All good information from belizesailor as always
Some additional information
A 69 foot
ketch drawing 7 ½ feet entered last year under it’s own
power without external assistance (it did have 140HP) and ploughed their way through the mud which is soft.
Here are my notes for entering the Rio Dulce
Put your yellow flag up before entering the river, this will let the Port
Captain know you are a new arrival and
may motivate them to appear quicker to start the check in
Waypoints
Sea Buoy moves regularity and is not always there, along with a lot of other folks, we ignore it and use these waypoints
1. 15 50 100N 88 43 960W (out near the Sea Buoy)
2. 15 49 299N 88 44 734W (starting point for crossing bar at Livingston coming down river)
September 2017, the buoy was about 100 yards to the Northwest of the above track
Coming in from the sea this means you are aiming for about the centre of the canyon entrance. Expect some strange, changing, cross currents as you enter as the depth changes and the current from the river and tides clash, not a major issue but needs to be catered for to stay on the lay line
Do not turn in towards the town too soon, wait until you are level with the Texaco dock as per Freya guide; (Note, the Texaco dock does not have a sign anymore, Look for the concrete dock with
fuel pumps in front of/to the right of the Henry Berrisford Hotel)
Anchor off or near the
fuel dock. The further East you go towards the sea, the shallower it gets
Rio Dulce agent
Hail Raul as "Servamar" on
VHF 16 or 68 ((You may not get Raul if you hail Raul as there are many of them in Livingston) or ring him on your
phone see
http://riodulcechisme.com/index.php?...=539&Itemid=35)
He is open from 0800 to 16:00 Mon - Sat. and he will arrange for a skiff to come out with all the people on board that you need to see to check in.
They may ask it you have any
pets on board (Spanish for
pets is mascotas) and if you are using Raul as the agent, tell them if you are so they know what to do next.
2017 September
Total check in costs for 2 persons using Raul Q1,300 or approx US$186, Raul charges US$20 for his services
Rio Dulce tides
All times are local see
Tide/Current Predictor
and
http://www.tide-forecast.com/locatio...a/tides/latest