Saturday afternoon we hit the nearest ATM and the machine just whirred.    A bit concerned, especially as the guy in front of us made a withdrawal, we headed to the lobby to get the strongest internet signal to make a skype call.    Finally we got through to the bank and were told that everything was fine with nothing dodgy happening.   So the advice was to use the card elsewhere and see what happens – it could be the chip that was damaged.     That’s a job for another day then….

Later on we spent a few hours bobbing in the pool before returning to Morphie for another rainy night in the cockpit.

Sunday morning and because it was rainy the guys didn’t work – so we had a lazy start before heading into the restaurant to watch the Euro finals which was live at 1pm.   Was a great match and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.   When we got back we chilled for a little while before getting ourselves cleaned up and got picked up by Charlie and Saundra – and we went across the river to Sundogs for a pizza.   Was a great evening and we said sad farewells to Saundra who was flying home in the morning….promising to keep an eye on Charlie in the meantime LOL.

Monday morning and the guys arrived early….  Richard was doing boat jobs down below while I got on with the laundry.    We are a bit restricted in terms of how long we can get off the boat because the guys need access to the companionway….so we are trying to use our time productively and are  working on our lists of things to do.   This morning the cormorants are back and they look so funny half submerged between dives….

At lunchtime we headed over to RAM marina – where Morphie is hauling.   We checked out the slip and the boatyard before heading into the office.   We met Karen – who speaks perfect English thankfully – and organised our haul out slot, confirmed that we want Morphie on the concrete not the grass area, and optimistically scheduled our antifouling being done on our return in November.   After lots of research we have finally chosen a new ablative paint which is acceptable to both New Zealand and Australia (and is sold there too for top-ups).   Thankfully the paint (in blue) and primer is sold here so we can reserve our cans now.   We were also very pleased that this marina confirmed that they are happy for us to do our own work whilst in the yard.

We also had a look at the accommodation in the marina – they have small concrete bungalows – for cruisers to share.   The master bedroom is $25 a night so pretty reasonable although it has shared facilities.   Richard wasn’t that impressed (thought it was a bit smelly) but it would do and it would appear that, if we wanted exclusivity, the cost would be $50 a night for the whole unit.    That’s a much better option – we agreed to go away and think about it.

Back to the boat and we were pleased that all the wood had been sealed…..and just in time because the rain came down again during the evening.

Tuesday morning and we used a different card to get some cash out – and then went to the hotel to check out their rooms.   They have four types – from the standard up to a suite – and we can get a discount as marina guests.    Well….the suite was lovely….and the standard rooms were anything but.  In fact, gross is the best description.    Hmm…what to do…..do we really want to spend $120 a night for the mid-range room with no fridge or cooking facilities….    Check out the photo of the suite – shame they are so expensive even with our discount! 

While in the hotel lobby we did some research on line about potential land travel.   Everything is a long way away so we are thinking – if the varnish is finished on time and we are on top of our hauling lists – that we might get the bus to Flores, head into the Tikal National Park, maybe fly to Guatemala City and head to Antigua for a few nights before heading back on the bus to the Rio Dulce.

Back to the boat and Charlie came by.   He has swapped out his old cooker for a brand new stainless Force 10 and is donating the old one to a cruiser here who supplements her income by cooking cruiser take-away lunches.   Richard went off to help him and I stayed down below….until Freddie said they were leaving as Morphie had had her first coat of varnish applied.  Woo hoo! 

Richard and Charlie finally came back and, having had a couple of beers while they planned their expedition LOL, they regaled me with  hysterical stories of the marina of the damned.  Apparently the boats are falling apart with one of them about to sink and the people are pretty wasted…  

Charlie left and we were sitting in the cockpit when we realised that our tarpaulin was delaminating and strands were hanging off.  I said we’d better take that down in the morning before some of it lands on the varnish – and, of course, at that minute it did.   Damn…so we spent a while sorting that out…and took the tarpaulin down.    It did rain overnight but the varnish was dry enough not to get damaged.

Wednesday morning and we owned up to what had happened the night before.  Freddie wasn’t bothered and was working on the companionway / eyebrow today.  He also managed to get all the canvas strands off the varnish – these guys are pretty laid back and take it all in their stride.    As they needed dink to get around the rail we took ourselves off to town via a local tuktuk.    We were surprised by the heavy armed security at the entrance to the hotel / marina complex as this was the first time we had left via the road.

Tuktuks are an inexpensive way to travel and was a great experience, especially going over the bridge rather than going under it.    The scale of the river is pretty impressive.     

Town was very busy and it felt quite different to be driving through it rather than avoiding the traffic on foot.  

We nervously put our card in the ATM and we were very relieved that it worked fine – that’ll be the last withdrawal for a while now as we have enough to cover our quotes and beer vouchers.   We headed back to the marina across the bridge again and spotted a helicopter that had just landed – presumably dropping off people to one of the large powerboats that live here….

Back on board and the guys are knocking off for the afternoon as the weather is threatening and they didn’t want to do another coat of varnish.  The companionway boards, in the meantime, have been taken to the workshop to be done there….   Pleased with progress so far.

Later on we headed over to MAR marine for their movie night – and they picked us up in their complimentary launcha.   The food was good, the movie was a bit dark, but we had a good time catching up with Larry, Dave and Mary who we had last seen in Fantasy Island.   It was nice to have an evening out.

Thursday morning and we have three guys on board….  And although a cloudy day there was no threat of rain…so they got on with it.    Richard cleaned out the drawers under the fridge / freezer and got rid of the mould that always forms here due to the condensation from the units.   We have always maintained this to be a design fault….    The actual drawers themselves have got damaged in the constant damp environment so Richard found Arnie to get a quote on getting them remade with solid wood.   

I sat on the dock cleaning all the stainless again – not often you get a chance to do both sides – and spotted a couple of cracks that need welding.   Freddie is going to get someone over to see us as we’ve given up on the other guy – and we’ll ask him about the helm seat modification too.  

As we are so keen to take a road trip we’ve started on some of our ‘putting the boat to bed jobs’ and we got down all the straps / ropes / pulleys that hold dink up on the arch and cleaned them up.  We’ll grease them up before we put them away for storage.

Both of us worked hard for about six hours straight in the heat we collapsed down below for the rest of the day.   The guys carried on working and, before they left, everything had had its second coat of varnish.   It is starting to look really good and there is a long way to go – we always thought Winfield in Bequia was the varnishing genius – but think these guys might just have the edge!

Another quiet night on board – but this time with a lovely steak dinner and it was dry.  Not really a sunset but a pretty sky nevertheless.

Friday morning and the guys are back on board rubbing down – we actually have some blue sky this morning – and Richard has just been into town to get some beer supplies.    He also popped into the canvas guy to pick up our bespoke pads for dink but they weren’t ready….so he’ll be going back for them later.    I’m sitting down below – fans at full pelt – blogging.   Hopefully the weather will hold and we’ll get another coat of varnish completed today.

Fingers crossed for a dry evening as we are planning to have sundowners at the “Shack” later.  Bye for now

Jan

Saturday afternoon we relaxed before heading out to Mar Marine for sundowners but the place was empty…. so decamped to Brunos instead.   We enjoyed happy hour before returning to Morphie just before the rain started.   Talking to the few people around it seems that most of the boats are currently unoccupied so that’s why the bars and restaurants are pretty empty.  

Sunday morning we were up early to move our dock lines and fenders in preparation for the varnishing work being started Monday.   We wanted to position Morphie further away from the dock and to free up the cleats.  We then tied the fenders to the dock and pilings rather than to the boat and removed the jerry cans off the rail – and their fixings – and secured all the other ropes and lines high above the deck.   The only victim in the process was a U-bolt that Richard dropped in the water.  Oops….    It may be fresh water but it is 20 feet deep and murky so we’ll replace it as we didn’t fancy taking a swim to look for it – especially as water-born amoebic dysentery is endemic here!

The rest of the day we chilled out with the fans blowing at maximum speed – the heat here is brutal and we’re both struggling to maintain our energy levels.  To cope we have quickly adopted the local way of working early in the morning – followed by afternoon siestas – and resuming activity later in the afternoon when the sun is lower in the sky.   Or it would be if we could see it as the cloud cover is pretty much 100% of the time at the moment.      

Sunday late afternoon we decided to take ourselves to the dock palapa to meet cruisers who congregate there every day at 5pm for sundowners.  Well…..not that night….they were all sat in one boat’s cockpit watching us.    It is pretty clique here….    So feeling slightly uncomfortable we watched the sun go down and returned to Morphie’s cockpit to road-test the re-waterproofed canvas in the rain.   We are pleased to report no leaks!

Monday morning and Freddie and Matthew turned up – first job was to remove all the stainless steel from the rail.   They got it off bit by bit while Richard and I managed to find places to secure it all on the coachroof – what with that and our scruffy bit of tarpaulin over the boom to keep the deck cool enough to walk on – and we are starting to look like the Clampits LOL.

In the afternoon I prepared some ribs (for us) and dauphinoise potatoes (to share) for the pot luck that Jim, our dock neighbour, had organised for 6pm.    We wandered to the shaded cruisers BBQ area – near the boatyard – and cracked open a beer – marred only by the biting red ants and the feasting mosquitos…   At around 6.30 pm we were still on our own and Tim came by.  He had just come back from Livingstone where they had failed to get their cruising permit extension and, annoyingly, while on anchor overnight vagabonds had cut the lines to their genoa and stolen them along with a pair of sandals from the cockpit.  They were pretty fed up about this and we were increasingly frustrated by the no-show of the other cruisers.  

