Saturday, December 24, 2016
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
From the RIO to the USA: Happy Holidays
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| Murray adjusting to Vermont in December |
We have left the warmth of the Rio Dulce for the chill of Vermont. While Atalanta is on the hard for her “make-over” we are in Colchester to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Richard stepped off the plane in Burlington wearing shorts. He traded those for long pants the next day and one day later it snowed and he needed to add boots to his wardrobe. Murray wasn’t all that excited about being in the snow. However, it’s lovely coming back to such a beautiful place and to have a home here we can call our own.
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| Preparing Atalanta for paint |
RAM Marina in Guatemala offers a rare opportunity to have high quality work done at a cost significantly less than in the USA. Atalanta has not been repainted (Awlgrip) since 1989 so she will have Stars and Stripes blue reapplied to her hull and off-white on the cockpit and coachtop. Much time consuming preparation is involved including sanding, scraping, repairing fiberglass, and refairing so it is a 6-week job.  |
| Rio Dulce |
Puerto Morelos is home to a small
restaurant, Tacos.com which we believe serves the finest tacos in the world and
we managed to get to eat there 3 times. We
also had fresh ceviche on the beach and margaritas made with lots of fresh lime
juice. This is not the place for us to stay if we want to lose weight!
We return to Guatemala on December 30 and
will need several days to put the boat back together and shop for provisions. Then
we anticipate sailing north to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, the Dry Tortugas, Key West
and the Exumas. We will arrive in
Charleston, SC by April 15 and then Atalanta will find her way back to her old
mooring in Bristol RI. We will spend the
summer in Vermont, sailing in New England waters, and planning our next
adventure.
We wish you the happiest of holidays and
hope the spirit of the season fills you with joy.
Richard and Kay
More Pics
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| Our First Snow in a Long Time |
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| RAM's Paint Shed Soon to be Atalanta's Home |
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| The Crew Moves Atalanta |
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| Main Street in Rio Dulce (AKA Fronteras) |
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Life on the Rio Dulce Continues
We are back in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. After a wonderful, hectic visit to the USA we are now aboard Atalanta. While in Vermont we wed and bought a house in Colchester all within 5 days. As homeowners and boat owners we will begin to discover a new rhythm to balancing our lives on sea and on land.
The Guatemala we are discovering is a
country of contradictions. It is rich in
agriculture with farms and ranches spanning from the Atlantic to Pacific
shores. It is a country of great
physical beauty with volcanoes, rainforests and lakes and varied wildlife. It
has a rich Mayan culture and kind people.
On the other hand, there is a history of prejudice, crime, and
corruption plaguing Central American countries that have struggled with
occupation, revolution and the economic overreach of the United States. Nevertheless,
we are in Rio Dulce, safe and sound.
Surrounded by many other seafarers, we hide from the Atlantic storms in
this idyllic setting 30 miles up the river and we empathize with those
currently in the path of Hurricanes Matthew and Nicole.
While rich in resources, Guatemala remains
a poor country. Provisioning is a weekly activity for us and we find certain
items (like beef and fish) difficult to obtain. Chicken and fresh fruits & veggies
are available based upon what is in season locally and what is imported. We were here during peak season for mango,
watermelon, pineapple, and bananas. Currently, rambutan is plentiful. Restaurants offer simply prepared grilled or
fried meat with a side dish. Rice, beans
and tortillas are always on the menu. We buy 20 hot, freshly made-while-we-wait,
hot tortillas on the street for under $2 USD. Gallo is the local beer, wine is
fairly expensive, and fresh fruit shakes are popular beverages.
Kay is an avid admirer of the traditional
clothing (traje) worn by many indigenous Guatemalans especially in the rural
highlands. Traje’s intricately woven thread, beautiful colors and detailed
craftsmanship create a work of art.
However, the clothes also tell stories of identity, geography and
cultural preservation. Each community
can be identified by the patterns, colors, and style of embroidery used. Traje
should be worn in its entirety: blouse (huipil), sash (faja), shawl (rebozo),
skirt (corte) and hair wrap (cinta). For
men: overshirt (capixay), shirt (camisa), belt (cinturon), pants (pantalon) and
sombrero. When entirely handmade, a single piece can take months to complete
from spinning cotton into thread, dying it, weaving on a backstrap loom, and
then embroidering. A complete traje can cost $250 USD – a small fortune! I have
been shopping in pacas, aka second-hand shops and acquired a beautiful beaded
sash. 
Boat services here tend to be high quality
and relatively inexpensive. Docking fees
are reasonable although electricity is very expensive. The RAM boat yard
provides repair service at a rate of $25.00 USD/hour. We often paid $100.00/hour
in the United States. Consequently, we have
decided to have Atalanta’s hull repainted in November-December, a 6-week job.
This will extend our stay in Guatemala to almost 6 months.
Next week we hop on a bus to Flores and
visit the ruins at Tikal for 4 days.
Thanks for following.
Richard and Kay
More Pics
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| Life is Good |
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| A visit to Bread and Puppet While in Vermont |
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| Kay takes a side trip to Charleston to visit our Grandson |
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| Reprovisioning in the Markets of Fronteras, Guatemala |
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| Hanging by the Chicken Bus |
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| Rambuton and Yes Kay Eats It |
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Back in the USA (temporarily!)
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| Out for a ride in Paul's 1953 MG TD MkII |
It has been almost two months since our
last posting. This has been in part
because we haven’t moved from the Rio Dulce due to hurricane season and because
we have been visiting the States for two months.
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| Kay and Richard with Tara and Caitlin |
On July 25th, we took a five-hour
cab ride to the airport in Guatemala City and began what became a two day-trip
via plane to New York. Our goal was to
visit family, attend to medical appointments, house hunt (for the transition
back to part time life on land next year) and visit friends.
