Grand Cayman to Rio Dulce

As it turned out we should have cleared out and left on Friday the 20th.  By Saturday morning it was rocking and rolling even though the wind was supposed to be NE.  We went to town with the wind about 12 knots but by the time we got back it was gusting to 22 knots and the waves were too big to deal with the dinghy but we managed.  Although not without damage to the ladder brackets.  It went smoothly to undo our mooring line and we were underway, first raising the missen then letting out a partial genoa.  It took a while but we managed to get the sails balanced for auto pilot.  Early on we were doing 6 knots and it said we would arrive in 3 days and 8 hours but now we are getting about 5 knots.  It's really rough but we are going in the right direction and it's more comfortable than it was on the mooring.  It's about 12:30 am and we left the mooring about 12 hours ago.  I'm on the 12 to 4 am shift and we switch for tomorrow.  

It's February 22nd and my 61st birthday.  Last year I had just jumped ship in Punta Allen, Mexico with $4 US worth of pesos.  I spent my birthday with Norma who was traveling in a VW Westfalia van parked under some palm trees on the beach.  I also met a young coulple from the UK and found the little resort where they were staying took credit cards!  Now a year later I'm actually going to see Rio Dulce.  I wonder if I'll run into Larry?  I jumped ship crewing for him from Florida to Rio Dulce but ...... We didn't get along. 

The wind is supposed to let up about mid day so maybe another 12 hours.  Hopefully it won't drop to nothing as it sure would be nice to get there in 5 days rather than 7.   

It's midday Sunday and the wind is down to 11 to 14 knots.  We are sailing just over 4 knots now.  The remainder at this speed would take 3 days 15 hours.  It's light winds in the forecast and slow going.  It seems it's going to end up being at least 4 more days unless we get luckier with the wind or motor if need be.  The remaining issue with the engine is fuel somehow getting added to the crankcase oil?  He switched a pump while on the mooring but until we use the engine we won't know if that solved it?  It's still rough but the seas are dropping too.  Wind in the single digits by Wednesday.   Too bad we can't have a south or north wind and be on a reach.  We've been on a broad reach with missen and most if the genoa but our course is further south than direct to Rio Dulce so we will have to jibe eventually.  

As it turned out we are now on a course that's ideal.  The wind dropped but it's still good and we are doing just under 5 knots.  It sounds like the next 2 days will be about 14 knots but Wednesday the wind dies down to 5 or less knots.

First sunset

First sunrise 

It's just past 12:30 pm on Monday the 23rd.  We've now been underway 48 hours with 266 NM remaining to Rio Dulce though the mouth of the River is about 20 NM less than that.  Our first 24 hour period we did 114 NM and the second one was 117 NM so 234 NM total which means in not too much longer we will be half way to the river mouth where the entry port town of Livingston is.  About 8 am the wind went from east to northeast so we unfortunately are heading southerly more than our preferred course.  We will have to jibe before we get too close to the Honduran bay islands.  That tack will undoubtedly have us heading even more north of our course than the southerly tack we are now on.  Grib files were forecasting east winds. At least we have wind.  It's supposed to drop to 5 knots or less Wednesday but potentially from the SE which might allow us to actually slowly sail on course?  

It's been just over 72 hours now and while we only did 86 NM during the 3rd 24 hour day it leaves 180 NM or 160 NM to where we will anchor to clear in at Livingston.  At the 72 hour mark it was also just 127 NM to the south end of Belize's barrier reef at the Sapodilla Cayes which we had to plot the course a hair south to clear them.  Then we enter an area that doesn't often have very much wind on the Grib files?  

