The Rio Dulce in Guatemala is where I jumped ship and became
a land-lubber at the end of last year’s sailing season. So, I was happy to be returning there to pick up
where I had left off. I had met a young,
31 year old captain of a Hunter 40, named Atreyu, last year in Isla Mujeres and
we had stayed in touch in case he needed crew for the coming year. Now here we were ready to help him take his
boat down the Rio Dulce and make our way to the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Andrew, the captain, calls Canada his home but has done his
fair of travelling as well. He has an
extremely entrepreneurial spirit and is currently in the business of selling
alpaca scarves from Bolivia to the Canadians during the cold season, which is all year, and it appears to be a fairly
lucrative business. Here is his web
page for anyone interested:
http://www.fair-tradewinds.com/
(Andrew, just add the free advertisement to the royalties you already owe me.)
By the time we arrived to the Rio Dulce, Andrew had already been
there a couple of weeks getting the boat ready since he had left it on the Rio
Dulce during hurricane season along with the other thousands of sailors who do
the same. When we arrived the dock was
cluttered with sails, tools, clothes, and equipment all of which belonged inside the
boat but Andrew assured us we would be leaving in a couple of days. So we all worked together to get the last few
major items done, swabbed the decks, loaded her up and headed down the tranquil
Rio Dulce to the sea. As we looked a bit unsure if we had everything done before leaving, Andrew quoted the sailor that has inspired him the most, Captain Ron ~ “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to
happen out there.”
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| Atreyu at dock and ready to be packed on the Rio Dulce |
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Looking good going down the Rio Dulce
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Mud Hump
Livingston is a one road town at the entrance to the Rio Dulce
that all boaters or travellers must go through to clear customs before they
figure out their next move. After we cleared customers there and paid off some
fines, we picked up a few paying passengers also wanting to head to the Bay
Islands luring them with the idea of a relaxing journey at sea rather than taking
a crowded bus for days.
As we were eager to leave that evening, we loaded everyone
up, seven in total, started the motor, pulled anchor, and headed out where
immediately our advertised relaxing passage turned into an adventure. The entrance, or in our case the exit, to this
bay is somewhat shallow and can be a chore to manage for boats with a deeper
draft. Andrew’s boat only drafted 6 ft,
which isn’t too bad, but as we were pushing to leave during low tide, this made
things a bit sportier.
We hadn’t gone more than 20 yards when our boat came to a
stand still stuck in the mud. As this is
a normal occurrence here, the port captain came out in a boat with his crew to
offer assistance for a service charge.
We decided to give it a go on our own first. One trick to get a sailboat of the bottom is
to swing the boom out to the side and have everyone crawl out on it so the boat
lays over and gives a bit more clearance for the keel. So we had all the guys shimmy out to the end
of the boom in a futile attempt to get ourselves clear. It was more a piece of entertainment for the
onlookers and an opportunity for some embarrassing photos than anything else.
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| I decided to take the high road and stand up so to avoid the 'junk to trunk' train on the boom |
So after we had the pictures we wanted and a few more laughs, we decided to pay the port captain and his crew to assist us. Once they stopped laughing, we threw them our
main halyard, which they attached to their boat. Then they used all the power in their two
small engines to heel our boat over to a good 45 degrees, putting our starboard
lifelines in the water. With our keel
out of the mud, we throttled up and made forward progress. We kept this up until for about a mile until
we were well clear of the mud hump and through the last channel marker to the
sea.
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| For you non-sailors, the mast should normally be more up and down (the rainbow in the background was no help to us when we left) |
We waved good bye to the Guatemalans, raised the sails and
everyone settled in for the trip.
However, things didn’t stay settled too long and the idea of a gentle
booze cruise to Utila for the next 18 hours turned into a battle with sea,
wave, rain, and wind for the next 40 hours.
We had to fight a strong opposing current and squalls that popped up
regularly which knocked us down a couple times. By the time we arrived well behind schedule,
we were all pretty beaten, wet, tired, and ready for land. Down below smelled like vomit, sweat, and
seawater. We did however fair better
than others as there were three boats that left before us and arrived after we
did. One captain had actually broken his
arm halfway through the trip after a wave knocked them. I think the worst injury we had was the honeymooning Chilean couple we had on board vowed never to go sailing
again. So all is well that ends well and
at this point we were ready for a good cleaning and a stiff drink.
