January 1996 - Honduras to Rio Dulce - Page 3

21 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
First thing in the morning, I opened the radiator cap – no water spurted out.  I tried to pour the 1.6 pints of water back into the heat exchanger but could only get about a cupful in.  I opened the top hose to vent it and could then pour all of the lost water back.  An air pocket had definitely been created.  Where was this air coming from? 

I borrowed a torque wrench from Randy on “Rights of Man” and re-torqued the cylinder head bolts to 110lbs.  A couple of the bolts moved a fraction but nothing significant.  I checked the sea water intake strainer again – OK.  I checked the sea water pump impellor – OK.  I checked and cleaned the muffler – OK.  I cleaned up the seal in the radiator cap hole with 400 wet and dry and then 800 wet and dry.  I borrowed a radiator cap from “Boo” – he has the same engine as me.  My radiator cap is 75 KPa (12lbs/sq.in) while “Boo’s” is 50 KPa (8lbs/sq. in) but the rubber seal looked in much better condition.  I ran the engine with no load at 1400 rpm.  After 5 minutes it was 63° and 0.2 of a pint came out.  After 10 mins the temperature was at 83°C and about ¾ pint had come out.  After 11 mins the temperature was 88°C with 1 pint of water, drastically overheating, so I stopped the engine. 

Mario's Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala

As I took the radiator cap back to “Boo”, I pondered the problem – was it just the lower pressure cap that caused such a rapid overheat or had the head gasket finally blown?  When I got back to Glencora, I remembered that I hadn’t opened the sea cock – idiot!  I decided to try again using my radiator cap, but first I smeared some silicone grease on the radiator cap seal.  I ran the engine for 20 mins with no load at 1400 rpm – temp 73°C, no water loss!  I ran it under load at 1000 rpm for another 20 mins – temp 83°C, no water loss. I then ran it for another 5 mins at full throttle – temp 83°C, no water loss, it worked! 

It must have been the radiator cap seal.  There must have been a bit of scale or dirt on the seat or the seal is damaged which allowed a dribble of water out – the more temperature, the more pressure and the greater the water loss.  I think that during our passage from Utila (when we motored for 23 hours), most of the water escaped from the heat exchanger.  The morning we left Livingstone, I remember opening the radiator cap and getting water gushing out of the overflow pipe.  At the time, I assumed that water came out because the engine water was still hot and under pressure.  I think that there was very little water in the heat exchanger at that time – hence the overheat one hour later.  The overheat on the way to Cayo Grande was due to an air pocket (30 mins).  We made it to Rio Chacon Machaca OK but lost water (2.5 hrs).  The next morning, I got a gush of water out of the rad cap and didn’t refill the system which is why we overheated after 10 minutes – no water in heat exchanger.  It all seems to be logical – now! 

We went out to the bar in the evening for a potluck barbeque – I’m afraid that I over indulged in beer.  Glenys had a relaxing day and cut the boys hair – they look like convicts!

 22 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
We went to Fronteras in the dinghy and caught a “chicken” bus to Morales, a town about 35 km away.  The bus was pretty rough, but at least the roads were in good condition.  We arrived in the town centre in the rain and wandered back out of town to where the banks and hardware stores are.  The road out of town follows an old, disused railway line – the first railway line that I’ve seen for years! 

We cashed some travellers cheques and I gamely tried to find a radiator cap – no bloody chance!  We walked back into the centre of Morales and went to the biggest “Supermarket”.  They have all the food displayed on shelves that tower 20 feet into the air, protected by a glass display counter which keeps the customer from the product.  Shop assistants climb ladders on your command to get the goods that you desire – it’s like stepping back in time about 50 years.  We were there just as they were closing for lunch and the staff were busy putting up 10 foot high shutter boards to cover the lower shelves – presumably to protect the goods from light fingered employees! 

We wandered around the central market that has tiny 4 foot wide passageways between the market shops – reminded me of a Tunisian Kasbah.  There were stalls selling clothes, shoes, beans and spices, groceries, small food stalls and butchers.  There was even a photographer on the street using an ancient looking box camera. As in Tunisia, the butchers appear to slaughter the animals on the premises – there are big drain holes in the middle of the floor! 

