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.

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 pretty much pent he whole day working on the Maintenance Logs. I got the November Log finished, and I am half way through the October 31st entry. When I looked at the clock and saw it was 2330, I was just too tired to finish. I will finish up the last day of October, and get the update out tomorrow.

The water is finally starting to fall. As I walked back to the shop to take some photos of the howler monkeys, I took a photo of the owner's house front porch. I am including the other photos I have taken so you can see the progress. If the water level keeps dropping, I will take more photos.

As I said, I was on my way back to the shop. There was quite a group of howler monkeys in the trees, but the light was not good. I came back a couple of hours later, and they were still there. The light was good and I got some really good shots. I will bore you with several now.

Kitty did a load of laundry, and she brought it back to DREAM AWAY to hang out on the bow. It drys so well there, and it save some money!

Late in the day after I had my shower, Birgit invited all of us up to the ranchito. It was Kitty and I, Walter and Joanna, and of course Birgit and Andreas. Birgit had made a chocolate cake and a lemon cheese cake, which we all enjoyed - a lot! We had invited Birgit and Andreas to dinner so they would not have to cook on their last night here, and she did this. I did not take any photos!

As mentioned, Birgit and Andreas came down to DREAM AWAY for dinner. After dinner and a bottle of wine, we got into a serious game of Rummikub. As it turned out Andreas kicked our butts! We said our goodbyes, and they went back to MUKTUK, and while Kitty did the cleanup and dishes, I worked on trying to get the October Maintenance Log finished.

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.

Around 0900, Kitty got up, and we said our goodbye's to Birgit and Andreas, MUKTUK is leaving Monkey Bay Marina. They are on their way south to the San Blas Islands of Panama. Kitty and I are going to miss them, as they were just great to have around. Hopefully we will meet somewhere in the Pacific!

Right after MUKTUK departed, I went up to the ranchito, so I could upload pictures for the Maintenance Log. I was verifying that I could connect through the new WiFi router in the marina.

As I was walking down the dock, back to DREAM AWAY, I saw a huge catamaran going up the river at a very fast pace. No sails, engine only, but it was really moving. I was only able to get one photo!

About an hour after MUKTUK had departed we got a call on the radio from them. We had borrowed some DVD's from them, and we had not returned them! They were about half way down in the El Golfete, and asked if we could somehow meet them with the DVD's. We talked to John, the marina manager, and made arrangements to take the marina's fast launcha down to meet them in the El Golfete. They told us they would not motor and just sail, very slow!

As usual I did not take my camera, so no great photos of the event, but we did meet them. We went aboard MUKTUK while it was sailing and had a cup of coffee. Now I can actually say I have been sailing on the yacht MUKTUK. We gave them the DVD's, said our goodbyes again and we headed back to Monkey Bay Marina. The sun was out, so it was a really nice trip, and we really enjoyed it.

When we got back from that adventure, the cockpit on the starboard side was dry enough, for me to install the cockpit hatch I had repaired. I had been waiting for a day or so for the wood in the cockpit to dry out. I got that project completed.

In the mid-afternoon, we headed over to MAR Marine to meet Julia. We meet her, and then went over to Bruno's in her launcha. We walked up to the office where Rita works. Today we were taking the last load of donations we have for the villagers who were wiped out this past summer by the heavy rains and flooding in the village of Sumach.

We were going by a small pickup truck, as we could not get the use of a four wheel drive vehicle. It will be an interesting adventure, and Julia wanted to get as many photos as possible, to get up on the Facebook page to encourage more donations. First item was to get the donations out of the storeroom that Rita uses in her business. Then we had to load the donations into the truck when it arrived.

After we got the pickup loaded, we had to wait for a man named Agusto. He was getting off work, and was on his way. We needed him because he lived in the village, and speaks very good Spanish and k'ekchi' The village is k'ekchi' Indian, so we really needed him along. He arrived, and we all climbed into the pickup, and headed out.

The ride out to the village of Sumach was interesting in many ways. First of all, can you imagine riding in the back of an open pickup truck in the states? The good news is I have never ridden through Fronteras in an open vehicle. It was crowded so we moved slow, and I was able to see quite a lot of the town, and did not have to worry about running into someone, or being run down by a vehicle.

The road for the first three or four miles was paved, but it was hard to tell. Quite a lot of pot holes, and these were hole! I am sure it has gotten a lot worse in the last three weeks due to all of the rain. After those first miles, we got on a beautiful concrete highway that was no problem.

When we got to Agusto's house, which was right on the highway, we stopped there and unloaded the donations. Since we did not have a four wheel drive vehicle, we could not got down to the village. The selected villagers had to come to us, which they did.

These people are truly poor, but they are also very proud. The men in the village thanked us very much for what we provided. They were very happy to have the assistance. I was impressed by how clean everyone was, and also their clothes were clean and it good repair. They live in thatched dirt floor houses, everyone was happy and proud of what they possessed.

The following photos are in front of Agusto's house where we presented the donations. There are photos of the children, some of the families, and other activities while we were there.

When we finished at the village and drove back to Fronteras. I was in the bed of the pickup with Julia, and the ride back on the cement highway was no problem, but the last three or four miles was very dusty. A lot more big truck traffic, and we passed the big truck, so there was lots of dust, but we finally got back to Bruno's. We got into Julia Launcha, and she took us back to MAR Marine.

