GUATEMALA, CATAMARAN MARINA, RIO DULCE, MID/LATE MAY 2020

LIFE UNDER GUATEMALAN LOCKDOWN, MID/LATE MAY 2020 PART 3

Terry and I are handling more curve balls than ever. Mid May we finally receive the email to say our Isle of Man Government has deigned to give approval for us to return home. Well, whoop de doody….. We ought to be pleased but in all honesty we’re thoroughly wrung out. It’s a step nearer to getting home however. Then…. the latest Sunday Orders from President Giammetei announces that there is to be a total lockdown this and next weekend. No river or road traffic at all, shops, bars, tiendes are to close, curfew 5pm to 5am. Flights are cancelled once more after only just opening. Oh bugger……

Many of our cruising friends here are in the same boat, pun intended, however, certainly in the case of the American cruisers, their Embassy is working hard on establishing evacuation flights. Our friends John & Merry, s/v Tookish get the nod that they are on the next evacuation flight. They’d only just reprovisioned food supplies! Suddenly they have to pack and leave, they cannot miss this chance to get home. they ask if we would look after Tookish and use the food left behind. This is extremely kind of them. We distribute food to the staff who are still here and use some ourselves. When the time comes Terry and a couple of cruisers take Tookish over to Ram Marina to be hauled out. It’s a bittersweet time. We’re naturally thrilled to bits for them, but how we wish it were our turn. We are not alone, and around the pool over a beer we all share our stories of missing home, our families, the strain on relationships as we negotiate our way round trying to get home, and the regular lockdown changes. We’re very fortunate to be able to support one another. There’s a heaviness in the air, storms are due again.

The following Sunday’s Orders sees a relaxation in shop hours, they are now allowed to open Mon-Friday. This is incredibly hard on our Guatemalan friends, we continue to help with food parcels and donations. Yet, they are resourceful. Some of the laid off staff are sewing masks made from traditional fabric. The masks are washable and unique. I buy many in different fabrics, friends from home have asked for them too, there is soon a brisk trade!

We receive more good news, the Returning Residents Team in the Isle of Man have booked our ferry for the 17th June! Terry begins to book flights with American Airlines. The online forms don’t allow us to enter UK and Isle of Man addresses! On top of which he’d forgotten his Paypal PIN, Paypal sent a security number, but by text, we cannot use our local mobile numbers here! Argh!!! Finally, Terry succeeded. Now we cross everything that these flights don’t get cancelled. We go to the pool to de-stress. We’re still trying to get our cash refunded from the previous flights which had been cancelled. Stressy?? Hell yes.

We begin to prepare for leaving. Sisu is now booked at Ram Marina for lifting out on the 5th June. There is talk of the cruisers in their boats who were locked out being allowed to enter Guatemala. There are approx 108 boats! Quarantine areas are being set up in the Rio. 15 boats a week, three week isolation in the quarantine area. After the first 15 boats have completed their isolation, they leave the quarantine area for an authorised Marina. Then the 2nd lot of 15 boats begin their isolation and so on. The Guatemalan Government will give plenty of notice to those at anchor in Roatan, Mexico, Honduras and Belize. They are told not to arrive more than a day or 2 prior to entry, in order for Customs at Livingston to process paperwork, check temperatures etc. Well organised and clear instructions. Not like our vague, ill thought out Isle of Man rules. There are mixed feelings about these cruisers coming into Catamaran after completing their isolation. What if they bring covid? It’s a weird parallel, at home we are not wanted and the same fear and questions are being raised by those living inside the closed borders.

There is a break in the tension. My 60th birthday! Terry organises a surprise party and very appropriate cake and with plenty of fizz, beer and rum we celebrate in a socially distanced way! It’s a birthday I’ll remember! Especially the mermaid cake was perfect and made by one of our Guatemalan friends. I’ll have to watch Terry, he keeps secrets!!!

