Friday morning we were up early and, laden with all our gear, we went to the resort’s dive boat dock.   We put our gear on board, set up our tanks for the first dive, were joined by others and off we went.    We didn’t go too far out but the sea was really rough.   We kitted up when the others did – clearly they had been diving with this operation before – and waited for the dive briefing.   Well, there wasn’t one….   So we just followed the pack and jumped in and went down when the dive leader did.   We were immediately struck by the relatively poor visibility and lack of fish – but the pretty, healthy, coral and the walls dropping off into the blue made up for it.   We followed the dive leader around until the first person was down to half a tank and then we turned around, followed the wall back again, and then to the shallow area under the boat where we just meandered around until we had had enough.   We did our safety stops and went to the surface to get pounded by the waves again – and it was really tough getting back on the boat.   In total we dived for 60 minutes to a depth of 25 metres.

Then we changed our tanks over and were surprised that the dive boat returned to the resort.  After about an hour or so we took off again just off the resort’s reef and jumped back in.   Still rough conditions – and poor visibility – and this dive wasn’t that much different from the first.   Another 60 minutes in the water down to around 20 metres.   Oh yes and the dive master didn’t understand Bar – as everyone else’s pressure gauge is in PSI, including Richard now – so I just watched Richard.  If he said he had 2000 PSI left – then I just said I had a bit more LOL – rather than confuse the guy with the very different numbers.  For those interested, a full tank in PSI is around 3,000 and a full tank in Bar is around 200.  

We came back to the dock, finally, about one pm and we took our time cleaning our gear and stowing it in the dive shop’s secure area.  Great not to have to lug it back to Morphie.    We had showers and went back onboard – starving hungry and feeling quite tired.   So we had something to eat and then lazed around.  Later on we went to the cruisers bar for movie night – the latest Star Wars – and Caroline had made some popcorn for us which we thoroughly enjoyed.  

Saturday we met Caroline and Scott and headed off in dink to the mainland – our destination was the Monkey and Sloth park.   We found the right dock – we wandered down the street – only to find the place was closed for annual maintenance!   Damn……     Disappointed, especially as it was now raining and grey, we walked back to dink.   We had already decided to go to Little French Key for the afternoon – for bobbing, drinking and lunch – and decided to continue with the plan despite the weather.

We battled across the channel in the rain and arrived a little wet and salty.    Near the docks is a little zoo – apparently all the animals were rescued from circuses and such like.  Well….the lion was in a terrible state….and I hated seeing a single monkey in a cage when we have a family over on Fantasy Island living wild….   Hmmmm…decided not to continue looking…and certainly didn’t take photos.    So we swiftly wandered off to check out the island and came across one of their beaches – and the sun came out!   Yay….  

We found an open bar on the water and had a bit of a laugh before moving to an outside table for lunch as the music was a bit loud – must be getting old LOL.  

After lunch we changed into our swimmers and went for a lovely afternoon bobbing in the water – including service from the barman to the water’s edge.   Stunning water…..and warm like a bath…..  Bliss!

Later on we got ready to return to Morphie and we realised that we’d all been bitten quite badly around our arms and shoulders….   Not good!   We crossed the channel, we got dink back up on his davits, and got ourselves cleaned up before we walked to the end of the dock to rejoin Caroline and Scott onboard their trawler SeaLife – had a lovely evening in the air-conditioned comfort!  Oh yes and we met Howard the cat too.    Later than we had planned we said our farewells and returned to Morphie having had a really lovely day.

Sunday morning, and by the time we surfaced, Caroline and Scott had left the marina – bound for Guanaja, the next island along in the Bay Island chain.  They are returning here at some point so we are hoping to see them again.  We had a really lazy day and went to the cruiser’s palapa bar for sundowners and enjoyed some monkey business before returning to Morphie for an early night.

