Our trip back from The Netherlands back to the Rio Dulce was long and cold. The 8 hours bus trip from Guatemala City to the Rio was longer than previous times and the a/c in the bus was uncomfortably cold. So, we were looking forward to getting out of the bus in the warm environment of the Rio like we were used to. But to our surprise it was not warm but for our feeling cold. December and January are the coldest months of the year in the Rio with an average day temperature of 70F and a night temperature of 55F. However, in these months it is also possible that the cold fronts rolling over the USA coming from Canada reach the Rio and on these days, it becomes even colder and most of the time with cloudy skies. Quite a difference from our sails in the east Caribbean where you do not have these conditions. In short: we do not like it and wish we were somewhere else. We are currently under the influence of a cold front, I am shivering and both Dorothy and I are struggling with a head cold.

So, you might ask why don’t you leave and that is a very legitimate question we ask ourselves every day. We know the answer and it is: waiting for parts and repairs to be done.

We ordered a complete new set of batteries for the boat and that are six of them. When we left on our trip over 5 years ago we had a house bank of 3 batteries and two starting batteries one for the main engine and one for the generator. We soon found out that with our power-hungry freezer and refrigerator that these were not sufficient. The main reason is that the solar panels on our sailboat are not economical since the mast and sails always cast some shade on the panels and that dramatically reduces their efficiency. The night wind is most of the time very light and thus the wind generator is also not providing a lot of power during the night. In our case the generator becomes very important to recharge the batteries before we go to bed. So, some time ago we added an extra battery to the house bank.

We have a very nice feature on board and that is a bow thruster. A bow thruster is a very nice piece of equipment to maneuver the boat in tight spaces like while entering a marina or while tying up on a mooring ball. The electric motor of the bow thruster receives power from the house battery bank and two very thick cables run from the house bank to the front of the boat to feed the motor. Our anchor windlass is installed in a similar fashion. In other words, 4 heavy cables run to the front of the boat all of them connected to the house bank. We installed a new battery housing in one of the lockers underneath the mattress of our bed and added another battery to the house bank. With that I could remove two of the thick cables and accomplish a shorter distance between the battery, the anchor windlass and the bow thruster. Our house bank has now 5 batteries and we have two starting batteries one for the main engine and one for the generator.

Since I only want to use AGM batteries the new ones had to come from the USA, so it took 3 months to get them here and out of customs. That was not a major problem, since we still needed to get our generator repaired and installed in the boat. This repair started in May 2017 when we came into the Rio Dulce and we took the generator apart to find out why it did not want to run anymore. We found a problem, so I took the cylinder head to the USA to have new valves installed and I also took a lengthy list of parts to be ordered in the USA. Back in the Rio in September the new parts were installed and during the testing new problems were discovered and the generator needed to be de-installed from the boat and taken to a workshop. In the workshop the generator was taken apart and we made a lengthy list of additional parts to be ordered. Some of the parts needed to come from Germany and it took until the end of November before these parts arrived. The generator was repaired and tested in the workshop and it appeared to be running fine while delivering the needed power. We installed the generator back in the boat, but it took 3 days to complete the installation. I was not happy about this and the way the installation was done.

Since it was better to test the generator while the boat is in the water, we requested the marina to advise us when a good slip was available, so we could “splash”. A slip would be available after the weekend and on Monday morning the boat lift came and put us back in the water. However, during the night, a boat came in and took our slip and we got a slip opposite the fuel dock a place I did not want to have, and I expressed my anger about this. Promises were made for another slip, but the crew of that boat became sick and did not leave. In the meantime, I discovered that the slip opposite the fuel dock is not too bad besides it has one big advantage that the rolling waves due all the boat traffic and the wind come on the nose of the boat and that is a lot more comfortable than getting them from the side and we are still happy with this place that I initially did not like.

Now the real testing of the generator could be done, and the engine was running fine for about 5 minutes and then a thick cloud of blue smoke was coming out of the exhaust. Big problems and nobody seems to understand what is causing it. I asked an American mechanic who has been running his business here in the Rio for some time to look for the problem. Better communication in English made it a little easier to understand the diagnosis and it was no good news. We needed a new piston, rings and cylinder. We are waiting for these parts and wish we had decided to buy a new generator in May before we started to spend so much money on parts and labor.

This is the long answer why we are still in the Rio a place we love, but we hate the cold.

Before we left on our land trip we took a dinghy ride through the river. Our first stop was the Castillo de San Felipe. The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara (often referred to simply as the Castillo de San Felipe) is a Spanish colonial fort at the entrance to Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala. Lake Izabal is connected with the Caribbean Sea via the Dulce River and El Golfete lake. The fort was strategically situated at the narrowest point on the river. The Castillo de San Felipe was used by the Spanish for several centuries, during which time it was destroyed and looted several times by pirates. The fort is very well maintained and is transferred to a nice park and is very nice to walk around and see all the nice plants and flowers with a view over the river.

After visiting the fort, we went in one of the side creeks of the river to a very nice restaurant called “Kangaroo”. This restaurant is build on stilts and the different building are connected by bridges over the swamp. This is typical for many facilities around the Rio Dulce.

