Rio Dulce, Guatemala

 December 15, 2022

Partly Cloudy and 81 Degrees

Ole, again to our followers.  We have returned to our boat, s/v Island Sol on Dec. 7.  Our flight to San Pedro Sulla, Honduras was fine and we were able to get all our luggage out with only one inspection.  They wanted to know if we had food and of course we did.  They had a look at our chicken sandwiches and put them back.  BUT, then they found a Saran wrapped bunch of leaves.  Mind you the drug/weapons dog had already sniffed our luggage.  These leaves were Sour Sop leaves that a friend of Charlies gave him to make a tea for his Prostate health!  I told the officer this and he just rolled his eyes and put it back and off we went to meet our driver, Oti.  Oti has been picking us up here for years and driving us back to Guatemala.  As I have mentioned in other posts the drive back to Rio Dulce is on a 2 lane highway with no shoulders or lights.  The amount of 18 wheeler traffic is mind blowing and at night they are lite up like Christmas trees….so you can see them coming for sure.  So we left the airport around 4:00 pm and made it to the Guatemalan boarder at 6:00pm…or rather we were half a mile from the boarder and stopped in dead traffic.  We sat there for over an hour not moving an inch.  Finally Oti said we needed to start walking to the boarder because he didn’t want us to miss checking out of Honduras and checking into Guatemala for fear the boarder station would close.  So out we get and start walking half in the ditch, weaving around cars and trucks.  We stood in line to for the check in check out procedure for about 30 minutes and then received all the necessary stamps in our passport and back to the car.  There we were able to move about 50’.  Then set until 9:00 when finally we got on our way.  So now another 3 hours to Rio Dulce.  It was quite a trip and of course we arrived in the Rio to RAIN.  Luckily Oti got in touch with the marina and they sent a boat for us.  We went straight to a cabin as we had 2 huge Pelican boxes, a large suitcase, 2 carry on suitcases, 2 bags and 2 backpacks.  The McDowells do NOT travel light!

We are now ensconced in our boat where Charlie has begun finishing up some projects.  Almost too many to mention.  Of course we came back to the boat with our engine needing a new alternator and a new impeller.  Both of our outboard motors are not working and the list goes on and on.  But Charlie moves forward everyday.  We have met new cruisers and have been reunited with old friends again.  There is a Christmas Party planned by the cruisers on Dec. 23 for all the staff and employees here.  Then another party for the cruisers on the 25th.  No date in sight yet for our departure as we still have to deal with the SAT office to get our exit permit and pay our fine.  All we know is that - don’t apply for the permit until your boat is ready to leave the country.  They are giving boats only 5-10 days to get out after permitting.  So I will return to finish this saga.  Hope all of you have a wonderful holiday, don’t stress just enjoy.  And health and happiness to all of us in 2023.

 

Rio Dulce, Guatemala

April 23, 2022

Clear and 88 degrees

I can not believe our sailing season has vanished!  

We are still captive in Guatemala due to government failure to help cruisers overcome their overdue boat permits due to Covid, closure of boarders and personal issues that made it impossible to return to Guatemala.....which is the bracket we fall into.   We have filed a petition to SAT (the governing body in charge of vehicles and boats in the country that are foreign) 3 weeks ago.  We have heard nothing except that we should begin proceedings to "import our boat".  To import your boat, first a value is put on your boat and then you pay 12% of that value plus other fees that are pretty expensive.  We are looking at around 17K+ to do that, which we can not afford.  So we are at a stalemate. 

Several weeks ago a large group of cruisers located here in Rio Dulce met to discuss the issues with Rita, a woman who owns a shipping company here, and whose husband is the mayor of this area was in attendance.  She tried to explain what is happening with SAT and listened to the concerns of the cruisers so she could report back to her husband.  Her husband was traveling to Guatemala City the following day to meet with a Congress woman who is trying to rewrite the laws to help both the cruisers and the local economy here that depends on our currencies. { At present, you can have a one year permit for your boat in Guatemala, but then must leave the country with your boat for 3 months before returning to Guatemala.  Then you are able to apply for another years permit.}  We were told that at that meeting the Congress woman told SAT to have a fine schedule ready for cruisers so we could then reapply for a permit, and that needed to be presented to her on the Monday after Easter.  Well, last Monday we found out that the meeting was postponed until this coming Monday, April 25th.  

