Aah….Life on the Rio!! Well we made it to the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. We had a boisterous sail down from Puerto Escondido to Tres Puntas. Sixty miles in less than 10 hours….not bad!! We anchored for the night in Tres Puntas where we met up with Mike and “the love of his life” Robin, on Sea Biscuit. They hail out of all places New London, CT.
Crossing the infamous bar to gain access into the Rio turned out to be no big deal, it’s nice to have a 5’ (or less) draft. Check in with the officials was not too painful although they arrived just before they went on Siesta so retrieval of our paperwork meant it would not be ready until after 2:00 PM making the run all the way up to Fronteras next to impossible. It gave us chance to check out Livingston….pretty much the armpit of the Rio. Once we picked up said paperwork we were on our way up the Rio
If you have never been to the Rio, the entry into the “Canyon” is pretty breathtaking. You are surrounded on both sides by steep to jungle with birds and wildlife all around you and men, women, and children fishing in the local cayucas. This is where Tarzan was filmed and you can almost expect him to come swinging across the river!! The following pictures will probably not do it justice but here they are anyways!!
Crossing the infamous bar to gain access into the Rio turned out to be no big deal, it’s nice to have a 5’ (or less) draft. Check in with the officials was not too painful although they arrived just before they went on Siesta so retrieval of our paperwork meant it would not be ready until after 2:00 PM making the run all the way up to Fronteras next to impossible. It gave us chance to check out Livingston….pretty much the armpit of the Rio. Once we picked up said paperwork we were on our way up the Rio
If you have never been to the Rio, the entry into the “Canyon” is pretty breathtaking. You are surrounded on both sides by steep to jungle with birds and wildlife all around you and men, women, and children fishing in the local cayucas. This is where Tarzan was filmed and you can almost expect him to come swinging across the river!! The following pictures will probably not do it justice but here they are anyways!!
We made it up to Texan Bay for the evening. What can I say….Texan Bay is run by Texans!! We had the best Chicken Fried Steak this side of the Border!! Seriously this is a unique stop. We took a slip, our first since Jamaica, had dinner and drinks and our total bill including dockage was $35.00. That won’t get you far in the states!!
The next day we moved on up the river to marina row!! The last time we were in the Rio it was unheard of to anchor out. If you anchored out you were robbed, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. With the addition of the Guatemalan navy patrolling the river cruisers seem a little braver and we noticed several boats anchored here and there. We were told it was “safe” to a point but you wanted to make sure you were on your boat by sundown and you must lock you dinghy to the boat. We elected to pick up a mooring off of Tortugal Marina, $5.00 per day which included water, showers, wifi - when working, trash disposal, and a place for the admiral to promenade. Plus if you wanted daily yoga sessions!! This way we were not locked into a monthly rate and could move around if we wanted to.
The next day we moved on up the river to marina row!! The last time we were in the Rio it was unheard of to anchor out. If you anchored out you were robbed, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. With the addition of the Guatemalan navy patrolling the river cruisers seem a little braver and we noticed several boats anchored here and there. We were told it was “safe” to a point but you wanted to make sure you were on your boat by sundown and you must lock you dinghy to the boat. We elected to pick up a mooring off of Tortugal Marina, $5.00 per day which included water, showers, wifi - when working, trash disposal, and a place for the admiral to promenade. Plus if you wanted daily yoga sessions!! This way we were not locked into a monthly rate and could move around if we wanted to.
In season, Hurricane Season, over 500 boats call the Rio home. Most will leave their boat and head home for 4-6 months and then return sometime in the Fall and head out again. Prices for boat storage, in water, range from $125.00 to $300.00 per month. Not too shabby. Of course there a few draw backs, one it is extremely hot here, while we were in the river temps regularly broke the 100 degree mark. During the rainy season most of the marinas flood and if you arrive to your boat during this time you may not be able to get to it!!
Most of the cruisers that come to the Rio take this opportunity to travel inland to visit Tikal, or one of the many Mayan ruins, Antigua, and believe it or not the Belize zoo!! We did this trip last time we came to the Rio and elected not travel inland this trip as we did not have a good “babysitter” for the admiral - after traveling the chicken buses with the previous admiral we learned our lesson!!
While here though we did complete a project that was long over due…New cushions (Thanks Betsy for your advice)!! We did not get to the varnishing as with temps going into the high 90’s and 100’s we could not get excited.
As you can see Judi, the Admiral, John and Barbara all adapted various methods to keep cool in the Rio!! You can swim in the river as long as you are up river of Fronteras or down river in the El Golfette, if you can call 86 degree water temp refreshing!!
We met a shipwright by the name of Casey Brooks on Retriever who lives here full time. When you buy property here you never really “own” it as you never receive clear title so you can’t really sell it. You also usually inherit a family that will live on the property and “watch” it for you. Anyways Casey had a friend that was just opening a Mexican restaurant and asked if we would like to go for opening night via his launcha….how could we resist. The restaurant is lovely and the food was excellent!! Everyone had a great time and I’m sure the restaurant will do quite nicely!!
We had the experience of being in the Rio Dulce for Semana Santa. Let me just say that this is the biggest holiday in Guatemala. For 10 days or so the whole country shuts down and it is crazy. Officials stop work the Wednesday before Easter Sunday and no one gets checked in or out during that time…you could probably check in for a very high fee, but everyone is warned to wait until it is over!! The parties go on all night, the music doesn’t stop until 4:00 or 5:00 AM. Traffic on the river is crazy, just taking the dinghy across the river can be an event!!
We did manage to take a nice sail by the San Felipe Castle on our way down to Texan Bay where we hoped to escape some of the craziness of the Holiday.
We did manage to take a nice sail by the San Felipe Castle on our way down to Texan Bay where we hoped to escape some of the craziness of the Holiday.
Oh well all good things must come to an end and it was time to say good-bye to our friends on Sam the Skull, as they are remaining in the river where they will leave the boat to return home to Scotland, and it is time for us to be moving on towards Belize, Mexico and then the States.
We checked out of Livingston in about half the time it took us to check in and made our way once again across the bar, once again no problems, and anchored for the night in Tres Puntas. It was nice to be in clear water once again and I must say clear air. One thing about the river the air is never clear there is always a haze that hangs about.
We will keep you updated……!!
We will keep you updated……!!
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