Rio Dulce Guatemala
By Capt. Scott Buckley
This is April 2018 and we were anchored off Cabo "Tres Puentes" Guatemala after sailing down from Placencia Belize and had a forecast high tide at the Rio Dulce inlet of 1.5 feet at 7:10AM the next morning. We needed the high tide to cross the bar at the mouth of the river to get into Livingston Guatemala to check into the country. Crossing this bar was a big milestone for Tamera and I.
Our plan was to get underway a 5:00AM the next morning to make the 9 nautical mile (nm) trek to the shallow bar and cross it at high tide. The evening was beautiful and we enjoyed a nice dinner and swim before retiring for some sleep.
The winds thru the night began increasing but the bottom anchoring conditions were good and the anchor was holding well so there was not too much concern at first. Through the night the conditions remained good but by early the next morning the winds had picked up. At around 4:00AM the following morning we received a distressing call from Don on our buddy boat SV Rainbow's End that the weather looked bad and they wanted to know what we should do. In fact the winds and sea had picked up allot (30 to 35 knots) thru the night and became squally and the boat was pitching around great deal but nothing to disturbing.
What was disturbing was the wind direction. The winds had shifted from the east northeast to the southwest which was the direction we needed to go. That meant the winds would be on the nose and we would be beating into large seas. Rainbow's end continued to call on the marine VHF radio wanting to know about the weather conditions. We had just woke up and were orienting ourselves to the new conditions so I had no immediate answers. I turned on the radar to have a look and saw a very large squall to the west that measured 18 nm across. The squall was now on us and looked like we would need to pass thru it to get to Livingston.
With the new wind direction we went from being anchored behind the protection of the land to being anchored off a lea shore in deteriorating conditions. I said we need to get the anchor up and get off this shore. Tamera agreed and relayed the plan to SV Rainbow's End who also began picking up their anchor as well.
Picking up anchor in these condition is difficult and dangerous but Tamera is an exceedingly competent mate and we work really well together. Sorry there are no pictures but we were entirely too busy being exceedingly competent and working well together or it slipped our minds.
With the wind on our nose in the 35 knot range the seas were large and slowed SV Kooky Dance to 3.0 to 3.5 knots instead of her regular 6.0 to 6.5 knot range. That meant the 9 nm trek to the mouth of the Rio Dulce was going to take 3 hours instead of less than 2 hours. It also meant we would miss high tide. The bar at the entrance to the Rio at low tide was only about 4 ft and we drew 5' 6" so we needed the 1.5 ft tide that was predicted. If we missed it we would have to wait until the next morning. So we pushed on and encouraged SV Rainbow's End to keep up as they were falling farther and farther behind. While that may not be a problem for them as they only had a draft of 4' 10" it had been the plan that they would cross the bar in front of us and relay the depth they saw.
Our other buddy boat SV Arawa had cross the bar a few days before and had run hard aground and had to get a boat to pull them off and tow them into Livingston. SV Arawa indicated that the tow boat (a local fisherman) towed them off the bottom and pulled them more toward the north of the standard rhumb line. SV Arawa only draws 3" more than SV Kooky Dance. So we took the way point supplied by SV Arawa and programmed them into the chart plotter the night before and I had planned to pass a little north of the rhumb line described by their way points.
As we push on the time of the high tide came and went and we were now looking at a falling tide. If we tried to cross the bar now and ran aground we would have to wait for the next high tide the next morning before we could hope to get off ourselves. In that time we could get blown further into the shallows or we could try and get a tow from a local boat. We had heard the locals could charge between $100 and $150 depending on whether they have to use one or two boats to free your vessel. While it is not a huge cost it was one we were hoping to avoid.
As we approached the bar we stayed in contact with SV Rainbow's End and I relayed my frustration at missing the tide. While they could still cross the bar with their shallower draft they did not want to check into Guatemala without us. They spoke very little Spanish and were counting on me to act as their interpreter once we got in. They suggested I call the Rio Dulce Cruiser radio net and see if we could get some guidance. Even though Rio Dulce was 22 nm away I gave it a shot and got a response from motor trawler MV Chickcharnie. I relay our predicament and he asked us our draft. He indicated that we might make it and that we had to decide quickly. He also said that we should attempt to cross the bar going as fast as we could. WHAT!
