Maintenance/Cruising Log - September 2015

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Did not have the Rio Dulce Cruisers net this morning, because it is Sunday.

We got into the tender and went up river to MAR Marine to attend the swap held the first Sunday of the month at MAR Marine. It is a great social event for all of the cruisers, and we also went so we could help Julia with the local charity Pass It On. We helped during the swap meet, and after the meet, Royce and I helped carry all of the leftover stuff to the storeroom.

Julia went back to her boat to finish installing a solar panel, and then Kitty and I along with Jennifer and Royce off of CERCA TROVA, and Jennifer and Becky from Gringo Bay, all sat down and had breakfast. After a great visit, and breakfast, Kitty and I got into our tender, and went back Monkey Bay Marina.

Kitty started a load of laundry, and I went out the shop. I sanded down the inside of the cockpit hatch, and the bottom side of the grate from the head. I wiped both of them down with the tack rag. I applied a second coat of the varnish to the bottom side of the grate from the head. I cleaned that all up, and then mixed up batch of the two part white paint, and applied a second coat on the inside of the cockpit hatch. I cleaned all of that up, And went back out to DREAM AWAY.

I helped Kitty hang up a load of laundry on the front deck of DREAM AWAY, and went down to work on the computer. I wasted about two hours trying to scan in a couple of documents. It did not happen the way I had hoped. My software that I use a lot, gscan2pdf would not recognize my scanner, nor my spare scanner. The software that uses our Epson scanner, was not working properly either

I helped Kitty with another load of laundry, then I went out to the tender to get it ready to put it up on the davits, so we do not have to worry about it capsizing while we are in Guatemala City for my dermatologist appointment. First thing was to remove the outboard motor and put it back in the shop put it up on the davits, so we do not have to worry about it capsizing while we are in Guatemala City for my dermatologist appointment. First thing was to remove the outboard motor and put it back in the shop. After I got the motor out to the shop, I rowed the tender out to the back of DREAM AWAY. Kitty helped me get the tender up onto the davits, and I got it all secured.

It was time to fix an adult beverage, and go take a shower. When I returned from the shower, Kitty was cooking her soup, so I went up to the rancho to meet Jennifer and Royce from CERCA TROVA. They had not played Mexican Train dominoes, so Kitty and I had planned to teach them the game. Until Kitty arrived, I showed them how to play. The very first game, Jennifer started, she went out with her first train!!

Kitty joined us for a couple of rounds of Mexican Train, then she went and took a shower. While Kitty was gone, Christina off of BONOBO, played in her place. When Kitty returned from the shower, we left to go back to DREAM AWAY and have dinner.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather. I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I worked on getting ready to leave the marina at 0715. Kitty got up at 0630, and we got all packed and ready to go. John, the marina manager, took us into the dock at Bruno's. We walked over to the Litegua Bus Station, and waited for the 0800 bus.

It was an uneventful bus trip to Guatemala City. We stopped at the normal stop for a short meal around 1040. We arrived at the bus station in Zona 1 around 1340. Ovidio was there to meet us, and he took us to the Casa Guatemala house located in Zona 10. I think for us, using the Casa Guatemala house as a hotel will be much better. It is within five blocks of our Doctor's office at Centro Medico so we can walk to to the office. We have to go to the US Embassy tomorrow, and it is also within five blocks, so we can walk there. We save on cab fare, and the room is cheaper than the Hotel Las Torres where we normally stay.

We got settled into our new room, I worked on the computer, and Kitty rested. At 1515 we headed out and walked down to the Doctor's office. I got a couple of bad places burned off of my foot. We walked back to our hotel, and on the way back we stopped at a Subway sandwich shop and had dinner. We saved half our sandwich for breakfast tomorrow morning.

We completed our walk home and got settled into our room. Boris one of the employees, got the TV working for Kitty and I worked on the computer until we hit the sack and went to sleep.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather. I worked on the Maintenance Log on the computer. I woke Kitty up at 0745. I went across the street to the comedor and purchased two cups of coffee.

Kitty got up and dressed, and we had the left over Subway sandwiches for breakfast. We got cleaned up from that, and walked the seven blocks to the US Embassy. Will not go into a lot of detail, but eventually got in to see the correct person, at the American Services desk, to get the extra pages in our passports. We turned in our passports, paid the bill, and were asked to return in the afternoon at 1430 to pick them up.

We walked back to our hotel, and were back by 1030. The lady who works here at Casa Guatemala had made me a pot of coffee, which was very nice. So I had nice hot coffee while I working on catching up on the Maintenance log. I have promised myself to stay current with the November log, and catch up on the October and September log.

Kitty had decided that one of my shirts needed washing, and it really did, so she asked Estella at the hotel how this could be done. Estella showed Kitty how to use a typical Guatemalan wash basin, and Kitty washed my shirt!

Around 1300, we walked across the street to Comedor El Rincon Quetzalteco and had a wonderful lunch. Kitty had fried chicken and a liquado, and I had the pork chop. Both meals came with cole slaw, and rice with vegetables. It was a great meal and only cost Q65! We went back to the hotel for a half hour, then made the walk back to the US Embassy. Getting into the American Services desk was a bit easier this time because we knew where we were going, and the lines were a bit shorter.

We eventually got our passports with 48 additional pages in them. That should keep us from purchasing a new passport until our current one expires. We walked back to our hotel and rested up for a few minutes, and then walked down to Centro Medico to see my dermatologist. She looked at the place where she had burned off the lesion on my left foot with the liquid nitrogen. She was very pleased with he wound, and gave us care instructions.

Dr Riley said she wanted to see a photo of the wound on Saturday to see how the wound was progressing. The nurse, Ninette, put a new dressing on the wound, so we left the office and walked back to the hotel. On the way, we decided to get some Chinese take out to take back to the hotel, and have later as we were not very hungry now.

That was the plan, and that is what happened. When we got back to the hotel, Kitty rested while I worked on the Maintenance logs. Around 1900 we had our dinner, which was delicious. We went back to our room, and Kitty watched TV, and I worked on the Maintenance Logs. We finally hit the sack around 2130.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather. I worked on the Maintenance Log on the computer. I woke Kitty up at 0635.

When Kitty got up, we got ready, and our luggage packed, and brought everything out to the front room. Our taxi driver, Ovidio, showed up at 0720. He took us to the Litegua Bus Station in Zone 1. We were at the bus station in 20 minutes because there was light traffic, school is out! Our bus did not leave until 0900, so we had a bit of a wait.

Once we got started it was a pretty good trip. We did our normal lunch stop, and we pretty much arrived ahead of time in the Rio Dulce. The driver was a bit of a cowboy, so we got in about an hour early! John was waiting for us at the Litegua Bus Station. We carried our luggage down to the dock at Bruno's, and into the Monkey Bay Marina launcha, and we headed back to DREAM AWAY.

When we got on the boat the female cat, Jillie, was giving me her opinion of being left for three days and two nights. She was not very happy, and she let me know. We got all unpacked, and Kitty and I went and took a shower. We had a small dinner of must go downs, and watched two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small and went on to bed by 2030!

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

This morning I am filling in on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net as the net controller. I gathered the weather for the Fronteras, Guatemala area, and I also have the latest tides at the Livingston sand bar. I reported this information to the Net, and then guided the Net through the several categories before we finished. Kitty was a great help writing down boat names and telephone numbers, so we could refer to that information if requested.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net also. I also announced that we were having International Trivia tonight, hosted by Casa Perico. In addition, I announced the first meeting of the "Books For Breakfast", which will be the first meeting of attempting to get a book club going on the Rio Dulce this coming Saturday, November 07, 2015. And finally I asked if there were any other Marines on the Rio that would like to get together for a celebration of the 240th birthday, of the United States Marine Corps.

Kitty made breakfast while I got the tender off of the davits and into the water. I put the Bimini up on the tender and rowed it over to the dinghy dock we have at Monkey Bay Marina. I got the outboard motor out of the shop, and put it on the tender. Just as I finished that, Kitty told me breakfast was ready. After a very enjoyable breakfast of bacon and eggs, I finished off getting the tender ready for prime time.

I left the marina in the tender, and headed up river to do a lot of shopping. We had let our fresh supplies run low because we knew we would be away for three days, We definitely needed stuff. First stop was RAM Marine to get some more cash. From there, I went up to Tienda Reed's to see Raul, the shipping agent in the area. I let him know that we wanted to extend our Guatemalan cruising permit for a second year. He said he would start the paperwork and let us know when everything will be ready.

