Category: 2009 March Blog

Dear F&F,
March 29-30, 2009

Unfortunately we won\’t get to Costa Rica in time to meet up with Ron & Ken (Santa Rosa friend Karen\’s husband & brother-in-law, who have been there many times & are trying to establish a small business). We considered passing by Nicaragua, but decided to stick to our original plan, which is to stop at Marina Puesta del Sol, before moving on to Costa Rica.

We have been on the \”wait list\” at Los Suenos Marina for two months. When Scott Skyped them (internet telephone) today that we were imminently on our way, they said they could give us a slip, but oy veh – the price! We got sticker shock by the marina rates at the two main places in Costa Rica. We have paid max $100/night for a slip at a dock (Puerto Los Cabos the most so far). Marina Papagayo wants $150.00/night & Los Suenos is $275/night!!! Obviously no normal cruising boats go there. Papagayo admitted they were mostly empty.

From talking to other boaters & reading our guide book, Puesta del Sol sounds as if it will have similar facilities to where we are leaving in El Salvador. I was kind of sad about skipping an entire country, so now we are going. Anyway, too bad I won\’t catch up with Ron; that would have been fun.

To leave Marina Bahia del Sol, where the boat has been for a month in El Salvador, we had to time our exit from the estuary to the ocean with the daylight high tide, which today was 4:00 pm. By 4:30 pm, we were safely away from the danger zone (shallow water with breaking waves), having followed the path of the marina\’s very capable panga driver, Rohelio. We are motoring along quite well. No wind to speak of, so no sailing. There were a lot of small fishing boats with nets near the coast, so we went about 10 miles offshore to not risk running into any of their nets.

Scott went down to nap at 7:30 pm & will be up at 10:30 pm, so I only have 1 more hour on my first night watch. I am eager to take a shower, feeling very sticky. It is never below 80 degrees at night & day highs are 90s & humid. We are doing 3 hour shifts instead of our usual 4. The trip is only about 100 miles total, so we will get there shortly after sunrise Monday.

On his routine engine checks, Scott discovered a broken off bolt on the floor… Never a good thing. He keeps the engine spaces meticulous, so he spots any oil or water leaks right away. Any part found on the floor that fell off of something, he knows where it goes. Luckily the broken off part is still doing its job so we are not leaking oil, but now watching the oil gauge like a hawk. He is seeking a referral for a mechanic to get the broken one out & replace it. He thinks we do have a spare the right size. It\’s always something!

The stars are great tonight, the lovely crescent moon set just a while ago. There is a fair amount of bioluminescence. Between the 2 beachings, touring Guatemala with Carmina & the trip to California, time has really flown for us. We are looking forward to a couple days of rest in Puesta del Sol, before exploring Costa Rica.

8:30 am March 30
Safe arrival at Marina Puesta del Sol. Very nice, quiet docks, a couple other cruising boats. $100/day, plus electricity. Clean dock water! Customs, Immigration & Port Captain came onboard to check us in right away. Easy process, polite, friendly. We need a nap, but are happy to be here.

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 23-25, 2009

We checked in to our Taca flight to San Salvador 4 hours early which was a good thing because it was a full flight. Scott did not get an exit row, but we did get to keep our aisle & aisle seats across from each other as I had reserved. We had to pay $50 extra x 3 bags ($150) which was no big deal compared to international shipping costs. Especially since we had packed two new propellers! They were VERY STRICT with carry-on luggage, only one allowed. The good news is that they took our second bags as checked luggage at the gate with no additional charge. Every airline & airport is a bit different; you never get to know until you\’re there.

It was an on time take off & landing which was good. Being awake until the 1:45 am take-off & sleeping only 1 hour of the 4 hour 20 minute flight, not so good. It was the easy breeziest customs we ever went through. No red light/ green light like Mexico. You just stroll through with your luggage & a very bored young lady stamped something & waved us through. Terrific!

We found it much more expensive to rent a car for 3 days than take 3 cab trips back & forth to the marina (for marketing), so we went with the cab. No air conditioning, but only 40 minute ride & it was only 9:00 am, so not sweltering yet.

Two hotel/marina guys plus our cab driver helped us schlep all the baggage down the dock & ramp. It was medium low tide, lucky it was not the steepest. Scott confirmed with Alex (our Canadian mechanic) that we were a \”go\” for beaching \”Beach House\” just after that nights\’ high tide at 2:00 am.

Scott went up to the internet area right away to email photos to boat magazine friend Richard Spindler who wants to print an article about our last beaching in Latitude 38. I unpacked the \”pink\” items as best I could. Two suitcases were quite damaged, the largest had to be trashed, not a shock. We are used to the idea that luggage is fairly disposable. Less to stow! Considering that (2) 25 lb propellers were packed, we fared pretty well.

When Scott returned onboard we cranked up the air conditioning & crawled into bed for a nap. We slept from about 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Hunger awoke us. All our fridge & freezers are offline. I opened boxed milk and ate cold cereal. I heated a can of chicken noodle soup for Scott. I helped him unpack the \”blue\” items the best we could. Much is on top of the guest bed, plus the \”garage\” cabin is overflowing.

We napped again from 8:00 pm till midnight. Then the fun began…

Alex & Scott went out to the beaching site to in the dinghy to preset the anchors in the pitch black of night. Carlos & crew came at 1:00 a.m., tied up his panga to \”Beach House\” & towed us to the site. Good thing we didn\’t have to do it in the dark the first time. But having done it once, it was do-able again. Not being able to see well didn\’t help though. Same routine as before to get our boat in the right position with the rudders hanging down off the edge of the muddy bank but keep most of the length of our hulls over the sand bar.

As the tide receded & we were touching down in a good position so we napped again. Alex camped out on the trampoline. The panga men left to return at sunrise. I suppose Scott slept from about 3:00 am until 5:30 am. Blessedly I slept until 6:30 am when I heard tromping overhead. I knew by the sound of his footsteps that Scott was in need of his step & fetch it tool girl.

I threw on my shorts & tank top, swilled down the jasmine tea I had the foresight to brew earlier & went out to join the fray. Alex was already down in the mud. By 6:45 am the first prop was on! When Carlos & Company returned I poured Gatorade all around. I also made oatmeal which only I ate at that point. Scott wolfed a bowl down later.

