Guatemala 2024

This post should be “Panama 2024” but sailing passage plans are “written in the sand only to be washed away by the sea”.

With incredibly short notice, Raul at Servimar in Livingston had me cleared into Guatemala before midday, and then I was soon on my way up the gorge of Rio Dulce, which is always a magnificent sight to see. I arrived in Cayo Quemado mid- afternoon and soon met old friends Chloe, Thomas, Peter, Diane and Rob.

Then the fun started! Because I had lost my main anchor and chain (see Belize 2024) I had my secondary Fortress anchor with a few metres of chain and 30 metres of rode which I hadn’t used before. After dark there were light breezes which swirled around the bay. I guess that the changes of direction of the boat  released the anchor and I drifted silently into the mangroves of Cayo Quemado! I wasn’t in any danger of anything other than ridicule by the guys in the cruising community, and while I was contemplating what to do, including “do nothing until the morning light”, Mattias emerged from his nearby beautiful 1928 English lifeboat and helped me release my anchor and steer away from his “home” while I gently motored out of the mangroves. In all the manoeuvring the line to my dinghy caught in my boat propeller, but luckily was cut instead of wrapping itself around the propeller! We anchored my boat in the bay and I then rowed Mattias back home. THE END!

The image at the head of this post, World Ocean Day, is today, 8 June 2024, my first full day back in Guatemala.

 I stayed for three days in Cayo Quemado catching up with US friend, Russ on SY Tautog and discussing sail and rigging projects with Chloe at Cayo Quemado Sails & Rigging.

I’m now in a permanent spot in the water at my favourite, Nanajuana Marina in Rio Dulce. All UK travel plans are complete including a taxi to Guatemala City on Tuesday 18 June to start the adventure.

A Very British Celebration 

It was a long journey starting with a six hour taxi ride to Guatemala City, and involving three flights and a night in Panama City. The final flight from Bogota was delayed by three hours, and as we were called at 1am to embark the drugs police arrived. We had to line up our carry-on luggage down the centre of the corridor and then stand either side of the corridor facing the wall with our hands placed high on the wall. We were frisked and our luggage was inspected by two sniffer dogs. As this had to be completed in groups of passengers it took forever to board the plane. Otherwise it was a fabulous nine and a half hour flight in Business Class with Colombian airline, Avianca. I watched and enjoyed the movie, The Good Liar with Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen, and was thoroughly entertained by an episode of the BBC series, Who Do You Think You Are starring the comedian, Josh Widdicombe…..I landed at Heathrow Airport in London on Summer Solstice in full sunshine feeling patriotic and ready for the wedding celebrations the very next day, 21 June.

The Wedding Celebration, actually the 5th wedding anniversary of my eldest son, Alec and Paul, was a great evening meeting family, old friends and new acquaintances at The Mildmay Club in Newington Green.

As usual I had a list of things to do during my time in the UK, and after a successful few days in hot, sunny and very busy London staying at Alec & Paul’s apartment I took the train to Hull. 

It’s the 2024 Euro Football Tournament, and quite rightly, England are being criticised for lacklustre performances…none more so than the final Group C game against Slovenia which I watched in two pubs along Broadway Market. Now in Hull I will join Martin Hardy and his gang to watch the first knockout game against Slovakia. England eventually won in extra time of what is easily the most dismal display of football I have forced myself to watch!

I spent a few hours at Kildale Marine ordering parts to take back with me to Guatemala, and finally agreed on the new chain and anchor combination to have sent back to Guatemala via Miami.

On Saturday 29 June I had lunch with fellow sailor, Katie Lawe, in The Minerva pub to celebrate 10 years since I sailed out of Hull and headed south towards the Mediterranean.

I will go back to Hull to pick up the boat parts from Kildale Marine, and in the meantime I returned to London to stay with Alec & Paul in Hackney. I’m ticking off a variety of things to do and looking forward to our Boy’s Weekend in Dublin in mid July.

The Old George pub, above, on Bethnal Green Road was the scene of jubilation as the Men’s England football team beat Holland to book a place in the Euro Final against Spain on Sunday. Thankfully, Alec, Paul and I had booked a table, and the pub soon filled with happy people. World Champions, Argentina will play Colombia in the final of Copa America and the Men’s Wimbledon final will complete a day of international sport during our trip to Dublin.