Thanks to the friendship of Paul, we have
been able to stay in Westford for the past two month.
During our time here we
found a new house to make a home, decided to tie the knot, and much more. On September 13th we expect to
close on a new house in Malletts Bay, Vermont.
It is a lovely home near the lake and includes beach rights and a
mooring. Water will continue to be
central to our lives, even when we are in Vermont.
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| St. Patricks NYC |
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| Bread and Puppet Glover, VT |
Five days after moving into our new home,
we will wed. The wedding will be
officiated by our good friend and (temp) justice of the peace, Paul. It is going to be a small affair with our
family. After many years of loving each
other we have decided to make it official.
Funny how after all these years, we are both so excited to be getting
married.
Soon after we wed on September 17th,
we will be preparing to return to Guatemala.
I guess we should call it our honeymoon.
We will haul the boat, paint the bottom, and get her ready to continue
the journey to points unknown.
Our vision for the next year is to sail to
Honduras’s Roatan Island and to spend November there. From there we will sail north to the Caymans
where we hope to enjoy the holidays. As
the new-year approaches, we hope to see Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas before
returning to the states for a month in Charleston, SC. We will summer with the boat in New England
(Bristol) and spend much of our time in Vermont enjoying our new home. We hope friends and family will find time to
join us for this last leg of our four year journey.
As the fall 2017 winds begin to blow, we
will once again board Atalanta for southern waters. Our plan is to never be cold again. Time will tell.
So that’s the update from Vermont. Thanks for following
Richard and Kay
More Pics
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| Caitlin and Kay in Monkton, VT |
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| Chad and Tara |
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| Bread and Puppet Circus |
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| Dinner at Pauls |
Monday, July 4, 2016
Hurricane Season: The Rio Dulce, Guatemala
From June to November sailors pay close
attention to the development of tropical depressions forming in the
Atlantic. Many storms begin off the
coast of Africa, move in an arc across the Atlantic, and enter the Caribbean
above the 10th parallel.
Sailors have two choices: either
drop below the 10th parallel or go inland to escape the full force
of these weather systems.
This year we brought Atalanta up the Rio
Dulce (Sweet River) in Guatemala to Nana Juana Marina. We are 25 miles from the
Gulf of Guatemala and the open waters of the Atlantic. With over a half dozen small marinas nearby,
we are meeting lots of other cruisers who chose to spend the next 4-5 months
here.
Guatemala is a beautiful country with a
rich Mayan history. It also has been
the subject of US intervention much of which was on behalf of the United Fruit
Company. It is this part of the
Guatemalan history that we are finding has relevance to the current political
situation and Central America’s relationship with the USA.
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| Market Stan, Fronteras |
Our journey into Guatemala began with a
brief passage from the Gulf of Guatemala to Livingston at the mouth of the Rio
Dulce. After engaging the services of
Raul to check us in, we left Livingston and headed up river. This passage was
just spectacular with steep canyon walls, dense green forest, and white herons
sunning on mangroves. As we motored up
river, the depth varied from 10’-80’ and unlike most rivers, the deeper waters
were on the outside of the bends. After
motoring about 15 miles, we inched into an inner bay off the river and dropped
the anchor with 4-5 other boats and settled in for a quiet evening. The next
morning we continued the last 15 miles to our final destination at Nana Juana
Marina in the town of Rio Dulce (formerly known as Fronteras).
The “rainy season” in this tropical zone
began about a month late this year but by the third week in June it arrived in
full force. Almost every day the
temperature reaches about 89º (“feels like” 110º). Around 5:00 in the evening we watch storm
clouds building over the mountains and hear thunder rumbling in the distance.
That’s our warning to run to the boat and close the hatches because soon
the rain will pour down in sheets. It is not unusual to
have 4-5” of rain and Atalanta is rising higher and higher above the dock as
the water level in the river climbs.
We have been in the Rio Dulce for two weeks
but already are familiar with many of its routines and activities. We are getting acquainted with fellow
residents. When significant numbers of
people on boats congregate for long periods of time, a community develops and
activities are organized and shared. Pizza & movie nights, International
Trivia Contests, potluck dinners, and Mexican Train dominos are examples. Last
night we visited a lovely palapa at Tortugal.
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| Morales |
Yesterday
we took a 30-mile bus ride to the town of Morales. We climbed into a
12-passenger van (called colectivos and operate sort of like a taxi) and in no
time the driver had picked up a total of 19 adults, 1 child, and a large
birthday cake. It was crowded and hot.
The 45-minute ride cost $12 quetzels per person or about $ 1.70 US
dollars each way. The bus driver was constantly switching lanes to dodge
hundreds of potholes and never once stopped talking and/or texting on his cell
phone. It was quite an experience! Pineapples are in season here and so are
lots of other fruits and vegetables we can buy at street markets like this.
Next week we head inland to Lake Atitlan
for a week of Spanish lessons. Our
minimal amount of “gringo Spanish” is
embarrassing so we hope to make some degree improvement. Then it will be time to
fly back to the USA to visit our much-missed family in VT, NY, and SC. Late September will bring us back to Atalanta
for continued travels. Guatemala marks
our southern most point for this journey since we will be sailing north toward New
England by spring 2017.
Adios and thanks for following.
Richard and Kay
More Pics
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| Home Marina Nanajauna |
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| Nanajuana |
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| Cover up to keep the UV rays off Atalanta |
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| Local Bar and Restaurant |
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| Rio Dulce Main Street |
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| Downtown Morales |
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| Pot Luck on Shore |
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| Guatemala Cattle off to Market |
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| Morales |
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| Morales |
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| Water Taxi Rio Dulce |
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