Okay, so we admit we haven't been very good about keeping the blog up to date, but we have lots of good excuses....sailing, swimming, snorkeling, fishing, sightseeing and partying are our all-round best excuses but lack of internet access has been the main ongoing problem.
By the time I got back from visiting my new grandbaby in LA in early April, the weather had turned extremely hot, humid and buggy in Guatemala. This of course was not a big surprise, but our plans for travelling to the mountains for the summer or flying back to the states fell apart because we were unable to arrange transport for Max, our border collie.Thus, we decided to sail back to the states and travel up the east coast to North Carolina.
All in all, it has been a great trip! We checked out of Guatemala in Livingston on May 9 and started motoring out towards Belize. Within 5 miles, the engine lost all oil pressure so we had to raise and head back to Livingston. The customs agent we had used when checking out hooked us up with a great diesel mechanic who spoke English(!!!) and he quickly diagnosed the problem, had a tool and die maker in Puerto Barrios, the next harbor 25 miles away, fashion a replacement part, which he then installed in our boat the very next day-- less than 24 hours after we had returned to port.
We left Livingston at around 3 p.m. and arrived in Placencia 13 hours later at 4 a.m. after an uneventful but slow and rather rough sail. Since we were not yet checked into Belize, we couldn't linger in Placencia or even get off the boat, so we dropped anchor for just a couple of hours sleep. At first light we sailed to Dangriga, which we had heard was an easy and hassle-free place to check in. This indeed turned out to be the case -- not only did they not try to shake us down, they didn't ask for any money at all! We then had a great sail north, anchoring overnight at a small deserted island before reaching San Pedro the following afternoon. We stayed in San Pedro over the weekend so that we could avoid overtime fees when checking out. This time around San Pedro was quiet and peaceful as the tourist season was just about over.
From San Pedro we worked our way up the coast of Mexico, doing day hops only, and dropping the anchor at night at Bahia d'Ascension and Cozumel. We reached Isla Mujeres on the third day and stayed at the same marina we had enjoyed on our trip down. Diana, our daughter, flew into Cancun on May 25 and hopped the ferry over to Isal Mujeres to help us sail to key West.
We left Mexico on May 27th and had an uneventful trip with very light winds and calm seas. Luckily we were able to catch the gulfstream current and go fast despite the lack of wind. In boredom I put out a trolling line, not expecting to catch anything because we'd not had so much as a bit before, but a huge mahi-mahi bit the hook within a couple of hours. This one was so big he tore through the hook and jumped off the boat just as we after we had pulled him on board. A couple of hours later we were able to land a smaller one and enjoyed it very much that night for dinner. We arrived in Key West on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend after less than three days of sailing. Customs and Immigration was not available until the Sunday afternoon but had no concerns with us leaving the boat and in fact encouraged us to go out and enjoy ourselves. It was the most relaxed check in we have ever had -- they didn't want to see the boat and didn't even look at the paperwork on Max -- much less grueling than what we go through when flying. Key West was fun. We anchored close to the main section of town so it was a short dinghy ride to shore. We of course ate out a lot (!) and enjoyed walking around the old section of town.
After Diana flew home on June 1 we stayed in Key West for a couple more days then sailed to Marathon Key. The key is not much to speak of although it seems to be a very popular spot for cruisers. We only stayed one night then and then sailed up to Ft. Pierce which is about 50 miles or so north of Miami. On the way we caught another beautiful Mahi-mahi. I scoured our cookbooks and found just the right recipe to do this magnificent fish justice. We thought we were eating in a five star restaurant the fish was so good. While we were in Ft. Pierce Mark's aunt Bernice drove up from Del Rey and it was delightful to see her. Our next overnight sail got us to Fernandina Beach which is right at the border between Georgia and Florida and about 45 minutes from downtown Jacksonville. This is one of my favorite places in the world so we immediately hooked up with a realtor and looked at several houses. Found two very nice affordable places within walking distance to the beach, nature trails, shopping and the YMCA but slip fees for the boat are very expensive.
