On Sunday we geared up for a two-day sail on Lake Isabal. With Jon-Claude (a sailing friend who was the broker for this boat - French of course) as our captain we planned to sail to Finca Paraiso (Paradise Ranch) to practice sailing and to enjoy being out, away from Rio Dulce, together on the boat.
Preparations included food purchase and prep and other errands. Also, after nearly 2 weeks together (and countless hours of translating for Mom and the police, leading us in prayers, etc.), our cousin Alejandro left by bus to Guatemala City to fly home to Mexico.
Jon-Claude and his family arrived at the planned time, but 'as usual' the Dryden's weren't quite ready…. When we left our marina the cool breeze of sailing felt terrific, since the noon heat was in the mid-90's. We learned how to use the boat's auto-pilot, experimented with various sail configurations, and practiced sailing the boat as a team. It was an exciting and rewarding feeling to be sailing the big blue lake, just as Dad would have done with us!
We sailed for about 4 hours and arrived at Finca Paraiso. After learning how to anchor the boat we went swimming from the boat in the incredibly WARM water; practicing our dives and jumps from the boat.
Jon-Claude and his family (his mother and daughter visiting from France) slept in the bungalows of Finca Paraiso, while we (Drydens) slept on the boat. Well after dark we went swimming again, enjoying the glorious stars, the warm water and the cooler air temperatures (in the upper 60's).
In the morning we hiked through pastures and farm land and then into old growth rainforest for about 40 minutes to a hot springs waterfall, that falls into a cool mountain stream! We relished the sight and the sensations of swimming in cool water and standing in the falling hot water to get a body massage. My Mom and Dad visited this place several months ago on their first overnight sail and loved it! My parents have always sought out hot springs (no matter how hot the air temperature) and this location is particularly idyllic. Daniel quickly found hidden passages underneath the waterfall to explore and led us through tight passageways. After overcoming our fears of being swept away, it was exhilarating. Then Daniel and Brian found various ledges of the waterfall to jump off, landing in the cool pool below. We knew Dad would have loved doing it all with us, and we recognized that we were doing much of it because of my Dad's continuous encouragement to be brave.
On our way back to the boat we asked a local farmer if we could buy some fresh corn from his field. He eagerly sent one of his workers off to get us 15 ears and when it was time to pay he wouldn't accept any money. It was a wonderful reminder of the generosity and thoughtfulness of most Guatemalans.
During the sail back to town we ate the fresh steamed corn and other delicious foods on the boat. Then we sailed; trying to get to town before darkness set in. We stayed longer than intended at the waterfall (of course) and were consequently running quite late for our sailing departure. Daniel took the helm as the wind picked up and the boat heeled over and touched her rail in the water, creating excitement and adrenaline rushes! (7 knots reached!)
Darkness came while we were still sailing toward town. Thankfully Jon-Claude knew the area very well and was comfortable motoring into town, despite the darkness. After docking we (family) spent the evening enjoying a bottle of wine that Dad had purchased especially for Mom and Dad to enjoy together and Mom told stories of their early days together. It was a lovely way to end a good voyage together.
We plan to maybe go sailing again today, 8-26, with our previous sailing mentors Bryan and Jay. We will be pulling the boat out of the water on Thursday and we have much to do to get her ready for storage. Busy, Busy.
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