USA - Illinois, Batavia, ThanksGiving

 What an awesome week!!!!!!!

We flew from MAIMI to Chicago to spend ThanksGiving with our Son Kieran, our Daughter-in-Law Katie, and Grand-Daughter Arden, who is 17 months old.

We flew with Frontier, who were offering good rates.Nothing wrong with them, except that the airports shut down due to Fog and we had a 4 hour delay.

The new puppy, Ursa is a cutie pie, even if she want to chew everything and pee everywhere.

Arden love Ursa and here is is in Ursa’s room and cuddling in her bed

A chilly walk to the park

ThanksGiving Dinner at the McHughs (Katies family), so wonderfully welcoming and food galore

Our little family with Nicholas (Gumps), me (Dee) Arden, Kieran (Dada) and Katie (Mama)

Granny Maureen (Gigi)

Our little Princess (the pearls were a hit with her 2 year old cousin)

Drinks down at the Fox River. Arden

Nicholas with Ursa

Nicholas training Ursa to ‘Fetch the Ball’

Me with my my beautiful funny clever Granddaughter (yes I am biased) !!

USA - Florida, Key West

Yay, and we’re back in the US of A…….

We anchored abeam Fleming Cay, and did the ROAM App for inward clearance. As usual, being foreigners, we had to report to CBP (Customs Border Patrol) for Immigration and Customs. As always, CBP staff were professional, quick and efficient, and we had our passports stamped and Cruising Permit in hand. 

We traipsed down Duval Street looking at all the touristy stuff. Having been to Key West 5 years ago we did not feel the need to revisit all the iconic bars and Ernest Hemingway’s house. 

Arrival beers, after we’d checked in, at the iconic Schooners Bar, with high prices and bad wait staff attitude, after a few hours of walking and sightseeing. 

As we’re very low on Diesel 0% and 5.% in our tanks, we picked up 2 Jerry cans of diesel at huge $6/G cost. Heading back to Meshugga our 1 year Suzuki outboard suddenly sounded rough and cut out. Definitely Spark plus, but we had no spares on the dinghy. 

A kind sailor bypassing on his skiff gave us a tow back to Meshugga. 

We have to up our game and keep a few more tools and spares aboard the dinghy to be better prepared incase we’re somewhere without assistance. 

Mexico -Isla Mejures

Two days into our passage and just south of the Mexican island Isla  Cozumel our auto-pilot stopped working. Yikes. 

We hand steered up the west coast of Cozumel (20 miles) until we got to a bay that we could anchor in. Most of the Cozumel coast is a marine park with no overnight anchoring and we’d no idea how long the repair would take or what even the problem with the auto-pilot was, so we needed to stop somewhere that the officials would not chase us away. 

Lots of hotels lined the coast and a few para-sailing boats quite close to Meshugga 

No sooner than we’d dropped anchor a boat came by to tell us that the Port Captain was trying to hail us on VHF 16.

We switched on our VHF and as expected, the Port Captain wanted to start inward clearance procedures for Mexico. Him speaking little English and us with no Spanish, it was a difficult communication, however with Google Translate, we managed to relay that this was only an Emergency stop and as soon as our auto-pilot was fixed we’d be on our way. 

Cruise Ships

By the time Nicholas had identified the problem, removed the part and fashioned a make-do repair it was dark. Tired, we decided on an early night and early morning departure. 

I awoke at 4.30am with Nicholas hoisting the Main sail. 

The expected north easterly came thru 3 hours into our trip. (Which is why we had been trying to get from Guatemala to Isla Mejures by Saturday night, 5 Nov). At least the NE wind was light and we could motor sail with not too big swells yet. 

Motor sailing past Cancun, it’s wall to wall resorts.

We anchored in the bay of Isla Mejures along with 20 other yachts and a gazillion charter boats motoring past blaring music and people enjoying the Sunday afternoon sunshine.

Arrival Margaritas at Skulls Landing

Excellent Lobster Tacos

Four days of chilling and looking around on shore 

Some sights on Isla Mejures

A last night out at Skulls for drinks and live music

It was time to leave using the back of Hurricane Nicole (which slammed into Vero beach Florida).  

We upped anchor at 3.30am, and with a full moon it was easy to see the other yachts at anchor.