After staying in Fernandina for a little over a week, we did an overnight sail to Charleston and caught two beautiful Mackerel (which taste wonderful and not at all fishy or oily when fresh caught). We stayed in the downtown marina. We had a nice dinner out and a nice walk through the historic section, but we were eager to get moving so we left the next morning. Our most recent leg-from Charleston to Beaufort, NC -- was a rough downwind sail that caused the autopilot drive to fail. This meant we had to steer by hand all night (exhausting) so we decided to pull into the first safe inlet which turned out to be Cape Fear. On the up side, before the storm hit and we lost the autopilot, we caught a magnificent but unknown fish. We are searching books and pictures to determine what it was but it is definitely delicious. Right now we staying at a beautiful resort/marina on Bald Island. We leave tomorrow via the ICW for Wrightsville Beach so that Mark can pick up a cable for our other instruments from the West Marine there. From Wrightsville Beach we will head for New Bern and we expect to reach there before the week is out. We have reserved a slip at the Grand Marina in downtown New Bern and we expect to stay there for several months while we decide if it is the right place for us to settle full-time. Starting next week we will have full-time access to e-mail so would love to hear from anyone who has been following our (untimely) blog.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Latest News from the lost bloggers
Sorry to those of you who have been expecting more frequent updates.
We spent most of the winter in Placencia, Belize and the Sappodilla Cay's. In particular, any time there was reasonble weather we took off for NorthEast Sappodilla Cay. We had the Island to ourselves most of the time although some fishing parties that were looking for Bonefish and Tarpon and Permit would drop by occasionally to fish the flats nearby.
There was an awsome reef right next to our anchorage that we could swim to without worrying about the dinghy. It was very healthy and diverse in relation to the other reefs we have snorkeled on in the last several years. There was some bleaching but in most cases it looked like even the areas that had bleached out had started growing again. We met the guy who is the director of the national park that these islands are part of. He is the son of one of the 5 families that founded Placencia and several Cay's are named for his family (Gorbutt). Dennis is a really nice guy and is committed to continue the recovery of the reefs and fish stocks in the area he controls. Made us willing to pay the park fee when asked, which was $10US per person.
We did seem to spend to much time in the Village hiding from Cold Fronts which drop the temps into the 60's and brought NW winds sometimes into the high 20's or 30's. Most of the pouter reefs have no protection from the NW so its not generally safe or comfortable to stay out during a Norther which is what they call these fronts. Still we never had one as strong as the one we sat through off Little Water Cay in 2003.
Liz got real tired of sitting around in Placencia. Both Matt and Diana visited with us and we were actually able to clean up the aft berth well enough that everybody had a place to stay. Matt came with his friend Callie(sp) and stayed for a week then went to Northern Belize to meet some friends from MN for another week. Diana came alone the next week and stayed for 2 weeks. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great for either visit but it was great to visit with them and they said they had a good time anyway, hope they weren't just being polite.
My Mom was diagnosed with late stage lung cance in November and this has caused some stress for everybody. I went home from Isla Mujeres around Thanksgiving to see her. She was fading fast while the kids were here, and I also did not want to leave Liz alone in Belize do to the weather and some misunderstandings that we had with Belizean Customs, so we moved the boat to Guatemala. The Rio Dulce is a River that flows into the Carribean at the Gulf of Honduras just south of Belize. It is a great Hurricane Hole and MANY people leave their boats here for the Hurricane Season, from June-November.
Right after Diana left we got ready to move to Guatemala but we unfortunately had misunderstood the requirements for renewing our boat papers in Belize. We were supposed to do it every 30 days and had neglected to for over 60 days. When I went to see customs about this it created a BIG problem. They wanted to fine me $2000 and they confiscated my passport and cruisng permit until I paid. I talked with some Belizeans we had met through Paradise Resort and complained that I thought this was pretty harsh, especially since right after I had this confrontation I got a call from my sister saying that Mom was failing and I needed to come home. Anyway, I talked with the deputy director of customs in the capitol, and he agreed to check into it and see if it could be handled better. The next day I went with money to pay the fine and was met with some angry customs officers who obviously had heard from their chain of command. They made it very uncomfortable and made me sign a statement and told me that the next time their would be no leaniency. They extended my papers til March 19 but siad that would be it. They did not collect the fine and it was very stressful.