The starboard side still had its old propeller on, so that was a bit of a struggle to remove, but by 8:30 am Alex had done it. At 9:00 am the 2nd propeller is on – job complete! We celebrated with another round of Gatorade. While waiting for the tide to rise, we catch another nap from 10:00 am – noon. I find I am not quick to wake up after naps. Maybe that is why I don\’t nap much. On the other hand keeping such odd hours for 2 days may have something to do with it…

I made a 3 can lunch: pinto beans, corn & salsa. Not bad at all. We didn\’t starve. Once we were floating enough to be towed off the sandbar, Carlos side-tied his panga to us again & we upped the port the anchors. We had already pulled up the starboard ones when we were high & dry since we didn\’t need them with the rising tide, only to hold our position with the receding tide.

By 2:00 pm Scott & Alex were zooming up & down the estuary testing the new propellers. Speed & control fine. Minor RPM difference between port & starboard but nothing to worry about for now. I followed them in the dinghy. Thumbs up all around.

At 2:30 pm Carlos & crew started washing the boat at the dock. She was covered in ash & grime. Even though it will be dirty again tomorrow we just cannot tolerate leaving it this way. We must fight back the best we can. Scott & Carlos schlepped our (8), 5 gallon jerry jugs to load diesel. The fuel dock here is not easy to take the big boat to, so fueling up is best done by dinghy schlepping. Scott often strains his back from this maneuver. I nagged him to let Carlos do most of the lifting & fed him some preventative Advil. He then installed a charcoal water filter we just brought from LA, so we could load our tanks with water. The last filter looked like we\’d been straining oil – yuck! We buy 5 gallon jugs of drinking water. The dock water quality is so poor it is barely tolerable for showering.

Dinner was pasta mixed with tuna & mushrooom soup. Amazing how you can still eat without any fresh food in the house! But tomorrow is shopping day, yippee! I\’ve reviewed my pantry inventory & made my list. Carlos claims there is a good grocery store about 40 minutes drive (vs over 1 hr to San Salvador & much less traffic apparently). I hope it is decent. I am looking forward to yogurt, fruits & veggies. I certainly pigged out in California so am not feeling deprived (yet) only back here 36 hours.

We are looking ahead at the tide windows to cross the entry/exit sand bar to get out of here. Probably within 2-4 days. Scott & Alex have to rebuild the other transmission & we have to figure out where to stow it. Hopefully it will fit under the guest bed.

We are feeling a bit in overdrive, but very accomplished. Looking forward to all the exciting places ahead. Hopefully we\’ll be able to take some time for R & R (and I do not mean running & racing)!!!

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 23-25, 2009

We checked in to our Taca flight to San Salvador 4 hours early which was a good thing because it was a full flight. Scott did not get an exit row, but we did get to keep our aisle & aisle seats across from each other as I had reserved. We had to pay $50 extra x 3 bags ($150) which was no big deal compared to international shipping costs. Especially since we had packed two new propellers! They were VERY STRICT with carry-on luggage, only one allowed. The good news is that they took our second bags as checked luggage at the gate with no additional charge. Every airline & airport is a bit different; you never get to know until you\’re there.

It was an on time take off & landing which was good. Being awake until the 1:45 am take-off & sleeping only 1 hour of the 4 hour 20 minute flight, not so good. It was the easy breeziest customs we ever went through. No red light/ green light like Mexico. You just stroll through with your luggage & a very bored young lady stamped something & waved us through. Terrific!

We found it much more expensive to rent a car for 3 days than take 3 cab trips back & forth to the marina (for marketing), so we went with the cab. No air conditioning, but only 40 minute ride & it was only 9:00 am, so not sweltering yet.

Two hotel/marina guys plus our cab driver helped us schlep all the baggage down the dock & ramp. It was medium low tide, lucky it was not the steepest. Scott confirmed with Alex (our Canadian mechanic) that we were a \”go\” for beaching \”Beach House\” just after that nights\’ high tide at 2:00 am.

Scott went up to the internet area right away to email photos to boat magazine friend Richard Spindler who wants to print an article about our last beaching in Latitude 38. I unpacked the \”pink\” items as best I could. Two suitcases were quite damaged, the largest had to be trashed, not a shock. We are used to the idea that luggage is fairly disposable. Less to stow! Considering that (2) 25 lb propellers were packed, we fared pretty well.

When Scott returned onboard we cranked up the air conditioning & crawled into bed for a nap. We slept from about 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Hunger awoke us. All our fridge & freezers are offline. I opened boxed milk and ate cold cereal. I heated a can of chicken noodle soup for Scott. I helped him unpack the \”blue\” items the best we could. Much is on top of the guest bed, plus the \”garage\” cabin is overflowing.

We napped again from 8:00 pm till midnight. Then the fun began…

Alex & Scott went out to the beaching site to in the dinghy to preset the anchors in the pitch black of night. Carlos & crew came at 1:00 a.m., tied up his panga to \”Beach House\” & towed us to the site. Good thing we didn\’t have to do it in the dark the first time. But having done it once, it was do-able again. Not being able to see well didn\’t help though. Same routine as before to get our boat in the right position with the rudders hanging down off the edge of the muddy bank but keep most of the length of our hulls over the sand bar.

As the tide receded & we were touching down in a good position so we napped again. Alex camped out on the trampoline. The panga men left to return at sunrise. I suppose Scott slept from about 3:00 am until 5:30 am. Blessedly I slept until 6:30 am when I heard tromping overhead. I knew by the sound of his footsteps that Scott was in need of his step & fetch it tool girl.

I threw on my shorts & tank top, swilled down the jasmine tea I had the foresight to brew earlier & went out to join the fray. Alex was already down in the mud. By 6:45 am the first prop was on! When Carlos & Company returned I poured Gatorade all around. I also made oatmeal which only I ate at that point. Scott wolfed a bowl down later.

The starboard side still had its old propeller on, so that was a bit of a struggle to remove, but by 8:30 am Alex had done it. At 9:00 am the 2nd propeller is on – job complete! We celebrated with another round of Gatorade. While waiting for the tide to rise, we catch another nap from 10:00 am – noon. I find I am not quick to wake up after naps. Maybe that is why I don\’t nap much. On the other hand keeping such odd hours for 2 days may have something to do with it…

I made a 3 can lunch: pinto beans, corn & salsa. Not bad at all. We didn\’t starve. Once we were floating enough to be towed off the sandbar, Carlos side-tied his panga to us again & we upped the port the anchors. We had already pulled up the starboard ones when we were high & dry since we didn\’t need them with the rising tide, only to hold our position with the receding tide.

By 2:00 pm Scott & Alex were zooming up & down the estuary testing the new propellers. Speed & control fine. Minor RPM difference between port & starboard but nothing to worry about for now. I followed them in the dinghy. Thumbs up all around.

