Adventures with Captain John on C’est si Bon

Our sailing trip with John, Arie & Rachel started on March 1st, 2017 from Frenchies Marina, Roatan Island. The boat was moored in a beautiful bay and after John orientated us to the boat, including safety procedures, we hopped into the dingy and zoomed to the closest shopping area - for food and drinks!

The very first night started with a pot-luck dinner with other cruisers – our first insight into the interesting folk who cruise annually in the Caribbean. They become a close-knit group.

We enjoyed a day of snorkelling and Arie and John went diving. Jim and I saw a very large barracuda (had to be 6’ long)!! We got prepared to sail to the Island of Guanaja the next day. Later that evening the wind really whipped up quickly and it started pouring. John suddenly realized that the boat was moving – dragging the anchor. Scary! We had a French boat to port and two Russian boats to starboard! Could have had a war on our hands if we had bumped into them!

Despite not being able to see well, due to it being dark, wet and windy, John managed to re-secure the anchor and also dropped a second anchor for added security. I don’t think John got much sleep that night – watching, in case the boat slipped back again.

For the trip over to Guanaja we had wind on the bow that was not good for sailing, so we motored for 6 ½ hours. We had the most amazing view of a water spout.


This interesting island of Honduras is in quite a natural state (very little tourism) – lovely. We moored in a beautiful bay with several other boats. There were a couple of restaurants (boat access only), so no roads or cars to be seen. Wonderful.

The town of Boracca is quite fascinating, in that the 3,000 inhabitants are all crammed onto an island located a km from the mainland – it was a mystery to us why people would want to live there instead of on the mainland. It is totally build up with very basic structures – many on stilts, narrow alleyways and very little green space –no vehicles at all.






The grocery selection was very basic and we could not find good vegetables. Apparently fresh vegetables are delivered one day a week – we missed it! The beer and wine were cheap and in good supply! Rum punch became a daily favourite for some. The fruit juice mix was more expensive than the rum!

We took the dingy ashore to the Manati pub (run by a very friendly German family) and had beers and a pork roast dinner.

The following day Arie organized for a water taxi to the opposite side of the island. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed a powerful wash! This beautiful remote bay had a restaurant located at the end of the dock – The Green Flash Restaurant. After a great fish lunch we did some swimming and snorkelling. It was very interesting chatting to the owner whose family had owned the land for generations.




The boat driver ‘William’ had purchase some shrimp and lobster for us, and we had an amazing meal that night – thanks to John and Rachel.

March 7th – Arie, John, Jim and I went for a hike from the back of Manati Lodge onto the ridge where we had views in all directions. Heavily vegetated and little development to be seen. Rainy and foggy so views were not great but wonderful to stretch the legs out with a good, slippery hike back down. Another amazing meal of steak and lobster was had on the boat.

The following day we had to check out of Honduras. William picked us up and took us into Boraca to Immigration – a long slow process in a hot and humid office.

Back at the boat, we prepped for the voyage – closing all hatches and putting away any items that would slide or fall. At 3:00 PM we motored out and set sail. It started off smoothly but quickly turned to a very choppy sea, 25 knot winds and 2-3 metre swells.


Within an hour John was sea sick – very unexpected! Rachel and I had taken sea-sick pills and they worked wonders.

Venturing down to the galley or toilet was very challenging, and even dangerous. Arie was thrown across the cabin, hurting his back and head – he was in rough shape, being sea-sick as well. It was a bit worrying having two of the crew unwell.

We all took our turn doing a 3 hr watch during the nights. It was exciting seeing a cruise-ship sail by – fortunately not too close! It made me feel very small in comparison – I was just relieved they didn’t mow us over! John stayed in the cockpit for the two nights (trying to sleep) and to be close at hand if needed…..thanks John!

It was great to finally see land – the Island of Cozumel, and also nice to have less wind. It ended up being a 46 hour voyage. We docked in the lovely El Cid Marina which is beside the fancy El Cid Resort, however, we could not use the Resort facilities until we had gone through the immigration process that was slated for the following day: 4 military men; Health Inspector; Agricultural Inspector; & the Customs Officer.

We enjoyed 4 days in the marina with beautiful warm weather. Jim and I visited the Mayan ruins in Tulum while John, Arie and Rachel went deep-sea fishing. They had great success.

March 13 was sadly our last night on the boat, so we went out for dinner at the Resort.

Thanks John for giving us this great adventure on your beautiful boat.

HAPPY SAILING!

Patsy & Jim