So we moved to Guatemala and I went home. Unfortunately Mom was far gone when I got there so I am not sure that she really understood that I was there. I spent several hours sitting with her in the wee hours of the morning and a couple the next day and she died at 10 am.
On a happier note Liz's son Charley or Lewis, depending on when you met him, had his first child so Liz is in California to meet her new Grandson. She is also visiting Diana in her new apartment and assisting her with making progress on here disertation.
Interesting boat maintenance issues, you knew I couldn't go a whole post without talking about it. WE struggled with getting our Raymarine GPS to work reliably and really never could sowe switched to our handheld Garmin unit, which turns out is pretty functional. Then our autopilot stopped working. So when Matt made specific plans to visit, I ordered a new Autopilot and a new receiver for the GPS and shipped them to him. Also, while we were rescuing the guy in Belize, the engine started overheating without explanation. And then, the other night in Guatmala, the head stopped flushing properly. Since Liz is in CA I had parts for the head sent to Diana and she will bring them back. The overheating miraculously healed itself, as did the marine growth that had accumulated on the hull while we were in Belize (fresh as opposed to salt water). After Liz left for CA I took the parts that Matt had brought for the Autopilot and GPS and pretty much have that working, but I blew a fuse and need to go into town to get a replacement to go any further. Also the depth sounder doesn't seem to want to talk to the other instruments through the proprietary SeaTalk network, which I had noticed before so I ordered some more parts to get around that. But its really nice to be in a marina and have power to run the battery charger instead of running the generator several hours a day.
Fronteras is pretty interesting, as I said there is a whole industry build up around cruisers leaving their boats here for the Hurricane season. Slips are cheap and the better marinas will air out your boat and charge the batteries and even wash the mildew off. The town was a small fishing and market town mostly populated by Indians of various types. Witht the number of boats and cruisers here for short and long term stays many marina/resort/restaurant/boat service entities have sprung up. Also the town is pretty intense with lots of shops crammed right up against the highway that comes through and crosses the river. Fruits and vegetables and all manner of food stuffs are cheap and plentiful.
We have to decide among the alternatives of:
1. Leave the boat and fly back to the states for the summer to look for a place to live in the Carolina's or maybe out west.
2. Leave the boat and go into the Guatemalan highlands and rent a place for the summer.
3. Start back to sail to the east coast and look for a place in the Carolina's and maybe cruise the US east coast next year.
Their are probably some other combinations. The original plan was option 3 but many people we have met have advocated 1 or 2 since moving the boat north and south is expensive and hard on equipment and people. I am pretty sure of Liz's vote, we will see what she is thinking after visiting Children and Grandchildren.
WE have a Guatemalan cell phone and good internet service right now so get in touch by email and we would be glad to here from you.
I will try to be better about updating this more often, but ....
Regards.
We spent most of the winter in Placencia, Belize and the Sappodilla Cay's. In particular, any time there was reasonble weather we took off for NorthEast Sappodilla Cay. We had the Island to ourselves most of the time although some fishing parties that were looking for Bonefish and Tarpon and Permit would drop by occasionally to fish the flats nearby.
There was an awsome reef right next to our anchorage that we could swim to without worrying about the dinghy. It was very healthy and diverse in relation to the other reefs we have snorkeled on in the last several years. There was some bleaching but in most cases it looked like even the areas that had bleached out had started growing again. We met the guy who is the director of the national park that these islands are part of. He is the son of one of the 5 families that founded Placencia and several Cay's are named for his family (Gorbutt). Dennis is a really nice guy and is committed to continue the recovery of the reefs and fish stocks in the area he controls. Made us willing to pay the park fee when asked, which was $10US per person.
We did seem to spend to much time in the Village hiding from Cold Fronts which drop the temps into the 60's and brought NW winds sometimes into the high 20's or 30's. Most of the pouter reefs have no protection from the NW so its not generally safe or comfortable to stay out during a Norther which is what they call these fronts. Still we never had one as strong as the one we sat through off Little Water Cay in 2003.