From Tienda Reed, I went up to the El Relleno fuel station and purchased five gallons of gasoline. From there I went down river and docked at Bruno's. I walked into town, and the first stop was at the veggie stand. I purchased fresh fruit and veggies there, and then went to Tienda Miriam to purchase some of her very tasty nacho chips. She was all sold out! She said they would be in tomorrow, so I will be back. I did purchase a jar of Alfredo sauce.

I left Tienda Miriam, and walked down to Ingrid's Tienda and purchased a bottle of rum and two boxes of wine. I had a heavy load, so I took all of the purchases so far, back to the tender docked at Bruno's. I walked back into town and stopped at the Red Digital TiGo store to purchase more time on the phone as it was triple day. For Q100 you get 100 principal Q, and 200 promotional Q. Basically a good deal.

Next and last stop in town was the Despensa Familiar grocery store. I got my stuff, and it was back to Bruno's. I left there and went across the river to Backpackers Hotel. I went into the store and ordered our turkey for Thanksgiving. I also wanted to purchase some other meat items, but they were out of product. They said it was coming in later in the afternoon, so I will stop by tomorrow, when I go into town again.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Power went off at about 2030 last night, and did not come back until just after the Rio Dulce Cruisers net had finished. We had breakfast, and I messed around on the computer, and I think I may have found my problem with the Fujitsu scanner. I did not have time to check it out now, but will later or tomorrow. I had to go back into town to do some shopping.

I got into the tender and went up river and docked at Bruno's. I walked into town and went to Tienda Miriam to see if her nice chips had arrived, and they had not. I then went to Ingrid's Tienda to see if she had any chips that would do. She had one bag of chips, that looked like they would be really nice with the black bean pico de gallo I had prepared for tonight's happy hour. I purchased the ships, and went back to Bruno's. I got into the tender, and went across the river to Backpacker’s Hotel. I went into the store on the premises, and purchased ham, bacon, and pork chops. I gathered up my purchases and went back to DREAM AWAY.

When I got back on DREAM AWAY, Kitty and I put four of the pork chops into the freezer, and Kitty put the other four into a marinade for tomorrow nights dinner with John and Jennifer. The ham and bacon went into the refrigerator. I then went back to work on the Maintenance Log.

I am going to cook a butterfly chicken for dinner tonight, and I can do that in the outdoor kitchen. The chicken must be slow cooked, so I will be able to cook the chicken, and play Mexican Train during happy hour. I went and took a shower, and then put together all I would need to prepare the dinner. I started the preparation around 1600, so I could start cooking around 1630.

Royce was not feeling good, so he did not join us for happy hour. Jennifer came up and played Mexican Train with Kitty and I. John, the marina manager, sat with us and watch us play the game. While we were playing Mexican Train, we enjoyed snacking on the black bean pico de gallo and the corn chips I had purchased earlier in the day.

When it got really dark, we stopped the game. I took the chicken off of the grill, along with the grilled potatoes, and took them down to DREAM AWAY. Kitty had the table set, and she had steamed the broccoli in the microwave, so dinner was ready. It was a delicious meal, and of course we watched one episode of All Creatures Great And Small while we ate. After dinner and cleanup, we watched another episode and then went off to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Today was a very busy day, but no work done on DREAM AWAY. All social commitments. Immediately following the Rio Dulce Cruisers net, we got into the tender, and went up to Backpacker’s Hotel for the first meeting of the book club. For now the book club will be called "Books for Breakfast", because our meetings are going to be on a Saturday morning, just after the net, and we will be having breakfast with the meeting. Heather, the director of Casa Guatemala, made available Mimosa's to have with our breakfast. Several members took advantage of the offering. I know I enjoyed mine!

Jodie handed out data sheets for all of the members, so they could fill out information about their taste in books, a favorite, and not so favorite. We all filled out the data sheets, and then each member talked about the information they had put on the data sheet.

Jodie is taking all of the information on the data sheets, and the email addresses of each member so we can all share information. Our book club is not going to be a conventional book club. Each member will read whatever he or she wants to, and at the next meeting talk about the book, and how well it was liked by the reader. If somebody else in the club expresses an interest, the book will be loaned. Hopefully this format will be successful, and we will be introduced to a lot of good books. We decided to meet again at Backpacker’s Hotel the Saturday after the American Thanksgiving.

When we had finally finished our breakfast, I went off to town. I wanted to purchase fresh mushrooms, acelga (Swiss Chard), and hopefully more tortilla chips from Tienda Miriam. I docked at Bruno's, and first walked to the veggie stand. They did not have any mushrooms, but they did have the acelga. We were hoping to get fresh mushrooms so Kitty could make her really good mushroom and onion soup for dinner tonight. I then went to Tienda Miriam, and she did have her new supply of tortilla chips, so I purchased two bags.

I walked back to Bruno's, got into the tender, and went back across the river to Backpackers Hotel. The book club meeting was just breaking up, so I picked up Kitty, and we went back to Monkey Bay Marina.

Our good friend from Gringo Bay, Jennifer, was coming up into the pueblo, do her shopping, then having dinner with us and spending the night. During the previous week she had advertised that she had fresh organic lamb for sale. Jennifer and Royce off of CERCA TROVA, said the wanted some of the lamb, but did not want a whole lamb. We agreed to purchase 1/4 of the lamb, and Jennifer and Royce would purchase half. We will deal with the remainder later.

Gringo Bay Jennifer, had brought the freshly butchered lamb to the book club meeting, so Jennifer and Royce were also at the meeting so, took the cooler with two halves of the lamb back to Monkey Bay Marina with them. I was planning to help with the butchering process, as Royce was not feeling his best as yet. When I got back from the book club meeting, I could not find my glasses. I had dropped them somewhere.

I suspected I had dropped them while I was at Tienda Miriam, so Jennifer started butchering the lamb carcass, and I got into my tender, and went back into town. Miriam has a dock just outside of her Tienda, so I docked there. I walked into her tienda, and there was my glasses case. She had saved them for me! I was very happy. Now it was back to Monkey Bay Marina. I changed into my work clothes, and went up to the outdoor kitchen to help Jennifer with the butchering. She had looked at several YouTube videos, so she had a good idea of what she was doing, plus her nurses training helped.

When Jennifer had finished, we had a couple of roasts, a couple of good loins, and a lot of stew meat. It turned out to be split to about a third for Kitty and I, and two thirds for Jennifer and Royce. We got the outdoor kitchen, and all of the implements cleaned up. I separated our meat into three zip lock bags, and put them in the freezer in the ranchito. The meat will freeze much faster there, than in my holding plate freezer. Once it is frozen, though my freezer will keep it rock hard.

Now to move into the next project, which is to squeeze all of the grapefruit I purchased a couple of days ago.

It is a bit messy, so I prefer to do the squeezing out in the outdoor kitchen. I loaded up the KitchenAid Stand Mixer, the juicer attachment, and all of the other equipment needed for the project, and headed to the outdoor kitchen.

I got set up, and squeezed the 20 grapefruit. Jim was really looking forward to an adult beverage made with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Not all of the juice fit into the container, so I had to pour the last of the grapefruit juice into my water glass. When I got back to DREAM AWAY, I added rum!

I had everything cleaned up, so I got my shower stuff, and went and took a shower. When I returned to DREAM AWAY, I had to get busy with the meal preparations. We were not having a pot luck, but everyone was bringing their own dinner up to the rancho, and we we all going to eat together. Our friend Jennifer from Gringo Bay was joining us and that was really the reason for the community dinner.

All of the boaters and John the marina manager joined in. There was Jennifer from Gringo Bay, Kitty and I from DREAM AWAY, Jennifer and Royce from CIRCA TROVA, Tom and Trish from DOUBLE UP, Christina and Reinhard from BONOBO, and Art and Irene from GOOD KARMA.

Everyone prepared their meal in the outdoor kitchen, and there was some sharing, as we did have a lot of food. I thought we ate especially good. I grilled pork chops and eggplant for Kitty, myself, Jennifer and John. John grilled potatoes for us four, and Jennifer made an apple crisp for dessert. To add to the apple crisp, I made some vanilla cinnamon ice cream.