Thank goodness we celebrate when the opportunity arises as once again we are let down by our Government. We receive an email from the leader of the Returning Residents team. Our ferry booking was not confirmed and we shall have to rebook. We stare at each other in total disbelief. Due to the 7hour time difference, Terry will have to stay up through the night, wait for the magic email bearing the magic RR certificate number then he has to ring, immediately, to book on the ferry, as incredibly, the bookings are on a first come, first served basis!!! We are furious beyond words. Terry emails our Government. Everyone wishing to return to their homeland has to go through this lottery. It’s not the fault of the RR team, they work separately from each other and not advised of any changes made by the Chief Minister of our Government! Terry stays awake all through the night, by 7am, our time, we finally get the magic email. And if this process isn’t difficult enough, the team finish work at 4pm……

Life relief comes with taking Tookish over to Ram Marina. Terry and 5 of the lads thoroughly enjoy the brief motor across the river, taking great care of Tookish, watch her being hauled out and laid up. Another day out for the lads and a beer at the end!

There’s still jobs to do on Sisu. Terry squeezes himself into the stern locker to fit an emergency tiller. It’s quite a feat of magic watching him disappear into the locker and re-appear as if by magic!

GUATEMALA, CATAMARAN MARINA, RIO DULCE MID MAY 2020

LIFE UNDER GUATEMALA LOCKDOWN MID MAY 2020 PART 2

Our battle with our own Manx Government continues. At long last after numerous emails and pressure from the Facebook group set up in the Isle of Man, the Isle of Man Government are reviewing our isolation procedure and the badly managed lottery system which presently exists for obtaining an RR number to permit you to enter the Island’s closed border. The isolation rules are also being reviewed. We can isolate in our own homes if no one else lives with you instead of paying up to £1,000 each for the privilege of being locked up in a hotel for two weeks. Whilst this is good news, it’s upset and angered many returning residents who were permitted to travel home and are currently locked up at the Hotel, The Comis and have already paid the £1,000 each. To add insult to injury, the first batch of returning residents were treated like criminals and had Blues & Twos blue flashing light two vehicle Police escort as they were herded onto a coach and driven out of the ferry terminal to the Hotel which was then broadcast on national and local television. Though we would like to travel home, we are absolutely in a better situation remaining here, it’s cheaper, safer and we are with friends. We are able to keep in contact with our families and friends, video calls are a highlight, touching base and reassuring each other that we are ok.

We would have been flying out on the 12th May, but flights from Guatemala are currently cancelled. It’s like a chess game, and we are the pawns. We are also in contact with the UK Embassy and the equivalent in the Isle of Man although the best and most helpful Embassy is the USA one who very kindly took us under their wing and offered us any spare places on evacuation flights that they organised. We are now receiving updates and changes automatically from both parties regarding repatriation flights. Hopefully in a week or so we may have some information to enable us to move forward. Reading my sailing diary covering these weeks shows a period of frustration, desperation, upset and each other feeling low at times. It’s a good job we can jolly each other up, or just be plain speaking and tell one another to stop bloody wallowing and count our blessings! Harsh but true, we’re very fortunate all in all. No more pity parties!

The weather hasn’t helped, low pressure, incessant rain, impressive thunder and lightning for days. On our side of the pontoon we have been sheltered from the fierce winds on the other side of our tiny island our friends boats have been battered against the pontoons, fortunately no damage.

The sun returns and we crack on with jobs, Terry is measuring up for a new beefed up autopilot system to be fitted in the stern locker which we’ll fit next season (if there is one!) and stripping old wiring off the mast and replacing it. I carry on sanding and varnishing working in the community workshop.