Liz got real tired of sitting around in Placencia. Both Matt and Diana visited with us and we were actually able to clean up the aft berth well enough that everybody had a place to stay. Matt came with his friend Callie(sp) and stayed for a week then went to Northern Belize to meet some friends from MN for another week. Diana came alone the next week and stayed for 2 weeks. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great for either visit but it was great to visit with them and they said they had a good time anyway, hope they weren't just being polite.
My Mom was diagnosed with late stage lung cance in November and this has caused some stress for everybody. I went home from Isla Mujeres around Thanksgiving to see her. She was fading fast while the kids were here, and I also did not want to leave Liz alone in Belize do to the weather and some misunderstandings that we had with Belizean Customs, so we moved the boat to Guatemala. The Rio Dulce is a River that flows into the Carribean at the Gulf of Honduras just south of Belize. It is a great Hurricane Hole and MANY people leave their boats here for the Hurricane Season, from June-November.
Right after Diana left we got ready to move to Guatemala but we unfortunately had misunderstood the requirements for renewing our boat papers in Belize. We were supposed to do it every 30 days and had neglected to for over 60 days. When I went to see customs about this it created a BIG problem. They wanted to fine me $2000 and they confiscated my passport and cruisng permit until I paid. I talked with some Belizeans we had met through Paradise Resort and complained that I thought this was pretty harsh, especially since right after I had this confrontation I got a call from my sister saying that Mom was failing and I needed to come home. Anyway, I talked with the deputy director of customs in the capitol, and he agreed to check into it and see if it could be handled better. The next day I went with money to pay the fine and was met with some angry customs officers who obviously had heard from their chain of command. They made it very uncomfortable and made me sign a statement and told me that the next time their would be no leaniency. They extended my papers til March 19 but siad that would be it. They did not collect the fine and it was very stressful.
So we moved to Guatemala and I went home. Unfortunately Mom was far gone when I got there so I am not sure that she really understood that I was there. I spent several hours sitting with her in the wee hours of the morning and a couple the next day and she died at 10 am.
On a happier note Liz's son Charley or Lewis, depending on when you met him, had his first child so Liz is in California to meet her new Grandson. She is also visiting Diana in her new apartment and assisting her with making progress on here disertation.
Interesting boat maintenance issues, you knew I couldn't go a whole post without talking about it. WE struggled with getting our Raymarine GPS to work reliably and really never could sowe switched to our handheld Garmin unit, which turns out is pretty functional. Then our autopilot stopped working. So when Matt made specific plans to visit, I ordered a new Autopilot and a new receiver for the GPS and shipped them to him. Also, while we were rescuing the guy in Belize, the engine started overheating without explanation. And then, the other night in Guatmala, the head stopped flushing properly. Since Liz is in CA I had parts for the head sent to Diana and she will bring them back. The overheating miraculously healed itself, as did the marine growth that had accumulated on the hull while we were in Belize (fresh as opposed to salt water). After Liz left for CA I took the parts that Matt had brought for the Autopilot and GPS and pretty much have that working, but I blew a fuse and need to go into town to get a replacement to go any further. Also the depth sounder doesn't seem to want to talk to the other instruments through the proprietary SeaTalk network, which I had noticed before so I ordered some more parts to get around that. But its really nice to be in a marina and have power to run the battery charger instead of running the generator several hours a day.
Fronteras is pretty interesting, as I said there is a whole industry build up around cruisers leaving their boats here for the Hurricane season. Slips are cheap and the better marinas will air out your boat and charge the batteries and even wash the mildew off. The town was a small fishing and market town mostly populated by Indians of various types. Witht the number of boats and cruisers here for short and long term stays many marina/resort/restaurant/boat service entities have sprung up. Also the town is pretty intense with lots of shops crammed right up against the highway that comes through and crosses the river. Fruits and vegetables and all manner of food stuffs are cheap and plentiful.
We have to decide among the alternatives of:
1. Leave the boat and fly back to the states for the summer to look for a place to live in the Carolina's or maybe out west.