On the way, we went by an area where a lot of birds roost, and since it was close to sundown, they were coming in.

Julia dropped us off at our tender and we went back to Monkey Bay Marina. When we arrived at the dinghy dock we saw Tomas, the guardians five year old son, practicing driving Johns launcha! Learning to drive at an early age.

We went back to DREAM AWAY, and made dinner. Birgit and Andreas on MUKTUK had left us a wonderful piece of German sausage. We decided to have that with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, with an avocado salad. We both had seconds! Sauerkraut, pork and mashed potatoes is our favorite cold weather comfort food. OK, so it was not cold, but for here it is "chilly", nearly down to 72 degrees F at night. We watched one episode of All Creatures Great And Small during dinner, cleaned up and went to bed. A very satisfying day!

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.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, but today we are back to the rainy season. It started raining about 0430, and kept up a good pace until just after the net. I walked down the dock and pumped out the tender.

Kitty went back to bed immediately after the net, and did not get up until late, so we got a late start on the day. I worked on the computer while she was sleeping. When she got up, we had breakfast, and I had to go into the Pueblo to do some shopping. There was a break in the rain, so off I went.

I docked at Bruno's, and walked into town. First stop was at Tienda Miriam to get chips and evaporated milk. Then on to Despensa Familiar for a bunch of groceries. I took all of these purchases back to the tender at Bruno's. I then walked back into town to the veggie stand and purchased fruit and fresh veggies. Then it was off to Ingrid's Tienda to purchase rum and aluminum foil. Shopping done, so back to Bruno's with those purchases. I got into the tender and went back to DREAM AWAY.

I stopped on the starboard side of DREAM AWAY, and unloaded all of the purchases, with Kitty's help. I took the tender back to the dinghy dock, and then back to DREAM AWAY. By the time I arrived, Kitty had most of the groceries put away, so I changed into my work clothes. I loaded the Sailrite sewing machine, stuff that needed sewing, and sewing accessories onto the trolley and went up to the rancho.

I had promised our friends Betty and John, I would do some sewing for them. I had put it off for sometime, as they were in the UK, and did not need the finished product. They were back on the river, so I needed to get it done. I also had some sewing that needed done, so on a partial rainy day it seemed like a good idea.

I needed to repair one of our cockpit cushions, so I went back to DREAM AWAY, got the cushion, and went back to the rancho. I wanted to start with a couple of our items in case there was a problem, with the machine. I did not want to have problems with John and Betty's cushion covers. I got the machine set up, and repaired the cushion cover and repaired a pair of shorts for Kitty

Now that I know that the machine is working properly, and all is good, I started in on John and Betty's sewing. It was a bit of a struggle as the thread was thin, and black, I was sewing on mostly black material , and the basting was about 50% black. It was fun, and the light was not that great.

It was getting late and dark, so it was even harder for me to see so I quit the sewing. I put everything away, except the sewing machine, I left that in the rancho. I took all the other sewing stuff back to DREAM AWAY. I had one more cushion cover to finish for John and Betty, and I wanted to put covers on the handles of one of our carry bags.

I got my shower stuff, fixed an adult beverage, and headed for the shower. On the way up the dock, I saw something of a sunset. With all of the rain we are having, we do not see these much, so I got a photo!

When I got back from the shower, I took the goodies I needed for dinner up to the outdoor kitchen. We were finally going to have some of the lamb we had purchased last month. To go with the lamb, we were having grilled eggplant and grilled potatoes.

We had a wonderful dinner and saw the last episode of All Creatures Great And Small while we ate. After cleanup and a bit of reading, it was off to bed to read some more before sleeping.

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 I continued with the sewing project. I finished up the covers for John and Betty. Today was brighter, so I was able to see much better. When I finished the cover, I did some repairs on my bosun's chair. The critical stitching was in good shape, but the bottom stitching on two pockets needed to be re-stitched, which I did.

The next sewing project is to repair the tattered handles on one of our canvas bags. I have decided to add some pieces green Sunbrella to the handles. I cut out the pieces of Sunbrella, and hemmed the outer edges. I Then started to sew the pieces onto the bag handles, when we had another power failure! I waited 20 minutes and the power did not come back on, so I put all of the sewing stuff away, and went back to DREAM AWAY.

It was fairly late in the day, and no power, so I decided to work\ on a leak project. One source of leaks in the cockpit is where the Starboard on the hard bimini and the hard dodger butt up against the boom gallows. I had put some sealant in there, but it needed some more work, and on the hard dodger side, the Starboard needed more support, so it would not flex.

I had previously cut some aluminum angle pieces to screw into the boom gallows to support the Starboard, but had not installed them. Today seemed like a great day to do the installation and start repairing the sealant I had previously used.

When I secured and cleaned up from that project, I went and got a shower. Came back and got dressed and ready to go to Tortugal Marina for pizza and a movie. The launcha picked us up first, and them we made our way upriver to Tortugal Marina. Last week the projector broke, so we did not see the movie. They had purchased a new projector, so we were hopeful. After eating our pizza and a beer, we went to the movie area, and watched Against The Sun. It was a great film, and based on a true story.

