02fpart3 - Page: 2 of 3

out to Turneffe for some more critters. But, the weather was terrible and for the next several days the wind and rain were more than worthy adversaries. Thankfully, Andrea brought 5 new video tape movies that helped keep us entertained. Then at last, two days before Andrea had to leave for DC, the weather broke and we had a chance to get out and do some snorkeling. It was great, but within a few hours, the wind switched again, more rain and we had to retreat to Francesca. We were out long enough for Andrea to get a light sun burn and to catch some more lobster. By New Years Eve, nearly all of the boats from Moho Cay had shown up at Turneffe. I don't know if Turneffe ever hosted such a large fleet of cruisers. Sadly though, we had to be first to leave and take Andrea back to Mojo for her flight home. After that and feeling a little blue, we headed south for a leisurely trip toward the Rio Dulce.

The first night out, with very calm weather, we stopped and dropped the hook just as the sun went down. We were in open water about 30 miles south of Belize City. The next day, we continued on to one of our favorite stopovers, Sapadilla Lagoon, where we were alone again. I did some repairs to the outboard motor, and other routine maintenance in the engine room. I found that our two 8D engine cranking batteries were in bad shape. No big surprise, they were both 5 years old and due for replacement. Even if they failed completely, we have many options for battery power aboard.

On the third day, we made it to Punta Gorda, Belize, the check out point. Punta Gorda is an open roadsted. It is OK in settled weather, but no place to be in a blow. As forecast, however, the wind was calm and again we were the only boat around. In the morning, it was an easy check out and by 9:00 AM we were underway for the short trip to Livingston, Guatemala at the mouth of the Rio Dulce.

The 20 mile trip was uneventful with calm waters and overcast skies. Joan and I commented on how this was going to be the first trip where we didn't have to tow or pull someone off the reef. Soon after arriving in Livingston, the Puerto Capitano and Aduana (customs agent) visited Francesca and gathered up our papers such that they could type up our needed permits and 90 day visas. Those folks are always very nice and they welcomed us to their country.

A few hours before we headed up river and while I was in the dinghy, I recognized someone on a nearby sailboat. It was Monica, the very nice Guatemalan young lady who had been our Spanish teacher at Fronteras during the last trip. The sailboat was "Tempest" from Fronteras captained by Steve, her long time boyfriend. They had a transmission failure and we arranged that Francesca would tow them up river about five or six miles where they would be above the stiff current and could sail the rest of the way to Fronteras.