2. Leave the boat and go into the Guatemalan highlands and rent a place for the summer.
3. Start back to sail to the east coast and look for a place in the Carolina's and maybe cruise the US east coast next year.
Their are probably some other combinations. The original plan was option 3 but many people we have met have advocated 1 or 2 since moving the boat north and south is expensive and hard on equipment and people. I am pretty sure of Liz's vote, we will see what she is thinking after visiting Children and Grandchildren.
WE have a Guatemalan cell phone and good internet service right now so get in touch by email and we would be glad to here from you.
I will try to be better about updating this more often, but ....
Regards.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
High Drama on the High Seas of Belize
We have been having a fabulous time in Belize, hanging out in Placencia when the weather is bad and travelling to the out islands when the skies clear.
Last week the weather was particularly bad on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with strong winds and torrential downpours. When it clear on Friday morning we took off for the Sapodilla Cays, a wonderful marine preserve with fantastic snorkelling and beautiful deserted islands.
About fifteen miles out we heard a strange noise and looked all over the boat trying to determine its source. Then it became louder and we realized it was someone shouting. As I scanned the water I saw someone about 250 yards away hanging on to some whit flotsam. We quickly dripped sails and deployed our lifesling (good thing we had practiced man overboard maneuvers years ago) and brought him on board our dinghy (we couldn't hoist him into the boat because he was too weak to secure himself properly in the lifesling and too weak to climb the ladder.
When we got him into the dinghy I did a quick lay person's assessment of his condition and could see he was dehydrated and in some shock. His foot was badly swollen and he told us he had stepped on a rock. We gave him dry clothes and a blanket, water, food, and Neosporin, but he was clearly in significant pain that we couldn't do anything for. He said his boat had been swamped by a ten foot wave three and one-half days earlier and he had been holding on the the lid of his cooler for that entire time. No land was visible in any direction, but we suspect he had drifted southwest with the current from about forty-five miles northeast.
After about one hour of trying we finally got good radio communications with the Belize Coast Guard. We continued on our route to the Sapodilla Keys and the coast guard picked him up in their launch about 10 minutes after we anchored there.
The next day we learned that he had been with another fisherman who had not yet been rescued. We gave the Coast Guard our man overboard GPS position and our sailing course and they sent out a search plane for a couple of days, but to no avail.
Yesterday we learned that the man we had rescued died of toxic shock from his foot wound. The story is a bit murky but what we've heard is that the coast guard brought him to Placencia and the clinic said he needed to go to the hospital. The Placencia police drove him to the hospital in Dangriga (about 30 miles away) and they wanted to amputate his foot, or possibly his leg and the hospital fee was going to be $7,000. The family was trying to get the money together they transported him to the hospital in Belize City (a much bigger town) and while they were trying to get the money together he just lay on a gurney in the Emergency room and died with no one in attendance. I'm not sure if that's the real story of what happened, but it is such a sad ending to such a miraculous rescue. The coast guard said this is the first time in memory someone has been rescued by a passing sailboat. His name was Kareem Ely, he was 33 years old, and very brave.
We're off now to Wipari Cay for more snorkelling and swimming. More soon....
Last week the weather was particularly bad on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with strong winds and torrential downpours. When it clear on Friday morning we took off for the Sapodilla Cays, a wonderful marine preserve with fantastic snorkelling and beautiful deserted islands.
About fifteen miles out we heard a strange noise and looked all over the boat trying to determine its source. Then it became louder and we realized it was someone shouting. As I scanned the water I saw someone about 250 yards away hanging on to some whit flotsam. We quickly dripped sails and deployed our lifesling (good thing we had practiced man overboard maneuvers years ago) and brought him on board our dinghy (we couldn't hoist him into the boat because he was too weak to secure himself properly in the lifesling and too weak to climb the ladder.
When we got him into the dinghy I did a quick lay person's assessment of his condition and could see he was dehydrated and in some shock. His foot was badly swollen and he told us he had stepped on a rock. We gave him dry clothes and a blanket, water, food, and Neosporin, but he was clearly in significant pain that we couldn't do anything for. He said his boat had been swamped by a ten foot wave three and one-half days earlier and he had been holding on the the lid of his cooler for that entire time. No land was visible in any direction, but we suspect he had drifted southwest with the current from about forty-five miles northeast.