Our last stop was a very good restaurant call “Back Packers” were we had a great lunch. All the proceeds of this restaurant are donated to “Casa Guatemala” which mission is described later in this blog. This is an excellent restaurant on the river just under the bridge.

What else did we do since we came back from our land trip and our visit to The Netherlands? We must admit we did not do too much besides keeping an eye on the progress of the generator repair. Both Dorothy and I are a little depressed after we saw with our own eyes how the condition of my beloved brother “Cor” only two and a half months after his diagnosis with ALS has deteriorated. In the meantime, his condition is even worse, he cannot speak, and he can hardly walk.

Due to this we missed a lot of the Christmas activities here around the Rio Dulce. Most of the cruisers staying here participate in activities to support an organization called “Casa Guatemala”. The mission of Casa Guatemala is to seek and provide a safe home, love and nurturing, proper health care, and an excellent education to the children of Guatemala who are abused, abandoned, malnourished, or living in extreme poverty. Like most cruisers we donated toys for the children, but we did not participate in the Christmas celebration where the toys were delivered to the children and one of the cruisers acted as Santa Claus.

We participated in a party organized by RAM Marina to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the only yacht painting building in the Rio Dulce and used this opportunity to support a school in the nearby village of Cayo Quemado for their Community Tuition Grant Program. Since 2011, this program has provided financial assistance to disadvantaged families to allow their children to attend middle, high school and college for the next school year. We participated in the silence auction and bought a lot of raffle tickets. We did not win anything, but we enjoyed the free food and the company of fellow cruisers.

On a nice warm day, we visited the Finca el Paraiso Waterfall dubbed as “Las Cascadas Calientes”. This toasty slice of paradise is pretty much centrally located between the towns of El Estor and Fronteras on the northern shores of Lake Izabal. We took a collectivo which was usual full of passengers and even as all the seats were taken more people got pushed into the bus. But all in all, it was a pleasant trip through a beautiful country site. The falls are situated on a private ranch and you must pay 10 Q ($1.40) entrance fee. If you never visited this amazing place close your eyes and image you are standing in a cold pool of fast streaming river water in the Guatemalan jungle while a 36-ft. waterfall drops hot steaming water on your head, shoulders and back. Above the waterfall are hot natural pools in the forest floor and the pool is surrounded by caves.

Our friends Linda and Maris from s/v Amekaya invited us to have an early dinner together with Bob and Nina from s/v Moon Dance at a French Restaurant called “Dream Catcher”. This restaurant is built on stilts in the swamp area of the Rio Dulce. It has a very romantic setting and great food, but a little difficult to find in the dark. We planned an early dinner, so we could be home on Island Girl before dark, but we enjoyed it so much and when we finally left it was really dark. It was very adventurous to drive back through the swamp creek to the Rio and then to Island Girl.

Just before Christmas our friends Ida and Keith invited us to take a trip to the city of Puerto Barrios which is located within the Gulf of Honduras. The bay in which the harbor is located is called Bahia de Amatique. It is Guatemala's main Caribbean Sea port, together with its more modern twin port town just to the southwest, Santo Tomás de Castilla.

In 1883, then president general Justo Rufino Barrios had the plan to connect Guatemala City to a port on the Atlanic shore through a railroad to be able to move the coffee produced by his own haciendas and those of his liberal partners. A part of the Northern Railroad project Puerto Barrios was declared to be a "Major Port of the Republic" and ordered the customs offices previously based in Livingston to be relocated there. Given that in those days most visitors arriving from Europe and North America arrived at the port on the Caribbean Sea shore and the Panama Canal was not built yet, the railroad was key to move merchandise and passengers between the Caribbean Sea and the new Port of Iztapa on the Pacific shore. However, a sharp decline in the price of coffee and silver, along with the high technical difficulties of the railroad construction close to Guatemala City, mainly due to the steep cliffs and mountains around the city, resulted in the collapse of Guatemala's economy and the railroad was not completed.

In 1900 the incomplete railroad and all the facilities including the port and dock in Puerto Barrios were transferred for free to the Central American Improvement Co. Inc. and gave this company the concession to use the railroad along with all the facilities. The Guatemalan people and government had to pay fees for their use. The harbor was then partly built by Theodore Roosevelt's Corps of Engineers in 1906–1908. Eventually, United Fruit Company, owner of IRCA, controlled Puerto Barrios completely, as it owned the docks, the railroads, the banana production from Izabal and even the merchant fleet called “The Great White Fleet”.
This situation remained as such until the 1951 when it was decided to build a highway and another port, “Santo Tomas de Castilla”, to compete with the American fruit company. The highway was completed and is called “Highway CA9” and ends at the Pacific port city of Puerto San José. This is the road we must take if we travel from the Rio Dulce to Guatemala City and this road is always filled with heavy trucks bringing goods from the harbors to the inlands of Guatemala.

The earthquake on 4 February 1976, one of the worst in Guatemala's history, destroyed most of the port facilities of Puerto Barrios, and most modern cargo traffic moved to its twin port in Santo Tomás de Castilla. In the 21st century, Puerto Barrios remains an important hub for Dole and Fresh Del Monte Produce industries, which are what remains from United Fruit Company.

