journal

Thurs April 10, 2008

We left Tortugal Marina, in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala Tues morning. The marina launch drove us to Fronteras, to pick up the bus for the five hour ride to Guatemala City. The bus was airconditioned,  ( relatively )  and the seats comfortable...all in all, not a bad trip. We were picked up by my cousin, Fred, in Guatemala City, where they live, and enjoyed, a lively evening, and catch up at thier home. Wed, after breakfast, Marie was off to work, and Fred drove us to the airport. By 5:00 we were back in Florida, and soon having dinner with my son, Tim, and my parents. Suddenly, Central America, seems so far away. It's hard to believe, we won't see Margoline until the end of the year, or possibly 2009!

It was a great season, we loved every minute of it and look forward to another exiting season next year. Have a wonderful spring, summer and fall everyone...we are looking forward to Toronto/Muskoka and California and everything inbetween!

Margoline will return...........

Monday April 7, 2008

The last few days have been very quiet around the marina. There are few people here and the ones that are, are still being haunted by Sandy's death. The autopsy report was death by drowning, there was no trauma to her body. Her boat was found about 100 yds from shore and she was found about 20 yds. It would seem, with no boat damage, it was swamped by being overloaded. Sandy had her wallet in her pocket, which her husband assumes, she took out of her purse to swim to shore. If she had time for that, she would have had time to radio for help, if she had one, or put on a life jacket, if she had one. So unbelievable neither were on board! She was 48 years old, and had two children in thier mid twenties, I can't even begin to imagine thier pain and anger of this senseless accident.

Jim and I are slowly but surely packing up Margoline for the season...we are now, more than ready to come home. The heat is almost unbearable and even jumping in the lake doesn't cool you off for long. We leave by bus tomorrow for Guatemala City, about a 4 - 5 hr bus trip. We will spend the night with relatives, there and then fly to Florida the following day. After a four days in Florida, helping my parents close thier condo for the season, we'll fly home with them to Toronto. And that will be the start of a whole new season....we hope the snow will be gone!

Saturday April 5, 2008

Last night was movie night, and started out on a great note. The movie, Beyond The Sea, the story of Bobby Darin was surprisingly good...we all enjoyed it. However, after the movie, looking for Russ, the manager of the marina to thank him, we were told, he had gone out, while we were watching the movie to search for Sandy, another cruiser, who is building a home, here on the Rio with her husband. She had not returned home, was not answering her cell phone and always returned before dark, it was now dark out. 

All we could do was wait with Janet, Russ's wife, until he came home. Janet called the coast guard and the navy and that was about all we could do, except sit by the phone, and VHF radio, and wait. Russ returned around midnight, exhausted with no good news...they did not find Sandy or her boat. The search was being called off until first light in the morning. All we could do was go to bed. We had breakfast with Russ and Janet in the morning and that is when we found out, that Mike, the owner of Texan Bay Marina,  ( where we first met Sandy and her husband ) had found Sandy's boat early in the morning...it was submerged, with just the bow was sticking out of the water. Her purse, and all her provisions, including a load of lumber was still strapped on the boat. There was no sign of Sandy.

So many questions....what happened? Was she being held hostage? Kidnapped?  ( not that unusual in this part of the world ) Drowned?  Sitting on the shore somewhere? The unknown was hard to think about, and must have been unbearable for her husband.

Shortly after breakfast, I don't think it was even a half an hour later, Janet came to our boat. Mike, made his second discovery. While diving, he found Sandy's body. I can't describe the shock and disbelief we are all feeling right now. So many questions and not any answers. What we do know is, she had no handheld VHF radio with her, she was not answering her cell phone, was it out of time? Was she in a non-cell zone, were the batteries dead? and she had no life jacket. It was very windy yesterday afternoon and the lake quite rough...was the load on the boat poorly balanced? Did she hit something? We don't know if any of these questions will ever be answered, but hopefully some will, and we all can learn something from this tragedy. We are moving through today, doing chores, in a mechanical and dull kind of way. The accident is not far from our thoughts, at any given time, and the thousands of questions, we are thinking about won't go away.

Life can be so unpredictable and we all take it for granted, that is, until something like this happens. The last time we saw Sandy was two days ago. She was optimistic and thrilled about thier new life on the Rio and excited about building thier dream retirement home....and now, she's gone....there are no words.....

Thurs April 3, 2008

Today was get off the boat and get away from the marina, day. We left early this morning, with four other people who are staying at Tortugal Marina, and the bartender, who drove us. (  his day off ) We drove west through the  beautiful country side along Lake Izabal, which we will sail into next year. Our first stop, was to El Boqueron, a beautiful limestone canyon in the hills. Upon arrival we were paddled down the narrow gorge by a young man in his cayuco. The sheer limestone walls tower up to 400' high. Trees, vines, cliffs and caves, and the quietness of the setting was truly awsome.

Our second stop was to Agua Caliente, a 25' waterfall of hot spring water that spills into a pool of water. The lush tropical setting was like something out of a movie, we couldn't wait to jump in.

The closer you got to the waterfall, the hotter the water got. Standing right under it, you would think you were in a very, very, hot shower...it was hard to believe, just how hot the water was. In a corner of the water pool was a cave filled with mud, we had been told, it was wonderful for your skin. So, not to miss anything, I smeared on the mud...it felt delicious on my skin and saved me the cost of a facial or hot mud treatment...perfect! ( Jim took a pass on this one )

We arrived back at the marina, shortly after 1:30 and had lunch on the breezy veranda, followed by some reading, internet and relaxation. A nice day off from boat chores.

Wed April 2, 2008

We have been doing boat chores for the past few days, along with swimming off the dock, and having wonderful meals at the marina restaurant. We miss our buddies though and are ready to come home.

We went into Fronteras this morning. Fronteras is the nearest town, just a short dinghy ride away. The only reason to go there is to provision and get boat supplies. It is another dirty, smelly, run down town and at this point...we are tired of it. We need to get back to clean streets, English, and stores where you can purchase things without so much effort!