We went to a communal café (in spanish, “comidor”) for lunch.  There were at least 20 huge concrete tables with 12 concrete seats each, lined up in front of 10 individual cooking “establishments”.  We had a very tasty soup followed by a beef dinner, reminiscent of goulash, rice, potatoes and salad all for 26 quesales including drinks ($5US).  Great!  We caught a bus back to Fronteras and retired to Glencora to get ready to go to Copan for 4 days.  I put a new strip of packing in the stern gland and ran the engine for 1 hour with no load – lost about an eighth of a  pint but OK.  We had a quiet night packing and getting ready for tomorrow.

23 January 1996   Mario’s Marina to Copan, Honduras
Up early at quarter past six to catch a lift with the marina’s launch to Fronteras.  We caught a bus to Morales and by eight o’clock we were standing at a crossroads waiting for the next bus.  We caught an express bus to Chiquimula which was a pleasant 3 hour trip on a bus with comfortable seats. 

Chiquimula is a big bustling town with a large market, similar to the one at Morales.  Glenys took us all on a hunt for a toilet – she’s paranoid about toilets when travelling.  She makes sure that everyone only drinks small amounts of liquids and she is desperate to find a toilet when we arrive somewhere.  I don’t blame her, having seen some of the local public toilets – the boys and I can always pee against a tree! 

We eventually found one deep in the market place.  I went in for a pee and found that all toilet paper had to go into a bin - similar to Greece where toilet paper blocks the narrow drains. There was no  flushing mechanism for the toilet, so I just walked out and started to leave the building. I was stopped by the toilet attendant babbling at me in Spanish and pointing at a huge barrel of water. I shrugged and dipped my hands into the water to wash them. She babbled away again and pushed past me. She grabbed a jug, filling it with water from the barrel and tipped it down the toilet to flush it.  I apologised in my pigeon Spanish and fled. 

We walked to the bus station to catch a bus to El Florida which is on the Guatemala-Honduran border.  The bus station had clean, flushing toilets!  We sat in the bus station eating cheese and tomato sandwiches that Glenys had made the night before, while wonderful cooking smells drifted out of the market. (Isn’t it weird how tomatoes taste metallic in old sandwiches) . 

The bus up to El Florida was heaving.  We were all jammed onto one seat with people standing in the aisle, sacks of corn on the floor and boxes of chicks chirping.  The dirt road was extremely dusty, but in fairly good condition.  The bus stopped in a small town, half way through the 2 hour journey which gave us a chance to stretch our legs. 

We arrived at El Florida to find that it is a dirt road with two customs posts separated by a 100 metre no man’s land.  We were given a temporary exit stamp from Guatemala and a temporary entry stamp from Honduras, which cost about $5.  We then had to get the six miles to Copan.  There was a pick-up truck waiting for us and the guy wanted 300 lempira ($30US) to take us to Copan.  I knew that the local rate is 10 Lempira!  There was a Spanish speaking family who had been on the bus from Chiquimula who had already agreed 300 lempira – I managed to knock the driver down to 250 lempira, but he wouldn’t move any more.  It was four o’clock, we were tired and there was nothing else around so I agreed.  I hate getting ripped off – it’s not the money it’s just the principle of it!  To cap it all, when we got to the Hotel Brisas, the driver wanted to pick us up for the return journey for the same price!  I managed to get him to agree to 50 lempira which I thought more reasonable.

The Hotel Brisas gave us a pleasant room with two double beds and a colour TV, for $25US/night.  We had a quick shower and went out for a beer and a stroll before going out for a nice meal.

24 January 1996   Copan, Honduras
We went out for breakfast (Huevos Rancheros - my favorite breakfast ever) and then went to the museum.  The museum was fairly interesting but all the explanations of the exhibits were in Spanish so we had to guess a lot of it. 

We then walked to the main Copan ruins, stopping at a couple of Stellas on the way.  We wandered around the ruins for about 4 hours trying to figure out what it all meant.  The main plaza has a beautifully manicured lawn with lots of Stellas and some small temples.  The Stellas are beautifully carved and quite impressive.  The Acropolis, where the nobles lived, was equally impressive with big temples and altars.  There is a great deal of archaeological work going on, which fascinated me.  They have dug tunnels into the pyramid temples and found more temples inside.  The Mayans apparently just built bigger structures over old buildings.  The archaeologists have found up to 4 other temples inside some pyramids, some of which are beautifully preserved, having been protected from the weather. 
We walked back to our hotel and watched some TV before going out to dinner.

