Isla Mujeres

March 10, 2015

Jerry, Susan, Charlie and I were all at the Port Captain's office by 9:00 this morning.  Thank god, Jerry is fluent in Spanish, it was a big help all through the day.  By 2:30 we had completed all our paperwork.  Jorge, who worked with the Health Department, chastised (we received no fine,thank goodness) us all severely for not checking into the first Mexican port we had come to.  He said, "you have been in Mexican waters for a week and could have been spreading Ebola all up the coast".  Hmmm....well we knew we were all very healthy, because he took our temperature and made us stick out our tongues!  But, like he said, if he was in the USA and did this he would have been deported immediately....and he is right, so we promised to not do that again.

So with official legal papers in hand and a 90 day visa, we made our way across the street to Social Justice to celebrate with more cerveza and coconut fried shrimp...as only the Mexicans can do.  It is getting close to Susi's arrival time on the ferry from Cancun, so we walked to the ferry dock.  Susi arrived with her beautiful smile at 5:30...and her vacation begins!


March 11, 2015

We had a leisurely morning, but soon headed in the dingy back to shore and rented a golf cart.  Golf carts and motorcycles are the major mood of transportation on the island, at least by the tourists and cruisers.  We dropped off our laundry at Ave. Juarez and Ave. Matamoras and paid $40 peso/per kilo.  Next stop was a history lesson at the Estate of Fermin Mundaca.  Fermin was a pirate, who at the ripe old age of 40 decided to settle down on Isla Mujeres, in 1880, where he met a beautiful young Mexican girl, Prisca Gomez.   He fell deeply in love with her and built a 2 story home on his "plantation" in hopes to win her heart.  But she loved another and his heart was broken.  There of course is more to this story, but it was a very hot day and we walked around and saw what still remains of his home.  The price of admission was $20 pesos each.

Oh our way out of the "estate" we saw an elderly couple selling sea shell wind chimes.  I remember this couple from 2 years ago, the husband makes trumpet horns out of conch shells and Charlie had to have one.  This gentleman had to take the conch shell, that Charlie picked out, back home to plaster the hole where the conch was removed from, in order to make a horn out of it.  So we will return another day to pick it up.  Charlie just can't wait to wake the anchorage up early in the morning with his horn.

the last word.....salad

Our next stop was the Chuedauri....the large grocery store on the island....for a few grocery items.  Then a stop at Lolo Lorana's to make reservations for Friday night dinner.  Lolo is famous on the island for her gourmet cuisine.  We had met her briefly 2 years ago, trying to make reservations, but she was going to Europe on vacation, as she is from Brussels.  While having a wonderful breakfast at Mango's, we heard that Lolo had an accident and they were not sure if she was cooking. We made it to her house and a young boy ushered us back through her 2 kitchens and into Lolo's bedroom.  We were somewhat reluctant to enter for we could see Lolo laying on the bed, but she waved us in with her wonderful laugh and French accent.   She indeed had a terrible accident, breaking her upper arm bone and lower leg bone with a cast and metal pins sticking in everywhere...oh my...but still a smile on her face.  What a wonderful spirit she has.  Susi and I were somewhat taken back by all of this, which came out in hysterical laughter when we retold it to Charlie in the cockpit that night with cocktails.  So more to come on the dinner....

Cozumel to Isla Mujeres

March 9, 2015

We left Cozumel by 7:30 and had a nice motor sail up the coast to Isla Mujeres.  The Mexican "Gold Coast" stretches out for miles all along this northern route.  We kept thinking we were close to Cancun, but the hotels go for miles and miles.  We finally anchored in Isla Mujeres around 2:30. Now it is time for check-in.  As you check out of one country you must then check-in to the next.  We had managed to by pass checking into Belize by sailing along the outer cays.  As luck would have it the offices were closed, but just across the street is the Restaurant Social Justice, which has the best ceviche in town.  So the four of us ordered up Ceviche Mixto (shrimp, octopus, conch and some local fish) and plenty of ceverza to wash it all down.  Now with our bellies full we went back to our boats and fell blistfully to sleep.  Thanks to s/v Nikki Wikki, we now know to anchor in the sand near the reef, as this area is know as the "Drag Strip".