Normally when heading into shallow water we adopt the approach to proceed very very slowly. That way if we run aground the boats speed and inertia will not be so great as to drive up on a bar and make it very difficult to free the boat. Additionally we looked at the tide and make sure we don't have a falling tide so that if we do get stuck time will not be our enemy. I have run aground more times than I care to remember and the one time I ran aground on some rocks in the Bahamas and I could not get the boat off under her own power I simply waited for the tide and in about 45 minutes SV Kooky Dance floated free and we sailed away. The "go slow" approach has been a winning strategy for many years of sailing.
In this case this lunatic on the radio was suggesting we head into shallow water at full speed. Not only that there were others listening in on the radio conversation and AGREED with that "go fast" strategy. They were all mad. Turns out Don on MV Chickcharine is a really good Captain and all around good guy but at the time I was quite sure he was a couple of beers short of a six pack.
Our original plan was for SV Rainbow's End to cross the bar in front of us with their shallower draft and relay the depths to us. Rainbow's End was still well behind us and to wait for them to get ahead of us would mean losing even more of the tide. I had to make a decision quickly whether to attempt to cross the bar or not I told Tamera we were going to go for it and to relay that to SV Rainbow's End.
So I increased the throttle to 3/4 full throttle (I just could not do the full tilt bozo approach) and in we went. The depth started coming up from 15 ft to 8 ft. That meant there was only 2.5 feet under the keel. Then it went to 1 foot under the keel and the boat was speeding at near her hull speed with just 6 inches under her. Everything in my being was screaming we had to stop this. Tamera was just as tense, and then the depth showed 0 ft under the keel and SV Kooky Dance continued at her best speed into certain disaster. Tamera asked what was the depth now and I could only respond; "Don't ask".
Then we hit. SV Kooky Dance started slowing down briefly and then started accelerating again. We were accelerating, what madness. Then we hit the bottom again a little harder this time and I bumped the throttle up because we were loosing speed. My hand was on the throttle and I wanted to pull it back but fought the urge. And then we really hit. SV Kooky Dance was rapidly coming to a stop. The bow was pulling down and both Tamera and I were being thrown forward from the deceleration and just when I thought it was over for us and we were hard aground the bow popped back up. It appeared we were stopped but I looked at the water and saw some bubble that were moving slowly aft. With the throttle at full SV Kooky Dance was moving forward. I just waited and in about a minute SV Kooky Dance began accelerating. We were free.
We continued on and only bumped one more time but not nearly as bad as the last one. The water depth started registering a couple of inches under the keel and then an entire 1/2 ft. I eased the throttle back and suddenly took a deep breath. Both Tamera and I had been holding our breaths. It also dawned on us that we had just crossed the Rio Dulce entrance bar. That was a HUGE milestone for us and we start hooting and giving high fives to each other as our tension levels decreased. I don't think either of us could get the grins off our faces.
We made our approach into Livingston and got an anchorage quite close to town. As I had mentioned the winds had been quite strong and due to the closeness of land on this side of the bay the seas had been very small but Livingston was not known to be a good anchorage so we were a little worried as we dropped the hook in 7 ft of water. We set the anchor well using the engine and waited to see if it was going to hold. It did and in the short time (10 minutes) while we prepared the boat and our check in documents the wind completely fell away to less than 10 knots. We had to laugh at the irony.
It was around noon when we returned to the boats and Guatemalan weather was living up so its reputation of being very hot. We decided to have some lunch and a cold beer before getting underway to our next destination at Cayo Quemato or as it is sometimes called "Texan Bay" about 7 to 9 nm up river. To do that we would need to pass thru the gorge which is a very picturesque section of the river that is enclosed on both sides by very high cliffs that are 300 ft high in some places.
The gorge will be the subject of the next Blog so this will be it for this one.
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| Map from Placencia Belize to Tres Puntas |
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| Cabo Tres Puntas to Livingston Guatemala |
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| The anchorage at Tres Puntas with SV Rainbow's End in the background |
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| Tres Puntas Anchorage beach |
What was disturbing was the wind direction. The winds had shifted from the east northeast to the southwest which was the direction we needed to go. That meant the winds would be on the nose and we would be beating into large seas. Rainbow's end continued to call on the marine VHF radio wanting to know about the weather conditions. We had just woke up and were orienting ourselves to the new conditions so I had no immediate answers. I turned on the radar to have a look and saw a very large squall to the west that measured 18 nm across. The squall was now on us and looked like we would need to pass thru it to get to Livingston.
