I haven't been able to update the blog because we actually did get out of Guanaja. We had a pretty good overnight trip to the Vivarillos Cays which are about 50 miles off the coast of Honduras. This means from here to Panama is pretty much Southeast now. We had to motor the whole way but that's to be expected when you're heading due East this time of year when the NE tradewinds are blowing. In the middle of the night, Don on the trawler Chickcharnie radioed us since he and Rosie decided to make
the trip also. It's always nice to have company underway. We'd met them in Utila and found out they love to dive and fish so things were looking up for our stay out here. All there is to the Vivarillos and the adjacent Hobbies Cays is barrier reef with interior patch reef and a couple of tiny islands that Honduran fishermen use to camp out on and anchor in the lee of.

We pulled in to the anchorage in the afternoon, met the couple on Dragonfly from Marblehead, MA and had a get-together on Chickcharnie that night to make our diving plans. Since the winds were supposed to be piping up, we decided to move to the Hobbies instead so there would be more protection from a more extensive barrier reef. So we're anchored just inside the reef with waves crashing on the outside but it is pretty calm in here and there are loads of patch reefs nearby to snorkel and fish on.
This is definitely not the best coral we've ever seen and you can tell that these reefs are being fished pretty hard by the fishermen, but we're still finding lots of life and some fish to eat. There is a tiny beach right off our bow and we've found some really pretty shells on it. Overall, the NW Caribbean has nothing on the Bahamas for shelling so we visit any beach we come across to scan for shells. Since we've gotten here, 2 other boats have pulled in and we've been getting together and sharing
the seafood we catch along with helping each other with various boat things. We've been snorkeling and fishing each day, sometimes on our own and sometimes with Chickcharnie and Dragonfly. It's been a lot of fun.

The first day we were here, a couple of guys on a shrimp boat anchored near us came over to trade some shrimp. These shrimp boats are old boats from the US but are freshly painted and still working hard down here. I think they are so picturesque in the harbor and when we first pulled in, there were 3 of them lined up moored in tandem. I wanted to get a picture but delayed too long and before I knew it, they were underway headed out to sea for a couple of days of shrimping. We ended up with a humongous
bag of fresh, beautiful shrimp for a bottle of rum and some fishing hooks. Yesterday, we traded another bottle of rum and a couple of soft drinks for 8 small lobster. Ordinarily, we wouldn't buy lobster or fish since Jon spears all we need but we were feeling like we wanted to do something nice for these guys and they would just as soon have the rum. We also don't like condoning them spearing small lobster since they're really shooting themselves in the foot by not letting them mature enough to reproduce
in quantity. But on the other hand, they are sitting dead already in the canoe so what will happen to them? We'll make lobster Newburg for our overnight to Panama. The shrimp have been so good and we'd really wanted more in Guanaja but never saw any more after that first day. I think all the boats here bought or traded for lobster so I have a feeling those fishermen had a good night last night.

Yesterday we saw all kinds of stuff on our snorkeling expedition. Of course, I didn't bring the camera. Twice, curious hawksbill turtles came incredibly close to us (an arms length away) and we really got to study their eyes and ponder what they think of us. We want to scare them away and make them fear us since the locals eat turtle, but then they are such a moving sight to see that you don't want to spoil that moment. I find that I love the freedom down here but I also admire the way the US has
rules in place to protect the things that will be destroyed if some controlling force doesn't intervene on their behalf.

We've had a lot of wind the past 3 days and today was the first day that things lightened up a bit. We figure we'll leave here in a couple of days and head to Providencia, Columbia. We've heard great things about it such as: it is the island where wealthy Columbians come to vacation, lots of it is a park, the locals call it paradise and there's supposedly good walking to do all over the island. I already know I like Columbian rum so we plan to stock up on that too. I was telling Cindy on Dragonfly
that we were running low on coffee and was excited to get some real Columbian coffee but can you BELIEVE that decent coffee down there is hard to find and that often when you go to a restaurant they serve you instant Nescafe?!!! All the good stuff is for export only. Well I know from experience that the US isn't sending the best we grow down here, thank goodness, so hopefully US citizens get to enjoy the best and the lower quality stuff is for export. That's the way it should be, in my humble opinion!

Hope all is well with everyone. We miss you!