So we decided to abandon the pot luck and arranged for Tim and Philippa to come over to Morphie instead.    As we were walking back we bumped into Jim and Jean – who were finally on their way to the pot luck almost an hour late – and they asked us not to leave.   Apparently everyone was late because they had been playing dominoes.   Sorry – no can do – we’ve made alternative arrangements now – bye!   Tim and Philippa came onboard and we had a great evening – they enjoyed sharing our food – and we enjoyed their company.   

Jim came by later and told us what a great time we had missed but we were still smarting from being sat there like lemons.   He was clearly embarrassed – tough!   

Tuesday morning we headed into Fronteras and were fascinated by the huge flock of cormorants fishing in the river.  

We went to the Café de Paris for breakfast, which is the most modern place in town, enjoyed fresh chocolate croissants and the views from the terrace. 

We then went for a wander around town – delving into side roads from the main drag – and found the fish market.  

Later on we found the “concrete mall” which is where most of the hardware stores are located so we enjoyed perusing the strange collection of items for sale.     We noticed, in the car park, two calves in the back of a small truck and we thought it was a strange place to see them – then suddenly two guys wrestled one of them to the floor and securely tied his legs together.   It was very brutal and we realised that they were about to slit his throat so we made a quick exit.  

We wandered through the streets and found a small market – selling everything from live chickens, (dead) chicken feet, Tupperware, shoes, pots and pans and sacks of food stuffs.  Oh yes and shoe shining stations for the cowboys.  They even drive motorcycles between the stalls too!    I was happy to find a new handbag to buy as the other one had disintegrated for the princely sum of £6.  

We enjoyed the sights, the sounds (yes and the smells) before returning to the main drag to buy some fresh fruit and veg.   Richard was very happy with his purchase of a bag of fresh lychees for less than a £1.

Back to Morphie and we handed over dink to Freddie so that he could continue removing the varnish under the rail and went down below to try and keep cool.   Later on we went to the pool for a restorative bob and said our farewells to Tim and Philippa who were starting their circuitous route home to the UK the following day.  

We had another evening in the cockpit – and another sunset.  Woo hoo.

Wednesday morning it was soggy having had torrential rain overnight – we walked to RAM marina to get more cash from the ATM and had breakfast in the marina restaurant.    Sadly the internet was poor again but at least there was a breeze.    Freddie continued to work hard stripping the varnish.  

While there we made arrangements for the local ‘fixer’ Raul to visit us on Thursday so that we can get our cruising permit renewed – an expensive option but it would appear to be the only way to guarantee success.   Sadly still no quote from our fabricator / welder – will chase and see what happens…..

Charlie and Saundra came by – they had just returned from Cayo Quemado.  They had gone down there to have their rigging replaced but the trip had been a complete disaster as the rigging that had been delivered had the wrong swages on.    So they need to sort all that out.   We gave them a sympathetic beer before making arrangements to see them on Thursday.   Later on we headed into the restaurant to watch the Portugal –v- Wales match – was sorry that Wales didn’t make it through but kudos to them for getting so far in the competition.   Back on board and we waved Freddie off and had a quiet evening in the cockpit whilst being treated to another dramatic thunder and lightning show. 

Thursday morning Richard took the generator apart to fix something – and gave grateful thanks to YouTube videos!    

Then he bailed out dink – which was almost full to the top after last night’s downpour.    

Freddie continued stripping the wood while we waited to be informed of Raul’s arrival.

We took our handheld VHF to the restaurant and, the minute it was announced, we took ourselves to the Marina Office and, thankfully, we were only second in line.    It cost us Q2100 (£210) to get the nine month permit process underway.    There were a lot of boats looking to him to perform this service and it would appear that customs in Livingstone are no longer issuing them to individuals – forcing everyone down the same route.    There is a lot of speculation as to why.     Very frustrating when we know the cost of the permit is actually only £100 but what can you do?   We have to remember that we are in Central South America and that greasing palms is how things get done!

Money paid over and we returned to Morphie.   Freddie is doing well….. and we spent the rest of the day chilling.    We were supposed to be going out for an early dinner with Charlie and Saundra but, unfortunately, rain stopped play.   However, we were invited on board Windsong (Jim and Jean) to celebrate International Chocolate Day in the evening and so we went and joined them for a few glasses of wine.  They own a 49 foot Taswell which is very nice and we particularly liked the layout down below which they had designed themselves, but not sure they are going anywhere.  We think they may be Rio dwellers only leaving when they have to…..   Was a lovely evening and the home-made chocolate truffles went down a treat.

Friday morning we were up early and took ourselves off to Backpackers for breakfast.  

When we had eaten we went to their travel agency to enquire about some trips we would like to do.   The lady did not speak English and it was hard to get any information out of her in Spanish – so we took away a business card and will try again another day.

Back into Fronteras on the lower level under the bridge we found one of the small shops and the neighbouring hostel had been completely flooded and all the stock ruined.   Amazingly resilient people just getting on with the clean up….   

We went into the upholstery workshop to give them our dinghy pads.  These were custom made for us in Dominica when we realised that dink was getting marked by the arch.   So we designed them ourselves and had them made – back in 2012.   Now, of course, they are pretty worn and the padding is getting thin – so we’ve cut up a couple of cheap yoga mats to make the padding – and given the workshop these plus some strong heavy-duty vinyl we had on board.   Price agreed and they should be ready for us next week.  Boat jobs are coming along nicely – shame about the fabricator / welder not getting back to us though…  

It was very busy in Fronteras and as Richard walked ahead of me I spotted cows in a big truck and they were just emptying their bowels!   Luckily it fell behind Richard and in front of me…..right next to the stalls cooking up the chicken…   Don’t think we’ll be trying street food anytime soon!    Then a coach pulled in and, as it glided to a halt, the conductor opened its door in preparation for people to get off – and this barely missed Richard as it swung out.  Phew, dangerous place this LOL.

Back to Morphie and we got ourselves cleaned up in preparation for Charlie and Saundra coming round to pick us up.   They have a launcha here with a nice-sized outboard so we planned to head further up the river to Kangaroos.  

We drove up the river under the bridge admiring the views and some of the properties lining the water when suddenly a big wide tail submerged just in front of us – it was a huge manatee.   What a treat!  

Kangaroos is a quaint water-side restaurant / hostel owned by an Australian (hence the name) which serves Mexican food (because his wife is Mexican).    Very nice chilled place for a leisurely lunch – although the mosquitos were a bit much so we all had to resort to Deet to keep them away.   It was great to spend some time with them again especially as Saundra is flying home to Texas on Monday – and we had a fun time as always.   

After lunch we headed further inland to Lake Izabel and past the fort of San Philippe which was built to repel pirates…although it is actually nearly 20 miles inland.    Was great to see the lake – which is huge – and we enjoyed buzzing around admiring the spectacular scenery.

Back to Morphie and we took ourselves off to the pool to cool down.  We had literally just got in the water and the heavens opened – we stayed put for a little while as we were wet anyway – but then the thunderstorms started so decided that it wasn’t such a good idea.   We ran for cover and watched the rain come down….before finally returning to Morphie…and sitting it out in the cockpit.  

The storm was fierce and the deluge almost biblical and, of course, we lost shore power for a while too.    We ended up having quite a late night after all as Richard wanted to just watch the light show.   And I only screamed once so definitely improving on the fear factor!

This morning – Saturday – and Freddie has just arrived.  All the wood has been stripped and chemically cleaned – including the companionway boards – and he is now taping up and rubbing down prior to sealing.   

Slow progress but very thorough and we are quite excited about how it will look when finished – and we are very pleased not to be doing it ourselves for the first time in a number of years.   Later on we need to try the ATM again as the machine has been empty of cash for a few days and then we’re just going to chill…and, if it doesn’t rain, maybe a few hours in the pool.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday afternoon we took ourselves off to the pool for the afternoon and came back about five.  

I was just starting dinner when the heavens opened so we went down below and decided to have a movie night on board.    We were watching the Panic Room and an almighty bang and simultaneous lightning made me scream again!    Then we heard air horns.   Worried about fellow cruisers we stopped the film, popped out heads out, but could not see anything at all in the torrential downpour.   Finally having seen the (dark) film through to the end we had an early night.

Monday morning we were up bright and early and I started on the laundry.   In the meantime there were a procession of workmen on the boat next door – and the canvas guys asked us if we wanted any work done.   Well – actually – we did.   We wanted to create a new window in the bimini so that we could see the sails when underway (and to be covered when not) and there were a few zips and snaps that needed replacing.  We also wanted it re-waterproofed to save us a job later.  So they went off to consider a price.   In the meantime I finished the laundry and then they were back.   The price was good so we agreed it – and they promptly did all the measurements and took the canvas away!    So we put up our tarpaulin again and that will have to do until it all comes back.  The guys working on next door’s brightwork asked us about work too – we explained what we wanted to do this year and they went off to put together a quote.

Lunchtime we went to the NanaJuana restaurant to watch England play in the Euros.   Hmmmm….least said about that the better…..   Later on we returned to Morphie – pretty fed up – and stayed on board for the rest of the day.   Again it was a stormy night but no storms in the immediate vicinity thankfully.

