It’s finally time to reassemble and the screws are turned clockwise. However, there are still many jobs to be done. The entire deck has to be sprayed with gelcoat and anti-slip coating, the now completely ruined hull has to be completely repainted and the teak in the cockpit has to be regrouted and sanded.We clean the boat and the sofa cushions, bring food and books from the bungalow back on board and Esmen installs the generator. Then it’s time to say goodbye to the Rio Dulce, to Martin and Rikki, Kira, Naia and Thomas, to the boatyard, to Guatemala and our temporary life on land. Although we are still moored at the jetty, we sleep on board again, then it’s off down the river to Livingston, where we clear out. Our next destination is Providencia, a small Colombian island 600 nautical miles away. The trip is the first general test after the refit on the Rio Dulce. We still don’t know when the sailboat refit in Guatemala will be completed, when we will be able to re-inhabit Mabul and when she will be swimming in the waters of the Rio Dulce again.

For more than four months, from August to early December 2023, Guatemala is our chosen home. This is where we spend the hurricane season and where we get our Mabul ready for the upcoming sailing legs. There is a lot to do, the list is long and never stops growing. I put many projects on hold for weeks and months, “You can do it all in Guatemala during the sailboat refit”, I said to myself. At the time I was still thinking that three months should be enough if you just get down to work… I still had no idea how exhausting and chaotic everything would become.