Time flies aboard as one day blurs into the next. Our highlight of the trip was Gladden Caye when seven dolphins approached Viento Azul . Naturally enthusiastic swimmers jump in! To the delight of all, the interaction and play in the wild was by far a gift from God. The wild of nature penetrates your soul in an excitement beyond measure. This experienced penetrates deep into the crevices of your soul. ! The saying “ time flies when you are having fun”, we are finding is to be true here, in the southern Belize islands.

After departing Guatemala through Livingston, we entered Belize in Punta Gorda in a matter of four hours under peaceful grey skies with rather calm waters. The day turned sunny and by late afternoon we were swimming in the beautiful shallows of Snake Cay. The color was brilliant and alive with numerous purple sea-fans waving in the gentleness of the approaching evening.

Night falls and thanks to Tracy the most amazing food was prepared with precision and love, which continued through out our journey. The catch of the day being mackerel was prepared and there was not a complaint on the boat. If there was, you would soon be over board as we are the no complaint kitchen. I did have a slip one night on salt but was not thrown over board. Thank God for friends, mercy and love. Food becomes an evening focus after a full day on the water, whether it be relaxing in the sun, taking in a good book, or playing hard in God’s creation. And we did all ! Food was from one flavor to the next, Guatemala chicken hidden in the freezer and hamburger for a simple American delight turned into fresh roasted tomato soup fresh caught lobster, conch, and fish. There is always the fall back of good old fashion peanut-butter when combined with coffee and bananas turns in to a culinary frozen delight , one of Tracys secret weapons of goodness.

Who knows what day it is but we are now anchored off of Ranguana a sweet palm filled landmass surrounded by reef and turquoise waters, ablaze in color to the artistic eye, a huge comfort to the body and a thrill to the hunters. Ted and I were curious of what appeared to be an abandoned small mono hull. The jib was damaged , the dingy was secured on the top deck and the hatch open, but nobody home. It looked as a a case of distress. Wonder begins and the imagination starts! Finally a military boat approached with two woman , they pulled anchor and were towed off. The mystery is just that, a mystery to us. Meanwhile underwater the vibe was peaceful and exciting at the spotting of a hog fish, an all time favorite to Florida Keys Reef dwellers with a spear in hand. Perfect shot and perfect fit for the evening pan. Above water with rod in hand, Holt reels in a mutton snapper, which brings back memories of scout days in the Abaco’s, where we hosted teams of twenty Boy Scouts of America High Adventure trips! The mutton would at times be too big for the grill. Today it was perfect for the pan which works just as well for a group of nine. Ted & Gail, Holt&Kelly , Dave&Amy, Adam&Mckinley and our beautiful Tracy who has traveled all the way from South Africa!

Belize has instilled natural “Marine Reserve” zones in the reef areas. Rangers patrol and take admission of $25 BZ per person, the ticket says $20 so please don’t quote me on the price. We met Chuck who was kind to share this new news to us, as we had a lobster in our hand. Oops, thank goodness this particular zone even though it is a nature reserve, it is a legal take zone of Gladden Spit Silk Cay. This outer area of the reef looked like dry bones, in need of prayer for life and our friends Denise and Ken Nedimeyer with Coral Restoration who plant coral farms all over the world to replenish the ocean. There is a natural order to life, storms may damage the reef or disease, not all destruction is due to man and improper anchoring but some is, so take care of the reef and don’t over due your sunscreen.

Eventually we sailed on to Buttonwood Cay which was a tiny island cay and here we met many bugs and a tremendous amount of dragon flies. The conservationist group “ Friends of Nature” have acquired Buttonwood with a vision to create a “Resource Center “ for fishermen and tour guides. In the mean time, it is quite desolate with one house in need of a few repairs, and a rickety dock surrounded by beauty. It was interesting to see the turtle grass co-mingling with a bed of hard corals making a carpet which was sharp to the touch, but easy to float over. A few conch were scattered around in the water, happy for the flow through creating a good environment for conch. The wind picked up in the dark of night and continued on to morning and for the next few days.

Eighteen knots plus on our beam made for smooth fast sailing, peaking at 9.8 on a beam reach. Headed towards Placencia with a couple of stops in-between rain came. This calls for only partial rest being somewhat relaxed until ……….The hydro foil and kite wing came out compliments to Holt and Kelly . The wing was bright green and fun to be introduced to as a new and upcoming water sport. Meanwhile the men and Mckinney in were working at mastering the hydro foil. Amy and I did a snorkel explore and unfortunately Kelly was covered with a reaction to jelly fish and to go back in the water would not be fun for her. With a group of skiers and water sport enthusiast much fun was had!

Last and best of all Gladden Cay our favorite . Anchored in a channel which outstretched from two small cays the snorkeling was most colorful . Here on a hill below the sea was an abundance of red sponges interwoven with moss bright greens, purples and golden colors of a healthy reef. Schools of medium size bluefish with the occasional electric blue, tiny spotted reef fish was fun to observe. As Amy and I swam around the cay the water became very shallow and behold in my path was a grand conch, a treasure to gaze upon and my favorite to eat, as I am allergic to fish. Swimming carrying our trophy conch back to the boat we were able to see his outer shell in the sunlight. It glowed of neon pink and purple splashes of coral growth. I never saw anything so mesmerizing in my life on a shell . As I walked with my new found friend towards the freezer, my heart became sympathetic and I decided I did not want to give him a slow death but return him to the sea for life. As I walked to release him his foot came out to the shell touching my hand and then he stretched out his neck and with his eyes touched my heart even deeper. This interaction with nature combined with sunshine and friendly dolphin surely was the most memorable stop for us all.

Mid -day the perfect sail into Placensica harbor was the close to a fabulous trip topping it off with dinner at Ricks Place . We had celebrated Tracy’s birthday there prior in the week and were all happy to return for one last meal together until the next time we meet!