20 June 2017 | Placencia
Rainy
We left Bahia Ascencion / Punta Allen finally after 10 days on the hook. The little village of Punta Allen provided us with diversion daily. We would dingy in and buy fresh chicken and fresh fruit and veg from a little family. At the Fishermans Hotel we would get some wifi after 1130 when the little community would have electricity. One day we showered at the shower on the beach. We delighted in the freshness of it. We also picked up more diesel and water as both resources were depleted. Daily we would watch the tour boats take folks out in search of dolphins and manatee. They visited us several times. Once the manatee came up onto our friends swim platform and eyeballed them. The four boats also initiated a cruisers net every morning catching up on local news and discoveries as well as discussions of weather. One day we were joined by a German daily. Man did they have toys. They sped around in powered stand up boards. Thursday June 10 we hauled anchored and our little fleet of 2 cats and 2 sailboats headed out of the protective bay in hopes of arriving in San Pedro the following day. All 4 weather models and Chris Parker got the weather wrong again and Namaste pulled into Xcalak the next afternoon. The others carried on. We survived 2 thunder and lightening storm and we're glad to be behind the reef in sheltered waters. A couple of naturalists answered our call for assistance through the reef and lead us through the narrow opening to a good anchoring. The next day after a good rest we sailed down to San Pedro and joined up with the rest of the fleet. We had fallen behind because the engine would not allow high revs so our speed was 2-3 knots and not 5-6 that we should have expected. After a day there we travelled down to Robinsons island and then onto Sapodilla. Sapodilla was an amazing place with a brand new marina great showers and laundry. We all pulled into slips to wait for some good weather. We went into Dangria for a fuel filter one day. This solved our power problems. Yeah!!!! The 2 cats decided to make a run for Livingston in one day. The other sailboat was stopping in the cayes to catch up with friends. We left Sunday by ourselves for Placencia and our friend Dave on Natasha. The sail down was the best clear skies light winds and a motor that performed 100%. So here we are in Placencia. The weather is rainy with thunderstorms daily. It looks like Sunday may be our day to clear out of here. We will head to Tres Ponta about a 6-8 hour sail. From there the plan will be a couple hour sail to Livingston and up the river to Lake Isabel Guatemala. Once there we plan to ready the boat for any bad weather, haul it out and go up into the highlands where the average temp is 75 degrees The heat here makes it tough to be very active for sure.