Monday and we were off diving again – and hoping for a better experience.   There were different divers on board – as Saturday is the turnaround day in the resort – so it was nice to meet some new faces.    And this time we headed off along the coast towards the west end of the island.    We were given a briefing – hurrah – and all kitted up and jumped in.  This site was called Lita’s Hole.   On the reef there was a hole which you dropped straight down into – head first of course – at around 5m.   Single file only with a gap in between – and, once you were committed, there wasn’t room to turnaround or go up as the hole meanders through the reef with overhangs and you come out on the wall at 20m.  Was great fun – we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then we just skirted the wall for a while until we returned under the boat to just mooch around until we had had enough.    The visibility was better and slightly more fish – but really the ‘hole’ was the best bit and the coral was stunning.   And because the sea was rough again the dive master let us remove our gear in the water so that we could climb on the boat unencumbered.   Much better idea – glad they offered this time!   We did a 50 minute dive with a maximum depth around 25m.

This time the boat stayed out while we had about an hour’s surface interval.   The second dive was Mary’s Place – this is one of the most famous of the dive sites in Roatan and consists of an area that was damaged by an earthquake which created three fissures in the rock.   Again we went through single file into each of the fissures and we had to watch our depth gauges as it would have been very easy to have ended up below 30m as the bottom of the fissures drop away so dramatically.   So we were all watching our computers and ensuring that we remained out of the decompression zone.     Was absolutely fantastic – best diving ever – what a great place.  We thoroughly enjoyed the site and hope to return as it is just not possible to see everything in one dive.   We traversed all three fissures and ended up back at the boat just mooching around at around 5m so our safety stops were all in shallow water and for much longer than we needed.  At this point Richard and I just hovered over a couple of coral bombies and watched the baby fish in their coral-encrusted nurseries.

Back to the resort – all gear washed and stowed – and we returned to Morphie.  We had a quiet day on board and just chilled out.

Tuesday was shopping day again.   At 11.30 on the dot the vegetable truck turned up – and this time it was like a bunfight – with the crews from the boats in the anchorage ashore to take advantage of this opportunity to stock up.  This guy has incredibly fresh produce and at a very reasonable price – I purchased mangos, peppers, onions, green beans, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes all for about £3.  Back to Morphie and stowed my goodies.  We then had a late lunch of chicken fajitas before we headed back to the palapa to await the courtesy coach that takes us to Eldons, the large supermarket.   Libby was loving it in her shopping outfit….

This week it was two minibuses so we all piled in – and Richard took off to walk to Ace Hardware for a couple of things – and I did a quick run around the store.   Everything on the list purchased and Richard got back and we sat and waited for the return bus.  Well, it was late by around 15 minutes, and you should have heard the complaints – this is a free bus trip guys get a life!!!   Richard was making me laugh on the way back as I listened to the cruisers – or should I say the moaning old crusties – and said “You think this is bad, wait until we get to the Rio Dulce!”.  Great – thanks love – can’t wait LOL.

Back to Morphie and we retreated down below to try and get some respite from the heat – it is really hot and humid here right now and we have even put up a tarpaulin over the boom to try and reduce the temperature down below.   There is definitely another canvas project coming up when we get to Guatemala!    Later on we went for a couple of cold ones in the palapa and enjoyed the breeze and the strong electric fans.

This morning – Wednesday – and I was determined to work out how to link our Bluetooth Bad Elf GPS to the computer package OpenCPN.   We’ve paired the Bad Elf to the computer previously but couldn’t get OpenCPN to talk to it – so Richard took himself off in the dink to take our laundry round to the other marina – while I worked my way through their “help pages” and found some command prompts to do, some port and setting changes and hey presto, it worked!    Woo hoo….feeling very smug.  This is a big deal for us as the Garmin charts going forward are pretty poor – Navionics are not much better – and the OpenCPN charts I have are from pilot guides / vectors / rastors and Google Earth so with all that we should have better information.   The paper charts for this region are woefully inadequate too as they date back centuries.  Just need to use it live now to get used to it – as this will probably be our main source of information for the Pacific crossing.

