Leaving Mexico
Feb. 12th Tue.
0630 anchor up, on the way to Roatan. Only 300 miles, should be an easy 2½ day trip. The book say the best way to head south along the Yucatan coast to avoid the current is to hug the reef. This would properly add another 100 miles to the trip. And to be that close to the reef at night by myself, no way, no how, I value my keel too much for that risk. Instead of following the book I took the advice of a French cruiser who suggested not passing between Cozumel and the mainland because the current would be real strong there. When I mention my planned course to Valentina, another Tayana 37 from Kemah Tx. he had this look, like really?

From Isla Mujeres to Cancun I was following the coast line, current 1-2kts. And of course that arrow on the top of the mast was pointing in the direction I wanted to go - again. So I tack to the east for a few miles to get to the outside of Cozumel, when I tacked back south I was still in the current only now it's 2-3kts. Oh well, I'm committed now for an open ocean passage, maybe the current will slack a little.

HaHa, what a joke. Not only I'm fighting a strong current the wind decides to pick up to the 20's. At night. Rolled in the Jib to #2 reef, then #3. But the rails are still in the water. I'm either too lazy or too chicken to go reef the main, so I just let it luff. Not good for the sail, so sheeted it back in and will wait until daylight before putting in another reef.

2/13 Wed.
Just after midnight
Current and wind is kicking my ass. Otto is making this strange noise. I decided to put Windy to work. At a close reach the boat will whole a course without much help, so Windy shouldn't have a problem steering. Tried to hook up the Tiller Pilot to the windvane quadrant but the connecting rod just wouldn't connect. Fell off and now somewhere between the bilge and never ever land. Heck Windy worked good in Galveston Bay with 15nt winds and 3ft waves, why not 20-25kt winds and 6 feet waves? Windy is supposed to work with the wind, so I put on the windvane flag. Windy is holding the course, so now to find out what Otto was complaining about. Found 3 of the 4 mounting bolts had lost their nuts. In these conditions I wasn't about to go look for them, so I dug out my spare nut sack and instead of using a lock washer I used some lock nuts. They cost a whole lot more, but they ain't coming undone. Put Otto back to work and he still making the same noise. Check the oil level seems low. Somewhere I own a bottle of steering fluid, just not on the boat. So Otto is put to bed and now it's up to me and Windy to steer the boat around Cozumel and then to Roatan. Of course all this happen in the middle of the night. Did I describe the sea state and the weather conditions? Ass kicking would be the short version.

2/14 Thur.
I'm on a course heading straight for the Banco Chinchorro Reef. There are at least 1000 boats, ships, and yachts that lay dead on or below this reef. My buddy Sparky have made it very clear, that I must stay away. Just like magic the current change direction and slack down a little and I'm able to sail a little to the southeast without tacking. After passing the reef just like magic the current comes back stronger. Now I'm being set more westerly then before. SOG, heck if I didn't have the engine on I'll be back in Isla Mujeres in a few hours. Windy steered all night without any problems.

I'm gonna have to remember this date, of all the days of my life that I have been on the water this is the first time I've gotten seasick. Now I have felt bad a few times before but manage to always keep dinner down by using a few preventive measures. But this time I was down below too long. I had to use the head; I was waiting to make a ham radio contact, was getting a snack, whatever the excuse, dinner didn't stay down. After I threw up, I felt better. I should have done that yesterday instead of being miserable. Took a seasickness pill and didn't eat anything for 8 hrs. the next day I felt good. So for now on I'm going to take my medicine before I need it.

Around noon, on my present course I'll be making landfall in Belize. So the hell with sailing, head sails rolled in, leaved the main up to steady the boat and full power to Otto. Hand steering a course straight to the west end of Roatan. After a few hours of this I have to take a break. I can't use the windvane while under motor, the propwash sometimes interfere with the steering oar. Otto on the job, but no noise, fixed or is it a trick?

Sent an email via Ham radio to Sparky letting him know I'll be a day late. That current must have added 200 miles to the trip - it would have been shorter to follow the reef. But Me and the French guy is smarter then 1000 boats.

2/15 Fri.
Hearing thunder all night. Raining in Belize. But one of the storms is headed out to sea where I am, well at least that's what the radar shows. After all that we been through I don't feel like getting beat up by a thunderstorm. Full throttle, the wind on the nose as usual, dropped the mainsail. No use having it up when the storm hit and it wasn't doing anything but flapping. I make it to the west end of Roatan after sunrise and before the storm. But it is still heading east, so am I, maybe if I take the shortcut between the reef and the mainland I can save some time. Besides Sparky suggested I stop in Dixon Cove, dinghy to shore, walk a mile to his house and then he'll help me get into Frenchy's harbor. I called Fantasy Island Resort and Marina on the VHF and they said they would be more than happy to show me the way to the resort. The shortcut would take me close to Sparky's house, maybe he'll see me, if nothing else I can get some pictures of his house from the sea.

I put a couple of new waypoints in the GPS for my new route. Thunderstorms still west of Roatan and moving slow, I might can actually beat them. Just south of the airport the water changes color in front of me. It goes from the dark blue, to light blue, to brown. Brown means Banco Cordelia reef. I look at the Chart Plotter and it didn't indicate very shallow water ahead. Then in less than a 100 yards the depth meter goes from 500 feet to 250 feet to 100 feet to 10 feet or very quickly. Put on the breaks or shift into reverse and giving Otto full throttle. Depth meter reading less than 7 feet, so I decided to head back to the outside of the reef by turning hard to starboard. Bamn depth less then 6feet and I'm aground. I have hit the fricking reef. Now I have ran aground more times than I can remember, but this is the first time I have hit a reef. Heck in clear water you can see them. Well no Tow Boat US or tow boat Charlie to pull me off this time. And full reverse is not doing anything but making the engine run a little hotter than normal. Rolled out the Jib to heal the boat over, maybe shorten my draft enough to back off. But the sail is pulling me forward, it's stronger then the engine in reverse. I don't need to go forward so I rolled the sail back in. There's a dive boat passing by, I tried to flag him down but he don't see me waving.

Then the guys from Fantasy Is. call me and said that he was on the way to guide me in and wanted to know my location. I told them to take their time because I politely parked my boat on the reef and didn't know how long it'll take to get off. They asked if I was "hard aground". Nope I only nudge upon it, I was going less then a knot when I hit. They said they would come out in one of the dive boats to pull me off, but the good ting is high tide is 10:15, two hours away. Gave them my coordinates, a better description then out by the airport. I'm still in reverse mainly to keep me from going forward where the water is really shallow. Then the boat start bouncing on the bottom a little, I give it full throttle and began to see that starfish moving forward or was I moving backwards. Yep I'm moving backwards and the depth is over 6 feet now. Backup a little more turn to port and went back out the way I came. Now if I would have went that way the first time I would have miss the fricking reef, guess it was a 50:50 chance of choosing the right way. I called the dive boat and let them know that I was floating again and would meet them in Frenchy's Harbor. They answered they were almost there, so just catch up and follow them in. And that damn storm I was running from - It went to the North side of the island. Never got a drop.

Made in to Fantasy Island without any more problems. Nice to have a guide when you're tired as hell. This time a hot shower and a nap, in that order.