On Saturday, we were ready to leave the dock, but we were stuck in the mud! Another sailor brought over his dinghy and took the spinnaker halyard to the opposite shore of the creek and tied it to a tree. The line slipped up the trunk of the first tree just as we were probably heeled over enough, and, boing, our boat righted herself in a flash. We chose a bigger tree with a larger trunk and put a lot of wraps around it. This time, it held, and the prop was out of the mud enough to move forward into the narrow channel of the creek. Then the dinghy pulled us back into deeper water, and we were off!
We went to MAR Marine to fill our tanks with fuel and potable water and to purchase a couple of cans of Coca-Cola sin azúcar, and we were ready. Well, maybe. The dripless shaft seal is now dripping at high revs, which it was not doing before. It's always something! We anchored near town and it felt good to be rocked by moving water again.
On Sunday morning, we met David and Anna for a pancake breakfast at Tijax Jungle Lodge and Marina, took a look at their almost finished hard dodger which they have modeled after ours and bid farewell. Back onboard Mantra, Peter decided he needed to tighten the alternator belts before we pulled up anchor, so it was a couple of hours before we actually started downstream.
On the way down the river, we tested the engine at ever increasing revs, and Peter discovered that the seal starts spraying water over 2200. He is worried about this happening when we are in salt water. He has crimped the lead now, his first possible solution. I wouldn't want him not to have potential catastrophic malfunctions to ponder in his spare time!
By mid-afternoon, we were anchored in Texan Bay on the downstream end of El Golfete. Peter dove under the boat again to clean something down there that may be effecting the dripless seal. (I just nod my head as if I understand when he explains.) He came back up convinced a clog was not the problem.
We are quite near two islands absolutely filled with hundreds of nesting cormorants and snowy egrets. The rest of the afternoon, they flew singly and in groups, swooping low over the water, landing effortlessly on target on their perches. There is a cacophony of sound, and we were close enough for the pungent odor of their profuse droppings to waft across the deck and down below. I love being close to nature! Near sunset, we took the dinghy over to the two islands to get a closer look while trying not to excite the fear of the parents. We couldn't see any chicks; the birds are still sitting on the nests.
As the birds quieted down for the night, their sound was replaced by the hollow drumming of toads and frogs, a lullaby for sleeping.
This morning we pulled up anchor at 7:30 and motored over to Rigger Tom's to pick up our sails. We were accompanied by blue, black and white sparrows and vivid yellow warblers who flew around the standing rigging and landed on the lines, spreaders and radar, making the short trip a delight. I was assuming that we would just collect the sails and then have to spend hours ourselves rigging the main. However, Tom and his crew just took on the job quickly and are doing in an hour or so what would have taken Peter and me most of the day. My presence would be superfluous, so I am writing this blog.
Because the rigging is going so quickly, we may be able to clear out of Guatemala in Livingston today. (I have my fingers crossed!)
We went to MAR Marine to fill our tanks with fuel and potable water and to purchase a couple of cans of Coca-Cola sin azúcar, and we were ready. Well, maybe. The dripless shaft seal is now dripping at high revs, which it was not doing before. It's always something! We anchored near town and it felt good to be rocked by moving water again.
On Sunday morning, we met David and Anna for a pancake breakfast at Tijax Jungle Lodge and Marina, took a look at their almost finished hard dodger which they have modeled after ours and bid farewell. Back onboard Mantra, Peter decided he needed to tighten the alternator belts before we pulled up anchor, so it was a couple of hours before we actually started downstream.
On the way down the river, we tested the engine at ever increasing revs, and Peter discovered that the seal starts spraying water over 2200. He is worried about this happening when we are in salt water. He has crimped the lead now, his first possible solution. I wouldn't want him not to have potential catastrophic malfunctions to ponder in his spare time!
By mid-afternoon, we were anchored in Texan Bay on the downstream end of El Golfete. Peter dove under the boat again to clean something down there that may be effecting the dripless seal. (I just nod my head as if I understand when he explains.) He came back up convinced a clog was not the problem.
We are quite near two islands absolutely filled with hundreds of nesting cormorants and snowy egrets. The rest of the afternoon, they flew singly and in groups, swooping low over the water, landing effortlessly on target on their perches. There is a cacophony of sound, and we were close enough for the pungent odor of their profuse droppings to waft across the deck and down below. I love being close to nature! Near sunset, we took the dinghy over to the two islands to get a closer look while trying not to excite the fear of the parents. We couldn't see any chicks; the birds are still sitting on the nests.
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| Cormorants roosting for the night with their nests |
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| Cormorants and snowy egrets |
This morning we pulled up anchor at 7:30 and motored over to Rigger Tom's to pick up our sails. We were accompanied by blue, black and white sparrows and vivid yellow warblers who flew around the standing rigging and landed on the lines, spreaders and radar, making the short trip a delight. I was assuming that we would just collect the sails and then have to spend hours ourselves rigging the main. However, Tom and his crew just took on the job quickly and are doing in an hour or so what would have taken Peter and me most of the day. My presence would be superfluous, so I am writing this blog.
Because the rigging is going so quickly, we may be able to clear out of Guatemala in Livingston today. (I have my fingers crossed!)
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