After about one hour of trying we finally got good radio communications with the Belize Coast Guard. We continued on our route to the Sapodilla Keys and the coast guard picked him up in their launch about 10 minutes after we anchored there.
The next day we learned that he had been with another fisherman who had not yet been rescued. We gave the Coast Guard our man overboard GPS position and our sailing course and they sent out a search plane for a couple of days, but to no avail.
Yesterday we learned that the man we had rescued died of toxic shock from his foot wound. The story is a bit murky but what we've heard is that the coast guard brought him to Placencia and the clinic said he needed to go to the hospital. The Placencia police drove him to the hospital in Dangriga (about 30 miles away) and they wanted to amputate his foot, or possibly his leg and the hospital fee was going to be $7,000. The family was trying to get the money together they transported him to the hospital in Belize City (a much bigger town) and while they were trying to get the money together he just lay on a gurney in the Emergency room and died with no one in attendance. I'm not sure if that's the real story of what happened, but it is such a sad ending to such a miraculous rescue. The coast guard said this is the first time in memory someone has been rescued by a passing sailboat. His name was Kareem Ely, he was 33 years old, and very brave.
We're off now to Wipari Cay for more snorkelling and swimming. More soon....
Thursday, January 7, 2010
We're in Belize!
We've been very remiss in updating this blog to the point that some people have gotten concerned about us. Rest assured that we are having a FABULOUS time, just not much access to the internet.
We spent nearly a month in Isla Mujeres even though we had planned to stay no more than just a few days. It is a beautiful island, just 30 minutes by ferry from Cancun, but much less developed. We spent most of the month at Pariso Marina where we had good access to town, great snorkeling nearby, and a freshwater pool and bar for whenever we wanted a change of pace. Max loved the marina because he could run free and swim as much as he wanted. Great potluck for Thanksgiving and just before leaving we hosted a Mexican dinner.
We left for Belize mid-December. The trip started out just awful with horrible cross-currents that constantly dumped seawater on us and threw us across the cockpit. After a dreadful night, we headed inshore and had a a great week day-hopping down the coast of Mexico. We didn't see another boat the entire time and since our radio has a range of only 20 miles or so, we were completely off the grid. Each afternoon we would have a tense 30 minutes or so navigating through a narrow break in the barrier reefs to reach our evening anchorage, but our hand-held GPS worked perfectly and the waypoints in the guide book we were using (Raucher's) were always spot on.
We reached San Pedro the Saturday before Christmas and immediately met some delightful people (Chris and John on SaraII) with whom we shared Christmas Eve and Christmas. San Pedro is a hyped up tourist spot, enjoyable in many respects but the anchorage was quite rolly with wakes from dive boats and ferries and blaring music until 3 a.m. that kept both of us awake many nights. We left San Pedro a couple of days after Christmas, heading for Lighthouse reef with Chris and John. We spent the first night at the south end of the Turneff Islands. Terrible holding (the anchor was just lying on its side) but fortunately no wind. The next morning though we had fabulous snorkeling a mile or so from our anchorage -- healthiest coral we've ever seen. We then had a good 4 hr. sail to Lighthouse reef. The wind came up so strong that we were doing hull speed under main alone. When we arrived, other friends from Isla Mujeres were there and guided us to their anchorage on the other side of Long Key. We spent New Year's and our anniversary (Jan. 2) there, but had terrible weather most of the week. Fortunately we had great holding as the wind blew 18-30 most of the time. Lighthouse Reef is supposed to be on the the premier spots to visit in Belize - crystal clear water, white sands, rare red-footed boobies, fabulous snorkelling -- but due to the bad weather we saw very little of it. Managed to go snorkelling one morning and to take Max around the island to a sandy beach another day.
