Damiana's Journeys

Cartagena

2010-02-19T18:56:00.006-06:00

We've been in Cartagena for almost two months and have explored much of the old city, seen the old forts, the convent on the highest mountain, have had many happy hours and other social events with cruisers, made new friends, seen a few movies, and have done lots of boat projects! Typically we walk at least a few miles every day, either into the old city or over to the big mall where a few important stores are located: home center and carrefour, a supermarket with housewares -- sort of like a Walmart. Traffic is horrendous here; there must be thousands of taxis running around town. Luckily most of them are powered with natural gas because without that, the city would be smothered in smog. On the other hand, we also see men and children driving wooden carts powered by donkeys.

Private autos, vans, bicycles and motorcycles round out the street vehicles. However, when walking on the malecon (path along the waterfront), we see people riding on segways plus lots of children driving battery-driven vehicles, 5 and 6 year olds learning the techniques of driving!

The old city is a shopper's delight, everything from food, furniture, flowers, etc. to designer clothing. Now, I'm not talking about designs by famous designers from Paris. Cartagena has an ample supply of wonderful designers. Everywhere we go we see boutiques filled with unique designs, blouses, dresses, men's shirts, children's clothing -- everything you could imagine -- and all at very reasonable prices. We had a dressmaker make a dress for Marlene and a matching shirt for Roy. The results were so well appreciated that we commissioned her to make one more dress and two more shirts.

Eating in or out, we have lots of choices of high quality foods. We buy cheese from an Italian cheese maker who moved to Cartagena and makes wonderful Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Semicotto, and others. We visit his shop every two weeks or so -- yum. Salads are a big part of our diet here, a change from other locales we've visited. Lettuce is plentiful and very delicious, lots of cucumbers and tomatoes. We also have good access to olive oil, balsamic vinegar and, of course, garlic. We're learning how to purchase meats that are not tough, and there's lots of chicken everywhere we go, either to the market or to a restaurant.

We have lots of cruising buddies right here in Cartagena and many more who have already taken off for the San Blas Islands, where we'll catch up with them when we leave here in a week to ten days. A few more projects to complete before leaving, plus one more trip to Fort Lauderdale for Marlene to have her eye treatment.

Progress!

2009-12-15T20:32:00.002-06:00

We woke up this morning to see that our frig and freezer temperatures were "normal." They've held all day, so we're hopeful that we can put that one behind us. Roy installed the new batteries today -- that job was huge. As an encore, he installed the new helm seat. After baking a loaf of oatmeal bread and putting more and more stuff away, I made a hotel reservation in Panama City for when I go there in January for my eye appointment. Scoped out provisioning options and learned that we have no good options other than the local tiendas. Tammy, Roy and I ate dinner at the Cantina here at the Bocas Marina, lasagna and salad, came back "home," talked with Rob and Linda on Skype, did a little knot tying. Tomorrow we'll install the new running rigging and jib, hopefully in the morning. There's much provisioning to be done before takeoff.

Return to Damiana in Panama

2009-12-14T19:40:00.001-06:00

We left California on December 10, flew to Panama City, enjoyed one day shopping and sight seeing, and flew to Bocas del Toro on Saturday, December 12. Damiana was spotless and mildew-free. So far so good. We started putting away the many things we had shipped, and before heading out to town to buy some groceries, we turned on the refrigerator/freezer. Several minutes later, there was no change on the thermostat, We waited even longer -- still no change. A friend loaned us a connector hose/cable so we could inject some R134 but so far that hasn't helped much. We're continuing to work with it though, and if luck is with us, we'll have it running before the refrigeration specialist, currently out of town, returns! Nonetheless, we still plan to sail to Cartagena toward the end of this week.

We still have a few more important tasks to finish before leaving here: install our new batteries, install our new rigging lines, install at minimum our new jib, and if time permits, install our new mainsail. Our good friend, Tammy, who is with us for the first few weeks of our cruising season, whipped the ends of our lines today. All of us have been busy bees and are excited about being back on the water and aiming for Christmas in Cartagena.

Summer 2009 update from Santa Maria

2009-09-13T16:21:00.001-05:00

We are hopelessly behind in keeping our Blog up to date. Needless to say, much has transpired since the last posting! We did return to French Harbor in Honduras to pick up parts, install them and finally resume our journey east toward the Vivorillos.

