04/02/2009, Guanaja Honduras
Over the last several weeks we have put just under 550 miles under the keel as we work our way north. That's a lot more overnights than we like or are used to. Thank God only the leg from Panama to Providencia sucked. Providencia to Guanaja, Honduras, where we are now, involved two passages. One was a beautiful sail with everyone feeling and doing great. The other involved no wind and a lot of diesel, but was also comfortable. We aren't great fans of overnight passages and are glad that from here to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, shouldn't require any more. So we think!
We left Providencia and went to Low Cay (13 31.26N, 81 20.40W), a whole 8 miles away at the end of the reef. We haven't seen that clear of water and filled with so much beautiful coral, fish and lobster since the Bahamas. Everyone loved the snorkeling and Patrick (Migo) and I came back with a bucket full of fish and lobsters, with Liam's help on the biggest lobster! When I saw a 5-6' reef shark we knew it was time to skeedaddle. We sailed away at dawn the next day for the Vivorillo Cays of Honduras (15 50.50N, 83 18.08W). It was a great sail. Nobody was sick and great attitudes prevailed. The wind had shifted further south than usual and piped up to 20-25 knots which made the anchorage fairly rolly and the water cloudy. As the wind was predicted to blow out in 2 days we decided to wait before pushing on to Guanaja.
Of course when the wind blew out it really blew out. We tried to sail for the first couple of hours but finally gave in and fired up the engine. 24 hours later it was still on. Guess we should have left the Vivorillo's earlier! Oh well, we were in Guanaja safe and sound and ready for an ice cold beer at Graham's Place (16 27.65N, 85 50.03W). Our 'plan' is to enjoy the remote beaches and reef of Guanaja for a few more days and then onto the larger Island of Roatan.
We are going to start adding our latitude and longitude coordinates for all our stops so we can be tracked easily on Google Earth. Consider it homework for all of you following along! More photos to come as soon as we find a strong internet connection.
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03/23/2009, Providencia, Columbia
We are at a very interesting crossroads. The Shelter Bay Marina (with the destruction of the old Panama Canal Yacht Club to make way for more container terminals leaving Shelter Bay as the only marina facility on the Caribbean side of the canal), is a very busy spot. It is now a conflux of boats preparing to cross the canal and head off to the South Pacific, boats having just crossed the canal and heading for the Caribbean, boats preparing for a stint ashore in the storage yard after cruising on either side, and boats like us heading north towards the States or Europe or wherever. It is fascinating to meet and talk with people from all over the world (Dominican Republic, Belgium, France, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, England, Norway, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia, Canada, heck even the USA!), as they prepare for the next leg of their journeys. Everyone is fount of information and questions. It does not matter where you are heading or where you are coming from, someone will have the answers you are looking for or will benefit from your experiences.
And then there are the kids. They hail from all over the world as well (duh), and they all have a ball whether or not they can actually talk to each other. Most can speak a smattering of English but it doesn't really matter when there is a pool involved. It seems the game of Marco Polo knows no language barriers.
The departure from the marina was a crowded affair as all the kids and adults came to see Migo and ourselves off the dock. It was hard to say good-bye to our good friends on Uliad as they are heading through the canal and off to the South Pacific, and the Good Lord only knows when we'll see them and Independence and Sonrisa and . again. The friendships that are formed while cruising may only be a year or so old but they run very deep with a wealth of shared experiences and loads of quality time.
I'd like to say that the 43 hour passage here to Providencia was nice, but I would be lying. It sucked. Two weeks of sitting at a marina and a few days ashore in Jeff's apartment removed any sea legs we had. Combine that with having to beat into sloppy 5'-7'+ seas, after we've had wind on the beam to stern for about 4 months, and no one was happy. Of the 4 boats we left the marina with, all were in agreement that it was the least enjoyable passage anyone could recall.
Being here in Providencia, however, has made it worthwhile. I had never even heard of Providencia until we were doing some planning a few months back. Providencia and the busier San Andres are part of Columbia, yet are just off the coast of Nicaragua. This is a true Caribbean Island with the main language being Creole rather than Spanish, and a very, very laid back style. After so many months in Latin American cultures it is a nice kind of odd to feel like we are back on the island of Bequia! We have had some great adventures here already, but I'll let Michaela tell you about them in another blog!
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03/10/2009, Panama City
Every now and then life comes full circle, and it's a beautiful thing. Tonight we slumber in Jeff Remily's apartment. Yes, Jeff of 'girlie-man,' 'Rem-dog' fame, and one of the original founding father's of B.O.B.. Several things are unique about this. One of course is that we are hangin' with Jeff in Panama City, 18 floors up above the din and roar of the city, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, (almost two years in the Caribbean and after a 2 hour drive across Panama we are looking at the Pacific, tides and all). The other is that we are off the boat for a few nights, which hasn't happened other than our visit home in September. Jeff is great and desperately missing his wife and kid's, who should be moving to Panama from Hawaii in about a month. We will miss Tanya, Jake and Jordyn but look forward to catching up someday soon.
We arrived to Shelter Bay Marina about a week ago, after several weeks of loving the San Blas Islands. We had a great couple of stops along the way, including Portobello, which was founded by Columbus and became a famous transfer point for all the gold headed for Spain. It was quite popular with pirates as well.
The Shelter Bay Marina is located on the grounds of the former US base, Fort Sherman. The jungle is slowly taking over all the grounds, but the marina is brand new. It makes for an interesting contrast as you walk past the pool and several minutes later you are deep in the jungle walking past gun batteries rapidly being overgrown. Jeff and his coworker George came over for a visit and we all had a grand time. Jeff brought his guiiitar and we managed to mangle our way through a few Grateful Dead classics before a neighbor boat came over and asked us to please shut up as he was leaving early AM. Some people just have no appreciation for art.
We had so much fun we decided to rent a car and come to big Panama City for the weekend. Much pork and beef was sacrificed. Bacon wrapped asparagus, bacon wrapped mushrooms, bacon wrapped filet mignon... you get the picture. We did have some veggies, but not enough to get in the way.
One or two nights stretched into three so we could do some inland exploring and serious grocery shopping (Costco style!). Our inland trip was a couple hour drive up into the mountains to a town called El Valle. It was a beautiful town with lots of flowers and a renowned framers market. However, we came for the zip-line at Canopy Adventures. One of Rennie's 'bucket list' items for this trip was to do a zip-line through the jungle canopy. Mission accomplished. It was awesome! Nothing like free falling through the jungle across waterfalls! I'm not sure but I think I heard a Tarzan yell or two!
We all had a great time staying with Jeff and George, and the kids almost had their fill of TV. Another highlight was getting to see our new friends aboard m/v Seven C's. They had gone through the locks a few days ago and were still here in Panama City. We had a great afternoon hanging out with them, and are hoping they turn back through the canal and cruise north with us. Either way we are sure to see them again somewhere!
Our time here in the big city is done and now we must go! All we need is weather window to start off towards the great white north!
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