Rio Dulce

Saturday, August 9, 2003

015-39.000 N
089-0.120 W

Ahoy from the Rio Dulce in Guatemala!

This will be the final report for this cruising season as BlueJacket is securely docked at Tortugal marina on the beautiful Rio Dulce.  The trip across the bar at the entrance to Livingston was uneventful.  We got into some pretty skinny water, at least according to the depth sounder, but we didn't bump or get stuck.  Right after we dropped anchor the port captain and customs guy came out to the boat to clear us in.  After assuring them that we didn't have any pets, drugs or weapons aboard they left with our papers and a bit later we headed into town to pick up the papers that they were preparing.  Everything was going great until we arrived at the Port Captain's office at 11:55 to pick up our cruising permit.  He was at lunch and we were told that it would be 2 hours before he came back.  Our expressions and cries of "When?" must have imparted our need to see him sooner as the guard ran and pulled him away from his lunch and we got our paper so that we could head up the river.

The trip up the river was magnificent as always.  For the first 8 miles the river winds through a low mountain range where it has cut its path.  Sheer rock walls, covered with vines, soar  600 feet above you.  Its incredibly green and the sounds of birds and insects echo from the walls.  After you exit the canyons you enter a large, shallow lake that you run along for another 8+ miles.  Mountains, some reaching 12,000 feet, surround you.  It's quite stunning.  There was 2+ kt current, which I've never seen before, running down the river which made the trip much slower than anticipated.  When we got to the marina we found that the lake was about 3 feet higher than normal due to heavy rains in the hills and that was causing the strong current.

At around 5 PM we pulled into Tortugal.  Arnulfo, the dock master wasn't there, but we finagled our way into the slip that they had been holding for us.  We're at the far west end of the docks where it's most protected.  Lots of other people tried to get that spot, but they held it for BlueJacket as I had sent e-mail requesting it a couple of months ago.  The area behind and to the west of the boat is all natural and you can see a tremendous variety of birds and wildlife.  Herons, iguanas, and we've been told that there's female alligator!

I must say that it was very nice pulling into Tortugal.  It was like coming home in many ways.  Some boats from last year were here as was quite a bit of the staff.  However boat such as Que Linda and Margaritaville, with whom we had a great time, are elsewhere.  And it just isn't the same.  Of course we're so busy getting the boat ready for storage that we really don't have time to play.  Believe me, storing a boat is a time consuming effort.  It's not like a house where you can just turn off the water and lights and lock up.  Boat systems really have to be carefully prepared for storage if you want them to work when you come back.  On top of that you need to carefully package any food so that you don't come back to a boat of yucky bugs!  It take us a solid week of work to get the boat ready to leave.

Tomorrow we're taking a car on the 4-5 hour trip to Guatemala city and then on Monday we'll fly back to the Boston area.  It'll be great to see the house, friends and family.  Other than a quick trip back home in February, I've been down here since early January.  That's a looong time!

I hope that you've enjoyed the reports from BlueJacket this year.  I know that I've enjoyed writing them as this year has brought another set of wonderful memories.  Until next year, this is the crew of the BlueJacket signing off!

- Geoff & Sue
Log ID: 408