We met several new cruisers along the way as well as met up with Chris and Heather (sv Legacy) who we had last seen while cruising the Pacific side of Mexico. From the Vivorillos and Hobbies we sailed southeast to Providencia, a pleasant island, politically part of Colombia, but way offshore from Nicaragua. Sue and Mark from Seattle had flown in to meet up with us, but our arrival was several days later than theirs, due to boat issues and heavy weather delays. Nonetheless we did enjoy several days on board Damiana with them. Unfortunately, foul weather dictated that we stay put rather than have them sail with us to Panama, which had been the original plan. That's why cruisers plans are made in the sand, I guess. We eventually sailed to Bocas del Toro, explored the area for a few days, and then were joined by Bob and Cathy. Luckily, we were able to sail to islands for snorkeling, overnights, and just plain fun. However, time was running short so we retreated to the marina and Bob and Cathy helped us get Damiana ready for her 6-month siesta at the marina while we returned home to California, where we are now.

Roy is working in Santa Maria and hopes to return here again and again for 6 months every year. We purchased a condo, pulled our furniture and belongings out of storage, and are adjusting to the idea of being half-timers both at sea and on land.

When we return to Damiana we'll have a set of new sails to hoist, new batteries to install, and hopefully within a few days will be able to sail off to Cartagena to join our cruising friends for the holiday season.

Honduras

2009-03-20T04:42:00.002-05:00

We started our journey to Honduras by first sailing to Glovers Reef in Belize. We were in company with three other boats, all planning to eventually sail to Panama. After spending a few days at Glovers, it was time to move on. Weather wasn't in our favor to head directly to Roatan as we had thought, so we went to Puerto Escondido on the mainland for a few nights. That gave us the opportunity to sail to Utila, an island just west of Roatan. We liked Utila very much. Nice village, good provisions, pleasant people -- could have stayed there for a long time. However after a week or so, we sailed to French Harbor in Roatan. What a wild ride -- squalls, lumpy seas -- and when we arrived the anchorage was quite full. We had to set and raise anchor three times before we had good holding. Well, after we settled in, we enjoyed French Harbor very much. The most amusing thing we did was visit the Iguana Farm. Hundreds of prehistoric iguanas are everywhere -- along the path, in the trees -- very exciting.

After several days in French Harbor, we moved to West End, another popular anchorage. It, too has a charm all its own. West End is a divers' mecca. There are numerous dive shops, lots of tiendas (small stores) plus good transportation to Coxen Hole (the main port and largest town). Snorkeling at the reef is excellent.

We've met some new friends along the way, and a special treat was to have Jan and Rich on Slip Away arrive at West End yesterday. It's always wonderful to meet up with friends from our travels in Mexico.

We're planning to return to French Harbor to pick up some parts that are being shipped in and to get stocked up with provisions for the journey east to the Vivorillos and south to Panama.

Still in Belize

2009-02-07T21:42:00.002-06:00

Last entry mentioned that we were going to pick up Tammy and Holly who were flying in from Seattle to spend a few weeks here in the "sunny Caribbean," snorkeling, sailing, and working on a tan. Well, we had one or two nice days, but otherwise, we ended up playing lots of games indoors because we had rain, high winds, and grey skies for much of their visit. Luckily they got off the boat for a few days to spend some time at a resort and during that time the sun was shining, the beach beckoned, and all was good. Roy and I sailed north to Ambergris Cay, stopping at several cays, also enjoying the few nice days. Tammy joined us a few days later and hung out at Cay Caulker, again in rain and grey skies, except for the last day when we had bright, warm sun. Holly and Rob, who arrived the day Tammy came back on board, came down from Ambergris to visit and we all went to a very neat place for lunch. A day or two later Tammy flew home, and sadly never had a chance to use her brand new fins!

A few days later, friends Mai and Dave arrived, hoping to sail to Roatan with us. They, too, came prepared to snorkel in the beautiful snorkeling areas on Roatan. Bad weather once again foiled our plans, and after spending 6 days waiting for some pretty wild fronts to pass through, they decided to jump start the land travel part of their vacation. So, here we are, 4 days later, still tucked into a safe anchorage while the winds are howling and the seas out in the ocean are 7-11 feet high every few seconds. Based on current forecasts, it looks like we'll be able to make the passage to Roatan next Wednesday (today is Saturday).