After the meal when Kitty, Jennifer and myself, returned to DREAM AWAY we were stuffed. We watched one episode of All Creatures Great And Small, and then we went to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

After I made coffee, I went out on deck, and sat on the forward deck box to watch Jillian and Jordan, and to work on my computer. Jennifer woke up, got herself some coffee, and joined me out on the forward deck box. We had a nice visit, as we had not seen much of Jennifer since our return to the Rio. Jennifer has been on the Rio for over 15 years, so she knows what going on, up and down the Rio.

When Kitty got up, we had another short visit with Jennifer, as Jennifer had to go back down to her house to meet someone for a meeting. It is about a 40 minute ride in a fast launcha from DREAM AWAY down to Gringo Bay. We saw Jennifer off, and then I came back and got to work on the computer again. I am desperately trying to get current on the November Maintenance log, and finish the October Maintenance log, and get them all uploaded to the web page.

Around 1300 we left Monkey Bay Marina in the big launcha, with John driving. Kitty and I were aboard, along with Jennifer and Royce from CERCA TROVA. Our good friend Graciella from Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas had been to Mexico and brought back some poblano peppers. She then stuffs and roasts the peppers, and they are to die for. So we went up to Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas to enjoy that very special treat. I must apologize, I took some photos, but none of the actual lunch.

A second reason for the trip is to talk to Gary, the co-owner, about a trip he sends his guests on, after making all the arrangements. We are going to try and make the trip early this coming week. One thing Gary told us, to make the trip worth while, it could not be raining, as the animals are not out in the rain.

The trip is to go up to the town of El Estor by collectivo. When you get to the very end of the route you are met by Benjamin, who is a k'ekchi' Indian. Although when he was young, he was a hunter and a fisherman, now he is a conservationist. He takes small tours out in his launcha to see many manatees, crocodiles, and monkeys in the jungle. The trip is about four hours long.

We talked all about the details, and we are looking forward to making the trip sooner than later. We left Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas in the launcha, and John took us up to the Fort San Felipe, just where the Rio Dulce forms from Lago Izabal. It was a nice drive by the fort, and then we went around into Lago Izabal. It was very pretty, and we made a promise that we would take DREAM AWAY up into the lake and spend some time anchoring around and looking at the sites.

After our mini-tour, John took us back to the marina. We all gathered in the ranchito to discuss the trip with Benjamin this coming week. We are all excited about the trip, but when we looked at the weather programs, it became obvious that the trip was not happening this week. Pretty much a 100% chance of rain everyday starting tomorrow for the next six days. We will wait and see what the weather provides for us!

It was actually pretty late, so we went back to DREAM AWAY, had a small snack, and watched two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small and then hit the sack.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. I also made the announcement of the Monday special at Hotel Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas.

Today was not a very exciting day. I worked on the computer all day long attempting to catch up on my Maintenance logs. It started raining in the middle of the night, and it kept up a steady rain until around 1400. I pumped out the tender twice during the day!

As I mentioned yesterday about our planned trip, it was officially postponed until next week due to the weather. Dinner was must go downs, and we watched the film Sniper. It Was pretty good, and we will probably watch Sniper 2 and Sniper 3 sometime in the future.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Another very wet night and day. Worked on the computer all day when not taking care of chores for Kitty. I worked on the computer when I could, and also had to pump out the tender twice.

Of course today is a very special day, as it is the 240th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Not many Marines on the Rio, but one did answer my call, and we are planning to get together tonight at the SunDog Cafe

I got my shower, and I had washed one of my Marine Corps T-Shirts, so I would be dressed appropriately. Kitty and I packed our running lights for the tender, and also our ponchos. We left the marina around 1610, and headed upriver to the SunDog Cafe where we docked. John and Geri off of PEKING were already there waiting for us. Royce and Jennifer joined us for some of the time we were there, because it was there last night in the Rio.

We had a very nice visit, discussing how we met our wives, some of the what, where, and how, of our Marine Corps careers. It was great, but oh did the rain come! We visited for another 30 minutes, before the rain stopped.

When the rain finally stopped, I had to go out an pump out the tender, and rig our running lights on the tender. I was mad at myself, because I did not remember to bring a flashlight. We got going, made our way back to the marina and to DREAM AWAY.

Another very rainy night. I was up at 0130 and walked down the dock to pump out the tender to prevent it from capsizing. It was not completely full, but I am happy I went to the effort.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Before the net got started, I went down the dock again and pumped out the tender.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

After breakfast, Kitty and I went into Bruno's, and docked the tender. We then walked to Rita's storeroom where we met Julia from "Pass It On". This is a local cruisers organization that helps in many of the local communities. We were there specifically to help sort, and then re-package donations of clothing and other items for the victims of the flooding in the village of Sumach at the beginning of August.

We spread out all of the items, and then separated the items into stacks. We then packaged sheets, towels, and other items into 24 bags of items for the 24 families in the village.

We got the store room we are using squared away, and all of the bags for Sumach ready for delivery, we locked the store room, and we went about our shopping trip. Kitty waited for me at Ingrid's Tienda while I did the shopping. My first stop was at the veggie stand to get a papaya, cabbage, jalapenos, and some bananas. I went on to the Despensa Familiar and got the groceries on the list.

I walked back to Ingrid's Tienda, got Kitty, and then we walked to Bruno's. We got into the tender, and headed back to DREAM AWAY.

I worked on the November Maintenance log, and actually got it caught up, and then worked on the October Maintenance log. I fixed myself an adult beverage, and went up and took a shower.

At 1600 we went up to the rancho to play Mexican Train with Christina, Royce, and Jennifer. Kitty had made some great guacamole which we all enjoyed during the game. The power had been out all day, so the marina generator had been running, but right as the sun set, there was a problem with the generator. It was dark and we could not see, so the game was curtailed, and we all went back to our respective boats.

Kitty and I had our dinner, while enjoying two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small, and then we turned in.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

While preparing breakfast, John, the marina manager, asked us to move DREAM AWAY about 10 feet forward so Royce and Jennifer on CERCA TROVA could get by us when they leave the marina. We had to disconnect the water, but not the electricity, and we got DREAM AWAY moved. We went back and had our breakfast.

Around 1000, Royce came by and said they were getting ready to depart, so we went out to help and to give hugs and say good bye. They are on their way to the Bay Islands of Honduras. They are planning to spend time there, and then return to the Rio Dulce in late January or February.

While CERCA TROVA was departing, Trish off of DOUBLE UP, mentioned she was having an ant problem on her boat. Kitty asked me to go under the galley sink and get our stash of Terro Ant Killer, Which I did. we gave the product to Trish, but I discovered a problem under the galley sink.

We store a lot of stuff under the galley sink like cleaners, soap, household chemicals, and other cleaning supplies. What I discovered was a pair of melted rubber gloves. Have no clues how it happened, but it was a mess.

I have a cut down milk crate under the galley sink where I keep several bottles of cleaners and loose items, so they do not go all over while we are under way. The gloves had gotten under a couple of the plastic bottles in the milk crate and melted. I had to clean the milk crate, and the bottoms of the plastic bottles. since I had everything out from under the galley sink, I cleaned up that area also.

After cleaning up the crate, the bottles, and some of the area under the galley sink, I put everything back the way it was just an hour ago!

With that unscheduled project completed, and it not raining right now, I had two items I wanted to work on. I wanted to get back to applying varnish to the head shower grate, and I needed to re-attach the battery box in the tender.

I went out to the shop, and got to work on the head shower grate. I sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper, then wiped it down with the tack rag. I then applied the third coat of varnish to the underside of the head shower grate.

I went out to the tender, and cleaned and dried the area where the battery box goes on the deck of the tender.

I took the battery box back to the shop to work on. I did not have the fiberglass with me, so I went back to DREAM AWAY, got a bag of fiberglass mat, and back out to the shop. I cut the pieces of fiberglass I needed, and did a dry fit on the bottom of the battery box. I also roughed up the area on the bottom of the battery box where I will be putting the polyester resin and the fiberglass.

I gathered up the battery box and all of the tools and supplies I would need to attach the battery box to the deck of the tender. I did a dry fit with the pieces of fiberglass and the battery box on the deck of the tender, and that looked good. I mixed up a pot of the polyester resin, and wetted out the three layers of fiberglass mat I am using to attach the battery box to the deck. When I was satisfied with the resin application, I put the battery box on top of the wetted out polyester resin. Now it is wait for the chemical reaction.

I cleaned up from those two projects and went back to DREAM AWAY. I had two small items I needed to take care of before shower and adult beverage. I used Sikaflex 1A to repair the weatherstripping on one of the companionway drop boards. I also used the Sikaflex 1A to repair one of our flash drives. Long story but I had nothing to lose!