Social Justice

San Miguel, Cozumel

March 8, 2015

We arrived in Cozumel and made our way to the only anchorage around 2:30 p.m. and went to shore in search of sim cards for our phone and internet sticks, now that we are in a new country, but no such luck since it is Sunday.  We got a few things at the Mega Mart, it was air conditioned and we really wanted to hang there for a while, but we were all just too tired.

After arriving back to the boat we noticed a "ship" anchored near us....m/v "A".  Come to find out this boat is owned by a Russian and it is just over the top!  I have added a link to a You Tube video which gives you a inside tour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbucJO3zDCE Susan took this great shot of Island Sol in front of  "A"....thanks Susan!

This was a horrible anchorage just north of the ferry dock.  Swells all night long and ferry wake constantly....we are so ready to get out of here!

Punta Allen

March 7, 2015

Charlie changed the fuel filters on the generator, not an easy task and then to boot, in a very small space.  I finished The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson and added this to my best book list.  We are getting the boat ready for a 4:30 a.m. departure in the morning and making a 60 N M (nautical mile) sail to Cozumel.  Without any issues we should be in Isla Mujeres by Monday evening and then welcome Susi Q on board Tuesday for her 3rd visit to Island Sol.

March 8...Hoisted the anchor and left at our departure time of 4:30.  The wind is 21 mph with sloppy seas and with the wind at 30 degrees on a starboard tack. Very uncomfortable motor sailing, being tossed all around.  Had to finally take in the jib and motor sailed with the main sail only.

The starboard davit pole broke lose and Charlie had to use a snap block and a halyard from the mast to support the dingy because we were slamming into the waves so badly.

Punta Allen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

March 3, 2015

On seeing the cut in the reef to Bahia Ascension ...I am thinking, oh boy, won't be long to anchor.  Wrong...it took us over 2+ hours to get to the anchorage which was tucked in behind the land.  Unfortunately we had to go way in and turn back up due to shallow water.  After getting the anchor down, we noticed a lot of boats ferrying people, with orange life vests on, back and forth to a cut in the coast line.  We knew this had to be tourists, as no Mexican fisherman wear life vests.  But, it was time to settle in for the evening...again we were exhausted and couldn't wait to get in bed.

The elementary school

Day 2...we went ashore and realized that these boats were indeed shuttling tourists (all Italian, which blew my mind) around Sian Kiai ("Birth of the Sky") Natural Reserve.  Punta All was a much larger town than Rausher's guide depicted, but as we have seen many changes have occurred since the last edition of her book 7 years ago.  The town is very neat with well kept yards and nicely appointed gardens.  There is a school for the younger children and another larger school for the older students.  And, to our amazement a local library...yeah for Punta Allen.  There is also a wonderful basketball court, soccer field and playground near the central zocalo.  We found what seemed to be a local bar/restaurant and settled in to the shade of the building and ordered our 1st round of beers.  We decided to eat after the proprietor showed us some red snapper and lobster (frozen) - it seemed a little pricy so we all settled on shrimp.  We finally got some good tortillas, only in Mexico.  It has been our experience that Guatemalans, Belizeans, and Hondurans just can not make a decent corn tortilla - but I guess it is just our Texan taste.

We visited 2 "supermarkets" in search of avacados, but none were found.  This was our first store since leaving the Rio Dulce (Feb. 24) and our fresh produce was gone, except for a lime and an onion.  We were so excited to also find tortilla chips as they do not exist in Guatemala...at least in the Rio.

March 4....Today we went back to town, still on a quest for the elusive avacado.  Lo and behold our second store had some and we bought them all.

