Rio Dulce, Guatemala

Overcast and 80 degrees

We arrived back in Guatemala on January 9th.  Our flight was good, our 7 hr. drive to the Rio was without mishap and a large launcha was needed to get all of our luggage to the boat.  As usual it was impossible to go directly to the boat after an absence of 6 months, so into a cabin at Catamaran Marina & Hotel.

Upon opening my blog, I totally dropped everyone in the grease....so to speak, as I didn't blog about our season in Belize.  So sorry, I will try to redeem myself this season as we are going back to Belize again.  We just didn't get enough of this beautiful country.  We had several visitors last year:  our old time buddies, Chuck and Linda Rinn, our new friend, Leona Marshall (our neighbor in Cat Spring) and our every year crew, our daughter, Haley Lebeuf.

Back to present:  we are, of course, working on projects.  New wind generator with its new stainless steel mount that also holds our Starlink dish.  Starlink has made a huge jump for us to stay connected with the world and of course our family.  Very different from when we started with NOTHING!  So anyone reading this can of course, through WhatsApp get in touch with me through my cell # 713 539-7468 or my email: saundramcdowell51@gmail.com.

Other projects include: new SSB radio, new filters to the diesel generator, voltage problems fixed, located leak in main engine coolant....I'm sure there are more, but that is Charlie's department.  I am working on cleaning.  We used our Ozone machine to kill the mildew and smell and hopefully the roaches, but no, those suckers are still here and the mess they leave is everywhere.  So daily I work to that end.  We have decided to focus on the galley, head, and our bedroom so we can move out of the cabin and back into the boat.  As usual, we both got sick after one day of eating in Guatemala, but since the last 4 days we have been cooking on the boat and now all is well.

So, as things move forward we will again make our way to Belize.  This year we have 2 dive cylinders onboard, so we are looking forward to some scuba diving and not just snorkeling.  The water on the outer reef is beautiful as well as our favorite island, Half Moon Caye.  So give me some time to figure out how to add photos to this blog and I will be off and running.  Until then stay warm!