26 April 2009, West End – Roatan, Honduras

N16.17.332 /W086.35.981

From Roatan West End Dive

Can you spot the Grouper?

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18 April 2009, West End – Roatan, Honduras

N16.17.332 /W086.35.981

From Mango Creek

Sailor - Our Mango Creek buddy.


Tuesday - We said our final goodbyes to the crew at Mango Creek and dropped the mooring line to head west. Leaving Patrice and Terry's place was like leaving home. We had become part of the family but it is time to get moving as our permitted stay in Honduras is winding down quickly. We headed out the Lime Cay Cut with 15 knots of ESE winds looking forward to a nice down wind sail to West End. Within an hour the wind had dropped to 8 knots. Cindy convinced me to set up the spinnaker, which is always a chore aboard "Tashmoo". I knew the wind was suppose to get lighter and lighter as we headed west but she was hoping for a nice spinnaker run. Once we hauled the enormous sail bag on deck and got it deployed the wind dropped to 2 knots, then to 0 and then shifted to the west. Go figure... For the last two weeks we have had 20 plus knots of easterlies on the east end of Roatan but they have had light winds on the west end. So we started the motor and burned a little diesel to get into West End. West End has a mooring field that is maintained by the Roatan Marine Park Service but within the last month at least four moorings have pulled free so everybody is anxious about using them. The park service requires that you either use a mooring or anchor in a sandy spot of which there are very few since the purpose of the mooring field is to protect the very thick turtle grass. As luck would have it, all the moorings were full and there were about a dozen boats anchored. We motored around the harbor for 30 minutes looking for a sandy spot and finally found one way out by the reef. The bottom here is very hard so it took a while to get the CQR set; I went in the water to handset the anchor while Cindy backed down on it. Once set, Cindy jumped in the water to cool down. With no wind it was a very hot afternoon. That night the wind was light and we finally got a good night sleep - what a treat.


Wednesday - After we made the trip from Port Royal to West End on Tuesday, I noticed our raw water pump was not happy. This is the pump that cools the engine. Broken pump = no engine. There was a brownish colored liquid dripping from the front of the pump. That meant that the bearings are toast. No problem though, because we had a spare pump rebuilt a little over a year ago and it was onboard with our other spare parts. I was very happy that I had the spare pump, that's for sure. Cindy went out snorkeling, which is very convenient here as the reef is directly behind the mooring field and I went to work replacing the pump. And hour later I had the rebuilt pump installed. I started the motor and watched a steady drip, drip, drip from the pump... Since I spent $200 to get this pump rebuilt I was not happy, to say the least. After I screamed and yelled unpleasant things for ten minutes I tried to loosen the belt that drives the pump. That didn't help. I tried spraying PB Blaster into the pump. It says right on the side of the can something like, makes old rubber gaskets like new... That didn't work. After several hours of trying things I cleaned up the mess I had made and just left the pump there, dripping, for the night.


We had reserved a car rental with "SeaTryst" for the follow day to go on a quest for bottom antifouling paint. Both "SeaTryst" and "Tashmoo" need new bottom paint and in Guatemala they charge full list price for paint. About $400 per gallon! Here in Honduras it's $95 per gallon! Obviously this is the place to buy the paint. Especially since we need 4-5 gallons per boat. Since we were going out to search for the paint I figured we would also look for a new water pump. Before we left the boat, we inquired on the net if anyone knew where we might find a pump on the island. Our friends Bob and Diane on SV "Sanderling" called back and said they had a spare pump but it had a different model number than the one we needed. We told them we would drive to French Harbor where they were and take a look at the pump. I didn't have much hope.


We stopped at several stores looking for the paint and pump. One place said they would have paint next Wednesday. We can live with that and after another inquiry on the cruisers net we had been told that it is good paint. Thank God Cindy can speak some Spanish. Otherwise I don't think we would have gotten very far ordering the paint. It still may not show but we are hopeful. We had no luck with the pump at any of the stores. No surprise since it was hard for me to get it rebuilt back in the states. We found "Sanderling" on the dock but Bob could not find his spare pump. After 25 minutes I asked if it was the same one that was on his motor. Since I didn't think it would be the same pump I could see it and he could stop looking. Big surprise, it was the same pump! Awesome! 20 minutes later he found the pump and let me borrow it! I feel sooooo much better! We then stopped at a hydraulic shop, which did have some pumps but not what we needed although it was a great store with lots of fittings, hoses etc.


I think word has gotten around about my generator repair skills. We where in a super market today and a home owner walked up to me and said she had heard I'm great with solar and generator repairs. They had recently bought a house in Port Royal and she said she had someone looking at their solar/generator equipment problems but if he couldn't fix it she was going to track me down... Maybe I have found a new trade?


