile ride up river to our marina, Mario's On the Rio. You can look at their website: www.mariosontherio.com
The first 5 miles or so the river is very narrow and there are 300' cliffs on each side covered with jungle. The vegetation is so lush, bromeliads, palm trees, vines, just fricking jungle. There are Mayan palapa huts and people in dugout canoes, there is also, of course, modern fishing boats both large and small. We only passed one other sailboat. The river twists and turns and then opens up into Lake El Golfte and the water turns green from the brown brackish water of Livingston. The trip from Livingston to our marina took about 3 hours motoring at 5 knots. So, we finally made it and as we were entering the marina, I hear my name shouted out by Terry Morris, a woman who I met in a knitting group on the internet over a year ago. Terry has been feeding us very pertinent information since we left Galveston about what to expect and tips along the way. I feel as I know her already before we actually get to meet and hug. The marina is really nice, they have a well that is UV treated, showers, a river water filtered pool and a great bar/restaurant under a large palapa on the river. Lala, the waitress makes great boat drinks! But there is no ice to buy, so that will take some getting use to. I can see we will need to make room in our freezer for our 3 little ice cube trays.
Guatemala....Mario's Marina (Rio Dulce)
hot
Well, we finally made it to Guatemala. We arrived here on Friday, June 28th.
Let me begin, with our trip from Key West. Charlie and I made the 3 day trip by ourselves from Key West to Isla Mujeres. We were blessed with good seas and good weather, just no wind. We have basically motor sailed the whole trip so far. The drone of the motor became unidentifiable at times. Crossing the Yucatan Channel was a trip, though. We were sailing in 7,000+ depths of water. Passing Cuba by only 10 miles...I had no idea that Cuba was so mountainous (north side) and forested. It was sort of surreal to see it, the mysterious Cuba, but exciting all the same. What wind we had was at our nose and then there was the current to deal with which was also on our nose. That is the reason we sailed so close the coast of Cuba, to get into the counter current which helped us somewhat. But, getting closer to Mexico and with the updwelling sea floor + current, we had about 6 hours of the boat tossing to and fro and side to side, very uncomfortable. We were never able to really sleep due to the point of sail and our conversations soon centered on how much we were going to sleep once we reached Mexico and in the AC....needless to say it is hot as hell during the day. We got some relief with our fresh water hose at the stern...where we would perch on those back upper seats and shower. Night time sailing was actually somewhat of a relief. Fortunately, we never saw any other boats or tankers here, until we cleared Cuba.
Isla Mujeres was a wonderful sight to see as we were certainly ready for a good rest. The water out in the channel was the most beautiful color of blue I have ever seen and then coming into Mexico it turned a light turquoise. We could see rock and coral heads and I would yell out to Charlie, "OMG there is coral"...but he would then assure me all was OK, as we were in 20-30' of water. We anchored in the lagoon on the north side of the island for a couple of days while we did our entrance paperwork...with the help of an agent, can't imagine trying to do this on our own, as even with an agent it was crazy....that is a whole story unto itself. We did experience our first squall here. We had just gotten back on board from spending 4 hours doing paperwork, when we noticed that the sky was getting dark....now, we had our Shade Tree awning up covering our whole boat....not good when a storm is approaching. No sooner than we said, we better get this awning down, when we got hit with 20-30 knot winds and blinding rain. Of course, then our anchor pulled up and we were heading for the boat behind us. This was happening to several other boats in the lagoon, they just didn't have a gigantic sail to make everything happen in double time as we did....we learned many lessons from this event! After 45 minutes of Charlie at the helm trying to dodge boats and me at the bow holding down what I could of the awning ( there was damage to several of the tent poles that formed the arch of the awning) with the rain pelting us and making it difficult to see, we got the awning down and the boat under control. But, just as quick as it started, it stopped, no need for a shower that day as we were drenched, but hey all the salt was washed off the boat! We immediately got on the VHF and informed El Milagro Marina we were coming in for a slip!
We spent a total of 7 days in Mexico at a wonderful marina, El Milagro, owned by a Californian, Eric, and his wonderful Mexican staff. The place was very quaint. It was a hotel as well as a marina.We highly recommend it if you are coming to Isla Mujeres. We met so many wonderful people here, some cruising and some just tourist staying at the hotel, again, just too many wonderful things to report from here. The one thing we did that was a bucket list item, was we took a whale shark tour! We left at 8:30 am and had about an hours ride northeast from the Isla, when you could see a congregation of fishing boats (40 or so). As we entered this area, there were "fins to the left and fins to the right" (maybe Jimmy Buffett did this tour)....hell, there were whale sharks everywhere, it was unbelievable. The boat had 2 guides that would take 2 people each into the water at a time (there were 9 people + 3 crew on board). We had on short wetsuits and our snorkeling gear...and into the water and then those beautiful huge creatures were within arms length from us. It was amazing! These plankton eating fish have huge squared off snouts, unlike the v shaped noses of regular sharks, that are open wide as they skim the surface. Covered with white spots, they are 20-30' in length. We were in and out of the water several times during the trip and got to see an amazing number of fish. We were so glad we did this side trip.
