We’ve been working flat out since we arrived at Ram Marina, hot, sweaty 11+ hour days ploughing through the work caused by Sisu’s covid layup and mods that we do each season.
On the 19th March we motored up the Rio Dulce river and anchored in Cayo Quemado, a village well known by cruisers going to and from the Rio, from here we can go by lancha with our friend Texan Mike to Livingston, see Raul, the independent agent who liaises between cruisers and authority, for a fee, and obtain the necessary permission and paperwork.
Cayo Quemado is so peaceful after the hurly burly of the river traffic by Ram Marina. The only noise we hear are children laughing and splashing in the water at the edge of their home, bird life abounds, Egrets, Cormorants, Martins and Frigates fly overhead. In the evening, Mikes bar comes to life and there’s usually music, but it’s good music, often live if a visiting cruiser can play an instrument or sing. The locals dinghy over to catch up on news and the atmosphere is always laid back and friendly, Mike is well known for his Texan burgers and steaks, our journey is a one minute dinghy paddle, perfect!
Our friends on s/v Banyan, Blue Jacket and Quicksilver are on their way, however on the first night Terry and I enjoy a quiet night with a few of the locals over burger, chips and beer. There are rumbles of thunder overhead due to the very humid conditions.
The following day we replace our old echo sounder, hauling the wiring through the boat, there’s always work to do, meeting up with our friends over beers and good food was very welcome!
In the morning we piled into Mike’s lancha to Livingston together with Banyan, Blue Jacket and Quicksilver. Terry and I were apprehensive following the news that our friends had received their permission to leave and we hadn’t.
At Livingston port the 8 of us sat, rather anxiously in the Servamar office where we met Gerson, the nephew of Raul, the agent who deals with the majority of boats entering and leaving the Rio Dulce. Our friends received their Zarpes and permission to leave. It was our turn. Our worst fears began to materialise. Gerson informed us that there was a problem with the SAT (VAT) authorities who decided that due to Sisu being in Guatemala for an extended period, we would have to import Sisu and pay 27% of her value, as decided by SAT! We had 10 days to put in place a written appeal against this decision, listing why we had not taken Sisu out of the country earlier. Obviously, there were numerous genuine reasons why this could not be done, the main one being that for a long period of time travel from the UK to Guatemala was banned by the Guatemalan authorities due to the Covid epidemic. This effectively restricted us from entering the country until November 2021. I was in tears, all our work, for nothing. Our friends were so disappointed for us, sadly there was nothing they could do, though they tried. We rode the lancha back to our boats, and headed for Mikes bar to reconvene and discuss what to do, beer was consumed…. It appears that we are not alone, small comfort, but it means we can get together and act as a body rather than alone to sort this mess out.
It was hard seeing our friends leave for Roatan, Utila and Belize, we cannot plan ahead at all, however, we are so glad that they are able to enjoy a sailing season, after a few days we come to terms with the situation and explore the area around Cayo Quemado, including the hot springs, Agua Alicante, further up river, we will not be ground down by Bureaucracy !
We left the tranquility of Cayo Quemado and tied up at Catamaran Marina, we were greeted by many of our old cruising friends where we spent our covid isolation the previous season, talk about a sense of deja vu!!! Terry & I submitted a written appeal along with an explanation of the fact that the hurricane starts in June and if we were to be out of the country for the required 90 days, we would need an answer in a reasonable time, we were already pushing the limit at this time.
We were both fed up talking about the whole situation between ourselves and with other cruisers. Neither of us are good at just sitting around, so we decide to escape the crap and spend a few days at Tikal National Park. Check out our separate April blog posts for more on Flores and Tikal, it’s definitely a bucket list item!
Meanwhile the days ran into each other, meetings with cruisers, we did more jobs, did our best to keep our spirits up. Meetings with cruisers, Marina owners and officials took place to discuss matters. I see from my diary that I wrote “there seemed little point in writing as each day is pretty much the same”. It was a low time, however this is the life we have chosen, it’s not all sun, sailing, beers in the cockpit, and this utter shambles is all part of the adventure, it’s certainly not a highlight, though promises to be memorable!