At 2:30 pm Carlos & crew started washing the boat at the dock. She was covered in ash & grime. Even though it will be dirty again tomorrow we just cannot tolerate leaving it this way. We must fight back the best we can. Scott & Carlos schlepped our (8), 5 gallon jerry jugs to load diesel. The fuel dock here is not easy to take the big boat to, so fueling up is best done by dinghy schlepping. Scott often strains his back from this maneuver. I nagged him to let Carlos do most of the lifting & fed him some preventative Advil. He then installed a charcoal water filter we just brought from LA, so we could load our tanks with water. The last filter looked like we\’d been straining oil – yuck! We buy 5 gallon jugs of drinking water. The dock water quality is so poor it is barely tolerable for showering.

Dinner was pasta mixed with tuna & mushrooom soup. Amazing how you can still eat without any fresh food in the house! But tomorrow is shopping day, yippee! I\’ve reviewed my pantry inventory & made my list. Carlos claims there is a good grocery store about 40 minutes drive (vs over 1 hr to San Salvador & much less traffic apparently). I hope it is decent. I am looking forward to yogurt, fruits & veggies. I certainly pigged out in California so am not feeling deprived (yet) only back here 36 hours.

We are looking ahead at the tide windows to cross the entry/exit sand bar to get out of here. Probably within 2-4 days. Scott & Alex have to rebuild the other transmission & we have to figure out where to stow it. Hopefully it will fit under the guest bed.

We are feeling a bit in overdrive, but very accomplished. Looking forward to all the exciting places ahead. Hopefully we\’ll be able to take some time for R & R (and I do not mean running & racing)!!!

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 8-12, 2009

Carmina & Alejandra bravely took the coastal \”scenic drive\” from Guatemala City to meet us at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador. Seven hours later, they landed onboard Beach House, pretty tired. We took the more direct route back to Guatemala City the next day, only 5 hours. The border crossing was easy enough, a quick glance at our passports and we were in.

Carmina treated me to a stop at \”Hiper Pais\” (eeper pice), a huge wonderful grocery store that I had hoped to shop at the San Salvador location. Scott & I scoped out the wine selection & I got some yummy peanut brittle, just a brief stop.

The Vista Real Hotel where Carmina booked us in Guatemala City was first class. Beautiful grounds, lobby, plush bedroom suite and a jacuzzi tub. I felt like the Little Mermaid in the king bed with a giant clam shell dcor. We freshened up for dinner with the Robles family. Art & Suzanne had visited Carmina in this same home over 20 years ago.

It was great to meet Eddie Sr & Eddie Jr, Cokey and the rest of the extended Robles Clan. It was an ironic twist of fate, that Carmina who was Art and Suzanne\’s live in helper, now has her own helper, \”Yolanda\” (who is Mayan) prepare a fantastic dinner in typical Guatemalan style. The chicken had a delicious sauce with ground pumpkin seeds & mild chilies. There was rice, vegetables tied in neat bundles and the thicker style tortillas found throughout Central America.

We waddled back to our hotel with full bellies and warm hearts.

We spent a leisurely morning enjoying the breakfast buffet and delicious Guatemalan coffee. Carmina & Alejandra picked us up about noon for the drive to Lake Atitlan. It was 5 hours including a nice lunch stop. The road was under construction the last 2 hours but arriving at Hotel Atitlan made the trip worthwhile. The property is perched on the edge of Lake Atitlan with 2 volcanoes across made a stunning view.

Although there were many guests coming & going, the place still had a relaxing feel. The grounds boast beautiful botanic gardens all around, swimming pool, jacuzzi and nicely appointed restaurant/bar. The next morning, we enjoyed hiking in the dense tropical vegetation at a former coffee plantation nearby. They have a living butterfly exhibit. It was not the prime season, only a few yellow butterflies fluttered under the canopy, but we got quite an education from the bilingual displays and informative worker.

Scott enjoyed watching old movies in the air conditioned room, while we girls took the \”tuk tuk\” into town to shop. We were more lookers than buyers, but we did find a place to enjoy chocolate cupcakes and fine Guatemalan lattes. Alejandra\’s birthday is March 14 so we put a lit match in her cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to her, 3 days early. We got in the \”tuk tuk\” just in time for it to start pouring rain. A fun time had by all.

On the ride back to Guatemala City, Alejandra & I made efforts to learn a bit of each other\’s language. We are sad that we lived so long in Mexico & Central America and know so little Spanish. It would have helped if we could have stayed in one place long enough to take a conversational immersion class. We are still on the move, and soon will be in French speaking areas, so I am afraid we will just continue to limp along.

We had a few hours to rest at the house before checking in for our 8:30 pm flight to Los Angeles. Tears all around as we hugged Carmina farewell, wondering when & where we will see each other again. Thankfully with email we can keep in close touch.

Scott and Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 8-12, 2009

Carmina & Alejandra bravely took the coastal \”scenic drive\” from Guatemala City to meet us at Bahia del Sol, El Salvador. Seven hours later, they landed onboard Beach House, pretty tired. We took the more direct route back to Guatemala City the next day, only 5 hours. The border crossing was easy enough, a quick glance at our passports and we were in.

Carmina treated me to a stop at \”Hiper Pais\” (eeper pice), a huge wonderful grocery store that I had hoped to shop at the San Salvador location. Scott & I scoped out the wine selection & I got some yummy peanut brittle, just a brief stop.

The Vista Real Hotel where Carmina booked us in Guatemala City was first class. Beautiful grounds, lobby, plush bedroom suite and a jacuzzi tub. I felt like the Little Mermaid in the king bed with a giant clam shell dcor. We freshened up for dinner with the Robles family. Art & Suzanne had visited Carmina in this same home over 20 years ago.

It was great to meet Eddie Sr & Eddie Jr, Cokey and the rest of the extended Robles Clan. It was an ironic twist of fate, that Carmina who was Art and Suzanne\’s live in helper, now has her own helper, \”Yolanda\” (who is Mayan) prepare a fantastic dinner in typical Guatemalan style. The chicken had a delicious sauce with ground pumpkin seeds & mild chilies. There was rice, vegetables tied in neat bundles and the thicker style tortillas found throughout Central America.

We waddled back to our hotel with full bellies and warm hearts.

We spent a leisurely morning enjoying the breakfast buffet and delicious Guatemalan coffee. Carmina & Alejandra picked us up about noon for the drive to Lake Atitlan. It was 5 hours including a nice lunch stop. The road was under construction the last 2 hours but arriving at Hotel Atitlan made the trip worthwhile. The property is perched on the edge of Lake Atitlan with 2 volcanoes across made a stunning view.