Tequila Tuesdays (bring a sombrero)
As I have visited Utila recently and didn’t see myself
returning there any time in the near future or future in general, it was
surprisingly nice to come back to and had a few more fun times in store. The nice thing this time was that we were
living on the boat and didn’t have to worry about the blood sucking sand flies
that attacked as soon as you thought about stepping foot on land. The single paved street that runs the length
of town along the waterfront was unchanged.
Still crowded as ever with backpackers, divers, and locals dodging cars,
scooters, and four-wheelers during the day and bats and kids jumping out to
surprise you at night as they have nothing better to do.
Luckily for us the next night was Tequila Tuesdays at one of
the local establishments, which seemed to be the perfect reprieve from our
arduous journey. So we dug through the boat to find two Mexican sombreros
Andrew had on board for such an occasion, rallied the troops, and headed
out.
The normal business occurred at a bar that offers $1 tequila
shots all night and after we had thoroughly professed our thanks for being back
on land, we decided it was time to call it a night and head back to the
boat. Now it wasn’t a long walk back to
our dinghy but it was long enough and about midway through Andrew and I needed
to relieve some of the tequila that was building up in our bladder. The problem is there is no beach along the
only road in town. It is all built up
with houses, stores, dive shops, etc., leaving no natural areas to take care of
business. Since the street was dead
quiet, except for us, we decided the best option was to go in the small gutter
on the side of the street. Of course as
soon as we were mid-stream, three motorcycle cops came out of nowhere and caught us with our pants down in their headlights.
Fortunately for us we received only a stern scolding and were told to go
somewhere else next time which didn't really clear things up for us. I think the sombreros
we were still wearing really saved us on this one.
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| Back at the dinghy dock with the well supplied security guard |
Roatan
After we had outdone our stay in Utila, we had to make our
way to Roatan in time to meet Andrew’s parents who would be staying there for
the next month. We had a great day sail
this time and settled in the marine park between West End and West Bay, the two
main beaches in Roatan.
We got the boat spic and span as Andrew’s parents, Kathy and
Mr. Jim, along with their two friends, Lloyd and Nancy, would be staying on
board the first week. It was a cozy
arrangement but we had a great time sharing the boating lifestyle with
them since it was their first time sailing. We took them for a short sail to a
close but fairly unpopulated island called Cayos Cachinos without illness or
losing anyone as the wind and weather were perfect. It is a beautiful little collection of
islands only accessible by boat of which I will write more in my next
blog.
Although they enjoyed the boat, they were happy to get there
feet back on solid ground and enjoy normal amenities like a running shower at
their condo in West Bay. Of course we
were allowed to take advantage of these 'luxuries' as well and Andrew ended up
spending more time with his parents than on the boat leaving it to Crystal and
myself most of the time. We enjoyed
hobbies such as sunbathing on the deck and waving to the tourists (or peasants
as we called them) as the water taxis took them back and forth between West Bay
and West End. It was pretty ideal
especially with one of the most spectacular reefs for snorkeling in the world
just 20 yards from the boat. The only
part Crystal wasn’t to enthused about was when a fairly large barracuda set up
shop under our boat to ambush unsuspecting prey. Although we reassured her they were only
hunting smaller fish and shiny jewelry, she still politely demanded one of us
jump before her to chase it away before she hopped in to swim. Other than that our days were filled with
grocery shopping and seeing the few sights West End had to offer or lounging
around the pool in West Bay. It was a
tough decision as you can see below:
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| The daily grocery run in West End |
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| The infinity pool at Infinity Bay |
Ninjas, they're everywhere
As our time in Roatan was unfortunately coming to an end, we
decided to have a solid night out on the town in West End. We started out with everyone else in the town
at the Blue Marlin for some karaoke that may not always be enjoyable but is
always entertaining. They stay open
until they lose power from the city sometime around midnight. Then everyone heads down the street to
whichever club has their generator on and music thumping the loudest.