Happy New Year

2009-01-12T07:48:00.000-06:00

January 3, 2009

We had a pleasant holiday season and hope all our readers did as well.

After Charlotte and Bill left Placencia, the weather turned for the worse and the harbor was filling up with cruisers starting the season. We decided to stay through the holidays since weather predictions indicated squalls and cool weather until January 1 at the earliest.   The Saturday before Christmas 14 of us were up at Robert's Grove, a 5-star resort for a fabulous buffet. Luckily that night weather cooperated, we all ate our fill, including unlimited lobster. Bananas Foster for dessert was also a hit with our group. The Christmas Potluck was once again held at Tranquillo, the restaurant/bar on Placencia Cay. The owner let us bring our own food and drink since they were closed that day. We set up 3 tables of cards and dominos and played games until the witching hour -- 9 pm -- Cruiser's Midnight.

On Monday, December 29 we got up very early to take a 7:30 a.m. ferry up to Mango Creek and from there took a bus to Dangriga to get an extension for our visas and boat. The immigration officer had no trouble granting visa extensions but said we'd have to return to Big Creek, up a river from Placencia, to get a boat extension from Customs. A long bus ride back, a cab ride to Big Creek and another ferry from Mango Creek back to Placencia and by 3:30 p.m. we were finally finished. A bonus was finding a market in Dangriga that carried some nice edibles not available in Placencia.

The week between Christmas and New Years found us playing games with other cruisers, doing boat chores, shopping for provisions to last us for at least 10 days since we planned to take off on January 1 or 2. On December 30, a power boat bumped into our port hull and caused some damage -- cracks in the hull and loosened any eye which we use to hold part of our anchor lines.   The people on the power boat were towed to the dock and we never saw them again.   We reported it to the local police, two officers came to the boat and then went to get an "expert in fiberglass" to come and assess damage and estimate repair cost. A short time later an officer and the expert returned and shoved $50 in Roy's hand and said, "take this."   No further follow up was made that day or over the weekend. Needless to say that $50 won't even cover the cost of materials let alone labor, but we thought -- what the heck -- we were flying a U.S. flag, the boat that hit us flew a Guatemala flag and the collision occurred in Belize -- did we have any chance of ever collecting just compensation? We figured we'd have to chalk it up to experience.

New Years eve several of us dinghied over to one of the big cats in the harbor, hosted by Barb and Torrey, everyone brought snacks and drinks, and at 6 p.m. it was midnight in Greenwich so we toasted the New Year. As usual, the party ended by Cruiser's Midnight, 9 pm.

Next, we wanted to scoot out of Placencia and find some nice places to snorkel. Our departure was delayed until Friday, January 2 because of weather and wanting to do some repairs.   Roy filled the cracks with epoxy and we're now using a nearby cleat for the anchor line. We were a few hours out of Placencia when we received a hail on Channel 16, the emergency radio channel. Another cruising boat, Tisha Baby, hailed us and said that a police officer came looking for us and wanted to speak to us. Turns out he asked us to return to Placencia to complete some legal papers for the Port Authority re: the collision, which we did. While at the dock we heard that the people on the power boat were missing. Today we heard from friends in Placencia that the power boat has been seized by the Belize authorities

Finally around 1 pm yesterday we left Placencia for the second time and motored, then sailed, to a lovely spot, North Long Cocoa Cay. This noon we dinghied to shore and were invited to go ashore even though the island is privately owned by Sittee River Wildlife Association. We declined because the bugs were out in full force, however we snorkeled off the bar at the tip of the island and saw gorgeous coral of many colors and shapes and a few tropical fish. While in the dinghy we passed over numerous huge dark red starfish. This afternoon we got in the dinghy again to go to the other side of the cay -- it's very beautiful.

We are anchored in about 5.5 feet of water and our dinghy ride got us within 3 feet of bottom. We could see everything on the bottom from the dinghy -- the water is crystal clear -- this is why Belize is so high on cruisers' lists.

