Latest News from the lost bloggers

Sorry to those of you who have been expecting more frequent updates.

We spent most of the winter in Placencia, Belize and the Sappodilla Cay's.  In particular, any time there was reasonble weather we took off for NorthEast Sappodilla Cay.  We had the Island to ourselves most of the time although some fishing parties that were looking for Bonefish and Tarpon and Permit would drop by occasionally to fish the flats nearby.

There was an awsome reef right next to our anchorage that we could swim to without worrying about the dinghy.  It was very healthy and diverse in relation to the other reefs we have snorkeled on in the last several years.  There was some bleaching but in most cases it looked like even the areas that had bleached out had started growing again.  We met the guy who is the director of the national park that these islands are part of.  He is the son of one of the 5 families that founded Placencia and several Cay's are named for his family (Gorbutt).  Dennis is a really nice guy and is committed to continue the recovery of the reefs and fish stocks in the area he controls.  Made us willing to pay the park fee when asked, which was $10US per person.

We did seem to spend to much time in the Village hiding from Cold Fronts which drop the temps into the 60's and brought NW winds sometimes into the high 20's or 30's.  Most of the pouter reefs have no protection from the NW so its not generally safe or comfortable to stay out during a Norther which is what they call these fronts.  Still we never had one as strong as the one we sat through off Little Water Cay in 2003.

Liz got real tired of sitting around in Placencia.  Both Matt and Diana visited with us and we were actually able to clean up the aft berth well enough that everybody had a place to stay.  Matt came with his friend Callie(sp) and stayed for a week then went to Northern Belize to meet some friends from MN for another week.  Diana came alone the next week and stayed for 2 weeks.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great for either visit but it was great to visit with them and they said they had a good time anyway, hope they weren't just being polite.

My Mom was diagnosed with late stage lung cance in November and this has caused some stress for everybody.  I went home from Isla Mujeres around Thanksgiving to see her.  She was fading fast while the kids were here, and I also did not want to leave Liz alone in Belize do to the weather and some misunderstandings that we had with Belizean Customs, so we moved the boat to Guatemala.  The Rio Dulce is a River that flows into the Carribean at the Gulf of Honduras just south of Belize.  It is a great Hurricane Hole and MANY people leave their boats here for the Hurricane Season, from June-November. 

Right after Diana left we got ready to move to Guatemala but we unfortunately had misunderstood the requirements for renewing our boat papers in Belize.  We were supposed to do it every 30 days and had neglected to for over 60 days.  When I went to see customs about this it created a BIG problem.  They wanted to fine me $2000 and they confiscated my passport and cruisng permit until I paid.  I talked with some Belizeans we had met through Paradise Resort and complained that I thought this was pretty harsh, especially since right after I had this confrontation I got a call from my sister saying that Mom was failing and I needed to come home.  Anyway, I talked with the deputy director of customs in the capitol, and he agreed to check into it and see if it could be handled better.  The next day I went with money to pay the fine and was met with some angry customs officers who obviously had heard from their chain of command.  They made it very uncomfortable and made me sign a statement and told me that the next time their would be no leaniency.  They extended my papers til March 19 but siad that would be it.  They did not collect the fine and it was very stressful.

So we moved to Guatemala and I went home.  Unfortunately Mom was far gone when I got there so I am not sure that she really understood that I was there.  I spent several hours sitting with her in the wee hours of the morning and a couple the next day and she died at 10 am. 

On a happier note Liz's son Charley or Lewis, depending on when you met him, had his first child so Liz is in California to meet her new Grandson.   She is also visiting Diana in her new apartment and assisting her with making progress on here disertation.  

Interesting boat maintenance issues, you knew I couldn't go a whole post without talking about it.  WE struggled with getting our Raymarine GPS to work reliably and really never could sowe switched to our handheld Garmin unit, which turns out is pretty functional.  Then our autopilot stopped working.  So when Matt made specific plans to visit, I ordered a new Autopilot and a new receiver for the GPS and shipped them to him.  Also, while we were rescuing the guy in Belize, the engine started overheating without explanation. And then, the other night in Guatmala, the head stopped flushing properly.  Since Liz is in CA I had parts for the head sent to Diana and she will bring them back.  The overheating miraculously healed itself, as did the marine growth that had accumulated on the hull while we were in Belize (fresh as opposed to salt water).  After Liz left for CA I took the parts that Matt had brought for the Autopilot and GPS and pretty much have that working, but I blew a fuse and need to go into town to get a replacement to go any further.  Also the depth sounder doesn't seem to want to talk to the other instruments through the proprietary SeaTalk network, which I had noticed before so I ordered some more parts to get around that.  But its really nice to be in a marina and have power to run the battery charger instead of running the generator several hours a day.

Fronteras is pretty interesting, as I said there is a whole industry build up around cruisers leaving their boats here for the Hurricane season.  Slips are cheap and the better marinas will air out your boat and charge the batteries and even wash the mildew off.  The town was a small fishing and market town mostly populated by Indians of various types.  Witht the number of boats and cruisers here for short and long term stays many marina/resort/restaurant/boat service entities have sprung up.  Also the town is pretty intense with lots of shops crammed right up against the highway that comes through and crosses the river.  Fruits and vegetables and all manner of food stuffs are cheap and plentiful.

We have to decide among the alternatives of:

1.  Leave the boat and fly back to the states for the summer to look for a place to live in the Carolina's or maybe out west.

2.  Leave the boat and go into the Guatemalan highlands and rent a place for the summer.

3.  Start back to sail to the east coast and look for a place in the Carolina's and maybe cruise the US east coast next year.

Their are probably some other combinations.  The original plan was option 3 but many people we have met have advocated 1 or 2 since moving the boat north and south is expensive and hard on equipment and people.  I am pretty sure of Liz's vote, we will see what she is thinking after visiting Children and Grandchildren.

WE have a Guatemalan cell phone and good internet service right now so get in touch by email and we would be glad to here from you.

I will try to be better about updating this more often, but ....


Regards.