Mar family
03/14/2010, Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras

We left Cayos Cochinos to Roatan early on Wednesday, knowing that there was a cold front coming this way, and that was an exposed anchorage for any wind coming out of the west. With the wind coming from the south/southwest at about 12 knots, but the waves rolling also from the northeast, we had some confused sea, not the most comfortable ride, but not bad too, we sailed almost the whole way and by noon were entering French Harbor - second time here, so we had the entrance registered in our minds, and in the chartplotter too... Luckily we found an vacant mooring ball and saw several boats we knew. Back to civilization. We rested all the rest of the first day, but Thursday we decided to go out, run some errands and explore a bit, with first priority being to take care of immigration. We took the dinghy to the shrimp boat harbor and walked to the main road. Before we could take a taxi "coletivo", a pick-up stopped and offered us a ride. That was Mr Sherman, one of the kindest persons ever, and by far the most known on the island. Among one of his activities, he owns the Iguana farm, with hundreds os specimen of this prehistorical like animals. Martina was not afraid of the beasts. Impressive place. Mr Sherman was born in Roatan and saw progress arrive since 35 years ago, but he is not too happy things developed. Too many thieves, he says. But otherwise he is a very positive and generous man, he even gave us an enormous grouper fillet, freshly killed. At immigration in the main town, Coxen Hole, I found out that as a Brazilian I needed a visa for Honduras - this is recent, since Brazil decided to host the overthrown president at our Embassy, and does not recognize the new government of Tegucigalpa. But I sorted this out, and we are now exploring more and more from this area. A bit of beach, some snorkling, some socializing, shopping, boat projects and... fighting the sand flies, especially in the afternoons, or when the wind dies. But it is not that bad and we like the place. Great beach at the Fantasy Island resort, a well stocked supermarket and more. We might sit here for a few more days - it seems there is another cold front coming, and we might go back to Cayos Cochinos for another week, and then circumnavigate Roatan. The island of Guanaja is another option, but we are still not sure. Cruising with the wind, flexible, as always.

Comments [2]

Marina
03/09/2010, Bay Islands of Honduras

Wow, what a beautiful anchorage! Cayos Cuchinos became a marine reserve about 12 years ago, and anchoring is not allowed. There are only 6 mooring balls to tie to, so the number of boats that can stay here at one time is limited, which is nice in a way (some other anchorages can get very crowded).
Soon after we arrived we were approached by a young boy in a dug-out canoe. His name is Roger and he became a great resource for us, bringing us coconuts and fish in return for cookies, fishing line, and some clothes.
The island is small, but the jungle is dense, as we found out trying to follow a nature trail...After getting to the top, where there is a lighthouse, we got lost somewhere in the middle of the bush, and had a hard time scrambling our way back to the trail through spiky palmbranches. Great hiking, snorkling, even diving if you want (there is a small diving resort on the island), and peace - a nice change from the loud nightlife in Utila.
The only drawback to this kind of isolated paradise is that if you need something urgently you need to get to the mainland, which would take around 5 hours by sailboat. And, unfortunately, there was a medical emergency on our buddy boat 2nd Priority, and one of the crew needed to get to a hospital. But, luckily, an american couple living on the island where on their way to La Ceiba on the mainland by motorboat and took Linda and JD straight to a hospital. So, in the end all turned out well, and we hope to return to Cayos Cuchinos a second time once we have seen more of Roatan.

Comments [3]

Mar family
03/03/2010, Utila, Bay Islands - Honduras

We have spent the past 10 days in Utila, one of the three Bay Islands (Islas de la Bahia) that lie outside the mainland of Honduras and on the southern edge of the world's second largest barrier reef. Utila is a diver's paradise, a lot of young backpackers from all around the world come here to get certified and hang out in this little sleepy island. It really is tiny, we walked from the south to north side in about two hours, and there is only one street in "town", so until recently there were no cars at all on the island. Initially we had planned to spend only one or two nights and then continue to the next island, but ended up liking it here and stayed longer than planned, for good reasons. One, Marcelo got to go diving. Two, there were a couple of cold fronts passing by with strong winds, so we needed a protected ancorage to hide in. Three, there is some nice snorkling around the reefs. Four, we were waiting for the Immigration officer to arrive so we could check in, but he never came. Oh well, the port captain said, island style "No problem, man, do it whenever you have a chance." And the fifth and e main reason, was that we unexpectedly met a Canadian/French couple with a baby, who we had met last year in Rio Dulce. Claudia and Pierre, with their son Leonard (eleven months of age) who was born in Guatemala, also sailed here from Rio Dulce, and liked it so much in Utila that they decided to stay for a few years. We have visited them almost every day, so both babies and adults could have some nice company (in photo, Marcelo and Pierre with Martina and Leonard on MarMar).
But, as there are still two more islands and many cays to explore, and we have only two months of sailing until we need to start heading back to Guatemala, we will be sailing on to a new anchorage in the morning. We have a new "buddy boat" to sail with us, JD and Linda on S/V 2nd Priority, and we both want to visit Cayos Cuchinos, a marine reserve managed by the US Smithsonian Insitute. During the week or so that we plan to stay there we will not have access to internet, so until the next update, we send you all our love from Utila.

P.S. If anyone has a direct line with Sao Pedro (who some Brazilians belief is the saint of weather), could you please ask him to bring us some wind, so we can sail fast tomorrow, and some RAIN, so we can fill up our tanks with water. I need to wash diapers...

Comments [3]