January 4, 2009

Last evening we had a nice dinner of BBQ chicken, ratatouille, and fresh baked bread. Afterwards, Roy said, "shall we have Bananas Foster for dessert -- and with that he got up, gathered the banana, butter,rum, cinammon vanilla ice cream and made a scrumptious dessert. To top off the evening we played Scrabble -- Roy won.

This morning we tuned in NPR on our single sideband radio but at 8 a.m. switched to the local cruisers' net. It's another beautiful day here at North Long Cocoa Cay; we decided to stay here one more day before continuing to explore the cays in this area.

January 9, 2009

We left North Long Cocoa Cay on January 5 and meandered through several small cays, following a route in our guidebook, and arrived at South Water Cay, right at a cut in the barrier reef. Two other boats were on mooring balls, Blue and Barracha, we set our anchor in about 6 feet of water.   The cay is home to a zoological research institute and also has a resort with nice cabins peppered throughout the south end. The following noon, January 6, three more cruising boats arrived and several of us dinghied to shore to walk around the south end of the cay -- very beautiful.

Early in the morning on January 7, we, along with two other cruising boats, Sanderling and Tempest, departed South Water Cay to sail out to Lighthouse Reef, one of the most famous and interesting atolls in the world. It is home to the Blue Hole. We've wanted to see Lighthouse Reef ever since we first arrived in Belize in 2007. We had a light wind forecast so we expected to motor most if not all of the day -- that wasn't a problem, however the swell coming right at us from the east was pretty rough. All three boats were bumping along for several hours. As we approached the reef, it was scary since the reef is submerged and not visible until you're right on top of it. Luckily many cruisers have plotted the courses into the several cuts in the reef, which we followed to a T. We anchored on the west side of Long Cay inside the reef, Marlene made a focaccia, invited everyone from the other two cruising boats to come and share -- and had a happy hour on Damiana that evening to share out stories of our "swell" passage.

Yesterday, January 8, we dinghied all around the south end of Long Cay, looking for good places to snorkel. Finding none, we scooted over toward one of the diving mooring balls. The sky was somewhat hazy so visibility wasn't perfect, however Roy was able to swoop down and see some coral and small fish. Marlene, a surface snorkeler, snorkeled afloat for a short time.

Last evening we had Bob, Annette and Stephanie from Tempest come over for snacks and a rousing game of Chicken Feet (a fun dominoes game), a great way to spend our last evening at Lighthouse. Last for this visit -- we'll definitely come back -- it's gorgeous!

We weighed anchor at 7:45 this morning and are on our path to return to South Water Cay or beyond for the night, planning to return to Placencia tomorrow.

We motor-sailed all day, not enough wind to give us enough speed to reach South Water Cay by nightfall. The swell was much calmer than on Wednesday. We reached the South Water Cay area by 3 pm so decided to try anchoring in Twin Cays, where its reported manatees live. Alas, we couldn't get good holding for our anchor, and much of the anchorage has silted in since the guide book was written, so we backtracked to South Water Cay for the night.

January 10

After a brisk sail from South Water Cay, we arrived in Placencia harbor around 12:30.   Wind was in teh 10-15 kt range and under jib alone our speed was between 6.5 and 8 kts. Again, we had "swelly" seas, but since we were behind the reef, it was quite a bit more calm than out in the ocean.

We're here for a few days to provision and pick up Tammy and Holly who will spend the next several days exploring the cays with us.

Belize, December 2008

2008-12-17T13:48:00.001-06:00

As planned, we departed Monkey Bay Marina in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala on Saturday, November 29, 2008. After checking out of the country around noon, we started the watermaker -- yea, it started working so we flushed it with sea water -- and then proceeded up to Moho Caye in Belize for the night. At 6:30 a.m. the following morning, we were swarmed with bugs so made a hasty retreat and made coffee and tea underway. We arrived in Placencia about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. We had repeatedly flushed the watermaker, so we finally started to make water and fill our tank after changing the filters.