Friday - I got the borrowed pump installed and it worked like a charm. Then I pulled apart the rebuilt pump we had on board and found a part installed backwards; so much for having it rebuilt by a "professional". While I was working on the pump I had asked Cindy to go into one of our storage containers to get out some lubricant for me and found that an entire liter of West System epoxy hardner had leaked into the bin. Just one more mess to clean up. I needed to use an impeller puller on the pump that I was working on. I had bought a new puller last year. Of coarse the puller needed to be modified to be useful. After using a hacksaw for 30 minutes I broke out the Dremel tool. Another 30 minutes later I had a usable puller. This is so typical of boat projects; two steps forward, one back, and of coarse by the time you're done you have pulled out almost every tool onboard. Then after spending six hours working on pump repairs in this tropical heat, Cindy wanted to go for a dive. I was beat and not enthusiastic about going. Then we got a call on the VHF from "Slipaway" asking if we wanted to go for a dive, so much for being tired. I went anyway. I know, I'm too good to her. It was a good dive in an eel garden. We saw lots of garden eels, a turtle and a juvenile spotted drum. Later, after the dive we went into dinner to a local restaurant with Jan and Rich from SV "SlipAway", then back to the boat by 9:00. It's been a long day and the wind is blowing 30 "again".


It's still very windy at night: 25 to 30 knots...will it ever lighten up so we can all get some well deserved sleep?


Fair Winds
John & Cindy
S/V Tashmoo
sailtashmoo att yahoo dot com
Copyright © 2006-2009

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13 April 2009, Port Royal – Roatan, Honduras

From Roatan 2/17/09

N16.24.292 /W086.18.517

One of our biggest supporters passed away; Cindy's Gramp sailed out of our lives on March 26. At 96 years old he had lived a great life and believed in all that we were doing, especially following our dream to sail and explore. We will miss his support and presence in our lives.

We've been back on a mooring in front of quiet Mango Creek for a couple weeks now. Meanwhile the rest of Central America is having a huge party. It's Semana Santa (Easter) here, which translates to "huge party". It is the biggest holiday celebrated in most of Central America. Every year during this time thousands of people flock to the beaches and other tourist areas to party their brains out. They set up speakers on the beaches and blast the music as loud as it goes. It doesn't matter if it's distorted, as long as it's loud! Because of this, Port Royal is now crowded with cruising sailboats. We all try to get away from the madness of the other anchorages.


The winds are high again. Every night we see 30 plus knots. Port Royal is not the best place to be anchored in strong winds. The bottom is covered with very thick turtle grass. Because of the thick grass our anchors do not set well. Four of us are the envy of the bay since we are on moorings but all the others have been on permanent anchor watch. Starting around 8:00pm the VHF radio is a buzz with people talking, watching and waiting. Several boats have established an anchor watch. They take shifts during the night just like they're on a passage, but they're stationary. I'm sure glad we're on this mooring. Although we have had to ask several boats to move as they try to anchor in the middle of the mooring field. It never ceases to amaze me that many people anchor so close to another boat. Port Royal is "huge". Hundreds of boats could anchor here but still if we leave "Tashmoo" for a few hours we come back and someone will be anchored 60 feet from us, smack in the middle of the mooring field.


Cindy is still working hard on eco classifications. I'm still working on other projects; generators, lighting, radio repair, etc. The other day I used parts from an old non-functional VHF to repair the main generator's controller. It's amazing what you can do when you have too. I've also started driving the Mango Creek panga powerboat back and forth to town for errands. I think I've become the shuttle driver. It is kind of fun but I've got to say in these winds being out in a 23 foot open boat in these confused seas is a little challenging.


The crew of "SeaTryst", Cindy and I borrowed the Mango Creek van last week and traveled around Roatan on errands and on a quest to extend our visas. When we originally arrived in Honduras we were granted a 90 day visa. 90 days is typical for this country. We have been told we could extend for up to an additional 90 days once our first 90 day stay was over. The cost to extend would be $20 per month, per person. Cindy and I wanted to extend for two months so we had our $80 ready. "SeaTryst" wanted to extend for one month. We waited a half hour before we all walked into the Immigration office and explained what we wanted to do. He looked at Cindy, Bob and I and said "this is not possible, you can only stay 90 days total in Honduras". We had talked to others whom had no problem extending their visas... We didn't expect this. We said we had to stay longer, I said I was waiting for boat parts and Bob said he was going to move his boat to La Ceiba to have work done on his boat. The officer said it was not possible. We went back and forth several times as the officer kept getting up to answer the phone and then speak to us. I believe he was looking for extra money but we really do not like to encourage this. After a long time he finally agreed to grant us all a 30 day extensions. He didn't seem happy and wrote on our visas that we had to leave Honduras in 30 days. Oh well, we'll make the most of the 30 days. We do have a contact in the Honduras embassy that is looking into this. We've heard several people say "there's a guy" that you can pay an additional $100 and he will get you a 90 day extension. Corruption is law.


We have been snorkeling on close by reefs and having fun while we're here. I think Cindy and I will also be coming back to Mango Creek toward the end of this year to manage the lodge while Terry and Patrice travel back to the states. Who knows maybe we'll like resort management and leave our engineering lives behind in the future. This place seems to get very high-end guests and it's been great meeting them to date. We have been meeting people from all over and enjoying their company. Cindy has been swapping recipes with the girls in the kitchen and helping out with meals on busy nights.


We'll be heading back up the Rio Dulce in the near future for hurricane season once again. Panama will have to wait until next season.

Fair Winds
John & Cindy
S/V Tashmoo
sailtashmoo att yahoo dot com
Copyright © 2006-2009

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