Our 4th wedding anniversary in April was a good reason to dress up, celebrate and enjoy a lovely meal at Casa Perico, set in the mangroves, we took a lancha taxi and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
SEMANA SANTA – HOLY WEEK , APRIL 19-22
Easter is a huge time here for Guatemalan families to come together and celebrate. Easter or Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a week long festival commemorating the Passion of Christ in the Catholic tradition, here on the Rio on Palm Sunday, lanchas or “andas” are heavily decorated with purple swathes and bows, with large wooden sculptures on the bow of the anda one carrying Jesus carrying the cross, another featured the Virgin Mary. The andas are accompanied by several lanchas full of people. The anda carrying Jesus also carries the Priest who calls in at 12 of the marinas, local businesses and properties lining the Rio who have signed up and donated. At each Station, the host then reads a prayer representing a station of the cross, followed by a blessing by the Priest. Catamaran Marina & Hotel is on of the 12 stations, during the week the cabanas in our small grounds have been filling up, the small pool is packed with children and families, it feels very strange having so much noise and company around us!
From March through to May we had waited for an answer about our permit to leave along with many other boats and fellow cruisers.
In May we decided to cut our losses and go home as sailing elsewhere would not be viable with the hurricane season approaching. Just as we decided to leave, the local Politicians, the Town Mayor and several of the Marina owners joined forces with a local Member of Government to try and resolve the situation. They had realised that as cruisers are the prime source of income for the local economy, seizing boats and not resolving these problems could result in a massive loss of income to the local economy. As we left, a meeting was held between SAT Officials and the cruisers where the SAT office promised that the matter would be easily resolved by payment of a nominal fine so long as we submitted an explanation of why people had overstayed their permitted time in the Rio. This explanation to be provided in Guatemalan Spanish, along with the details of the cruiser. We therefore left believing that we could return in November, quickly resolve the problems and continue with our cruising.
To understand how this all came about, briefly, the laws regarding temporary importation of boats come under the same rules as the importation of motor vehicles i.e. cars, trucks etc. We believe the Authorities in Central Government did not understand either the size of the boats nor the fact that they are our homes. To them they were just an asset that could be moved as easily as a pick up truck. Once they understood that a cruising boat is not that easy to move and that people are living on them, SAT appear to have taken a more understanding stance. The capital city where the main SAT office is, is 6 hours drive from Rio Dulce and the coast. Hurricanes are the effect of near misses from hurricanes never reach Guatemala city, therefore the understanding of a hurricane season and its consequences are unknown to those making the rules within Government. Not unlike most countries in the world!
Mid April 2022
Now that we had made the hard decision to go back home, we began stripping Sisu down, we both felt a hollow feeling as we took off her sails and folded them up, no need to wash them down, the sails hadn’t had even a splash of sea water upon them! Laying up was quicker, every piece of machinery had been serviced and ready to be fired up to sail, we didn’t have to do much at all. It all felt just so wrong, and Sisu felt it too. Part of the laying up list is wiping every surface inside Sisu with diluted white vinegar, my job. It stinks, normally I don’t mind as we’re ready to leave after 6 months of living aboard, I’m ready for a proper bed & loo! But this time, I cursed my way through this job, on reflection, neither of us enjoyed this season’s laying up, words may have been said between us due to the sheer nonsense of our situation. I see once again from my diary I’ve written “feel very upset over it all, bloody waste of 3 months”
Terry and I watched our girl being hauled out, she felt cheated, confused. Like a race horse with her bridle and saddle on and backed into the gate ready to run and surge. Yet, we had taken the equivalent of her tack off, by removing her sails, this wasn’t right to her, why hadn’t she sailed? Her energy hadn’t been expended at all and though it sounds quite mad, there is a bond with your boat and we sensed her frustration, as she rose into the air, trapped in the harness, the water ran off like tears, and we shed a tear too. We won’t be beaten Sisu, we’ll be back to get you ready again and you’ll see new countries, we promise!
HOME – ST JUDES, ISLE OF MAN, OCTOBER 2022
Having returned home mid May 2022 with the information in writing that all we had to do was return in November 22 and submit a written explanation in Guatemalan Spanish (not Google Translate) we put in writing the whole Saga of delays through Covid restrictions and other factors. We then had it translated through an Internet service by the name of Upwork who connect people with free lance translators. A young lady by the name of Nancy Zai L in Guatemala City did a very professional job for us.
However in September 2022 we had an answer to our appeal lodged on 8th April 2022 , allowing us to leave at the end of August 2022, and no later than mid October 2022. This is the worst part of the hurricane season and as this is being written on October the 5th 2022 a Tropical Storm is building and heading toward the Guatemalan coast which would make it very dangerous to leave. Added to this Terry had used the time at home to have a Knee replacement, which effectively prevented any travel before mid November 2022. We are using every avenue we can think of to resolve this problem and are trying very hard to remain optimistic.
sisu journey 