I flew to Dublin early on the Friday afternoon, and after checking into our hostel, Clink i Lar, I walked to Merrion Square Park to find the statue of Oscar Wilde, one of Dublin’s most famous sons, and the statue, in the photograph above, is as unique as Wilde was in real life. I had finished reading his book, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the previous day. Alec arrived early evening and we wandered the Temple Bar area, and had a drink in the famous Temple Bar pub, which is home to a statue of James Joyce, another of Dublin’s famous sons. We finished the evening at O’Reilly’s pub for an Irish stew.

Elliot arrived early Saturday morning and we walked to the Guinness Storehouse where I had pre-booked 9:30am tickets. The Guinness Storehouse Experience was one of the best tourist attractions I’ve ever been, and we had our celebratory photograph taken above. We finished the visit in the restaurant. We took a horse and carriage back into the city…an experience that only the gypsy community can offer! We watched the ladies Wimbledon final where I was cheering for the “pocket dynamo” Italian, Jasmine Paolini.

The boys treated me to a 70th birthday dinner on Saturday night to the bistro and wine bar, Note Dublin, where the food and wine were fabulous. The boys then went into the Temple Bar area while I decided that Guinness, fine wines and good food was sufficient!

On Sunday we started the day with a full Irish Breakfast at the Merchant Arch pub, and the boys presented me with birthday gifts of Oakley sailing sunglasses and a vintage Nottingham Forest shirt, circa 1954. We needed a walk so our bodies could process all the food and high spirits so I guided us quietly to see the “Hungry Tree”. Although the park is closed at weekends we could see the Hungry Tree through the railings. I always take a look in Atlas Obscura for attractions off the usual tourist trail, and this was one of those unusual sights to see.

The Dublin Boy’s Weekend was winding down as Alec had leave to be at work in London on Monday so Elliot and I watched Alcaraz annihilate Djokovic in the Men’s Wimbledon final for the second year running, and then favourites Spain beat England in the football European Championships final. The following morning we had a late breakfast at the Lemon Jelly Cafe and I then headed over to the airport while Elliot had some time to kill before his evening flight back home.

My next, and penultimate, weekend will be a whistle stop tour to include lunch in my hometown, Beeston for lunch with old friends Steve, Julie and Ady, and a day in Leeds to spend time with Elliot watching Leeds Pride and the Hungarian F1 race which ended in Lewis Hamilton winning his 200th podium with a well deserved third place, and conclude this years business with Kildale Marine in Hull and carry boat stuff back to London.

In the final week and weekend of July, apart from confirming that I can indeed pack everything into the three travel bags, I want to enjoy some time at events in London.

I got bored with the Opening Ceremony for the Paris Olympics and went into central London to see the River Illuminated show, as seen above at the Millennium Bridge. Every night between sunset and 2am nine of the bridges across the Thames are lit up. The Thames is so much better than the Seine….but I’m obviously biased!

I arrived in Bogotá at 2am this morning, and have a twelve hour wait for the connecting flight to Panama City. I love the chance to watch a movie on long haul flights and watched Motherless Brooklyn starring Edward Norton, one of my favourite actors, and wasn’t disappointed. Bogotá lies at an altitude of 2650 and can cause altitude sickness. The whole time I was in Bogotá airport I suffered from a headache and just rested until the flight to Guatemala City. The taxi from Guatemala City to Rio Dulce was thankfully quick and uneventful. Once back “home” in Nanajuana I had dinner with Diane who had kept a watchful eye on my boat while I was away.

I have a list of jobs to do during the next few months with boat insurance, standing rigging on the boat and delivery of a new anchor and chain as my priorities. It was also good to be able to run, swim and do yoga to revitalise my fitness…I could also cycle after repairing my bicycle with parts brought back from the UK.

The Paris Olympics will end this weekend and Great Britain is doing well with the usual mix of  awesome gold medal performances and opportunities missed. The Olympic Games really is the most outstanding sporting spectacle in the world…a complete joy to watch.

In these early days of my return I have been helping cruising friend, Diane to prepare her boat, Canapesia for lifting out of the water and to sell while she returns home to Cornwall in the UK.

It’s now September. My new sails and furling system have arrived in Cayo Quemado, my anchor and chain are on the way from the UK and an order has been placed for all the materials to replace the standing rigging. My main task recently has been to re-caulk the teak decking which in turn will eliminate some small water leaks during the heavy rain experienced here in Rio Dulce.