Tuesday morning we received the quote for the brightwork.   A bit more than we wanted to pay so we’ll get another quote to compare against.   We headed out in dink to Fronteras leaving Morphie behind in her snug slip next to the powerboat sheds.

Dinking across the river we admired the view of the bridge which is actually huge (with 90 feet at the centre) and carries heavy traffic – with truck airbrakes screaming 24 hours a day as they cross.   Egrets nestle into the mangroves and there are boats tucked in everywhere along both sides of the lake.    Not sure about the name of this one though!

We found the dinghy dock and wandered under the bridge – stumbling across Captain Johns on the way.   He has good brightwork people apparently so we arranged for them to come by later in the afternoon.

We wandered into the main town – having to avoid huge trucks as they come hurtling through, mingling with the tuk-tuks, motorcycles, coaches etc etc – and there are no pavements so you constantly end up ducking into the front of shops to stay safe!

The people here are mainly Garafuna and lots of them wear traditional clothing co-existing with a cowboy population wearing big buckles, cowboy hats and polished boots and guns on hips.   The locals tend to ignore us as we walk along with the occasional good morning and smile….   Wanted to take some people shots but thought better of it – will try to find a quiet place to do this from on a future visit.

First stop was the bank – we queued up but were told they couldn’t give us cash over the counter – we had to use the ATM.   The ATM was open to the street so could easily be compromised so we were a bit uncomfortable with that – and, of course, all the tradesmen want to be paid in cash.   So we wandered the street until we found another ATM which had an armed guard outside – hopefully this will be safe.    The maximum you can take out in one day here is Q2k (£200) so we’ll be doing this regularly for a little while!   After getting drinking vouchers we headed to the supermarket which was a big warehouse and didn’t have a huge range of goods – but we really only came for some cans of beer and soda.   Richard fancied some tuna but wasn’t sure about this brand!

Back to Morphie and we watched a local fisherman cast his nets from his dugout canoe.  The waterway is incredibly busy with water taxis, launchas, jet skis, large power boats, dinghies and kayaks.   Everything is moved by water….even fridges LOL.

Later on the guys from Captain John came by.   They were young and seemed to have to make a lot of phone calls to get advice so we were not inspired….particularly when they passed the phone over to us to get some clarifications.   Hmmmm – quote not as expensive as the others – but no evidence of quality work either.   Time to think about it…. 

Later on we headed over to Backpackers Hotel to get some fresh bread and made contact with Casa Guatemala, an orphanage, which we have some clothes to donate to.  When we get a chance we are going to arrange a visit up the river to deliver them.

We then dinked around the corner to Louvies marina, where Island Sol are tied up.

Saundra has put her back out on top of the stress of realising a significant sum had been withdrawn from their bank account when their debit cards had been compromised.  We enjoyed visiting with them for a little while and promised to help them with scanning / printing documents for their bank to start the investigation on whether they should get the money back or not.    Shocking!    We were suddenly very grateful for the stance taken by our bank who had immediately promised us a refund as we were using a credit card.

Wednesday morning and Charlie came by and we did all the paperwork with him – that printer / scanner was definitely a worthwhile purchase this season.    Later on we went for a walk next door to RAM marina – which is where Morphie is going to be stored when we go home.   The yard is nice and clean and the boats are well spaced – so pretty happy with our choice.  

We then went into the marina shop and realised they had an ATM which is in view of the cashier.  We decided that as there were less likely to be vagabonds hanging around this area we would use this machine for our future withdrawals.  Fingers crossed.    We also visited the chandlery and were pleased to find out that we can order from the West Marine catalogue and, providing we pay 50% up front, they will deal with importation and storage until we return.   Very happy with that news, so Richard continues to work on his spares list.

Later on Charlie came by and we went pool bobbing for a few hours.  Sadly Saundra was still laid up.   Great fun….

And we had a sunset – our first one since we arrived in Guatamala.   Woo hoo!

Thursday morning and we started to negotiate the prices on the brightwork.    Richard cleaned down below and polished all the woodwork and I started on the stainless steel.   It is hard working in these high temperatures and humidity – currently 43C / 110F.    We had a lazy afternoon recovering and decided to go to the cruisers palapa for sundowners to meet others.   Well….of course….we got ready and we were just climbing into the cockpit when the heavens opened again.    These are not normal rain showers they are torrential tropical downpours – so we abandoned that idea and settled down to another movie night.  This time we decided to watch something lighter and ended up choosing Finding Nemo.   Love that movie.

Friday morning and I made another ATM visit.   Then our preferred brightwork guys came back with a reduced quote.   Bit more negotiation and finally hands shaken on a price – looking forward to this work starting next week.   Next visitor was a fabricator / welder as we want to adapt our helm seat which is fine for cruising but not so great for long ocean passages….  He took measurements and Richard’s drawings away to source the appropriate marine grade stainless steel and fittings that he needs – so now just waiting for the quote.   We’ve also received our full rigging report and have agreed to get our ‘emergency rigging pack’ and the sacrificial UV strips to be re-stitched by Tom the rigger on our way out of the Rio in early December.

Just getting ready to go out to Fronteras again and the canvas guys turn up – job done – and reinstalled the canvas.   Very happy with their work!

Finally we headed into Fronteras to get some fresh produce – visiting about four stalls to get quality fruit and salad.   Heading back to Morphie and both of us were overheated again…..so we had a quiet afternoon down below with all the fans blowing…and decided to stay put listening to the rain beating down.

This morning, Saturday, we had a lazy start and I’m blogging while Richard has just gone off to get one of our gas bottles filled up.    We are pleased with our progress on the boat jobs so far….and fingers crossed we’ll have enough time to go exploring inland soon. 

Bye for now.

Jan

Monday evening we went ashore and went to Paradise for a few drinks…..enjoyed socialising with Kieron who also gave us souvenir coozies.  Thanks!    

Great time had by all – although we weren’t planning to stay out so late – and had to find our way back to Morphie in the dark without any lights.    And would you believe it, the weather was calm overnight for the first time in ages, which made us question our judgment not to explore other cays.

Tuesday morning, however, we listened to Chris Parker.   The forecast was for relatively settled weather Tuesday into Wednesday but for it to deteriorate significantly with constant rain, thunderstorms and squalls at 40+ knots from Thursday for at least five days.  That’s it – decision made – we’re leaving Belize.

So we went ashore – admiring the local fishing boats on the dock – and walked to the Hokey Pokey dock for the ride through the mangroves to Independence.  

First stop immigration. This is supposed to be a free service with just a BZD 7.50 each environmental tax.   Guess what – not today – the young woman demanded an additional BZD 90 for a ‘vessel administration fee’.  We argued but she would not be moved – so we demanded an official receipt – and, of course, the receipt was annotated as a ‘boarding fee’ which was total rubbish.  We knew that we had been ripped off but what can you do?   So brazen though when there is a board on the wall outlining the applicable fees!

Fed up by this latest brush with corrupt officialdom we headed off to customs where we received our Zarpe (exit clearance) – in contrast this guy was a pleasure to deal with.  Walking back to the taxi and suddenly we were chased down by a Port Authority official. She wanted to check that we had paid our daily port fees.   Of course – we couldn’t have got our Zarpe without that receipt – but she wanted to just double check.   Actually we’ve overpaid as we’re leaving ahead of our planned schedule – funnily enough she soon vanished back inside her office once she realised that.   No chance of a refund for unused days then??? 

We went back to the Hokey Pokey – enjoyed watching a bit of European football with the crew while waiting for our departure – and headed back to Placencia.   

We then decided to go to a coffee shop so that I could call mum as we knew that the next internet connection would be a way off.    Sitting down and Richard was chatting to this guy while I was on the phone – then we realised that we’d met before – last year in Marsh Harbour (Bahamas).    What a small world!!!

Back to Morphie we did our pre-passage checks and sorted out the documentation for checking into Guatamala.   We entered our waypoints into our plotter heading through the inner reef channel to Tres Puntas which is a recommended safe overnight anchorage.   All sorted – we went out to Yolis – and had a final couple of drinks with all the English ex-pats.   We then returned to Morphie for an early night.   Then the storms started and they continued throughout the night giving us another disturbed sleep grrrrrr……

Wednesday morning and we were up bright and early looking forward to our 40 mile passage.   And the forecast was wrong again – it was cloudy and raining with very little wind.   We picked up our anchor at just gone seven – assisted by a sole dolphin at the bow – and started motor sailing out of the anchorage into the gloom. 

We then slowed down to let the Maxy Express pass ahead of us into the shipping channel before we headed towards the inner reef channel.  

By 10 o’clock the wind had dropped below 5 knots and was now on the nose so sails got put away and we carried on motoring.   At 11 we had East Snake Cay ahead and storms were threatening all around us – by 12 we were being tossed around in white-out conditions with wind speeds of 38 knots. 

Thunder was booming with the occasional flash of lightning but, thankfully, no hits.  Check out the radar image of this storm.

Although wet and weary we were cheered up by the strengthening wind moving behind us and so we started to get the genoa out anticipating a brisk downwind run.  Suddenly we are going around in circles – the autopilot had failed.   I took the helm and got us back on course while Richard investigated.   We had blown a fuse…no worries we have more….and he contorted himself into the restricted space and replaced it.   Oops it tripped again immediately.  Damn.   No more easy fixes it will have to wait – so we took it in turns and hand steered.   Oh yes and the wind promptly died again so the sails were put away again.    Finally at 2.30 pm we had our anchor down at Tres Punta, Guatemala.