It's interesting that we've seen only 3 other boats at night and none during the day so far.  The first night Walter called one on the radio because he was heading right for Asperida.  He was able to call the boat by name and reference the call was from Asperida.  He altered course promptly but gave no reply.  That was during the 8 pm to midnight shift and when I came up he pointed out another ship that seemed to be going slow for a freighter.  I ended up altering course to pass behind that one when it was evident he wasn't going to give me any sort of right of way.  Then last night at the  start of my night shift Walter pointed out a boat a long was off and a long time later it was on the AIS and called Gulden Heeuw it looked like it was a big tall ship and it had upper and lower running lights and the ever popular blue lights that confuse the issue of green light on starboard side... For a while we thought it was coming right at us even on an intercept course but finally as it was closer you could see the port running lights and that the confusing lights were in fact blue.  Also we could see it's course and speed and it even briefly altered it so as not to pass behind us as close as it might have.  We were doing 3 knots and it was going 5 knots.  As it passed off our stern it was about 3.35 NM away.  

Wow I missed writing yesterday?  It was a slow day and our fourth day 24 hour total was only 76 hours.  It's now about 1 pm on the start of the 5th day.  We are currently becalmed as of about 12:15 pm.  It was just as the Grib files said and it also said it would only last about 3 or 4 hours then start blowing again eventually 12 knots from the east so hopefully that Grib file forecast will also be true.  Even with the slow 2 day totals following the first 2 days each over 100 NM it still appears we will end up getting to the mouth of the Rio Dulce a few hours into the start of the 6th day.  That is if the wind does comeback like it says.  I asked about just motoring a few hours but he says it's too far but I only mentioned it because we did motor a 4 hour very calm part of the Passage to the Cayman Islands...which took is 5 days 9 hours!!! Not a good total for a 310 NM passage.  I think this 477 mile passage to the port town Livingston will beat that.  I'm in the only shade big enough that's from the missen.  We rolled up the genoa until we get wind.  I'll definitely have a cockpit Bimini on my future sailboat.  Last night we had a couple ships though only one on my shift.  Just lights in the distance and it's name on AIS was Norwegian Sun.

After about 4 hours of calm the wind finally began to blow around 4:15 pm and we were sailing again.  Slowly at first barely more than 1 knot but as the evening went on we were doing 4 knots or so by sunset.  Had we been able to sail those 4 hours we'd be 12 to 16 NMs closer.  It still looks like if the wind holds through the night and on we will arrive to Livingston in the first 4 or 5 hours of the 6th 24 hour day.  We need it to be daylight and ideally cross the bar at the mouth at high tide which is about 1:45 pm I believe.

Huh! Well after the 4 hour calm at the beginning of day 5 we ended up with the mild east wind becoming a strong SE wind perhaps a catabolic wind off the mountains of Honduras?  It was early into Walters 8 pm to midnight shift and he called me up around 10 pm to roll in some genoa but the wind was 20 to 25 knots and we could not.  Auto pilot was working fine so we called it good.  The main concern was trashing the Genoa which already has some damage on about 6 feet of the mid leach area.  I went back to try sleeping and by the start of my midnight shift the winds were down to the 15 to 18 knot range and continued dropping.  Walter said at times Asperida was clocking speeds of 8 knots when the wind was strongest with just the missen and genoa.  By 1:15 am the we were only going 3 or 4 knots.  Then we got becalmed again about 8 NM before reaching the waypoint south of the Belize barrier reef.  We drifted almost 2 NM closer to our way point and the reef during the rest of my frustrating shift.  At the start of Walters 4 am to 8 am after seeing we'd not really moved much it was time to use the engine.  The total remaining distance to Livingston was 40 NM.  I slept again getting up once to do the day tank and then got up in time for the sunrise.  Checking out navionics I saw we would indeed be getting to Livingston today!!  In fact as I write this section we are at anchor about 10 NM from the crossing of the bar at the mouth.  We are waiting to cross during the high tide.  We anchored here to wait about 8:30 am of the 5th 24 hour day which doesn't actually end until 12:30 pm so I guess we can say we could have arrived to Livingston under 5 total days but it will be a few minutes over the 5 day mark by the time we are anchored at Livingston.  (In fact we anchored off Livingston at 1:56 pm so our total time was 5 days, 26 minutes.  Now hopefully we will be cleared in today so we can go ashore in Livingston and maybe I'll even find wifi to upload this ?

Sunrise behind us on our 5th day approaching Guatemala.

Livingston, Guatemala.  Waiting for the officials to come to the boat to clear us in so we can go ashore.