September 8, 2006
Location: Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Nautical Miles Traveled: 0

We are still on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. But rather than just doing the usual we have started to change gears and we are now planning our next adventure. But before we get into that I have spent the last four weeks doing a lot of traveling. One week in California, two weeks in Guatemala City and a week in Antigua. It’s been a lot of fun to get out and see more of my favorite places. Antigua was a wonderful trip, and if you want to see my new photos of this beautiful town then click here. And to see the photo gallery of my trip to the zoo in Guatemala City click here.

Okay, back to our planning. David and I have decided that with the weather being as good as it is we should start considering when we want to depart Guatemala and start making our way to Panama. Usually boaters will wait until November or December, well after hurricane season, to leave. But the weather has been great for the past four weeks so we’ve started early in planning on leaving.

David is currently doing all he can to provision the boat while I will take the next week to reorganize the entire boat and do systems checks. We will start looking for a good weather window beginning September 20th. Unfortunately because we’re wanting to leave early and during hurricane season this means we’ll have to make a direct passage to Isla Providencia, a small island belonging to Colombia. We won’t have much time, if any, to enjoy the Bay Islands of Honduras. But as plans go everything is subject to change. As a preventative measure we will keep paying for our slip at Monkey Bay Marina through the end of November just in case a hurricane pops up and we have to turn back. And as all cruisers know plans are subject to change. But the good news is we are working hard right now to get the boat and ourselves ready to leave soon. Even Ashley knows something’s up, and she’s been spending a lot of time cleaning herself for our new adventure.

Stay tuned. As we depart Guatemala and continue our adventure on Bruadair we will update our web site with many photos and stories whenever internet access is available.

September 16, 2006
Location: Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Nautical Miles Traveled: 0

Wow, we really got a lot done this week. The lazarette has been reorganized and repacked, all the hose clamps inspected, provisioning is done, fishing gear rigged, engine maintenance done, and nav planning is done. We spent two days going over systems checks and everything is running great. With hurricane Helen out in the Caribbean the weather has started to deteriorate but we are now ready to leave the marina and the river at a moments notice. We’ll keep an eye on the weather and as soon as a good weather window opens up we’ll be on our way to Roatan, Honduras. It’s a two day sail and we hope to break it up by finding a nice anchorage along mainland Honduras about half way there. We still have a few more small things to get done but nothing that will keep us from leaving if the weather turns in our favor (we can travel with dirty clothes in the lockers, I’m sure we can get laundry done in Honduras). Until our departure there really isn’t a whole lot to report, but once underway we hope to get our site back up with lots of stories, some tall tales, and numerous photos.

September 23, 2006
Location: Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Nautical Miles Traveled: 0

As all good cruisers know plans can change at a moments notice, and ours have changed. Slightly. The weather in the Caribbean Sea continues to be a little rough and with an impending trip to the US next month we felt it would make more sense to depart at the end of October. But the good news is all the projects are done and we’re ready, we’ll just have to kill time until then.

A lot of people I have talked to (non-boaters) have told us how jealous they are of the easy lifestyle we have, how fun it must be to just kick back and relax all the time. Well, it’s not all relaxation. There is a lot of hard work involved in cruising and maintaining a boat. So what did it take to get Bruadair ready to leave the Rio Dulce? Here’s a list of the projects we completed in the past month to get ready for our next adventure:

Replace leaky faucet in the head
Install new NMEA multiplexer, interfaces all our electronics
Inspect drip less prop shaft seal
Inspect running lights, deck light, anchor light, tricolor light, flood lights
Inspect primary, secondary and stern ground tackle (anchors)
Inspect floatation devices, signal flares, Lifesling, fire extinguishers
Change battery and test co2/smoke detectors
Inspect and repack abandon ship bag.
Test EPRIB
Inspect and wash dingy and outboard motor
Store dingy and outboard motor on Bruadair
Inspect mast and boom, check all hardware
Inspect battery connections
Clean solar panels and wind generator
Test all electronics for operation, verify depth sounder accuracy
Clean stove/oven and bbq, inspect propane system
Inspect all seacocks, hoses and hose clamps
Inspect and change underwater zincs
Inspect and clean prop, prop shaft, cutlass bearing
Pack and organize cockpit locker
Inspect autopilot hydraulic system
Inspect standing and running rigging
Grease and inspect steering system cables, quadrant, rudder post bearing
Fill jerry cans with water (2), diesel (3), gas (2)
Polish diesel fuel tank
Inspect engine raw water strainer and clean
Change engine oil, oil filter, fuel filters, raw water pump impeller
Check coolant water, alternator belt tension
Inspect all hoses and hose clamps on engine
Inspect transmission fluid level
Inspect transmission/prop coupling
Inspect bilge pumps and bilge alarm
Install new panic alarm in cockpit
Organize all storage compartments
Provision with 45 days worth of food
Wash and wax boat (hired out to Efrain)
Complete navigation planning to Panama on laptop, download to gps
Install cockpit light
 

And that’s not the complete list! As you can see most of the tasks are pretty quick and easy to do, but when you add them all up it takes a lot of time. Now we’re working on renewing our insurance policy since it’s due to expire in a month. The only quote we got so far is requiring we get a  new survey on the boat done, but there are no surveyors in this part of Central America. So if you’re reading this and you’re a surveyor, e-mail us and let us know if you want to come to Guatemala for a quick (working) vacation. Actually, we could like up a few boats that are wanting surveys.

But now all the work is done but I’m sure we’ll find a few other things to keep us busy. The next month will be nice as we’ll have time to get in more fishing, maybe do a bit of traveling, and of course sit back and relax.

Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 S/V Bruadair. No reproduction without written consent.

To view the photo galleries for this month click one of the links below

Antigua, Guatemala
Guatemala City Zoo