November 2006




	November 4, 2006 Location: Jonesville Bight, Roatan to Cayos Cochinos Nautical Miles Traveled: 35 We had a great relaxing week in Jonesville Bight but it was time to head to La Ceiba, a port city on the mainland of Honduras where a shipyard would give us the opportunity to address some of the issues we’ve been having on the boat. Yesterday we got the dingy raised and motor stowed, the boat in order and went to bed early. Unfortunately David and I were awake most of the night as winds were gusting to over 30 knots and we took turns doing and anchor watch to make sure we didn’t drag. Fortunately we didn’t. So this morning a 0900 we raised anchor, left Jonesville Bight and turned southwest for La Ceiba. Originally we thought we could get there before dark as it was only 45 miles away. But with a strong current on our nose we quickly realized that it would be impossible to make landfall before dark. Getting into a new port after dark is on our list of things not to do. So we diverted to a small group of islands to the south of us, Cayos Cochinos. After last nights gusty winds we were disappointed that we had less than 4 knots of wind all day, so again it was another day of motoring. We arrived to the larger of the islands, Cochinos Grande, at 1600. This was by far the clearest waters we have ever seen with visibility down to 30 feet of water. After going through our normal routine of anchoring it became evident that we were dragging, the anchor just wouldn’t set. So the anchor was raised and we tried again, this time David was at the helm backing down on the anchor while I was in the water watching the anchor to make sure it would dig in. David did an excellent job making sure the anchor fell in a big patch of sand so this time the anchor set quickly. After turning off the engine and getting settled for the night two boys in a small dugout came along side welcoming us to the island. They showed us some handmade jewelry they had for sale but we politely told them that we had no money. Not wanting to go away empty handed they asked for some cookies, which we obliged. With cookies in hand they explained to us that anchoring was prohibited and suggested we take a mooring ball, they even picked out a good one for us. There is very little information about Cayos Cochinos so we were unaware of the anchoring rules here, but it is fully understandable once you get in the water and see all the live coral that lives on the bottom. This had to be some of the best snorkeling I have ever done, not only the coral but the fish. All I could think of is dinner every time I saw a beautiful snapper or jack. The night came quickly and we turned in early in anticipation of tomorrow’s departure to continue on to La Ceiba Shipyard. November 5, 2006 Location: Cayos Cochinos to La Ceiba, Honduras Nautical Miles Traveled: 22 It doesn’t surprise us anymore to know that anytime we decide to go out on the water that the wind will die. Today the only wind we had was the one we created with our movement through the water. We continued today with a nasty head current slowing us down to about 4.3 knots most of the day. It was nice to have mostly sunny skies for a change as in Roatan it had been raining almost all day. There was an abundance of activity on the water surface with flying fish heading in every direction and hundreds of small fish jumping on the surface trying to avoid the bigger ones below them looking for dinner. We seriously thought about putting out the fishing gear today but neither of us were in the mood to clean fish. Too bad. The entrance into the river where the La Ceiba Shipyard is located is not located on any chart or in any cruising guide. The new break water outside the river is fairly new and the only reference we had was a single waypoint. We did have good written directions from the shipyard from just inside the breakwater to their docks. We approached slowly until we could line up with the entrance. The instructions say to stay in the middle from the entrance to shrimp boat docks as the sides have shallow water. Just as we got inside we saw a barge anchored smack in the middle, and where we were to turn first was a newly sunken shrimp boat. Fortunately we were able to pass both close by and remain in deeper waters but it was definitely nerve wrecking for me. Since it’s Sunday the shipyard is void of people except for the two guards and a couple other boaters. We got plugged in to equalize the batteries, one of the few things on our list. The wireless internet here is a real nice convenience too. Tomorrow we’ll check in and start working on our list. November 7, 2006 Location: La Ceiba, Honduras Nautical Miles Traveled: 0 In the two short days we’ve been here we’ve been able to get a lot done. Our new Caribe L10 dingy is now on board, some hard to find cleaning supplies bought, an ATM visit, fuel tanks filled and a bit of provisioning completed. We haven’t put the new dingy in the water yet as we’re wanting to get back out to the islands quickly, probably tomorrow. So we’ll see how she rides after we get back to Roatan. We caught the free shuttle that the shipyard offers every day into the city of La Ceiba. This is the third largest city in Honduras with a population of 80,000 people. La Ceiba is the self proclaimed party city of Honduras catering to tourists and Hondurans, and this city has the highest percentage of upper class citizens. After getting off the shuttle at the central park David and I walked around for an hour looking for an ATM and saw many familiar signs such as Pizza Hut, Wendy’s and McDonalds. The clean streets and wide sidewalks made walking here easy. One of the problems we’ve had in Honduras (and we hear Colombia and Panama are similar) is trying to get money from an ATM. Most ATMs here take only cards with the Visa logo, it’s very challenging to find a machine that will take a card with the Mastercard logo, such as the cards we have. But we lucked out and found the Banco Credito and took out enough money