Recently I was shocked when I passed some blood while having a pee! So I spent most of one day in the local doctor’s surgery having a blood test, urine test and ultrasound check. The doctor advised that there are four different possible causes and it turned out to be a UTI (urinary tract infection) for which I’m now half way through a course of antibiotics. I will return to the surgery around the end of the month for another ultrasound test.

I still plan to visit South America soon, and have been scouring the Footprint South American Handbook for ideas.

Slowly, but surely Nanajuana have strangled all enthusiasm I had for this marina. For various reasons I was not happy with my place at the dock, and asked to move to another spot. After two weeks of being forgotten and ignored I calmly informed marina staff that I was leaving, and an hour later I was moored further upriver and under the bridge at the Happy Iguana marina. It is both amazing and unfortunate that Nanajuana continues to fall out of favour with the Rio Dulce cruising community. The fact that I had prepaid until the end of October was not even considered in my decision to leave Nanajuana.

The photograph above is the sunrise taken from my boat at Happy Iguana. In this position I also get the afternoon breeze that blows upriver.

I have caught up my 1954 movies by watching High and Mighty starring John Wayne, and The Glenn Miller Story starring James Stewart and June Allyson. I have just three books and movies to complete this year.

I now have a taxi booked to take me to the Litegua bus station in Rio Dulce to take the midnight bus to Guatemala City to arrive early Monday morning for a flight to Buenos Aires. I have also booked a hostel in Buenos Aires, a ferry and bus trip across to Montevideo in Uruguay and a hostel in the old port area of Montevideo. The rest of my South America adventure will be planned and booked as I go along. I need to be back in Rio Dulce in early November which gives me at least five weeks to travel.

South America Adventure

A taxi took me to the Litegua bus station, and I arrived well before 11:30 and met sailing friend, Laura waiting for the midnight bus too. The bus journey was incredibly quick so we sat in the airport drinking coffee, nibbling on homemade shortbread and chatting away until it was time for me to check in for my flight. I’m now used to the possibility of airlines wanting to see a return flight or proof of a means to leave the country I’m flying to. While this unravels any flexibility of international travel I had pre-booked a ferry from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, which the airline staff finally accepted after much discussion between themselves.

The flight to Buenos Aires via a stopover in Panama City was uneventful. But the same cannot be said of booking an Uber in Buenos Aires…many airports give preference to local taxis, and make it difficult to use Uber. While waiting for my Uber to arrive a local driver approached me and said “that he had to swap cars”. So I got into the car only to realise, partway into the city, that I was in a taxi! There are two problems…airport taxis are a sheer ripoff and I didn’t have Argentinian cash. Payment to Uber is through the App. So I made him take me back to the airport while he told me that Uber was illegal in the airport as a scare tactic! I calculated how much the Uber fee would be in Euro, which I had, and negotiated a price with a taxi, which was fine. But I had to pay a fee for not using the Uber driver I had booked. A lesson learned!

I had booked a bed in a dormitory in the Casa Franca Recoleta hostel, and it was fine. I always have an idea of places I want to visit, and I visited the “ most beautiful bookstore in the world”, El Ateneo, seen above, which used to be a theatre, and also visited Recoleta cemetery which is the resting place of Evita. The following day I went to  the Boca area…home of the Boca Juniors football team and the colourful Caminito area. The weather was beautiful and I walked for well over an hour to Plaza de Mayo in Centro, and then onwards to the hostel.

 If I had another day in Buenos Aires I would have visited the trendy Palermo area, but instead I took the ferry across to Uruguay and then a bus to Montevideo. Again, I had pre-booked a hostel, in the old town. There were just two must-do places to visit…Cafe Brasilero, established in 1877, and the oldest cafe in Montevideo. At the time I was reading Open Veins of Latin America, and the author, Eduardo Galeano, used to frequent Cafe Brasilero. Then I booked a return bus and one night in a hotel to visit Fray Bentos, about four hours north of Montevideo. The industrial museum on the site of El Anglo told the history of how Fray Bentos became a producer of beef extract, and other meat products, such as corned beef and oxo, which were a part of my childhood meals. The factory eventually closed and the once wealthy town of Fray Bentos is now a quiet town on the banks of the Uruguay river with a fabulous story to tell…and a beautiful sunset, as seen below.