Now it was time for the shower and adult beverage! After the shower, we headed up to Tortugal Marina for the international trivia game. It was a good time, and we enjoyed being at Tortugal Marina as we had not been there in a long time. We got very luck with the weather, as it did not rain on the launcha trip up or back! Tortugal Marina is going to start up the Friday night movies again. Kitty really enjoys them and is looking forward to them again.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

We listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Now after several delays I can get to the project I had scheduled for this morning and early afternoon. This is a battery check. It seems my batteries are not holding up very well. I am not sure if I have a bad battery, I am not properly charging them, or are they just going bad! The batteries were purchased and installed in April of 2009, so they are over six years old. Information concerning the batteries on DREAM AWAY can be found on the About DREAM AWAY page under Electrical Systems.

I ran the battery charger all night, and did not start the refrigeration. I switched off all DC power, so nothing was going out of the batteries. I disconnected the main lead wire from the battery to the +12 VDC buss bar. I disconnected the 12 VDC lead from each of the six batteries in the house battery.

I measured the voltage of each individual battery, and also did a load test on each battery. All of the batteries checked good. I waited 30 minutes with all of the batteries disconnected, and measured the voltage again. All six batteries had dropped about .05 volts. I am sure the batteries are in good shape.

I will be running some experiments about charging the batteries. My thinking is I have not totally charged the batteries, so the refrigeration system pulls the batteries down faster than they should. Because of so many power failures here, I do not like to have the battery charger running unless Kitty or I are here to run it. That way if the power goes out, we can shut down the battery charger, and power it back up, after the power returns.

Like so many projects, it took a lot longer to disconnect all of the battery cables, and then connect them back up than it did to measure the voltages. I did get all of the cables connected, and everything put back where it needs to be.

The last project for today was going back out to the shop and applying a fourth coat of varnish to the head shower grate after a light sanding, and a wipe down with the tack rag.

After cleaning up after that project, and putting everything away, I headed to the shower. When I returned, I fixed an adult beverage, and got dressed in clothes so we could go see the movie at Tortugal Marina. The launcha picked us up about 1710, and we went up to the marina. It was a good time, as we met John and Betty off of GYPSY ROVER, and a couple of other friends. I enjoyed the pizza and beer with the film, The Grand Budapest Hotel. We had seen it before and really enjoyed it a second time.

Again we were very lucky as the launcha ride up and back, it did not rain. When we got back, Kitty went to take a shower, and after she got back to DREAM AWAY, it started to rain, and did not stop.

Raining all night, so I got up at 0140, walked down the dock, and pumped out the tender. Really good thing I went to the effort, because it was really full of rain water. Another 30 minutes, and it would probably have capsized. Walked back to DREAM AWAY, dried off, and back to sleep.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I got up at 0540, and it was still raining, with no letup. After I had my first cup of coffee, I again walked down the dock and pumped out the tender. It was not as bad as early this morning, but it needed it!

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Kitty slept in real late, because she stayed up very late working on her jigsaw puzzles. We did not sit down to breakfast until 1030. During breakfast Betty and John off of GYPSY ROVER came by. They needed some help with some paperwork so we helped by printing some documents they needed notarized.

Just after we finished Breakfast (Lunch??), Jennifer from Gringo Bay showed up, and returned a book, and we had a bit of a visit, even though it was still raining!

The Casa Guatemala food boat came today even though it was still raining off and on. It was good they did, as most of the boats in the marina wanted groceries, fruit and veggies.

Between all of these visits and social events, I actually got the November Maintenance/Cruising log caught up, and started catching up on the October Maintenance/Cruising log.

In the mid-afternoon, Becky who lives near Gringo Bay stopped by to give Kitty an electronic book, and to have a nice visit. When she left, Kitty and I took a reading break and had some chips and dip that Kitty made up. After the break, I went up and took a shower. On the way to the shower, I stopped and again pumped out the tender.

When I came back from the shower, I got started on dinner. We had some beef ribs that I had purchased locally, and I wanted to see how they would do. There was good taste, but way to much fat, so I will not do that again. We also had sauteed green peppers and onions along with mashed potatoes.

While we ate, we watched a movie. It was a Mexican made film with sub-titles, but it was interesting, and we both enjoyed it. Kitty did the clean up, and it was a massive job, but she got through it, then we went off to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Did not have the Rio Dulce Cruisers net this morning, because it is Sunday.

Rained off and on all night, so at 0630, walked down the dock and pumped out the tender getting it ready to go to the swap meet this morning at Bruno's to help with the "Pass It On" table. Kitty got up early, and we were sitting down to breakfast, when it started to rain again. We called Julia, of "Pass It On", and she said it was not necessary for us to be there, so we decided not to go.

It rained pretty much all day, I pumped out the tender around 1330 and again at 2100 just before going to bed. I worked on the computer and Maintenance logs all day. I am caught up on the November Log, and nearly finished the October log.

I want to get to work on fixing leaks, but it is very difficult to do with all of the rain. If it keeps raining, I will get a couple of inside projects done, along with catching up the Maintenance logs, and keeping current with the November Maintenance log.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. I also made the announcement of the Monday special at Hotel Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas.

After breakfast, it actually looked like it would not rain, so I dried out the inside of the tender, and went upriver to dock atBruno's. Still no rain so I walked into town, and stopped at a hardware store and bought a tube of super glue. Next stop was the veggie stand. I purchased a good amount of veggies. Next stop on this run was Ingrid's Tienda, where I purchased a bottle of rum (1.75 L) and some AA batteries. I then walked across the street to the frozen chicken lady. I purchased one whole chicken and three pounds of fresh pork. I then walked back to Bruno's, and put all of the purchases in the tender.

I walked back into town and went to the Despensa Familiar and purchased the groceries on the shopping list. While in the Despensa Familiar, Kitty called me and asked if I would stop at one of the fried chicken places, and get some chicken for lunch. When I left Despensa Familiar, I went around the corner to the Pollo Pinulito store and purchased the five piece special and an order of fried chicken livers, one of my favorites. I got the order and went back to Bruno's, loaded this bunch of purchases into the tender, and went down river to DREAM AWAY.

I stopped on the starboard side of DREAM AWAY, and Kitty helped unload all of the days purchases. I drove the tender around to the dinghy dock, and tied it up. I went back to DREAM AWAY, and helped Kitty put away all of the purchases. We then sat down to a nice fried chicken lunch. There was plenty left over, so I am sure we will have that again for dinner.

After lunch I changed into work clothes, and went out to the shop. I sanded the head shower grate with 220 grit sandpaper, wiped it down with the tack rag, and applied the fifth coat of varnish to the head shower grate.

When I went out to the shop I obviously had my camera with me. I decided to take some photos of the marina to give you some idea of the amount of rain we have been having. The water level in the river is probably up about three feet or more. The first two photos will give a real idea of the amount of water we have.

The first photo was taken in January of this year when we first got here and everyone was complaining of all the rain. It shows the front porch of the owners house. The second photo is the same shot only today!

Normally when we get off of DREAM AWAY and step onto the dock, we step up to the dock. Now it is a two foot step down! The yard we have here is normally dry, and the area around the shop is also pretty dry. The dock for the marina launchas is almost totally underwater.

When I went back to DREAM AWAY, Kitty asked me if I would like a cake, and of course, I said yes. When she asked me what kind of cake I answered rum cake. I went off to take my shower, and when I came back, I had a beautiful rum cake ready for consumption after dinner. I am not sure what we had for dinner, but I know what we had for dessert!

A good friend sent me this cartoon, but it is my thought exactly

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

It did not rain all night, so it was great sleeping! The power did go out around 0200, and was restored around 1400. We did have the marina generator on some of the time, but it was spotty.

After breakfast, and cleanup, I helped Kitty hang out some clothes on the bow of the boat. I then went back to the shop, and worked on the head shower grate. I have five coats of varnish on the bottom of the grill, now I need to varnish the top of the grill. It took some time and some cleanup, but I got the top of the grill all sanded, and wiped down with the tack rag. I then applied the first coat of varnish.

My next project is to get our inflatable dinghy into the water so I can use it as a work platform to help with the leaks on the aft stanchion bases. It was not to be. One of the other boaters, Reinhard, could not get his outboard motor running. He had it in the shop, as he was working on a completely unrelated problem.