Richard has returned and I’m still below on the computer catching up with a few things as well as writing this blog while he is reading in the cockpit.   We have a BBQ evening tonight at the palapa so we’ll probably go to that.  Don’t think we’ll do anything else today. 

At the minute the winds are pretty high and, although we are not feeling any effects in the marina, you can see the impact it has on the sea state beyond the reef where there are big white horses riding by.  So we are going to continue watching the sea to decide when to go diving next.  

Bye for now.

Jan

Saturday after breakfast ashore to get the blog published we continued to wander around the town and I spotted a hair salon – so went in and I got attended to straight away, even though she was in the middle of having her own hair done LOL.

We headed back to Morphie in the afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and amazing colours of the night sky before having an early night.

At 6.00 am on Sunday we picked up and motored out alongside Utila into a very sloppy sea – and, of course, the wind direction is not what was forecast.  Our direction is NE to Roatan – a 33 mile passage in total – and, of course, the wind is directly on our nose.  We went off the wind and pulled out the sails and were going quite well into the large lumpy seas and persevered with it – but, of course, at some point we would have to tack back.   To avoid going too close to the Honduran mainland we decided to motorsail the last leg so that we could hold a more acute angle to the wind and towards our destination.  

We approached the entrance cut to bring us to Fantasy Island and could only see one marker – the second red appeared to be missing.  Then the marina dock master radioed us to give advice and we realised that a local boat was actually tied to the first marker and we had to go very closely behind him and then immediately to starboard to enter the channel.  What a daft thing to do!!   A few more direction changes, with me reef spotting on the bow for a little while, and finally we got into our slip by 2pm.   Well – it is not actually a slip – it is a big boardwalk that surrounds the 22 acre island and boats get tied alongside all the way round.    Beautiful water too…..

We got ourselves organised – met some cruisers who gave us the low down on the honour system in the dock’s palapa bar – and went for a wander.   Fantasy Island’s hotel is a bit run down and there are very few guests around.    So the beach was pretty much deserted and so was the pool.   

Very pretty surroundings and we enjoyed meeting the local coypu who wander around and seem friendly.  We also came across some peacocks but sadly they ran off before I could get a photo of them.

Walking back to Morphie later that afternoon we stopped off at the bar, chatted to Steve and Debbie (the new dock masters) and met some other cruisers.  We were very surprised to see Larry (SV Starstream) who we had last seen about three years ago in Grenada.   Here on Fantasy Island there are three monkeys running wild and each with their own unique character – Cheeky being the naughty boy who runs around like a looney;  likes to steal drinks;  make noise by bashing on the roof;  swings like crazy on the electricity wires;  and occasionally breaks things that get in his way.  The other two (girls) are more timid but very friendly – and here’s one saying hi to me!   I got kissed on the cheek and Richard got his ears licked LOL.  

We were warned not to leave sandals on the dock as they will go missing – and, if they steal something, you have to trade with them to get it back.  They particularly like water bottles and monkey nuts unsurprisingly…..

Monday morning and we washed Morphie down and went by dinghy into the lagoon to Booksby Bay where we were able to drop our laundry off.   We went around the island and admired the views from the water……  

Coming back we took ourselves off to the beach and went bobbing….  There were four people on the whole place – lovely water and soft sand.    Then we went to the pool and continued bobbing there.  

Was a really chilled afternoon – followed by a couple of cold ones in the cruisers bar – before going back to Morphie for dinner and a beautiful Roatan sunset.

Tuesday was a busy day.   At 11.30 the fruit and veg man turned up with his truck and I had fun picking out my fresh produce.   

Back to Morphie to store it – then back out again at 3pm for the courtesy bus that takes the cruisers to Eldons, the large supermarket.    This was a great place and we were lucky to be constrained by the bus timetable which only gave us about 50 minutes in total – just enough to make a significant dent in the wallet and to get some drinking vouchers out of the ATM.

