We survived yet another cold front over the past few days while tucked in at Twin Cays- a couple of mangrove islands with a little slit in between them that makes for a good anchorage. We find that you can't take these cold front lightly, since the winds get really strong and in Belize, a tow boat is not right around the corner should you find yourself aground! The first day we were there we did a long snorkel tour of South Water Cay which is on the barrier reef and there is supposedly a Smithsonian research station there. We didn't go ashore since there aren't any facilities for exploring it and frankly, we weren't too impressed with the reef either. We've seen much prettier, healthier coral elsewhere. We saw a nice baby nurse shark and a triton shell that had an unusual posture- his yellow body was way out of his shell and he wasn't buried in the sand as they usually are. We took a photo; he must have been eating something.

We shared the anchorage with manatees and one another boat named Up Jinx (named after a childhood game that Beth used to play) and John. Turns out we'll be neighbors at Mario's in the Rio Dulce and they rave about it. They've done a ton of inland travel in Guatemala so are a wealth of info for us. We had drinks on each others boats while waiting out the front which was fun.

We accomplished some small boat projects and maintenance stuff, worked on the dive compressor but came to a standstill when we couldn't get the last bolt out and we now know we need a bench vice. And then we did some cooking! Seems I always have overrripe bananas since I don't know why, but bananas seem to be green one day, then rotten the next! So another round of banana bread! Jon has been working on making yeast bread. The first time was a little hard to eat, but then he's had some great email correspondence with an old high school friend from Newport, Vermont who is a baker!! All of Paul's guidance has been put to use and round two was much better, and round three was a fantastic foccacia last night which we served hot out of the oven for happy hour with Up Jinx. Since the bread available in the stores can be pretty unappealing, being able to make your own is a real benefit.

This morning we got out of Twin Cays with just a few thousand no-see-um bites and it is FLAT calm so we're motoring back to Placencia to meet up with 3 other boats for dinner. We all wanted to gather together one more time before we inevitably get separated as we each go our separate ways on different schedules. Then we plan to head out to the Sapadilla Cays with Slip Away for another stint of diving. Hopefully we can find someone in Placencia with a bench vice to get this last bolt off so the compressor can be put back together with the new parts.

I figured I would make a quick note for the blog and post a couple of pictures before we lose internet again for a while. We had dolphin come rushing over to the boat this morning- they always brighten the day when they come to visit.

One last thing: When I wrote about the frigate birds mating at Half Moon Cay, I forgot to mention the odd sound that the males make as they're beating their beaks against their extended bright red throats. The frigates and boobies were calling out to each other and making plenty of noise, but the most interesting thing to hear and see was the male tipping his head back, with his throat all puffed up tight like a drum, and then he would thump his beak really fast on the drum. I guess that's an attraction for the females too! I'll see if I can try to find a picture to illustrate this. We'll never forget that experience!!