Although there were many guests coming & going, the place still had a relaxing feel. The grounds boast beautiful botanic gardens all around, swimming pool, jacuzzi and nicely appointed restaurant/bar. The next morning, we enjoyed hiking in the dense tropical vegetation at a former coffee plantation nearby. They have a living butterfly exhibit. It was not the prime season, only a few yellow butterflies fluttered under the canopy, but we got quite an education from the bilingual displays and informative worker.

Scott enjoyed watching old movies in the air conditioned room, while we girls took the \”tuk tuk\” into town to shop. We were more lookers than buyers, but we did find a place to enjoy chocolate cupcakes and fine Guatemalan lattes. Alejandra\’s birthday is March 14 so we put a lit match in her cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to her, 3 days early. We got in the \”tuk tuk\” just in time for it to start pouring rain. A fun time had by all.

On the ride back to Guatemala City, Alejandra & I made efforts to learn a bit of each other\’s language. We are sad that we lived so long in Mexico & Central America and know so little Spanish. It would have helped if we could have stayed in one place long enough to take a conversational immersion class. We are still on the move, and soon will be in French speaking areas, so I am afraid we will just continue to limp along.

We had a few hours to rest at the house before checking in for our 8:30 pm flight to Los Angeles. Tears all around as we hugged Carmina farewell, wondering when & where we will see each other again. Thankfully with email we can keep in close touch.

Scott and Cindy

Dear F&F,
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
March 2, 2009

This style of \”haul out\” is known as \”careening\”. It is very similar to the techniques used during all world traveling vessels in the \”Golden Age of Sail\”.
It is still widely used around the world today in those far flung corners of the earth where mechanical assistance isn\’t available. It\’s just that we\’ve never done it…..

3:00 am – Scott restless not really sleeping, consequently I am not sleeping much either.
4:00 am – Scott gets up & starts preparing the boat per his checklist
4:20 am – Alarm goes off, get up. Put on bug spray per Scott\’s reminder that mosquitos & no-see-ums are most active in the evening & morning. Shut off power breakers at electrical panel. Scott brings power cord onboard.
4:40 am – Wake up call to Alex on VHF radio. No wind, so Scott moves fenders from port side of boat (against dock) to starboard for panga towing.
4:55 am – Alex arrives in his dinghy, parks it out of the way at inshore dinghy dock.

5:00 am – Alex takes our instant coffee black. Tightens lower oil screw of new transmission.
5:15 am – Alex & Scott go out in our dinghy to pre-set 2 anchors on port side of beaching site. (Carlos said don\’t do it the night before or that they might be stolen during the night by the locals!)
5:45 am – Alex & Scott return. Waiting for Carlos & dos amigos to show up in pangas.
5:50 am – Scott having a cow that Carlos is late.
5:55 am – Carlos, son Carlitos & Hiero show up in 2 pangas.
6:00 am – Lash Carlos\’ panga to starboard rear of our boat.
6:10 am – Alex shoves off our boat from the dock & Carlos turns \”Beach House\” around.
6:30 am – I am using our wheel to control the rudders & help steer \”Beach House\” along with Carlos. We follow Alex out to the site per the GPS track that we made yesterday in the dinghy.

7:00 am – Tense time while we are trying to hold \”Beach House\” in line with our pre-set bamboo poles & secure the port anchor lines to \”Beach House\”. The tide is still rising for about 15 minutes so we are being pushed from left to right. Alex uses our dinghy to push us closer to the anchor lines.
7:15 am – Port bow & stern anchor lines secured. High tide is slack & will start to reverse soon. Set starboard bow & stern anchors & tie lines to \”Beach House\”. Carlos uses panga to adjust our position front to back. We must have our rudders down the slope of mud because they stick down the lowest, about 4 � feet.

8:00 am – We have been adjusting position & waiting for \”Beach House\” to start to touch down. Owner of the trimaran that careened out here a few days ago comes out in his dinghy. Blaze emphasizes that we do not want the weight of the boat on our rudders as this can cause damage. We know this & agree. We shift \”Beach House\” back a bit to make sure we are hanging well enough off the end of the slope.
8:15 am- Alex gamely jumps in with a mask to check the progress of how close we are to touching down & see what part of \”Beach House\” will touch first. The next 20 minutes is our last chance to adjust our position. Once we start to bear weight on the bottom we will not be able to shift her as the water continues to recede. I feed the helpers bean & cheese burritos. Typical breakfast in Mexico, my El Salvador crew happily eat it. Gatorade all around.
8:30 am – We feel \”Beach House\” bouncing more & more hitting the sand. The skegs are touching first & the rudders appear to have enough clearance.
8:45 am – Scott jumps in with mask also and is satisfied with our position. Alex holds his breath, dives down & digs mud out with his bare hands from below the rudders to insure clearance in case we sink down into the sand/mud a bit.

9:15 am – \”Beach House\” is effectively beached. The working area of the hulls are not fully exposed, but Alex starts diving below & taking apart what he can. We say Adios to Carlos, Carlitos & Hiero & ask that they call us on the VHF radio in 1 hour to check on our progress. They need to return when we float with the next high tide, about 5:00 pm.
9:45 am – There is a thin fiberglass \”skirt\” that must be removed. It is screwed & glued to the hull. Alex & Scott working together to remove the screws, chisel off the glued-on skirt.

10:15 am – Carlos & helpers return to check on us. Scott decides we should have new skirts made. We have spare pieces of the material. Give this to Carlos, he will take it to the shop (1 mile away by panga) & cut in the correct shape per pattern of the old skirts.
10:30 am – Scott & Alex are trying to remove the propeller. This has to come off before the old transmission can be lifted out.
10:40 am – A screw on the propeller that normally does not spin is spinning. BAD NEWS: something is wrong with the propeller in addition to the transmission.
10:50 am – Satellite phone call to Canadian dealer that we have dealt with for propeller service. He says he is no longer a distributor. There is no North American distributor, only Europe. He indicates that he no longer thinks highly of these propellers. Oh joy.

11:00 am – Scott & Alex muscle the propeller off despite the broken piece. Sheared off 5/16\” pins only visible after the prop is removed. Confirmation of broken propeller; very minor superficial transmission damage.
11:15 am – Old transmission removed & begin installation of new one. Old one slips as Scott tries to move it. Owie to Scott\’s knee & our fiberglass hull.
11:30 am – Satellite phone call to Yanmar technical support to see what propellers they are currently recommending to use with these transmissions. They are out to lunch, need to call back in 40 minutes.

12:20 pm – Carlos & gang return with new cut & painted skirts. Send them back to shop to get a grinder & sander to smooth off surface where old adhesive was.