On Monday, December 1, Marlene took the Hokey Pokey Ferry up to Independence to check both the boat and us into Belize. Yet another small world experience: shared a taxi with a young man, Slater Clay (Xenos) who left San Francisco with his partner, Julie, a year after we did, socialized with many of our cruising friends on the Pacific side before transiting the Canal, and just happens to be a Vermonter with a grandmother who lives a few miles away from Roy's mother's house in Dorset.

The next day we shopped for groceries and once again Marlene tried her hand at making focaccia, Bologne-style. It worked quite well, finally, after 2 earlier tries. We invited the couple from Xenos and another couple from Blue, John and Angie, to come and join us for Rum Punch and, of course, focaccia.

We left Placencia early afternoon, December 3, to start our trek north to Belize City. After spending a quiet night in Sapodilla Lagoon we sailed up to Robinson Caye. After spending a squally night we motored over to Belize City to see if we could anchor safely so we could shop for the next two weeks. We tried 2-3 times but couldn't get good holding so we sailed back to Robinson Caye for the night. The next morning, December 6, we sailed over to Cucumber Beach Marina so we'd be at a dock when Roy's 87-year old mother, Charlotte, and brother, Bill, arrived later that day. We hired a cab driver to take us to several stores and also to the "City Market" which is where fresh produce is sold in stalls, tents, and on tarps on the street, close to the bus terminal.

Finally on December 7, we got underway to officially start our cruising season. An easy sail to Caye Caulker, a walk through the town, an overnight in the anchorage and then sail north to Ambergris Caye on December 8. A few more stops for provisions, a brief stop at the French Bakery, cold drinks and a lobster dinner at a beachside restaurant topped off the day. We raised sail in the morning (December 9), weighed anchor, and sailed to St. George Caye. We spent the night at anchor and waited until morning to go ashore. We arrived during off season so the famous hotel was closed. Nonetheless we walked the length of the Caye (December 10) and were delighted with our visit to the Aquarium at the north end of the Caye run by a family and houses about 30 or so tanks with fish and turtles from local waters. Cali, their 7-year old son and docent, picture above, did a remarkable job, telling us all about the fish and animals. During our second night at anchor at St. George's, a front rushed in at 1:00 a.m. first with a huge downpour and then howling winds, gusting to 30-35 kts all night. Our anchor dragged and dragged some more -- so that by first light (December 11) we realized we were in mud, so we revved the motors, weighed anchor and took off! With jib alone we sailed south for 9 hours in winds averaging 20-25, gusting to 30 kts, choppy seas, but took refuge in Sapodilla Lagoon around 3 p.m., just as the winds were abating -- and had a restful night.

On December 12, we sailed down to Placencia and spent the next several nights at anchor. We took several walks along the sidewalk and the road, shopped for provisions, ate a few restaurant meals, and Charlotte and Bill were able to find some nice souvenirs to take home. Bill spent a full day scuba diving out at a few of the reef cayes.

Another morning we took Damiana out in light winds to try out our new spinnaker and it worked superbly -- went up effortlessly and billowed out with only a few kts of wind. Bill thought we were traveling too slowly so he dove in and attached the bridle around his waist and started swimming. He thinks he moved the boat a smidgeon, but really, it was the current!

We had a nice time with Charlotte and Bill -- we were most impressed with how Charlotte got around as easily as she did. And, as usual, Bill was always ready to help out in any way. They left at 9:00 a.m. yesterday. We spent the afternoon doing laundry and had a quiet evening of reading before turning in at 11 p.m. All in all, in spite of stormy seas and many days with cloudy skies, we had a great week. The other two photos up top are of Charlotte sitting at the bow of Damiana and Bill trying to tow Damiana by hooking the bridle around his waist!

Back on Damiana - November 2008

2008-11-28T20:15:00.001-06:00

We flew into Guatemala on November 6, along with Roy's brother, Bill. We brought with us 350 lbs of luggage, mostly things for Damiana, some clothes, but not one item from Trader Joe's! Bill stayed with us for 10 days, helping to get Damiana in shape for the season. A day after he left to return home, Rob and Linda (Cat'n About) arrived to visit and help finish up preparations. Rob and Linda designed and crafted new shade covers for our salon windows (using material that we brought down), worked on the winches, motors, etc., always with a smile and constant offers to do more. Last night all four of us joined several other cruisers at one of the marinas for a Thanksgiving feast. In addition to turkey and all the trimmings everyone brought a dish -- a fabulous array of delicious offerings. Rob and Linda left today, on their way to Santiago, Lake Atitlan, by way of Antigua -- we haven't talked about where or when our next visit will be -- perhaps Christmas in Antigua, or perhaps next year in Panama!