By this point we are all feeling good. Crystal and I are having our own private dance
competition while Andrew is somewhere in the crowd putting his stories and wit
to good use. He pops out of the sweaty
crowd all smiles and stumbles toward us.
He is out of money and needs to borrow a bit for a beer. The least I can do for my captain is buy him
a drink on a night such as this. I hand
him $20 and ask him to buy me one as well. I watch him squeeze back into the sweating mass and weasel his way to the
bar. As soon as he gets there, two
extremely young ladies of the eve approach him and engage him in an apparently
amusing conversation.
After some time he has not returned so Crystal and I go to
where we saw him last. He is still
happily chatting up the two ladies. I
ask him where my drink is and change. He
said he had put the drink on the bar pointing to an area where there was no
longer a drink. The change he placed in
his pocket, which was now empty. In any
case, his drink was low and he asked for another. I gave him another $20 repeating my order as
before. I decided this time to wait
there with him for my drink. Within a
couple of minutes he turned back to me empty handed and with no money looking
astonished to where it could have gone but nonetheless asked for more. This time the gig was up and since I hadn’t
had a drink now for a while was coming to my senses a bit more and glared at
the two ladies who glared back at me.
Whatever trick they had learned to osmotically steal money from drunken
sailors pants was working but we had had enough. We grabbed Andrew who was a bit sad he didn’t
get to give them a proper goodbye and headed down the road to the next bar or
maybe back to the boat. I can’t remember
but a fun night was had by all and the laughs we got from the evening more than made for the $40 stolen by ninjas.
All good things must come to an end
But as long as there are more good things to come, who can
complain. Andrew and I weren’t sure how
long we would be able to sail together when we started but eventually our paths
had to divert. I needed to start heading
south to get to Columbia before the end of the sailing season and Andrew wanted
to stick around the Bay Islands a bit more and head to Columbia the following
season. So Crystal and I began looking
for other boats heading south and happened to come upon another captain I met
last year as well on the Rio Dulce who was glad to have another sailor on
board.
Andrew stuck around Roatan where he set up a free-diving
class, hosts his on talk show on a Roatan radio station, and who knows what
other trouble he has gotten himself into.
I can honestly say I haven’t and probably will not sail for another captain
who is that fun unless I get back on Atreyu.
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| Here's to the crew of Atreyu |
Movin’ on up
Now the boat we were moving onto was a 43 ft luxurious catamaran named Wind Walker. It is unfair to compare this boat to Andrew's as it is like comparing an enduro-motorcycle to a fully equipped motor home, but I will.
Andrew’s boat was awesome. It was a young man's boat set up for racing and we didn’t need much more to
live comfortably but comparing the amenities makes it seem like a huge difference.
Atreyu:
- Foot pump for
the sink that sometimes worked
- Fresh water had to be lugged on board to fill the tanks
- Ice had to brought on if we wanted a refrigerator / freezer
- Limited power usage for computers and such
- Showers were usually on the foredeck from a sun bag we hung on the forestay
- No cover of any kind out in the cockpit
- Only a compass at the helm
- Snug yet low v-berth to sleep in with a pole in the middle
- Dinghy with only oars for getting to land (although we could sail it and had lot of fun doing so)
Wind Walker:
- Electric pumps for both fresh and salt water in the sinks
- Water maker for an unlimited supply of fresh water
- Separate refrigerator and freezer
- Unlimited power with 4 large solar panels and a wind generator
- Hot water showers in the both bathrooms
- Completely enclosed cockpit
- Two chart plotters, depth finder and big cushy seat at the helm
- A good size bedroom with a queen size bed for Crystal and myself
- Large dinghy with outboard motor
- Plus a flat screen tv with large couch and table in dining area
After a few days of weather delays which allowed us many farewell dinners with Andrew's parents and picking up some extra
paying passengers, we were off for an island exploration adventure blowout all
the way to Bocas del Toro, Panama. And
that is where we will pick up next time.
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| Sunset in Roatan |
Cheers,
Jb