After the film, when I went to pay our bill, I discovered that John and Betty had paid our bill as a thank you for the sewing work I had done. A very nice thing to do!

We got into the marina launcha, and they brought us back to Monkey Bay Marina. We got on DREAM AWAY, read for a while, 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.

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.

Today was mostly a social day, even though it did rain off and on most of the day. After breakfast and before we took off to our social events, I decided to get some stuff moved off of my work bench in the garage. It is getting way to full of stuff that needed to be put away. I took a photo of before but no after, but I really did put stuff away!

Kitty and I left DREAM AWAY around 1130, and headed for RAM Marine. They are having a big celebration to open their new paint booth, and the second year anniversary of the opening of the on premises West Marine Store. Just after we arrived, as we were walking up to the celebration at the new paint booth, it started to rain. We ducked under TANTALUS, out of the rain, until it stopped. While standing under TANTALUS, I made sure their dinghy was still very near, and the mast had been moved close to the front of the boat. The mast used to be right beside where the paint booth is.

After about seven minutes, the rain stopped for a while, and we continued on up to the paint booth. When we arrived we were given a ticket for the free food and beer or sodas. At the front of the paint booth they had the food cooking area set up on one side, and a popcorn vendor on the other side. Just behind the cooking area, they had a table set up for the silent auction, and were selling raffle tickets. Behind that area, they had table and chairs set up for Cruisers to sit. Very nicely arranged.

When you look at the paint booth from the outside it is huge, and when you are sitting down on the inside, looking up, it seems to go on forever!

We certainly enjoyed our food, the popcorn and meeting and visiting with friends. At 1330 the silent auction closed, and we had some very happy winners. The raffle winners were announced, and Kitty and I won a meal at Casa Perico. We found that interesting, as we were talking about going over there for a meal and taking them some more German book from our marina. So our plan will work out greatly in our favor.

After the raffle, I went up to the storage shed and checked on the generator Nicola & Noel had left there. I just wanted to make sure it was physically there. I found the covered generator, and moved the cover to verify that it was their generator. Success!

I walked back to the paint booth, and Kitty joined me for the short walk down to TANTALUS. I found a ladder, and climbed up to the cockpit then went down below to check the bilge, which is fine. Did not have time to get the key to check down below on SERENITY, but checked the outside, and all is well.

We then walked back to the dock to get into our tender. The huge catamaran, CAT BIRD, was still at the dock, and Kitty decided to introduce herself and see if she could get invited aboard. If you know Kitty, she did, and she did! We met the captain, Larry, and he invited Kitty and I, Jodie, and Jon and Angie aboard. Larry told us the catamaran is 82' X 33' X 4', and will easily do 22 knots!

Larry invited us inside the yacht, and offered us champagne! He said it was new bottle, but the label had fallen off in the refrigerator, so the owner would not drink it, so we were welcome. When you offer a free drink to cruisers, they will have a drink. Jon and Angie are English, and they love champagne, so we sat around the main salon visiting, and we finished off the bottle of champagne!

After the nice visit, and exchanging of names and phone numbers we left CAT BIRD, because we made planes to meet John and Betty at Backpackers Hotel, and we were running late. When we got to Backpackers Hotel, John and Betty were still there, so we sat down, ordered a beer, and an order of french fries.

Jodie and Kitty went to the Backpackers Hotel store to get the groceries and veggies we had ordered from the Casa Guatemala grocery boat. We were at the party at RAM Marine when the boat came to Monkey Bay Marina, so they could not be delivered. When Kitty and Jody came back from the store with the food, they also had in tow, Experanza's six month old baby girl. What a cute baby!

We all waited out the latest rain shower that came over, then we paid our bills, and headed for our respective homes, and boats. It was a great day overall, with lost of socializing with good friends.

We got back to DREAM AWAY, and got busy putting stuff away, and I went for my shower. Upon returning, I got busy with dinner, which was mostly left overs, and some goodies given to us by Larry on CAT BIRD. He had defrosted a couple of pieces of chicken and steak to cook out on the grill, but they were still docked at the fuel dock, and could not have an open fire. So he gave the chicken and steak to Kitty. We had some left over lamb, so dinner was a mixed grill and left overs veggies and rice.

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.

Kitty not feeling very well, so I made breakfast, and then did the cleanup. We had power, so I went up to the rancho with my sewing stuff. I moved the table I was using for the sewing machine closer to the outside edge so I would have more light. Once I got set up again, I was able to put the Sunbrella covers on the handles of the canvas bag.

Got everything put away from that project, including getting the Sailrite sewing machine back on DREAM AWAY. The remainder of the afternoon was spent troubleshooting the Pepwave router. I will not go into a long explanation of everything I did, but now I am suspecting I have a problem with my HyperLink WiFi Amplifier or the HyperLink WiFi Antenna. It will be a real problem troubleshooting these two items. I do not have spares, so all I can really do take the connections apart and check them.

I cleaned up from the troubleshooting project for today. I went and took a shower, and Kitty joined me in the rancho for a well deserved reading break. When it got a little dark, and the bugs came out we retreated back to DREAM AWAY, and had dinner. We watched a movie while we ate, then cleanup and off to bed. Kitty was feeling a bit better, so that was good news.