So, here we sit. We have corrected all the systems on our boat that failed due to being hit with lightening.  And, fortunately the electric toilets still work....yeah!  And, at this point we COULD go to Belize if we were able to pay our fines and renew our permits. You must have an exit permit to enter another country....so this is the permit we do not have.   But now the hurricane season is approaching, putting us at risk of being in a vulnerable area without protection.  Hopefully I will have some good news at my next post, but this season is a wash.  

On the brighter side, we are here with the best group of cruisers, Canadians, English, French. The cruisers congregate at the marina palapa bar by the pool for happy hour everyday. Steve our dock manager is wonderful and he is an amazing man doing so many humanitarian works for the people in the community.*  The staff here at Catamaran Mariana is awesome.  They are the friendliest people we have met during all our years of sailing.  The marina is immaculately kept and is a tropical paradise.  We couldn't be sequestered in a more beautiful place. Charlie and I are both recovering form a bout of parasite infestation now that we have gotten the correct meds....is this TMI?  Oh well, just part of being in a 3rd world country....LOL.  OK, friends I will keep you in the loop as to our future.  Hope you are all well at home.  We are still praying for Ukraine and our country as well.....what a crazy time it has been so far this year.  Take care!

* In another post I will tell you more about Steve's work here in the area.  Specifically helping families who have a disabled person by getting wheelchairs or whatever is necessary.  He is also helping with new stoves (at the cost of $250.00 US) that funnel smoke out of the homes and into the outside air.  Many children and adults are ill with major respiratory disease due to cooking smoke inhalation....so more on that later. 

 Rio Dule, Guatemala

March 17, 2022

Hot and windy

Hey Everyone, I'm back and yes, we are still here!  So Plan A did not work out and I'm not sure if we are Plan B or C at this point.  I am beginning to feel like a resident of the country.  We are continually saddened to hear of the news from Ukraine and pray that this can come to an end soon.  If you do not read Heather Cox Richardson on YouTube of Facebook you should as she comments 6 days a week on the US and the Worlds issues....all are fact based.  

So, it is now the consensus that our boat was hit by lighting, while it was on the "hard" at RAM Marina.  Due to the fact that all our systems were down that is most likely the case.  And, God forbid we have not even gotten to the toilets (the heads) which are also electric.  Oh me.....well we have sailed for 8 years with hardly any issues this big, so I guess we were due.

Charlie has completed the hot water installation, no easy feat and all while laying on his back or side in our back quarter berth (bedroom/garage).  Everything is an effort (our boat motto), but all the spaces are so small to work in.  We are having a portion of the head space in the quarter berth cut our for more storage - actually all of Charlie's fishing poles, so now whoever sleeps there can actually store items on the side shelf....Haley that should make you happy!  We have had a young woman, Veronica, come and clean all of our sofa cushions.  They look almost new and we are very happy with that.  She also tried to clean the 3 carpets but we ultimately had to hit them with a water pressure sprayer to get all the dirt out of them.  

     Can you tell I still don't know how to move my pictures around. 

                                                                   

 So yesterday Charlie decides it is time for me to go up the mast and sew a leather boot on the end of our spreaders.  Our mast is 53' tall and I am a little over half way up.  The spreader is a horizontal metal strip that separates the shrouds coming down from the top of the mast to the deck of the boat.  The shrouds are 3/8" twisted stainless steel cables.  So there I am "sewing" this piece of leather onto the end of the spreader with a 3" needle and waxed thread.  I was a little nervous as I have not done this for about 6 years.  Then today I went up again and sewed the other boot on the other end of the spreader, not so nervous today and I got it done in half the time.....yeah me!  So we continue to push forward and tomorrow we will know if our electronic parts arrive from the states via mule (friends of our electrician are arriving hopefully with out stuff).  If this happens there is still hope for a sailing season.  Hope you stay well, spring is around the corner.  Hasta Luego!