for fuel, provisions and a new dingy. Being cautious with carrying a large sum of money we thought it would be best to immediately catch a taxi and head back to the shipyard. So we walked out of the bank and hailed the first taxi to drive by. The fare was reasonable so we hopped in. The shipyard is only about five miles from the city of La Ceiba so we expected a very quick trip. About a mile down the road the taxi driver asked us if we would mind if he stopped by the school to pick up his daughter. Since we know this is common practice we said sure. The taxi driver turned away from the direction of the shipyard and proceeded to drive us out of La Ceiba and into the barrios of town (poorest part of town). As he drove he told us all about the different parts of town and about the parks, bilingual schools, canyons and tourist areas, but I don’t remember much of what he said since I was busy trying to decide if we were being kidnapped or not. But as luck would have it we ended up at the school and picked up his daughter. After dropping her off at home we took a nice scenic route back to the boat. All in all it was quite nice, I just wish I could remember more of what the driver said. Today we loaded the new inflatable on the fore deck of Bruadair. We had a for sale sign on the old dingy but no takers. As soon as David and I started to get ready to load the old dingy on the davits the yard manager, Roger, came by and asked if we needed anything else before leaving. I told him I needed him to find someone to buy my old dingy as I really didn’t want to be a two dingy boat. So he bought it. I’m happy to have gotten what we did, though it was almost like giving it away. David made a trip back to La Ceiba today to the grocery store and came back with a lot of goodies. Fresh veggies and produce, snacks, salami and so much more. Oh, something else worth mentioning is the awesome restaurant just outside the shipyard gates. David and I had snapper for lunch yesterday, jack for dinner last night and I had more fish today while David switched to beef, carne asada. There is no menu here, you eat what she cooks. Usually three or four different dishes including fish, shrimp, beef or chicken. All dishes service with rice, veggies, salad and beans. With a drink it costs us $7 total, for two people. So we’ve eaten every meal there since we’ve been here. The food is just awesome. We’re thinking of leaving tomorrow morning to head back to the island of Roatan, but we’re also thinking about staying one more day to devise a new lifting system for the new dingy with our davits. The lifting points are further apart and we don’t know if that will be an issue. So that’s up in the air, leave here after checking or wait till we get to the islands to find out we need something that we can only get here. Tough decisions to be made while cruising. November 9, 2006 Location: La Ceiba, Honduras to Port Royal, Roatan, Honduras Nautical Miles Traveled: 49 After stocking up on the new dingy, fresh fruits and veggies, doing a load of laundry and lots of long showers we were ready to head back to Roatan. The people here at the shipyard were very nice and accommodating and made our stay enjoyable. As we were exiting the river into the Caribbean Sea we had to maneuver the boat in some tight quarters as the dredging barge was still anchored in the middle of the channel. The sunken shrimp boat was still in our way but now a salvage ship was also in the way. As we squeaked in between the boats to stay in deep water we could have shook hands with the crew on the other boats. Too close for comfort but at least there was no tide or wind to make maneuvering even harder. The 49 mile trip back to Roatan was uneventful. No surprises when we say there was yet again no wind to sail by so it was a long day of motoring. Fortunately the current was in our favor and we maintained an average of 6 knots the entire way while we stayed in the shade of the bimini on this sunny day. One of the highlights of the day was seeing a bill fish (marlin we think) breach the water not to far off our port bow. Another highlight was as we were approaching Port Royal our friends Clive and Margo from s/v Revid came out to greet us with Mary and Doug on their power boat. They were even kind enough to slow down and show us the way in the narrow Lime Cay Channel. Going through the cut the water was absolutely amazing, clear to 45 feet. Once inside the harbor we took a mooring ball, had dinner and called it an early night. November 12, 2006 Location: Port Royal, Roatan, Honduras Nautical Miles Traveled: 0 Having been in Port Royal for only a few days we’ve already had an amazing time here. We’ve really enjoyed catching up with Clive and Margo who we meet at Monkey Bay Marina back on the Rio Dulce. We also met their friends Mary and Doug. They live in a nice house here as caretakers for the larger house and grounds for the wealthy Swedish guy that comes to visit one or two months out of the year. We went for dinner a couple nights ago and enjoyed a fresh salad, chicken with pesto, baked potatoe and David’s cabbage salad. Aside from great conversations we also enjoyed watching the family of 13 geckos hanging out by the light waiting for the unwary moth, and the small boa constrictor in the window sill. We learned that Mary and Doug had sailed all over the world including Europe, the Mediterranean, South Pacifica, the Indian Ocean and so many more places. It was hard to remember all the places they said we should go see. Yesterday I took my tools up to Doug’s house to help him with his cell phone. The area where the house is is in between two cell phone towers but reception is blocked by the mountains around them. So after opening up the cell phone and soldering an external antenna wire into place we put up and external antenna on the roof, plugged in the amplifier and turned on the phone. Doug and Mary were so happy to have cell phone reception (four bars) that in return they offered us use of the showers, laundry