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 rained off and on all night, but when I got up at my usual time around 0530, it really started raining. Right after the net, I walked down the dock and pumped out the tender. I had to run a bunch of errands after breakfast, so I did a through job on the pump out!

Kitty was feeling much better, so we had a nice breakfast, and she cleaned up while I went off to do the errands. I got into the tender, and went up to Shell bay. My first stop was Julia's boat to drop off a flash drive with some "Pass It On" photos on it. The next stop was RAM Marine. I gave Karen, the manager, a flash drive with all of the photos I took at the RAM Marine party this past Saturday.

I checked out the key for SERENITY from the office, then found a ladder and went up and checked on SERENITY, to make sure all was well. I went down below, and nothing was out of sorts. The level of the water in the bilge had not changed so that was good. Did not see any problems, so I locked up the boat and went and checked on TANTALUS. I just did a walk around, as I had been down below this past Saturday. All seemed well with the dinghy and the mast.

I returned the key for the lock on SERENITY, at the RAM Marine office. While I was in the office, Karen returned the flash drive to me. From the office, I walked out to the dock to visit with Larry off of CAT BIRD. They had moved the boat to it's, so we were able to have a casual visit. He wanted to know some names of service folks around the river to get some items repaired. I gave him some contacts and phone numbers, as he now had a phone.

I was finally able to get a good photo of CAT BIRD from the side, and as I mentioned this past Saturday, It is a huge boat, 82' X 33' X 4'.

Left Larry on CAT BIRD, and I went over to El Progesso Upholstery. Kitty and I had decided to contact Luis, the owner, to get a quote for new awnings for DREAM AWAY. Luis had done some work for us on cushions down below, and also fixed up our enclosure pieces for our hard bimini when we were last in the Rio at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. He had done great work, at a very reasonable price, so we wanted to talk to him first.

Luis was not at his shop, but I was able to communicate with him by phone. We made an appointment to meet at DREAM AWAY, at 1500. With any luck by then it will have quit raining! I left El Progesso Upholstery, and then went up to Backpackers Hotel. We had ordered some cat food and kitty litter from Guatemala city, and I picked it up, and then headed back to DREAM AWAY.

The water had finally gone down enough in the Rio, that Efrain, the guardian and gardener here at Monkey Bay Marina, is starting to get the gardens back in shape. The bad news is a lot of the plants and flowers have died from being underwater for so long.

Will do another comparison of the water heights at the front porch of the Owner's house.

When I came back from taking these photos, I realized that DREAM AWAY was turning green! I decided to change that. I mixed up a bucket of bleach and soap and turned to on DREAM AWAY. I started on the top of the hard bimini under the solar panels, and then down to the doghouse, and finally all of the decks both fore and aft. When I finished, it was far from perfect, but sooooo much better!

Just as I was cleaning up from the wash DREAM AWAY project, Luis and his son William showed up. It was even a few minuted before three! We all went down below and had some cookies and lemonade. We talked about what has changed since the last time we Saw Luis and William. Luis speaks excellent English, so that is another reason to choose him to get the work done.

We finally finished the social part of the visit, and then Luis, William, and I went out on deck to talk about the awnings. I made my suggestions, Luis made his suggestions based on his experience, and we arrived at a design. We then measured out the three awnings needed and decided on the material, and the color of the material, a light tan.

Luis worked up a quote, that we felt was very good. Kitty and I discussed the amount, and decided to go through with it. Luis told us he would need Q 3300 initially so he could by the material. We told him we would be by his shop tomorrow, after we went to the bank. We had to change US dollars into Quetzals.

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.

No rain today, and our Internet very flaky. While waiting for the Casa Guatemala food boat, I decided to work on troubleshooting our HyperLink WiFi Amplifier and HyperLink WiFi Antenna. I do not have spares so all I can do is check the connections. If they look good, I will try and get in touch with the support people at L-com Global Connectivity.

The issue to getting to the connections, is they are located down one of the pipes of the starboard dinghy davits. To get to the wire to loosen the connections, we had to drop down the aft cabin cover. We got lucky and we only had to drop down the starboard half of the cover to loosen the wires to the HyperLink WiFi Antenna. We got lucky and we only had to drop down the starboard half of the cover to loosen the wires to the HyperLink WiFi Antenna.

The antenna has a three foot cable on it. Then there is an RF extension cable from the end of the antenna cable to the HyperLink WiFi Amplifier. To test the connection, I had to pull the wire out of the dinghy davit pipe. To do that I had to disconnect the extension cable from the HyperLink WiFi Amplifier, and pull it into the after cabin. I then tried to pull the antenna cable out of the dinghy davit pipe, but it would not come out with the Sirius Radio external antenna cable also in the dinghy davit pipe.

The good news is, I had left a messenger wire in the dinghy davit pipe so I disconnected the antenna cable from the Sirius Radio exterior antenna and had Kitty pull that cable back into the aft cabin. I then pulled the HyperLink WiFi Antenna cable out of the dinghy davit pipe. The connection looked very good, as I had put a large piece of shrink tubing around it. The only way to really look at the connection was to cut off the shrink tubing, and look. Which I did, and the connection was good!

