5 Sep 2011- Just received sad news from some of our cruising friends who were on their way down to Rio Dulce, Guatemala from Isla Mujeres, Mexico. They were at Punta Allen when the catamaran Second Chance, belonging to John and Beth Shaw hit a reef causing minor damage to their rudder. Due to high seas they were unable to attempt repairs at Punta Allen so they returned north to Puerto Aventures arriving around 2000 hours.
As you may remember I had difficulty entering Puerto Aventures in the daylight, I would never want to enter that port in the dark. The catamaran Second Chance made it in but the mono hull Mahalo Nui that was traveling with them missed and ended up on the rocks on the south side of the entrance. J & Jerr both made it off the boat safely.
North jetty Puerto Aventures
This morning she had drifted to the south and was laying at 45 Degrees on the beach and had taken on a large amount of water. They hooked up a high powered bilge pump and are able to reduce the amount of water in the boat. Due to rough seas they won’t be able to attempt to move her into sheltered water until Wednesday. Thank God J & Jerr are alright.
Power boat entering jetties Puerto Aventures
The entrance to Puerto Aventures is unprotected there is a very small jetty on each side of the entrance to the harbor which opens directly into the Caribbean in the best conditions it is very dicey to enter. I almost lost My Peace when we were there in 1 meter seas. I would have to say that Puerto Aventures is the most dangerous port we have entered thus far in our voyage.
Power boat entering jetties Puerto Aventures
With a power boat you have enough power to control the boat in the “surf”, a sail boat weighing 17 tons like My Peace and you only have 62 hp it is very difficult to maintain control. When we entered I almost ended up on the rocks on the north jetties in 1 meter seas in broad daylight. There is a range marker and supposedly if you line up correctly on the range lights and ride in on the valley between two swells it isn’t too bad. The mistake I made was I rode in on the top of a swell and it was like surfing a 17 ton surfboard with no control. I pushed my throttle all the way forward and cranked the wheel as far to port as I could and almost didn’t make it.
Power boat entering jetties Puerto Aventures
Mahalo Nui is a smaller boat than My Peace and has a much smaller engine, our hearts go out to J & Jerr and we Pray the damage isn’t too extensive.
As we hear more I will relay it.
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