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Friday, November 30, 2007
Vivorillos Cays, Honduras |
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It’s official. We’re now out in the middle
of nowhere in the Vivorillos Cays, a mere freckle on the
kneecap of Central America, right where the
Honduran/Nicaraguan peninsula turns 90 degrees south.
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The cays are actually three islands running
more or less north-to-south, two connected by an exposed
reef, and the third to the south of the other two, with a
fairly deep passage between them. The northernmost cay is a
rookery with thousands of magnificent frigate birds and
masked and brown boobies. The southern cay has a bit of a
beach, and is home to a group of fishermen who come out here
for months at a time, diving for conch and lobster, and
selling their catch to “mother ships” that come by
periodically.
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The guidebook we are using, Capt. John
Raines “Cruising Ports: The Central American Route” gives
this place mention as nothing more than a rest stop, and
speaks about “incessant beggars and a murder of a cruiser
that took place several years ago.” The incessant beggars
part I just don’t get – how would they get here? We’re 30
miles offshore! And the “murder of a cruiser?” Gives me
pause to think, but I think karma has something to do with
things like that.
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We arrived here and dropped anchor at
about 8:00 in the morning, after a 26-hour cruise that by
all definition was a success. It could have been WAAAAAYYY
worse. We had just 5-10 knots of wind for about half the
time, and over the night/early morning, the wind picked up
to 10-15, making for a bit of rolling, but we had just 4-6
foot seas off port bow with next to no wind chop. It was
actually a pleasant enough ride to get some writing done on
the computer. As we got closer, Strickly for Fun and
Ketel Up bailed (must have been the bad write-up in
the cruising guide) and opted to head straight for
Providencia, another 200 miles and a sharp turn to the
right.
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At about 3:00 a.m. we started seeing other
boats out here, and quickly realized it was the Honduran
fishing fleet. They pretty much stayed out of our way, and
a little music on the i-Pod helped pass the time.
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The anchorage itself is a bit exposed to
anything other than straight north to south, and is quite
rolly, but we are snugly anchored in about 11 feet of
water. After a hearty breakfast of corned beef hash and
poached eggs, it was off to bed for a six-hour nap.
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Jan the Webmeister
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