The winds was as expected NW and then West. We were able to motor sail the whole way. Light winds made for a slow passage and thankfully a small swell of the north setting current  

Only one scary time, Nicholas dodged a huge squall, but the resulting sea state was huge 18 foot swells. Meshugga rode up and fell down these huge swells causing our number 1 reef clew strop to snap. We then hoisted full main and almost immediately had the full main clew, a 10mm shackle, explode. Yikes. 

We reefed to 2 reefs and reefed the StaySail, waiting for the swell to abate. 

Downside is that we were stuck with a max of two reefs in a dying breeze. Next day, with minimal breeze and almost flat seas we dropped all sails and gently motored downwind, and Nicholas went up into the boom to retie a new strip onto the Main clew. All good, and we could hoist full main to help our motor sailing. Cuba in the distance. 

The rest of our passage was uneventful, lots of Cruise Liners on AIS, and we arrived in Key West to the noise and speed of the Fast Cigarette Boats (or whatever they’re called) National Championships. 

Guatemala - Rio Dulce

Happy Halloween 

Our sail from Utila to Livingston was a tiring and stressful 24 hours. The course took us along the north coast of Honduras, 25 miles offshore and coupled with light winds, we were constantly vigilant for piracy. Arriving at Livingston at first light was very welcome. 

Fog over Livingston gave us the first cool weather in months. Wonderful 

River bar arrival buoy. No further buoys to mark the bar channel. We touch at 0.9m and skimmed at 1m across the shallowest sections. 

We used Raul, the recommended agent (Panama Posse), to clear us in. It took 1 hour as opposed to doing it ourselves which yachts say is difficult to get done in 1 day. His inward fees were $250 including Official Fees.

We eagerly lifted anchor to motor up the Rio Dulce to our marina berth at Nana Juana Marina. Up on the Fly bridge, taking photos, I noticed power lines across the river which are not on any chart. 

We motored up close and they looked way to low for Meshugga to pass under. I jumped onto my phone and called Raul, the Marina and the Port Captain. No one knew the height of the power lines and said they were newly installed. 

An hour later we decided to take a second look. We edged up the right hand bank, as the power lines looked higher there. With the river flowing outward helping to keep Meshugga at a snail pace, and a helpful chap at his home across the river (as he could see better than us looking up), he called that we could pass under. The caveat was that there were 4 lines, the first 3 higher than the 4th. 

We passed under the first 3 and from my vantage point on the deck it looked like we would hit the 4th line, but the chap on the bank motioned us to proceed. We slid under the 4th line with a foot above our mast. I almost sh@t myself. 

A stiff whiskey later, I stopped shaking and we motored upriver thru the beautiful canyon. 

Looking back at the power lines

Nana Juana Marina was helpful in situating us on a separate dock to the other yachts, due to our size, tonnage, and the impending arrival of Hurricane Lisa. We tied up to the dock on port and stern, and to a post, a mooring ball and our anchor deployed, we were ready for the rain and blow. 

Arrival cocktails 

Marina Office 

Cruisers Tiki Hut

Cruisers Snack Bar, the Nana Market

The Hard

With a day to spare before Hurricane Lisa’s arrivals, we took a Tuk-Tuk into the local village to get local currency, fresh fruits and vegetables. 

A whole bag of fruits and vegetables cost Q45 ie $5. Definitely cheaper than Honduras, Panama or Bahamas.

Excellent flame grilled chicken. We bought a whole chicken with baby potatoes, jalapeños and salsa for less than $10. Dinner sorted  

Our luck, Lisa tracked on course and slammed in Belize City as Category 1, and Hurricane hole Rio Dulce lived to its reputation of being a safe place. Shielded by huge mountains, we only had light winds and rain.

Nana Juana is a Resort as well, and the grounds are beautiful, not to mention the wonderful pool.

Reception 

Beautiful shaded grounds

Charming bungalows 

Watching the weather predictions, dictated how long we’d stay in Rio Dulce as our next leg was north from Guatemala to Mexicos’ Isla Mejures (abeam Cancun), and then east to USA  

As it happened, we stayed only 4 days. 

The trip back down Rio Dulce was pleasant, and going under the power lines although  stressful, due to our previous experience, and a lower tide than when going upriver all bode well. 

We cleared out again using Raul, and immediately set sail. Outward fees were Q800 ie $105 including Official Fees. 

A 350 mile passage ahead of us to Isla Mejures, Mexico.