Our friend, Dan, joined us in Isla Mujeres and we left the next day for Guatemala. No stopping in Belize. It took us 3 days, again going against the current. Got into Livingston around 9:00am, which was good as there is a sandbar we had to navigate, but it was high tide and we went right over it. We are now in a REAL 3rd world country. We were anchored out and the whole immigration group (6) boarded our boat. It took about 30 minutes and a round of oatmeal cookies and we had our paper work done. We had to dingy into town to retrieve our passports and pay 1300 quetzales ($170 US). If you think Mexico is 3rd world, you ain't seen nothing yet! But having said this, it is really neat, mayan women walking around in their native dress with bowls on their heads carrying laundry, or food or whatever. We hit the ATM and the bank, armed guards let you in and out of the bank, to exchange our $, then back to the boat.
It was then a 17 mile ride up river to our marina, Mario's On the Rio. You can look at their website: www.mariosontherio.comThe first 5 miles or so the river is very narrow and there are 300' cliffs on each side covered with jungle. The vegetation is so lush, bromeliads, palm trees, vines, just fricking jungle. There are Mayan palapa huts and people in dugout canoes, there is also, of course, modern fishing boats both large and small. We only passed one other sailboat. The river twists and turns and then opens up into Lake El Golfte and the water turns green from the brown brackish water of Livingston. The trip from Livingston to our marina took about 3 hours motoring at 5 knots. So, we finally made it and as we were entering the marina, I hear my name shouted out by Terry Morris, a woman who I met in a knitting group on the internet over a year ago. Terry has been feeding us very pertinent information since we left Galveston about what to expect and tips along the way. I feel as I know her already before we actually get to meet and hug. The marina is really nice, they have a well that is UV treated, showers, a river water filtered pool and a great bar/restaurant under a large palapa on the river. Lala, the waitress makes great boat drinks! But there is no ice to buy, so that will take some getting use to. I can see we will need to make room in our freezer for our 3 little ice cube trays.
Made the Jump
6/18/13
Key West to Isla Mujeres
Hey friends and family, we finally got that weather window we were looking for and took off from Key West on Friday around 5:00 pm. Again, we were blessed with calm seas but unfortunately no wind, so we motor sailed the whole way. The water was the most beautiful color of blue I have ever seen and the one word that seems to fit it the most is "azule". We were amazed to see that we would be in 7000'+ of water. We made our way west from Key West and headed toward the Dry Tortugas where Fort Jefferson is located, something we wanted to see, but it just wasn't going to work out. Turned south and headed straight for Cuba where we caught a counter current and made some good time, 7.5 knots. I had no idea that Cuba was so mountainous and wooded. We were about 12 miles from shore and could see land with our marine binoculars. After leaving the southern tip of Cuba we were in the Yucatan channel, there was some ship traffic, counted 12 ships during our passage, but not one other pleasure boat...guess that is because they are all safely in a hurricane hole by now. About mid way across we hit that heavy northern current and slowed down to 2.5 knots. As the sea floor began to rise plus the current and what wind we had on our nose, we had some pretty uncomfortable sailing then, as the boat was rocking from bow to stern and side to side. This went on until we reached about 300' of water, then the seas and our boat settled down.
We arrived at Isla Mujeres around 4:00 am on Sunday, Father's Day, and hove to about 10 miles offshore till day light....trying to catch some much needed sleep. We motored to the north end of the island and entered a protected lagoon where we set our anchor. This anchorage is just West of a great little marina named El Milagro run by a really nice guy named Eric. We stayed on the hook for a day and then decided to go into the marina for a couple of days or so until we got our Zarpa and were officially cleared in. We hired an agent named Chepo at the Pariaso Club de Yates which is the marina next door to El Milagro. It's also a nice place, but we liked Eric, so decided to go there (EM) instead. Luckily, when we went out to get Island Sol, we got there just as a squall arrived and she started to drag. We had set an awning, (really nice, made by Shade Tree) but had been warned by another cruiser that "people who set shade structures drag" Also, when we first set the hook, a nice guy named Lawrence came over and said "when I bought 400' of chain it changed my life". I asked him how much scope he had out and he said 250'. That seemed a little extreme to me for 15' depth of water (I had out 100' of chain and the new Manson anchor and was sure that was enough but later found out this stretch of sand and grass is known as "the drag strip"). Very aptly named. So, you get little hints of what will work and you need to listen to experience. More scope is better in sand and grass, don't leave your shade structure unattended at anchor. Anyway, we made it to El Milagro where we'll stay until we depart for Guatemala.