Close to Puerto Barrios is a very nice resort called “Amatique Bay Resort & Marina”. It is a very nice place and we had a great lunch in the restaurant. We would like to visit the marina, but it looks like the entrance is too shallow for a single hull sail boat.

And then it was my 71st birthday. We invited our closest cruiser friends to join us for a drink, snacks and dinner in the “Back Packers” restaurant. We had a wonderful time with a lot of fun, good food and drinks. I received presents including a painting from “Island Girl” under sail made by Annet and framed by Jacques from s/v Panache. Home-made brownies from Keith and Ida from s/v Cheers, delicious dark chocolate from Linda and Maris from s/v Amekaya and a nicely painted birthday card from Bob and Nina from s/v Moon Dance.

Dorothy and I decided to have a Christmas lunch at one of the local restaurants. We made a reservation for the two of us. After we told a few of our friends about our plan they asked us if they could join us and we ended up having a table for 12 people to celebrate Christmas. To my opinion the food was not too bad, but quite a few of the other people at our table did not like it at all. The service was the worst I have ever experienced, and we will never go to this place anymore. But all in all, we had a good time and we realized again that the best part of cruising is meeting people who share our sailing life style.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day came and went, but I did not notice anything since I was sick in bed and had no interest in what was happening around me. But it was vacation time in the Rio and there were hardly any boat in the slips. Cars, buses, helicopters and any other type of transportation brought people to the Rio Dulce to get out on the water or visit one of the many resorts and/or homes along the river to have a good time.

Ida and Keith from s/v Cheers invited us to join them for a trip to Copán which is an archaeological site of the Mayan civilization located in the western part of Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD.
Dorothy and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to visit this historic city and celebrate the fact that we met each other 40 years ago in Paramaribo in Suriname.
Distances in Guatemala are typically not very long, but the roads are narrow, and the traffic is every hour of the day very busy especially consisting of large trucks. The bus company also provides a package delivery service using the buses. So even when the bus is not full of passengers it must make several stops to load and offload packages. Sometimes the luggage space is filled up like a truck and the loading and unloading take some time. We left Island Girl at 8 in the morning to go with a Tuck-Tuck to the bus station and arrived at the border crossing with Honduras at 5 in the afternoon and were in our hotel at 7:00. We were all very tired and cold, but we enjoyed a good BBQ meal at one of the many local restaurants.
It was amazing to spend 2 days in the ruins of this one Mayan City which had an estimated total population of 18,000 to 25,000 people. Copán was occupied by the Mayans for more than two thousand years, from the Early Preclassic period to the Postclassic. A significant portion of the eastern side of the acropolis has been eroded away by the Copán River, although the river has since been diverted to protect the site from further damage and a large and high retaining wall has been built. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya, perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city's rulers. The site is known for a series of portrait stelae. Most of them are placed in the open-air museum and replaced with very good replicas. We visited the central plaza of the city and the adjoining acropolis with a large complex of overlapping step-pyramids, plazas, palaces and a large court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame.
We started the second day with a visit to the “Sepulturas Group” which is linked by a sacbe or causeway that runs southwest to the Monument Plaza in the Main Group. This group consists of several restored structures, mostly elite residences that feature stone benches, some of which have carved decorations, and many tombs. We were the only visitors and the guard who worked with the archeologists for 25 years assisting in the excavation guided us through this section. Ida who speaks fluently Spanish translated for us his useful information and stories.
In the afternoon we visited the open-air museum with the life-size reconstruction of the Rosalila temple. The Rosalila, one of the best-preserved phases of Temple 16 is built over the remains of five previous versions of the temple. Archaeologist Ricardo Agurcia discovered the almost intact shrine while tunneling underneath the final version of the temple. Rosalila is notable for its excellent state of preservation, including the entire building from the base platform up to the roof comb, including its highly elaborate painted stucco decoration
In 2011 a program was started to reintroduce the Scarlet Macaw in the Copán valley. Scarlet macaws are monogamous birds, with individuals remaining with one partner throughout their lives and Dorothy and I want to live our life like them.

To get the bus back to the Rio Dulce we had to be on the border at 6:00AM when the border crossing opens again. We left the hotel at 4:30AM and it was good we left early since there was a heavy ground fog on the road through the mountains sometimes we even had to stop to find the middle of the road. Although, there is a border agreement between Honduras, Guatemala and San Salvador we had to report to both immigration agents, but you do not get a new 90 days stay in Guatemala but just the remaining from the previous entry, in our case just 42 days. During our drive to the border we could stay all the way in the same bus, but now we had to use a small collectivo that brought us to a City called Rio Hondo where there is a bus terminal and from there we had a large bus back to the Rio Dulce. We arrived back on Island Girl at around 2:00 in the afternoon, very tired but grateful we could have made the great trip.

Unfortunately, on our way back I felt that I was coming down with a cold; it took me 5 days to get mostly over it and after I felt a little better Dorothy got it too. We are not used to be in chilly weather and we do not like it and we hope to be able to leave soon for Belize to start enjoying warm air and water temperatures again.