June 29^th – Dec 5^th 2010

Life at Mario's Marina--Summer Camp for Adults

We left Westend Roatán heading to Laguna el Diamante on the coast of Honduras.  This is a great protected bay and at the time that we traveled there it was also a safe anchorage.  Since we have been there we know of several acts of piracy one ending in the shooting death of a cruiser.  It is no longer considered safe and nobody should consider going there.  We pulled into the anchorage for the night thinking that we would leave the following morning.  The weather changed and we stayed in this anchorage for about a week.  During the time that we were there the number of boats at anchor went from two to some twenty. 

When it was time to leave El Diamante, we headed out early in the morning in the company of Rey and Dan from Tropical Dance, so that we could get to the anchorage right across from Livingston, Guatemala by early afternoon.  It was almost mirror image calm when we dropped anchor but by early evening there was a rocking horse wave action that was very uncomfortable.  If we were not going to be leaving so early in the morning we probably would have found another anchorage.  We knew that the high tide on the Livingston bar would be at 8 in the morning.  We wanted to be crossing the bar before that so that we were on a rising tide.   As we followed the way points across the bar we took a picture of the GPS chart plotter showing 1.4 feet below the keel, we offered to lead as Tropical Dance drew about a foot more than Equinox.  As I recall the shallowest it got was 1 foot below the keel or a depth of 6 feet. 

We had emailed all our information to Raul the agent that we used to check into Guatemala.  As we approached the town of Livingston we called him on our VHF (Ch 16) and he told us that we would be coming out to the boat with all the appropriate officials.  So after putting down the anchor, Hank got dressed in good cruising clothes and Betsy made muffins for the officials.  We had been told that some juice and muffins was a great way to have everyone smiling.   Soon Raul arrived with officials who brought all their paper work.  Raul was going to be bringing everything back to us in an hour or so.  Soon he reappeared with the completed forms.  Raul is the man in the red shirt in the approaching launcha.

Traveling the Rio was awesome--there are places that it looks like you are going up the Colorado River except it is much greener.  The river is narrow in spots and widens out in others.  There are few roads in this area so this is a major thoroughfare which kept us on our toes while navigating as launchas would come zipping around a bend heading right at us.  Mario’s Marina, where we were going to keep Equinox,  is about 17 miles from Livingston.  It was after 10am when we left Livingston and we arrived at Marios Marina in the early afternoon.  We had reservations at the marina for the first of June but we kept extending our stay in the Bay Islands.  Jim, the owner was great about saying that he would hold our reservation.  We were excited to be going to Marios for several of our cruising friends that we had not seen in months would be there too.  We smiled as we saw the crew of Mystic Moon standing on the docks waving to us. 

The day after our arrival, Kathy and John (Mystic Moon) and Tim and Paula (Hooligan) took us into town to show us the ropes of shopping and to get us set up with a bank account.  We were told that the ATMs were not reliable and it was better to have a checking or savings account.  Well, just when we were doing the set up process, the waiting time on an account changed.  So instead of having the account active in 5 days it was now a month.  We went ahead with this process, but in retrospect, we would not do it again.  We used the ATM in the main grocery store and had no problem.  It was July 1^st and we would not be able to use our account until August 1^st.  We also had to deposit a check and some cash.  So again it might be best to forget this in Guatemala.  From the bank we headed down to the bus depot to purchase our tickets to Flores where we would be staying before we went to the ruins of Tikal.  Kathy had organized the trip and we would be leaving Mario's early on the 6^th of July and returning on the 10^th.  You can read more about this trip under the section on Road Trips.  Before heading back to the Marina we stopped at Brunos for a snack.  Brunos offers a dinghy dock to cruisers so we always tried to have at least a beer there when we tied up at their dock. 

Before we arrived at Marios,  Hank had volunteered to help with the pig roast for the 4^th of July, so on the 3^rd the guys got the pit ready for the roasting.  The plan was to put it into the ground in the late afternoon and then to get up every 4 hours and check on it.  The guys had wrapped the pig in banana leaves and then secured it in wire.  There was a large pan over the fire that was kept filled with water.  As the fire burned, the water boiled helping to steam the pig.  During the night the guys, Hank and John added wood and water to the covered pit.  Finally in the late afternoon the pig was lifted out of the pit and taken to the kitchen.  Hank and John did most of the carving, with the regular kitchen gals helping slice the chucks of pork that the guys carved. 

Our holiday meal was wonderful, and so were all the activities planned for the day.  One interesting event was the blind dinghy race.  In the picture you see Jim and Carol showing their skills.  There were so problems with the river traffic and an accident when one dinghy tried to go too fast.  Not sure I would recommend this event!! Musical chairs, dancing and fireworks rounded out the night.

We started to consider being at Marios like being at an adult summer camp.  They have a great restaurant called the Cayuca Club which had a different lunch and dinner special daily.  They were closed on Monday when everything was taken out of the kitchen and it was thoroughly cleaned.  That is a great idea!! Happy Hour was from 4 to 6 and there was even a 12:37 drink special.  Wednesday night was a buffet and movie night. Sunday night was a potluck and Saturday morning was swap meat and pizza.  You could order fresh baked bread from the kitchen and on Sunday morning they made great cinnamon rolls.  Oh yes, the coffee pot was always on in the morning for a free cup of coffee.