One more night in Montevideo and a plane to catch to Santiago de Chile….which was an easy transfer with fabulous views over the Andes. Chile is definitely cooler in temperature. The Hostal Forestal is fine…I’m in a mixed dormitory of six. Breakfast is included and it’s a very social hostel. I really wanted to visit the Templo Bahá’í and it didn’t disappoint. I learned all about the Bahá’í faith and the distinct design of all their temples around the world. On arrival at the hostel I booked trips for the following two days…the first was a fabulous day in the port and beach town of Valparaiso, and the second day was a very early start for a trip to the Cajón de Maipo region in the snow capped Andes. I then walked to the funicular up to the Cerro San Cristóbal for spectacular views of Santiago. I was with Susan, a true nomad who travels with everything she owns in a suitcase, and we ended the afternoon walk with a couple of craft beers at my now favourite bar, Far Away.

The photograph below is the colourful town of Valparaiso.

My next stop is the Bolivian capital, La Paz which at 3,650m above sea level, is the highest capital city in the world. I needed to think about the ways and means to minimise the effects of altitude sickness, and have bought some medication and rehydration gels. I will not drink alcohol during my stay in Bolivia, and as soon as I arrive in La Paz I will visit a market to buy some coca leaves to chew.

I arrived at Wild Rover hostel at about 6am and once it was light enough and warm enough I ventured in to the city to get some cash and book the trips I wanted to do. I soon realised that I needed to take it easy walking uphill! I booked a two day trip to Isla del Sol and an evening at Cholitas women’s wrestling, which turn out to be the most unusual and fun tourist activity I had done.

The trip to Isla del Sol began early morning on a coach to the town of Copacabana and met fellow nomad, Pamela from Chicago. After lunch in Copacabana we took a slow boat to Isla del Sol…an amazing island of Inca history. I had decided to stay overnight (in the cold wind) and stayed at the Hostal Inki Kala, which offered a fabulous view of the sunset, seen below, and dined at the Inti Jalanta restaurant.

I had breakfast, where I chatted with Theo from Brazil and who maybe at the beginning of an exciting career change…so I’ll be following his story on Instagram! After lunch at the Hostal I walked the, thankfully, downhill paths to the port.

The bus trip back to La Paz was in torrential rain all the way, and the bus leaked! I then had two more days in the city to take it easy, book my journey to Cusco and watch the Bolivia vs Colombia football match. Originally, I wanted to go to the El Alto stadium but it was sold out. Friends went to the stadium and bought tickets from the touts, but I went to The English Pub to watch an abysmal first half of the England vs Greece match (which England eventually lost) and then sat with a pub full of Bolivians in my new Bolivia football shirt to watch them beat Colombia 1-0.

I used Bolivia Hop to go by bus to Cusco which was a long trip which included a five hour stop in Copacabana, a stop at the border with Peru and a stop for dinner in Puno on the Peru side of lake Titicaca. The photograph below is the town of Copacabana from the top of a very steep walk up Cerro El Calvario.

The border stop was an experience as we exited the bus to check out of Bolivia, and then walk across No Mans Land to check into Peru. The bus drove across the border, and a Peruvian official checked our passports as we boarded the bus again. We drove through the night and arrived in Cusco at 5am. The train station opened at 6am, and I bought a ticket with the fabulous, but expensive, Perurail for a four hour journey through the valley to Aguas Calientes, at the foot of Machu Picchu. It was an easy walk through the town to my hostel, Supertramp, where I had booked a four bunk dormitory. Once settled in I walked to find the ticket office so I could return early morning to buy a ticket to Machu Picchu, and was pleasantly surprised to be given a primary ticket to return at 7pm to buy the official ticket. The system for queuing in the evening was laborious but within 45 minutes I had my ticket for a 3pm entry to Machu Picchu the very next day. I just had to buy a bus ticket (or walk for 1 hour30 for free) to the start point. The next day I joined the queue for the bus, which was well signed by the tour time. Official guides then touted themselves for business, where their $80 price is divided by the number in the group. Eventually, I was in an English speaking group with a German couple and two Taiwanese guys. The bus to the top offered amazing views of the valley, and then we were there! It had been raining earlier but the sun came out for us to make fabulous photo opportunities. The organisation was brilliant as visitors were assigned one of three tour routes with a host of viewpoints…it needed to be brilliant because 6-7,000 visitors arrive every day for every day of the year, and it truly deserves to be one of the seven modern wonders of the world!

