Headed for the Rio!
05 May 2008 | Underway along the Honduran Coast
At last, we managed to tear ourselves away from Roatan a couple of days ago and head toward Guatemala. We said goodbye to our new friends Mike & Gloria on Windfree, a Baba 40, almost exactly the same as our boat. Gloria made a great spaghetti dinner on our final night there; we hope to cruise with them some next season.
We did some neat diving while we were in West End. We kept remarking that it wasn't the best we've ever done, and it wasn't, but we did see some nice things. Nearly every dive, we saw at least one turtle and often eagle rays too. On our last dive, Jon spotted a rare harlequin pipefish, related to the seahorse family. We've only seen one other before and boy, do we LOOK for that stuff! On some dives, the formations were really interesting with large canyons to swim through and overhangs, usually with
huge grouper under them. There were plenty of jacks, permit and other open water fish that perused the wall on our dives. Lobster and conch were abundant and often the reef had this golden, almost fall color scheme. There was little current and the vis was pretty good. We had gorgeous, calm weather all while we were there. We took long walks on the beach, dove and snorked, hung out with other cruisers, baked bread and sweets, walked around town getting good produce (the pineapples, mangoes and lettuce
are fantastic here; the tomatoes are not!), and hung out on the boat talking, reading, doing maintenance, etc. Since the internet cafes were so outrageous and all our antennas on the boat are busted, we haven't uploaded any pictures but we should be able to once we get settled in our marina.
The first day out of Roatan, we anchored at Utila for the night but we didn't put the dinghy in the water since it was too late in the day. Utila is known for its diving and cheap scuba schools but is otherwise low and scrubby. We decided we'll check it out next season and see how the diving compares with the other Bay Islands. The next day- yesterday, we headed to Puerto Escondido on the Honduran mainland. These hops are all in the plan to get to the Rio Dulce river bar by Monday night, so we can
cross early Tuesday morning with the tide (and a bunch of other cruising boats). Escondido is a beautiful anchorage set between steep hills, full of howler monkeys. I don't know why they call them howler monkeys, because they actually roar, not howl. You could see them jumping around the trees and hear their calls. We took a long swim in the anchorage and found a West Indian fighting conch which has a pretty, bright orange shell, and also a rare 9 armed starfish. The water is a crazy green with black
sand/mud bottom. It was so warm, I could stay in forever. Sometimes when we snorkel, little fish will start hanging out with us looking for shelter I think. The funny part is, when you swim, they swim, and when you stop, they stop and swim around you. Once you start again, they swim like crazy to keep up with you and they do! They like to get up to the front of your mask and swim there so you crack up going cross-eyed watching them and then your mask leaks since you're laughing. It's something to
experience.
Since we seem to have moved into the transition between winter and summer where there are very light winds and intense sun, we've been boiling hot while underway. The water and air are so warm that when we motor, the alternator gets too hot and turns off, so our batteries don't charge. The only way to keep it on is to open up the engine compartment. This heats up the cabin, so even when we arrive at the anchorage and can come down below out of the sun, we bake inside it there's no breeze blowing.
Taking multiple showers per day and swimming whenever we can, is our AC for now.
Today, we got going very early once again and headed to Omoa, another town on the Honduran coast, about 11 miles from the Guatemala border. We had to power all the way here, but the skies were a little overcast, thankfully. When we got here, another boat from Maine that we met in Lagoon Marina- Sanderling, was here. We went ashore together to try and get some diesel, but no luck; it's Sunday and I think all of Honduras is here in this town partying on the beach. No joke, there were probably 300 people
all over the beach, the little streets adjacent and in the water. Local boats were zooming around the anchorage towing big bananas and double shark floats, using our boats as markers. Latin music was blasting and everyone looked like they were having fun. The Hondurans have been so friendly, and I sure have noticed that the cruising guides are right, Honduran children do give you the widest smiles you've ever seen. We had a bebida fresco together and then Jon & I walked down the road to explore a
cute little fort that is here in the town. Built by the Spaniards of course, it had the typical turrets like El Morro had, but on a smaller scale. The grounds were so well manicured and the mountain views were beautiful. There was a little museum that actually had good English explanations of what you were seeing. From the top of the fort, you had a great view of the soccer field where there was a game in progress, so we watched that for a while too. Soccer is really big in Honduras. Then it was
back to the boat to get in the water and cool off. Now we're making pizza and salad for dinner. Tomorrow, we'll head to Cabo Tres Puntas with Sanderling, and meet up with the gang that is crossing the bar the next morning. We hope for flat seas, plenty of water under our keels, and a smooth check-in to Guatemala. Then, it's on up the river and away from the beautiful reefs that we so love, but inland travel in Guatemala is on our list as well as getting Evergreen all set for our departure home. We
have a busy month ahead of us!