The last thing we need to do "officially" is to get our "import fee" for Island Sol. Mexico requires that if you stay more than 5 days, you need to have this document showing you have paid up or your boat can be impounded. Well, we don't need that, so we took the ferry to Puerto Juarez on the mainland (where the Banerjito is located) after lunch only to find that Chepo had duplicated one of the copies of our tourist cards and so we needed another copy, but the official needed to close in 15 minutes, so it's back to the ferry in the AM.
Key West to Isla Mujeres
Hey friends and family, we finally got that weather window we were looking for and took off from Key West on Friday around 5:00 pm. Again, we were blessed with calm seas but unfortunately no wind, so we motor sailed the whole way. The water was the most beautiful color of blue I have ever seen and the one word that seems to fit it the most is "azule". We were amazed to see that we would be in 7000'+ of water. We made our way west from Key West and headed toward the Dry Tortugas where Fort Jefferson is located, something we wanted to see, but it just wasn't going to work out. Turned south and headed straight for Cuba where we caught a counter current and made some good time, 7.5 knots. I had no idea that Cuba was so mountainous and wooded. We were about 12 miles from shore and could see land with our marine binoculars. After leaving the southern tip of Cuba we were in the Yucatan channel, there was some ship traffic, counted 12 ships during our passage, but not one other pleasure boat...guess that is because they are all safely in a hurricane hole by now. About mid way across we hit that heavy northern current and slowed down to 2.5 knots. As the sea floor began to rise plus the current and what wind we had on our nose, we had some pretty uncomfortable sailing then, as the boat was rocking from bow to stern and side to side. This went on until we reached about 300' of water, then the seas and our boat settled down.
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We arrived at Isla Mujeres around 4:00 am on Sunday, Father's Day, and hove to about 10 miles offshore till day light....trying to catch some much needed sleep. We motored to the north end of the island and entered a protected lagoon where we set our anchor. This anchorage is just West of a great little marina named El Milagro run by a really nice guy named Eric. We stayed on the hook for a day and then decided to go into the marina for a couple of days or so until we got our Zarpa and were officially cleared in. We hired an agent named Chepo at the Pariaso Club de Yates which is the marina next door to El Milagro. It's also a nice place, but we liked Eric, so decided to go there (EM) instead. Luckily, when we went out to get Island Sol, we got there just as a squall arrived and she started to drag. We had set an awning, (really nice, made by Shade Tree) but had been warned by another cruiser that "people who set shade structures drag" Also, when we first set the hook, a nice guy named Lawrence came over and said "when I bought 400' of chain it changed my life". I asked him how much scope he had out and he said 250'. That seemed a little extreme to me for 15' depth of water (I had out 100' of chain and the new Manson anchor and was sure that was enough but later found out this stretch of sand and grass is known as "the drag strip"). Very aptly named. So, you get little hints of what will work and you need to listen to experience. More scope is better in sand and grass, don't leave your shade structure unattended at anchor. Anyway, we made it to El Milagro where we'll stay until we depart for Guatemala.
The last thing we need to do "officially" is to get our "import fee" for Island Sol. Mexico requires that if you stay more than 5 days, you need to have this document showing you have paid up or your boat can be impounded. Well, we don't need that, so we took the ferry to Puerto Juarez on the mainland (where the Banerjito is located) after lunch only to find that Chepo had duplicated one of the copies of our tourist cards and so we needed another copy, but the official needed to close in 15 minutes, so it's back to the ferry in the AM.
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| north side of the island |
Still here....
6/2/13
Key West, FL
rain, rain, & more rain
Well, we are getting a lesson in patience from Mother Nature. We are waiting for another weather window and we keep getting the same response...maybe next weekend. So now we are looking at another week in Key West. We have now been here since May 24th and have settled into a routine - Charlie wakes up early and rides around town on his bike, he then calls and wakes me up and tells me where to meet him for breakfast. This morning was a little French bistro where we had a wonderful breakfast outside. Buckwheat galettes: mine with prosciutto/tomatoes and basil, and his with smoked salmon/capers and cream cheese....so yummy! Next door, a sign said this shop sold the "most comfortable toe rings ever...and yes, they were right.
While enjoying our breakfast the wind picked up and sprinkles started, so we paid the bill and jumped on our bikes hoping to make it to the boat before the heavens opened up. Not to be, we even had to find refuge under someone's carport as the lighting and thunder became more intense. Finally, we just made a run for it and got soaked.
We also enjoyed seeing The Great Gatsby in 3D, unfortunately it cost us $50
This is a great place to ride bikes as the town is not that big. We have visited two museums. First, Ernest Hemingway's Home which turned out to be more than we had anticipated. I was not a fan of Hemingway, but came away from there with two books. I also had no idea that Hemingway was a cat person. There are still many descendents of his 6 toed cats roaming the property. We also visited the Mel Fischer exhibit of the Discovery of the Atocha. The Atocha was a Spanish galleon that was wrecked on a reef out of Key West in the 1600's by a hurricane. It is estimated that there is 40% of the treasure still lying at the bottom. Had this ship made it back to Spain, the USA might well be under Spanish rule today. There is also Truman's Little White House, which we have not seen.....yet.