We were the only boat in this isolated spot so decided to have something to eat and retire locked down below with a good book.   A few hours later and the wind picked up and it started raining.  Oh well, that gets the salt off.   We kept a look out throughout the evening and realised that another boat had anchored near us in the dark.  That’s fine – feel a bit better having company.

We turned in for the night and then we started nodding furiously.    Yes the wind had switched and we were now facing into a big fetch and the shift had put us on a lee shore.   We had a good anchor set though and didn’t move an inch although it was really uncomfortable.   As the sun started to come up around five we realised that the other boat was an Island Packet….   Hang on… we recognise that tender… that’s Charlie and Saundra on Island Sol.   We hailed them on the radio and they said they couldn’t believe it when they arrived from Isla Mujeres (Mexico) to find a boat anchored on their favourite spot – and yes, it was us, using their recommended waypoint!   We did laugh about this – what a happy coincidence that they turned up on the same night we did having last seen each other in March.

Having had a disturbed night’s sleep we decided to leave early Thursday morning to make the 11 mile run – across the Rio Dulce bar – as we calculated we would have enough water on a rising tide to make it to Livingston.   The scenery was pretty dramatic with the cloud-covered mountains ahead.  We made it across without bumping bottom – but it was tight – check out the depth below the keel LOL.

By 8.30 am we had anchored off of Livingston and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of this town which is only accessible by water.  

We waited for the officials to come out to us, as we were quarantined, then we returned with them in the water taxi to finish the proceedings ashore.    First stop was immigration – all done.  No fee.   Then we found the only ATM in town to get some local currency to pay for our clearance.  Next stop customs.  Got turned around and told to see the Port Authority first.    Headed further up the hill and found the office.  

We were given our Port Authority documents and were told to come back when we had finished with customs.   So….off back down the hill to customs…..and both Island Sol and ourselves wanted to get the nine month cruising permit straight away.   Not possible they say – you’ll get three months and then you will have to renew.  But we’re not going to be in the country at the end of three months for this renewal process – no worries you can get it done early – just talk to your marina.    Fingers crossed for that bit then!    Customs gave us a receipt to take to the bank which we paid and got stamped – back to the customs office and we were given our clearance papers.  Oh yes…guess what…customs are on holiday today so there is an additional ‘overtime’ payment of Q300 (11.25 to the pound).    Hey ho….  Back up the hill and we go to the Port Authority to be told by the security guard that he had left for the day.   Oh well….that’s it then.  Hopefully we’ve not missed something here – we think he only wanted to photocopy our customs clearance for our file.   

So back down the hill to the harbour where we picked up the water taxi to return to the boats – the guy had been standing security guard duty for us while we had been ashore as petty theft is common in Livingston. 

Total clearance cost was Q1,090 – but we still have to shell out for the extension which is, apparently, about another thousand but we’ll find out about that later when we get to our final destination up the Rio Dulce river.

On board we picked up our anchor and followed Island Sol into the mouth of the river and into the gorge.  OMG this place is just amazingly beautiful……some money here too judging by some of the fancy houses lining the river… and then you come across really basic villages.  Birds were flying….biting bugs found us….kids were fishing and there were boats everywhere.  And this goes on for almost ten miles.    Richard entertained me with his Tarzan impressions LOL as this is where some of the original filming took place.

We entered Cayo Quemado and pulled into Burnt Key Marina by 2 o’clock.   

Hungry, tired, hot and bothered we all decided to go to Texan Mike’s for a late lunch.   Mike picked us up in his boat and took us around the corner to his restaurant.  

We had a lovely reunion with Charlie and Saundra over some great food and a few very cold local beers – before returning to the marina for a couple more before turning in early.  Beer costs less than a £1 a bottle here so think our ATM tokens will keep us going for a while LOL. 

Overnight we slept really well…..no rocking….no rolling…..no anchor alarms…..no watching for vagabonds….    Flashes of lightning around but nothing close – just lots of rain to wash the salt from Morphie.    It was lovely to finally sleep properly.

Friday morning and we are trying to contact Tom the rigger who lives / works in this bay.   We want a full rigging check before we head through the Panama Canal next year.    Charlie and Saundra want to talk to him too – so we have decided to stay here for another night.   Although was becoming a bit frustrated by now with the lack of internet – we were particularly keen to know the outcome of the UK referendum. 

Tom it turns out was in Livingston for the day and expected back later….so we all spent the late morning / early afternoon in the marina bar- admiring the hooded lizards, the fantastic huge butterflies and the hummingbirds coming through the palapa.     Later on we decided to have a drink and played pool – yes I know!!!   Had a good laugh actually….   We also made reservations for dinner in the marina.

Later on Tom came back so Richard and Charlie went over to see him – and he confirmed he will be over at 8.30 in the morning.   So we carried on having a lounging around type of day before having a lovely dinner of pork / chicken / veggie skewers / fried shrimp and rice.    Was very nice!    

Back on board for an early night again….

During the night the heavens opened…then the lightning started…and one thunder clap was so close and loud I awoke with a scream!   Richard just laughed….  Then we realised that the storm had taken out the electricity on the island so we had lost our shore power.  It doesn’t matter, our batteries are in good order, we just reset temperatures on the fridge and freezer to reduce the draw overnight and settled back down again.  

Saturday morning Tom visited and finished with Island Sol and completed his rigging check of Morphie.   He was like a little monkey going up the mast – never seen anyone quite so agile!!!  

He found a few things – and made a few suggestions – but overall we are in good shape.   A bit of work to get done but nothing we weren’t aware of – eg UV damage to the stitching on the sacrificial edge of the sails.  So we’ll engage Tom to do that as he is happy to come up the river to our marina to collect them when we are ready.

Around noon we both pulled out of our slips and motored into the Rio Dulce for another 10 miles towards Fronteras, our final destination this season.   The lake was flat calm and pretty shallow – we only had two feet under our keel at times – and we enjoyed the scenery and looking at the life tucked away into the trees.    Every home has a boat as this area is only accessible by water.

As we got closer to Fronteras we saw more and more evidence of life with some very expensive looking properties and boat sheds for their power boats living alongside simple village houses and fishing folk.    We saw the road bridge ahead and turned into the bay towards NanaJuana marina which is where we have a slot booked (although we are 10 days earlier than our reservation).   

We couldn’t raise them on the radio so we anchored off and went ashore.    We found the marina office and they said that our slip was available but would have to wait until later in the afternoon and they’d come out to us.

So we sat in the cockpit and used the marina’s wifi to let people know we were safe and sound – and caught up with the news including the Brexit vote.  Wow….a bit stunned by the result.  Will need to do some reading to catch up on the implications of this decision – of course the pound slumping was felt straight away with the Q now standing at 10:1.

Finally, at about five, and just as the heavens opened, the marina guys came out in a panga to us.   One got on board to help with ropes and we pulled up the anchor.   We have a very snug alongside slip and Richard was great at the helm as we were being pushed around by the squally winds….and we both got soaked getting Morphie tied up nicely.  The marina is a little modern and not quite surrounded by the forest we expected but we do have a pool.  Island Sol are staying elsewhere so we were very grateful for them navigating us in as the plotter was useless – we went across land loads of times!

Snug as a bug we decided to stay put for the rest of the day and had dinner on board before an early night.    

The wifi signal was not very strong so we gave up on that.   During the night the rain came down hard again and woke us up – but no worries about dragging and we have some pretty tall masts alongside us for those lightning strikes LOL.  As neither of us could sleep we decided to try the internet again and got online.    Yay it worked!   So I checked my ATM transaction had gone through all OK and, you’ve guessed it, the card was cloned in Livingston.  Damn…..    So we waited until it was daylight – around 5am – went ashore to the restaurant and phoned the fraud department.   The vagabonds had used the cloned card in Florida and had got away with $100 but the next $500 cash withdrawal was blocked.   We’ll get the money back so no worries – but, of course, that means my card is now out of action for the rest of the season.   After being caught like this before we came with multiple means of getting cash so it’s not too much of a problem just an annoyance.

We returned to bed for a few hours and have just had a late breakfast – and thankfully the sun looks like it is trying to come out.   Richard is troubleshooting the autopilot and taking the instrument panel apart while I’m working on the blog.   We have a few other tasks to do so the plan is for a lazy Sunday afternoon, maybe in the pool…  Meanwhile Morphie is taking a well-earned rest.

Looking forward to exploring this area – checking out where Morphie is going to be hauled – and the frontier town of Fronteras which is supposed to be an experience!   We also want to talk to some tradesmen about some jobs we need doing…. 

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday afternoon we headed off into town – and this time wandered the concrete walkway that goes from one end of the island to the other, between the beach and the high road.   Apparently it took 30 years to build!   The walkway meanders through local housing and small artisan gift shops….all woven together with lovely gardens and beach access…and quaint street names.

There are also new apartments being built – at US $50k with direct beach access they seem quite reasonable! 

We found the sign to the Tipsy Tuna and went through the entrance – surprised by how big it opened up onto the beach – and enjoyed the walkway of signs.  This one was our favourite…..

We got a couple of beers and enjoyed watching the drunken antics of the holidaymakers who had clearly been on the sauce all day long…..reminded us a bit of the BVIs on a quiet day LOL.    