I put the two antenna cables back together, and put another piece of shrink tubing on to seal the connection. I then had Kitty pull the extension cable back into the aft cabin. I tied a piece of string to the messenger wire, along with the Sirius Radio exterior antenna cable, and pulled it through the dinghy davit pipe. I then had Kitty pull the messenger wire back through the dinghy davit pipe with the string. I attached the cable to the Sirius Radio exterior antenna, and cleaned it all up back to where it was when we started.

So my problem was not any connections between the HyperLink WiFi Antenna and the HyperLink WiFi Amplifier. I removed the HyperLink WiFi Amplifier from the bulkhead in the garage, and took it apart to see if there were any obvious problems. There were none that I could see.

My only conclusion is that I have a defective HyperLink WiFi Antenna or a defective
HyperLink WiFi Amplifier. Now a two pronged attack. First is to see if I can find replacements before my friend Paul comes back to the river, and log a call with the L-com Global Connectivity folks to see if they can help me narrow down the problem.

While we were doing all of the troubleshooting, the Casa Guatemala food boat arrived and we got our goodies. The troubleshooting took most of the day, so the planned trip to the bank was put off until tomorrow. I cleaned up the area and put all of the tools and stuff I had out away.

Putting The Extension Cord Away

It was time to prepare my adult beverage, and to go get a most welcomed shower. When that was done, and while still enjoying my adult beverage, I made my way up to the outdoor kitchen. I am cooking pork steaks and grilled yuca. While I was in the outdoor kitchen, Kitty sauteed mushrooms and acelga. When all was said and done we had a delicious dinner, after a frustrating day of troubleshooting. After dinner and cleanup, I worked on the Maintenance Logs. Of course, I am very much behind!

Dinner On The Table

Jim Toasting Dinner

December 09, Wednesday, 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.

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.

Rained some during the night, so walked down the dock and pumped out the tender. While I was pumping, I lost the outlet hose to the pump over the side, now there is some diving in my future!

After a late breakfast, Kitty and I went into town, as we had to change US dollars into Quetzals. We ended up going to all three banks in town. The first bank would not do anything for us unless we had an account. The second and the third bank would only change $200.00 for each passport. It worked out, because we only needed to change $800.00 for our awnings.

On our walk back into town we stopped at the Despensa Familiar, and did our shopping there. I took all the groceries back to the tender. Walked back into town to the veggie stand, then the spice store, and the finally to Ingrid's Tienda. Kitty had been waiting for me at Ingrid's Tienda, so we walked back to Bruno's with all of our new purchases. We loaded up the tender and went across the river to Backpackers Hotel and purchased a loaf of bread.

Before we could get going again, it started to rain, so I moved all of the bags of groceries out of the tender, and into the cover at the hotel. When the downpour lightened up a bit, I walked down to El Progreso Upholstery. I gave Luis Q 3300 to get started on the awnings for DREAM AWAY, and he gave me a receipt. I walked back to Backpackers Hotel, and after another 20 minutes, the rain had stopped. We loaded everything into the tender, and went back to DREAM AWAY.

By the time we got back to DREAM AWAY, put the groceries away and I did the dishes, it was time for a shower. On the way to the showers, I got into the water where I thought the hose might be, and tried to find it. I did not have a mask, the water is very murky because of all of the rain, and the sun was not out, so I did not find the hose. I will have to get out my mask and try again tomorrow.

I did get a nice shower, and we had a pleasant dinner of must-go-downs!

December 10, Thursday, 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.

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.

Did more troubleshooting on the HyperLink WiFi Amplifier and HyperLink WiFi Antenna. I did not have the exact model of my HyperLink WiFi Amplifier, so I removed mine from the bulkhead in the garage. I took a photo of the back, so now I have the model number recorded. This will make it easier to find what I need on eBay.

Back Of My HyperLink WiFi Amplifier

I wrote a couple of emails to the support folks at L-com Global Connectivity to get that ball rolling. I also did some testing with my spare Pepwave router. Did not find any problems, but I am recording readings to help with the troubleshooting process.

Pepwave Router On Table After Troubleshooting

The stanchion base that is over the garage, has not leaked since I took the stanchion out of the base, and the threaded rods out, and covered all of the holes with duct tape. Now I am going to put the stanchion back into the base and see if it leaks. Just to say I did it, I removed the duct tape from the stanchion hole and ran the hose into the hole for about three minutes, and no leaks! Did not expect any.

First item on the list was to clean up the actual stanchion. I also filed around a couple of the bolt holes in the stanchion, so there were no rough edges. I then cleaned off any foreign material on the stanchion.

Stanchion In The Vice In The Garage

I then put the stanchion into the stanchion base. That was the easy part. Now I had to align the hole in the stanchion base with the hole in the stanchion, and put the bolt through. Once I finally got the holes lined up, I used the butyl rubber tape to seal each end of the bolt, and put the bolt and nut on. Now it is just a matter of time to see if that part leaks.

Stanchion Set Into The Stanchion Base

Jim Lining Up Stanchion With Strap Wrench

Unrolling The Butyl Rubber Tape

Tightening The Bolt And Nut On The Stanchion Base

Next project was to dive for the hose I had lost, that I need for the pump in the tender. This time I used my mask, which allowed me to see better. The water was so murky, because of all of the rain, it took several dives, but I finally found the hose and got it back into the tender.