Key West, FL
rain, rain, & more rain
Well, we are getting a lesson in patience from Mother Nature. We are waiting for another weather window and we keep getting the same response...maybe next weekend. So now we are looking at another week in Key West. We have now been here since May 24th and have settled into a routine - Charlie wakes up early and rides around town on his bike, he then calls and wakes me up and tells me where to meet him for breakfast. This morning was a little French bistro where we had a wonderful breakfast outside. Buckwheat galettes: mine with prosciutto/tomatoes and basil, and his with smoked salmon/capers and cream cheese....so yummy! Next door, a sign said this shop sold the "most comfortable toe rings ever...and yes, they were right.
We also enjoyed seeing The Great Gatsby in 3D, unfortunately it cost us $50
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| 6 toed cat |
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| Hemingway's House |
Stuck in Paradise
5/27/13
Key West, FL
sunny & hot
OK...stuck in paradise, it's 5 o'clock somewhere and I ain't got a nickel and I ain't got a lousy dime.... all come to mind here in Key West. But, let me digress...our time in Panama City was really nice, it was a great little town, but we were ready to get on our way to the Tampa area. As it turned out our friend Dan and his son Spencer could not wait for Key West so they planned on joining us there. We arrived at the sea buoy to Tampa Bay around midnight on May 19th. We decided to anchor out behind Egmont Key (a bird breeding ground), so finally around 1:30 am with Island Sol on the hook we tried to settle down and sleep. I just couldn't do it, I kept popping up making sure we were not dragging our anchor. Come to find out there is a 80' deep ridge that runs around Egmont Key and it is a shark breeding ground also! Yikes...unfortunately we never saw any "fins".
Later, that day we got a slip at The Harborage Marina at Bayboro in the shadow of USFSP...University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Again another great town. After some boat cleaning, Dan and Spencer arrived the next day. Spencer just finished his first year of college and was ready for some decompression. It was great seeing Dan again. We met a yacht broker, Joe, who knocked on our hull, turns out he had listed Island Sol before we bought her. Joe was a wealth of information about St. Pete. On the 21st we celebrated Charlie's 63 birthday with lots of food and drink...it was a great day! The next day we visited the Island Packet Manufacturing Plant and got a tour by Carson Johnson. Very interesting and amazing that these boats are made totally by hand. At 4:45 pm we slipped our mooring lines and headed for Key West. Again, we were blessed with good seas and weather. We did some sailing finally in order to make our arrival during daylight hours. The porpoise gods were good to us and we had a couple of occasions to watch them ride that bow wave. I just can't get over how clear the water is here and so blue, it is just beautiful. On Thursday morning Charlie decided to throw out a lure and see what we might come up with. About an hour later that zzzzing sound told us....fish on! It was really exciting and took all 3 of us to get that 15 pound bonita on board. Charlie cleaned it in the cockpit, cut it up and marinated some of the pieces. It was grilled later that afternoon and was very tasty, so more for dinner that night. We arrived in Key West on Friday, the 24th, around 8:30 am with a side berth at Key West Bight Marina. I have never seen so many boats in one place.
So, here we are back at that first sentence. Seems our weather is going bad on us with 30 knot winds out in the Gulf for the next 5 days. This is a crazy town, not unlike New Orleans...some very colorful characters live here. The architect is really neat and as you can imagine the place is quite pricey. We have rented bikes which has made the city more accessible to us, toured Ernest Hemingway's home (which was very interesting) and have found many cool bars/restaurants. Thanks to the ladies at the Elks Club and to our new found friends Melissa and Eric who spent a "wild and crazy" day with us yesterday. You know...what happens in Key West stays in Key West!
We are sending love and prayers to our son-in-law, Bobby, at the passing of his mother the other day. It hurts our heart that we can't be with him at this time. So love to all our friends and family....until the next post! Hopefully I will learn how to post some pictures soon, too.
Key West, FL
sunny & hot
OK...stuck in paradise, it's 5 o'clock somewhere and I ain't got a nickel and I ain't got a lousy dime.... all come to mind here in Key West. But, let me digress...our time in Panama City was really nice, it was a great little town, but we were ready to get on our way to the Tampa area. As it turned out our friend Dan and his son Spencer could not wait for Key West so they planned on joining us there. We arrived at the sea buoy to Tampa Bay around midnight on May 19th. We decided to anchor out behind Egmont Key (a bird breeding ground), so finally around 1:30 am with Island Sol on the hook we tried to settle down and sleep. I just couldn't do it, I kept popping up making sure we were not dragging our anchor. Come to find out there is a 80' deep ridge that runs around Egmont Key and it is a shark breeding ground also! Yikes...unfortunately we never saw any "fins".
