……And on to Guatemala

Tuesday June 28

            We weighed anchor in Placencia at 6am and headed south for the 40-mile trip to Cabo Tres Puntas, where we would spend the night and wait for a good tide to get across the “bar” into Livingston, Guatemala. Hal had known of a great anchorage in a little cove just West of Cabo Tres Puntas so we followed him in and spent a very peaceful night in a calm anchorage.

Wednesday June 29

            We again had an early departure for the short (13mile) sail over to Livingston and arrived just before 8am. The procedure was that we were to stay on our boats until the Port Captain, Customs and Immigration came out in a Launcha  (about a 25’ open boat generally with one or two big outboards on the back). They arrived about 10am, completed all the paperwork and gave us permission to take down our “Q” flag (yellow quarantine flag hung form our spreaders signifying we had not yet been checked into the country). We could now go into town, pay our fees and try some Guatemalan beer! It took us a couple of hours to do everything and by just after noon, we picked up the anchors and headed up the Rio Dulce river for the 15 mile trip to the marina we would be staying in until hurricane season was over.

            Hal did a great job of narrating the entire trip and pointing out all the special flora and fauna, hot springs and menagerie of thatch roofed buildings, huts and magnificent homes on the rivers edge. There are no roads in this part of the country and every structure had to have all its building supplies brought to the site on the river. We motor sailed thru a gorge that went straight up for several hundred feet on both sides of the river, it was really spectacular!

            After 4 hours we reached the part of the river where our marina was. The marina layout might be called unconventional by Texas standards but the staff met us just outside where our slip was and did a fabulous job of getting Namaste’ into the very tight space. By 4pm we were sitting in the Mario's Marina bar and grill and drinking some of the coldest local beer we have had since we left Texas.

We will keep Namaste’  here until at least October then probably head back to Belize. Or to somewhere else!!!

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