After our trip to Tikal we also did a trip to Copan Honduras with John and Kathy.  You can also read about this trip under Road Trips section.  Joan on Pancheta organized a trip downriver to the Mayan school and clinic.  It cost us each 160 Q (20Q to the USD) and we traveled to the clinic, the school and then to the restaurant in Livingston that was run by the school.  About 14 of us decided to do this trip to Ak’Tenamit.  The launcha zipped down the river and soon we were at the clinic that serves most of the people along the river.  Many of the younger kids live and go to school on the clinic grounds.  They loved to pose for our pictures and then wanted to see what they looked like when you showed the digital picture to them.  The doctors visit for 6 months to a year and travel to all the surrounding villages to help the people with nutrition, birth control, and minor health issues. 

Back in the launcha, we headed to the main school, which was designed for older boys and girls.  This school was supported by Rotary International and their influence could be seen in the workbooks that were used, the solar panels, the building of the computer lab/library and on the floating dental office.  During our tour we visited classrooms, saw a project presentation assembly and saw how the outdoor kitchen was designed to feed so many students.  It was the noon hour so the students who were inside the classrooms were mainly having a study hour.  We continued up the river to the town of Livingston where we ate lunch at the restaurant, Buga Mama.  The students at the school are trained in the field of viable agriculture or eco-truism. The students train as cooks, waiters and managers at the school owned restaurant.  We had a great fish lunch.  Soon we were back in the launcha going back to Mario's.  It had been a full day. 

 On Saturday I attended my first Champagne Sisterhood meeting, the idea started last year and the tradition was continuing.  You needed to bring a bottle of Champagne, not always easy to find, and maybe a snack.  Our first meeting we had a good group and gradually the size of the group increased. Since that Saturday, all the gals were on the lookout for champagne, since I don’t like sweet bubbly it was a real challenge.  When you found some, you bought it immediately.

Hank and Betsy walked in the mornings and even did aerobics which was led by Janet from the sailing vessel Consort on Monday and Wednesday morning at 10.  She kept announcing the class but most people thought it was too hot by 10 so our class was small.  It was a great work out and we were sorry when it ended. 

We also had many nights of strong rain, one night we were having our dinghy motor serviced so we didn’t raise the dinghy out of the water.  When we woke we saw that the dinghy was almost completely filled with water.   Note the gas tank floating upside down, good thing it was tied on or it would have floated off. 

Two other great things about Mario's were the pool and reconnecting with our friends we had gotten to know over the years from many other cruising grounds.  The pool was crystal clear and cold, which felt so good in the late afternoon.  Usually we would go to the pool for a refreshing dip and then bring Happy Hour to the pool area.  Mario's for us was like a great family, you might get tired of a few but there were so many other great ones that you never noticed.  People left their boats at Mario's when they traveled inland or to the states and they knew that the boat would be well taken care of. 

Jim arranged for 6 people, the first 6 to sign up, to have a cooking lesson with the Cayuca Club cooks,  Miriam and Carmen.  They taught us to make empanadas using chicken, potatoes, and carrots.  The great thing about this lesson was that the cooks got to practice their English and we the students got to work on our Spanish.  We also got to eat the empanadas, muy buenas. 

Before we left Mario's for the states we did some more inland travel and finally on Sept 3^rd we took the bus to Guatemala City, spent the night at the Biltmore Express and flew out the next day to Seattle.  We were in the states until November 14^th.  We made arrangements for Jim, owner of Marios to pick us up around 11 Monday morning and take us around the city to provision.  He had a card for Price Mart so we did a major provisioning job there.  Price Mart is just like Costco and we loaded up!! Between Jim’s stops and ours we shopped all day, eating lunch in one of the Malls.  The next morning we were on the road by 7:15 AM heading back to the marina.  When we loaded all the stuff in the cockpit of Equinox we were amazed at the how much we had bought and Jim hadn't brought over the ice chest that had all of our cold stuff. 

When we returned we knew that we wanted to get a new dinghy cover made and we were told that Ronnie was the one to do it.  We contacted him and he came over to measure the dinghy.  He said it would be about a week, he was right for on the 30^th he arrived with the new cover.  It cost $250, just about what we had paid 5 years ago for one that was of lesser quality.  It made our dinghy look like new!! Now it was really raining and we had rain almost every day and night. When Hank went to start the generator it would not start.  Somehow the start battery had drained and now would not keep a charge.  Finding a new AGM battery in a third world country is difficult but not impossible.  It just usually is expensive.  Hank solved the problem with two SeaDo batteries at $100 each!!

Thanksgiving dinner at Mario's was great; Jim had purchased several large turkeys when we were shopping with him.  The turkeys were cooked in the pig pit and they were moist and tender.

We closed our bank account, did some veggie provisioning and left Mario's on Dec 2^nd.  We were heading to Texan Bay which is just on the far side of Lake Golfete .  Arriving at the marina we asked for a slip for two nights, Hank took their launcha to Livingston to check out of Guatemala.  Betsy was going to go but stayed  on the Equinox since she had caught a cold and it was going to be raining.  Hank had contacted Raul ahead of time so he was able to check out very quickly.  Texan Bay was abuzz with the news of problems at Laguna el Diamante.  We were unsure of the exact details but we knew that we would not be stopping there this trip.  Instead we decided to set a course that would not bring us closer that eleven miles to the mainland.  Also we would not be stopping but making an overnight passage straight to Roatán.  The seas were confused and we had some rain but all in all it was a good passage.  The adrenalin was pumping more before we set off than when we were actually underway.  Cruisers were nervous about the happening of Laguna el Diamante and we were no exception.  We were happy with our choice to leave for those who remained at Texan Bay got stuck there for a week due to bad weather.  We arrived at Barefoot Cay Marina on December 6^th at 12:45 PM.  Of course the first thing we did after securing the boat was have our “We cheated death again” beer.