And the Work Goes On

 

 Rio Dulce, Guatemala

3/3/22

Windy 80 degrees                                                                                         

It has been a month since my last post and there has been some progress in our effort to get out of here and begin our “adventure”.  In regards to our boat:  the new water maker has been installed and is working great.  We will actually be making more 4X the amount of water per hour as our old system.  The old hot water heater has been drained and removed, unfortunately revealing a few new issues that need correcting.  Our electronics are coming along, depth finder is working now but radar is still down.  The varnishing and waxing is finished and she is looking beautiful.  Next week we will have a couple come to clean our upholstery and carpets.  The new AC has not arrived and neither has our solar panels which seem to be lost out there somewhere.  Even though we would love to have both these items it is not essential to our leaving.  Both the engine and generator have new oil and gosh some other things I can’t remember.  But both are in good working order. Charlie along with some outside help has worked long and hard, with frustrating stops due to rain or lack of parts.  But he perseveres!

The week after my visit to Casa Azul, the orphanage on Lake Isabel the “Poptun Girls” came to Catamaran Marina.  The group of missionary doctor, who have been working in the area for the last 2 weeks, were staying in cabins here at Catamaran.  Poptun is a community about 2 hours drive from here.  “Mama Connie” runs a home for young mothers who are pregnant or who have had their babies.  These young girls, some as young as 12, have had babies by incestuous relations/rape.   Catamaran hosted the girls so that the doctors could open their clinic to them.  Many of the cruisers volunteered.  We began  the morning, before the girls arrived, making 120 cupcakes….from scratch I might add!  We set up tables for; bead making, coloring, hair braiding and nail painting (this was my station).  After all the girls were seen by the doctors, it was pool time.  Then the marina prepared many pizzas for lunch and a cupcake icing station.  Then back in the pool.  Finally, everyone was out and had dried off and redressed.  They were then off to Boatique.  This was the marina/hotel that Charlie hosted my birthday at.  Boatique treated the girls to dinner and then they stayed over at the hotel before heading back to Poptun the next day.  Needless to say it was a treat for them to just be kids for the weekend.  My heart went out to these brave young women, who were all too young to face motherhood.  But thanks to Mama Connie they are housed and loved.

We have seen several of our cruiser friends leave for their season of sailing in the last week.  There are still issues with the government and boats that have over stayed their permits.  We are waiting for our boat to be in running order before we attempt to send in our letter and documents.  We don’t want them to say, OK you can go NOW….and then not be able to actually leave due to essential things still needing repair. So here we still are, but we had no idea the condition of Island Sol after 2 years of sitting idle.  So, I am hoping our next post will be out in blue water….but we will see.  Thanks for hanging in there with us on this journey with us.

                        

 Rio Dulce

Sunny 82 degrees and windy

2/17/2020

Hey everyone, hope you are all well and enjoying winter!  We are still here and wondering if we will ever get out of here.  Seems the Guatemalan government is not letting boats leave the country who are out of their exit time, which would be US! We are allowed 90 days on our visa, but our boat can stay for a year + another year extension.  Our boat was here in January of ‘20 when we arrived for that sailing season, but my Dad got ill and I left for home on January 28th after being here only 2 weeks.  Charlie remained another 2 weeks to move our boat to Catamaran Marina and close it up for the season, as we knew we would not be returning.  So we are assuming that our boat was here in May of 2019, the end of that year’s sailing season.  So we are, at least, a year over our exit date.  But of course Covid hit in February of ‘20 and the country was locked down, so the government is trying to figure out how to fine people who are over their time.  Since this is a law and they need to change the law and come up with a fine schedule, we have no idea how long this is going to take.  We have been told to write a letter and explain why we are over our exit date, which will then go to Guatemala City to be reviewed on a case by case basis.  So, who knows when we will leave.  Then, once we do leave we must be out of the country for 3 months.  So right now everything is up in the air.  We know we will be paying a fine, which we had expected, but we just don’t know what it will be.  So here we are….