We'll check out of Guatemala tomorrow to start our sail north to Belize City. Roy's mother and brother will will fly into Belize City on December 6 to spend about 10 days aboard Damiana. Weather today here in the Rio Dulce was perfect; we hope it persists for the duration of their visit.

Settled in Salinas....temporarily

2008-04-04T15:58:00.002-05:00

An unfortunate mishap on Damiana resulted in Roy being "grounded" (meaning off the boat) until Fall 2008. After Roy flew to Sacramento for an emergency surgery he returned to Damiana along with Len and Norma, friends from the 2004 Baja HaHa, and we took Damiana back to the Rio Dulce to spend most of 2008.

Roy had torn his bicep muscle away from the radius in his left arm in an attempt to climb over the rail to get back on board the boat after he had flipped over the side. The sheer weight of his own body undoubtedly caused the injury. We were being towed into an anchorage at the time so we were lucky that it was daytime and that there were lots of people around to help. After many people assisted us in getting Roy back on board, and our boat anchored, Roy knew that something was awry.

So, here we are, in Salinas where Roy is working as a hospitalist. We hope to visit Vermont sometime this summer and of course, spend time with our famiies here in California.

We'll resume our sailing stories when we're back on Damiana in Fall 2008.

Belize, December 2007

2007-12-19T16:53:00.002-06:00

After many boat projects, we departed Monkey Bay Marina in the Rio Dulce on December 3 and motored down to Texan Bay at the eastern end of Lake Golfete for the night. We met Ron and Yen from Moonlight there -- they had left the day before us -- had an excellent enchilada dinner and good company. In the morning, Sherry drove Yen and Marlene down to Livingston in the big launch. What a spectacular ride that was: Sherry took us through a cut that was overflowing with lily pads all in bloom, beautiful trees and plants all around, and spectacular birds. When we exited the cut, we headed down the canyon enjoying the sights. We engaged Raul to expedite our checking out and then went to Gabys Restaurant for a great chicken lunch.

After spending a few more days at Texan Bay, we finally left on December 7, heading for Punta Gorda in Belize. We arrived around 11 a.m. to check into Belize, very efficiently and easily, we must add. We continued on to North Moho Cay for the night and enjoyed a very pleasant anchorage. We woke up to beautiful blue skies with fluffy clouds and decided to meander through some of the southern cays before heading north to Placencia, our next destination. Around noon, we thought we'd better get a move on to get to Placencia. The big fluffy clouds turned grey, the wind picked up, the squalls started -- one right after the other with heavy rainfall -- and now the wind was on our nose gusitng to 20 kts and more. In the midst of all this, our starboard motor overheated so we turned it off. Not able to make good headway, we tucked into a lagoon behind No Name Point and spent a rainy night at anchor, safely tucked in with mangroves on three sides. The rain continued in the morning, but subsided by noon. so after checking the starboard propeller and making sure the cooling water was flowing we started both motors without difficulty and got underway. We headed straight for Placencia, dropped anchor, and have been here ever since!

Placencia is a lovely town. Provisioning is very easy, there are several good restaurants, an excellent gelato store, nice gift shops, a sidewalk along the beach for walking or running, friendly people and lots of specialty stores peppered throughout the town. One spot that isn't missed by anyone is Tutti Fruiti, a store that makes incredibly wonderful gelato. We've discovered a really easy bread recipe in one of our cruiser cookbooks, so we're now baking our own bread (Marlene is, to be exact). There's nothing comparable to the smell of baking bread, even when you're out cruising! Also on the domestic front, we've become quite accustomed to doing a small load of laundry every other day (a small washing machine came with the boat) and hanging it out on lines across our cockpit. We've gotten quite used to having our clothes smelling so nice, and they come out less wrinkled than in a dryer.