It’s now my third day in Aguas Calientes, and it’s pouring with rain…I was so lucky with the weather yesterday!

 I took the train from Aguas Calientes, and changed to a shuttle bus at Ollantaytambo to Cusco to finally get to stay at the Viajero Kokopelli hostel. As I prefer I went on a city walking tour of this fabulous Inca city. I discovered that the official Cusco flag flown in the city plaza is very similar to the Pride flag… so I bought one for the boat. I finally decided to attempt the Rainbow Mountain  hike, and chose Rainbow Mountain Travel agency because they set off from Cusco at 3am to miss the crowds. Peru’s second most popular tourist attraction receives 2-3,000 visitors every day on every day of the year.

We stopped for breakfast, and soon got to know my fellow travellers in our group “Sexy Alpacas”…to differentiate ourselves from the other two groups from the same agency. Once we arrived at the bus park, already at an altitude of 4,300m, we set off at our own slow steady pace for about 1.5 hours. Some people paid for a horse ride, which is good for local families who own one horse each. The final viewpoint over Rainbow Mountain was a mighty 5,036m above sea level, and the views were magnificent in every direction, as seen in the photograph below. Just one of our Sexy Alpacas used a horse, but she had been suffering from altitude sickness for some days, and was struggling from the start of the hike. We set off on our return hike at 8:30am which was downhill, and so much easier. There were hordes of visitors on their uphill hike, and the bus park had about forty buses as opposed to our three buses at 06:30! We stopped for lunch on our return journey, and arrived back in Cusco mid afternoon after an epic day!

The flight from Cusco to Quito via Lima was uneventful, and I arrived at The Secret Garden hostel late evening to be greeted with an upgrade to a private room instead of the four bunk dormitory I had booked… luxury! I had just three priorities for Quito…and on the first day I had booked a ten day trip to the Galápagos Islands, and visited the Mitad del Mundo monument (Middle of the Earth) and Intiñan Solar Museum where the Equator passes through Quito…in 1736, a French expedition attempted to define the exact position of the Equator but encountered a variety of problems, and hence the Monument is 240 metres away from the Equator which can be seen at the Museum. It’s a fabulous story, and one that attracts many visitors to what is now Ecuador’s biggest tourist attraction.
On the second day I went on a city walking tour around the Spanish colonial capital city of Quito, which was built on an original Inca city founded in 1030 AD.

Tomorrow, I fly to the Galapagos!

The flights to Baltra airport on Santa Cruz island via Lima were fine, but the queue to pay the Galapagos $200 tourist fee was long and slow. However, the shuttle bus and ferry and second shuttle bus down to Puerto Ayora were cheap and efficient. Although taxis were waiting at the bus station I decided to walk 20 minutes to the Lonesome George Ecolodge…a fabulous rustic-style and comfortable hostel.

On arrival at the hostel I booked a day trip to Isabel island for the following day. This meant another early start to be down at the port at 6am for a two hour super fast ferry to Isabel island. The photograph below is the sunrise in Puerto Ayora.

Our group had a local guide, Diane who took us to a land turtle breeding centre, a flamingo park, lunch, snorkelling to see green sea turtles and sea iguanas, and finally to see white-tipped reef sharks. It was a fabulous day trip with nice people to a fabulous island. The best way to celebrate was an evening spent at the Santa Cruz Brewery bar!

The following day I walked to Tortuga Bay, which is mainly a surfing beach, and then on to Playa Mansa. I hadn’t taken my swimwear and the heavy cloud was not suitable for decent photography, but it was good exercise. I also wanted to visit the Origin Museum but it had to close for some emergency maintenance. I had to be up and away from Lonesome George hostel to reach Baltra airport to meet the cruise crew. Other cruisers arrived from mainland Ecuador and we were taken to our cruise boat, Monserrat. In total, there are seventeen passengers together over the next few days. But sadly, there was a huge misunderstanding as unexpectedly I’m now in a shared cabin! Anyway, our first trip was back on Santa Cruz to the highlands area to see giant tortoises in the wild…an amazing experience. That evening we had a formal cocktail welcome together with the agenda for the next day, and then dinner.

It’s an early 6:30am start for breakfast in another location, and a day full of activities planned…the boat moved overnight to the uninhabited island of Rábida and the noise of the engine was crazy! On Rabida and later that day on Bartolome we did both hiking and snorkelling. The sunset hike on Bartolome allowed us to get a marvellous view of The Pinnacle rock.