Back to Morphie to store our goodies and a quick turnaround to get cleaned up and changed in preparation for the 5.30pm water shuttle that was taking us over to Frenchies for dinner.   As we were sitting on the boat waiting to go, Cheeky decided that he wanted to come.  Debbie got him off the boat and he sat looking really dejected….holding her hand pleading to come LOL.   In the end he gave up and lay down while we slipped away from the dock.  Ah bless.   

Oh yes and Libby came too.   Libby is Steve and Debbie’s toy poodle – who even went shopping with them inside a baby sling!   For the evening she had swapped her baby sling for a shopping bag….

We had a nice evening and enjoyed chatting to fellow cruisers and we were surprised to find that the family we were chatting to were ones that we had read about who had been shipwrecked on the reefs in Mexico.  As the authorities rescued them from their grounded yacht and took them away from the scene to get them legally checked in the boat was completely ransacked by a gang and by the time the family returned everything they owned had been stolen or destroyed.  In the process of trying to get the boat off the reef it was holed and the mast broken so they lost everything.  They are now living with their father / grandfather on his 56 foot ketch here in Fantasy Island.   Small world eh?!?

Wednesday morning and we met Caroline and Scott – who had hired a car for the day and offered to take us out with them.   First stop was Ace Hardware and Richard managed to come away without any new shiny tools – must be a first!!!   Second stop was the mall and we managed to get a SIM card for our unlocked Samsung phone so we can use the internet on board.   Next stop was back to Eldons and this time we wandered around and took note of all the things we will fill up with before we leave Roatan.  But as we plan to be here for a little while we only purchased a few things.     Scott bought us back to Morphie while Caroline continued shopping – she was onto her second trolley when we left LOL – so we just chilled out.

Later on we reconvened and headed back out in the car – destination was Cals, a cantina that comes highly recommended.   The views were stunning and shows just how green and lush this mountainous island is.     Some big houses snuggling into the woods too….

We had a lovely lunch – and a cocktail – before heading back out in the car.  

We were heading towards the East End of the island and looking for a place called Lionfish Louie’s.    We found a sign and followed this dirt path down to the beach.    We were lucky as the cruise ship tourists had just left so we had the place to ourselves – the beach was absolutely spectacular and we loved the trees that had been manicured to turn them into unique beach umbrellas.

Moving on we continued into the mountains – this time looking for a place called La Serena.     Well….the dirt road just kept going…..and it was so dusty all the trees were covered in a layer of dirt…..and the sleeping policemen were large and we heard the car bonk a few times……  Are we there yet???

We thought that we must have gone wrong as the road continued to wind up and down the hills – giving us spectacular views out to the reef – until we spotted a sign which said ‘Nearly there!’ so we continued for another couple of miles and arrived at this lovely over-the-sea bar.   

The beach was shingly rather than soft sand but still very attractive and the place even has a huge pet pig that eats all the organic leftovers from the kitchen!   It was a great find – and it served monster rum punches!  

Sadly we couldn’t linger as the sun was about to go down and we did not want to be on the roads after dark – so we made a quick bathroom stop – and headed off back to the marina, stopping for a little while to say goodbye to the sun.

Had been a lovely day and thanks to Scott and Caroline for inviting us along.    Back to the marina and we all piled into the cruisers bar – we’d missed the BBQ night by now – but we joined in and had a few pontoonies before saying farewell and heading back to Morphie, suitably hydrated.

This morning – Thursday – and we’re chilling onboard.   

Planning a quiet day as we are diving tomorrow, which we’re really looking forward to.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday we had a lazy day pre-departure and we had an early night.  The planning for this passage had been quite complicated – we have adverse current against us for most of the way and are expecting to be carried east as well during the latter part of the trip.   This makes boat speed difficult to predict as the Gulf Stream current runs at differing strengths in places along our route – so we have modelled for 3 knots, 3.5 knots, 4 knots, 4.5 knots and 5 knots.   On that basis we have decided to leave at 10am as we have a good chance of making landfall in daylight hours on the slower speeds and, if we are going too fast, we can always slow down.   We are also aware that the weather window closes down on Thursday as a front comes through so we need to be in by then if we can. 

