Adventures with David & Gail

Another time around! - The anchorage in Providencia was choppy and disturbed as the winds clocked over 20 knots. Easter morning we were awakened by what seemed like the blowing of a shofar or a Jewish horn. But then deciding that Easter is not a Jewish holiday, it must mean something else was going on. In fact, it was Lonely Planet blowing his emergency horn to awaken us to the fact we were dragging our anchor!

When I got on deck, I thought he had motored forward to warn us until I looked around and noticed we had moved back by him and just in front of Jabiru. We had somehow drug about 100 yards just missing Anam Cara in the process with Jabriu next in line! We had been through 30 knot gusts during a squall on that anchor set so I didn't understand how it came loose in the lighter winds but thanks to our friends and quirks of fate, everyone was fine. We raised the anchor and reset it in a better location and settled down for a quiet day in Santa Isabel.

The weather in Providencia was okay but forecasts around Roatan, where we wanted to go, were not as promising so we were in for a few more days in Providencia. We already had plans to fill in the days while we waited. First, we had found a dive site not far away by dinghy and were going to check it out. Second, we had not done the full hike on Santa Catalina to see Morgan's Head rock. And third, some of our friends on the other boats had not yet gone on the scooter trip around the island. Since we had gone around once, we volunteered as tour guides to go another time around!

We checked our dive gear and loaded the dinghy. Gail had not been diving since September and I had not dived since rupturing my eardrum in August, so it was a check out dive in a sense. It turned out to be a nice little shallow reef down to a sand bottom at about 40 feet. Perfect for what we wanted to do. There was a dive boat mooring on the site so we figured it was a good spot. As we were gearing up, the dive boat from Sonny's Dive showed up so we defaulted the mooring to him and rafted up off his stern. Paying customers got priority.

The dive was easy. We saw our normal array of eels, lobster, juvenile drums and other reef fish and coral. Nothing we hadn't seen before but a very pretty reef. And I had no obvious lasting effects from my ear. I could clear the pressure fine and afterward had no additional hearing problems. It was good to get back underwater.

Secondly, we took the next day to go around Santa Catalina to the famous headland rock called Morgan's Head. Santa Catalina is a separate small island from Providencia connected by the Lover's Bridge. The walk is mostly paved with good stairs on the steep parts. It was nice to stretch our legs for a couple of hours. We had seen Morgan's Head from the water during a snorkel a few days before but finally getting there and looking out on the ocean provided a stunning view. But I still could not really see a face in the rock that you are supposed to see. Oh, well. As a side note, there is another prominent rock formation on Providencia above the harbor that is officially called Split Rock. But in association with Morgan's Head and with its location as it is, it is commonly referred to as Morgan's Ass among the locals and the cruisers.

And finally, we arranged 4 scooters with Luis again for the day. Besides us, Jabriu, Spirit and Centime came along. We found out later that our friends on Anam Cara and Reach had rented a mule golf cart and we kept running into them all day. So it was a good group that traveled together. We stopped at the normal spots (there really aren't that many since it's a small island).

One interesting stop was at the sculpture of a guy standing by bench in front of a house on the road. We had seen it on the previous trip. It is like the statue is designed as a photo stop so you can take your picture with him. But that day, we met the actual sculptor, Mario Hoyos, who was there making some small repairs and told us he had made the statue at the request of the lady who owned the house. It was of her deceased husband as a way of remembering his love of the ocean and friendliness. In discussing his work, Mario also mentioned he did the manta ray and octopus bus stops and the work at the Morgan's Cave Park in San Andres. Remember the lifelike sculptures we mentioned in the San Andres posting? It was quite a pleasure to meet him.

We stopped at the beach where we saw the kids holding their cock fights but no one was there since it was a school day. We stopped at another beach and found a couple and their 2 kids wake boarding behind a horse galloping down the beach. That was pretty cool to watch! And finally at Southwest Beach we went to the same restaurant as before but only ordered the grilled shrimp plate to share! We still had some leftovers from the mixed platter for 2!

Back on the boat it was determined that the weather had improved in Roatan enough to prepare to leave. We were going to buddy boat with Casa del Mar and Indian Summer as far as the Vivorillo Cays which is about half way and then decide the next leg. So it is Adios to Providencia with its colors, sculptures, natural beauty and friendly people. We had been there almost 2 weeks and really enjoyed touring the island (twice around) but it was time to go. On to Honduras. Stay tuned!