Again an early morning breakfast at 6:30am with both snorkelling and hiking trips on the islands of South Plaza and Santa Fe, but with a bonus of a five hour rest on board in the middle of the day as we travelled from one island to the other. Again, tonight we will travel overnight to our final island, San Cristobal. At each island we aim to see specific wildlife…Nocturnal Seagull, Galapagos Penguin, Yellow Iguana, White Tipped Reef Shark, and witness specific terrain such as the Galapagos Carpet on South Plaza.

My final full day onboard began particularly early with a 6am breakfast followed by a wet-landing hike at Pitt Point on San Cristobal, which is especially good to see both Blue Footed and Red Footed Boobies…and we saw both!

The female Blue-Footed Booby was caring for her two chicks.

I remained on board for the next snorkelling session, preferring to do my own yoga session on the sun deck. The boat then motored down to Cerro Brujo on the northwest coast of San Cristobal while we had lunch and relaxed. Cerro Brujo, a volcanic mountain, and the adjoining beach were a great location for an afternoon of doing as we pleased, including a dinghy ride along Cerro Brujo with special views of Kicker Rock…through Cerro Brujo and at sunset (in the photograph below). After sunset we motored a short distance to Isla Lobos for a celebratory cocktail and last dinner for some of our group, including me!

Our final morning began with an early hike on Isla Lobos for our best views of Blue Footed Boobies and Sea Lions. Again I didn’t participate in our final snorkel, and then we motored down to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno to disembark and say goodbye to MY Monserrat and its family of friends and crew….we have had a fabulous time together!

I had an Airbnb on the harbour front for just one reason….to dive at Kicker Rock. I then had to wait a day before flying, so I had booked three nights.

The dive at Kicker Rock was a challenging experience. As the water is cold at 18°c I wore a 7mm full wetsuit with hood and boots. So I needed more weights than usual, and that combination gave me two initial problems…equalising my ears with the hood on, and achieving neutral buoyancy. However, both dives were immensely enjoyable. Our group of four divers saw tuna, sea turtles, and a sea lion as well as huge numbers of smaller fish, as in the photograph below. But the one sighting that escaped us was that of a hammerhead shark. Maybe another day and another dive location!

On my final day in the Galápagos Islands I ached from the diving at Kicker Rock, so I started my morning with a yoga session, a smoothie bowl for breakfast and a walk to the airport…just to check that it really is walkable!

 I did walk to the airport. It’s very small, and with just enough staff to ensure everyone boarded the plane with less than 10 minutes to takeoff! I had a short 45 minute layover remaining on the aircraft while more passengers boarded at Guayaquil airport before a short flight to Quito. After a super fast taxi into the city I arrived at Secret Garden hostel with streets closed for Halloween celebrations. I went to La Officina Brew Pub opposite the hostel for craft IPA and a choco pizza. The last full day of my South America adventure will be chilling, and dealing with some administrative stuff online.

Again, I went to La Officina Brew Pub on my last evening in South America, but with two solo female travellers from Australia and the USA. The following morning I was taken by taxi to Quito airport for a long day of flights to San José de Costa Rica and Guatemala City, and finally a long taxi to Happy Iguana marina to arrive at 01:15am the following day.

The End of the South America Adventure 

As usual I had a long list of tasks to complete to prepare myself and the boat for leaving Guatemala and sailing down to Panama in preparation for crossing the Pacific in 2025. I needed some final medical tests to confirm that the Urinary Tract Infection from August had indeed cleared completely, and I was also planning a visit to Cayo Quemado in the second week of November to complete sail and rigging work.

It’s certainly too early to venture out into the Caribbean Sea as Hurricane Raphael has caused damage in the Cayman Islands and Cuba, and is now hurtling westward towards the coast of Mexico.

Rita’s Place had received all my boat parts from the US and the UK. The cost for the transatlantic delivery, including the anchor and chain, was astronomical! However, it’s all fitted nicely which is a relief…but I need to complete the windlass repair. On the Saturday morning I motored down to Cayo Quemado in readiness for a week of sails and rigging work.

