cruising report of our trip from the Rio Dulce to Puerto Cortez…
Waiting for the right weather window
I promised Vivian that this time having ‘a nice sailing time’ was at the top of the list of things to achieve. We have had some brutal weather and sometimes very tiring experiences. Now I want us to have a relaxing, pleasant trip.
How to achieve?
Waiting for the right time to leave, and then leave!
Have stops in between if needed.
Use the engine when we have no wind.
Wednesday 5 December 2007
Fishermen in the Rio Dulce
We left Texan Bay and the Rio Dulce with a short stop in Livingstone to do the paper-work. Raul works now as a boat agent and gave us a demonstration of the added value of his assistance.
Deliver the papers. Sign the Zarpe. Do a last email on his computer while he is running around town. Pay the bill and go.In half an hour, without doing anything, everything was arranged and done. We didn’t even have the simples work to be done, as the boat overstayed for 5 months. It was amazed by the efficiency. Very rare in Guatemala!
We took off with a set of waypoints to cross the bar without having less then 6 feet. More then enough for us, we draw 5,5 ft.We motored for 3 hours, no wind but a nice sunny day without any chop. Later in the afternoon we could sail a bit. Of course tacking. That is the usual wind-direction. During the night we stayed as close to the coast of Honduras as I dared. We picked up a nice counter current.
Everything calm at midnight. No waves, no moon and no wind…so we started the engine again. The engine stayed on until we were in Puerto Cortez.
We did this 75 miles exactly in 24 hours. Not too bad for the conditions and our boat.
Thursday 6 December 2007
When we came in the bay of Cortez, we didn’t know where to go. The fixed VHF doesn’t transmit any more. We succeeded in contacting the Port Captain by our hand-held and got allowance to anchor in front of the Naval Base.
Puerto Cortez Sunset
We took the rest of the day off, waving to some friends of us (Lobo and Erica of S/V Arenas, Jo and Alvin of S/V Marie Helene) that had their boat on the hard in the Naval base.
Naval Base Puerto Cortez
Friday 7 December 2007
The next day we went ashore by dinghy. Easier said then done. Nothing but rocks and a high concrete wall. We finally decided to dock our dinghy in the hauling out dock.
The Port Captain and Immigration are in the centre of town. A small bus trip and some walking to find the offices. After that the paper work was done in half an hour. The costs were 3 US$ for immigration per passport and a copy of the boatpapers for the Port Captain. Good for 3 months in Honduras.
We had some trouble finding the right bank to change our leftover Quezales. We found a Banco Occidental close to the naval base. About the only bank that will change these local currencies.
We found a supermarket on walking distance and had a cold beer in a palapa close to the base. Jo invited us for a Pot-Luck dinner on Saturday.
We went back to the boat. The NOAA weather forcast told us 20 to 25 knots of winds from the East for the coming 2 days. Not the wind we needed to go east. We decided to stay and participate in the Pot-Luck the following day.
Saturday 8 December 2007
I changed the oil of the Perkins 4-108 diesel engine and checked cooling water, batteries, first and second reef. I took apart the VHF but couldn’t see why it would not transmit.
The wind was very light out of the NW. Was this NOAA weather forcast way off, or did we have a local phenomena here?
The day was sunny and at sunset we had a very nice Pot-Luck with some 11 people.