. Chinchorro Banks to Bahi Espiritu Santo...Mexico

March 3, 2015

Left this morning around 9:30.  We are sailing under full main and jib on a starboard tack doing an average of 6.5 knots and it is a beautiful day.  Vida Dulce is ahead of us by about 2 miles (how those cats can fly).  We should arrive at Bahia Espiritu Santo around 5:30.  During all this time together, Charlie and I have decided on our "grandparent names"....Tippi and Cappy!  Oh the places your mind goes when your are in a confined environment for hours on end.  A south passing boat s/v Beach House out of Los Angles, CA asked us, over the radio, to take a picture of his boat as he passed us.  He is circumnavigating and has been out a year.  He said he's never gotten a picture of his boat with full sails up.  We scrambled for the camera and did the best we could...hope it turns out OK.  Later we passed s/v Neko who was traveling with Beach House, they were headed to the Chinchorro Banks.

We arrived around 3:30 with 4 porpoise riding our bow.  Once inside the reef we turned north and headed for Vida Dulce already at anchor.  We had to weave through a ton of fish traps secured by plastic coke bottles, white plastic gallon jugs, and actual fishing floats.  We anchored in 20' of water behind the reef.  It is too far from land to do any exploring and we are even too tired to lower the dingy down to join Susan and Jerry for "happy hour".  So, cocktails in the cockpit.  It is such a sight to watch the sun set on the sea.  Tonight, it is setting behind the land.  There are clouds which somewhat obscure the setting but it is still beautiful.  So again, "red sky at night..."  Our anchorage is very rough, it is as if we are still sailing, but martini's make thing fine along with some good music.

such a great boat

Lighthouse Reef, Belize to Chinchirro Banks, Mexico....Overnight Sail

March 1, 2015

s/v Island Sol

Spent the day preparing the boat for an overnight sail and doing some cooking for the trip.  Around 5 p.m. our little flatilla left and headed for Banco Chinchorro in Mexican waters.  And, as our past was to be revisited, we were motor sailing into the wind with 6' seas.

It was a very uncomfortable sail again, but around 4:00 a.m. (March 2) we came into the lee of the Chinchorro Banks which flattened out the water and gave us a much more pleasant ride.  Poor Charlie, he has been fishing since we left Guatemala and has only caught sargassum weed.  Today though he snagged a barracuda.

We arrived around 9:30 to the anchorage at Cayo Norte and found a good hold in plenty of sand, then showered and feel into bed for a much needed rest.  Had happy hour on Vida Dulce - lovely evening with good conversation and what seems to be a good friendship forming.

The Chinchorro Banks have be so far the most beautiful water we have seen.  We will hopefully revist there on our way back south in June.

some knitting in my spare
time

Glover’s Reef to Lighthouse Reef, Belize

2/27/15

Two days of February left, where does the time go?  We have arrived at the southern end of Lighthouse Reef – the smallest of the Belizean atolls.  I never get tired of looking at this water.  This morning it is a greenish aqua and we are anchored in 10’ of water with a sandy bottom, some turtle grass, but not like at Glover’s Reef.  Our passage yesterday from Glover’s wasn't as bad as the days before, but I had intestinal “difficulties” which left me limp as a dishrag and not much help to Charlie.  Although I did rally by the time we had to make our entrance through the reef and anchor.  We are now at an anchorage on the west side of Long Cay.  On a personal note, I gain more confidence with each arrival to a new island.  I have total confidence in my captain and I am his dutiful first mate or Admiral as the case may be.

Susan and Jerry on s/v Vida Dulce have been wonderful boating buddies and I look forward to more time with them in Mexico.  Not sure what today brings as Charlie is on Vida Dulce planning the next part of our itinerary.  I, in the meantime, am enjoying some coffee and watching the sea.  To our starboard is Long Cay with mangroves along this shoreline.  There is a beach, but we are betting it is full of sand fleas – the dreaded “no-seeums”, so we are not going ashore to explore.  Off of our stern is Half-Moon Cay which is part of a National Park, which has an entrance fee.  There is a bird rookery with Blue Footed Boobies nesting there.  This would be interesting to see, but alas it is not on the itinerary.  So we are off again for the 16 mile sail to Northern Cay.  Yeah, we are finally sailing and with a 17 knot wind.  Island Sol is doing 7 knots, and we are pulling our dingy, too.  Charlie tries fishing again but there is just too much sargassum weed which is continually fouling his rigs.