While we were working on the outboard, a turtle popped up on a log in the lake that is now around the shop.

To make a long story short, we discovered the problem was water in the fuel, water in the carburetor, and water in the engine! We got it all cleared up, and got the engine running. The large amount of rain here can be a problem.

When I got back to DREAM AWAY it was too late to try and get the dinghy out of the forward deck box, and get it put together and inflated. I decided to make my black bean pico de gallo, to have for happy hour tomorrow afternoon. When I finished that, I fixed an adult beverage and headed up to take a shower.

When I finished my shower, Kitty was waiting for me in the ranchito, along with a couple of the other boaters. Kitty had also brought the goodies I would need to cook dinner. We had a nice visit, and then we went out to the outdoor kitchen. I grilled our pork chops, and some potatoes. We went back to DREAM AWAY and had a great dinner, that included steamed broccoli, and we watched two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small. Then it was cleanup, and off to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

After breakfast and our daily talk, I changed into my work clothes, got the piece of plywood I had brought onto DREAM AWAY, to see if Kitty could use it to work on her jigsaw puzzles, and took it out to the shop. I marked the piece that needed to be cut off, and made the cut. I then sanded down the piece of plywood to get it smooth, and took it back to DREAM AWAY to make sure it fit the bill. Kitty liked it, and we are leaving it unvarnished for now.

We had a fresh coconut, that I am afraid we had left too long. I brought a hammer with me to break it open to get the coconut meat out of it. Sure enough, when I broke it open it was not good, and I had to dispose of it.

I sanded down the head shower grate with 220 grit sandpaper, wiped it down with the tack rag, then applied the second coat of varnish.

After cleaning up pots, cans, and brushes from the varnish project, I went out to DREAM AWAY to get started on the dinghy project. In order for me to work on some of the leaks I have to repair, I have to work on the outside of the hull. I could use the tender, but since it is a hard fiberglass boat it scratches the hull of DREAM AWAY. I could use fenders, but they put me too far away from the hull to comfortably work.

Since I have a soft inflatable dinghy, why not use it. I keep the inflatable stored in the forward deck box. I got the inflatable dinghy out of the forward deck box, along with all of the parts and put it together. It took some time as it had been four years since I last put it together, and I had to have Kitty come out and help me. We finally got it all together and all pumped up. We did not have time to get it into the water.

Next project and hopefully the last for today, is to remove the aft awning I had put up. It was a good inexpensive try, but it just did not hold up. It was barely there, and needs to be removed. In the next couple of days we will get some local quotes for awnings to be made, that will be much more useful and practical.

As we were cleaning up from the awning project, Walter and his new girlfriend, Joanna arrived. Walter has the yacht, ASPERIDA, that is right next to DREAM AWAY. He had been gone since June, so he was very happy to be back home on ASPERIDA.

I fixed an adult beverage, and went and had a shower. When I came back, I put together dinner. The main part was a leftover of sauteed ground beef and pork, with some vegetables. The main vegetable for dinner tonight was snow peas and Loroco, a vegetable that grows in Central America, and is supposed to be very good for you. It turned out to be wonderful, and we had a very enjoyable meal.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

While I was out on deck enjoying my coffee, and working on the computer, I allow the cats to run around the boat. This morning Jordie discovered the inflatable that was still on deck.

This morning I am filling in on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net as the net controller. I gathered the weather for the Fronteras, Guatemala area, and I also have the latest tides at the Livingston sand bar. I reported this information to the Net, and then guided the Net through the several categories before we finished. Kitty was a great help writing down boat names and telephone numbers, so we could refer to that information if requested.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net also.

After breakfast there was a break in the rain so we went into town to do some shopping. Reinhard, from BONOBO, went into town with us. We docked at Bruno's. Kitty stayed at Bruno's talking with Kevin and friends, and Reinhard and I took off into town. Our first stop was Comercial W&L, in the concrete mall. I purchased varnish and paint strainers, and Reinhard purchased threaded rod and other fasteners.

We left the concrete mall, and headed back into town. The concrete mall is near the north end of Fronteras, so it is much easier to that distance empty handed, and then head back toward Bruno's picking up stuff as you go along. The stores at the lower end of the concrete mall are closed due to the rising water.

Our next stop was the Auto Parts store, so I could purchase some 2-cycle oil. Next stop was Despensa Familiar to purchase groceries. From there we went to the veggie stand and I purchased a watermelon and some fresh limes. Reinhard went off to complete his shopping, and I went to Tienda Miriam,a nd purchased Alfredo sauce, and canned artichoke hearts. Next stop was Ingrid's Tienda, and purchased rum. I walked back to Bruno's, and Reinhard and Kitty were waiting for me. We purchased a bottle of the medicinal honey from Kevin, and all got into the tender. We went across the river to Backpackers Hotel to dock the tender.

We had to dock at Backpackers Hotel because the dock at Tienda Reed is under water. We were hoping that Tienda Reed was open because Kitty wanted to purchase some chocolate. Tienda Reed was closed, but Oscar, the outboard man, behind Tienda Reed, was open and did not have a high water problem.

Reinhard and I were both hoping to get some parts from Oscar. Reinhard needed a big bolt for his Johnson outboard, and Oscar had it, although a bit expensive. I was hoping he would have the fuel filter housing for my Yamaha outboard. I thought my fuel filter housing was cracked but Oscar checked it out and it turned out to be the gasket. Oscar put a new gasket in, and that fixed the problem. So we both had a good stop there.

Reinhard and I walked back to Backpackers Hotel, and it started to rain. When we got seated to wait the rain out, Kitty was drinking a cup of tea, so Reinhard and I felt compelled to join her with a beer! The rain finally stopped, so we headed back to DREAM AWAY.

When we unloaded all of the purchases from the tender, and were actually getting on DREAM AWAY, our next door neighbor, Walter, presented Kitty with a bag full of Chocolate! When Walter left this past June to go visit his mother in Poland, Kitty asked him to bring her some chocolate from Europe. She did not expect the bounty she received! There was chocolate from Poland, The Czech Republic, Germany and Italy!

When we got all of the purchases and gifts put away, I changed into my work clothes. I decided that since I had to put the fuel filter housing back on the outboard engine, I would take the carburetor off, and throughly clean it. I would also do the same with the spare carburetor. I have been having an idle problem with the outboard. I would adjust it, and it would be OK for a day or two, then it would not idle again.

I got the spare carburetor, and the repaired fuel filter housing and went out to the tender. I removed the carburetor, and took everything back to the shop.

I took both carburetors apart one at a time so as not to get the parts mixed up. I took everything I could off of each carburetor, and then blew out everything with compressed air.

I put both carburetors back together, and took them both out to the tender. I put the fuel filter back onto the engine, and then put the original carburetor back on. This took more time than intended, and it would start raining, so I would head off to the ranchito, wait for the rain to stop, then back out to the tender. I eventually got the first carburetor on and adjusted. I got the idle adjusted, then I would put the engine in gear, and just let it idle, then back out of gear. I did this a few times, and the engine did not stall.

I took the tender out for a test run. I would run at high speed for about 30 seconds, then back to an idle for about 15 seconds, and then stop the engine. I started it again, put the engine in gear, then idle for about 10 seconds, the go back to high speed for about 30 seconds. I did this routine five times, and did not have a problem or an engine stall.

I went back to the marina, and swapped carburetors, again having to dodge rain showers. I went through the same routine with this carburetor as the first one. When I got back to the marina after the test run, I decided to leave the spare carburetor on the outboard engine, and see how it performs for the next few days.

I went out to the shop and sanded down the head shower grate with 220 grit sandpaper, wiped it down with the tack rag, then applied the third coat of varnish.

By this time it was getting late, so I went back to DREAM AWAY, and prepared an adult beverage and then took a shower. When I returned, I had time to get dressed, feed the two cats, and then Kitty and I went up to the ranchito. We waited until the launcha from Tortugal Marina arrived. We could not get into the launcha on the house front porch because of high water, so we had to use the dock, which is very high. We went off to Tortugal Marina and did International Trivia. We had a great mean and a great time. It is as much a social time as to play the game.

On our way back to our marina in the launcha, it rained, but not too hard. When we arrived, I went and pumped out the tender as a precaution. It is supposed to rain all night, and in fact by the time we went to bed it was pouring.