Getting The Mask Fitted For The Hose Search

A Couple Of Dives - Still No Hose

Still Cannot Find The Stupid Hose

Finally Found The Hose

Coming Back From Shower After The Diving

I went back to DREAM AWAY and worked on the Maintenance Logs for a couple of hours, and then we got ready to catch the launch to Tortugal Marina for the International Trivia game. We did not do very well, but we had a good time, and enjoyed a great meal. When we got back to DREAM AWAY, we read for a while, and then off to bed!

Going Under The Rio Dulce Bridge At Sunset

Trivia Team Members - Kitty, Sandy And Linda

Trivia Team Members -Linda And Don

December 11, Friday, 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.

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning, so as usual, I took a couple of photos!

Sunrise On The Rio Dulce

Sunrise On The Rio Dulce

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.

Today I took down the awning that we had on the bow of DREAM AWAY. It was it pretty bad condition, and needed to go. We also were making room for the new awning from Luis at El Progreso Upholstery.

Old Awning On Bow Of DREAM AWAY

Forward Awning With Many Holes In It

Jim Getting The Awning Down

After I removed the old awning, I folded it up and put it in the trash room at the marina. Back to DREAM AWAY, and I washed off the bow of DREAM AWAY to get all of the very little pieces of awning that were all over. It was easy to track all of the little pieces down below, and it made a mess.

I wanted to do some more work on the stanchion base I had worked on yesterday, but the rain showers made it impossible. I did get the starboard side of DREAM AWAY scrubbed clean at the water line between the rain showers. When it was not raining, I worked on the computer to try and get caught up on the Maintenance Logs.

In the late afternoon, I fixed an adult beverage, and took a shower. We then got dressed, and waited for the launcha from Tortugal Marina. It was movie night, and we were off to see a mountain climbing documentary named Meru. We enjoyed the film, but the nice treat for us, was the restaurant bought our dinners, because I make the announcement about movie night for them on the Rio Dulce Cruisers net.

We said our goodbyes to several friends, and then took the launcha back to Monkey Bay Marina. We got on board DREAM AWAY, and it had not rained on us!

December 12, Saturday, 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.

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.

Immediately following the net, we got into our tender, and headed up river to the Backpacker’s Hotel for another meeting of the Books For Breakfast Book Club. The book club has expanded to include movies, and we are having Mimosa's with breakfast. The name of the club, has now changed to the Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club.

We had a good meeting exchanging books and movies, and we each chatted about a book, movie, and a TV series that we really liked and would recommend. We scheduled another meeting this coming Tuesday because of the upcoming holidays, and the fact that a good many of the attendees are leaving for the holidays. I took some photos of the meeting, but of course did not write down the names of the individuals? If I can remember the names, I will add them.

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendees Heather And Ellen

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendees Stan And Jodie

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendees Jerie And Linda

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendee Kitty

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendee Meyka

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendees Vito

Books, Booze, and Movies Breakfast Club Attendees Betty And Doug

After the meeting, Kitty and I went back to DREAM AWAY. While we were waiting for the Casa Guatemala food boat, I was able to get the stanchion base I had been working on finished. I installed the threaded rod with plenty of the butyl rubber, and put the top piece of stainless steel back into place. I believe it is sealed as good as it can get, but time will tell.

Stanchion Base With Duct Tape Over Holes

Completed Stanchion Base

Next project I worked on was to clean up the butyl rubber sealant I had between the hard dodger and the boom gallows. I now had the Starboard pretty stable, without much movement. I needed to get the butyl rubber cleaned up because I am planning to run a bead of Sikaflex sealant between the Starboard of the hard dodger and the boom gallows. It may not be perfect, but it will keep the leaks down to a minimum.

Starboard And Boom Gallows Joint With Butyl Rubber

Now I wanted to work on the wiring from the main mast into the boat. For some reason, when it rains, the water just runs down the wires, even thought there is a loop in the wires at the bottom of the mast, and drips on the deck of the mid cabin.

I had purchased some pretty stiff hose before coming to Guatemala last year, in the hopes of replacing the present hose, and put a loop in the wires outside the mast before it goes through the deck into DREAM AWAY. Hopefully this would keep water from leaking into the mid-cabin.

I disconnected all of the wires from the terminal board where they come through the deck into the mid cabin of DREAM AWAY.

Wires Disconnected From Terminal Board In Mid-cabin

I went out on deck, and disconnected the present hose from the thru-deck fitting into the mid-cabin, and pulled the wires up on deck. I then disconnected the hose from the fitting at the bottom of the mast, and removed the hose. This exposed all of the wires coming out of the mast.

Present Hose Connected From Mast To Thru-deck Fitting On Deck

Wires Coming Out Of Main Mast

Completely Exposed Wires

I measured and cut a piece of the new hose, and then attempted to bend it so it would fit on the fitting at the bottom of the main mast, and the thru-deck fitting into the mid-cabin. It did not work, as the new hose was too stiff. It ended up bending in the middle, and I was afraid it would pinch some of the wires coming out of the mast.