Last Saturday night (December 16) we attended the 8th Annual Mistletoe Ball with several other cruisers. Hundreds of locals attended; dinner was included in our ticket price -- turkey with all the usual fixings -- and great live music for dancing on the sand in the balmy Caribbean night air. We stayed out til midnight, a rare event for us cruisers who are in bed by 9:30 most nights. Plans are underway for a Christmas dinner on the small key in the anchorage. At least 30 people are expected.

A fun thing that we've done lately is keeping in touch with friends Rob and Linda on Cat'n About via SSB radio. They're across the continent from us, now in Costa Rica on the Pacific side, and since we're on the Atlantic side it's interesting to compare weather and the towns provisions and resources. So far, both of us have good access to provisions, but their weather has been much better than ours. The Caribbean has been experiencing a series of fronts lately -- everyone says the weather improves in January.

Christmas is just a few days away -- so Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all our readers.

Copan, Honduras

2007-11-22T22:06:00.001-06:00

Sunday, November 18, we left the boat aroud 8:15 a.m. to meet Yen and Ron from Moonlight at one of the bus stations in Fronteras. The bus we planned to be on leaves at 9 a.m. and goes all the way to the Honduras border near Copan. After several hours of traveling through the countryside, a few of them with us standing, we were quickly checked into Honduras and whisked away in a "collectivo," a van that holds 12-15 people, and driven to the B&B where we had reservations.

Casa de Cafe, the B&B, is a breath of fresh air -- designed and built by an ex-pat New Yorker who has created a reasonably priced classy place. When we say classy, it means that the rooms are tastefully decorated and immaculate, the bed is comfortable, the windows are screened, and the bathroom has hot and cold running water with a large roomy shower. Plus linens include wash cloths and hand towels. Now folks, these things are taken for granted up north, but down here in the developing nations south of the border, these amenities are luxuries and not often found at all at any price.

So onto the reason for the trip. Copan is an important Mayan archaeological site. Most cruisers visit Tikal while in Guatemala. Tikal is noted for its grandeur; it has acres of huge, majestic pyramids and ruins. Copan, on the other hand, is known for its artistry, its sculpture, and most of all for having the most hierglyphics found in any ancient Mayan site. We spent two days there, the first roaming around the ruins in the Archaeological Park and the second visiting the two museums. The museum adjacent to the Park is built to international standards. The facility is gorgeous, the exhibits are beautifully designed and lit, and the written descriptions easy to read. The museum in the town is much smaller, howeve it houses an impressive collection of ceramics and other relics. The Peabody at Harvard and the Getty in LA have participated in the interpretation and conservation of some of the hierglyphics. If you have a chance, visit the Copan and the Peabody websites to get a small glimpse.

Our journey back to the Rio Dulce wasn't as efficient as the outbound. We took a collectivo to the border, another collectivo to Chiquimula, a town an hour away, however this collectivo crammed in 18 or more people. In Chiquimula we got on a bus that was supposedly going to the Rio Dulce (in fact the bus driver promised it would), but when we got to Morales, about 45 minutes short of the Rio, we got booted off and put in yet another collectivo. At one point the van had 23 people in it and the driver drove like a bat out of hell. After we arrived back in Fronteras, we agreed that we'd never again ride in one of those &*$#@! things.

November 22

We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner tonight with Ron and Yen at one of the marinas here in the Rio. Turkey was delicious, pumpkin pie, as well, and all the fixings made for a grand meal. A few more days of boat projects -- and hopefully we'll be on our way by December 1.

Rio Dulce, Guatemala, Fall 2007

2007-11-16T22:36:00.001-06:00

We arrived in Guatemala City around 9:30 p.m. on October 15, and at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, were picked up by a private van driver and shared the van ride with another cruiser from Monkey Bay Marina. We were so glad to be back on Damiana about 6 hours later! She was in great shape, no mildew, outside had been washed by Efreim, the very capable helper at the marina.

A few days later we left the slip and took Damiana up to Abel's boatyard to have some bottom work done. Our rudders needed a minor repair, as did our keels which had been scraped by a submerged "whatever" in the ICW in May, causing the boat to do an "about face" in a split second. After the repairs, Abel and his crew put on 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of bottom paint. All the work took 8 days and we tried out 3 different hotels, the last one being the best. We ate breakfasts and dinners out at all the recommended eateries here in the Rio Dulce, and dinghied over to Monkey Bay at noon. Monkey Bay has a refrigerator where we kept bread and sandwich fixings along with yogurt and fruit. While there we played Mexican Train and Baja Rummy with several cruisers, helping to pass the time in a pleasant manner.

