20100327 Placencia to Belize City

20090320 Said bye to our friends Jim and Jane, and Jim Lightheart, (for now..) and sailed from Placencia to Laughing Bird Caye for a snorkel stop. Fyi they pronounce Caye like "key" but it still takes us time to not say "kay" the way it is spelled. We had good snorkeling at Laughing Bird, saw spotted eagle rays, many large lobsters, schools of angelfish and grunts, etc.. Had lunch under way to Ranguna Caye- tiny island with one very weathered bar where we had a drink, and decided that dinner onboard aVida was a better choice.

20100321 Sailed in am to Blue Ground Range, a group of small Cayes. There is strong norther predicted in tonight, and there are very few Cayes that offer protection from north winds. Blue Ground is all mangrove covered, and there are channels between the islands that we can sneak into and anchor in relative calm. We put out 2 anchors just in case.
Going ashore on one island, there is a lodge and several cabins, apparently totally deserted. There is a rasta caretaker couple living there, and they let us explore the tiny island. Turns out, it is privately owned by an LA lawyer for use by his family.
As we are leaving, the rasta guy (who has no boat), asks if we can boat him over to another island to pick up the TV he loaned to the rastas over there. Arriving at that island, there is a well-used and odorous hooka sitting on the rickety dock. Our guy says "da people here, dey be crazy". He gets his TV, and we take him back to aVida to give him a couple of cold beers- but we don't bring him on board. General rule, don't bring locals on your boat- but in this case, making friends with the local caretaker might just be a security move to protect against some other local fishermen who live in shacks in the mangroves on the various islands. We take him back to his island and return to aVida for dinner aboard. The night blows over 30 knots, but we are snug in our anchorage.

20100322 While sailing from Blue Ground to South Water Caye, Rita bakes apfel kuchen per mom's recipe- it turns out Great. Later, our friends Peter and Jennifer on Saphira (Atlantic 55) arrive also.
On shore there is a resort that caters to schools that send large groups of students to the island for eco-education and experiences. Owners Fred and Sharon invite us to dinner, with the only guests there, Fred and Sharon. Great dinner and conversation. Turns out, Fred owned several other islands in the area and has been here for 30 years- he has seen it change dramatically. Fred says that originally, he could walk into the water anywhere and in 3 minutes pick up all the conch and lobster he could carry. Gross over fishing has depleted 95% of the populations, and they can only be found in deeper waters that are more difficult for skin divers to take. Fred has storied to tell, about pirates and locals.
Once a few drunk and rowdy locals came to the island, declaring they were going to rape the young girls there. As they advanced, Fred's assistant grabbed a shotgun and told them to stop. The intruder laughed and kept walking. With the gun pointed at the head, the assistant pulled the trigger- click. Misfire. He opens the breach of the gun, pulls out the real shell, and reinserts it, pulls the trigger again, and it fires into the air. The intruder was a bit shocked that the assistant really tried to blow his head off- and he retreated rather quickly. It was a much more wild place in the past.

20100323 Scuba day with Peter and Jennifer, out to Glover Reef, one of only 4 true atolls in the western hemisphere.
An atoll begins on top of an underwater mountain / volcano rim. The coral growth covers the entire ring of the mountain. Over millennia, as land masses sink and/or ocean levels rise, the coral continues to grow to remain near the sunlight at the surface, forming a giant ring of coral, tens of miles long and wide, with shallow sandy coral patches in the center. This vertical growth causes very steep living coral walls hundreds of feet high, dropping into the abyss. This structure provides protection for immense numbers of other life that live in and around the protection of the corals, from the open sea. It also attracts large pelagic fishes to the reef for its food supply. It is the meeting point of deep and shallow predator action. Makes for interesting diving. (for the true experts out there, pardon my layman description of atolls).

2010324 Sailed to Cucumber Marina, just south of Belize City. Very nice little marina, dinner at the restaurant. Early bed.

20100325 There are benefits to being in a marina. We arranged for locals Tony and his 2 helpers to do a thorough cleaning of aVida. The boat is salt-caked from weeks at sea, and the stainless steel is beginning to tarnish and bleed bits of rust. In 1 day, the 3 of them do an excellent job for a very reasonable price, even with our generous tip beyond their price.
Rita and I take a taxi into Belize City to a medical clinic to see a dermatologist about some spots on our skin. Nothing to worry about- common actinic keratosis, and he prescribes some creams and teaches us to be religious about using top quality sunscreen twice a day. We tour Belize City a bit with Mike the taxi driver.
Saphira arrives, and we have dinner at the restaurant with Peter, Jennifer, and their kids Tucker and Holly. Peter has taken Tucker and Holly out of school for a year, and they are sailing as a family from June 2009 to June 2010- what a great experience for the kids (ages 17,14 approx). Both boats are on a similar northward voyage to the US; Saphira ending their voyage this July, and aVida continuing on across the atlantic and to the Med.
Saphira has guests arriving for a week, as do we.

20100326 Laundry. Cleaning the boat inside and out. Trip to Belize City for provisioning. All prep for our 5 guests coming tomorrow. Dinner at the bar with solo-sailor Doug, who's boat is on the hard for some repair work. They actually dropped his boat today out of the boat lift and the keel and prop hit the ground. Fortunately, the damage is not too bad.

20100327 Final AM preps and cleaning. Friends Dave and Linda, Mike and Elaine with son AJ arrive. Lunch in the marina, then a quick departure out to the islands again.
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