Guatemala

by Bob

More pictures! http://xpda.com/minnow07/guatemala

We got into Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala this morning about 8:30. We planned to arrive about 9:00 or 9:30 to make sure everybody was up

and around. I called some people about hour before. Unfortunately for them, I didn't realize it was really 7:30 am on Saturday. I
thought they sounded a little groggy. I was surprised to learn that Guatemala is an hour behind Pryor time.

Coming into Guatemala we got to within 100 miles or so of Tropical Storm Barbara. It is now fizzling on shore in southern Mexico,
but we'll wait a day or two to let the waves die down before we continue.

As we got close to the storm, the swells got bigger and bigger. They also got a little steeper, but not steep enough to cause a
rough ride. The water looked surreal yesterday evening, kind of like rolling hills.

This morning we got into some strong wind for a while, blowing toward the storm and against the big swells. Some of the swells were
12 or 15 feet high. The swells were steep enough that waves didn't form in the opposite direction, but there were whitecaps on the
tops of the giant swells going backwards. It looked pretty funny.

We came into Puerto Quetzal past a huge surf on the breakwater, managed to park at the fuel dock without breaking the dock or the
boat, cleared in, bought diesel, and parked again at the regular dock. Again, no major damage to the boat. But there is this one
pole on the dock...

Clearance into the country involved immigration, customs, port capitan, an agent, 4 copies of our boat papers, and $165. It was
pretty easy, though, because the agent (required for recreational boats) handled all the details. They searched our boat a little,
looking for contraband. Contraband is a group of musicians that played for the Nicaraguan rebels.

Tomorrow we plan to take a taxi to a Mayan city with our neighbors on the dock, and possibly run a few errands on the way. I think
the Mayans left the city some time ago. I'm not sure why.