The Jungle Medic

The following is a reprint from our article in Sounding Magazine. Enjoy.

Cruising does not always mean boisterous passages or cocktails on the aft deck at sunset. To the contrary, much of our time is spent exploring the country side and getting to know the local people. This approach for my wife Susan and I has enriched the experience far beyond what we expected when we moved aboard Sea Trek, our Mariner 40, and started the cruising life almost 18 years ago. Beginning in mid April of 2005 the passage from the Florida Keys, down the coast of Mexico, and wandering through the many Cays in Belize had been wonderful. But that did not compare to our fantastic experience upon arriving on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala.

We had heard from many sources, of the wonderful work done here by Bryan Buchanan and his wife Riechelle. Bryan is a certified paramedic and has done a residency here with a family practitioner and he has also done some dental training. Both he and Riechelle have been Missionaries in third world countries for several years, the last few here in Guatemala. They primarily travel to remote villages that do not have access to medical care and set up their clinic for the day, but they will offer care and medication to anyone that might need it, including the local cruising community. Bryan and Riechelle are known locally on the river as The Jungle Medic.

A Trawler Makeover

With all of the reality TV shows bordering on the ridiculous this might not be a bad idea. We certainly are delighted with the progress on Beach House and the compliments pour in from everyone that sees her. Especially those that have seen her prior to our taking ownership. The transformation has been amazing and when we walk down the dock we sometimes have to stop and admire our handy work. We are still a long way from being cruising ready since most of our efforts have been on the exterior and redoing and improving the teak, paint and canvas. Electrical and electronics have been slow going and we have only completed what needs to be done to keep her safe and keep the on board equipment working. With the heat of the summer bearing down on us hard, it might be time to work on interior projects in the air conditioning.

Refinishing The Hatches

We have not slowed down on the projects we just haven't posted because we have been so busy. The teak on the exterior is just about finished, leaving the flybridge yet to be done. For the last couple of weeks we have been repairing and refinishing the forward hatch and the hatch and entrance to the aft cabin. Both of these have leaked quite a bit requiring us to keep a sheet of plastic over the hatch under the canvas covers. Once we had them off it was quite apparent why. The forward hatch had two pieces of glass in it that was set in a grove with the edges exposed and held in with caulk. The caulk was old and in spots broke down and the water was able to get in around the edges. Once the wood was thoroughly sanded and the old caulk removed, we recaulked with 3M 4200 and put a nice teak trim over the edge of the glass and overlapped the wood. With the caulking underneath sealing everything it is now water tight. A good thunderstorm this afternoon affirmed that we had indeed solved that problem. A few seams that had opened up were also sealed with West System Epoxy. As with all of the exterior wood we had to sand off all of the deck stain the previous owner had applied. We did find a product at the local hardware store that was for removing deck stain and it did make the job much easier. Both the inside and outside of the hatch needed to be stripped and sanded.