1:20 pm – Scott drains oil from starboard side sail drive while he has the opportunity to do a full change. When we are in the water he can only do a partial oil change. Put a sample of the old in plastic bottle to mail in for testing when we are in LA. Dig out 3 liters of new oil from storage space behind port holding tank locker – STINKY! Scott puts 2.8 liters new oil in starboard sail drive.
Alex suggests we change the O-ring for starboard sail drive oil plug washer. These kind of spare parts are in a hidden storage area in the salon. Pull all salon cushions & Velcroed fabric off settee. Get into hidden storage area & dig into spare parts bins. Find necessary washer. Replace all.

2:45 pm – Carlos & company return with grinder & sander. Scott & Alex smooth the surface, apply adhesive & stick on the new skirts. The water is rising�

3:00 pm – One edge of the plastic skirt is not sticking well. Scott requests cordless drill to put in 2 screws to hold that edge. Alex is apprehensive about using the drill while lying in the water which is steadily rising. Scott reminds him he was a dentist. Holes drilled, screws screwed. Done!
3:30pm – I try to do damage control as two greasy muddy men wander about. Feed them peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. More Gatorade.
The wind has picked up in the channel, but where we are on the sandbar is protected by a bank of mangroves.

4:00 pm – Scott calls Yanmar again and gets specifications for our propeller requirements. We wait for the tide to float us.

5:30 pm – Carlos & company return in pangas. The still rising tide is flowing from our port to starboard. The port anchors are taking all the pull. Untie starboard anchors & tie the lines to a float to retrieve anchors later. Lash panga to our starboard stern again. Alex is driving our dinghy again. Hand starboard anchor lines to Alex who ties them to a second float for later anchor & line retrieval.

6:00 pm – It is blowing 20+ knots (\”mild Papagayo\”). We had wanted to move to an interior slip with due to our limited maneuverability via panga tow, we opt to return to the more accessible end tie slip. Still an exciting landing as the wind is blowing us beam on to crash into the dock. Two men on the dock help Scott as he leaps off the boat to push off hard & soften \”Beach House\’s\” arrival.

Scott calls our primary \”LA Angel\”, Mike Lonnes, to alert him of our needs. Tomorrow they will further research what propellers we should buy. We must have a matched set for proper performance, so despite the fact that only one is broken, we must replace both (Scott has no confidence the other propeller won\’t have the same problem!). Good thing the beaching went so well, as it looks like we will be doing it again!

After showers, we take our hard working crew (plus Carlos\’ wife & youngest son) to dinner at the hotel\’s palapa restaurant. The wind is still blowing hard, making it unusually cold. I return to the boat to fetch sweaters.

I am discouraged to see the rain of ash as bad, or worse, than Puerto Quetzal. Scott is exhausted but satisfied with how the day went. He looks me in the eyes & says resolutely \”I will not be beaten by boat problems!\” I am endlessly amazed at his persistence & resilience. We will overcome & carry on. Thank you for your many supportive emails and for cheering us on. Sometimes the hardest days make the best stories�

9:30 pm – Sound a sleep! Next time we will start at 2:00 am at the end of the month (such are the ways of wind and tide!)

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
March 2, 2009

This style of \”haul out\” is known as \”careening\”. It is very similar to the techniques used during all world traveling vessels in the \”Golden Age of Sail\”.
It is still widely used around the world today in those far flung corners of the earth where mechanical assistance isn\’t available. It\’s just that we\’ve never done it…..

3:00 am – Scott restless not really sleeping, consequently I am not sleeping much either.
4:00 am – Scott gets up & starts preparing the boat per his checklist
4:20 am – Alarm goes off, get up. Put on bug spray per Scott\’s reminder that mosquitos & no-see-ums are most active in the evening & morning. Shut off power breakers at electrical panel. Scott brings power cord onboard.
4:40 am – Wake up call to Alex on VHF radio. No wind, so Scott moves fenders from port side of boat (against dock) to starboard for panga towing.
4:55 am – Alex arrives in his dinghy, parks it out of the way at inshore dinghy dock.

5:00 am – Alex takes our instant coffee black. Tightens lower oil screw of new transmission.
5:15 am – Alex & Scott go out in our dinghy to pre-set 2 anchors on port side of beaching site. (Carlos said don\’t do it the night before or that they might be stolen during the night by the locals!)
5:45 am – Alex & Scott return. Waiting for Carlos & dos amigos to show up in pangas.
5:50 am – Scott having a cow that Carlos is late.
5:55 am – Carlos, son Carlitos & Hiero show up in 2 pangas.
6:00 am – Lash Carlos\’ panga to starboard rear of our boat.
6:10 am – Alex shoves off our boat from the dock & Carlos turns \”Beach House\” around.
6:30 am – I am using our wheel to control the rudders & help steer \”Beach House\” along with Carlos. We follow Alex out to the site per the GPS track that we made yesterday in the dinghy.

7:00 am – Tense time while we are trying to hold \”Beach House\” in line with our pre-set bamboo poles & secure the port anchor lines to \”Beach House\”. The tide is still rising for about 15 minutes so we are being pushed from left to right. Alex uses our dinghy to push us closer to the anchor lines.
7:15 am – Port bow & stern anchor lines secured. High tide is slack & will start to reverse soon. Set starboard bow & stern anchors & tie lines to \”Beach House\”. Carlos uses panga to adjust our position front to back. We must have our rudders down the slope of mud because they stick down the lowest, about 4 � feet.

8:00 am – We have been adjusting position & waiting for \”Beach House\” to start to touch down. Owner of the trimaran that careened out here a few days ago comes out in his dinghy. Blaze emphasizes that we do not want the weight of the boat on our rudders as this can cause damage. We know this & agree. We shift \”Beach House\” back a bit to make sure we are hanging well enough off the end of the slope.
8:15 am- Alex gamely jumps in with a mask to check the progress of how close we are to touching down & see what part of \”Beach House\” will touch first. The next 20 minutes is our last chance to adjust our position. Once we start to bear weight on the bottom we will not be able to shift her as the water continues to recede. I feed the helpers bean & cheese burritos. Typical breakfast in Mexico, my El Salvador crew happily eat it. Gatorade all around.
8:30 am – We feel \”Beach House\” bouncing more & more hitting the sand. The skegs are touching first & the rudders appear to have enough clearance.
8:45 am – Scott jumps in with mask also and is satisfied with our position. Alex holds his breath, dives down & digs mud out with his bare hands from below the rudders to insure clearance in case we sink down into the sand/mud a bit.

9:15 am – \”Beach House\” is effectively beached. The working area of the hulls are not fully exposed, but Alex starts diving below & taking apart what he can. We say Adios to Carlos, Carlitos & Hiero & ask that they call us on the VHF radio in 1 hour to check on our progress. They need to return when we float with the next high tide, about 5:00 pm.
9:45 am – There is a thin fiberglass \”skirt\” that must be removed. It is screwed & glued to the hull. Alex & Scott working together to remove the screws, chisel off the glued-on skirt.

