PLACENCIA, BELIZE. 14 JANUARY 2024. PART TWO.
BOAT MAINTENANCE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY!
We feel we’re in a position to leave for Belize. Boat jobs are unfinished, they will continue further on, with additional yet unknown jobs no doubt to follow!
Mike’s lancha ride is a treat in itself, the views through the 300ft jungle gorge of the Rio tower above us. Here, Pelicans, Egrets, Cormorants, Swifts, Herons, Frigate birds, Turkey Vultures and many more inhabit this section of the river. In some parts, the river depth is 80/90ft, and provide rich fishing grounds for both Guatemalans and the birds. In these deeper sections, the river is packed, and as we speed along at around 20mph, we have Pelicans effortlessly keeping abreast and even overtaking us! Incredible!
We require exit and entry papers before we leave Guatemala. For these documents we book an appointment with Raul Morales, Servamar Maritime Services Agency is the agent based in Livingston.
Raul checks our passports and all necessary ship’s documentation are in order. He then provides us with the correct paperwork to enter our next destination, in our case, Belize. Raul also arranges for boats with a deeper draft than ours (5’8”) to be tipped and dragged over the sandbar. Not as dire as it sounds, lines are attached to the top of the mast and literally tipped over, then pulled over the bar, its a regular practice.
Guatemala and Belize have different currencies unsurprisingly. We have endeavoured to just have enough Quetzales to pay Raul. However, we don’t have quite enough. We head into town to the only branch of Rural Bank.
The cash machine has run out of cash! I join the queue, it’s a rich mix of Mayan and Garifuna people. Queuing can be as much fun as you make it. Guatemalans are experts. We exchange smiles & shrug shoulders in resignation at the slowness of the queue. Children play around our feet and food is consumed whilst we all patiently wait in the shade of the bank. Two bank officials carry cash boxes through a door, past a guard stood right by me. It’s a second cashpoint! As they exit, I scootle in and with relief get our cash!
With our exit and entry papers safely stowed, we enjoy a fast return trip back to our boats and enjoy our first swim of the season in brackish water, 29degrees, its like swimming in a warm, albeit slightly greenish bath!
The following day, 18th January, we motor Sisu and Moyak down through the gorge. River Martins escort us.
It’s quite emotional. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in Guatemala. We’ve been visiting since 2019. Over that period we’ve climbed Pacaya volcano, stayed in beautiful Antigua, horse back ridden through the hills of the Rio, stayed in the historic City, ridden in local buses, 6 hour journeys from the city to the Rio, stayed in the truly mind blowing Tikal National Park and so much more besides. We’ve got to know the people who live in this colourful and energetic country. I urge you to consider exploring Guatemala, get under the skin of it, you won’t be disappointed. It’s fair to say, we each had a tear in our eye.
Back to business. At noon, the tide’s high enough at 1.5 mtres for us to get over the sandbar at the entrance to the Rio Dulce. We watch Hector with his little motor boat tow Moyak over the bar. It’s quite standard for this practice. We go for it, keeping the revs up we occasionally bumped over patches of sandbar. It’s a hold your breath 20 or so minutes. Following the recent rains, sand is being washed from the river and is steadily piling up at the sandbar. I think Hector may be busy!
Its calm, not enough wind to sail, so we motor over the short distance, roughly 11 miles to Tres Puntas, a natural bay which offers shelter and a handy overnight stop before heading to Punta Gorda the following morning.
Our windlass is playing up, the anchor chain is jumping and this is putting stress on the windlass gear. We haul anchor, and hoist the dinghy, the old fashioned way. Terry hauls by hand, flaking the chain down the deck, hooking and unhooking sections of chain as it comes aboard whilst I winch and helm when necessary.
Terry has cannibalised an old winch handle so we can winch the anchor a full 360 degrees round on the winch without it catching on our dodger. We’re a good team! So, the following morning, at 0630 we set off again, having had an early workout hauling anchor, arriving after a 3 hour motor in calm seas at Punta Gorda.
We drop anchor in the bay and in Moyaks dinghy we dash over to the Customs & Immigration office, ahead of two other boats behind us. If we get in early we won’t get caught in the paperwork backlog!
