Guatemala to Honduras
Leaving Guatemala: Part 2
The Eastern river of the Rio Dulce(sweet river) behind us, we anchored with the pack of boats that left with us, at Cabo Tres Puntas. Well tucked in behind the prevailing winds, the south shore of this peninsula offers many miles of protected anchoring water. Depths of up to 10’ can be found all along this shoreline without hazards. A calm and restful night was had by all, but in the morning, we were up at first light having coffee and prepping to leave. The goal was to make easting as much as possible and to pick up 2 canisters of Bear Spray from a friend in Cortez.
The Eastern river of the Rio Dulce(sweet river) behind us, we anchored with the pack of boats that left with us, at Cabo Tres Puntas. Well tucked in behind the prevailing winds, the south shore of this peninsula offers many miles of protected anchoring water. Depths of up to 10’ can be found all along this shoreline without hazards. A calm and restful night was had by all, but in the morning, we were up at first light having coffee and prepping to leave. The goal was to make easting as much as possible and to pick up 2 canisters of Bear Spray from a friend in Cortez.
SOMETIMES 5 ON A MOTORBIKE!
Jack and Nicole Midence are currently preparing their CSY 44’ W. O. “Kitty Hawk” for their adventures. As always, the preparations take longer than expected, so Kitty Hawk is still up on land at the Naval Base, boat yard in the port of Cortes. We circled around off the base trying to find a wi-fi connection so I could look up their phone number. Stupid me, I did not pull it out of an earlier email they sent so I would now have
it on hand. Oh well.
Surprisingly, the VHF radio comes alive and the words, “Memory Rose, Memory Rose, this is Kitty Hawk” shock us. THEY, have spotted us circling and called us on the radio! How wonderful.
Jack and Nicole Midence are currently preparing their CSY 44’ W. O. “Kitty Hawk” for their adventures. As always, the preparations take longer than expected, so Kitty Hawk is still up on land at the Naval Base, boat yard in the port of Cortes. We circled around off the base trying to find a wi-fi connection so I could look up their phone number. Stupid me, I did not pull it out of an earlier email they sent so I would now have
it on hand. Oh well.Surprisingly, the VHF radio comes alive and the words, “Memory Rose, Memory Rose, this is Kitty Hawk” shock us. THEY, have spotted us circling and called us on the radio! How wonderful.
Charts often wrong....we did not put the boat ashore!
We quickly agreed to head in to the concrete wall of the yards basin to do a handoff of the spray canisters, as we were hoping to make it east that evening to Puerto Escondido, a small uninhabited harbor along the coast, for the evening and time was running short for the passage. All went well except for the last second of the handoff. A final couple of waves slapped the butt of Memory Rose and my loss of steerage while nearly stopped and attempting to back up, allowed my bow to move left and the concrete kissed my bowsprit. Twenty tonnes of boat in motion, does nothing to move a naval concrete pier, so Memory Rose has a ‘ding’ in it’s nose.
We waved goodbye and headed back out to sea. Winds were blustery and the wave action from a strong front ending only a day before, left the sea large with swells running against our planned route. We motor sailed again to make headway. Not difficult and we can easily average 7.6-8.6 knots, as there was some counter current in our favor, even though we had to go UP and OVER the 10-14’ swells. The shoreline was often just a mist with the spray of these big guys, crashing on the rocks, but out here, it was just a roller co
aster ride.
At 5:30 p.m., the sun was set and we were just coming into the position to prepare for entering Puerto Escondido. Our N.W. Caribbean Cruising Guide, by Nigel Calder was in hand and the approach was simple. A cruiser, one of the 3 already inside the harbor gave me some concern as ‘she’ was interpreting our position differently from the way I was seeing it and gave me some extra grief in decision making at the last minute of approach.
We waved goodbye and headed back out to sea. Winds were blustery and the wave action from a strong front ending only a day before, left the sea large with swells running against our planned route. We motor sailed again to make headway. Not difficult and we can easily average 7.6-8.6 knots, as there was some counter current in our favor, even though we had to go UP and OVER the 10-14’ swells. The shoreline was often just a mist with the spray of these big guys, crashing on the rocks, but out here, it was just a roller co
aster ride.At 5:30 p.m., the sun was set and we were just coming into the position to prepare for entering Puerto Escondido. Our N.W. Caribbean Cruising Guide, by Nigel Calder was in hand and the approach was simple. A cruiser, one of the 3 already inside the harbor gave me some concern as ‘she’ was interpreting our position differently from the way I was seeing it and gave me some extra grief in decision making at the last minute of approach.
Fish drying in the sun.
Finally another boat came on the radio and said your “Fine”. Good thing, cause I saw what I needed and having made my decision, was now 90% into the anchorage.
It was a sloppy anchorage, with waves not aligning to wind, so we rolled side to side a bit. But there was no doubt that we slept soundly. We had traveled a good distance that day and were now safe, well fed and sleeping on clean sheets. It’s been a good day.
It was a sloppy anchorage, with waves not aligning to wind, so we rolled side to side a bit. But there was no doubt that we slept soundly. We had traveled a good distance that day and were now safe, well fed and sleeping on clean sheets. It’s been a good day.
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