We have picked our way between Northern Cay and Sandbore Cay to anchor.  We have reefs on both sides and Charlie is contemplating on putting out a stern anchor, but the wind is out of the East now, so we will just watch and see what the wind does.  After some lunch we took the dingy to Southbore Cay and walked around over half of the island, finding small treasures along the way, how many shells can one boat hold?  The light house which is a 200’ tall metal structure has an osprey nest on top.  Through the binoculars we could see 2 heads in the nest with Mom and Dad situated nearby.   These offspring appear really large so maybe they will be fledging soon.

 

2/28/15

After listening to Chris Parker (our weather guru) on the SSB radio, it appears we will spend another day and night on Sandbore Cay.  So we decided to explore Northern Cay, which as the Rauscher book says, has a state of the art Dive Center, an airstrip, hotel/restaurant and bar.  The problem, which is occurring more and more often, the Rauscher book was printed 7 years ago and come to find out this whole island, was closed down in 2006 and the place is pretty much dilapidated.  We walked the beach and met an Italian guy who was raking the seaweed away from the beach.  He and a few Belizeans live in the deserted cabanas of the resort.   We walked the airstrip and saw a few iguanas and so ended our exploring of Northern Cay.  Charlie and Jerry later took the dingy out for some snorkeling.  Again they saw some beautiful coral but hardly any fish.

Tres Puntas, Guatemala to Ranguana Cay, Belize

2/23/15

s/v Vida Dulce

My captain is very good at reading charts and plotting waypoints.  We were also fortunate to have friends that added their comments and waypoints to places we were heading.  Finally around 1:00 we could see Ranguana Cay, as the Rauscher book stated, “It is visible by the tall palm trees”.  So now we are using our chart plotter to find the entrance into the reef.  Seems I am now at the helm again as Charlie directs me by how many degrees port or starboard I have to steer in order to pass through the reef.  I have to tell you I was doing a lot of praying at this point with sweaty palms, but we made it through. (Thank you Lord)… As luck would have it Jerry and Susan were arriving at the same time, we couldn't have planned it any better.

So, here in front of us is the lovely little island of Ranguana Cay, beautiful white sand beaches and huge palm trees.  There is one other power boat at anchor in the lee of the island, so again we go through the procedure of anchoring, another practice and another victory.  There is a lot of wind now and the sea, even inside the reef is choppy, which makes our boat somewhat unpleasant with all the tossing around.  Charlie dove the anchor to make sure it was in, of course it wasn't so I had to start the boat again and put it in reverse and give it 2700 RPMs and that did the trick.  I couldn't wait, I had to jump in too, I was so glad to be in such beautiful water. 

Later that evening we made our way to s/v Vida Dulce for cocktails and dinner with Susan and Jerry.  They have a 44’ Lagoon Catamaran.  Wow, this is a huge boat.  Cats are so roomy and I have to say I was just a little bit envious.  Jerry and Susan have retired from the Seattle, Washington area and are enjoying their 5+ years cruising.   Jerry is writing an app for an anchor alarm and he has a 3D printer on board with which he has made parts for his boat…pretty amazing. 

Susan showed me all of her molas from the Kuna Indians of the San Blas Islands of Panama.  We hope to sail there at the end of this year.  These molas are an amazing pieces of handwork.  There are usually 3 layers of cloth, black being the predominate color.  I don’t know if I can explain this well enough, but the material is cut and folded back under to reveal the next layer of color and so on.  The handwork is amazingly tiny.  As Susan informed me that a mola master makes stitches that are not seen, using thread in the same color of the layer he/she is working on.  Their lines must be very straight and the widths of the color lines are also thin.  Susan purchased a mola that Vecincio made over a period of 6 months, it was truly a work of art.  At any rate, I really appreciated the education into what to look for when I get the opportunity to purchase molas.  The whole culture is worth a story unto itself….so I will report on that when we get there with pictures of the molas I intend to buy.

