Life on the Rio Dulce

N along the Rio

NE along the Rio

As everyone likely knows change is never an easy thing. Even harder is making a drastic change such as tossing off the dock lines, leaving everything behind and sailing off into the sunset. Rather poetic, sailing off into the sunset. Even harder for us, than the initial departure are the subsequent departures from marinas. Leaving an anchorage, even after several weeks is no big deal. Simply stow everything away, pick up the anchor and set the sails. However, even a brief stay dockside connected to land is difficult to break from. Why is that Captain Ron?

nobody knows

Boto at Mar Marina

We’ve been tied to slip #13 at Mar Marina, Fronteras now for two weeks, we had planned to depart this past Monday for points further up the Rio Dulce. However, the weather forecast called for very hot weather coupled with thunderstorms for the week, so we’ll stay put for a few more days. Although we always make our voyage plans with an eye on the weather, this decision to stay dockside came very easy almost with relief. The upside is with the thermostat and humidity both in the 90’s we’ll have air conditioning. The winds will likely pick up along with the thunderstorms; we’ll be safely tied to the dock. While it does get bumpy dockside we have no worries about the anchor letting go and Boto ending up aground or worse, hitting another boat or being hit.

Perhaps for the sailor, land is a security blanket. Although we venture to sea we know that one day we’ll return to shore and the safety of terra firma. Is this a false sense of security? On board, even in the worst of weather we have never felt that Boto would let us down, she is most seaworthy. Perhaps it’s the boat bites*.

why do we like to be shore side?

boat bite

*Boat bites are administered by a boat to careless humans. While not all bites draw blood, many do. In order for a bite to be recognized the human must be able to recount how it happened, if the human is unable to recall how the bite happened, then it did not happen. So stop your whining. Remember, No Sniveling!

Dockside, we can simply step ashore and walk, whereas when at anchor we must use the dinghy to take us ashore. However, while tied dockside we lament the loss of our ability to simply dive over the side and go for a swim to cool off. Chula certainly enjoys the ability to leap from the deck to the dock and to run through the trees, although she will admit that she really misses the run along a beach and the refreshing dip in the sea.

Perhaps it’s the readily available food items. On shore we can visit the grocery or a pub, at anchor we usually cook aboard, which heats up the cabin making us go topside to dive over the side to cool off. Perhaps it’s the company of others, on board there are the three of us, a book or movie or perhaps the radio. Ashore there is live entertainment and the chance to sit and chat with others, maybe even someone famous?

is that you Lefty?

just a little pickin' and singin'

Whatever the draw of being ashore, we must be wary of the critters. On the water we obviously have all sorts of marine life. There is also a good deal of avian life. It is amazing to find a bird in the middle of the ocean. Obviously on shore there are many birds, there are also many other species, including snakes. Snakes are Vicky's new obsession, ever since her run in with a green tree snake on the dock. The Green Tree snake is not poisonous, the two to watch out for in Guatemala are the Coral and the Fer-de-Lance. Although Vicky ran into a harmless Green Tree Snake, Pedro the dock hand here at the marina dispatched it to the great beyond non-the-less. A word to the wise from Pedro, all snakes are bad.