10:15 am – Carlos & helpers return to check on us. Scott decides we should have new skirts made. We have spare pieces of the material. Give this to Carlos, he will take it to the shop (1 mile away by panga) & cut in the correct shape per pattern of the old skirts.
10:30 am – Scott & Alex are trying to remove the propeller. This has to come off before the old transmission can be lifted out.
10:40 am – A screw on the propeller that normally does not spin is spinning. BAD NEWS: something is wrong with the propeller in addition to the transmission.
10:50 am – Satellite phone call to Canadian dealer that we have dealt with for propeller service. He says he is no longer a distributor. There is no North American distributor, only Europe. He indicates that he no longer thinks highly of these propellers. Oh joy.

11:00 am – Scott & Alex muscle the propeller off despite the broken piece. Sheared off 5/16\” pins only visible after the prop is removed. Confirmation of broken propeller; very minor superficial transmission damage.
11:15 am – Old transmission removed & begin installation of new one. Old one slips as Scott tries to move it. Owie to Scott\’s knee & our fiberglass hull.
11:30 am – Satellite phone call to Yanmar technical support to see what propellers they are currently recommending to use with these transmissions. They are out to lunch, need to call back in 40 minutes.

12:20 pm – Carlos & gang return with new cut & painted skirts. Send them back to shop to get a grinder & sander to smooth off surface where old adhesive was.

1:20 pm – Scott drains oil from starboard side sail drive while he has the opportunity to do a full change. When we are in the water he can only do a partial oil change. Put a sample of the old in plastic bottle to mail in for testing when we are in LA. Dig out 3 liters of new oil from storage space behind port holding tank locker – STINKY! Scott puts 2.8 liters new oil in starboard sail drive.
Alex suggests we change the O-ring for starboard sail drive oil plug washer. These kind of spare parts are in a hidden storage area in the salon. Pull all salon cushions & Velcroed fabric off settee. Get into hidden storage area & dig into spare parts bins. Find necessary washer. Replace all.

2:45 pm – Carlos & company return with grinder & sander. Scott & Alex smooth the surface, apply adhesive & stick on the new skirts. The water is rising�

3:00 pm – One edge of the plastic skirt is not sticking well. Scott requests cordless drill to put in 2 screws to hold that edge. Alex is apprehensive about using the drill while lying in the water which is steadily rising. Scott reminds him he was a dentist. Holes drilled, screws screwed. Done!
3:30pm – I try to do damage control as two greasy muddy men wander about. Feed them peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. More Gatorade.
The wind has picked up in the channel, but where we are on the sandbar is protected by a bank of mangroves.

4:00 pm – Scott calls Yanmar again and gets specifications for our propeller requirements. We wait for the tide to float us.

5:30 pm – Carlos & company return in pangas. The still rising tide is flowing from our port to starboard. The port anchors are taking all the pull. Untie starboard anchors & tie the lines to a float to retrieve anchors later. Lash panga to our starboard stern again. Alex is driving our dinghy again. Hand starboard anchor lines to Alex who ties them to a second float for later anchor & line retrieval.

6:00 pm – It is blowing 20+ knots (\”mild Papagayo\”). We had wanted to move to an interior slip with due to our limited maneuverability via panga tow, we opt to return to the more accessible end tie slip. Still an exciting landing as the wind is blowing us beam on to crash into the dock. Two men on the dock help Scott as he leaps off the boat to push off hard & soften \”Beach House\’s\” arrival.

Scott calls our primary \”LA Angel\”, Mike Lonnes, to alert him of our needs. Tomorrow they will further research what propellers we should buy. We must have a matched set for proper performance, so despite the fact that only one is broken, we must replace both (Scott has no confidence the other propeller won\’t have the same problem!). Good thing the beaching went so well, as it looks like we will be doing it again!

After showers, we take our hard working crew (plus Carlos\’ wife & youngest son) to dinner at the hotel\’s palapa restaurant. The wind is still blowing hard, making it unusually cold. I return to the boat to fetch sweaters.

I am discouraged to see the rain of ash as bad, or worse, than Puerto Quetzal. Scott is exhausted but satisfied with how the day went. He looks me in the eyes & says resolutely \”I will not be beaten by boat problems!\” I am endlessly amazed at his persistence & resilience. We will overcome & carry on. Thank you for your many supportive emails and for cheering us on. Sometimes the hardest days make the best stories�

9:30 pm – Sound a sleep! Next time we will start at 2:00 am at the end of the month (such are the ways of wind and tide!)

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 1, 2009
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

I washed a 2nd load of laundry & both loads got hung & were dry before 11:00 am. Alex picked us up in his dinghy to go look at an alternate site to beach \”Beach House\”. There is a trimaran across the river from us & we saw him careened yesterday. We asked him about the sandbar where he did this. Blaze gave us the lay of the land & then we went around it in Alex\’s dinghy at low tide to check it out. The waterline is muddy up a 40 degree angled slope, then it flattens into hard packed sand. No rocks or obstructions. We are thinking this will give us the best opportunity to have the bulk of our hulls from the bows to just in front of the propellers supported on sand as the water recedes. The props & rudders will hopefully just be shy of touching the mud. We do not need the entire propellers out of the water, just the center bolt. Given the amount of high, then low tide for tomorrow we think we have a good chance of this.

We motored over to Murray\’s usual careening site which we looked at yesterday & all agreed that the angle is not steep enough & the high tide is not high enough for us to get beached enough for the transmission to be out of the mud. Carlos took us in the high speed panga back out to the river sandbar which is now set to be \”Ground Zero\”. We took 2 long bamboo poles & the guys dug holes to bury the ends so the bamboo poles stick straight up. This will give us a reference of where to put our bows & our stern. We are going to go back out in our dinghy at high tide today, about 5:30 pm to see how much of the bamboo is showing. This will give us a good idea of how deep it is at high tide over the sandbar and what the conditions \”on site\” should be like in the morning.

Unfortunately due to the orientation of the sandbar to the river we will have to lie 90 degrees to the flow of the river. Generally we always try to have our bows facing the wind & current, but in this case we have no choice but to be sideways to it. Carlos will lash his fiberglass panga with its powerful motor to our starboard stern. We will put several of our fenders in a row to protect the side of our hull from his hard-sided boat. We hope not to have to use our engine to maneuver to the site since there is a risk of sucking up mud or sand. Carlos will effectively be towing/pushing us from the rear. Since we have a 6:20 am high tide we are hoping there won\’t be much wind to fight. The current is the main factor. Once we make the left turn around the side of the sand bar where we plan to beach ourselves, the current will be pushing us & Carlos will have to use strong reverse to stop \”Beach House\” from flying down the river too far.