We had a wonderful dinner and great company that night.  Susan sent us home with 6 homemade chocolate cookies for coffee the next morning….Susan you are a life saver!

2/23/15

Today we got into the water and headed to the reef for some snorkeling.  Jerry was with us, as Susan is not a water person….hmmm, how can that be?  The current and the waves were very strong and it didn’t take long for me to be out of breath and energy.  And, to add to this misery, we really didn’t see that many fish.  We moved to the south end of the island where the water was more protected.  The visibility was poor, but I had my first shark encounter.  In all the years Charlie and I have been diving, from Mexico, Florida, Bahamas and Roatan, I have never seen a shark.  Now, I am glad in some respects, but it was very exciting to see this 4’ nurse shark.  Hey, that is the best first encounter to have in my book…a shark that doesn’t have those huge teeth and are very docile.  I watched it swim away, I’m sure he doesn’t like to have encounters with people either.  After dropping Jerry off, we had 3 porpoise follow our dingy back to Island Sol.  I really wanted to drop over the side and be in the water with them, but I was not sure how wild porpoise would react to that, so for now I held back…but that would be a check off on my bucket list for sure.  The pod stayed on the starboard side of our boat for some time.  It appeared to be one mature and two immature porpoise just swimming around and having fun  Such beautiful creatures!

Ranguana Cay to Glover’s Reef, Belize

2/25/15

Again we have another beautiful morning with the wind on our nose.  This is the misnomer about “sailing”, we mostly motor as of late, no sailing involved, due to the direction of the wind.  So again, we had a very uncomfortable crossing, pitching back and forth and sideways for the next 5 hours.  We listen each morning to Chris Parker for our weather reports and it seems that the south east trades winds that we need come at night, so in the near future we will be making a night “sail” on our way to Mexico.

The entrance to Glover’s Cay seems so ominous when reading it from the books.  “Be sure to have good light overhead, flat seas, and watch for numerous coral heads”.  But with the correct way points and Charlie on the bow directing me at the helm we made it into Glover’s with no problem.  Vida Dulce was behind us all the way and they are now anchored behind our stern.  Glover’s is one of the few true atolls in the Americas.  It is ringed with coral and there are only a few cuts in the reef for entrance and exit.  The island is flat with beautiful white beaches, coconut palm trees and palm nut trees.  It is another beautiful sight to see.

1st time for wifi in weeks

s

I dove the anchor with Charlie today so I could see exactly what that looked like.  As it turned out we needed to put the boat in reverse again and dig the anchor in deeper.  We also have out 200’ of chain, which seems excessive, but after our dragging experience in a squall in Mexico we learned from a fellow sailor to put out more chain when you anchor in “turtle grass”…which is what we are doing here.

never get tired of these sunsets

Melinda and Harry on s/v Sea Shell, who we had met in the Rio Dulce, was also anchored nearby.  We picked Susan and Jerry up and headed to their boat.  Susan said Melinda would know anything we needed about Glover’s Cay.  As it turns out several cruisers are meeting at the bar for happy hour.  In Belize, happy hour is exactly that, just one hour and then the drinks were $8 (US) for my (very small) vodka tonic.  We made arrangements to have dinner in the dining room, as Isla Marisol is an all-inclusive resort for diving and bone fishing.  Lobster was on the buffet tonight….which was somewhat disconcerting as lobster is out of season at this time.  Then we found out, finally at pay up time, that each dinner was $30 (US) per person…we all grumbled and got the price down to $25 per person….hell I was just glad Charlie didn't have to cook and I didn't have to clean it up.

We finally got a great night’s sleep as the water had smoothed out, so Island Sol was like a water bed for tonight.

Bar at Marisol Resort

 

Susan & Jerry (back left)   Melinda & Harry (front)

Rio Dulce to Tres Puntas, Guatemala

2/22/15

Our "Solita" (middle boat) is the
launcha we use in the river.

Sunny and very little wind on our nose

Our time in the Rio has ended and we are both so ready to get out of this river. The green of this country is overwhelming and we are looking forward to the aqua blue of the Caribbean.  Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful here and there are many things to see and do, but we are ready for some salt water.  We slipped out dock lines around noon and left Luvy's marina.  Luvy and his family were very wonderful hosts and took great care of our baby while we were in the states.  So, muchas gracia Luvy and we will see you again in June.

