Danger lures from above
03 August 2008 | Yaviza at the Rio Tuira
Marlene

Slowly we motored up the river with the tides to Yaviza covering the 52 miles in two days. Not easy, while we dodging huge debris of bamboo and large tree trunks floating down river. The wildlife was incredible. Alligators, snakes, monkeys and colorful birds. When the tide was running out, the current reached 4-1/2 knots. On the 3rd of August we reached Yaviza. While on the approach to the river harbor and the current against us (thanks God) Benno kept his concentration and his eys on a pedestrian suspension bridge in front of us. That's when it happend: We hit a high power overhead line which stopped us dead. At that moment I had come up from below and saw what happend before Benno realized what had hit us. Immediately Benno hit the gear into reverse and gunned up the engine. We separated from the cable and with shaking knees we anchored a few hundred yards down stream. Somehow we weren't electrocuted, but we felt the static. All equipments worked still fine. Only the extrusion of the jib furler was bent and the upper bearing block had deep scratches and burn marks, which Benno cleaned up later with a file.
The locals of Yaviza were parading along the harbor front and over the small suspension bridge to have a peek at us. Hadn't seen any cruising boats come up here before.
The end of the Pan-American Highway was just a dirt road!