25 January 1996   Copan, Honduras
We hired a couple of horses and, with a guide, went for a two hour ride up into the mountains to visit a Mayan “maternity hospital”.  We were shown some carved rocks where the babies were born and then sacrificed so that their blood could be used for religious rites - nice!

On the way back to town, we rode through the river and along a very nice trail.  We had lunch in a comidor and retired to the hotel to watch a film and sleep off the beer we had at lunch.  We then went out for another huge, but cheap, meal.

26 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala 
We got up early and caught the pick-up truck at seven o’clock.  The bus left El Florida at twenty past eight.  The trip was pretty uneventful.  The bus driver stopped on the road into Chiquimula because he saw the bus to Morales.  We got straight onto it and were in Morales by half past one.  We took our time and had lunch in the market comidor because we knew that we didn’t have to be in Fronteras until four o’clock, at which time we could get a lift back in the marina’s launch. 

We got on the bus to Fronteras at twenty past two, but it didn’t leave until three o’clock.  They then stopped to pick up a battery, and then called at a garage to get some diesel.  We arrived, panicking, at Fronteras with 5 minutes to spare – I ran down to the Holly Mar bar and managed to call the marina in time.  I was glad to see that the boat was still floating when we got back - this is the longest that I have been away from Glencora for four years.  We had dinner in the bar.

27 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
I ran the engine with no load and it was OK.  I cleaned up and then repaired the exhaust muffler with steel epoxy.  I took two of the domestic batteries out so that I could get them recharged.  I filled 1 tank.  Brett and Craig found a new friend Eric (aged 9) from “Viking”, so they had a great day running around. 

I heard that there were a couple of people playing jazz in a bar in Fronteras, so I packed my clarinet and went along.  The keyboard player was Herb Payton from “Red Shoes” who has written quite a few sailing books and articles for Yachting Monthly.  The other guy was Bill, a very good trumpet player.  They played 4 tunes with me “Stranger on the Shore”, a very fast “I’m gonna Sit right Down” (I couldn’t play that fast!), “Misty” and “Stormy Weather”.  It was interesting when we played Stormy Weather, I had my music, but they said that it was in the wrong key! There was no way that I could play in a different key so they played in my key and switched to the correct key for their solos - amazing.  I really enjoyed it and it’s given me motivation to practice harder! 

I got back to the marina and went to a party that Dane and Debbie from “Cortiza” had organised.  I got very drunk and didn’t get to bed until after one o’clock! 

28 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Very serious hangover.  I took two paracetamol and decided to kill or cure myself by going for a run.  Glenys and Brett came with me and it nearly killed us!  After a 10 minute run my pulse was up to 180+ and I thought I was going to throw up!  A cooling dip in the pool when we got back and then spent the morning moping about. 

I received a fax from our accountant saying that he’s got verbal confirmation that the Inland Revenue have agreed our non-resident status.  He says wait for a week and he will send another fax with more details and should have written confirmation by then.  Great news.  I got another fax from the people who run my Trust saying that it will be very quick and easy to shut the Trust down.  More great news! 

I borrowed the marina’s battery charger and put two of the domestic batteries on charge.  We had lunch in the bar and I ran the engine with no load for an hour with no problems.  At four o’clock, I retired to the bar to watch “The Super Bowl”.  It’s the first time that I’ve watched a whole game of American football and I enjoyed it.  Fortunately, I had Americans nearby to explain the rules to me!

29 January 1996   Mario’s Marina, Rio Dulce, Guatemala 
I put two more batteries on charge for the day.  I then put the temperature sensor back on the domestic hot water system and ran the engine.  I did 45 minutes on no load and 15 minutes at 1000 rpm in reverse and didn’t lose any water – It’s got to have been the radiator cap.  It’s interesting that the temperature sensor reads about 12°C lower in its original (and permanent) position – the maximum temperature recorded today was 70°C as compared to 83°C last week. 