In the meantime we are still working away at all the issues s/v Island Sol has, after sitting in the water for 2+ years unattended.  Electronics are still being worked on, as a part had to be shipped in.  A new water maker is being installed and should be complete tomorrow.  The new hot water heater is still waiting to be installed and we just found out the AC is dead and needs to go.  In order to get the AC out of the boat a carpenter had to come and cut out a panel behind our settee.  It was refitted so we can remove it at will now….or whenever the new AC arrives.  A new water pump has been installed and all the varnish is complete.  Then just the clean-up.  Oh and our EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon)…just a little instrument that if we sink it will show our position….kinda important….is dead and needs to be replaced.  We can only buy it in the US and then have it air shipped to the Rio Dulce.

So, for anyone out there that thinks we are enjoying cocktails in the cockpit every evening in paradise….WE ARE NOT!  Also, remember  B-O-A-T means, “break out another thousand”.  So we are just plugging along, one foot in front of the other till we make it.

The pictures below are of a woman’s luncheon here at Catamaran’s.  There were about 20 women from other marinas that are here staging for the sailing season and most are all in the same boat as us (pun intended).  Also, last Monday I got the opportunity to take all the school and art supplies I brought to the orphanage, Casa Azul.  Doctors from the US on a medical mission were there that day seeing the children and then people from the community.  I have a zillion pictures of the cutest kids. The majority of the people in this community speak Ketchi - a Mayan language.  So not only doctors but interpreters and a pharmacist.  These doctors are staying here at Catamaran’s.  Tomorrow the “Poptun” girls will be here to see the doctors and have a day of fun.  These girls are in a home for abused pregnant young girls (12-16 yrs, old) and will be coming with their babies.   I will post that blog next, as this one is getting lengthy.  Finally, our bread delivery.  A young woman in town bakes breads and other goodies, also Kefir and “special brownies”.  She takes orders on Wednesday and delivers to our boat on Friday.  Needless to say, everything is delicious and “special”! 

Until next time friends and family….Hasta Luego!

   The gate to the orphanage compound

 Sailing women’s luncheon

BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN

SURPRISE…it’s my birthday!

 2/4/22

Rio Dulce

72 degrees and cloudy

Well, as my 71st birthday was only a few days away, I began bugging Charlie about buying a birthday cake and taking to it to the marina bar/pool area and share it with all the cruisers who arrive every evening for happy hour.  A day went by then another and again I said we have to go to town and get a cake.  Finally, on Jan. 31 I was adamant about going to town for that damn cake.  He then told me, “I got a damn cake already”!  So I was shamed back into my place.  The next day, Feb. 1, he told me to be ready at 6:00.  ?? At 6:00 with a dress and lipstick on, we did not head to the bar but to our launcha.  We did not hang a left out of the marina for Perico (the closest restaurant) but headed across the wide Rio Dulce.  So then I figured there are only 2 restaurants there.  We ended up at Boatique, a beautiful restaurant/marina/hotel in the jungle.  The owner, Pamela, met us as I was tying up Solita (our launcha) and asked me if I was ready for a romantic dinner with my husband.  Well of course!  Then all the cruisers (18 of them) came around the corner singing happy birthday.  I was totally surprised…and that is hard to pull off on me as I am somewhat of a sleuth.  But he did it with a ‘I gotcha’ smile on his face.

We had cocktails and a lovely dinner of river prawns, Arrachara (beef), baked potatoes and beans.  Found out later that Charlie had requested Arrachara and the owners did not know about it.  So Charlie bought some went to the restaurant and they fired up the grill and he taught them how to prepare it.  So, for those of you who know of Charlie’s chef secret powers, he was in his element.  We had a great time with many conversations flying around this huge table of 20. 

When ‘The Cake’ arrived at the end of that wonderful meal it was adorned with many candle, but thank god not 71.  Due to one of our fellow cruisers, Mike, who was back quarantined with Covid…I told the party that due to Covid I would not BLOW the candles out and proceeded to wave my hand above the cake trying to extinguish them, one was left and the young Guatemalan waiter, pulled his mask down and blew the last candle out.  We all died laughing and figured this waiter was thinking…these stupid gringos don’t even know how to blow out candles.  Our friend Jon, in his dry sense of humor said, “I’ll take the cake on the right, please”.  

A fun night was had by all.  Thanks to Sheldon and Pamela @ Boatique for making a lovely table and meal.  AND of course to my Charlie for pulling this absolutely fabulous surprise party off…I love you longer than the sky!