With the new wind direction we went from being anchored behind the protection of the land to being anchored off a lea shore in deteriorating conditions. I said we need to get the anchor up and get off this shore. Tamera agreed and relayed the plan to SV Rainbow's End who also began picking up their anchor as well.
Picking up anchor in these condition is difficult and dangerous but Tamera is an exceedingly competent mate and we work really well together. Sorry there are no pictures but we were entirely too busy being exceedingly competent and working well together or it slipped our minds.
With the wind on our nose in the 35 knot range the seas were large and slowed SV Kooky Dance to 3.0 to 3.5 knots instead of her regular 6.0 to 6.5 knot range. That meant the 9 nm trek to the mouth of the Rio Dulce was going to take 3 hours instead of less than 2 hours. It also meant we would miss high tide. The bar at the entrance to the Rio at low tide was only about 4 ft and we drew 5' 6" so we needed the 1.5 ft tide that was predicted. If we missed it we would have to wait until the next morning. So we pushed on and encouraged SV Rainbow's End to keep up as they were falling farther and farther behind. While that may not be a problem for them as they only had a draft of 4' 10" it had been the plan that they would cross the bar in front of us and relay the depth they saw.
Our other buddy boat SV Arawa had cross the bar a few days before and had run hard aground and had to get a boat to pull them off and tow them into Livingston. SV Arawa indicated that the tow boat (a local fisherman) towed them off the bottom and pulled them more toward the north of the standard rhumb line. SV Arawa only draws 3" more than SV Kooky Dance. So we took the way point supplied by SV Arawa and programmed them into the chart plotter the night before and I had planned to pass a little north of the rhumb line described by their way points.
As we push on the time of the high tide came and went and we were now looking at a falling tide. If we tried to cross the bar now and ran aground we would have to wait for the next high tide the next morning before we could hope to get off ourselves. In that time we could get blown further into the shallows or we could try and get a tow from a local boat. We had heard the locals could charge between $100 and $150 depending on whether they have to use one or two boats to free your vessel. While it is not a huge cost it was one we were hoping to avoid.
As we approached the bar we stayed in contact with SV Rainbow's End and I relayed my frustration at missing the tide. While they could still cross the bar with their shallower draft they did not want to check into Guatemala without us. They spoke very little Spanish and were counting on me to act as their interpreter once we got in. They suggested I call the Rio Dulce Cruiser radio net and see if we could get some guidance. Even though Rio Dulce was 22 nm away I gave it a shot and got a response from motor trawler MV Chickcharnie. I relay our predicament and he asked us our draft. He indicated that we might make it and that we had to decide quickly. He also said that we should attempt to cross the bar going as fast as we could. WHAT!
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| A boat (not mine) shown hard aground courtesy of Google images |
In this case this lunatic on the radio was suggesting we head into shallow water at full speed. Not only that there were others listening in on the radio conversation and AGREED with that "go fast" strategy. They were all mad. Turns out Don on MV Chickcharine is a really good Captain and all around good guy but at the time I was quite sure he was a couple of beers short of a six pack.
Our original plan was for SV Rainbow's End to cross the bar in front of us with their shallower draft and relay the depths to us. Rainbow's End was still well behind us and to wait for them to get ahead of us would mean losing even more of the tide. I had to make a decision quickly whether to attempt to cross the bar or not I told Tamera we were going to go for it and to relay that to SV Rainbow's End.
So I increased the throttle to 3/4 full throttle (I just could not do the full tilt bozo approach) and in we went. The depth started coming up from 15 ft to 8 ft. That meant there was only 2.5 feet under the keel. Then it went to 1 foot under the keel and the boat was speeding at near her hull speed with just 6 inches under her. Everything in my being was screaming we had to stop this. Tamera was just as tense, and then the depth showed 0 ft under the keel and SV Kooky Dance continued at her best speed into certain disaster. Tamera asked what was the depth now and I could only respond; "Don't ask".