Later, that day we got a slip at The Harborage Marina at Bayboro in the shadow of USFSP...University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Again another great town. After some boat cleaning, Dan and Spencer arrived the next day. Spencer just finished his first year of college and was ready for some decompression. It was great seeing Dan again. We met a yacht broker, Joe, who knocked on our hull, turns out he had listed Island Sol before we bought her. Joe was a wealth of information about St. Pete. On the 21st we celebrated Charlie's 63 birthday with lots of food and drink...it was a great day! The next day we visited the Island Packet Manufacturing Plant and got a tour by Carson Johnson. Very interesting and amazing that these boats are made totally by hand. At 4:45 pm we slipped our mooring lines and headed for Key West. Again, we were blessed with good seas and weather. We did some sailing finally in order to make our arrival during daylight hours. The porpoise gods were good to us and we had a couple of occasions to watch them ride that bow wave. I just can't get over how clear the water is here and so blue, it is just beautiful. On Thursday morning Charlie decided to throw out a lure and see what we might come up with. About an hour later that zzzzing sound told us....fish on! It was really exciting and took all 3 of us to get that 15 pound bonita on board. Charlie cleaned it in the cockpit, cut it up and marinated some of the pieces. It was grilled later that afternoon and was very tasty, so more for dinner that night. We arrived in Key West on Friday, the 24th, around 8:30 am with a side berth at Key West Bight Marina. I have never seen so many boats in one place.
So, here we are back at that first sentence. Seems our weather is going bad on us with 30 knot winds out in the Gulf for the next 5 days. This is a crazy town, not unlike New Orleans...some very colorful characters live here. The architect is really neat and as you can imagine the place is quite pricey. We have rented bikes which has made the city more accessible to us, toured Ernest Hemingway's home (which was very interesting) and have found many cool bars/restaurants. Thanks to the ladies at the Elks Club and to our new found friends Melissa and Eric who spent a "wild and crazy" day with us yesterday. You know...what happens in Key West stays in Key West!  |
| Island Sol at anchor |
We are sending love and prayers to our son-in-law, Bobby, at the passing of his mother the other day. It hurts our heart that we can't be with him at this time. So love to all our friends and family....until the next post! Hopefully I will learn how to post some pictures soon, too.
Monday, March 10, 2014
The Shakedown
This blog is out of order....Date: January 6, 2013
2013 has arrived and we all lived to tell about it. Yes, no end of the world, thank God my "adventure" can continue. We celebrated the new year at the Rinn Resort in Magnolia, Proprietors, Chuck and Linda Rinn, were most gracious as always. It didn't take Charlie long to start planning that "shakedown" cruise to Port Aransas. We left Freeport on January 6th around 5:00 am in a howling north wind and colder than a well divers ass, how appropriate! Our son, Sean was with us again on this voyage, he had previously sailed with us on Atra when we moved her from Kemah to Surfside, so it was only fitting that he should be on this trip as well. We have given Sean the name of Shade Slug II, after our friend (the a fore mentioned Chuck) because he was always finding somewhere to sleep. It is of course the thing that Sean does best.
Our plan: sail to Port O'Conner, tie up for the night and enjoy a steak dinner on the BBQ. We arrived around 3:00 pm and found our way through the twist and turns of Caracol "Yacht Club" marina. A porpoise followed us all the way in, the water was amazingly clear. I unfortunately could not enjoy that experience as these short 90 degree turns were making me somewhat nervous. Finally reached the end of the canal and moored to the concrete dock. We soon found out that the electrical service at this point would not support our boat, we had to maneuver the boat 360 degree to the other side of the canal, pull her back and then hook up to shore power. We soon found out the this "yacht club" had no showers or backrooms available, yet we still had to pay $75.00 a night. By the time we finally got everything settled for the night that steak dinner was diminished to hot sausage lentil soup and bed...not bad at all!
Left Caracal around 9:00 the next morning to a beautiful sunny day. We have been motor sailing to make good time as we do not like going into a port at night. Today we tried to "wing and wing" and Charlie attached the wisker pole, also the preventor so as not to make an "uncontrolled jib". By 5:00 pm we were about 9 miles out of Port Aransas and the weather was deteriorating fast as was the light (damn it)....We had 6-8' seas at the mouth of the jettys, here we began to let the main down with me at the helm. It was very difficult with those rolling seas to keep her into the wind and then that "uncontrolled jib" happened and tore a D ring off the mast. It wasn't that serious, but certainly could have been. Another lesson learned....get inside the jetty's and then take the main down. The Lord was with us. Did I mention that I am on the hotline to God when sailing! Sailing into port at night is very disorienting to me with all the land lights, our nav screen is amazing...how did Christopher Columbus every make it here with out "Navtronic"? But Captain Charlie got us there and in our slip (Dock 1 #120) without mishap....he is my hero. So, tonight we had those steaks. We were too tired to walk to the marina showers, so had one in the boat....bed and sleep was wonderful.