Raining very hard, up at 0210 and walked down the dock and pumped out the tender. It was not at the point of capsizing, but another 45 minutes would have done it.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

At about 0630, I walked down the dock to pump out the tender, as it had not stopped raining since about 2100 last night. It really needed to be pumped this time. Very close to capsizing!

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. I also made an announcement about the Casa Guatemala toy and food drive officially kicking off, and for cruisers to start thinking about toys and food for the kids at the orphanage. I also did the announcement for the movie tonight at Tortugal Marina.

It pretty much rained all day until mid afternoon. I spent the day working on the computer, scanning in documents, working on the Maintenance logs, and investigating our health insurance options.

Around 1100 I walked down the dock and pumped out the tender again. It was only about half full, but better now than not.

Later In the afternoon, I walked down the dock, and it was not raining! I wanted to take some photos of how much higher the water is compared to just a few days ago on November 16th. I will put in here the two photos I displayed on November 16th, and then the one from today. You can really see the difference

Normally when we get off of DREAM AWAY and step onto the dock, we step up to the dock. Now it is a two and a half foot step down! Look at the two photos four days apart, and you will see the difference.

Later in the afternoon, I went up and took my shower, and upon returning, I fixed myself an adult beverage, and got dressed so we could attend the movie night at Tortugal Marina. Kitty and I went up to the ranchito to await the launcha. Four other boaters from the marina also attended the movie night, so we had a good showing from Monkey Bay Marina. It came and picked us up, we stopped at a couple of other marinas, but we finally got to Tortugal Marina, and it did not rain on us!

Kitty and I throughly enjoyed the film. It was a documentary named Particle Fever about the collider built by CERN near Geneva, Switzerland.

After the film, the launcha took us back to Monkey Bay Marina, and again, no rain. Kitty and I settled in to reading, and then went on to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

While I was out on deck enjoying my coffee, and working on the computer, I allow the cats to run around the boat. This morning Jillie discovered the inflatable that was still on deck. Jordie had discovered the inflatable a couple of mornings ago, so this was not big deal to him!

Today is Saturday, so the Texas A&M Aggie football team is playing. Every time the team plays, we raise our flags to show our support.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Overall, today was a busy day with actual projects, football games to monitor, and social events, it was a full day.

First thing on the list was to get the dinghy into the water, so I can use it as a work platform. I loosened the forward awning, got Kitty's help and we got it into the water with no mishap.

Now with the dinghy in the water, I wanted to see how easy it would be to scrub the side of the boat from the dinghy. Our physical location gets a tremendous amount of wakes, and the waterline of DREAM AWAY is very dirty, with growth. I am hoping to get the side cleaned, while working on leaks.

I used my deck scrub brush, and just the river water, and I was able to get the hull side scrubbed off with out much work. When I do the job with bleach and soap, the growth will come right off.

Now to get to work on the stanchion base I know is leaking. For an explanation of the stanchion bases I fabricated on the stern please see cap rail replacement phase one. I had decided to sand down the stanchion base, and then apply a thick layer of polyester resin. I hoped the resin would seal the blocks of Extren Fiberglass plate together, and prevent water from coming in. Time will tell!

I sanded away all of the paint on the stanchion block, mixed up a small amount of the polyester resin, and applied it to the stanchion block. I mixed up the resin pretty hot so there would not be a lot of runs.

I cleaned up from that project, and put all of the tools on my workbench in the garage. I am hoping to do some more stanchion bases if the rain stops. I then put the dinghy up on the davits, so it would not fill with water.

I went up to take a shower, because we have a plan to get together with Christina and Reinhard off of BONOBO and play some Rummikub up in the rancho. Their plan is to leave the marina tomorrow on their way to Cuba. DOUBLE UP and CALUSA are also leaving tomorrow for the Bay Islands of Honduras, so they were having a cookout for their crews, also up in the rancho.

Kitty made brownies, which everyone enjoyed, and Christina made some guacamole that we enjoyed while playing Rummikub. We played several rounds of the game, and Reinhard throughly kicked our butts! The other boaters had their meal of grilled chicken and veggies, and then went back to their boats. We hung out until the mosquito's got too bad, and we headed back to DREAM AWAY.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Did not have the Rio Dulce Cruisers net this morning, because it is Sunday.

Before breakfast, John, the marina manager, came down and asked me to move DREAM AWAY forward in her slip about 10 feet. DOUBLE UP is leaving this morning, and he wanted to be sure there was plenty of room for her when she left. I moved DREAM AWAY forward, and got her secure.

Kitty joined me and we walked down the dock, and helped John get CALUSA away from the dock, and underway. It was then the turn of DOUBLE UP. we got DOUBLE UP pulled down the dock, then made the left turn at DREAM AWAY and they were under way. We will be seeing them again in April or May.

We had a small breakfast of toast and fruit this morning, because we are going to a party at noon, that includes a big lunch. The party is for all of the volunteers who have helped "Pass It On". Kitty and I have been invited because of the work we have done, and will continue to do while we are here.

Because of the timing, I did not start on any projects, but continued working on the Maintenance logs. Trying very hard to stay caught up and to catch up on September and October.

We left Monkey Bay Marina, and went up river to Shell Bay, and the El Relleno Marina to the "Pass It On" party. It was nice to get to talk to everyone, and enjoy the wonderful food. I took some pictures, but some folks had left before I got my camera out. I did get some photos of the new banner, and some of the volunteers around the table.

After stuffing ourselves with great appetizers, sweet and sour pork, veggie kabobs, and chicken kabobs, we departed El Relleno Marina, and headed up river to El Relleno fuel station. I purchased five gallons of gasoline, and then went back to DREAM AWAY. On this trip, I was having trouble with the outboard running at high speed. My spare carburetor still has a problem. I will have to take off the spare, and put the original carburetor back on, and hope I have the idle problem fixed on it.

When we arrived back at Monkey Bay Marina, Christina and Reinhard were disconnecting their lines and getting ready to leave. I helped a little bit and took some photos of the departure and a couple of other photos

The remainder of they day was spent taking a shower, getting work done on the computer, and just having cheese and crackers for dinner. We watched two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small, and then went onto bed and did some reading.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. I also made the announcement of the Monday special at Hotel Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas.

Today is our daughter's 44th birthday! We called her and sung happy birthday and wished her a great day.

Raining again off and on all night, so went down the dock to pump out the tender. It was not real bad, but a good idea to keep up with it when it is not raining.

Another slow start to the day, as usual. I had planned to go into town and make a bank deposit, but it is raining, off and on, I put it off until tomorrow. That will give me some time to work on the shelf above the rear of the engine room that is collapsing.

I had noticed this problem over a month ago, and did not have the time to take care of it. Seemed like there was always something else that came up, or the weather interfered.

I had to cut away some of the sound and heat insulation in the engine room to get to the underside of the shelf. This was very disappointing. The sound and heat insulation I had installed was a very costly item of a foam and lead material sandwich. The problem is the foam has deteriorated to dust leaving just the lead material. Of course when I cut into the insulation, the foam dust came out!

I got out the wet/dry vac, and used it while doing the cut. I only had to cut out about two inches to make room to screw in three battens to hold the shelf where it needed to go.

Now that the cut was made on the forward edge of the sound and heat insulation, I had to raise the shelf. This presented a bit of a problem as the auto pilot pump was on top of the shelf, and connected to the steering hydraulic system. I was able to use my small bottle jack and rested it on the frame for the generator. I then jacked up the shelf so the center of the shelf was in the correct location.

I got my jig saw and a few other tools, and went back to the shop. I found a scrap piece of wood, from which I cut my three battens. Once cut, I sanded them smooth, packed up the tools and the battens, and headed back to DREAM AWAY.

Once back on DREAM AWAY, I drilled two holes in each batten, large enough for the 10 X 1 1/4" flat head screws I am using to attach the battens to the engine room overhead framing. I attached the battens to the frame, and the shelf was back where it was supposed to be. I will now be able to put my pumps and compressors back on the shelf and not have to worry about them falling into the engine room.

Last item on this project today, was to cover the area where I had cut out the sound and heat insulation. I did not have any replacement sound and heat insulation, so I decided to just use the aluminum tape and cover the hole I created. At least none of the bad foam will come out. At some point in the future, I am going to have to replace all of the sound and heat insulation in the engine room. That will be a major effort.

Still having trouble with the spare carburetor on the outboard engine on the tender. I took off the spare carburetor, and put the original back on. I adjusted the idle as best I could, and we will see how it holds. I also pumped out the tender again at 1600.