Old Hose (Blue) And New Hose (White)

New Hose With Kink In It

Back to Plan A! I put the wires back into the old (Blue) hose, and made sure there was a loop of the wires inside the main mast. I connected the hose to the fitting on the mast, and then shoved the wires down through the thru-deck fitting into the mid-cabin. I connected the hose to the thru-deck fitting, and hoped I may have fixed my leak problem. I then connected the wires back to the terminal board on the overhead of the mid-cabin. When the wires were all connected, I tested the lights and radio to verify operation. The wind instrument is still not working properly, but that is an ongoing issue, that is very frustrating.

Old Hose (Blue) Connected Back To Mast And Thru-Deck Fitting

All Wires Connected Back To Terminal Board

I cleaned up from the projects, fixed an adult beverage and went up and took a very refreshing shower. I came back to DREAM AWAY, and got all of the goodies I needed to cook dinner. I then took them up to the outdoor kitchen, and cooked a dinner of grilled pork chops, grilled potatoes and grilled eggplant. We had a wonderful dinner, and attempted to watch two films, but neither were very interesting, so we ended up reading during dinner. Kitty had baked a chocolate cake, and iced it with chocolate icing, so we had a great dessert!

Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing

December 13, Sunday, 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.

Kitty had purchased a length of 1/2" PVC pipe before we came to Guatemala last year for a curtain rod in the aft cabin. The curtains we have for the aft window in the aft cabin, just did not hang right. The plan is to use the piece of PVC pipe as the curtain rod.

With Kitty's help we were able to cut the PVC Pipe to the proper length, get it fitted across the windows in the stern, and then get a plan together to modify the existing curtains to fit the new curtain rod. It will all come together when I get to a sewing day and modify the curtains.

Jim Fitting The Curtain Rod (PVC Pipe)

New Curtain In Place

End Of Curtain Rod in Place On Cup Hook

Another project I need to work on is the deck drain that comes through the deck in the garage. It looked like the Marlon fitting was broken, but upon closer examination, it was not. I decided that I would re-seal the current fitting. I check my stash of sealants, and all of the tubes had hardened. I would have to put off that project until I could get to Tienda Reed and purchase some Sikaflex. I also realized to do the re-seal properly, I would have to move the aft tool box out of the way!

Deck Drain Fitting In Garage

Aft Tool Box That Will Have To Be Moved

I had purchased 10 gallons of diesel fuel in Jerry Jugs, so I needed to pour the fuel into the starboard tank through my fuel filter. It is more work to get the fuel into the tanks this way, but the hoses at the fuel stations are so big, and the fuel filter is very slow, it just takes too much time. This way I can do it at my pace, plus it spreads the cost out, since I do not do the fuel purchase all at one time.

Jerry Jugs Ready to Empty Into Starboard Fuel Tank

Filter In The Tank And Oil Soak Pads To Protect Against A Spill

Fuel Filter In The Tank

Now it was time to put on my chef hat. Kitty had requested that I cook up a pot of my spaghetti sauce, so I got to work on that. Here on the Rio, the spaghetti sauce comes in small packets, so it takes quite a few to make a big pot of sauce.

Ingredients Ready To Be Made Into Sauce

While the sauce was simmering, I went off to take a shower. We were getting together with our next door neighbors, Joanna and Walter, who live on ASPERIDA. This boat is right next to us. While I was in the shower, Kitty prepared an onion and cream cheese dip. We took the Mexican Train dominoes, the dip, a bag of chips, and I had an adult beverage with me, up to the rancho.

Joanna and Walter had never played Mexican Train, so we had two practice rounds to explain the rules, and then we got into the real game. We only had time for six rounds, before it started getting dark and the bugs really come out. We stopped the game, to be continued at a later date, and we went back to our respective boats.

Joanna Taking Pictures Of The Game

Joanna And Walter Learning The Game

Kitty And Her Hand

Jim (Santa) Enjoying The Game

With These Dominoes, I Am Not Winning

When we got back to DREAM AWAY, I started the pasta water cooking, Made an avocado with chopped tomatoes and onion salad. When the pasta was finished we sat down to a lovely spaghetti dinner, which included wine. Kitty got up and started clearing the table, and I was not finished eating, so I grabbed my stuff to make sure I could finish it!

Jim Holding Onto His Dinner

December 14, Monday, 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.

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 and getting organized, Jon & Angie off of ANGELA G came by and we had a visit. They were headed into town, so we made arrangements with Sandy off of BONNIE to have four lunches ready. While waiting for Jon & Angie to return, I worked on the movies and spare disks to try and get the movies we have, a little better organized..

Jon & Angie went by BONNIE and picked up the lunches, and came back to DREAM AWAY. We then visited and had lunch, which we all enjoyed. After lunch, Jon & Angie had to leave. They are presently living down river at the east end of the El Golfete. When the wind picks up in the afternoon, blowing out of the east, it can be a very uncomfortable ride back across the El Golfete. We said our goodbyes, and they headed down river. I got into our tender, and went up to RAM Marine to get some cash. While there I also talked to the yard manager, Karen, about Paul's drip-less seal. It was in her hand, so that will make Paul happy when I email him the news.