Monday morning we were up early, did final checks, and listened to Chris Parker the weather guru on the SSB.    The forecast remains the same so we’re definitely off.    At 9.45am on a grey miserable day we picked up and motored out of the anchorage.   We said goodbye to the Cozumel waterfront, Mickey’s cruise ship, two other cruise ships and motor sailed along the coast for a while – dodging parasailers on the way – as the wind was being bent by the island.   

By 10.30 we had 18 knots of breeze from the SE and we had all three sails up and were sailing along brilliantly.  A shame about our speed over ground though – at only 3.6 knots – slowed as expected by the current.

The seas built during the day and the wind moved more easterly so we continued to sail along nicely.   At 6pm we put away the staysail and reefed the genoa in preparation for the night passage.   And just in time as squalls started to hit by 7pm just after a first stormy sunset at sea. 

By 8pm the wind climbed above 20 knots sustained, we had Carnival Magic cruise ship to starboard, and the sea action was making this a pretty rolly passage…. But we’d picked up speed and were now averaging four knots.

Suddenly about 11 pm we popped out like a cork from the adverse current and started to hit five+ knots – woo hoo! – but now we were being pushed east instead.  To our east lay Banco Chinchorro, a huge reef system off the coast of Mexico, so we adjusted our course to remain high of our rhumb line.   Then suddenly – without any change in the sail pattern, wind direction or strength – our speed dropped to 3.2 knots.   Seems like the Gulf Stream was just playing with us.

During the night there were constant squalls with some rain but Morphie loved it and was ploughing through the waves…..and our speed fluctuated between 3 knots and 4 knots all night.   

Tuesday morning – sunrise – and we hoisted the staysail again but the wind direction and east pushing current forced us to drop down towards our rhumb line.  

The wind became very light and we put the engine on to charge our batteries so we motor sailed and climbed back up above the rhumb line.   By noon the seas had flattened, the wind reduced even further, and the sun came out.  By 2pm the engine was off again and we were sailing again, slowly, towards Utila.    Suddenly, although the wind was only 12 knots, we were making five knots of boat speed.  

Have we finally escaped the Gulf Stream?   Woo hoo…looking good for a Wednesday afternoon arrival….   We were having a great time and finally at 6pm having eaten dinner we reefed down for the night – just before dark a yacht and a ship crossed our bow a few miles ahead of us, the only other vessels we had seen all day.

During the night the seas and the wind built – which is the diurnal weather pattern in this area – even with double reefs in the main and the genoa we were still doing more than five knots so making good time.   However, come midnight, and we were being headed and the current started pushing us east over the rhumb line.  Here we go again!  So we tacked and made very slow progress directly into the waves – which was horrible – averaging only two knots for a while.   But we managed to climb back up before tacking back to a better course.  

We were then passed by the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship to port at 2am on Wednesday morning but otherwise we were the only boat out there in the very dark night.    At 5am the moon had just risen and we had crossed into Belizean waters.   Again we were being pushed east towards Belize’s offshore reefs so we tacked back – got above the rhumb line – and then reverted to our original course.   By 9am the clouds were breaking up and the wind dropped…and continued to drop….until we had just 4 knots on our nose.  But at least the sun was out and we had a lovely sunny day.   Downside was that the wind was so light even the whisker pole wouldn’t work so we put the sails away and motored into the now flat calm seas.  

Sadly this meant that making landfall on Wednesday was no longer an option – so we recalculated for a Thursday morning arrival instead and reduced our engine speed to average 4 knots boat speed.   As it was so benign we made water and both of us enjoyed leisurely showers during the day – even taking time out for a selfie and Richard tried his hand at fishing, but didn’t catch anything.  Oh yes and we took down the shredded Mexican courtesy flag.  Later on large swells arrived making it very rolly and the temperature soared – incredibly hot and steamy making it very difficult to sleep when off watch. 

