Come join our sailing community in Guatemala and beyond

Details

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  Description

  Update 17 April, we are in Cuba at the moment, can join from here. At the moment we have very limited internet. Planing to be here at least till 10 th of May.
  
  Update 30 March 2024
  2, 3 spot open as of now
  pick up from Belize , we will sail towards Cuba.
  We are sailing with 2 boats, crew of 10
  
  Update 28/12/2023
  
  Month of january, cleaning to be done on the cata, freshing it out....
  after the last months
  In very humid & rainy area. You will be on your own at first with a follow up directives via wtsp or Telegram. babysitting ⛵ till mid January. Then more crews join.
  Other friends around will make the boat accessible to you & you can use the kayak to move and explore around. Lots of rivers...
  
  End January, beginning Feb, return to Guate for main crew, preparing 2 ⛵⛵for a longer journey at sea.
  
  Around one month on training -sailing the new team in Guate water, mostly Lake Izabal , fixing what needs to be fixed, big grocery supply..
  
  if you are a bike rider tourer reach out for a future project , That will be mixing both worlds ⛵and bike 🚲 )
  
  Another boat got purchase in Europe, dedicated to fair transport with it s own crew.
  
  Plan for sea trip ⛵⛵ boats in Guate
  
  Could be heading North towards Isla Mujeres, stopping on the way on some of the Belize islands, then will be great to reach out to the Bahamas, maybe stopping by Cuba
  
  If heading back West , would like to stop by Jamaica.
  
  It is possible we sail as a flotilla depending on friends other sailboat s plans.
  
  Not sure about a crossing to Europe, this could also be decided .
  
  Mostly need experienced crews, but study on other less experienced crews with a traveller kind of vibe, used to minimalism life and harsh environment.
  
  Need to have plenty of free time with you. Just like always, we plan it all together
  
  We ll be redirecting you to wtsp or Telegram to create team groups, share more links, pics and exchange to everybody at one.
  
  We are now using Telegram more often cause new members can access at least the last 100 messages, wtsp nada. And we avoid repeating....( A good way to see the abilities of new participants to interact as a team)
  
  Sometimes depending on where you come from we ask you if you can bring some items...most needed for the project and very difficult or silly expensive where we are located.
  
  Projects on the way, setting a better kitchen
  Isolating some of the walls with cork....
  
  The core of the project is to create sailboat rotating teams across different waters and countries while renovating boats in the meantime . Mostly the inside of them . It is not easy though because sailing needs a lot of skills, and to get there, we need a lot of captains to participate, so that everybody can get its time on land. To add to the difficulty, we don t use engines, just sails.
  So we follow weather window opportunities to move around. We sometimes have to wake up at 2, 3, 4 ,5 or 6 whenever the wind kicks in. Need to learn how to fragment your sleeping time.There is not really a typical day. We go on mixing fun and adventurous land excursions when reaching new anchorages destinations.
  
  Activities are as varied as, kayaking, visiting remote villages, waterfall, canyons, hiking, snorkeling, caving.
  It s a good thing if you have a rechargeable headlamp and a little dry bag , water ear plugs, diving masks, a set of cables to recharge phones... hammock could also be useful.
  You will have sometimes to face off grid situation as we sail to remoted places and as we are often limited in power, water and wifi acces.
  The idea is to have those goods around the globe , boats and later lands where nomadic or semi nomadic people can come to enjoy, stay for awhile, come back later making a big platform of rotating crew. Getting attach to the materials, and caring well, taking responsabilities for them and then completely detach oneself from the boats and lands when leaving knowing that another team will take good care during their shift. So that the boats and lands never become overwhelming.
  Life on the boat can be a all lot of fun but its not made for everyone. We work as a small community we share everything and live in a reduced space with a lot of people (up to 15), there's not a lot of privacy, not even in bathroom. However we manage to live all together and to make it work, even in hard moment we find solutions and make the impossible become possible.
  We are adventure seekers and enjoy challenging ourselves. We reach the next destinations with efforts , patience and sailing techniques.
  Don t expect modern , fancy boat at all, but they do the job and it allows us to shape them how we want, being as creative as we want.
  Minimum physical condition is needed.
  We like to keep this freedom of creating the adventures as we go. Deciding together what will be the next destination, or land we will go to explore. Flexibility is your best weapon here. Boats are made as minimalist as possible , avoiding extra expenses to keep the journey as cheap as possible , we want them to be light and spacious to sail well and comfortable. that often combines well with reducing our environmental footprint. Example ; we clean the hull ( underwater part) with a spatula and brush instead on fixing those very toxic paints ( antifouling) . This is no charter, you need to be very proactive in this project.
  We lift the chain and anchor by arm strength💪
  We always stir the boats no autopilot
  We anchor by sailing, and leave anchorage by sailing too.
  You need to be super patient and tactician in light wind.
  We can kayak pull the boat for a few hundred meters if needed. Or fins swim push the boat,
  
  We have 3 kayaks and paddle to shore ( no engine)
  
  We often sail with other sailing boats as a flotilla , having workshop inland depending on crews. Dance, yoga, circus, Night projection film or documentaries,
  
  We putted no minimum stay, but usually the longer the better cause it takes a lot of time to get people use to boat life and usually become a good help just after a few weeks.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Mostly by learning about the sailboats and the life that goes around it, Sailing skills, learning the basic knots. Electricity 12 V dc system. Having an off the grid kind of life at sea or inland. Tips about Central America and Mexico. Learning to live in a community. Having a more sustainable way of life. Visiting some beautiful places that are less turistically known,
  
  We also make some jewelry and can have some time to go about a few macramé points and incorporating fine rocks in necklace or bracelets.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Help with general maintenance, and many different kind of little task, painting, varnishing, carpenter, sanding, fiberglassing, fixing leaks, security at night with the boats at anchor, cooking, shopping,sailing, sewing sails, Bimini.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  German: Beginner
  Italian: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  on boats at anchor, depending on boats, they could accommodate 4 to 10 people.

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  What else ...

  We ask for participation to share most of the cost associated with food , cooking gaz, soaps, the hygienic : papers, sheets. Electricity, drinking water creation....
  We want to stay in the 5 us $/day/pers maximum ( covering food ) as workaway recommend.
  It is technically difficult to have people bringing their own food and doing separate meal, as we work as a community. But if you have a special diet you are welcome to it.
  We do a lot of sailing, and wear the materials a lot faster as new volunteers don t know how to handle the boats as well as more experienced sailors. Tear sails , destroy ropes. Rigging, loose and break things..
  So donations welcome.
  
  When in Guatemala
  there are some pretty caves around , and also a canyon , hot water springs and some fun hikes , lots of rivers and canals to check out, monkeys in the trees.. Manatee in the water.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  2 hours/day, 5 days a week

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  This host charges a fee

  read more

  Why does workaway.info allow listings of hosts who charge money?

  In developing countries (Where most hosts are involved in charity work or community development) some of our hosts may ask for a small donation to help the host family or charity (often less then 5 dollars per day) Workaway will allow this listing when the donation goes directly to the family or charity and is just to cover the cost of the volunteer‘s stay.  (This will be clearly marked on the host listing).
  We will strictly not allow listings posted by agents, “middle men” or projects who we feel are looking to profit from a volunteers stay.
   

   

   

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