|
Home
November 7
November 8
November 11
November 14
November 21
November 23
November 25
November 28
November 30 |
 |
 |
 |
|
November 21, 2007
Water Cays, Utila
Bay Islands, Honduras
|
Happy Birthday to Ole!!!
|
Today was a whole lot more like what
cruising is supposed to be! Sunshine! Light to no wind!
Snorkeling! So how the heck did we get here?
|
|
Well – we stayed at Tobacco Range until
Friday, November 16 – deciding that when we finally got a
weather window to get out to the atolls, we’d have to wait
there for a window to get back – and as of the 16th,
we calculated only five more weeks until our reservation in
Panama.
|
The boats with us in Tobacco Range all
swear by the Caribbean weather guru, Chris Parker, who
broadcasts three times a day and does weather routing for
his subscribers. If some of his subscribers happen to be
heading the same direction as we are, so much the better for
us! So based on Chris Parker’s advice (to other boaters who
are less tight than we are) we opted to make the first jump
east on Friday at about noon, making about a 90-mile
crossing.
|
Frankly, we’ve had worse – if this is as
bad as we get during our travels to Panama, I’ll thank
Neptune or whoever else is in control of such things. We
had fair winds of 12-15 knots, and 4-6 foot seas off the
port bow. Now compared to Rio Dulce, it was rough – but
compared to our little jaunt down the coast of the Yucatán,
it was a rocking chair. The only challenge was arriving at
12:30 in the morning, in an unfamiliar harbor, where the
prevailing northeasterly winds had suddenly shifted to
southwesterly, making our anchorage for the night a bit of a
ride.
|
Daylight found us in a typical Caribbean
harbor, with colorful stilt houses, little inter-island
transport ships in various stages of repair, and wonder of
wonders, blue sky. Ole went ashore to find the Port Captain
and announce our presence in Honduras – we lucked out as the
immigration official was in town. Total cost to clear in
was a whopping $6 apiece for customs and $3 apiece for
immigration (what cats???). Ole didn’t have small change in
dollars, it was Saturday and the bank was closed, so the
official just waved him off and said “Monday is good
enough…”
|
We kept hearing on the radio that several
boats were anchored someplace called “the Utila Cays” –
which aren’t listed as such on the chart or in any cruising
guide. So we called them on the radio and asked for
directions, heading over in the late afternoon to a
beautiful little lagoon and anchored in 45 feet of water
near three sailboats: Tempest, Wind Free, and
Attitude. Torrey had given us some parts for Tempest
anyhow, so Tempest Bob motored over with the postage – the
local beer here is “Salvavida” – means “life saver” in
Spanish. Apt.
|
 |
Shortly after we anchored, a local woman in
a kayak paddled up and offered to sell us a side of fresh
snapper – must have been at least 5 lbs! Her name is Wendy,
and she is apparently the “bad girl” of the island, trading
her favors to the fishermen for fish that she sells to
boaters to finance a drug habit. She seemed friendly
enough, lucid, and pleasant. The more we do this cruising
thing, the more willing I am to live and let live – a
community as small as Utila Cay needs one of everything.
|
|
We spent Sunday on our own, puttering
around the boat trying to glue the dinghy back together
(that’s another story for another day), and got invited over
to Neil and Cathy’s Attitude for cocktail hour and
pictures of a dive Neil did with great white sharks for his
60th birthday. I had always suspected that
sailboaters had a different mindset than us “trawler trash,”
but jeez – to PAY somebody to put you into the water after
they’ve chummed it with dead tuna and summoned oh, 10 or
20 great white sharks – sorry, I’m afraid that merits a
stronger word than “different.” The oohs and ahs were
punctuated by yums and wows, as Neil is a bit of a “foodie,”
and had some wonderful snackies including real cheese. All
in all it was a great evening.
|
Monday we sped over to the town on the
biggest of the cays. It’s a cute little berg with about 600
people, 3 or 4 tiendas, 3 or 4 churches, and no street –
just a wide sidewalk that runs pretty much the length of the
cay, about a quarter mile. They just got electricity three
years ago, and the infrastructure is primitive at best, but
we did pass one house with four satellite dishes. He’s the
local media conglomerate. Overall we were impressed by the
cleanliness and order of the place. Most of the houses were
freshly painted and many had beautiful gardens of croton,
hibiscus, trumpet flowers and ginger.
|
As we were returning to the boat, we met a
guy in a speed-dinghy who invited us to his house for
cocktails that afternoon at 3:00. Bobby Thompson bought
his house about 3 years ago from a missionary who built it
as a dream then developed health problems. I don’t know
what he paid for it, but given that Bobby was in the
offshore oil industry, the missionary business in Central
America must be pretty profitable. It’s a hell of a
property. The house, at least 5000 square feet, has full
suite accommodations on both levels, a full solar panel
array on the roof, backup generator, both a rain catchment
and reverse osmosis watermaker, a white sand beach he’s
built with breakwaters, beautiful grounds patrolled by an
exhuberantly retarded Labrador retriever named “Splash” and
a watch-toucan who’s meaner than snot.
|
Part of the property’s charm is a long dock
with a palapa bar built as a tower on the end – where all of
the boats at anchor assembled as Bobby’s guests. After a
bit of Flor de Cana lubrication, the purpose of the invite
became clear. Bobby wanted a focus group of boaters about
what he could do to provide better service to boaters, as
he’s noticed an increase in the number of boats that anchor
in front of his property. He doesn’t want a full-on
business, but wondered what kinds of low-maintenance, honor
system services he could provide. Said his wife would kill
him if he ran a business – he’s supposed to be retired! He
was a charming, gracious and generous host, and told us we
were welcome to come ashore and stroll his property any
time. Just at dark, a squall blew up, so we sped back home
and hoisted up the dinghy.
|
|
Tuesday’s weather was crap. All day.
It makes me grumpy. We did not embark on this venture to
stay tucked inside while at anchor in the Caribbean!
|
Wednesday, on the other hand, for Ole’s
birthday, Ra was out in full force. I spent the morning
making two cakes – one for the birthday boy and one for
Thanksgiving dinner. Ole continued to glue the dinghy.
After lunch, off we went to find some snorkeling, with
Tempest Bob and Annette and Dave from Connie Marie,
who joined us in the anchorage Monday night. Had a
wonderful time, seeing plenty of damselfish, angelfish,
tangs and parrotfish among the coral, sponges and sea-fans.
Colors here are good – with some of the sponges being
crimson, cobalt, and turquoise. My favorite fish was a
juvenile damselfish who was cobalt blue with neon turquoise
polka-dots. I can’t help it – snorkeling makes me feel like
a little kid – when I see the fish going about their daily
lives, my mask leaks from smiling.
|
The glee factor raged on, when upon return
to the mothership, frozen pina coladas appeared. Two tall
ones, feet up on the back rail, contemplating the
complexities of life.
|
Then it was time for Ole’s quiet birthday
fiesta, with puyaso from the meat lady in Guatemala, garlic
mashed potatoes and the last of the fresh broccoli – add red
wine and a concocted recipe for chocolate-tia maria cake,
and the day was complete!
|
|
 
|
|
Jan the Webmeister
 |
| |
            
 |
| |
|
|
|