My next stop was up river to Tienda Reed. I was looking for some cake mixes, and some Sikaflex, but he had neither. I went back to DREAM AWAY. When I got back I hauled a bunch of stuff out to the shop, and put it up into our storage area. While I was working in the storage area, I got all of my diesel Jerry Jugs to take along on our trip to Puerto Barrios. We will be going in John's car, and diesel fuel is cheaper on the highway than at the stations on the Rio Dulce.

When I completed those tasks, I fixed an adult beverage, and took a shower. After my shower, I met Kitty in the rancho. We sat and enjoyed the afternoon breeze and did some reading. When it started to get dark, we went back to DREAM AWAY and had our dinner.

December 15, Tuesday, 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.

Puerto Barrios

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.

Immediately following the Rio Dulce Cruisers net, we got into the tender, and went upriver to Backpacker’s Hotel to the Book Club meeting. We enjoyed a nice breakfast, and then had the meeting, talking about books we are currently reading, or have enjoyed, and also films that we particularly like.

After the meeting, John, the manager of Monkey Bay Marina showed up in his car with Elizabeth in the back seat. Elizabeth is a good friend of John's, and also a friend of ours. She also works at the Monkey Bay Marina as the cleaning lady, and when the owner is down, she is the cook. Elizabeth was going along with us to purchase some Christmas presents for her family. We drove from Rio Dulce down to the Immigration office in Puerto Barrios. Our original three month visa and three month extension was getting ready to expire. After six months we actually had to leave the country, and then come back to start the cycle all over again. The good news is we do not physically leave Guatemala, just our passports!

There is an arrangement, and I do not ask for details, where the immigration person in the office in Puerto Barrios sends our passports over to Punta Gorda, Belize, in a launcha. The immigration folks in Belize, stamp us in and hold the passports for a day, then stamp us out, and sends the passports back to Puerto Barrios on the launcha. The immigration person in the Puerto Barrios office, stamps us back into Guatemala. We then go back to Puerto Barrios and pick up our passports. We now have a new three month visa, that can be renewed for an additional three months, and so the cycle goes. Of course the best way to do this is to actually go cruising on DREAM AWAY!

We left the immigration office, and went to the mall. While there we did some grocery shopping at the Super Despensa, and then had lunch at the Subway in the mall. While there Elizabeth did her shopping, and John ordered a couple of pizzas from Domino's Pizza. He purchased one for the kids of the Guardian at Monkey Bay Marina, and two for a couple of girls he is supporting in El Estor.

With the shopping and eating finished, we got into John's car, and headed back to the Rio Dulce. On the way back we stopped at a service station, and I purchased 20 gallons of diesel fuel at about $.25 cheaper than sold at the stations on the river. When we got back, John dropped us off at the Backpacker’s Hotel where I had left my tender. John continued on to El Estor, while Kitty, Elizabeth, and I loaded the fuel, groceries and pizza into the tender and went back to the Monkey Bay Marina. Here we unloaded all of the stuff, and then put it away.

Kitty and I went and had a nice refreshing shower, then back to DREAM AWAY for a light supper of cheese and crackers. We had had a big lunch, so we did not need to eat a large amount. We read while we ate, and then when we got tired, we headed off to bed.

December 16, Wednesday, 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.

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 net, I did some work on the Maintenance Logs, and then got into the tender and went up to Tienda Reed to meet Raul. He had our paperwork for the one year extension on the cruising permit of DREAM AWAY. I got into the line, and finally got all of the documents. I then went back to DREAM AWAY to have breakfast with Kitty.

After breakfast, I got back into the tender and headed upriver to RAM Marine and got some cash. I then went across the river and docked at Bruno's. From there I walked into town to do some shopping. The first stop was Tienda Miriam, and then onto the Despensa Familiar. After grocery purchase, I went to our veggie stand to get some fresh veggies. It was back to Bruno's, and I put all of the purchases into the tender, and then back to DREAM AWAY.

While at the Despensa Familiar I purchased some coffee. This time I decided to take a photo of the package. I was planning to taste the coffee, and if it was good, I wanted to purchase it again. There are so many coffee choices in the stores here, I never remember which one I purchased. Since I am writing this well after December, I can say that this coffee turned out to be good!

Bag Of Paisano Coffee

I changed into work clothes, and got started on the first project of the day. I poured the 20 gallons of diesel I had purchased on the trip to Puerto Barrios, into the starboard fuel tank. I am trying to get both fuel tanks topped off a bit at a time, so the cost is spread out over a longer period of time.

Jerry Jugs Ready To Be Emptied

Setup To Pour Jerry Jugs Into Starboard Tank

The next project was an actual maintenance project! I replaced the zincs in the main engine heat exchanger, and the transmission heat exchanger. The zincs are used as sacrificial pieces of metal to save the metal of the heat exchangers. It is not so critical while in the fresh water of the Rio Dulce. When you are in a salt water environment, it is very important.

Zinc Fitting On Bottom Of Main Engine Heat Exchanger

Zinc Fitting On Bottom Of Transmission Heat Exchanger

New Zinc Fitting On Bottom Of Main Engine Heat Exchanger

While I was changing the zinc on the transmission heat exchanger, I noticed the hose clamp on the water output hose was just about rusted away. I replaced the hose clamp to keep any problems from cropping up later.