We spent the afternoon getting ourselves ready to go on a 4 day visit to Antigua, which is up in the mountains.  Neil and Chris from “Boo” came back from there today, so we got a lot of first hand information about the place – sounds like it will be a good trip.  Glenys managed to force the boys to do school work which was a major achievement.

30 January 1996   Antigua, Guatemala
Up early to catch Mario’s launch to Fronteras, where we caught an “Especiale” bus to Guatemala City (Guate).  It was a very noisy and hot bus, but at least we had a seat each.  The six hour bus trip was broken up by short 5 minute stops every so often so that the driver could stretch his legs and we could buy snacks off the local hawkers.  Crisps, peeled mangos with salt, fried plantain chips, tacos and tortillas with chicken, beans or egg, ice cream, oranges (already peeled) – we enjoyed ourselves. 

We arrived at the bus terminal in Guate at half past two and had a ½ mile walk to the next bus station to catch a bus to Antigua.  Glenys went to buy a snack for our lunch and got a bit crinkly because we jumped on a bus and she didn’t know which one!  She found us and we had a very cramped, one hour journey in a jam-packed bus. 

When we arrived at the Antigua bus terminal, we were “adopted” by a local “guide” who insisted on taking us to a hotel.  The first one ($6/night) was fortunately full.  The second one was $8/night and didn’t have an en-suite toilet, so Glenys rejected that one.  We told our “guide” that we wanted to try the “Hotel San Vincente”.  He found the right street but didn’t know where the hotel was – we had to point it out to him!  I think he got a few quesales commission from the hotel.  The hotel room had 3 x 3’ beds and our own bathroom for $20/night which was great.  We were settled by five o’clock. 

We went out for a stroll and had a beer in a café across the street from a Burger King.  Fortunately, the sign was very discrete and we managed to hide it from the boys.  The town is very nice with cobbled streets and one storey buildings.  There is a huge volcano which reaches up to the sky and dominates the skyline.  The town reminds me of Portugal.  We went to a restaurant for dinner and met Graham and Suzanna from “Boston Scrod” – we had dinner with them.

31 January 1996   Antigua, Guatemala
We had breakfast in a restaurant – huevos rancheros with tortillas and beans – even the boys like that.  We then went to the Tourist Office where a very nice, old man told us about the things to see in Antigua.  He was very clever and talked to Brett and Craig rather than us which held their attention for ten minutes! 

We walked around an Art Museum which was full of old church paintings – very dark and dismal scenes from the bible.  The building was beautiful though.  Quite a number of convents, churches and monasteries were destroyed in 1773 by an earthquake which accompanied an eruption of the volcano.  The ruins of these buildings are one of the main tourist attractions of the town.  We went to three sites, but only went in one because the other two wanted Q10 per person – tourists pay Q10, Guatemalan nationals only pay Q2!  It’s racial discrimination! 

We went to the central square and ate tortillas and sandwiches on a bench.  There are lots of Indian women and girls, dressed in colourful traditional outfits who sell shirts and other textile goods to tourists.  Their sales technique is fascinating to watch.  The main sellers are young girls who are very charming and very persistent.  I noticed that they were very “tactile”, especially with men, which enhanced the feeling that they were our friends.  The older women stay in the background and let their children do the bartering.  They sell embroidered tablecloths, shirts, trousers, napkin sets, sunglasses strings, etc.  The starting price for a shirt is Q30 and the lowest we could get them was Q19.  They are very good at bartering and make it a fun game.  I tried to take some photographs of them but as soon as they see a lens they immediately turn away – they then demand Q3 for a photo! 

After buying a few small things, we strolled down to one of the “Tourist Markets” and looked at the goods.  We decided to “reconnoitre” and buy tomorrow.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at an Amusement Arcade and I took a picture of one of the Indian girls (aged about 8) playing “Space Invaders” in her traditional outfit.  She spotted me as I took it and quick as a flash turned away and demanded Q3!  She called me “Malo” (Bad) when I wouldn’t give her anything!  We went back to the room to change into warmer clothes (because it gets cold up here at night) and went out for a Mexican dinner.