Later on we stripped off and went bobbing in the sea.  The sea was pretty rough – and the beach was covered in sea grass – so we didn’t stay in for long….  But we did enjoy being in the water for a while….

After a few hours of people watching we returned to Morphie just in time to see the sun disappearing….but not before we had a dolphin encounter.   Not that close to us in the dink but was lovely to see them in the anchorage.   

Had been a lovely day….goodnight.

Wednesday we awoke to a very stormy day…..with rain on and off and thunder and lightning surrounding us.    We had hoped to be moving off to explore many of the little cays that lie inside Belize’s huge barrier reef – the second largest in the world – but the weather forecast was for disturbed weather with scattered thunderstorms gusting 30-40 knots for the foreseeable future….   There are few anchorages with all round protection so we, regretfully, decided to wait for the weather to change. 

Later on – with the sky showing signs of improvement – we went out for a couple and you can see how the weather was affecting the sea which was much improved. 

Walking back along the walkway we were lucky enough to catch a photo of the woodpecker which had created a huge nest in a palm tree and we could hear the chicks chirping to be fed.     

On the way back to the town’s dinghy dock we came across a school graduation ceremony – for those moving from nursery to primary education – all a bit strange!!!

Overnight there was lots more thunder and lightning….very very frightening….

Thursday morning we had a lazy time as we were a bit sleep deprived and decided to return to the beach in the afternoon but this time we frequented the Barefoot Bar.   

Was a nice place – very friendly – and we chatted with a number of ex-pats that had settled here.   The Belizean government are actively encouraging people to retire to the country with tax breaks – especially promoting that this is an English-speaking country.   Well, it is, but the local creole takes some getting used to LOL.

Having left Barefoot we popped over to visit Yolis beach bar and had a couple of sundowners before returning to Morphie and another spectacular sunset.

Friday morning it was grey and cloudy again…but the forecast had improved slightly.   We stayed on board again doing boat jobs and went out late afternoon to catch the local live band at Barefoot.  They were good – reggae based – but most of their songs were pretty rude if you actually listened to the words.   

Later on we walked back towards the harbour and popped into the Pickled Parrot.  This bar is slightly more upmarket than the beach bars…..so we settled in and had an early dinner before returning to Morphie.  Food was average sadly. 

Overnight was another stormy one…..

Saturday morning and we listened to the forecast again….and was pleased to hear that it was improving.   Chris Parker was still forecasting unsettled weather but the wind strengths appeared to be diminishing so we decided to move on from Placencia.   Our destination for the day was Ranguana Cay – a little desert island.     We started off with all sails up – and then the wind direction switched on us – and now we are virtually head to wind.    Damn…..   We can’t really move far from our rhumb line because of coral bombies and uncharted hazards / shoals – so we furled the genoa and motor sailed the rest of the way.

We arrived – felt our way in through the surrounding reef – and found ourselves opposite a really pretty little island and our own slice of paradise, surrounded by lovely azure blue sea.    We went ashore and had a couple of beers – chatting to the family that had come in on the Moorings catamaran just after us – before returning to Morphie for dinner and an early night.

During the night….and storms were raging all around us again.   Luckily we had our very own lightning conductor in the huge catamaran which is on a mooring ball not far from us LOL.   

Was a pretty disturbed and sleepless night……reminiscent of our night on the Turks and Caicos banks with the vigorous nodding into the surf….and we were very glad that we were not on the local sailing skiff which had six fishermen on board! 

Sunday morning and the weather remained miserable….grey skies all round….and storms continued to threaten.   

Around three in the afternoon the skies brightened for a short while so we took the opportunity to go ashore and explore a little.   This is an eco-resort with a number of rooms available – but they look like garden sheds on stilts with corrugated roofing and no bathrooms.   We didn’t fancy it.   Lovely beach though….

The island sadly is suffering from erosion due to the rising level of the sea and has shrunk by almost two thirds.   They are filling sacks with concrete and making small walls around the island and moving sand to backfill behind….    It was interesting to hear all about it and hopefully they will be successful in their endeavours.     

We enjoyed the bar and chatting to the staff – but our favourite had to be the birds.  There were pelicans and frigate birds everywhere – and they very excitedly mugged the local kid when he came back from fishing in his dinghy LOL.

Back to Morphie for dinner and another early night.    Was much calmer – thankfully – and we were able to sleep.    But the wind was howling and the rain started again in the early hours, with lightning flashing around us.    Getting fed up with this…..

This morning, Monday, and we listened to Chris Parker.   Disturbed weather with frequent and high wind squalls forecast for another week – we are not sure we want to continue riding these out – so we headed back to Placencia and had a great reach in 20 knots. But with the grey water and the grey skies – always threatening rain – it was more like sailing in the Solent than in the Caribbean!!!

We need to make a plan and we’ll decide in the morning.   If the forecast persists and we continue to get these tropical waves and fronts coming through then we may well check out and head off to Guatemala earlier than planned.    Exploring other Belizean cays may have to wait until next season….

Bye for now

Jan

Friday morning – having done all our pre-passage checks – we went ashore and confirmed the weather was still good.  The forecast remained for 25-30 knots of breeze and settled conditions – so we are good to go.  We checked out with the Port Captain and Immigration, got our Zarpe (exit clearance document), and had a lovely lunch ashore.

Back to Morphie and we rested up – and picked up anchor at 5pm – and motored out into large seas.  For the first part of this passage we were going head to wind so anticipated that this would be uncomfortable, and it was.   

By the time the light faded we were sailing along nicely downwind on genoa alone in 20 knots of breeze and we watched the sun go down before we started our normal three hour shift system.   

By now we have lightning to port (hmmmmm….) and the wind has dropped…..to 12 knots.   That’s not supposed to happen – but we can still sail, although obviously not at the speed we had hoped for.   The wind then started being a bit fickle and we had to gybe a couple of times….and it was very rolly so sleep was a bit elusive for both of us.   We then had lightning both behind and ahead of us along with a few large cargo ships and we had to change course to pass safely ahead of one of them.  At two in the morning the wind died and we put the sails away – having only covered 42 miles of our 100 mile passage.    Damn….motoring again…..    At 5.30 the wind picked up and we got the sails out again…..  We welcomed the sun up and then the wind died again…..so the sails went away again.  

We finally reached the pass through the barrier reef at 10.00 am – and I kept a careful watch on the bow for coral bombies until we were safely through – and we were anchored in Placencia by 1.30 pm.   

We made sure we were set and went ashore – suitably impressed by the town having special dinghy docks – although there is a cost it is tiny at US $1 (we didn’t have any local currency at this stage).   

The kid taking our money said that we couldn’t check in today as the Government offices are closed at weekends.   We weren’t sure about that so we asked a couple of cruisers on the dock and they said – don’t bother with the water taxi as the weekend schedule is limited – go by dinghy instead.  They gave us directions so we headed off….

We went round the end of the island – spotting a couple of bars over the water that looked promising for later – and into the lagoon.  This is a mangrove lagoon and it is huge…..   We followed instructions and we got hopelessly lost – by this time we were hot, bothered, tired and fed up.   We found a construction site on the mainland and pulled in – they told us how to get to Independence (the village we were looking for) and we carried on around the corner.   By now we are getting low on fuel and we decide to give it up as a bad job – we don’t want to get stranded out here in the middle of nowhere.  So we start back towards Morphie and the wind picked up and so did the chop on the water….so we got completely soaked.   Not amused!!!   We decided – sod it – to pull into the bar which belongs to Paradise Resort.   They had internet – woo hoo – so we could tell everyone we were safe and sound.    Soggy, tired and illegal but we felt better when Kieron (the barman) asked whether we were on a boat – a bit obvious as we’d tied our dinghy to his dock LOL – and he said, without prompting, check in Monday as the offices are shut today.   But tell them you arrived Monday otherwise they’ll charge you overtime for arriving on a weekend.   OK….bit surprised….but we’ll live with that.

We got back to Morphie and had an early night.   During the night the wind picked up…..and the anchor alarm went off around one am.    But Richard checked and all was well – we had just swung a bit wider as the wind direction had changed.   But all good – so back to bed.    At four am we are being thrown out of our bed by Morphie bucking, nodding and snatching at her anchor chain.   We popped our heads up and OMG we are next to mangroves – and we’ve obviously dragged.   Quickly we got dressed, put the instruments on, started the engine and I picked up the anchor while Richard kept us out of the shallows with the engine.    We motored back to our original place and were horrified to realise that we had dragged past about eight boats and had travelled 0.4 of a mile!!!   We got reset back in the deep water and I investigated the anchor alarm – why hadn’t it gone off???  Well – the weather conditions were very poor – and the satellites had dropped out.  It had given us an alarm to that effect but both of us slept through it.   What a catalogue of disasters.  Richard spent the last few hours of the night in the cockpit while I returned to bed.   Phew!

Sunday we spent on board just doing domestic jobs, chilling out and recovering!   I wanted to re-print documents as I’d pre-dated them for a Saturday check-in – so Richard plugged the printer in for me.  Suddenly it’s hissing and he realises that smoke is coming out the back.  Quickly we disconnected it and put it in the cockpit.   What the hell?!?   Then we realise that we’ve plugged it into our UK inverter rather than our US one – not thinking about the different voltages.  Duh!!!   Anyway, it cooled down, we plugged it back into the correct 110v inverter and much to our surprise the thing still works….   Richard quickly got his machine out and put a label on the back of the printer so that we don’t do that again.     

