Storm Sara & Guatemala

Sailing

18 Nov

The ICON weather model predicting 60+ knot gusts

As always we had been keeping an eye on the weather, and whilst at the tail end of hurricane season which ends in November, the unusually high sea temperature kept us on high alert for tropical lows developing.

99L was the first official designation for what would become Storm Sara. The 18th named storm of the season, above the average of 14. In true Argonaut fashion, the first models had the storm heading right for us and the exposed low lying Belize coastline.

RUN

Wednesday evening after studying all available weather models, we made a unanimous call to flee south to hopefully avoid the worst of the weather and find a more sheltered anchorage in southern Belize or neighbouring Guatemala or Honduras. First we had to stock up on more off grid supplies, fuel up, and return hired scuba tanks. We awaited sunrise, motored close to Belize City and Ben and I began multiple shore missions to prepare for our departure whilst Charles and Alex stowed supplies and prepared the boat for potential heavy weather.

Departing at lunchtime a heavy squall rolled over Belize City behind us, disappearing into thick heavy rain as a sign to come. Initially we made good unhindered progress beam reaching at around 8 knots, down an inner channel between the great Maya reef and the mainland. Steadily however the weather deteriorated, the wind strength increased and we found ourselves beating into winds of 20-30 knots and a growing sea state.

This was already far exceeding the weather forecast for the area by some margin which had predicted 10-15 knots and our Highfield tender Argonauty, complete with 25hp outboard began to violently snatch the tow line. Charles summarised the conditions.

“I've never, ever, wanted to go slower more than I do right now”

By this point the conditions were too extreme to hoist the dinghy aboard safely, and the outboard bracket on Argonaut already had a failed weld after Hurticane Milton. so we just held our nerves and continued the tow. In darkness the violence was hard to witness other than by powerful torchlight, so it couldn't overly play on the mind, but by the morning when I was back on watch with Charles it was concerning to see the backup tow line had parted already and we ultimately had one point of connection remaining as the dinghy caught waves and went fully airborne in spectacular fashion. The conditions had driven us to put two reefs in the main sail and beeline south for Amatique Bay.

This corner bay had shoreline belonging to both Belize and Guatemala, and after studying the charts we made the decision to tuck up under the mountains of Reserva Protectoral De Manantiales Cerro San Gil, across the bay from Peurto Barrios, on the Guatemalan side.

With the anchor securely set and a large scope of chain out, we could finally relax a moment after 20 busy hours of getting soaked and living on a heavy heal which had us laughing at each other as onions and tonic cans became missiles flying across the saloon during tacks. One bilge inspection was particularly amusing, as I braced myself against the large saloon table, it too decided to move as we fell off a large wave.

Inspecting his cabin and the chaos that had ensued, Charles emerged with his pillow soaking wet, not through an ingress of seawater from a leaking hatch, but with a strong aroma of Cachaca rum which had flown from a shelf and emptied in it's entirety. What a waste.

Checking the latest weather models, 12hours after the last update, we were less delighted to see the system was now predicted to turn further south and barrel right towards us…

Sailing stats

Distance: 113 nm
Duration: 22hrs
BSP (max.) 12.9 kts
TWS (max.) 36 kts

Seeking refuge

Our anchorage proved to be a great bolt hole, protecting us from the heavy weather further north. To kill time, Ben and I set out in the dinghy to explore our immediate surroundings between heavy rain showers and squalls.

The Petromaya, an abandoned ghost ship lay nearby and we approached cautiously inspecting the rusting hulk. Closing in on the port side, a curious face peered back at us from a forward door in the superstructure. The wreck wasn’t as abandoned as first thought.

The LPG tanker Petromaya was built in 1977 and had been left in Guatemala since a lawsuit was made against the owner over a decade ago. They had not returned to the country and the Panamanian flagged vessel had remained ever since slowly decaying.

Approaching the sheer coastline, the noises of the dense forest rising above us became more intoxicating, and we skirted it’s outline between hanging vines and thick tree growth.

Return to Belize

Departing the following morning, after being awoken and told I was welcome to sleep through all the upcoming noise of the engine starting and anchor being hoisted, I opted to get up and make myself useful, knowing I would not sleep. Cleaning my teeth down below with bleary eyes, I was thrown forward into the bulkhead with a large bang and shudder.

Up on deck, the helm, who I won’t do the honor of naming, had confirmed the location of a shallow, charted wreck. Oops. With no immediate significant water ingress we continued on, vowing to inspect the hull and appendages when at our next anchorage with better underwater visibility. Thankfully Argonaut showed her robust build, and the damage was limited to paintwork.

Scouting the chart and sailing fast we found a sheltered anchorage in Mangrove Caye, and to our surprise there was another private cruising boat at anchor. We’d been playing with the new SeaPeople app recently, and before we knew it we were trading messages with Pascal co-owner of SV Tońa. Apparently Argonauty’s flying exploits had not gone unnoticed.

Pascal and Yirven joined us for Thai fish curry using the days earlier catch and we shared stories and tales of adventures had, and of those to come.