When I went back to DREAM AWAY, and prepared an adult beverage. I then went to take a shower. While I was gone, Kitty was preparing a wonderful dinner. I had purchased some fresh pork from a vendor in the Pueblo where I normally purchased my frozen chickens. Kitty was using this pork to make pork schnitzel.

We had an amazing dinner of pork schnitzel, pan fried onions and potatoes, and sauteed snow peas and fresh mushrooms. Of course we watched two episodes of All Creatures Great And Small, cleaned up from dinner and went to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

It did not rain very much last night, but the water in the river is higher than ever. After breakfast I walked down the dock to take some photos of all of the water around the marina. First I will display the series of photos from November 20th, and add another front porch photo from today. I will then add a couple of the other photos.

We waited for the Casa Guatemala grocery boat, and it finally came. We purchased some fruit and veggies. We then got into the tender, and headed upriver. Our main focus was to get more cash and then go to the Banrural Bank to make a deposit.

We stopped at RAM Marine. I got money from the Cajero, and then went across the river to Bruno's and docked. We walked to the north end of town to the Banrural Bank.

We had to deposit Q 2400 into the account of Raul our agent, who is getting our one year extension to our Guatemalan cruising permit. We made the deposit, so now we just wait for the paperwork!

The bank is at the north end of town, so now we walk south in the direction of Bruno's, and do our shopping. Our first stop was Gaby's Bazar. They have an interesting collection of items, a lot products from the USA, so it is good to check and see what is on the shelves every once in a while. It is right next to the Banrural Bank, so very convenient.

Our next stop was the Farmacia Green Cross, which is right across street from the Banrural Bank. Kitty wanted to check on eye drops and Melatonin. The quantity and prices were not great, so we moved on south. Our next stop was the TiGo store on the road to San Felipe. Kitty's phone had no time on it, so we purchased Q 100 for the phone and Q 300 also on the phone, but would be transfered to our USB modem. We have a voucher for triple time on the phone, so Kitty got Q 800 promotional on the phone.

Next we went to our veggie stand and purchased fruits and veggies. Then across the street to plastic alley. We walked down the alley, and Kitty purchased a slotted spoon for the litter box, then onto Tienda Miriam for her special chips. We stopped at another veggie stand on the way back to Bruno's, and I purchased a small watermelon.

When we got to the tender, with our purchases, we headed over to the Backpackers Hotel for our Thanksgiving turkey. It is a 14 pound bird and the cost is Q 25 per pound. It was pretty late in the day, so we went back to RAM Marine, and ate our dinner there. We finished, and went back to Monkey Bay Marina, and onto DREAM AWAY. We watched two episodes of all All Creatures Great And Small, and then went to bed.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

Today was sort of an electronics day, and I also needed to get all of the pumps, compressors and parts from the front cabin back onto the shelf over the engine room that I had repaired.

I moved all of the pumps, compressors and parts from the front cabin to the table in the main salon. I moved the parts one at a time into the storage area. As usual it was fun getting everything back into it, and it did take a couple of times, but I got everything put away.

The remainder of the day was spent on two basic projects. The two projects are the result of a change John, the marina manager, is making in how he delivers WiFi to the marina. It is a new system, that will be faster cheaper for the marina, and unlimited data for the cruisers in the marina.

Project one is the security John uses for the use of the WiFi, is not a password, but he uses the MAC address of each device. Since he is going to this new system, I wanted to give him all of our device MAC addresses at one time. I also discovered, I do not have a good list of the MAC addresses for our devices, so I will make one complete list for my records, and give a copy to John to update his database. I am sure he will not be happy when he sees the list, but we will probably only use one or two devices at one time.

Project two is to see if I can get the DREAM AWAY Pepwave router working properly with John's new system's router. When my router "sees" his router through my WiFi antenna and amplifier, it all works just fine. Then after some period of time it seems like the ability of my router to see the DNS Server just goes away! Power my router off, and then on, and it will work again. I have a spare router, so that should be easy. As a crossover between the two projects I have to record the MAC addresses of both routers.

So I had to get the MAC addresses for Kitty's iPhone, and my iPhone in case I ever use it. Then the addresses for Kitty's iPad 2, and my primary iPad and backup iPad. Next were the addresses for Kitty's laptop, and my laptop and the backup laptop. I also have two USB WiFi adapters that I use sometime. I also have my MacBook Pro, and our Roku streaming device. And last but not least are my two Pepwave routers for DREAM AWAY.

All of the electronics that we do not use on a regular basis, are out and easy to get to. All of the backup devices and other devices, we keep in the forward cabin in a large black Pelican Case.

As I was digging around in the Pelican Case, I came across a tablet PC that Stacy had given me. I wanted to get the MAC address off of it, but the Operating System on it is Winders 8, and I could not figure out how to get it. In fact I could not figure out how shut the Operating System down, so I just powered it off! Someday when I have lots of spare time, I would like to install Linux on it.

Now I have the MAC addresses of the iPad and the Pepwave routers, I could get to work on the problem with the Pepwave router. First thing was to upgrade the firmware in both routers, so I could eliminate that as a problem. I did the connection of the Pepwave router after the firmware upgrade. Like normal, it worked just fine, and after some period of time it would get lookup errors, and I would have to power it down and back up again to get it working again.

My problem now was did I have a problem with the router, or with my WiFi amplifier and antenna. The Pepwave router we use all of the time, is installed and a pain to remove. So I decided to set up and use the spare router. I put it out in the cockpit where I can "see" the new marina router, and got it working. Like the other router, it worked just fine, and after some period of time it would get lookup errors, and I would have to power it down and back up again to get it working again.

So there is good news, I do not have a problem with my WiFi amplifier or antenna. I do not have spares for that, so that is a relief. The bad news of course, is there is a problem with my two routers. I am hopeful that it is a set up issue, I just need to discover the problem.

Late in the afternoon, our friends Birgit and Andreas off of MUKTUK arrived back from their trip to Germany. They had been gone six weeks, so it was great to have them back. When they got a little settled in, they came down to DREAM AWAY, and we caught up on their trip, and we caught them up on activities on the river.

They were a bit tired, so they went back to their boat, and we had our dinner. Just before we sat down there was an absolutely beautiful moon rise. My pictures do not do it any justice, but I tried!!

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

This morning I am filling in on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net as the net controller. I gathered the weather for the Fronteras, Guatemala area, and I also have the latest tides at the Livingston sand bar. I reported this information to the Net, and then guided the Net through the several categories before we finished. Kitty was a great help writing down boat names and telephone numbers, so we could refer to that information if requested.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net also.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We decided to host a typical celebration here at our marina. Birgit and Andreas off of MUKTUK had never celebrated the American Thanksgiving Day, so we decided to show them a typical celebration. We had celebrated German Unity Day with them at the beginning of October. We had never celebrated German Unity Day, so with both holidays it was a new experience for us all.

I actually remembered to take photos, so the day will be covered! Some of them are good, and some of them are not so good, meaning I did not catch everyone in a perfect pose!

The meal was planned for 1500 in the rancho, and we invited everyone at the marina, and told them it was a pot luck. We were providing the turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie with whipped topping. All the boaters brought a dish or a dessert, so there was plenty to eat.

The turkey will take four hours to cook, so I got the galley on DREAM AWAY first. I will be cooking the turkey and the extra dressing on the grill at the outdoor kitchen. I prepared the stuffing, using beer instead of the chicken broth. I stuffed the turkey, and put the extra stuffing in a roasting pan to cook later. I headed up to the outdoor kitchen, and Kitty took over the galley. While I was cooking and monitoring the turkey, she was cooking the green bean casserole and the pumpkin pie with whipped topping.

I will mention the boaters that participated and what they brought to the celebration. John (USA), the marina manager, and our good friend Kevin (USA), came as our "family", and both being bachelors, they brought big appetites! Art and Irene (Russian) from GOOD KARMA made their Russian Pierogies, to the delight of all. Friend Dimitri (Russian) brought fresh fruit and fresh coconut meat. Birgit and Andreas (German) from MUKTUK brought homemade dumpling bread, wheat bread, homemade horseradish, and homemade red cabbage. Emke and Uli (German) from EILAND brought homemade German potato salad and grilled chicken. Thomas (German) off of SPIKA brought guacamole. Thomas used to be at Monkey Bay Marina, but has his boat out on the hard at RAM Marine getting some repairs done. Joanna and Walter (Polish) off of ASPERIDA brought a delicious cake.