A few days after we were back in the water, Rob and Linda from Cat'n About came over to visit from Lake Atitlan where they had spent the summer volunteering at the hospital in Santiago. They were interested in checking out the Rio as a possible destination once they were back on their boat which was in El Salvador. We dinghied to all the marinas, ate out at a few places, played Baja Rummy (two 10,000 point games with each of the Joneses winning one -- we'll get 'em next time!).

The four of us traveled to Antigua for a few days, then to Santiago, Lake Atitlan. We really liked Antigua and hope one day to return for about a week to take Spanish lessons. Antigua is an ancient colonial city which served as the Spanish capitol of all of Central America. It is in a valley surrounded by volcanoes, one of which spewed plumes while we watched from the rooftop of our hotel -- very exciting! We were greatly impressed with the quality of the fabrics and artistic work found in the Mercado de Artisans and spent several hours admiring and shopping. The town is very walkable, all cobblestones though -- bring good walking shoes -- and there are numerous wonderful restaurants.

Lake Atitlan is breathtakingly beautiful, also surrounded by volcanoes, and not to be missed! A real high point was being able to visit with our good friend, Kathy, who has been volunteering at the hospital off and on for the past 2.5 years. Kathy took us on a walking tour of the village, and we were pleased to see how many locals warmly greeted her, running up and kissing and hugging her. As a nurse and nurse educator, she has made a valuable contribution to the well-being of many of the people living in Santiago. We spent only 2 nights there and then back to Antigua for another afternoon and night -- and then once again back to Damiana.

We've been back for just a few days and have had a chance to visit twice with Ron and Yen (Moonlight, Baja HaHa 2004) and are making plans to visit some of the Mayan ruins with them this coming week.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers --- gobble gobble

Summer 2007

2007-09-12T14:08:00.000-05:00

Damiana has spent the summer in Guatemala -- and so far, so good -- no hurricanes have affected her. Thankfully for us, Felix turned south and avoided the Rio Dulce. He did enough damage, however, which is not good news. We left her in good hands at Monkey Bay Marina so we could return to the States for family visits and work opportunities during the summer hurricane season.

This summer has been trying to say the least. We started off staying in a residence hotel in Oxnard where Roy was expecting to work for the entire summer. There were two agencies involved, and in the end, his contract was canceled, effective 3 weeks later -- the hospital was going to close for several weeks for a mold removal problem. This was unknown to us and to Roy's contact at the Locums agency at the time the contract was signed!

The hospital in Oroville, where we spent last summer, had an urgent need, so Roy flew up there to help out. While there his brother, Jim, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January, passed away. I (Marlene) flew up to Seattle to be with Cam, Jim's wife, and after several days flew down to rejoin Roy in Oxnard where he finished his obligation to the hospital.

In the meantime, we had arranged for Jellybean to be brought back to the LA area to be sold. A delivery captain we met on the 2004 HaHa agreed to do the job and we asked Ray from Adios (friend in Mexico) to help out. We thought we had emptied out Jellybean quite well in La Paz, however that was not the case. Two carloads of stuff were taken to Minney's, a used boat gear store. Then a complete cleaning and a few coats of varnish were taken care of before she looked good enough to sell. We did all this stuff in a one-week window.

Ah, we finally had a breather and went to Vermont for a few weeks. Roy mowed and trimmed trees; I only trimmed! The high point in the Vermont trip was attending the annual family reunion where they bury a pot of beans in a hole in the ground (after a crib of wood has been set afire and drops into the hole), covered over and then retrieved the following afternoon. Everyone brings potluck to go along with the beans -- the "beanhole" has been going on since the early '70s. The following weekend there was a graveside service for Jim, and a few days later his ashes were buried. This was a hard time for everyone.

We arrived back in California in time for Roy to return to Oroville where he is at the moment. We'll be here until early October, then drive down to LA, gather all the items we'll take to Damiana, and fly to Guatemala on October 15.