Best wishes to all our veterans. We are grateful.
La Peregrina is back in the islands! When I last wrote, we were excited about spending a few days sailing Guatemala's Lago Izabal. I was particularly looking forward to dinghying around in the upper tributaries which were reported to be full of monkeys, toucans, and crocodiles. In the company of s/v Seraphim and her English crew, Tim and Philipa Green, we headed up the lake on Tuesday, November 1st. We had a beautiful anchorage off Denny’s Beach that night, and enjoyed our peaceful escape from the bustle of Rio Dulce Town and its noisy bridge.
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| La Peregrina anchored in Laguna Salvador |
But our good luck didn’t last long. I broke a molar that first night out. There was no pain, but I had a big hole in my mouth, and ignoring it seemed like inviting trouble. So on Wednesday, we motored back to Rio Dulce Town. I made a dental appointment for the next day. In the wee hours of Thursday morning, Maribeth ferried me across the river in the dinghy where I caught the 3:00 a.m. bus to Guatemala City. After a six hour bus ride and a 15 minute cab ride, I got to spend three hours in a Guatemalan dentist’s office. It was a very good experience. It was as modern and efficient a dental office as any I’ve seen in the U.S. The service was better. The price was drastically lower. Sporting my new dental onlay, I caught the 5:00 pm bus back to Rio Dulce, and shortly after midnight I was back aboard La Peregrina.
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| Two young Mayan fishermen in their ancient, broken cayuco on Laguna Salvador |
We were disappointed our exploration of Lago Izabal hadn’t worked out. But our aborted excursion had given us confidence that La Peregrina was ready for travel. So at mid-day on Friday, November 4, we finished saying our goodbyes, raised our anchor, and left Rio Dulce Town. We had made a fast trip up the Rio back in June, so we lingered on the way back down. We spent one night in gorgeous Laguna Salvador, just off El Golfete. There, we were visited by a couple of young women paddling a very leaky cayuco. The boat had been hollowed out from a single tree, apparently quite a long time ago.
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| Maribeth with Catery y Amelia, our new Mayan friends |
On Saturday, we visited a manatee refuge, where we had a fascinating dinghy ride up a narrow creek, saw amazing armies of ants, and got drenched in the rain, but saw no manatees. We had a quiet night anchored in Texan Bay that night. As we do most Sunday mornings, we enjoyed a big breakfast with coffee and Baileys. I piddled with a few boat chores, and then we finally made the short trip through the impressive Rio Dulce gorge back to Livingston. On Monday morning, we checked out of Guatemala with mixed emotions. What a fascinating country!
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| Gilligan and Mary Ann |
It was a surprisingly quick trip east to the Bay Islands of Honduras. We had expected to be beating against easterly trade winds. Instead, we were blessed with light westerlies. So, after anchoring off Cabo Tres Puntas the first night, we motor-sailed virtually the entire way to Roatan, and anchored at West End at dawn on Wednesday, about 42 hours after leaving Livingston. We are tied up now at Fantasy Island Marina, stuck here until we finish the clear-in process. The Honduran authorities seem to be in no hurry. Bob and Terrie Carlton will join us tomorrow. We are looking forward to their visit!
Check our SailLaPeregrina on Instagram. And find our location by clicking this link:
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| It's nice to be back in the islands! Roatan, Islas de Bahia, Honduras |
Hope you both are safe and well, heard there as a late hurricane this year.
ReplyDeleteGoing down to the 20's this week.
Thinking of you being warm and safe, Happy Thanksgiving!!!