During the day the wind remained high and we were both a bit nervous about leaving Morphie as we are not sure why the anchor didn’t set properly.    Finally around five we went ashore to Yolis for a couple of drinks – this thatched bar overlooks the water so we can keep an eye on her.   

We met up with quite a few ex-pats from the USA, Canada and the UK and, those that are on boats rather than own property on land, told us that the anchorage here is soft and gloopy mud and that you have to let the anchor settle for quite a long time so that it can penetrate the harder mud below – then you get a good set.   OK we now know and hope that we got it right this time!  

Monday morning and it was time to brave the officialdom.   We went ashore and found a Port Authority guy sitting in his hut on the town dock.   He checked Morphie in and we only asked for two weeks.  They charge per person per day and we didn’t want to pay too much in advance as we have heard that they do not give refunds if you leave earlier.   Job done….we now walked through town to the water taxi dock.  These are called Hokey Pokeys and we took our seats.  

We traversed the canal slowly to start with, headed out into the mangroves and then the speed was ramped up.  These things fly!!!

We finally arrived in Independence – and it was about five miles further on from where we got with dink.  There was no way we could have found it – thanks for nothing to those cruisers who gave us the duff information!!!   We got off the hokey pokey – which wasn’t fun actually as the climbing up and down was making my swollen ankle scream – but needs must and all that…..    We got into a shared taxi and went first to the immigration office.   All sorted – one month granted – and they gave us change in Belizean dollars (BZD) and were very keen to point out that we share the Queen!   Back in the taxi and it’s time for customs.   Forms filled in and good to go – one month granted.    Back in the taxi and this time it is to see the agriculture guys.    Forms filled in and job done.   All in all the total cost of checking in (without the transport) was US $130. Back in the taxi again – all for only BZD 25 (3:1 to the pound) so pretty reasonable – and we were taken back to Independence to get the hokey pokey (BZD 6 pp each way) and back through the mangrove jungle to Placencia.       

We returned via the bank so we now have local drinking vouchers rather than US ones….and checked out some of the shops.    We enjoyed wandering down the unmade and quirky High Road and shopped at one of the little stalls selling fresh fruit and veg.   We found a deli to sell us fresh bread and also picked up a local SIM card for internet access.   Nice place – lots of places to eat and drink – and has a very friendly vibe.  We look forward to exploring further.  Interesting to note that most of the small shops are Chinese owned and run.  Was quite a busy and productive day!  

We chilled on board for a while and then went out again to Paradise as a live band was playing.   Kieron was pleased to see us again….and he asked us whether the check in process had gone OK…and we were glad to report that we were now legal and flying the appropriate courtesy flag.  

The band, the Lost Reefers, was rubbish!!!   They really should retire.   

We decided to go find something to eat and return to Morphie.   We wandered the town and came across a Chinese restaurant – oh yes fancy that! – so we got a takeaway and had a great meal on board before another early night.

This morning we have been ashore to get rid of rubbish which is charged at BZD 2 a bag – and then we went off in dink around the corner of the island into the lagoon.    We admired the fancy hotels tucked away along the coast and wondered about the attractions of the private island resort ahead of us.   

We entered the canal and meandered our way through the narrow channel which is lined with fancy hotel resorts, fish camps, hostelries, local homes, undeveloped plots for sale (with buzzards!), and some pretty fancy private homes.   Now we know where the ex-pats we met in the bar are living…. Nice!  

We came alongside the fuel dock and Richard filled up some jerry cans with diesel – seemed quite expensive at BZD 180 for 20 gallons….

Back to Morphie and I’m sitting down below blogging while Richard is in the cockpit reading.  Later on we are going to check out the beach….we’ve heard the Tipsy Tuna is a good place to be…will let you know!    Current thinking is that we’ll explore a few of the smaller islands before returning to Placencia to check out on our way to Guatemala….

Bye for now

Jan      

Tuesday remained cloudy and grey all day with the occasional rainy squall coming through but, thankfully, no more thunderstorms.   While ashore we checked out lots of weather sources and have decided to stay here for a few more days – so we’ve booked to go diving again in the morning.   We had an early night and although there were thunderstorms over both Roatan and the mountains of mainland Honduras none came our way so we finally had a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday morning we were up really early again and headed into town to meet our diving buddies.   Again the majority of the divers were on a course so there were only four of us going to be diving together – although the boat was full to the gunnels with divers and snorkelers.    We motored to the north side of the island – in the gloom – and we were surprised to see that a couple of these tiny little islands off the coast are heavily populated – not sure why that would be the case?!?

Anyway, we arrived at the dive site after around a 45 minute boat ride and jumped in.   Was another fantastic dive with great coral although the visibility remained gloomy after the recent heavy rains.  But another fantastic dive – including a nurse shark sleeping in a little cave- we’re definitely thoroughly enjoying these underwater adventures. After a 45 minute dive down to 90 feet we surfaced full of anticipation for the next one.

Suddenly, the captain is gunning out to sea.   He’d spotted whale sharks!!!   Excitement mounted – fins on / snorkels ready to go / and we’re all sitting along the rail waiting for the shout.   Suddenly we were told to get ready – jump!!!   We all jumped in and I was absolutely flabbergasted to find myself almost on top of a juvenile whale shark as he swam below me and away into the deep.   OMG – amazing – huge huge fish!!!    Back on board……he’d gone….but what a treat.    Then the captain spots another one – and we’re off again……   Back in the water and this time I managed to land just behind the whale shark as he turned – sadly not showing me his huge mouth – but I saw the full length of him as he moved away into the blue.    Definitely a tick off that bucket list – really can’t believe that we were lucky enough to see two – and all in our diving surface interval!

Time to kit up again and we all piled into the water – this time we all went in together – although we peeled off to go deeper than the students.   But the minute we all got in the water we were being chased around by a pretty aggressive eel….terrorising the students….and he had to be warned off.   Another great dive…..45 minutes dive to 70 feet.    Amazing day!

Back to Morphie and the sun came out – doesn’t she look pretty out in the blue water?  

We got ourselves cleaned up and went back out to Buccaneers for a bite to eat and a couple of beers before returning for an early night.

Thursday morning and we’re up early again…another 6.45 rendezvous with the dive boat.   This time we are going to a wreck – and the students are doing the wreck dive too – so a bit of chaos ensued as we all went down.   They, however, are restricted in their depth so we spent quite a bit of time avoiding them looking under the wreck in almost 100 feet of water.   We then went round this huge cargo ship rising as we did so – we went into the cargo hold – and through the wheel house.   Great to see a turtle swimming by….. When we got back to the wheel house we ran into the hoards again so it was a bit chaotic trying to get everyone in the right group to do their safety stops on the mooring line – we took ourselves off and kept out of the way by doing ours freely out in the blue.    Great dive – another 42 minutes to 98 feet.

Back on board and the captain takes us out to sea again – obviously after a whale shark.   Sadly after about 20 minutes there were none to be found so we returned to another dive site.   This time there was a bit of a current so the experienced group dropped off the boat and did a mini drift dive to rendezvous later.   Another great dive – and huge excitement at seeing a sea cucumber that was moving.  Have never seen a live one before…..only dead ones on the ocean floor….and I think they look a little bit like the dog out of the Magic Roundabout!     Another brilliant dive – can’t wax lyrical enough about the diving here in Utila – in our opinion it is way better than Roatan.  Longer safety stops this time on the way back to the surface as we’d pretty much maxed our non-decompression limits today – but still stayed within the safety margins.  The boat spotted us quickly and came over to pick us up.

On the way back to the dive shop we were getting our gear together on the boat and I slipped on the cabin sole and twisted my (good) ankle on the engine cover.   Damn….that hurt….and it started swelling up straight away.    So I sat like a princess while everyone fussed over me – and Richard got all the gear tidied up.   I got off the boat with lots of assistance and waited in the dive shop for Richard to finish before we finally settled our bill and left.  Back on Morphie and I’ve sprayed it; taken anti-inflammatories; have a deep freeze dressing on it right now; with a crepe bandage in the freezer for later tonight.   Hopefully all that treatment will bring the swelling down and it will recover overnight.   At least I didn’t break it this time – that makes a nice change LOL.

So we’re not going back out today – we’ve rested up from the exertions of the morning – and have made water.     I’m blogging while Richard is catching a few rays listening to music on the coach roof.    I also need to create a ‘Ship’s Stores’ list of all our groceries / alcohol etc and print it off for our customs entry into Belize…..and tonight we’ll eat all the fresh produce as they are not allowed to be imported.   A quiet night on board beckons.

Tomorrow – Friday – we are planning to leave Utila so need to check out with the officials once we’ve done a final weather check ashore in the morning.     If the weather window remains open we’ll be leaving around 5pm for an overnight sail which should position us at the entry through the barrier reef around 9am on Saturday morning – we are going further north than is necessary to keep out of the known trouble areas off the coast of Honduras.  The sun comes up here around 5am so even if we make good time – it’s a downwind sail with a positive current – we’ll still be there in daylight hours.    Hoping for anchor down in Placentia by early afternoon and then it will be the usual customs / immigration / port captain / flag changing routine – which involves a ferry and a taxi ride this time apparently!   Delaying our departure from Utila means we’ll have to pay ‘overtime fees’ for a weekend arrival – we’ve heard that the fees are very variable (and high) according to the official so have fingers crossed on that one!  Can’t be any worse than Mexico…can it?!?  

