04 September 2020 | Loggerhead Marina, Hollywood, FL
22 August 2020 | Hollywood, FL
20 August 2020 | Greenville, AL
09 March 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
29 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
14 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
14 February 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
22 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
10 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
06 January 2020 | Isla Mujeres, MX
04 January 2020 | Islan Mujeres, MX
31 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
30 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
29 December 2019 | Isla Mujeres, MX
28 December 2019 | Isla Cozumel MX
26 December 2019 | Cay Caulker, BZ
25 December 2019 | Bluefield Range Cays
Uncertain Times
18 March 2020
Susan
We cruisers are used to "plans written in sand at low tide" yet this is a differnt thing all together. As the Coronavirus / COVID-19 spreads worldwide, countries are closing their borders to non-residents. Make sense to ensure the medical capacity is used first for their own citizens / legal residents.
This profoundly affects the international cruising community based in, and seasonally out of, Guatemala. The regular cruising grounds in this area include Belize, Honduras (Bay Islands), Mexico and some may come or go as far as Cuba, the Caymans, or the Colombian islands of Providencia / San Andres. There are open questions about whether cruisers who store their boats in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala will be able to bring them back in, if so when and what the quarantine procedures will be. If it's a no-return situation, many will have to make difficult decisions on what to do for this upcoming hurricane season. For former cruisers who call the Rio Dulce or other areas in Guatemala home but are not official residents - meaning the they must renew their visas on a regular basis - it is not clear how they will be handled in the near term nor when their current visa is up. Some of these folks no longer have a functional cruising vessel. And for those that "commute" between one of these countries and their home country during the cruising season, the question is whether they will be able to return to their vessels if they had returned home previous to these border closures.
What is certain, wherever we are, social distancing and extra diligent personal and vessel hygiene is a must. We'll just have to see how this plays out...
2019 - 2020 Cruising Season Itinerary
18 November 2019
Susan
As we begin our 9th Cruising Season we’re planning our next change of cruising grounds: early on it was the BVI / USVI then the Eastern Caribbean; then we spent a good amount of time in Panama; for the past several seasons we’ve explored the Northwest Caribbean, based out of Guatemala, Our plan for this season is to arrive in Florida where we’ll secure s/v Vida Dulce for the hurricane season, then use that location for our jumping off point to explore the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.
Between the Rio Dulce / Livingston, Guatemala and Key West, FL our route and tentative timing is this: work north through Belize and the coast of Mexico mostly in day-hops to Isla Mujeres, MX, arriving by the end of December. We’ll stay there (making trip(s) home as needed) until we make the run to Key West, probably in early May. Once in FL, explore the Keys a bit while continuing to move north to our new hurricane season location. We’ll need to be there, wherever that is, by late May. So lots of miles in the beginning of the season and at the end, in-between enjoying Isla Mujeres and its cruising community.
Belize Check Out
24 February 2019 | Placencia, Belize
Susan | partly cloudy, 85 degrees F
Our BZ passport stamps expired today so we’ve checked out (on Fri as officials are closed Sat / Sun) and are headed back to the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. A very short cruising season for us this year for a good reason: Jerry has been invited to present at SOT-10 in Hong Kong (April 1-4) on how his Mintaka Innovations weather instruments (Mintaka STAR and Mintaka STARX) are being used by NOAA / NWS for shipboard weather observations. How great is that! Of course I’m going along and we’ll spend a few extra days exploring. So back to the Rio Dulce we go to get Vida Dulce prepared for hurricane season.
Guatemala Check-Out
23 January 2019 | Livingston, Guatemala
Susan / mostly sunny, mid-80’s
Time to get our cruising season going! The Chris P weather forecast is a little dated since we’ve been out of cellphone / internet range however it appears we have a weather window to go North to Placencia BZ so once Tom is finished (mid-day) we depart Cayo Quemado, and head to Livingston to check out. Tonight we’ll anchor in Tres Puntas, then tomorrow morning we’ll head to Placencia for food & ice cream.
Let the 2019 Cruising Season Begin!
12 January 2019 | Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Susan / mostly sunny, 80 degrees F
Let the 2019 Cruising Season Begin!
We're back in the Rio Dulce and, as usual, this start is alot of work getting s/v Vida Dulce cleaned up, set up, and doing annual maintenance. In addition to the usual stuff, she'll be getting all new standing rigging before we head out to Placencia, Belize on our way to Roatan. These are our only two planned destinations this season due to timing of other commitments.
2017-18 Cruising Itinerary Update
21 May 2018
Susan
Plans written in sand at low tide…., that’s the cruising life!
This cruising season is quickly coming to a close so we will not travel to Panama this season as planned. Instead we’ll secure Vida Dulce once again in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala for the hurricane season. Yes, not what we planned for this year yet the best thing to do given the consistently unfriendly eastbound weather conditions all season long and the time spent State-side. Beside, our bar fridge IS STILL being held hostage by Guate SAT…. !! Finger’s crossed it’ll get released before the anniversary of its capture.