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Return to SeaTryst, Fall 2009
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In early December, we traveled to California to celebrate Matt and Vicky Brasher's wedding. It was especially great to see the love they share, and to be with family and friends for this wonderful ceremony,
Making the most of
our trip to California, we spent an afternoon and sunset at Half Moon Bay,
ending up at the Distillery which provided fire pits and wool blankets for
the chilly evening.
We had two days in Connecticut before flying to Guatemala to return to SeaTryst. We got a lot done in those brief hours! Larry picked us up at 3:45a on Friday, December 11, to catch a 5:55a flight out of Providence, helping us load 4 bags (200 lbs), a heavy backpack, and Rosie into his truck in below freezing temperatures.
Back to Guatemala We spent one night in Guatemala City to rest before taking a 5-hour drive to Rio Dulce. We walked to a bank to exchange US dollars to Quetzals, and spent some time wandering near Parque Central. They were setting up for a celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and there were groups of policemen standing around with riot gear. We had never seen so many police and knew this was not the place to be! Heading back to our hotel, we saw some new shops and eateries ... and finally realized we were not where we thought we should be! As we pulled out the map and studied it, a police truck stopped. Even though we could not speak the other's language, they knew we were lost, told us to get in, and brought us back to the hotel, all of us laughing all the way. They even put the siren and lights on to cross a busy intersection. When we got to the hotel, the driver got out and stood with us until the maitre d' opened the door. What a way to start our trip! The next morning we were picked up by our taxi to take us back to Tortugal Marina. We spent an hour and a half shopping in WalMart for some provisions and had an easy ride back. Russ, the marina manager, greeted our launcha and said we had set a record for number of bags (our travel bags plus groceries). SeaTryst was in great shape. We had everything unpacked that night and slept onboard. In the days since returning to the boat, Bob has done a number of repairs, some expected and some not. He rebuilt the wind generator, repaired the dinghy hole, replaced the macerator (it was a shitty job!), fixed the generator without having to replace the water pump, and on and on... More work has been done by local craftsman: we now have a full noseeum screen enclosure and our dinghy motor has been overhauled. It took a few days for Rosie to become acclimated to the boat; she seems to have settled in just fine.
It was with great joy that we reconnected with Denis and Marie on Honah Lee II - we were with them for a few weeks in the Bahamas our first year; they left us to sail through the Eastern chain and have now worked their way on up to the Northwest Caribbean.
On Christmas Eve, the marina boats had a potluck dinner, Dirty Santa gift swap, and carol sing. (Maggie finally got to use the Seaport's Carol Sing books she brought onboard in 2005!)
We are having some cabinetry work done on the interior of the boat, and as soon as it is completed, we will head out to Roatan. Hoping to leave the Rio and check out of Guatemala on January 4, 2010, our plan is to retrace our course in May ... go along the coast of Honduras to Omoa and El Diamante, then to Utila and finally Roatan, where we will be for most of the season. Stay tuned for more, as we continue the adventure!
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