THE RUM TRAIL: Belize to Guatemala August 2011

An update...finally! This will be a long one, so grab a cup of coffee or a rum and coke and catch up with us. I apologize for taking so long. It will take several posts before I can fit everything, so hang in there with us and thanks for following!

Let's start with a photo of everyone's favorite charater underway...

First of all, we would like to thank our friend Lynn for making plans to come visit with us, enjoy Belize and bring us some items we needed! We would also like to thank Lynn for being so gracious about having to change her vacation plans due to our crappy transmission ( an entirely different post for later)!

Why did we leave Belize when we had grand plans for the St. George's Cay Day Celebrations on Sept 10 and our girlfriend arriving Sept 27? One word- BAYAMA! Pronounced 'buy-YAH-mah', it is also locally named naked shorts or naked man's storm. These storms come so fast and so hard that you don't have time to put your clothes on to get outside and tidy up anything you don't want destroyed by 40-50 mph winds- and don't forget the driving sheets of rain! Freya Rauscher describes them as "local southerly storms that produce a large band of nimbostratus clouds that blacken the southerly horizon often accompanied with intense lightning. They typically last for a short while, but can produce intense southwesterly winds up to 60 knots."

These photos really show nothing, but I HAD to put them in...

Notice the water level inside the dinghy...

Monday Sept. 5
22:37So, here we just finished watching Snakes on a Plane, when we hear the wind howling, the boat is heeling and waves are building! The place where we anchored in Placencia is decently protected for some winds, but not these. We removed our sun shade before it was ripped off. Matt started the engine and put the boat in gear to help take the strain off the anchor, since the waves were big enough that our bow was plunging down into them. It only lasted about 30 minutes, but it felt like much longer. We were safe and aware. After the rains and wind subsided the fetch began and we were rolling with the waves at our beam- not a lot of sleep that night!

Tuesday Sept 6
We went into town and talked to everyone, they all felt it and had an opinion or a story of bahamas past. These storms are well known and unpredictable. Fortunately, there are many well protected anchorages around Placencia. We didn't want to take any chances, so we weighed anchor and moved to a better protected body of water. This turned out to be a grand decision, since there was another bahama that night. This one came at 00:15 and was, also, fast and furious, but we were protected from the waves, so the ride wasn't so rough. We just stayed up long enough for the winds to pass.

Wednesday Sept 7
This day we gathered our documents, took the Hokey Pokey water taxi over to Big Creek and Mango Creek and "cleared out" of Belize. We were leaving that day for Guatemala, no sense in sleepless nights! There was no wind, so we had to motor to New Haven ( poor Matt, hasn't sailed in over a month). New Haven is a secluded hurricane hole halfway between Placencia and Livingston, Guatemala. We were there in 2006-FYI Carpe Feline crew, Juan Carlos is gone, not a trace of him. The bahamas were not ready to stop, this night we were in our most protected harbour, but it was obvious that these were the strongest winds yet!

Thursday Sept 8
We motored through dead calm to Livingston, checked in and anchored for the night. Still stormy, but just the normal storms that come almost everynight during the rainy season.
A note about Livingston, especially, for those who have visited there previously. We went in 2005 and it was not uncommon for visiting boats to anchor just off the main commercial dock or further up river by the marine railway. After a pleasant and uneventful clearing in Raul, the local agent*, asked where we were going to anchor that night. He was very suprised when we said by the marine railway. First he suggested Texan Bay, 7 miles upriver, and when we mentioned we wanted to stay and enjoy Livingston for the rest of the day, he strongly suggested that we move our boat closer to the fuel dock and a popular restaurant BuggaMamma's. We got the same response from several people up river when we mentioned that we were going straight to Livingston on our way back to Belize. They all said it was unsafe and we should go to Texan Bay Marina for the night. When we were in Livingston six years ago, I found one of the best cotton shirts I have ever owned, many of you knew it well:) It was lightweight, well made and on the label it said Guatemala and had a picture of a pyramid. There were several stands around the park that sold items like this, as a matter of fact, the other girls on that trip bought the local wrap around skirts made of the same cotton. Sadly, all of these local items are no longer for sale. Next to the park, all you will find is Abercrombie and Fitch clothing and other popular American brands. The beggars and pot dealers seem more aggressive, but not violent, just very present and unrelenting.
A short rant from Carla...Actually, we went to dinner at BuggaMamma's (average) and the guy who was "watching" our dinghy kept coming up to our table to talk to us while we were eating- trying to make conversation. I believe he was going for the theory the more you get to know him the more you'll tip him. We politely kept conversations short, until he saw our meal was almost over. He then started to talk about how he was hungry and there's a lady down the way that sells a full meal for 40 quetzales (local currency = $5) and she was closing soon. He then had the nerve to come up, sit at the table and tell us he really needed the money before the lady closed. Note- he did watch our dinghy and make sure it didn't get stolen or jammed up under the docks, but we watched it all and could have done the same thing. Feeling a little helpless, I gave him 30 quetzales. After we payed for our meal and tipped our very nice Mayan server (I believe it was her first day) I realized that I gave a beggar more money for doing nothing than I did the nice young lady who went to work for her money. Livingston is still beautiful, and the people are, generally, just as nice, but like so many other places influenced by western culture, it is losing it's own identity.

Friday Sept 9
We leave for the community of cruisers that wait out hurricane season up river! Below are some pictures of only a little of the amazing scenery along our 5 1/2 hour voyage up the Rio Dulce. There aren't words for how beautiful it is here and my photography skills are greatly lacking. Stacey, I sure wish you were here:)

***Note- much of the text describing the Rio Dulce is taken from the "Cruising Guide to Belize and Mexico's Caribbean Coast" by Capt. Freya Rauscher;Windmill Hill Books, 2007.

Upriver- Part One

This is the best picture I could take of the chart of the Rio Dulce.

Entrance from the Bahia de Amatique (Bay of Honduras)
Note that Livingston is only accessible by boat.

Part 2 Upriver- The Granite Cliffs

From Livingston, you'll follow the Rio Dulce as it twists and winds for 6 miles through a spectacular gorge of 300-foot towering limestone cliffs backed by dense walls of tropical green. After the first bend, you'll come to a long limestone wall of graffiti where generations of mariners before have left their mark. In the 17th century, the Rio Dulce offered a safe sanctuary for Spanish galleons heavily laden with gold plundered from the Inca Empire in Peru. Here they sought refuge from the pirate infestested waters that plagued the Caribbean. In more recent times, it is rumored that German submarines transited these waters.

There are a lot of similiar pictures but I wanted to get across how beautiful and grand it is; not just the granite but the landscape of the river, coming and going.

Note the date under the vessel Kukulcan below...they say there are markings dating back to mid 19th century, but it is hard to get close enought to see. Ask the crew of Carpe Feline 2005!

Part 3 Upriver- Cayucos & Other Landscape
Following timeless traditions, the Maya Indians still carve these dugout canoes from logs of mahogany along the banks of the river. You will see small children rowing themselves to and from school and multitudes of fishermen laying fishtraps and casting bait nets. The cayucos do not have engines.