Klass marine and auto paints now at W&L Comercial

Klass is available as a two part polyurethane or epoxy. W&L Comercial can custom mix colors to match customer's requirements.

W&L Comercial now stocks a full supply of sandpaper, sanding disks as well as fiberlass cloth and resin, air compressors, power tools and hardware.

Lorena de Ubico with a customer

Exterior grade plywood on the Rio Dulce?

Yep, it's true. Until now, boaters seeking exterior plywood would have to travel to La Ceiba, Honduras and, fingers crossed, the lumberyard there might have some in stock.

Otherwise, they'd have to just settle for some of the local interior grade stuff which, unless immediately coated with epoxy, would soon take on the characteristics of soggy cardboard.

W&L Comercial also stocks a good grade of exterior plywood in 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 inch thickness.

 Local carpenter Rodger (RaJa) Hanks, being somewhat of a skeptic, bought a couple of sheets and cut the corners off to see if the glue was actually waterproof. He tossed the corners into a pot of boiling water, let it "cook" for a few hours then let it dry for a day or so.

"It didn't delaminate or anything," he noted. "Good stuff".

Ice chests and wine also available!

However, Rodger cautions, this is not true marine plywood. "You can't find that anywhere that I know of in Central America."

But it is made with resorcinol glue which is impervious to fresh or salt water. "Just be sure to inspect each sheet carefully, looking along the edges for any openings or separations in the laminate," he advises.

In addition to plywood, Lorena now has a good selection of yellow and white pine stacked in their warehouse in various thicknesses and widths.

A virtual pride of dinghies and fellow boaters rushed to the aid of s/v Tantalus, attempting to make the harbor at Roatan without motor or steering.

 By Nicola Runnels-Moss
on s/v Tantalus
Photos by s/v Dreamaway
We planned our passage from the Rio to Roatan in company with Jim and Kitty on Dreamaway to take advantage of a forecast norther, so we could arrive after an overnighter with good winds.

And contrary to usual weather forecasting, the good winds did in fact materialize.

Our passage started in fine style. We cast off at Nutria with elation after nearly 4 years at the dock. We couldn’t stop grinning all the way to Texan Bay for the night.

Under sail from Livingston to Roatan

We took the lancha to Livingstone in the afternoon and checked out effortlessly in half an hour with Raul’s help (having emailed him the crew details first).

The next morning we set off at 6.30am, crossing the bar an hour before a high tide of 1.5’ with no problem (both boats draw 6’) and headed towards CaboTres Puntas and our waypoint just south of the Sapodillas.

The first 18 hours were great - wind behind us most of the way, sailing by the lee a lot of the time. At midnight the norther came in on the beam and we were creaming along at 5-6 knots. How good can it get ??? No beating against the wind, no diesel fumes! 

But it’s a boat! So nothing can be that easy!

Sure enough half an hour later the radar went out with a bang, we smelt burning plastic and the amp readings were going crazy.

ATM account theft a problem

With the fulltime 24/7 river patrol now on the job, petty thefts have decreased dramatically with no serious crimes such as boardings or armed robbery reported against boaters in almost two years.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen here again or anyplace else in the world.

Jim Ellis, owner of Mario’s Marina (and when he dons his other hat as ElJeem, moderator of the Rio Dulce Forum security topic of  “Ground Truth” Here ) continues to advise boaters to be aware and vigilant of their property and to not unnecessarily tempt fate by leaving dinghies, outboards and fuel tanks unsecured.

Enough said. Lock your stuff up. Check out Casey Brooks article on “How to lock your dinghy” Here .

However, there are two ongoing security issues that warrant discussion: ATM card account thefts and fishing nets.