                     

Boat Maintenance Hell

 1/28/22

Rio Dulce, Guatemala

73 degrees and a beautiful day

A lot has happened since my last post.  Our boat is now tied to the dock at Catamaran Marina which makes it easy to get to work.  Our Guatemalan work crew is headed by Marvin and they have been sanding and varnishing since the boat arrived.  We put on 7 coats of Latonkawa with sanding in between each coat, so it is a long and arduous procedure, but it is looking really nice.  Then there is below decks…a disaster.  Our back (stern) cabin, which we refer to as our “garage” was totally dismantled in order for the new prop shaft to be installed.  This was all done while Island Sol was “on the hard” at Ram Marina.  So our salon and forward berth was trashed.  Charlie and I have begun the job of organization and disposal.  It has been 2 years since we have sailed, due to Covid and the death of my parents, so all the food and spices left on the boat are now in the “Basura” and that feels good.  Charlie is installing an inverter/charger which is essential to running many systems: 12 volt and 110 volt systems, refrigerator and freezer and well, just everything electric.  This 70 lb. Machine We are also installing a new water maker and water heater.  Then there is the electronics (the all important electronics) are not working.  As it turns out is one little pin in a fitting that has shut everything down.  But we are told there are a couple of solutions which we are at present working on.  

I started growing nutritional sprouts to supplement our diet.  This is the first batch:  arugula, spicy salad mix, broccoli, and radishes.  They actually turned out pretty good.  When we harvested them we added them to a salad at the restaurant.  So a new batch is growing now.  Will be back soon with another addition soon.  Hope all of you are well!

Things Are Moving Along

 Rio Dulce

Overcast and 74 degrees

Hola friends.  It is an overcast and gloomy Sunday with rain expected.  We have been very busy since my last post, well Charlie has been very busy.  The new propeller and prop shaft was installed along with the dripless shaft seal.  There are still more things to be done on the inside, but Island Sol can now go back in the water and come back to Catamaran’s where we are able to work with much more ease.  

 Well, again bare with me on these pictures as I am having a great deal of difficulty with the new Blogspot website…it is new and improved…NOT!

So, Island Sol was moved from her spot in the RAM Mariana work yard.  I am always amazed that they can raise this huge and heavy boat so easily.  They then drive this machine into place and drop her slowly into the water - easy pesy.  The new bottom job (copper plate) made the bottom as smooth as can be and as we made our way back to Catamaran’s she glided through the water and we are hoping to add a knot to her speed once we get underway.  The dirtier the bottom of a boat the less speed they make.

The picture below is of Marvin, our Guatemalan handy man.  He is putting a coat of bottom paint on our dingy, Colibri, which is Spanish for hummingbird.  Colibri is 11’ long and we carry her on the back of our boat on an “arch”, which was fabricated here in the Rio by an expert welder, Cesar at MAR marina.  He also repaired a tiny bend in our propeller shaft.  If we decide to throw more $$$ at Island Sol we would love to add a swim platform to her stern…but that will be for another time.  (MY thinking is that this will only increase her value when we SELL her.

                               

This is Solita, our river runabout that is 14’.  It makes for much more comfort since it is how we get around here in Rio Dulce.  Like Colibri, Solita was build her in the Rio to Charlie’s specifications.  Solita stays under a shed when we are sailing, so she stays high and dry.  Prior to being at Catamaran’s we would have to wake up - several times - in the night to bail out the rain water.  So now we get a better nights sleep.  

So tomorrow we begin more projects aboard and clean up.  I will take before and after pictures of the disaster down below.  There will be additions to our water maker and a new electronically panel put in….god knows what else!  So until then….hasta luego!

                                  

 Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Sunny 78 degrees

I am getting a lazy start on the day.  My new iPad and using Mac instead of a PC is hard for this old girl, but I will get there.  I also got an Apple Pencil…more technology….but hopefully I am building new dendrites in my brain.