facilities, two person kayak, water to fill our tanks and so much more. So yesterday we got a load of laundry done, took on 20 gallons of water, and after an afternoon of snorkeling enjoyed a wonderful shower. You have to remember, we’re limited on water and have to conserve between catching rain and running the water maker, so this was such a generous offer that we are very grateful for. We’ve been snorkeling every day since we’ve been here. What have we seen? Octopus, rays, squid, barracuda, yellow fin snappers, lots of other brightly colored fish and very large star fish. We’ve also seen a ray jump up and out of the water. We went to lunch today at the only restaurant in Port Royal and enjoyed some great burgers and fries. There we met cruisers from a few other boats that are here as well as a very interesting man, Tom Jennings. Tom is the man that invented the compound bow (and arrows) back in the 1930s. He shared with us many photos of his bow in use from various celebrities and famous hunters. Quite impressive. Well, gotta get back in the water and do more snorkeling. November 18, 2006 Location: Jonesville Bight, Roatan, Honduras Nautical Miles Traveled: 6 On Monday November 13th we tuned into the Northwest Caribbean Net at 0800 like we do everyday. The net is designed for communications between boaters between Florida, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Panama. Boaters use the net to report their position if they are underway, to report emergencies such as medical or boat issues, to pass along information and report their current position even if not underway. Our radio is having serious transmission issues but we are able to receive. So as we listened in on Monday morning a boater in Jonesville, only five miles from where we were in Port Royal, reported that he needed some canvas work done and had heard that David did excellent canvas work (he does). So we decided to drop our mooring ball and take the hour trip west along the coast of Roatan. Once anchored in Jonesville Bight David went to see Randy and a deal was struck. So for the next two days David was busy sewing a new bimini top for Randy’s boat, making a few extra dollars for our cruising kitty. Our plan was to return to Port Royal on Thursday but we decided to stay an extra day so we could go into town and get some fuel and fresh produce. Gas here is about $4 a gallon, more in some places. The produce selection wasn’t all that great David did find a few things. On Friday we made plans to return to Port Royal on Saturday but Friday night we knew that our plans had changed. A cold front started to move in with heavy rain and wind gusting to over 25 knots. We decided it would be safer to wait out the front here rather than try to manuver through the narrow channels of these small harbors. After listening to the weather forecast on the radio this morning it appears that we’ll stay here in Jonesville another week, a stronger cold front is due to arrive tomorrow with winds up to 40 knots. On the up side we had David’s new rain catcher up during much of the rain before the winds got too strong and we were able to collect a lot of rain water. Though we love our watermaker it’s just too small at 1.5 gallons per hour. As a matter of fact we’ve decided to sell our watermaker and upgrade to a Katadyn Powersurvivor 160e, it makes over 6 gallons per hour and would suit our needs much better. Unfortunately we won’t have it until the end of January when Damon will make a trip to California and be able to bring it back with him. To help offset the cost we’re selling our Katadyn 40e watermaker and our Cruisair 16kbtu air conditioner, something we can’t use while at anchor. The storage space recovered from the air conditioner space will be perfect for some light air sails. The new Caribe L10 dingy is awesome. Much more stable than our old dingy, and much dryer too. We went for a dingy ride yesterday over to Oakridge, and we’ll have to go back to do some walking around. It’s a small town between Jonesville and Port Royal with a small marina, some hardware stores, a couple grocery stores and restaurants to boost. But we’ll have to wait until the weather settles before we go. Right now we’re not sure what our plans are for Thanksgiving but Bob, the owner of Hole In The Wall (restaurant/bar) invited us over for a Thanksgiving potluck if we’re still around. I suspect we’ll attend. Two days ago a small launcha with two locals came by our boat. They had just caught a huge wahoo fish and were selling enormous steaks at $1.84 a pound. So we bought three pounds. We cooked one pound for dinner and froze the rest. Considering we have some freezer space I should have bought more, it was excellent. As a matter of fact, I hope he cames back by before we leave Jonesville. Oh, we actually trolled a lure for the first time since leaving Guatemala when we came from Port Royal, but didn’t catch anything in the five miles that we had it out. We are hearing from the locals that the wahoo, mahi mahi and tuna are all running right now. Of course we’ll try again when we head back to Port Royal after this front passes through. We are still looking at weather windows for a passage south but haven’t seen any we like so far. Most of the weather windows are only two or three days at a time, we’re looking for seven days. It takes two days to get to the Vivarillos and another two days to get to Isla Providencia, Colombia. And we would like to have a couple days of safety in there. From what we’re hearing we might not get a weather window until next spring. Guess that would be okay, there really is a lot to see and travel to in Honduras, and besides, we’re not in any hurry with our cruising plans. If we decide to stay through the sping we might even get our refit done here as shipping stuff in is only $65 for a pallet of stuff, up to 1000 pounds. Granted it takes a couple weeks but what a deal considering Fedex charges upwards of $300 for a 10 pound package.

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