After a very filling meal, and the cleanup, we all just sat around the rancho and talked about immigration and other subjects. Folks left as they needed to go home and it was just myself and Birgit and Andreas. We finely gave up because of the bugs and went to our respective boats. Kitty was not feeling well, so she was in bed when I returned. Kitty had done most of the dishes during the day, but I did the last load, and went to bed to read before sleeping

Overall it was a great day, and everyone who attended the celebration had a good time and enjoyed the meal and the company.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Another rainy day, but we did get a couple of breaks. One problem that shows up very noticeably because the water is so high, the port side hull is very dirty. This morning after breakfast, I mixed up a bucket full of soap, bleach and water and scrubbed down the port side of the hull. Not perfect, but much better. With so much rain, everything is turning green!

For a couple of hours, I worked on the Pepwave router problem we are having on DREAM AWAY. I am convinced the problem is with the DNS Server or the DNS setup in the router. Tomorrow, I will take my laptop and the spare Pepwave router up to the ranchito, and troubleshoot the problem.

I got the turkey carcass left over from yesterday, and put it in a big pot of water and cooked it down. I removed all of the bones and skin, added some veggies and rice, and made a great tasting soup. I put the soup into three containers, one for the refrigerator, and two into the freezer.

I cleaned up the mess from the soup production, and then off to a shower. Came back to DREAM AWAY and got dressed for movie night at Tortugal Marina. I fixed an adult beverage, and we headed up to the ranchito to await the arrival of the launcha. It arrived and six boaters from Monkey Bay Marina got aboard.

We got up to Tortugal Marina and had our pizza and salad. The movie was ready to start so we moved to the movie area and got ready for the film. The film is Against The Sun. After 30-45 minutes it was decided the projector was broke, so we paid our bill, got into the launcha, and came home.

Birgit and Andreas came down to DREAM AWAY, and we taught them how to play Mexican Train. We played six rounds, and then gave it up as it was 2230. Past my bedtime! Birgit and Andreas left, and Kitty and I went to bed. I did read, but not for long!

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

The power went off around 0200, and has not come on so far. It has been raining off and on all night, so I walked down the dock and pumped out the tender.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

Right after the cruisers net we got into our tender and went upriver to Backpackers Hotel to meet John and Betty off of GYPSY ROVER, and Jon and Angie off of ANGELA G. We had seen John and Betty a couple of time, but not Jon and Angie. It was great to get together and chat. Breakfast was long because of the confusion at the restaurant.

Jon and Angie had to get on their way, so we all departed between rain showers. When we got back to DREAM AWAY, we realized we had left the forward hatch open all night. Everything under the hatch was soaked! One of those situations where I thought Kitty had closed the hatch and Kitty thought I had closed the hatch.

No matter, we moved all of the wet stuff out of the forward cabin. The cushions, bags and other items we moved up to the rancho, where we could hang them out, and it would not rain on them. A slow process as we had to wait for the rain showers to stop before taking anything up to the rancho. Eventually we got it all moved, and put the big fan blowing in the forward cabin to help dry it out.

Middle of next month John, the marina manager, will be driving Kitty and I to Puerto Barrios so we can get our Guatemalan visas updated. While there I want to look into purchasing a new compressor for the ice maker. It will be difficult to find one, so I took a couple of photos of the compressor to make the search easier.

I spent some time working on a computer problem I am having with my computer. The "save session" option is not working, and after 2 hours of looking, searching, and testing, I am where I was two hours ago! I put the question on the Linux Mint forum, so we will see if anyone else has a solution! My operating system is Linux Mint 17, and I really do like it except when problems like this come up.

With no progress on the computer problem, I went to work on the stanchion base over the garage on the starboard side. It was still leaking, so I decided to remove the stanchion and the two threaded rods that hold down the top stainless steel plate. Once I have them removed, I will put duct tape over all the holes, and see if the leak is still there!

When I cleaned up from that project, I fixed an adult beverage, and went up and took a shower. When I returned to DREAM AWAY, Kitty had made some guacamole. We took that, a bag of chips and the game of Mexican Train, and went up to the rancho.

We had made a date with Birgit and Andreas off of MUKTUK to finish our game of Mexican Train from last night. We finished the game and Andreas whipped us good! Kitty suggested playing one round for the "Championship of the World". We all agreed, and I won that game. By this time it was dark and the bugs were fierce, so we retreated to our respective boats.

When we returned to DREAM AWAY, we made left over turkey sandwiches, on coconut bread. I also heated up some left over green bean casserole and broccoli, and read until bedtime.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

Did not have the Rio Dulce Cruisers net this morning, because it is Sunday.

After breakfast, I asked Kitty to clean out the cabinet over the microwave oven. We have a leak there, and I wanted to check out the stanchion base that is located over the cabinet, using a hose. Kitty got the cabinet cleaned out, and then I climbed up under the stanchion base looking in the cabinet. I had Kitty hit the stanchion base outside with the hose. I was able to verify the leak location.

We then moved to the stanchion base on the starboard side over the garage. I was inside looking up, and Kitty was on the outside with the hose. The good news is there are no leaks with all of the holes in the stanchion base covered with duct tape.

I removed the duct tape from the hole where the stanchion goes into the base, and had Kitty run the hose into the hole. No leaks there, so that really helps to narrow down the source of the leak.

After we cleaned up from the leaking stanchion base project, I got back to work on computer issues, and working frantically on catching up on the November and October Maintenance logs.

I went and took a shower and came back and fixed an adult beverage. We made dinner of leftovers from turkey day, and watched a silly movie, but the women were wonderful at which to look. The film was The Other Women.

I started off the morning with my normal ritual of getting on the Internet, answering email, and checking the weather, while making a pot of coffee. When the coffee is started, I feed our two cats, Jillian and Jordan , and attempt to brush their beautiful coats.

I listened to the Rio Dulce Cruisers net on DREAM AWAY. The net is everyday at 0730 except Sunday. It covers all of the local news and events, and a good source of local information that matter to cruisers.

I did my announcement for the specials at Backpacker’s Hotel on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net. I also made the announcement of the Monday special at Hotel Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas.

After breakfast, I walked down the dock and pumped out the tender. There was just a couple of inches of water, but it is good to try and stay ahead of the curve!

Spent the remainder of the morning working on the Maintenance logs. I would like to get the November and the October finished today, but I do not think that is going to happen.

We had made plans to go to Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas today for a late lunch with Birgit and Andreas. We asked Walter and Joanna off of ASPERIDA if they wanted to join us, but they declined. Since there are four of us, and Kangaroo/Las Mexicanas is so far away, we asked John if we could use the marina's big launcha. We paid him Q 100 for the use of the launcha.

We actually had two reasons for the trip. First, Graciela and Gary, the owners, are off on a months trip to visit family in Miami, and then Egypt. We just wanted to say good-by, and bid them farewell. Second, Monday is they day they have the pork ribs in pasilla sauce on special, and I love it.

Around 1315 we got into the launcha, and went upriver to the restaurant. We spent a fair amount of time visiting with Graciela and Gary, and also some of the other folks staying at the hotel.

Birgit, Andreas and I ordered the days special, and Kitty ordered the tostadas, which are very good, but does not compare to the pork ribs in pasilla sauce. Of course we ordered ` beer for Andreas and myself, Kitty ordered diet coke, and Birgit ordered water. We did not wait long before the meals arrived. Then there was comparative silence at the table as we ate our delicious lunches.

When we finished the meal, each couple shared a flan, which of course was delicious!

When we finished our meal, we paid our bill, and said our goodbyes and left the restaurant. On the way back to the marina we swung by the Fort San Felipe at the entrance to Lago Izabal. We got a nice look because the sun was out! We headed back to the marina, docked the launcha, and went back to our boats. We made plans to get together with Birgit and Andreas to swap electronic books and movies in the evening.

Andreas and Birgit arrived around 1830, and Kitty and Andreas got the copy going, and we started playing Rummikub. We enjoyed some creamed cheese with red pepper jelly on crackers, and Birgit and Andreas brought some fresh baked focaccia bread, that was delicious.

It was a tough game of Rummikub. I did great the first five or six rounds, then I was getting trampled. When we finally quit around 2300, I was still the winner, but not by much! Andreas was right behind me! Kitty and Andreas got the copying done of the books, and Birgit and Kitty got going on the movies. Everyone had full hard drives, full tummies, and a happy heart, and looking forward to bed!