I’m very competitive. This edge came out one afternoon at the pool where a fellow cruiser claimed that he could swim underwater the length of the pool faster than me. Oh really?? The pool’s literally chest high at the deep end, 10 strokes then you run aground at the shallow end, should be an easy race. This could be interesting, a bit of sport to relieve the tedium of lockdown for the handful of cruisers, including Terry, sat around the pool. The two of us lined up at the “deep” end. 3,2,1, go! We both pushed off underwater, I was winning, but damn he just beat me as we grounded in the shallows. There were gales of laughter from the pool side. I was so determined to win that unbeknownst to me, as I kicked off from the “deep” end of the pool, my bikini bottoms had slid down and my white buttocks had broken the surface and were on display the short duration of the race! Did that deter me? Not likely. I hadn’t won, that’s what mattered! “Best of 3!” I challenged him. Well, the audience were all up for that obvs. Terry just rolled his eyes. Surely I thought, my bikini bottoms will hold up this time. Well, the bikini bottoms didn’t hold up any better, I didn’t win any of the 3 races, but my god, my cheeks provided the biggest laughs and much needed lifting of spirits for weeks! That’s a win in my book!

GUATEMALA, CATAMARAN MARINA, RIO DULCE, EARLY MAY 2020

LIFE UNDER GUATEMALAN LOCKDOWN, EARLY MAY 2020 PART ONE

During the regular changes to rules, we try to keep some kind of routine to save our sanity. We swim and do exercises in the pool at 7am, work on the boat through the morning, have a break during the hottest part of the day, then we hunch over ipads, our shoulders becoming more hunched and teeth clenched in frustration at our Manx Government’s ineptitude in dealing with residents who are trapped abroad. The Chief Minister, our equivalent of the UKs Prime Minister, holds daily online briefings. We watch the briefings with increasing dismay and disbelief. I’m sure our pontoon echoes with the swearing issuing from us both out of our saloon during these briefings. It’s a good job sailors are used to the foulest language. The Isle of Man is locked down, it’s border closed, thereby protecting residents from further risk of Coronavirus. We, and others who are outside the Isle of Man wishing to return home are called “Returning Residents” by the Government, thus creating an us and them situation. The Chief Minister announces that Returning Residents must apply for repatriation the word on the grapevine from the Island is that he reputedly said that most of the people off the Island at this time of year were old men visiting dodgy places of course we have no way to know if this is true. This takes the form of phoning the Returning Residents Team and if you are lucky to get through on these poorly manned phone lines, and you actually have a travel date, you get a RR number and have permission to travel. There is talk of RR’s having to stay in a hotel, locked up 23 hours a day until isolation is completed. And each person pays nearly £,1000 for their isolation. Fear is spreading throughout the Island, social media fuels this fear by branding us as Covid ridden people who should not be allowed back home. The pitchfork brigade are fired up on Facebook and trolling in the new sport during lockdown. It’s vile. I find it distressing. I see from my sailing diary that this month is a low period for us. We are 7 hours behind the Isle of Man so communication is difficult. We decide to stay put for the time being, we’re certainly not going to be locked up and pay for the privilege!

Fresh bread accompanied with the fragrant herb Celantro and ripe tomatoes, delicious!

On a lighter note, though we cannot go into Fronteras town and the local shops, we are able to have cake and bread freshly made by two cruisers who take orders and drop off the most delicious lemon drizzle cake, carrot cake and loaves to the Marina. These cruisers are also artists and the cakes are a work of art, each one decorated with pumpkins seeds, candied lemon slices and origami paper boats! Did I also mention they do doughnuts? We cheer ourselves up with regular cake and doughnut orders, stuff the waistline!

And…. not to be outdone, the lovely Guatemalan chef at our Marina has begun making lemon cheese tarts! As the saying kind of goes “If life gives you lemons, make lemon cheese tarts”…..

A right ol’ tart…..

These delicious sweet treats are a joy, but Terry has to go up the mast, and hauling a himself up there on a diet of cake is hard work! He succeeds and loses his extra pounds in sheer sweat from working up there! I have the role of letting him down. If he’s behaved himself all well and good, if he’s not…. I leave him halfway up, or down, and ask for an apology and until then he can stay sweating up there!

Say sorry and I’ll let you down!

Working this high up is not fun, the heat just now is unbearable, even writing my sailing dairy my hand sweats so much holding the pen that the pages become sodden. It’s important to keep the diary up as it’s our record of these times.