Gallery

It took six weeks to put things back together for the first time during the sailboat refit II in Guatemala. The deck project is going well. After some touch-ups with fiberglass, two coats of polyester filler are applied to the deck. After an incredible amount of sanding, seven coats of gelcoat were sprayed on. Meanwhile, Alex rebuilt both toilets, relocated a thruhull, glued in new plastic seacocks, and tinkered with what felt like 100 side projects.

In this first gallery we show how Mabul is disassembled during the sailboat refit in Guatemala. Only three days after we arrived in Rio Dulce, our dear Mabul is already hanging in the slings. Karin flies to Switzerland and the prop has to come along. After an inspection of the underwater hull, I get to work, the list is long. Soon Kevin and Joel, the Guatemalan workers, start with the deck project. First the old teak has to come off, then gelcoat on the deck and new paint on the stern and waterline.

After our last leg from Mexico, we arrive outside Livingston in Guatemala. Here we wait for the spring tide so that we can make it over the shallow sandbank. After clearing in, we head upstream to Rio Dulce under engine through the deepest jungle. Our destination is the RAM marina, or rather boatyard, to refit Mabul.

Cozumel, another mecca for divers, is located in the middle of the Gulf Stream off the Caribbean coast of Mexico. The island owes crystal-clear water to this, as we have hardly seen it before, and makes a terrific drift dive out of every reef. So we drift effortlessly, sometimes for kilometers just above the reefs along the west coast of Cozumel and admire the diverse nature. Amazing how intact everything seems, considering the blatant mass diving tourism that has been taking place here for decades.

The next leg in Mexico brings us to the mainland, Puerto Aventuras. The marina is a kind of Disneyland for adults with motorboats. From here we explore the depths of the jungle, the cenotes and our consciousness. Before continuing on to Guatemala, diving at Isla Cozumel is on the agenda. The island is world famous for its breathtaking drift dives with perfect visibility. So we take our new friends from Ekumal with us on the crossing and spend a day in front of el cielo at the southwest tip of the island.

Coming from Cuba we reach the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Our first destination: Isla Mujeres. We were not aware that this is an American tourist stronghold. The culture shock is correspondingly great and we immediately realize that we won’t be staying here for long. In the end it will be almost two weeks, the Mexican paper war is merciless and drags on. In the meantime, we visit Cancun and cenotes in Mexico’s jungle.

We jump again into the refreshing fresh water of the cenotes of the Yucatan. In the cenote Tajma Ha we scuba dive horizontally and follow the depth profile of the cenote itself. Halfway through the easy distance there is an opening of the cave, here you can again sniff surface air and see the jungle from a new perspective. Holes in the ceiling here and there allow the high sun to shine through the water to the bottom. The atmosphere here is magical…

This time it should be something special. Cenote diving, THAT is what you do in the Yucatan! That’s what they said. This is the end of our two of us dives for the time being, in caves we only go with professionals. We get to know Mirko from Cancun, and as luck would have it, he organizes diving trips and his buddy Tillmann is a cave diver. Perfect! The first cave dive we do is in Cenote Zapote. Basically a nearly 80 meter deep hole in the middle of the jungle. Quickly down to 35 meters where the narrow vent opens significantly and then up in slow circles along the bell-like structures. Narrow, dark, cold and short, but magnificent! Kin Ha Cenote, on the other hand, is like a large pool and almost completely closed off at the top by a large dome. In the darkness of the cave, surrounded by these strange structures, weightless, it feels a little like being in space – and so do the pictures that are taken.

When we arrive in Cayo Largo, which is southwest of Cienfuegos, we still have a small bill open with Cuba. The Jardines de la Reina should actually be full of sharks, but unfortunately we only got to see a total of two from a relatively long distance. In Cayo Largo we try our luck again – and we are lucky, very lucky! We dive with nurse sharks, grey reef sharks and white tip sharks in close proximity. The elegance of these animals is impressive, they seem to have a similar interest in us as we have in them. By the way, we are not on the menu.

For the first time since we have been living on Mabul, we leave her alone in the marina in Cienfuegos and make our way overland to Havana. We spend a total of five days in a breathtaking and incredibly diverse city. Bitter poverty and dilapidated buildings are just one street away from the restored downtown where tourists and cigar sellers throng. We also take a tour of the surrounding area and get another deep insight into Cuba’s history, culture and society.