Sean departed for home the next day and we had a day on the boat to ourselves, tidying up and getting ready for our next guests...Tim and Gay Conner. They spent 3 days with up, bearing gifts and food! How sweet of them, but those are the kind of friends they are. We were able to sail a couple of times, first not much wind and lastly...fog! Oh, I don't like fog and Charlie didn't either, that was the first time he has ever wanted to come in early. But marina life was fun and Tim helped Charlie retreive our "la bomba" from Corpus, so now we have wheels.
Again a few days alone, messing around with boats, exploring Port A. The sun was non-extent for 7 days, but with it's arrival also came our daughter, Haley, for the sail back home. This was Haley's first time to see Island Sol. We spent a day on the beach and then readied the boat for leaving. Not too far out of the jetty's, we discovered that Haley was not feeling well. This soon moved on to being sea sick - bless her heart.
I managed my first night watch by myself and it was all good. With some help from my itunes I got through, watching that radar and being alone. That will take some getting use to, but I look forward to more solitude and just see where my mind takes me. So 201/2 hrs. later we arrived back to Freeport. On terra firma Haley recovered quickly, a hot shower and some breakfast then back on the boat for a well deserved nap. Our shakedown complete....Island Sol is a good boat!
2013 has arrived and we all lived to tell about it. Yes, no end of the world, thank God my "adventure" can continue. We celebrated the new year at the Rinn Resort in Magnolia, Proprietors, Chuck and Linda Rinn, were most gracious as always. It didn't take Charlie long to start planning that "shakedown" cruise to Port Aransas. We left Freeport on January 6th around 5:00 am in a howling north wind and colder than a well divers ass, how appropriate! Our son, Sean was with us again on this voyage, he had previously sailed with us on Atra when we moved her from Kemah to Surfside, so it was only fitting that he should be on this trip as well. We have given Sean the name of Shade Slug II, after our friend (the a fore mentioned Chuck) because he was always finding somewhere to sleep. It is of course the thing that Sean does best.
Our plan: sail to Port O'Conner, tie up for the night and enjoy a steak dinner on the BBQ. We arrived around 3:00 pm and found our way through the twist and turns of Caracol "Yacht Club" marina. A porpoise followed us all the way in, the water was amazingly clear. I unfortunately could not enjoy that experience as these short 90 degree turns were making me somewhat nervous. Finally reached the end of the canal and moored to the concrete dock. We soon found out that the electrical service at this point would not support our boat, we had to maneuver the boat 360 degree to the other side of the canal, pull her back and then hook up to shore power. We soon found out the this "yacht club" had no showers or backrooms available, yet we still had to pay $75.00 a night. By the time we finally got everything settled for the night that steak dinner was diminished to hot sausage lentil soup and bed...not bad at all!
Left Caracal around 9:00 the next morning to a beautiful sunny day. We have been motor sailing to make good time as we do not like going into a port at night. Today we tried to "wing and wing" and Charlie attached the wisker pole, also the preventor so as not to make an "uncontrolled jib". By 5:00 pm we were about 9 miles out of Port Aransas and the weather was deteriorating fast as was the light (damn it)....We had 6-8' seas at the mouth of the jettys, here we began to let the main down with me at the helm. It was very difficult with those rolling seas to keep her into the wind and then that "uncontrolled jib" happened and tore a D ring off the mast. It wasn't that serious, but certainly could have been. Another lesson learned....get inside the jetty's and then take the main down. The Lord was with us. Did I mention that I am on the hotline to God when sailing! Sailing into port at night is very disorienting to me with all the land lights, our nav screen is amazing...how did Christopher Columbus every make it here with out "Navtronic"? But Captain Charlie got us there and in our slip (Dock 1 #120) without mishap....he is my hero. So, tonight we had those steaks. We were too tired to walk to the marina showers, so had one in the boat....bed and sleep was wonderful.
Sean departed for home the next day and we had a day on the boat to ourselves, tidying up and getting ready for our next guests...Tim and Gay Conner. They spent 3 days with up, bearing gifts and food! How sweet of them, but those are the kind of friends they are. We were able to sail a couple of times, first not much wind and lastly...fog! Oh, I don't like fog and Charlie didn't either, that was the first time he has ever wanted to come in early. But marina life was fun and Tim helped Charlie retreive our "la bomba" from Corpus, so now we have wheels.
Again a few days alone, messing around with boats, exploring Port A. The sun was non-extent for 7 days, but with it's arrival also came our daughter, Haley, for the sail back home. This was Haley's first time to see Island Sol. We spent a day on the beach and then readied the boat for leaving. Not too far out of the jetty's, we discovered that Haley was not feeling well. This soon moved on to being sea sick - bless her heart.
I managed my first night watch by myself and it was all good. With some help from my itunes I got through, watching that radar and being alone. That will take some getting use to, but I look forward to more solitude and just see where my mind takes me. So 201/2 hrs. later we arrived back to Freeport. On terra firma Haley recovered quickly, a hot shower and some breakfast then back on the boat for a well deserved nap. Our shakedown complete....Island Sol is a good boat!