Then we hit. SV Kooky Dance started slowing down briefly and then started accelerating again. We were accelerating, what madness. Then we hit the bottom again a little harder this time and I bumped the throttle up because we were loosing speed. My hand was on the throttle and I wanted to pull it back but fought the urge. And then we really hit. SV Kooky Dance was rapidly coming to a stop. The bow was pulling down and both Tamera and I were being thrown forward from the deceleration and just when I thought it was over for us and we were hard aground the bow popped back up. It appeared we were stopped but I looked at the water and saw some bubble that were moving slowly aft. With the throttle at full SV Kooky Dance was moving forward. I just waited and in about a minute SV Kooky Dance began accelerating. We were free.
We continued on and only bumped one more time but not nearly as bad as the last one. The water depth started registering a couple of inches under the keel and then an entire 1/2 ft. I eased the throttle back and suddenly took a deep breath. Both Tamera and I had been holding our breaths. It also dawned on us that we had just crossed the Rio Dulce entrance bar. That was a HUGE milestone for us and we start hooting and giving high fives to each other as our tension levels decreased. I don't think either of us could get the grins off our faces.
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| Approaching Livingston Guatemala |
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| View of the quay side at Livingston from our anchorage. |
We called the agent, Raul, on the VHF radio and informed him we had arrived and wanted to check in. We had already hoisted the "Q" courtesy flag and Raul informed us to stay on the boat and he would bring the officials out to us. We also informed him of SV Rainbow's End arrival.
Raul is a cruiser friendly agent that can help you check in (for a fee of course) and also has boats standing by to tow grounded vessels across the bar. His contact information is below:
Raul Morales Veliz
Tel:+502 79470888 /
mob. +502 55109104
,VHF Channel 16, 68
Raul's story is an interesting one and may be the subject of a future blog but that can wait for now. For now it is enough to say his services are very professional and easy for the cruiser. His office is about 1 block in from the municipal dock next to the restaurant BuggaMama's. You can't miss BuggaMama's from the water and is the big blue building near the left side of the photo below.
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| Arial shot of Livingston, Guatemala. |
Somewhere along the line someone had asked Raul to send a boat out to help us across the bar. This boat was now coming along side our boat to be paid. Even though we did not need him or ask for assistance he did show up with his very capable boat and crew to assist. I gave him $20USD and that seemed to satisfy him. I also sent him over to Rainbow's End. This was actually a little mean of me as the crew of SV Rainbow's End did not speak any usable Spanish and the crew on the tow boat did not appear to speak anything else. Soon the radio call came in from Rainbow's End to see if I knew what these guys wanted. I explained, they paid the same and everybody survived. Don on SV Rainbow's End informed me they they would give me a ride in to the dock in their dinghy in exchange for some language help ashore. That was very cool with me and we stopped preparing our dinghy for launch.
Soon a launch approached us with the officials and we invited them aboard. They seemed reluctant at first but soon were all sitting in the cockpit. Raul introduced himself and the officials. He laid out the check in steps and then offered his service which I readily accepted. I invited the customs officials to inspect the boat however they declined. Raul also informed us how much money we would need to complete the check in and that was around Q$2100 or about $290USD and that we should get local currency.
Raul took our boat papers, Belizean Zarpe and passports and said to come by his office in about 2 hrs. Raul and the officials soon departed and headed over to SV Rainbow's End. I called them on the radio and told Don that Raul spoke very good English and what to expect.
We had been informed that petty theft was a little bit of a problem in Livingston so Tamera and I had decided that she would stay on the boat and I would go shore alone.
Don soon swung by and picked me up and we headed into the shore to get local currency and complete the check in. Don used his ATM card and I went to the bank to change some US dollars. Changing money was a little more involve than what I was used to. Guatemala has had a money laundering problem and to combat it limits how much local currency can be convert to "effectivo" or the local currency the Quetzal or "Q". That limit is currently $500US per month and was the amount I was trying to change. I needed my passport to do this and Raul already had mine but I had some copies of my passport on me at the time. After some back and forth it got done and I met back up with Don and headed for Raul's office. There we secured a 90 days visa for all of us and 90 day import papers for the boat and instructions on how to renew those for a longer stay. Don and I returned to the boat all checked into Guatemala.
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| Livingston Guatemala |
Again Tamera and I were ecstatic as this was another major milestone in our adventure. Tamera wanted a picture of her raising our Guatemalan flag as officially checked into Guatemala.
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| Tamera hoisting our Guatemalan flag on SV Kooky Dance |
The gorge will be the subject of the next Blog so this will be it for this one.
