Belize Ships Log


January 21, 2015
16 26’ N: 88 24”W Just off Monkey River in Belize our first night anchorage after leaving the Rio Dulce is know to Adonai as rolling hills .This pleasant safe evening with a full spectrum of stars until the wee hours of the morning turned from a flat calm sea into rolling hills rocking Adonai in a sporadic manner. Our anticipated good night sleep became equal to being rocked in the cradle by a drunken Grannie who was screeching in the creaking of Adonai ! The night was calm with no wind making the intense rolling of the sea a mystery.

9a.m. Morning arrives a little sleepy eyed to pull the anchor and move on to Big Creek to clear customs. Last night’s coolness of the evening has turned into a pleasantly warm morning with the sun burning off the grey horizon to the east.

Checking in at Big Creek was a pleasant ordeal the best part was a 50$ dingy fee for entering the port .The officials are polite and friendly with a good joke here and there to keep you in smiles. The port is clean and professional a great place to clear customs , it is just some what timely as you have 4 offices to check in and out of, all are in close proximity of each other.

16 30”N :88 21W Close to noon we are In Placencia just around the corner of Big Creek. We are met by locals with a pleasant peacefulness and a suddenly. Thank God a man is running after me to return my bank card which I un-knowingly left in the ATM. I will say Placencia is a good place to visit! Taking a stroll down the famous one mile sidewalk it is colorful and full of talent from the beautiful art work of hand made jewelry, baskets and painting such a delight for the eyes. Baker John provides baking fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls. Today the flour had just arrived so the choice was slim yet still excellent. On the water front Brenda is still cooking and cussing serving delicious jerk chicken with rice beans ,coleslaw and fresh lime drinks along with sharing her 50th birthday cake with all who come by. This is a return visit for Ted and I reminiscing of time past.

Exiting Placencia at 2 p. m. you see we are still action packed. Onwards to Blue Range arriving at six experiencing some difficulty while dropping the anchor due to a sheered pin. It is causing the chain to not track through the system properly creating a morning job for Captain Ted . With the sun setting on the horizon all three of us jumped in for an evening swim. Marion first then Ted followed by myself [ Gail ]The water is some what chilly considering it is January so we will call it refreshing being we are South Florida residents. A super dinner of veggies and steak fill the grill and yes we are ready for that good nights sleep. The stars are in full blast with the wind creating sounds on the hulls bringing rest and sleep. Soon the wind starts gusting and across the sky a dark gloom erases all the stars . Adonai starts changing position with her movement came wonder and the remembrance of Placencia years ago of dragging anchor. This good night sleep turned into GPS watch. We dragged across the bay a quarter mile stopping 200 feet off a mangrove island. I love how God watches over us because here I am sitting, rocking safe very very close to shore as Adonai is floating under the star filled sky with the wind slapping the water on her hulls making music to my soul.

8:30 a.m. Jan 23, 2015 adios 16 49’: 88 09’ with one foot clearance from the bottom we could not have been more blessed last night giving thanks as I look at a coral head several feet to our starboard hull. Wow what a morning to continue in thanks and praise. Looking up the clouds look like moguls on Aspen mountain this morning peering through is the sun shining. Next stop Middle Long Cay with our final destination Cucumber Marina to pick up our full crew from Michigan.

17 15’ N : 88 05” W Peaceful entry midday to Middle Long Cay the test will be tonight if it is good holding ground or not?

8:10 A.m. Jan 24 Saturday morning departing 17 24N’ : 88 05W’ any morning you can motor away from your anchorage is a good morning . The still calm warm night changed as a front rolled through with the wind switch blowing on shore bringing the cool air in wind speed steady 17 keep a nice rock going through the night. Wind increase to steady 22 right on our nose heading to Cucumber Marina. The sky is grey and spitting rain at 9:40 dingy breaking free from Adonai, fortunately the sea has laid down due to this body of water being surrounded by flats we are just off Grennels Cay close to Grennels Channel where you can see off in the distance a tanker barge aground possible blown in by a hurricane. This area of Belize is very similar to the Florida Keys with many mangrove islands, flats and hard bottom although it has more depth to much of the water. Our apparent wind hit 28 sending some good salt spray on our decks. The tide is way low on arrival to Cucumber Marina at 11:05 a. m. once again very blessed not to hit bottom the depth was reading 3.8 we draw 4.6. Yes we are looking forwards to a good nights sleep at the dock.