At 4pm the winds starting building again and we saw 10 knots but were not sustained.  However at 6pm the night winds started kicking in and were now coming from behind us – so we decided to run on reefed genoa alone.   The winds built to 14 knots and above and suddenly we were sprinting along but going way too fast – so we had to, frustratingly, reduce the genoa to a hanky size to keep our speed at 4 knots.   

By 9pm lightning storms were flashing ahead and then they were constant – Belize mainland was really getting hit!!!   They were impressive but incredibly frightening – especially as we knew that they were potentially heading our way.  But the wind switched again, thankfully, and they remained off to our starboard side and did not pose any immediate threat.    In the meantime we were entertained by a little swift trying to land on Morphie to get shelter although he never managed it and left us after about three hours.     

At 4am on Thursday morning the storms had started to dissipate, the wind had switched to the NW, and a flashing light on Pumpkin Hill, Utila, was spotted in the distance.   Lightning was still flashing around us though…..    Come 6am we had “land ho” and by 7.50am Mexican time (6.50am local time) we had anchor down in Porte Este on a very grey gloomy morning.  

Total passage was 276 miles taking 70 hours which means an average speed of 3.94 knots – which, bearing in mind the adverse current, probably wasn’t too bad overall.  We were very pleased that our intensive passage planning came good.

We had a couple of hours sleep and laid in bed listening to the heavy rain landing on the coach roof – so Morphie was salt free within an hour of arriving thanks to Mother Nature. 

We went ashore – it was not obvious where to land dink – but a dive shop said we could use their dock.  We walked down the high street avoiding the massive puddles from the recent rain storm and found the official government buildings – and went to the port captain first.  

He took loads of scans of different papers before sending us to immigration. This took a while…..including photos and fingerprints…..but eventually we were given visas for 90 days.   Back to the port captain but he said, as it was now nearly noon he probably would not receive the authority from the mainland until after lunch so could we come back in three hours?   Yes, of course, we said.  So we found a bank and got some local currency, which is Lempiras at a rate of 33 to the pound.   We found a bar that had free wifi so we could tell people we had arrived safely.  Had an OK fish lunch and then watched Liverpool in the Europa Cup on the TV LOL.   We returned later to the Port Captain and he gave us our clearance for 90 days.   And the whole process cost us US$6 – result! 

Utila has a history of petty theft in this anchorage and it is not recommended to leave boats unattended after dark – so we returned to Morphie for a quiet evening on board and enjoyed the most spectacular sunset with the sun looking more like Mars than itself.  Amazing…..

Friday morning and we were up early and went ashore after breakfast planning to explore the town a bit.   Utila has an interesting history as it was discovered by Columbus but early Spanish settlers did not prosper.  Later on British settlers used the islands as a base for wood-cutting operations and brought with them a mixture of African slaves and Black Caribs.   Although the islands have been part of Honduras for more than a century a large proportion of the population are white and English speaking with many of them allegedly being descendants of British pirates who preyed on the Spanish treasure fleets.   The official language of the island is Spanish but most of the people that we have encountered so far are native English speakers – the notable exception being the immigration official who obviously had been imported from the mainland.

We had found a Mares dive equipment shop on our wanders the previous day so we came ashore carrying Richard’s regulators – his pressure gauge had failed in Isla Mujeres.    These are sealed units and not fixable so we are on the hunt for a new one that will fit into his instrument console.   We were very lucky that they had the exact same unit (although in PSI rather than Bar) and swapped it out for us there and then.    That’s a relief…..   Coming out of the shop having learnt from the German guy that works there that they all call this Burglary Bay!  Cheerful soul – thanks a lot….

