Blog

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