Ferry aground and abandoned on Banco Chinchoro, Mexico

Well, we were in Belize longer than we intended. We didn't check in as planned, a big no-no, because it would have been complicated and expensive. We arrived in Placencia on Thursday afternoon and all government offices were closed for the Easter weekend which here extends from Thursday through Monday. So even if we could have found the officials, we would have paid everyone overtime. So the total would have run to about US$200. Instead, we just went ashore Friday morning, bought some food supplies and left just before noon. We sailed up to Blueground Range, a group of cays with a nice sheltered anchorage inside. Running down into the anchorage, we were surprised to see Seabird anchored there! I got in the water and dove on the anchor to check that it was well set as the anchorage is known for grass, poor holding, but we were well set, so I swam over to Seabird for a chat, cooling off in the clear water. We watched a manatee surface behind us, but I couldn't see him when I went swimming. Over drinks in the cockpit we caught up on news and heard about their trip to Roatan. Then in the morning we headed north again, aiming for San Pedro, from where we could head out and up to Mexico. But by the time we passed through Porto Stuck, leaving a trail of stirred-up mud in our wake, we decided the wind was too strong for a comfortable anchorage at San Pedro, so we stopped in Cay Caulker. Since we were not checked in, we were flying the yellow "Quarantine" flag, and were reluctant to go ashore. If any authorities noticed a boat flying the yellow flag with no one on board, it would look suspicious, so we just stayed aboard for the evening. Repeated calls to Chris Parker say that we will be in Belize until Tuesday. By Sunday morning (Easter) we were getting a bit of a case of "Cabin Fever", not having been ashore for three day. We did take the dinghy over to Always Sunday, Drury and Jennifer Porteous, from Toronto for a chat, then hoisted anchor and sailed five miles south to Long Cay. Here we anchored off the empty cay and decided we were safe to go ashore. We collected some green coconuts for Gin and Coconut Water, a Hemmingway favorite, but not mine. We walked the beach and just enjoyed the feel of solid land. Back at the boat we had our daily cool-down swim and shower then drinks and dinner.
Just as we were ready to prepare dinner, we saw a boat approaching quickly, and thought we may be in trouble with the customs people. But it turned out to be a local family wanting to trade fish and lobster for booze. Luckily I had bought a few half-pints of cheap rum in Key West, so we traded two for five lobster tails and three large yellow snapper! So Easter dinner suddenly improved with grilled lobster tails, coconut rice and cole-slaw, together with a very nice Chardonnay I bought in Fronteras for 35Q, or about $5!
Still waiting for weather, we had a quiet day Monday, again beachcombing and swimming. I found two lobster in a tire but they escaped when I went to get my spear.
We were up at 5am on today (Tuesday), and true to Chris' forecast, the wind had clocked into the south-east and moderated down to 15-18 knots, ideal for our course. So we motored out Long Cay Cut, a much larger cut than San Pedro, although 25 miles further south, and headed off north! Sixty five miles and ten hours later we were approaching Banco Chinchoro, Mexico's only coral atoll. It is very poorly charted, as we knew, so we approached with caution. We could see the change in water colour from deep blue to turquoise but we couldn't see the reef. We had decided not to try to enter it, but just to approach the western side where we could anchor in its lee. And after some nail-biting, we found ourselves in 15' over sand, so down the anchor went. Seabird followed us in and anchored beside us. According to our electronic charts, we are about 1 mile inside the reef. But we're still actually outside it. Its not the calmest anchorage we have had, and it seems odd to be anchored with no land in sight, but it will do for the night. We would like to stay and explore the interior, but our weather window won't allow it. We have another 175 miles of sailing to reach Isla Mujeres, and that has us in Thursday morning, about 12 hours ahead of an approaching cold front. So we'll be off in the morning.