Hello Again To You All At Long Long Last
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| Beautiful Caymans |
Well, this is our third visit to this beautiful corner of
the Caribbean, George Town, Grand Cayman. Yes it can be glitzy, commercial -
say like a mini Florida, and, very expensive, but it is an excellent stop for
yachts to take that break after a rather hard slog here, as we were against the trade winds on this leg. It also makes a great break for those
traveling on to Central America. Check in is free, the waters are crystal clear,
and one can have those spare parts flown in from anywhere in the world knowing
they will arrive – yes we are waiting on some!!
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| Easter on the Rio |
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| Easter on the Rio |
Firstly back to our last days on the Rio Dulce, Guatemala.
As we waited for that weather window to depart, Alec and I filled in time
making “SHAMAL” ready for her first ocean passage of the season – well so we
thought! Also we had the Easter week
break. We watched as the locals gathered
on the Rio for what is considered one of their most important festive seasons
of the year. Things got a little crazy
on the water. Villages arrive in
Frontares by boat and whatever means they can to join family and friends. The rich, famous and stupid arrive on the
river and out come all the water toys.
Easter here was a week of craziness. There was one accident, which
Alec and I did not see, where two local lanchas ( they are the local motorised
small boats about 7mts long with an over powered motor on the back) hit each
other, one cutting the stern off the other!!!
On Good Friday morning the local Priest came around the river with a
flotilla of boats all dressed in purple cloth, to bless the boats. They
stopped at twelve marinas – stations of the Cross - to give the Blessings. It
was rather a grand site watching the parade and see the spirit of Easter
celebrated here.
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| Alec on the wire |
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| Swing Bridge |
Temperatures have been in the mid-30’s but the breeze comes
up the river most afternoons cooling us down. I have also been in the
river for a few swims. After my cousin Simon’s accident, I now have a
very bright lime green/yellow swimming buoy to tow with me while
swimming. We also took time to go on another of the zip line adventures
which was a ton of fun. This time the
course took us into the rainforest where we had to leave the zip line in the
tree tops and now do one of these army type obstacle course walking over tight
wire, and across swinging wooden steps etc., all in the tree tops. Then it was back on the zip line to exit the
rainforest and zipping back across farm lands to base.
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Alec on zip line |
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| The Rio |
Then the day eventually arrives and we are ready to
leave. Thursday April 5th. We need to leave before we become one of the
“Alternative” locals. It has been an incredible experience living so far inland
from the sea, waking each morning to see you are surrounded by high mountains,
the smells from the tropical rainforest, and, the call of the howler monkeys. It
is goodbye to the beautiful coloured butterflies that cross the lake each day,
tropical birds screeching as they fly over you, and the sweet smell of the
tropical flowering plants. Yes we will miss it, and the old friends we have
caught up with here, and the new friends we have made. We do the 18nm run to Texan Bay which is
located at the top end of the gorge. As we enter El Golfete – the lake before
the gorge – we have winds on the nose, a N.E. at 17kts. Is this a sign of what
is to come? We drop anchor just outside
Texan Bay for the night along with three other boats. Some just arriving, and some leaving just
like us.
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| Texan Bay |
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| Back in the Gorge |
We left Texan Bay on Friday 6th and meander down through the gorge with its
spectacular rainforest covered limestone cliffs passing the Maya Indians, some
still in their dugout canoes carved from mahogany trees, and others have
upgraded to a lancha with an outboard.
Livingston appears around the final bend with the smell of the ocean on
the light N.E. winds. It is here we drop anchor and go ashore to check out.
While ashore an American tried to anchor in front of us but unfortunately had
problems doing so. The long and short of it is they dragged hitting us side on
across both our bows taking off gel coat and a nice chip through to the fiberglass.
They also unhooked our bridle causing us to swing around in all directions.
When we arrived back there was no acknowledgement or apology. They must have
thought we would sue them! We had to move quickly so not to hit them as they
were now right behind us. It was not till we crossed the bar and I was up front
putting things away that I noticed the damage. I got onto Ch.16 and told
them in no uncertain terms what I thought of them. With that crisis behind us
we motored out across the Bay.
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| Grand Cayman |
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| South Coast, Grand Cayman |
It was not till 1800 that we hoisted the sails. We now
found ourselves tacking across the ocean. Not that we minded that. We spent a
lot of time on a close reach which means water over the bows. That was OK until
we started developing leaks. Alec found sea water in two of MY forward foot
lockers. One contained all my shoes, the other travel bags, my sewing
machine etc. Shoes have been thrown out, and I have a HUGE pile of washing to
do at some stage. We have since found the cause – a forward hatch, which
we are now drying out and will possibly remove and re-seal. Water came in both
shower drainage outlets which we had to pump out every so often. We have a
crack in our fiberglass water tank which we discovered before we left the Rio.
The plan is to have that repaired in St. Maarten, while the rigging is being
done (along with a long list of other jobs) So with little water, cleaning up
is not easy. Yes we have a water maker,
but when Alec started it up, one of the
high pressure hoses gave way spraying salt water all through the engine
compartment!! Oh and after this hose burst the bilge pump alarm went off
telling us the automatic pump had not kicked in. We sorted that by hand pumping
out the bilge!! Another wee problem to sort out. That is not to mention that the Port compass
has developed a leak loosing fluid, but it is still readable. The one on the
STBD side is fine, and, our AIS receiver
has decided to stop working, and the chart plotter needed a re-boot. More jobs for St Maarten. This life can be so much fun!! - at times.
On reaching George Town, Grand, we had totalled up 596nm which took us four and a half days.
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| Governors Creek, Grand Cayman |
The first couple of days here in George Town we have
walked miles, I mean about five miles each day - out to the airport area and
marina looking for spare parts for the water maker. It looks like we will have
the parts sent in by FedEx from home. We really need the water-maker up and
running before we leave here since we can’t put too much water in the water
tank.
So, all in all not the best of starts this season for
us, but there are others here who are also having problems whom we have met at
the tender dock. Most seem to be waiting
for a Fed X parcel to arrive!! We realise it is all part of this lifestyle
we live. Still it beats sitting in a retirement home somewhere watching four
walls!!
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| Kaibo, North Sound |
Tuesday 24th April. Our water maker parts have arrived and Alec
has fitted them, so that is up and running again, but, during the process he
has found another glitch. The belt for
the STBD engine water pump is nearly ready to go, so he will replace that and
check all the belts before we leave here.
Tomorrow morning was our departure time, but we will just wait and see.
It is not until 1430 that we actually untie our mooring
lines in George Town. Alec worked on the
water pump belt, then it was ashore to clear out. It is hot and humid with not
a breath of wind. In fact the winds for
this leg look extremely benign. We are
heading for Montego Bay, Jamaica.
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| Very fresh chicken!! |
So we will sign out for this posting, and continue with
another from Jamaica.
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| End of another hard day |
The Admiral and The Commander
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