The heavens now opened and we took shelter outside another shop for a while watching the locals driving along in their buggies or motorbikes, some with brollys up.   We spotted Marios – an above-the-water eatery – so popped in for a couple of cold ones.  Well….we were in there for about two  hours…..enjoying both the local beer and great food.    The rain was torrential….

Finally it stopped and just drizzled a bit so we carried on wandering the town enjoying the sights of the breadfruit growing by the side of the road; the beautiful flowers; the island dogs lying around;  chickens wandering everywhere;  traditional houses built on stilts and the old churches.  

Utila is a quaint quirky place with buggies, tricycle taxis and motorbikes everywhere and a hint of the security issues that mar the Honduran mainland with four gun-laden security guards outside the bank.  Combined with loads of young backpacker tourists and divers….and lots of hostelries, bars, restaurants and little shops….gives the place a certain charm.  Richard was particularly taken by the Bimbo bread delivery van!  

Later in the afternoon we returned to Morphie for another quiet night on board. 

This morning, Saturday, and we’ve awoken to a no-wind day, the sun came up briefly,  and we can even just see the mountains of Honduras mainland for the first time.  

We’re going to continue exploring today but, sadly, we are moving out on Sunday to do a day sail to Roatan, another of the Bay Islands of Honduras.   The weather forecast is forcing us on as very high winds are expected to return overnight Monday / Tuesday for a period of up to five days – and this anchorage will be uncomfortable to say the least.  So we’ve booked into a marina in Roatan for one week to sit it out and will take it from there.   If the weather permits we’d like to return here before heading off to Belize in a month or so.

Bye for now

Jan

Monday morning and we did engine checks and generally just tidied up having had company the night before.  In the afternoon we headed to the infinity pool and had a few drinks….meeting a couple from British Columbia….who ended up coming to the beach bar with us before heading over to meet Morphie.   We drank too much, we laughed a lot and I hope they got back to their hotel room OK LOL.

Tuesday morning and we were suffering some ill effects from the previous day’s excesses.   So we had a lazy time and eventually dragged ourselves out to do the laundry.  We disconnected the electricity and settled our marina bill as we were definitely leaving Wednesday for Cozumel.   We had planned to go out in the evening but neither of us felt like it so we just stayed put!

Wednesday morning we were up early – keen to get back out to sea.  By 9.15 we had slipped away from El Cid and headed out into the channel and the beautiful blue sea. 

The wind was very fickle – we had 10 knots followed by 23+ knots followed by 12 knots and so on….so we got lots of practice of shaking out those reefs!!!         We thoroughly enjoyed our sail – we were going 6 knots most of the time but our speed over ground averaged out at around 3 knots due to the strong adverse current so our arrival was a bit later than anticipated.   Hmmm…might have to recalculate our next passage arrival / departure time!   But never mind we were settled on anchor by 4 o’clock.     

We decided not to go ashore and just settled in to watch the sun go down over our rather large neighbour before having an early night.   Yes the anchorage is rolly…but wasn’t that bad after dark.

Thursday morning and we were up early – had a lovely shower off the back of the transom – and got ourselves ready to go ashore.   We traversed the shoreline looking for a dinghy dock – the new docks near the ferry terminal looked positive but we got told that they were ‘dangerous’ as they were not finished yet….   We then went to the local pier but it was full of day tripper boats coming and going – they would certainly not be happy if we left dink there for any period of time as we would impede their access.   So we headed to the furthest one away which belongs to a local dive shop – I climbed up and went across the road to seek permission.  Well, the answer was no!  

So I asked where to go and was told to pull the boat up the beach.   The shoreline is pretty rocky here so we went back towards Morphie and found a bit of sand that we could access so that’s what we did.   We were a bit concerned about locking dink to the balustrade but I saw that lots of local boats had tied their boats there so figured we’d get away with it.   What we did notice, however, was that no local boat had a propeller on – they clearly remove them to stop the boats being stolen – so fingers crossed that doesn’t happen to us!!!