We will be in touch again when we find internet coverage.   Bye for now

Jan   

Wednesday morning it was really hot…..and just got hotter.    We decided to go to the hotel lobby – where it is always cooler – and took our charts and pilot guides with us so that we could do a provisional passage plan to Belize.   On the way we bumped into Cheeky who decided to sit on my shoulder as I entered the lobby.    He then cleared off upstairs and we settled down to check on the internet –and he came back clutching a chocolate cupcake that he’d stolen – and decided to eat it on my shoulder.   Still not sure why he likes me so much but am glad that he’s my friend as I’ve seen him terrorising others LOL.

We spent most of the afternoon in the lobby and went back to Morphie to prepare our kebabs in readiness for BBQ night at the palapa.    Later on we took our goodies over, cooked on the shared BBQ, and had a very social night.   We didn’t get to bed until after 10pm which is really late for us these days!

Thursday morning and another hot day beckoned.    Richard did engine checks while I did some other domestic duties.   We had decided not to do any more diving so went to the dive shop to pay our bill – and were surprised that with the marina discount etc we ended up paying US $25 per dive.  Bargain.   We had a lazy rest of the day….a couple of sundowners in the palapa…and an early night.

Friday morning and, checking the weather again, we realised that we had to leave that day if we wanted to get that downwind sail in to Utila.   So we got ourselves ready – paid our bills – and left the dock around 11.00 saying a fond farewell to Fantasy Island.  We had had a good time there.

We motored out through the reef and had to take some pretty big waves on the side before we could turn towards our destination.    We got the genoa out and started sailing along the coast of Roatan. 

The seas were lumpier and the winds were lighter than forecast but we had a fantastic sail and were on anchor in Utila before five.  We sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the sunset before having an early night.   Expecting a calm night we had a very disturbed one instead as the wind clocked so that we did not get any protection from the swells rolling through the anchorage.

Saturday morning we were up early and off out in dink – first stop was the Mango Tango for breakfast.   Then we took dink further up the coast to Utila Diving Company as they had been recommended to us – and they had seen whale sharks in the last couple of days.   Yes please……  We put our names down but weren’t convinced as the list of divers was numbering 18 on one boat and $76 each for a two tank dive seemed expensive.   So we parked dink up again and wandered the town – and went to Paradise Divers instead. They offered us a two tank dive for $52 each so we instantly booked for Monday morning.

We then went to the Mares dive supplies shop.   We both have 3mm Mares wetsuits which are great but are just too hot and bulky in this climate.  I have been wearing my old (circa 1992) 1mm red wetsuit which has definitely seen better days…so we are on the hunt for new thin ones for both of us.  They had unisex 1mm suits so Richard tried a medium on and it fit like a glove – so we bought it.   In the absence of any changing rooms I decided not to bother.

We then returned to Morphie and Richard cleaned her bottom from all the growth we had accumulated in Roatan.   We had a swim off the back followed by a lazy afternoon and evening on board.

Sunday morning we had a late start and went ashore – we went to Utila Divers to cancel our reservation – and wandered the town and got some more drinking vouchers from the ATM.    We then went to Buccaneers for a spot of lunch and a couple of beers.   Great place.

As this is not a place to leave your boat after dark we returned later in the afternoon – and were a little intimated by the ominous looking sky.   

We just got on board, raised dink, and the heavens opened.   Oh well, Morphie needed a wash anyway.    The rain got worse, the wind picked up, and the lightning and thunder started.  

We were in a full-blown thunderstorm with 40 knot winds and the lightning strikes were hitting the water just ahead of us – and, of course, it was now pitch black.   I involuntarily screamed at one point when the thunder was so loud that it was like cymbals being slammed against my eardrums.    We rode it out and watched our French neighbour picking up his anchor in the squall….and then we started dragging too.    So we started the engine and held our position while he got resettled and then re-anchored ourselves – luckily there is lots of room here – so we put out a lot of scope and sat out the rest of the storm in the cockpit.   We finally made it to bed about 9pm absolutely exhausted.   Was not a fun evening!

Monday morning we were up really early and it was still grey out – we got to the dive shop at 6.45 and by 7.30 we were on our way out along the island on the most dilapidated boat ever, driven by a guy who was more like Captain Ron than Captain Ron!!!!   I found him a bit creepy actually….    We were lucky that everyone else was on a diving course so we had our own dive leader, Nico.   We dropped into the water and it was pretty murky – this dive site was called Little Bight – a wall going down to about 70 feet onto a sandy bottom.    Well, it was spectacular.    The coral was in fantastic condition and we saw a cleaner shrimp and a giant puffer fish almost immediately – followed by a humongous Southern stingray eating in the sand – and then an Eagle ray followed us out in the blue.    Amazing…. 

Moving along the coast we did our surface interval and then dropped onto another site called Black Coral.   This was another wall with canyons with more great coral including a forest of trees….   Again the water was murky but we had another fantastic dive and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.   These two dives alone were better than anything we had seen in Roatan and we were very pleasantly surprised.

We went back to Morphie to get cleaned up and Richard was waxing lyrical about his new suit – so I tried it on – and it was a surprisingly good fit.   We headed back into town to the Mares shop laden with our regulators as we wanted to get rebuild kits for future use.  The German guy is a bit intense but he knows his stuff and, even though Richard’s regulators are almost 15 years old he was able to come up with the goods.   So while I was there I got a new dive suit too….. Woo hoo. 

We then went to Munchies for lunch.   Bad decision!   My chicken salad was disgusting as it came topped with an undercooked poached egg which soaked the rest of it in warm vinegary water.  Richard had a wrap and fared better – but won’t be going there again….    We left quickly and went back to Bucaneers but neither of us fancied a drink so just caught up on the internet over a Club Soda.

Back to the boat and I was promptly ill……not surprised really……but recovered quickly once I’d got it out of my system.    We had a lazy time in the cockpit before having a small dinner and an early night having watched another beautiful sunset.  We were pretty tired after the diving and the lack of sleep from the night before.

Around two am this morning (Tuesday) and the heavens opened……and then the storm started.   Back into the cockpit in our foul weather gear and we rode it out – the wind only hit 30 knots this time – and the thunder and lightning were further away but still needed our full attention.    We didn’t drag and, come 3.30, we were tucked up back in bed listening to the rain hammering on the deck above.

We listened to Chris Parker, the weather guru, at 7 this morning on the SSB and his forecast is very different from those we’ve seen.  Online – from three different sources – it is saying light winds until Friday night then high trade winds 30+ knots in the normal diurnal pattern through until Monday.  No mention of low pressure or storms.   Chris, however, is saying we should expect disturbed weather / more squalls / thunderstorms through until Friday night when we will have high winds but more settled weather.    The passage to Belize is approximately 16 hours and we’ll need to do an overnighter to get to the cut through the barrier reef where we need good visibility in daylight hours.   Decisions, decisions, decisions……   

In the meantime it is grey, cloudy and rainy today and we are facing out to sea.   The waves have calmed down a little and we can see the mountains of Honduras away in the distance. 

We’re planning to go ashore to publish this blog and do more weather research to plan our departure – if we decide to stay we’ll definitely be doing more diving here.  Haven’t given up on seeing a whale shark yet!     

Bye for now

Jan  

Wednesday was another quiet day on board doing a few boat jobs.   In the afternoon I started preparing the ribs and vegetables for BBQ night.  We were sharing with Shayne and Rob on Scurvy Dog and they came laden with wings, salad and cheesecake.   Was a huge feast and a fun time. 

Thursday morning and we headed out in dink into the lagoon – as we needed to get one of our gas bottles filled.  We found the dinghy dock at the dilapidated and abandoned Roatan Yacht Club and followed the brick road that wound up through gardens to the main road.   And we came out pretty much opposite Eldons the large supermarket.    The heat was intense and we were flagging so we hopped into a taxi and got him to take us to the gas station – we got it filled up – and then he took us back to the supermarket all for less than £3.  

We only wanted bread but sadly still no decent stuff was to be found.   We wandered back – paid the security guard a small tip for looking after dink – and meandered through the reef to Fantasy Island.   On this part of the mainland, which is pretty close to where the fishing fleet are moored, there is a village and the poverty is obvious….   We recently found out that a high percentage of schools here don’t have running water or sanitation.  

The rest of the day we chilled out and had a couple of sundowners in the cruisers bar later before having an early night.

Friday morning and we were up early again to go diving.   The newby divers were doing their last dives of their holiday  – and they had noticeably improved (thankfully) to the last time.  The first dive was a tugboat that had been deliberately sunk – was a nice small wreck dive called The Bud.   The dive lasted 50 minutes to 70 feet.

After our surface interval we moved to another area where we dived an area called French Key flats.   This was another 50 minutes down to 60 feet.   Not a lot of fish but lots of different specimens and great coral.

In the afternoon we relaxed before heading into the palapa for movie night – this week it was Captain Ron.   Great movie and lots of laughter.

Saturday morning we met Caroline and Scott and we were heading off to Bulk Gourmet to stock up on goodies not to be found at Eldons – like Irish bangers and cheddar cheese!   Best laid plans and all that….   The Bulk Gourmet guy, who does a courtesy taxi service in his Hummer, was running late.   The Agent who was doing Caroline and Scott’s clearance papers was late too….and so were the people collecting their rental car!   So we ended up leaving Scott behind while we went shopping.

