Crossing the bar and up the Rio

Tuesday June 23rd 2009.
When we got a couple of miles from the marker buoy…I tried calling Raul. He was the gentleman that Jeff had arranged with for a boat to meet us at 7:00am at the buoy. We were going to be about 20 minutes late due to the morning storm. It had been decided the day before that Paul and I would be the first to go over the bar. We circled until we saw a larger fishing type boat approach Antares. They were our contact…but they did not have a VHF radio. We began to follow them in…and sooner than later…yes, we were aground in the mud…we were managing less than a half a knot as we tried to plow through the mud/sand bar. Our guide came to the side and decided it was time to take some “tipping” action…now this picture is not the Lady H…but of Antares an identical boat to Paul’s…and…even with the furrow we plowed ahead of them…they too needed to be “tipped”!It was an experience…and now we are both wondering how the heck we are going to get out of here in October or November!!! Once safely anchored outside of Livingston in about 8.5 feet of water we raised our yellow “quarantine” flag and waited for the welcoming entourage. Six people and Raul came out to the boat and on board into the cockpit. A doctor, the Port Captain, Immigration, Customs, and we really aren’t sure who else…BUT…we used Raul as our “agent” to check-in…and he saved us a lot of time! We went ashore and picked up our documents from Raul around 10:30amLooking to the river from the streets of Livingston. We had already discussed with Jeff and Phyllis that we all were ready to get out of Livingston (anchoring there at night has been known to bring the local thieves onto the boat)…get up the river, get fuel and get into Mario’s Marina…and they agreed…it seemed like it already had been a LONG day! At some points the walls of the gorge were so tall that we could no longer get a gps signal...and the river as deep as 90 feet!Paul led the way up the Rio and through the gorge...Antares followed....These guys were collecting water I think...These little guys were just out for a paddle....to El Golfete where even our paper chart was less than adequate (Pat Rains)and the paper chart that P&J had was better so we swapped places! We still found some “skinny” spots…down the river when Paul was in the lead....and when Antares was in the lead - in fact the lake was only 15 feet deep all the way across - past El Golfete up the river to the Marina area! And of course Paul’s depth sounder alarm went off (it is sooooo dependable)!!! Paul said if he didn’t know better he would swear that he was up the river in Chattanooga near the NickaJack Lake. This guy is fishing in the upper river area! We were amazed by the large beautiful homes…Then when we went to fuel up…the docks were nicer than any we had been to in the states for a long time! So, here we are...hurricane season...and we hope and trust the Lady H is in a safe place. Except for the heat (yes, it is very hot up here/down here – however you want to look at it)…it is like we are back in Annapolis! We will be spending a lot of time every afternoon in the pool…that is the only thing that can truly cool you off around here…and it has become more of a meeting place for the cruisers than even the 4-6pm “happy hour”!!! I’m so glad we have the pool!!!