Bye, Bye, Pensacola
5/16/13
Pensacola, FL
hazy and calm, light winds from the south
Left Pensacola around 4:30 p.m. yesterday and had a lovely sail into the night. We heated up some leftovers and enjoyed some tunes with 1' seas and trucking along (motor sailing) at an average of 7.4 knots, so we were making really good time. My (Saundra) watch was from 11:00-2: 00 am and there was absolutely nothing on the radar the whole way, calm seas but the wind was 30 degrees off our starboard so the "kicker" was a necessity. Oh, and the autopilot is now working after purchasing a new compass. And, that was after hours of Charlie brainstorming and 2 days with an electrician in Pensacola, then Charlie contorting his body into a tiny hole to install the new compass...yes, again, he is my hero. Charlie took over the helm around 2:30 and I went below for some sleep. But, around 3:00 I awake to the engine going off and finding out that the oil indicator was lowering. After pulling off the engine cover, Charlie found that the "professional diesel mechanic" in Kemah, who checked our engine, did not torque down the valve cover and the gasket was not set, thus throwing oil all down under the engine. Not really sure how long all of that took, but finally got back underway and I woke up at the sea buoy to Panama City. We docked at the Municipal Marina, got a shower, a Bloody Mary and some sausage and now we are retiring till who knows when. Should be departing here tomorrow morning as we have a good weather window to make Tampa Bay.
Pensacola, FL
hazy and calm, light winds from the south
Left Pensacola around 4:30 p.m. yesterday and had a lovely sail into the night. We heated up some leftovers and enjoyed some tunes with 1' seas and trucking along (motor sailing) at an average of 7.4 knots, so we were making really good time. My (Saundra) watch was from 11:00-2: 00 am and there was absolutely nothing on the radar the whole way, calm seas but the wind was 30 degrees off our starboard so the "kicker" was a necessity. Oh, and the autopilot is now working after purchasing a new compass. And, that was after hours of Charlie brainstorming and 2 days with an electrician in Pensacola, then Charlie contorting his body into a tiny hole to install the new compass...yes, again, he is my hero. Charlie took over the helm around 2:30 and I went below for some sleep. But, around 3:00 I awake to the engine going off and finding out that the oil indicator was lowering. After pulling off the engine cover, Charlie found that the "professional diesel mechanic" in Kemah, who checked our engine, did not torque down the valve cover and the gasket was not set, thus throwing oil all down under the engine. Not really sure how long all of that took, but finally got back underway and I woke up at the sea buoy to Panama City. We docked at the Municipal Marina, got a shower, a Bloody Mary and some sausage and now we are retiring till who knows when. Should be departing here tomorrow morning as we have a good weather window to make Tampa Bay.
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| Music in City Park |
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| On the dock |
Loving Pensacola, but....
5/15/13
Pensacola, FL
sunny and beautiful
Well, Pensacola, Florida is a beautiful place and Palafox Marina is awesome, especially John who runs the place, a very capable and nice young man. We have read a lot of other crusing blogs which have mentioned issues with the all important "autopilot" and guess what...we are there, too! We had issues with the autopilot (we haven't named it yet, but I feel that is not to far off in the future) off and on the day before we reached Mobile Bay, but now it is out. So here we sit patiently waiting for the local marine electronics company to help us out, as well as Charlie climbing down into all the little holes and trying his best to fix things....he is my hero! Hopefully, the next post will be on the water heading for Panama City. Until then....
Pensacola, FL
sunny and beautiful
Well, Pensacola, Florida is a beautiful place and Palafox Marina is awesome, especially John who runs the place, a very capable and nice young man. We have read a lot of other crusing blogs which have mentioned issues with the all important "autopilot" and guess what...we are there, too! We had issues with the autopilot (we haven't named it yet, but I feel that is not to far off in the future) off and on the day before we reached Mobile Bay, but now it is out. So here we sit patiently waiting for the local marine electronics company to help us out, as well as Charlie climbing down into all the little holes and trying his best to fix things....he is my hero! Hopefully, the next post will be on the water heading for Panama City. Until then....
Are We Cruising Yet?
5/10/13
Pensacola, FL
overcast and windy
To all our friends and family, we are well and having a wonderful time so far. Getting away from the dock in Kemah was a hard 3 days. My parents came down along with our daughter, Haley, and our son, Sean. Haley, thanks for organizing our new home and Sean for taking the Ford back to Cat Spring, we love you more than you will ever know! Saying farewell 3 different times was tough and when the lines were slipped a small sigh of relief was released. So, has the adventure begun then? We sailed to Galveston where all of our "tanks" were topped off and then Charlie said, "take those docking lines off and store them". That's when it hit me...no more docking lines??? so I guess we are now cruising.