Back to the marina and the Agent had collected documents but not sure when he will be back – so, sadly, we headed off to the Sloth and Monkey Hangout without Scott.  This is really just a private collection of animals that they keep as pets.  Everything looked pretty healthy and happy and they have lots of human interaction – so we got to play with monkeys, macaws, parrots and sloths!   Amazing creatures with heads that turn almost all the way around – and sooooo slooooowly…..great cuddles!  Glad we went – was very educational too.

Back to the marina and we collected Scott and took our coolers to the beach to go bobbing.   There were quite a few guests about and, of course, they leave things lying around on the sunbeds.    This attracted Cheeky, Ethel and Lucy (the monkey trio) down to the beach and they started to steal suntan lotion, crisps, bottles of water etc.   They were being really naughty and getting hyper because idiot tourists were giving them sugar – and Cheeky jumped on one young woman’s shoulder.   She was completely freaked and was scared, so I walked up and enticed him away so he sat on my shoulder for a little while before heading off to cause more havoc.

We left the beach, returned to Morphie to get cleaned up, and then went to the palapa for sundowners.    We were all hungry so ordered a delivery of fried chicken and pizza and had a fun time.   There were a few new boats in the anchorage and one of them was German – and they started to berate us about not taking enough refugees / all our fault because we are bombing them / how dare we even think of leaving Europe etc etc etc….  Turned into a heated political debate and all I can say is the guy clearly had communist leanings LOL.  Was glad when they left and we could carry on having fun!

Sunday we spent some time catching up on the internet before having a lazy afternoon on board.   Later on Scott and Caroline came over to Morphie for sundowners and a shepherd’s pie dinner which they thoroughly enjoyed.   Another great evening – we’ll miss then when they leave for Providencia in the morning.

Monday morning we were up early again to go diving.  We said our farewells to Scott and Caroline on the way to the dive shop and started to get kitted up.   This time there were only two other divers on board, plus Chris the Divemaster, and they told us they were members of REEF – which stands for Reef Environmental Education Foundation.    So they plan to count fish!   Hmmm…..interesting…..

We dropped on top of the wall to do a drift dive … and we went slow.   Really slow.   They were marking numbers on sheets;  taking photos of every nook and cranny;  more counting and so it went on.  We had to double back a few times to make sure we didn’t lose sight of them and often just hung off the wall looking at critters while they got on with it.   We were surprised they were so engrossed in doing their thing that they often kicked coral and touched it with their hands to steady themselves in one place – not impressed with that.    Finally after 65 minutes to depths of 70 feet we surfaced.

During the surface interval they collated all their information and checked the fish identification books.  Before you know it we were heading back into the water to dive Cemetery Wall, which has some great overhands and beautiful coral….and we did another slow dive.   Eventually we surfaced after 75 minutes down to depths of 60 feet.   Felt pretty tired after all that exercise LOL.

Last night we headed into the palapa for sundowners and met some cruisers who had come into the anchorage so was nice to chat to some new faces – and thankfully the argumentative German had left!

This morning, Tuesday, and I’m blogging while Richard has dropped off the laundry and paid the veggie man a visit.   We’re off on the shopping bus this afternoon which may be our last chance before we leave Fantasy Island.  We are closely monitoring the weather now to decide when to move on….

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday morning we checked out the sea state and the surf was still pounding on the reef – so no diving for us today.   We had a lazy day on board before spending a few hours in the afternoon bobbing in the resort pool.

In the evening we went to the dock palapa for sundowners and enjoyed watching the monkeys playing around us…..

Friday morning we were up very early and headed down to the diving dock – the sea still looked lumpy but we wanted to say goodbye to our fellow divers who leave on Saturday.    By eight o’clock we were underway and steaming out through the reef – straight into 5-6 feet swells!

It was unlikely that we could take the direct route down the coast to the dive sites so Captain Trevor went behind another reef and we went through the cut keeping us out of the waves – the upside to this detour was that we got to see Roatan’s large fishing fleet.

We finally arrived at the dive site and the crew struggled to pick up the mooring ball in the swells – finally we were hooked and we were kitting up – when the mooring broke!  Quickly we all helped get the ropes out of the water / ladders up while Captain Trevor restarted the engine and drove us out of trouble.   We moved further down the coast and picked up another ball – at a site called Tony’s Spot – jumped in and submerged quickly onto the reef and down the wall…   This was a multi-level dive so we went out deep and returned along the wall at a shallower depth – lovely colours and very nice coral formation.     We spent 55 minutes in the water to a maximum depth of 90 feet.

Getting back on the boat was difficult with the ladder slamming up and down against the swells and I was very grateful that the guys helped me with my weights and tank…..   We then motored back behind the reef and rafted up against an old barge for our surface interval.

Time to go again and we headed back to Mary’s Place – a special request as the guys wanted to dive it one last time – and we were very happy with that.    We managed to get a deeper mooring ball this time and went down into the canyons….love diving between the walls and through the overhangs….   Great spot!   This time we went to 80 feet for 50 minutes.

Back on board and we motored against the waves back to the dock – we said our farewells, cleaned our gear, and headed back to Morphie for a quiet afternoon.

Later on we went to the palapa for movie night – and they were showing Titanic.   Not sure about that film choice when we live on the water but at least we don’t have to watch out for icebergs LOL.  During the evening we were treated to a monster moon, just plain spectacular.

Saturday morning we did boat jobs – making some strengthening modifications to the tarpaulin we have pressed into service for shade – and installed the gas BBQ on the rail and made water.   Currently there is no water on the dock or in the toilets so we are watching our water consumption carefully.   Later on we went for a few drinks before having an early night.

Sunday we awoke to a grey and dreary day……and we decided to stay put.     I wandered up to the resort lobby to Skype my mum and, on the way, was surprised by loads of guests arriving.   First time I’ve seen more than a dozen people.    Anyway as I’m walking up the path Cheeky the monkey runs – at full speed – straight at me scattering the nervous tourists in his wake – before jumping onto my shoulder.   He settles behind my head, puts his hands around my neck and starts giving me kisses before checking my hair for bugs.   Some kids were absolutely transfixed by this. Eventually he got bored, jumped down and left.

In the lobby it was mayhem – there was barely a chair left to sit – and it seems like a huge dive club has arrived from Uruguay.    On the way back to Morphie I had Cheeky and Ethel both inviting themselves onto my shoulders.  They finally jumped back into the trees but they refused to even look at the other holidaymakers let alone get close enough to be touched – not sure why the monkeys appear to like me so much LOL.

For the rest of the day we stayed on board and enjoyed a steak on the BBQ before having an early night.

Monday morning we were up early again and went to the dive boat – thankfully the Uruguay group are taking their own private boat – so there was just eight of us with Captain Willy.   Two other experienced divers and four newbies who had just qualified.  We went off to the house reef for the first dive – and the water was lovely and flat – and we all went in.  We descended and waited on the bottom for them to come down – and they took a long time as they needed to adjust their weights.   Finally we all head off but two of the newbies were struggling – and suddenly I spotted one of the women shooting up from 50 feet towards the surface.  Chris, the divemaster, went after her and it was clear she was throwing up on the surface.  So while he was dealing with her we led the dive until he returned.  Finally we arrived under the boat and the newbies got straight out while Richard and I whiled away some time just checking out the lettuce coral and the baby fish that live in it.   We maxed at 90 feet and did a 45 minute dive – we actually went back to the boat with almost half a tank of air but decided it wasn’t fair to let them sit up there waiting any longer for us as they were clearly feeling ill.

Back on board and it was decided to return to the dock for our service interval – and the couple got off, leaving us with just one set of newbies.   So back out again and we all descended onto a shallow spot before dropping over the wall.    Very pretty and quite a few things to see – we enjoyed ducking below some of the overhangs to see what might lurk in the shadows beneath.   During this dive we realised that the newbies were below us most of the time but they seemed confident enough – although when we turned around I did signal them to come shallower as they didn’t appear to realise the significance of why we had risen further up the wall.   Anyway…we returned under the boat…and Richard and I swam around exploring in the shallow water…    We were a bit shocked when the newbies got to the shallows and then surfaced without a safety stop.   We finally surfaced after another 50 minutes underwater to a maximum depth of 70 feet.  Chris asked the newbies what their decompression limit was / maximum depth during the dive and was very surprised that they didn’t appear to know.  Collectively we reckon they went down to at least 100 feet and with no computers or tables they weren’t aware of their diving limits.   Chris told them off – gently – and hopefully they’ll rent computers or follow his profile going forward!

The rest of the day we chilled before having a few drinks in the palapa – with Richard enjoying cuddles with boat dog Libby – followed by an early night.

This morning – Tuesday – and it is shopping day.    Richard has cleaned Morphie’s topsides – as the water on the dock has been restored – and is now trying to get off yellow spots left on the gelcoat by the sap from the palm trees…….   I’m blogging having just returned from visiting the fruit and veg man.

This afternoon we have our weekly courtesy bus trip to the supermarket for provisions and not sure about later – although Caroline and Scott are due to arrive into the marina later today, so will be nice to welcome them back.

We think we will probably stay in Roatan for another couple of weeks and do more exploring both above and below the water before moving on.   Next destination is a return to Utila – if the weather permits – and then onto Belize.   All very exciting….

Bye for now

Jan