Cruising in 2024 into 2025.

This post will be a brief update to help you all get you all up to speed as it were.

Well I had a great sailing plan for this winter but what often happens to cruisers, the fickle winds of fate decided to blow a tempest into the mix.  In November, I flew from Vancouver to Guatemala City with my friend Richard. Rick agreed to take a month and help me get the boat ready for a voyage to Belize where we I had planned to spend a couple of months.  Friends and family were going to join me in Belize, Cuba and Jamaica with a side trip to the Cayman Islands then finally to Roatan Honduras. I had grand plans making for an epic voyage.

Well, a week after our arrival in the Rio Dulce we had finished all of our boat chores and we were ready to launch, but before we could hit the water, while carrying a bag of laundry up the ladder to the boat, I fell 10 feet to the concrete. The result was a broken ankle that required screws to put my foot back together.  performed at a local clinic located in Frontaras, Rio Dulce Guatemala.  I was rather hesitant to be operated on in a third world country, but when I learned that a Van of specialist was being dispatched from 5 hours away in Guatemala City to perform the surgery, I relaxed… some.

The operation went well and in two days I was back at Nanajuana Marina, checked into a room as Maiatla was still on the hard and there was no way I was going to attempt to climb the ladder anytime soon.

Rick brought meals to my room while he continued to prepare the boat for launching. A week later, Maiatla was put back in the lake. Armed with crutches and knee pads, I wasted no time in moving back aboard.

Well Maiatla was ready to hit the high seas but I was not. The dock would be home for me and Maiatla for the next 6 weeks. Unfortunately, after four weeks Rick had to leave so I was left alone to fend for myself. With the help from other cruisers, like Bill and JoAnne of Altrua. I survived.

I spent Christmas alone on the boat but I was invited to a large cruisers Christmas day dinner. I was treated like royally as people that I hardly knew, took turns bring food, and drink. I even had an escort to make sure that this drunken sailor on crutches, made it back to his boat at the end of the night.

I turned down an invitation to attend the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Nanajuana Marina restaurant. Choosing instead to make popcorn, sip on mediocre box wine while cruising Netflix. At midnight I retired to the aft deck to watch a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the entire harbor.

After another two weeks of lying about, an old friend and shipmate, Al decided to fly in and give me a hand. Al also had an ulterior motive for his visit as he wanted to check out Belize as a potential retirement location. He said he was done with North Carolina and all its rednecks and with the re-election of Trump, he thought he best get out of the country.

Well six full weeks after my fall, I had follow up x-rays with the specialist who said that I was healing well but to stay off it for another two weeks. So with those encouraging words, Al and I prepared to cast of for a short day sail for Punta Gorda, Belize.

We would spend three weeks exploring the magnificent islands of Belize as we made our way north to Belize City where we took a dock for a few days at Kukumber Marina. The place boasts a massive saltwater lagoon with a monster water slide with beachside food courts. And of particular delight was the bevy of tanned, bikini clad beauties laying about. 

Kukumber (Pronounced Cucumber) was a great place for a couple of weary sailors fresh from the sea to hang out for a couple of days. Kukumber was the only marina in Belize City with enough water for Maiatla’s deep draft of 6 feet. Reluctantly, Al traveled inland to look at property while I headed back out to the Drowned Cays to hang out in peace and work on the boat.

By now my foot was healed and if it were not for the 6 inch long scar on my ankle, I would have forgotten all about it. No pain or discomfort. I was cured.

Al had intended to be gone for a week but he returned after just a couple of days as he had caught a bug and was sicker than the preverbal dog. While he fought his illness, we sailed to the tourist mecca of Cay Caulker where I promptly rushed Al to the clinic.

He was sicker than he thought. After receiving intravenous antibiotics and 2 bags of saline, for extreme dehydration, I took Al back to the boat to rest. Four days later we were back in Belize City where I put Al onto a flight home. It would be many weeks before he would make a full recovery.

It was now mid-February. The boat was running well and my foot was no longer a concern. But I was at a bit of a loss as what to do. All the plans to have family and friends join me on this epic voyage were scuttled. But in an effort to salvage some of the sailing season, I texted family to see who could still come down. As typically happens, none were able to join me now. But I would not be alone for long. My friend Marina, her sister Adriane and her daughter, Stephanie would join the boat for two weeks in March.   

With a crew inbound in a few weeks, I retreated solo back down the coast to Placentia, Belize for a couple of weeks to hang out on a friends dock, Chris and Shannon, my Newfie friends and work on the boat.