Boat Capsizes Lake Atitlan

Boat Capsizes Lake Atitlan, I normally do not write about such events, Travelers see a negative about coming to Lake Atitlan. Boat Transport is safe and is the main form of regular transportation around the Lake.

The last time we had a loss of life was, Guatemalan rescuers, resumed the search early Thursday for five people missing after turbulent waters in Lake Atitlan sank a boat, on Nov 15, 2018.

Boat Captains around the Lake at times get a bad wrap in travel reviews if it would not have been for one Captain’s actions this morning, this blog would have had a different result.

I was on the early boat from San Pedro to Pana, we hit all the villages on route, picking up those heading to work. The Lake was rough, time of year, winds and waves. Always sit at the back of the boat, less bumpy.

We reached Tzununa, when the boat turned to leave the Captain notices the bow of a boat off shore and made haste to the scene.

What we saw when we reached, bow up in the water the stern down and people screaming for help from the stern. Please note this was a privately owned boat. The Captain immediately told all of us to throw them life Jackets, a young man stripped down and dove in to help.

The rest of us, move from side to side in our boat to keep it from going over. Men collected at the stern to start pulling them on board, first came a baby, a Mayan woman took the baby, a young woman with a very small baby in one of those Baby Carriers, a Toddler, another mother, the rest, ended up in the stern of our boat.

I have no idea how one, the Captain kept his cool, you try and pull a 200-pound person, exhausted, up the side of the boat in rough conditions, without hurting them? Other boats stopped to offer aid.

With everyone safe and alive on board, we head to a Hotel on the shore and dropped them off. I assume the Grandmother was pretty scared, exhausted, I hope she is fine?

The young man that dove in sat close to me blessed himself, closed his eyes, and said a Prayer we headed off to Pana.

Everyone naturally worked together without knowing each other and followed the Captain’s request without question. We reached Pana and paid the boat captain and went on with our day.

I thought about this today, what if no one saw their boat if we were 10 minutes earlier, and I thought about the boat Caption his calm and gift to control his boat.