Guatemala, Ram Marina, November 2023.
After a rather unfulfilled previous season, for many reasons. We had to leave within 6 days at the start of our season, covered in our previous blogs, so mods & jobs on Sisu simply never got started. The weather was fickle, weather windows opened, then closed leaving insufficient passage time to head to Cuba & USA. Finally, my Dad had a TIA at home in the Isle of Man, I flew home 9 weeks early from Roatan, Dad is fine, I’m glad to say! Fortunately Tim, Terry’s youngest son was able to join Terry sailing and help lay up. However….this is a fresh season!
So, now we play catch up. On arrival at Ram Marina, our first thing is to check Sisu, fortunately she’s fine, no mould inside, a relief. She needs a good clean inside & out, but that’s to be expected.
We flew to Guatemala with 3 suitcases of boatparts, even better, we arrived with 3 cases of boat parts. As we will be sailing to cooler climes, we brought out a heater in one of the cases. During our time at Ram Marina, amongst many jobs, Terry has been fitting this, plus the pipework etc.
Even the yard dump can turn up treasures!
He also emptied and cleaned out the diesel tank, last done 14 years ago. I have to grit my teeth & do my best to ignore the diesel slick inside and outside Sisu. It has to be done,but dear god, it’s not pleasant for either of us. If I hug Terry, he slides out of my grasp! It’s amazing how inventive we can be. Ordinary items become extraordinary tools!
Take nappies/diapers for instance. Super absorbent for cleaning the crap out the base of a diesel tank as it were. The results were remarkably similar!
By tying a nappy to a grabber stick Terry could really do a thorough job & we went through a bumper pack! A toilet cleaning brush zip tied to a pole was also implemented to rake out the corners. Necessity truly is the mother of invention.
I set to scrubbing lines, sun shades, dinghy cover & chaps, saloon covers,cleaning, repainting the water line, & being gopher (go fer this, go fer that) walking into town for boat bits & beer.
A trip into Fronteras town over the high bridge which spans Rio Dulce is always a joy. The panorama spreads out to the Guatemalan mountains in the far distance. There are always locals stopped at the high point to take photos and videos. The town fizzes with noise, smells, chatter and laughter.
The huge haulage trucks roar up and past us all with barely inches to spare.
As we near Christmas and New Year, there are firecrackers exploding in the street during the day as well as night, makes me jump each time it happens, to the hilarity of the Guatemalan pedestrians & stall holders!
There are always surprises waiting for a cruiser with an already long job list. So far, it’s a leak above the plywood head lining in the galley. We tracked this back to the sealant round a gate stanchion becoming dried out, water will get in any where it can. We rip out the plywood, which has de laminated, so the leak’s been going on for some time. There’s no option but to replace. Sourcing materials is often difficult here. One of the local staff, Augusto, of Boatique hotel (see below), upon finding out we have a boat at Ram, advised us he does work there too and could he help us? Yes please! We normally do all our own work, but trying to source good plywood is very hard & time consuming. As good as his word, Augusto arrived at our boat, I think he was taken aback at the “work in progress” chaos inside Sisu! We also asked if he knew someone who could make a new wooden cockpit floor base. “No problemo!” He took the base away in his truck. Augusto returned a few days later in his truck with two large pieces of plywood for the galley.
Then later that week returned on his motorbike, accompanied by his carpenter friend, on his motor bike, who had his young son as pillion. Between the carpenter and his son was our new cockpit base! How on earth his son kept hold of this solid wood base up and over the bridge was a feat of endurance! The base fitted perfectly first time and saved us days of time.
During our time at home we had left our sails with Chloe, a sailmaker and repairer on the Rio. She delivered the repaired sails to us stowed in their respective bags. We stowed them under Sisu’s hull till required. The day arrived. We hauled the bags up onto the coach roof. Upon opening the bags, small ants flowed out and all over the coach roof! Some surprises are extreme! With a shriek, I fetched ant spray and the hose, despatching them to ant heaven (sorry) them before they got inside. Still makes my skin creep as I type….
We’ve worked solidly every day since arriving. Our treat has been to stay at Boatique whilst Sisu was in a state of disarray. Boatique is a beautiful eco hotel, with superb food, spotless rooms, excellent food, staff and cold beers. Boatiques lancha would collect us from Ram at 5.30, we could shower, relax , eat & sleep in comfort each evening. Then after a good choice of breakfasts, we would lancha down river back to Ram, arriving for the day refreshed and ready to face that day’s job list. It really was a treat!
During the rest of our time we’ve split between a few nights sleeping on Sisu and staying at one of the Casas on the yard.
The weather seems to be cyclical. Three scorching days, followed by three days of constant, torrential rain, so work revolves around weather systems.
Christmas Day was a half day off, luxury!
We had a quiet day, chatting by video with our families, a few jobs then meeting up with friends Lucie & Michelle on s/v Moyak & Bob & Nina on s/v Moondance. Back to work the day after!
I used to despair at the mess during this preparation time, swearing was a regular feature as once again I cleaned up, in order for a new, equally mucky job could start, now I’m (almost) accepting of the process. Maintenance is always ongoing and absolutely necessary, we do our best to keep ahead of surprises. Boat maintenance, the gift that keeps on giving!
We aim to launch early January, watch this space!
sisu journey 