Alex will drive our rubber dinghy so he can act as a bow or stern thruster & help control our position. Because our dinghy is rubber & will not hurt our fiberglass, he can push directly against us at any point he needs to control our position. The next job is to set anchors down on the starboard bow & stern at a 45 degree angle to the boat. It is never ideal to anchor the boat sideways, but again we have to be in this position because of the way the sandbar slopes & that is the only way we can beach ourselves. Carlos will set one anchor from his panga, then tie the line to us. Alex will set the other anchor & we will be tied to the bow. Then we must set 2 more anchors on the opposite side because the minute the tide stops rising & starts to recede the river will be pushing us the opposite way. This does not happen instantly. There is \”slack\” tide as it switches direction. But we must be prepared because the current does build to be very strong. Then we must wait for the water to recede & pray that she touches down lightly. If we must dig out the area where the rudders hit we will have shovels ready & two additional local guys will be with Carlos to help out. Once she is supported on the sand and we see that there is no undue strain on any part, we will breathe a momentary sigh of relief. Then we wait for that center bolt of the propeller to be exposed and the work begins. We anticipate having a window of about 4 hours to take off the propellers, unscrew the protective sail drive skirt & use a putty knife to cut away the 4200 adhesive. We will have a wooden ladder at the ready in case the jump from onboard the boat to the sand/mud is too far to just use our dive ladder. Unbolting the old transmission takes just a few minutes, it will be put in the cockpit on a piece of plastic & dealt with later. The new transmission can then be set in place, the propeller & skirt put back on & we are fine to get wet. We will again use both our dinghy & Carlos\’s panga to control our position in the river as the tide rises & we gradually float. Carlos will tow us back to our dock where Alex can hook up the engine to the transmission if he did not have time to do it before. Or he can even come & do it Tuesday. We will then of course do much testing to make sure everything works properly.

Other things we have to do to \”get ready\” are to close all the thru-hulls so we won\’t suck up any mud in any part. We put the toilet holding tank back online so that we will be able to use the toilet during the day. I will shut down my fridge which cannot be on when our keel coolers our dry. It is almost empty anyway, so no problem. I will feed the hungry crew of 5 men (plus me) canned beans I guess! I should probably go buy some ice for my cooler so I can offer them cool drinks.

I am hoping to write you tomorrow night that all went as planned & that the big job is behind us. One of the marketing points of our boat in the builder\’s brochure says \”Beachable Catamaran!\” We have seen magazine covers of cats beached on a white sandy beach with palm trees in the background. We will probably become semi famous amongst cruisers for pulling off this stunt. The locals can\’t get enough of our boat, since Sunday is family day there is a continuous parade of boats & jet skis driving by to admire us. Some of the high speed daredevils like to see how much their wake can make us rock at the dock. We are glad that we are doing the big deed on a Monday where hopefully we\’ll have fewer looky-loos.

Thank you all once again for your prayers, good vibes & best wishes for our safe touch down, a successful installation and an easy return to the dock. Stay tuned….

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
March 1, 2009
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

I washed a 2nd load of laundry & both loads got hung & were dry before 11:00 am. Alex picked us up in his dinghy to go look at an alternate site to beach \”Beach House\”. There is a trimaran across the river from us & we saw him careened yesterday. We asked him about the sandbar where he did this. Blaze gave us the lay of the land & then we went around it in Alex\’s dinghy at low tide to check it out. The waterline is muddy up a 40 degree angled slope, then it flattens into hard packed sand. No rocks or obstructions. We are thinking this will give us the best opportunity to have the bulk of our hulls from the bows to just in front of the propellers supported on sand as the water recedes. The props & rudders will hopefully just be shy of touching the mud. We do not need the entire propellers out of the water, just the center bolt. Given the amount of high, then low tide for tomorrow we think we have a good chance of this.

We motored over to Murray\’s usual careening site which we looked at yesterday & all agreed that the angle is not steep enough & the high tide is not high enough for us to get beached enough for the transmission to be out of the mud. Carlos took us in the high speed panga back out to the river sandbar which is now set to be \”Ground Zero\”. We took 2 long bamboo poles & the guys dug holes to bury the ends so the bamboo poles stick straight up. This will give us a reference of where to put our bows & our stern. We are going to go back out in our dinghy at high tide today, about 5:30 pm to see how much of the bamboo is showing. This will give us a good idea of how deep it is at high tide over the sandbar and what the conditions \”on site\” should be like in the morning.

Unfortunately due to the orientation of the sandbar to the river we will have to lie 90 degrees to the flow of the river. Generally we always try to have our bows facing the wind & current, but in this case we have no choice but to be sideways to it. Carlos will lash his fiberglass panga with its powerful motor to our starboard stern. We will put several of our fenders in a row to protect the side of our hull from his hard-sided boat. We hope not to have to use our engine to maneuver to the site since there is a risk of sucking up mud or sand. Carlos will effectively be towing/pushing us from the rear. Since we have a 6:20 am high tide we are hoping there won\’t be much wind to fight. The current is the main factor. Once we make the left turn around the side of the sand bar where we plan to beach ourselves, the current will be pushing us & Carlos will have to use strong reverse to stop \”Beach House\” from flying down the river too far.

Alex will drive our rubber dinghy so he can act as a bow or stern thruster & help control our position. Because our dinghy is rubber & will not hurt our fiberglass, he can push directly against us at any point he needs to control our position. The next job is to set anchors down on the starboard bow & stern at a 45 degree angle to the boat. It is never ideal to anchor the boat sideways, but again we have to be in this position because of the way the sandbar slopes & that is the only way we can beach ourselves. Carlos will set one anchor from his panga, then tie the line to us. Alex will set the other anchor & we will be tied to the bow. Then we must set 2 more anchors on the opposite side because the minute the tide stops rising & starts to recede the river will be pushing us the opposite way. This does not happen instantly. There is \”slack\” tide as it switches direction. But we must be prepared because the current does build to be very strong. Then we must wait for the water to recede & pray that she touches down lightly. If we must dig out the area where the rudders hit we will have shovels ready & two additional local guys will be with Carlos to help out. Once she is supported on the sand and we see that there is no undue strain on any part, we will breathe a momentary sigh of relief. Then we wait for that center bolt of the propeller to be exposed and the work begins. We anticipate having a window of about 4 hours to take off the propellers, unscrew the protective sail drive skirt & use a putty knife to cut away the 4200 adhesive. We will have a wooden ladder at the ready in case the jump from onboard the boat to the sand/mud is too far to just use our dive ladder. Unbolting the old transmission takes just a few minutes, it will be put in the cockpit on a piece of plastic & dealt with later. The new transmission can then be set in place, the propeller & skirt put back on & we are fine to get wet. We will again use both our dinghy & Carlos\’s panga to control our position in the river as the tide rises & we gradually float. Carlos will tow us back to our dock where Alex can hook up the engine to the transmission if he did not have time to do it before. Or he can even come & do it Tuesday. We will then of course do much testing to make sure everything works properly.