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting a young man in a community on the outskirts of Rio Dulce.  Marco is 29 years old, but appears to be about 12 years old in size.  He is, by my knowledge, autistic and I was so happy to be able to meet him and try to make some contact.  He is being raised by his sister, who also has 2 small daughters.  They live in the most sad conditions, no electricity, a stick house with a dirt floor, with chickens running in and out.  Dasiy can not read.  She cooks over an open fire outside with a metal grate.  This is a fine example of the immigrants that are trying to better their lives in the US, but Dasiy, will never be able to escape her life.  _

,

Steve (the marina manager) and his girlfriend Che and I first went to the Mega Paca…the Guatemalan equivalent of a clothing store-filled with used clothes from the US.  We bought Marco some “new” clothes and perfume for Daisy and hair clips for the little girls.  Next to the grocery store for Oreos and other essentials that we thought Daisy could use.  We really didn’t know where Marco lived but with he help of a couple of neighbors we found him.  I had prepared a few pictures of coffee, cookies, and yes/no pictures to try and communicate with him.  I knew he did not talk, but could hear fine.  After trying to work with the pictures Marco had had enough of that and went to sit in a hammock.  He would offer his hands to me and I would swing him back and forth to his delight.  So I threw the pictures out and just signed “more” when I would stop the hammock.  It took about 30 minutes of swinging, stopping, signing and then to MY delight, Marco, signed “more” after multiple times of taking his hands.  So more swinging and stopping and signing.  Daisy has had all she can take of her brother, as you can imagine it is a full time job and she is tired and weary.  My heart went out to her.  Our language barrier was so frustrating, but I did translate through the phone and told her she was a brave woman and I knew how much work Marco was. She just shook her head yes, but there was no smile.  There are no schools here for children with disabilities and there are many children here that fit that bill.  There was a Downs Syndrome little boy next door! It is a sad situation.  As I have always said….All Americans should live in a 3rd world county for several months to have appreciation for our democracy and the abundant privileges we have in the USA. '

         The Guatemalan people (who I have met) are very nice no matter what their economie situation is.  So, if you pray or could send positive thoughts into the universe for Marco and his family I would deeply appreciate it.  Until my next blog….Hasta luego amigos.

PS…hopefully I will learn how to move these pics around soon!!!

Back on the Rio Again

1/5/22

Beautiful evening….75 degrees

Wow, was yesterday a LONG day!  Woke up at 5:00am, luckily we had packed all of our luggage in my girlfriend’s car the night before.  Janice and Colleen took us to the airport - a million thanks to you Janice, what would we do with out you???  We had 2 large Pelican Air cases, 2 large duffle bags, 2 carryon cases with a personal bag each, which we had to drag into the airport as we could find NO baggage trollies.  Luckily Spirit Airlines was the first airline in the building.  After paying over the weight limit we finally were on our way.  

Our flight was uneventful and we landed in sunny San Pedro Shula, Honduras.  Otto, our driver was there to collect us and all our stuff.  The usual 3 1/2 hour drive turned into 5 hours.  We were delayed at the Honduran/Guatemalan boarder as they could not locate the stamp on Charlie’s passport.  After 30 minutes we were on our way again, now driving in Guatemala.  But, there were 4 more stops by the Guatemala Police/Army….all decked out in bullet proof vests and uzis.  Our driver said they were looking for immigrant from Honduras trying to cross the boarder and then $$ to let them pass.  Mostly only checking cars and vans.  We were in a van, thus the 4 stops.  

We finally made it to Rio Dulce around 7:15pm at the municipal dock for a water taxi to take us across the river to Catamaran Marina.  We got all our luggage in our cabin…”Yankee”…all cabins are named for the International Phonetic Alphabet.  We made it to the restaurant for the best pizza and 3 cervezas.  After a shower it was lights out.  

We slept until 9:30 then made our way to the restaurant by the river and had a wonderful breakfast.  Unfortunately the coffee here is very bland for Charlie and I….we like it dark roasted.  They say all the good coffee is exported.  Our first job today is to get the motor running in our 14’ launcha….”Solita” so we will have transportation to town and well, just anywhere we need to go.  Many jobs are to be done and it seems overwhelming at times but we are in our “happy place”….so we will whistle while we work.  Until next time….hasty luego!

(I am desperately trying to learn how to work an iPad….bare with me)