Island Sol with the Shade Tree up....making her really a cool boat!

We motored through Lake Golfete then through the gorge passing simple palapa huts and people in dug out canoes call cayucos.  Some cayucos have outboard motors but some are driven by human power.  The Guatemalans along the river are fisherman, catching mojarra.  We finally reached Livingston and crossed the sand bar at 4:00pm, which was high tide, so our boat with a draft of 4'10" motored right across.   This sand “bar” is large and continually changing with the river flowing out, we have bumped over it in the past, but today was easy peasy.

We motored on about another 2 hours and anchored behind the peninsula near Tres Puntas.  It seems now that our jobs are set when it comes to anchoring.  Charlie is at the bow and I am at the helm.  He directs me via walkie talkies on when to go forward, to go into neutral or to go into reverse, in order to set the anchor.  I am always reluctant to get behind the helm, but I am slowly gaining more confidence with practice.

As soon as we got the anchor set and secured it was already dark and up comes a boat of 3 guys 15’ from our boat and in their broken English told us they were fishing.  This was a little disconcerting at first, but sure enough that is what they did for the next couple of hours.  We must have anchored in their best fishing spot and they were probably just as unhappy with us as we were with them.  I hope they caught what they needed.

We slept really well that night and the next morning we were off to our next destination…Ranguana Cay, Belize to meet our friends Jerry and Susan on s/v Vida Dulce.  Again, we do what we mostly do and motored the entire way as we had no wind, and if any came up it was on our nose.  The sea was very rolling with large swells which made the trip not very pleasant.  But, the water is now 2000’ deep and very dark blue.  A pod of 4 porpoise followed us out of our anchorage early this morning, always a good sign.

Livingston, Guatemala

2/20/15


We are finally getting ready to leave the river, but first a trip to Livingston to complete our exit paperwork.  Luvy, our marina owner, lent us his launcha with a Honda 50 outboard motor, this made our trip only an hour down river to the town of Livingston.  On the way, we pass through a beautiful gorge with towering cliffs and jungle on each side.  There is a cliff wall along the way, they call "graffiti wall" for obvious reasons and so we enjoyed revisiting it again this year.  We just couldn't contain ourselves so we added our names last year.

Upon reaching Livingston, we made our way to the SAT office where we began the lengthy process of checking out of the country.  The same happens on entering the country also.  After the SAT office, we were sent to the Port Captain where more papers were stamped and more money is paid out.  This took some time as the electricity had evidently gone out and they had to hook up a generator in order to run the computer and copy machine to finish our paperwork.  Next we were sent to Customs for our passports to be stamped.  Charlie asked a young guy where the Customs office was and he sent us on a wild goose chase to the other side of the city.  But, not all was lost as we saw some pretty interesting sights.
                                                    Drying fish on long layers of cyclone

 fencing...can you almost smell it?  After all this walking we worked up an appetite and started looking for a place to eat.  One restaurant on the main street was full of people, always a good sign, but a Garifuna band was playing and the noise was unbearable so we continued on down the street and finally found a hole in the wall with one gentleman eating there.  Hunger over took us so we settled in and had a most delightful meal.  We both got the seafood soup and several cervezas.   It was delicious.

So with full bellies we got our passports stamped and we are on our way out of Guatemala and on to the Caribbean Sea and blue salt water.

The Mayan Ruins of TIKAL

2/17/15
hot and still

On February 5, we took off on another bus ride to Flores, in the northern part of Guatemala.  It was a 4 hour trip with unfortunately many stops along the way. We have finally realized that all bus rides are not non-stop.  We ended up in the bustling town of Santa Elena, much bigger than the Rio Dulce. There is a huge lake there, Lago Peten Itza and a causeway that goes over to the island city of, Flores.  Flores is the capital of the "state" of Peten.  It is a quaint colonial town with cobbled streets.