Other things we have to do to \”get ready\” are to close all the thru-hulls so we won\’t suck up any mud in any part. We put the toilet holding tank back online so that we will be able to use the toilet during the day. I will shut down my fridge which cannot be on when our keel coolers our dry. It is almost empty anyway, so no problem. I will feed the hungry crew of 5 men (plus me) canned beans I guess! I should probably go buy some ice for my cooler so I can offer them cool drinks.

I am hoping to write you tomorrow night that all went as planned & that the big job is behind us. One of the marketing points of our boat in the builder\’s brochure says \”Beachable Catamaran!\” We have seen magazine covers of cats beached on a white sandy beach with palm trees in the background. We will probably become semi famous amongst cruisers for pulling off this stunt. The locals can\’t get enough of our boat, since Sunday is family day there is a continuous parade of boats & jet skis driving by to admire us. Some of the high speed daredevils like to see how much their wake can make us rock at the dock. We are glad that we are doing the big deed on a Monday where hopefully we\’ll have fewer looky-loos.

Thank you all once again for your prayers, good vibes & best wishes for our safe touch down, a successful installation and an easy return to the dock. Stay tuned….

Scott & Cindy

Dear F&F,
February 28, 2009
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador

Scott listened to the Pan Pacific net on the radio this morning. A whole different crowd of cruisers. Most of the boats on this net are here in Central America all the way down to Panama & many that are making the Pacific crossing. He found out about an evening net called Pacific Passagemakers that we will get more into when we are close to making our crossing. He still checked into the Amigo Net & heard the whereabouts of the Mexico cruisers we have become so familiar with over the past year. But it was fun hearing new boat names on the new net. Many more Brits, Aussies & Kiwis, besides us Yanks & the Canucks.

Alex the mechanic, arrived promptly at 9:00 am. He listened & took notes as Scott explained the underside of our boat & where we need supports when hauled out. Then the three of us went in his dinghy to look at the careening area. It was not what we imagined. It is basically the shallow edge of mud along the bank of the estuary that is exposed at low tide. There are 2 rows of large tires & some wood boards. Beach House would be sitting in mud as the tide recedes AND we would have to dig holes like crazy to ease up stress on the rudders and have access to the lower legs of the sail drive transmissions and propellers. None of this seemed easy at the proposed spot.

One tricky part is to hold her in position as the water ebbs out at a pretty fast pace. We met Carlos & we discussed the boat & plan with him. He also works for Murray (the boss who is in Canada) and Murray had told us that Carlos was the expert at figuring out how to support the boat as the tide recedes. We then returned to \”Beach House\” and Alex moved the engine off its mounts using our block & tackle. I serve Mexican food for lunch: chips, beans, chicken, lettuce, guacamole, salsa & sour cream put out to \”make your own combo\”. Anticipating my fridge to go offline the day we haul, out I have been steadily using up our food. To a certain extent I feel I have been cooking with smoke & mirrors.

We have confidence in Alex, that he is taking our situation seriously & wants to do make sure the careening is done in the best possible way. We found out that he is 30 yrs old, has been living on his own boat for over 10 years & brought her down from Canada a year ago. He has a girlfriend finishing her PhD in Vancouver in breast cancer research. He hopes she will take a year off & travel with him.

We would have happily paid a local guy to wash the boat, but the one guy around that Scott asked said no. Usually several boat workers come up to us at every marina seeking work. Not sure if they are all busy with other jobs here, or they are not used to boats showing up that want work. We found out that the 15 or so boats on the moorings are currently unoccupied. One has been abandoned for the past 4 years! Very odd. Since it is winter in the U.S. & Canada we don\’t understand where the sailors are & why they would just leave their boat here for long periods. I guess everywhere people have boats & end up not using them. This is kind of a transit stop. Most cruisers don\’t stay too long I guess.

We pulled out our hose & washed her ourselves. We knew she was covered in salt from our 2 days at sea, but we were amazed how much dirt still came off of her. The water left a lot of spots on the windows so we had to use some product to wipe those off.

Scott changed the water filters at the back of the boat. The filters were absolutely black & greasy like they had been filtering oil, not just water. Yuck! We have had them look dirty before, but never black with oil. This must have happened in Puerto Quetzal. It is too dirty in here to use our desalinator & we were told the dock water is not potable. We have been told this before at other marinas & used the dock water anyway. We have large household type filters that the hose water goes through before filling our tanks. We also have a ultraviolet filter that is supposed to kill any bacteria. We also have a second filter at the galley sink that adds another level of purification for drinking & cooking. I did a load of laundry that I will hang up in the morning. I hope it is cleaner after being washed than before!

Alex came by late in the day to tell us he called Murray in Canada & they discussed our haul out. We are now thinking to not go as far up the bank. Just \”beach\” the boat along the flat part leaving the rudders & propellers sticking out into the water. It will take longer for the tide to recede from this area & be exposed so they can do the work. But it should ensure our propellers & rudders are not mired down in mud. We will have less time before the tide rises again but Scott & Alex think they can do the job fast enough. The whole process is not something we would ever choose to do. Why oh why couldn\’t this have happened where we could have gotten hauled out more easily? I am quite nervous about the entire process. The only thing that gives me hope is that Scott seems to think it will be ok. I know he would not put our million dollar \”Beach House\” floating home intentionally in harm\’s way. I have visions of Scott & Alex down in the mud with tools & parts. Sort of silly that we washed the boat today. At least she will be clean for 1 day. We intend to do the deed on Monday.

I had thought I would swim or take a walk today, but all my energy was gone after washing the boat. It is a hot, sweaty job & takes the 2 of us nearly 2 hours. We are still not quite recovered from our night watches. I will be oh so much happier after \”Beach House\” is done with her mud bath and the new transmission is installed & we know for sure everything is fully functional.

During the day we get rocked around pretty severely by high speed pangas & jet skis seeing just how close they can zoom by without actually hitting us. Thankfully this subsides at night. We are appreciating the air conditioning to take the edge off the heat & humidity. We are going to turn in early again.

Scott & Cindy