As soon as we got a brief break in the weather forecast we headed off for Placencia. We got through South Water Cay cut just fine, but then ran aground trying to get into the lagoon between Twin Cays. A Belizean fishing boat finally came along and helped us. The fishing boat was about 30 feet in length, clearly hand made, and filled with 13 fisherman who each had their own hand-made single-person canoe strapped to the the side-rail. It took about 1 hour to get our boat into deeper water and settled into the lagoon. They had been out catching lobster and conch, so we bought 2.5 lbs of lobster from them for dinner - five big tails for $25.
The next day, leaving the lagoon, we ran aground once again in pretty much the same place, but fortunately we were close enough to the deep water that Mark could motor through it. We had a great five hour sail to Placencia, arriving in the harbor about 1:45 on Monday afternoon. This is just a perfect place -- quiet and laid back, not hyper touristy, but lots of good restaurants and a great beach. Enough for now. I'll try to update the blog again soon and include some pix.
We spent nearly a month in Isla Mujeres even though we had planned to stay no more than just a few days. It is a beautiful island, just 30 minutes by ferry from Cancun, but much less developed. We spent most of the month at Pariso Marina where we had good access to town, great snorkeling nearby, and a freshwater pool and bar for whenever we wanted a change of pace. Max loved the marina because he could run free and swim as much as he wanted. Great potluck for Thanksgiving and just before leaving we hosted a Mexican dinner.
We left for Belize mid-December. The trip started out just awful with horrible cross-currents that constantly dumped seawater on us and threw us across the cockpit. After a dreadful night, we headed inshore and had a a great week day-hopping down the coast of Mexico. We didn't see another boat the entire time and since our radio has a range of only 20 miles or so, we were completely off the grid. Each afternoon we would have a tense 30 minutes or so navigating through a narrow break in the barrier reefs to reach our evening anchorage, but our hand-held GPS worked perfectly and the waypoints in the guide book we were using (Raucher's) were always spot on.
We reached San Pedro the Saturday before Christmas and immediately met some delightful people (Chris and John on SaraII) with whom we shared Christmas Eve and Christmas. San Pedro is a hyped up tourist spot, enjoyable in many respects but the anchorage was quite rolly with wakes from dive boats and ferries and blaring music until 3 a.m. that kept both of us awake many nights. We left San Pedro a couple of days after Christmas, heading for Lighthouse reef with Chris and John. We spent the first night at the south end of the Turneff Islands. Terrible holding (the anchor was just lying on its side) but fortunately no wind. The next morning though we had fabulous snorkeling a mile or so from our anchorage -- healthiest coral we've ever seen. We then had a good 4 hr. sail to Lighthouse reef. The wind came up so strong that we were doing hull speed under main alone. When we arrived, other friends from Isla Mujeres were there and guided us to their anchorage on the other side of Long Key. We spent New Year's and our anniversary (Jan. 2) there, but had terrible weather most of the week. Fortunately we had great holding as the wind blew 18-30 most of the time. Lighthouse Reef is supposed to be on the the premier spots to visit in Belize - crystal clear water, white sands, rare red-footed boobies, fabulous snorkelling -- but due to the bad weather we saw very little of it. Managed to go snorkelling one morning and to take Max around the island to a sandy beach another day.
As soon as we got a brief break in the weather forecast we headed off for Placencia. We got through South Water Cay cut just fine, but then ran aground trying to get into the lagoon between Twin Cays. A Belizean fishing boat finally came along and helped us. The fishing boat was about 30 feet in length, clearly hand made, and filled with 13 fisherman who each had their own hand-made single-person canoe strapped to the the side-rail. It took about 1 hour to get our boat into deeper water and settled into the lagoon. They had been out catching lobster and conch, so we bought 2.5 lbs of lobster from them for dinner - five big tails for $25.
The next day, leaving the lagoon, we ran aground once again in pretty much the same place, but fortunately we were close enough to the deep water that Mark could motor through it. We had a great five hour sail to Placencia, arriving in the harbor about 1:45 on Monday afternoon. This is just a perfect place -- quiet and laid back, not hyper touristy, but lots of good restaurants and a great beach. Enough for now. I'll try to update the blog again soon and include some pix.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)