We spent the night in a small boutique hotel where we had a spacious suite...what were we thinking?  After dropping off our things we walked around one side of the island along the shore.  Now, this particular lake is the only lake in the world where the white bass is found....ohhh our son-in-law would love this!  After eating some nachos and a few beverages to go along with them, we ended up at another restaurant and had the aforementioned, white bass.  It was OK, but I have to admit I am more of a salt water fish person.

The next day we traveled to Tikal in a collectivo...this is a van that is packed with people, they put as many as possible in...so thank god the ride was less than an hour.  We arrived at the park and were then dropped off at the Jungle Lodge, only hotel that is within the park.

Jaguar crossing

 The chances of seeing a jaguar are slim to nothing, so we at least got a great view of the White Nosed Coati.  We also saw and heard Mexican Black Howler Monkeys and Spider Monkeys.  There were all sorts of birds in the park but a raucous
flock of toucans was pretty exciting, too.

Tony our guide

The park is huge, as you can imagine and just was so amazing to see.  The temples at Tikal are very tall and this seems to be the architecture throughout this site and what Tikal is known for.  Whereas, Copan is known for it's beautiful steleas and cravings.  On our last morning we did the "sunrise tour" and met our group at the main dinning hall at 4:00am.  After a short talk on Temple 1...Temple of the Sun, we were off for an hour trek in the dark.  When we arrived we then had to climb stairway after stairway to the top of the temple where many people had seated themselves on more steps to the very top of the temple.  And, then there we all waited in silence for the morning to begin.  We were very lucky that the weather was perfect to see the sun rise off in the distance above the jungle canopy.  As it got lighter and lighter, then the jungle came alive.  Troups of howler monkeys
in all directions started their morning calls.  Birds, of all kinds, became visible flying over the tree tops.  It was stunning and somewhat surreal.  So Charlie got to check off an item from his bucket list today.

Here are some other pictures from the park.....

Jungle Lodge

Dinning Room and the food was wonderful

Ocellated Turkey

after the sunrise

North Acropolis and Great Plaza

Birthday/Super Bowl and Getting High on the Rio

2/1/15
cool and overcast

Well my birthday has come again while living on Island Sol.  Last year I celebrated in Roatan and this year on the Rio.  It was a great day, beginning with a present from my daughter that was secretly hidden by Charlie.  Thanks Haley...you are so sweet and thoughtful.  I then called Sean and then my parents for my yearly "Happy Birthday" song....love the family!!

That evening we made our way across the river to Catamarans and joined Vicky and Bob (s/v FoxSea) to watch the super bowl.  We didn't really care who won, but we decided to root for the New England Patriots...good choice....and was that a game or what?  The bar/lounge was packed with cruisers to watch on 2 huge big screen TV's and we got the upfront seats.  After several beers and a giant pizza, Vicky presented me with 3 pieces of chocolate cake and 3 pieces of white cake, topped with fruit and candles for 64....ouch!  Such nice friends to be so thoughtful...thanks Vicky and Bob.  Needless to say after pizza, beer and cake, I was done!  But another great birthday far away from home.


2/3/15
Now, let's get on with the "getting high".  You can go to Sundog Cafe just about any day of the week and find someone smoking pot while having a beer.  But on Island Sol, my drug of choice this day was ......wait for it.....contact cement!  I have never worked with that stuff and my is it strong.  All hatches open and fans blowing and still I got high, well just a little.

I have finally made my first hatch covers for the boat with "no-seeum screen".  A must have when anchored out near an island or mangrove area.  We have suffered in the past  with the hatches closed due to no screens or suffered the bites when we finally had to open the hatches because of the heat.  

We have a Sailrite sewing machine that will stitch together 8 layers of sunbrella canvas, now that is a machine.  At anyrate, I made my own pattern from the many hatch covers I have seen on other boats and lo and behold it turned out just fine.  We were able to find some velcro in the local upholstery shop and that is where the contact cement comes into the story.  

  

 

So on to the next hatch cover and finally the companionway and we will be off and ready for those no-seems and those mosquitos.

Finished product