Cayo Quemado remains one of my favourite places for chilling. It now has the recently opened La Isla Dulce Hotel Marina Cafe, which I visited every day. The mast, boom and forestay were down by 10:30 on Monday morning, and then the rigging work began, which was completed on Tuesday ready to reinstall the mast and boom on Wednesday morning. The new Selden forestay & furling system was assembled, and ready to install on Thursday. The furling system was installed, and the sails were tried for size. The Genoa needs a smaller luff strip, which will be ready for tomorrow, Friday. Tropical Storm Sara is heading west towards Belize, and will cause heavy rain in the Rio Dulce area for the next few days…and it started Thursday afternoon! On Friday morning we decided to postpone the final few tasks until Monday morning. Storm Sara is causing havoc in mainland Honduras and in the Bay Islands, and boats arrived back in Rio Dulce to be safe. It would be a crazy time to raise the new sails! But a tropical storm is just the excuse for a party…Gena & Bill on SY Valkyrie arrived early Friday evening on their eventful escape from Sara, and invited me to La Isla Dulce for pizza.

La Isla Dulce, seen above, already had about a dozen people there for good food and drinks. It was a lovely way to ignore a little wet weather…thanks to everyone, and especially to Dena & Bill who even picked me up and returned me safely in their dinghy! The wet and windy weather was at its worst on Saturday, and really began to calm down on Sunday. I used some of the spare time to finally build a system for catching rainwater…and I caught about 40 litres of Sara’s rainfall! I also went on a Cockroach Hunt, as I seem to have a few more than is comfortable!

Monday heralded a beautiful sunrise, as can be seen in the photograph, in celebration of Sara’s departure.

Indeed, Tropical Storm Sara has died and is now a depression over the Mexican Yucatan peninsula. By lunchtime we had completed the installation of the sails, and I was ready to return to Happy Iguana marina in Rio Dulce. Cayo Quemado Sails & Rigging have done a fine job. There is one adjustment to make to the new furler, which can be completed at a later date, and possibly when I’m leaving Rio Dulce.

 I’m now back in Happy Iguana marina with plans for finally sailing down to Panama.

Heck! It is now 1st December! Rio Dulce is always busy at this time of year as cruisers return to their boats to prepare for the new season of sailing. It’s been great to meet old friends at local events such as Margarita Monday, Taco Tuesday and Ribs Friday, but the formal end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season will mean boats will now begin their exodus into the Caribbean Sea and beyond. I still have some small boat jobs to complete, and I refuse to set myself arbitrary deadlines for leaving Rio Dulce…it maybe this month or maybe January 2025. In the meantime it’s Margarita Monday at Ana’s Coffee House tomorrow evening!

 I have confirmed with Happy Iguana marina that I will leave on 18th December to head down to Cayo Quemado to complete the final adjustment on the furler system. Recently, the weather has been atrocious. It has rained almost every day, and often for hours at a time. However, I have, at long last, started collecting rainwater to fill the two water tanks…Chloe made a canvas sheet with a central spout for collecting water in the aft cockpit and I bought a second good quality bucket for collecting rainwater at both sides of the bimini. I can easily collect 40 litres of water overnight or during daylight hours, and very soon I will have both water tanks and all water canisters full.

The furling system has been adjusted by Cayo Quemado Sails & Rigging, and it was great to visit La Isla Dulce again for coffee, good food and fabulous company. I’m now back in Rio Dulce and I’m booked into Mar Marine for one month for Christmas celebrations and, of course, boat work.

The extra time to spend in Rio Dulce allowed me time to rearrange tasks that I’d planned for Panama. I needed an insurance survey, and was able to swiftly organise a lift out at RAM and a local surveyor, Chris Wooley. The survey was completed within a day, and I immediately organised a “splash back” into the water and made my way back to the dock at Mar Marine. While the boat was in the boat yard I walked to Backpackers Hotel for Christmas Day dinner with friends, and Boxing Day was the survey….I’m now waiting for the report.

As 2024 swiftly comes to an end I’m involved in concluding the final draft of the survey report and the actions required to bring this episode to a successful end…the Wildbeast will be better for the improvements. I watched White Christmas starring Bing Crosby as my twelfth and final 1954 movie, and I have finished Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier as my eleventh 1954 book and the 36th book in total this year. I hope to, one day, read The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir, the one 1954 book that I struggled to finish this year.

For New Years Eve I have booked a table for three for lunch at The Hoppy House Taberna for grumpy old men who can’t be arsed to stay awake until midnight to see in another Wednesday. Richard and Russ will be joining me for tacos and draft Zapoté beer.