The Checking in and clearing out experience can vary widely. From downright rude and time consuming to pleasant and brief. The Officers at Punta Gorda are a joy. We are welcomed to Belize, and we flow through the Immigration, Customs, Port Authority and BAHA. Prior to entry, we are required to fill in an online Sailclear arrival notification summary. They already have our information and speeds the process. Within an hour, we’ve paid our dues and free to enter Belize. After a quick lunch and purchase of a Digi SIM card, we haul anchor, getting slick by now, to motor to Newhaven with Moyak, an overnight stop before Placencia.
Whilst in Newhaven, a small lagoon, we check weather forecasts. There’s a front incoming, and we’ll be here for days unless we leave in the morning. We need to be in contact with the people selling the windlass and there’s no signal here, vital at present whilst we discuss transporting the windlass from Guatemala to Placencia.
Moyak and Sisu motor out into a choppy sea with the wind right on our noses. Bugger. Our boats hobby horse into the wind and squally belts of rain.
During our 25 Miles, 5 hours of plunging and ploughing the waves, we receive a call from Moyak. They’re having an engine transmission problem. We immediately throttle back and stay steady with them. Michel, always resourceful, finds a solution and we all release our breath and we keep each other company.
We too have an eventful passage. Our topping lift line came undone and slithered up and out of the mast! Suffice to say we were relieved to arrive at Placencia!
Over the following days we tackled various boat jobs. If these jobs seem never ending to you, dear reader, believe me, we feel the same! We, several of our cruising friends are finding that the long layup during Covid and our subsequent having to leave Guatemala in 6-8 days which simply didn’t award us the time we normally spend on our thorough maintenance procedure and this season is presently testing us, and our friends with regular breakages. We will work through them.
Upon checking the water maker system, we find a leak in the water pipe, thankfully remedied easily.
The topping lift line requires Terry to go up the mast. Once there, Terry has a thin line with small nuts threaded onto it which when dropped down the mast, has to be hooked out, amidst other lines and cables, then out of a narrow gap in the mast. The topping lift line is then attached to the thin line and with a wiggle, a prayer and gentle encouragement, the task is done. However, as Terry comes down the mast, upon coming to a stop on the only piece of uncovered sail on the boom, his mast stepper pierces a small rip in the sail. I see from my diary, at this point I burst into tears. So….like the classic Bernard Cribbins song about moving the piano, “and so, we ‘ad a cuppa tea” instead we had a beer, maybe more than one….
My admiration for Terry and his ability at finding solutions never ceases to amaze. He sewed and glued two patches onto our mainsail, a great job and we’ll replace the sails in the States as planned.
He’s also been prepping the anchor locker for the new to us windlass. A mammoth job. We discover that the whole base is rotten. It all has to come out. Terry virtually excavates the locker, removing any trace of rotten plywood, sanding back to a smooth and secure base for applying new fibre glass.
We purchased a large sheet of exterior ply, the best we could get here, transporting it by dinghy to Sisu! Think we made quite a sight!
In between all this, the heads toilet flush lever decided to join in the action of trying to break our spirits, by snapping. Double buggeration! Let’s just say as jobs go, this is the least pleasant.
Terry took apart the hoses etc, hoping it was something we didn’t need to buy a part for. We carry a vast wealth of spares, but it’s impossible to carry every spare required, that would almost be a whole boat within a boat! He then removed the toilet pump, decanting it and its odorous drips into a bucket. Fortunately we have several buckets, I was crossing fingers, and legs, that Terry would once again find a solution. Though we do indeed have several buckets, I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of “his” and “her” options….and as for once we finally get sailing…..unthinkable, though I dare say our balance would definitely improve under sail, given the potential outcome! The whole pump system required a good clean and Terry found a bolt long enough to be a stronger substitute than the original plastic lever. By drilling through the bolt, cutting off the head and using the old ends as seals, he then fitted this to the existing pump mechanism, checking the valves, checked the diaphragm, refitted that and reassembled the pump. He put everything back together, inserted the lever into it’s hole, tentatively pumped……huzzah!
Despite these challenges, we’re enjoying the cool vibe of Placencia town, and grab a swim each day. We’ve even had a ray glide past, a really uplifting sight on one particularly testing day!
Honestly, not all heroes wear capes, mine wears oily, grungy shorts & a grotty, filthy t shirt!
As for the anchor locker and windlass? Did we resolve this? That’s our next blog…..
sisu journey 