We left Sunday and it took us 3 days to get to Mobile Bay, Alabama. We were blessed with great weather and calm seas, but we motored sailed the whole way. As those of you who know Charlie, we ate quite well during those 3 days. Night on the Gulf of Mexico is very lite up with rigs as you can imagine, but when we got into Louisiana waters the number of rigs seemed to double as well as shrimp boats and crew boats. We arrived at the sea buoys to Mobile Bay and were met with a bank of FOG! Never sailed in fog before...our radar worked wonderfully and I also got a quick lesson on the VHF radio. At our intersection to the channel to the ICW going east, we pulled out of the channel and dropped the hook and sat that fog out.
As the sun burned off the fog, we got back underway and made it to the ICW. We Texans were amazed at seeing trees on the ICW as that does not exist in Texas. We later learned this was the "Redneck Rivera". It was just beautiful. We arrived at "Lulu's at Gulfshores Marina"....Jimmy Buffet's little sister Lucy Buffets place. We had to walk a long way to reach the restaurant due to the way the marina was laid out, but as I told these guys I am sailing with...we need to walk. What an operation! After a long deserved rest we refueled and headed on up the ICW towards Pensacola, FL. The geography changes again and now we are in white sand dune beaches and large bays. We called ahead to Palafox Marina and reserved a slip were we sit at this post. Very nice marina, floating docks and there is a Texas boat from Kemah, TX. John, our 2nd mate, first class will be leaving for home tomorrow, what a great crew member! Hopefully, John will rejoin this adventure somewhere else along the way.
Pensacola, FL
overcast and windy
To all our friends and family, we are well and having a wonderful time so far. Getting away from the dock in Kemah was a hard 3 days. My parents came down along with our daughter, Haley, and our son, Sean. Haley, thanks for organizing our new home and Sean for taking the Ford back to Cat Spring, we love you more than you will ever know! Saying farewell 3 different times was tough and when the lines were slipped a small sigh of relief was released. So, has the adventure begun then? We sailed to Galveston where all of our "tanks" were topped off and then Charlie said, "take those docking lines off and store them". That's when it hit me...no more docking lines??? so I guess we are now cruising.
We left Sunday and it took us 3 days to get to Mobile Bay, Alabama. We were blessed with great weather and calm seas, but we motored sailed the whole way. As those of you who know Charlie, we ate quite well during those 3 days. Night on the Gulf of Mexico is very lite up with rigs as you can imagine, but when we got into Louisiana waters the number of rigs seemed to double as well as shrimp boats and crew boats. We arrived at the sea buoys to Mobile Bay and were met with a bank of FOG! Never sailed in fog before...our radar worked wonderfully and I also got a quick lesson on the VHF radio. At our intersection to the channel to the ICW going east, we pulled out of the channel and dropped the hook and sat that fog out.
As the sun burned off the fog, we got back underway and made it to the ICW. We Texans were amazed at seeing trees on the ICW as that does not exist in Texas. We later learned this was the "Redneck Rivera". It was just beautiful. We arrived at "Lulu's at Gulfshores Marina"....Jimmy Buffet's little sister Lucy Buffets place. We had to walk a long way to reach the restaurant due to the way the marina was laid out, but as I told these guys I am sailing with...we need to walk. What an operation! After a long deserved rest we refueled and headed on up the ICW towards Pensacola, FL. The geography changes again and now we are in white sand dune beaches and large bays. We called ahead to Palafox Marina and reserved a slip were we sit at this post. Very nice marina, floating docks and there is a Texas boat from Kemah, TX. John, our 2nd mate, first class will be leaving for home tomorrow, what a great crew member! Hopefully, John will rejoin this adventure somewhere else along the way.
OK, already...Let's Do It!
4/16/13
Kemah, TX
overcast and misty
The adventure has not begun, or has it? We are still sitting in our slip at Watergate Yachting Center in Kemah, TX. There was a big push to leave by April 21st, but it is not happening, still too much to do, mostly at home. We have finished our refrigerator conversion and we now have a freezer. Our cockpit is glassed in and shade cloth is all around. Today we put up our Shade Tree awning, to make sure it fit (and it does), but there are still so many things to finish and BUY! Long lists of things to do are composed, marked off as done and then another long list appears. Where is the blue water??? We are hoping to leave by the first of May...so we will wait and work and see if that is the beginning of our "adventure".
Kemah, TX
overcast and misty
The adventure has not begun, or has it? We are still sitting in our slip at Watergate Yachting Center in Kemah, TX. There was a big push to leave by April 21st, but it is not happening, still too much to do, mostly at home. We have finished our refrigerator conversion and we now have a freezer. Our cockpit is glassed in and shade cloth is all around. Today we put up our Shade Tree awning, to make sure it fit (and it does), but there are still so many things to finish and BUY! Long lists of things to do are composed, marked off as done and then another long list appears. Where is the blue water??? We are hoping to leave by the first of May...so we will wait and work and see if that is the beginning of our "adventure".
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