First stop was breakfast and we found an Argentinian café that made its own bread and had a wonderful breakfast with Richard eating both our portions of raw spinach leaves that came with each dish.    He was feeling like Popeye by the time he finished LOL.   And we took the opportunity to catch up on the internet while we were there.

After breakfast we checked on dink and then walked along the waterfront to the Port Captain’s office, admiring the street art and the pretty birds that are plentiful on the shoreline.   

The waterfront is pretty and the statues are good – we particularly liked the one of the divers and the reef – although a little bemused that a lot of them seem to have people standing on turtles.  Not sure what the significance of that is! 

Oh yes and Richard was not impressed with the position of the transformers – that serve the street lighting – on the waterfront.

The waterfront was pretty quiet and it all felt a bit strange as this was a four cruise ship day in Cozumel so where was everyone?!?  Perhaps they come out later.   But we enjoyed the walk, admired Morphie out in the anchorage, and watching the planes coming in pretty low over the sea and disappearing just across the top of the treeline before they descend to the airport.

We found the Port Captain in his pretty impressive building and had to ask our questions about securing a Mexican Despacho / Zarpe in Spanish as they didn’t speak any English.   The weather window is looking good for a Monday morning departure so we wanted to find out what we needed to do and when we should do it.    They printed off the forms they want completed and told us which documents they would like a copy of from us on our return – we are due to go back at 9.00 am on Saturday morning.   So far so good!  

We then popped into the local supermarket to have a look at what they sell – enough for me to get some fresh produce for our passage food so that will do…   Richard quite fancied the tinned cheese! 

We walked back along the front and went into the main park where I posed with the Cozumel sign.   We then wandered through the main plaza and down the varying streets that traverse it and came across a lovely little church.

There are lots of shops / restaurants / cafes / bars but still no people – and it is lunchtime by now.   The vendors are desperate for trade so it is a constant battle to fight them off although they did make us laugh with some of their comments to entice us into their premises.  One was ‘”Come into my shop, we sell the same crap as Walmart, only cheaper” LOL.    We didn’t play – just wandered – and we came across a bar that had a 2 for 1 offer on beers all day so sat on the pavement area for a little while having a couple of cold ones.   It is really hot and steamy here right now – definitely need to hydrate.

Walking back to dink we came across a couple of kids having fun in the water fountains and then collected dink (getting wet) before we motored back to Morphie.

The anchorage is very rolly during the day as there are constant ferry / cruise ship / container ship movements not to mention all the day tripper / parasail / snorkelling / diving / booze cruise / pirate ships that are traversing the bay picking up and dropping off tourists, which is presumably where all the cruise ship passengers go during the day.   And speaking of cruise ships… here comes Mickey!  

We had a dip to cool down and settled into the cockpit for the rest of the day.    Later on I prepared dinner and we were entertained by the show aboard the pirate ship as it went past us….so we did a few Arghhhs along with them.  The sun then went down and we enjoyed the colours of the sky…..   

We were about to retire for the night – and we had no lights on other than our anchor light – when we spotted a large pirogue, with five guys on board, drifting past us very slowly.  They were not fishing and they had no lights.   They then motored slowly ahead and returned for another mooch past using torches on their phones to have a look at us.    We kept watching them and made sure they knew we were up and awake – we switched lights on down below and I did a radio call to let other boats know that we had a suspicious boat circling us.    We also tested the horn and the strobe on the arch.    They came by closely for a third time….and eventually they decided to run back to shore.   All very disturbing – they were definitely up to no good…..

Friday we didn’t feel the need to go ashore as there really isn’t much to see or do.   Downside to that is we have no internet for the day.   We were very productive though – cleaning Morphie’s waterline which was in a terrible state – and then washed down all the topsides and the stainless steel.    Then we lazed around reading books for the rest of the day while making water and having a charge fest while the generator was on.   We also got all our documents ready for our Saturday morning appointment with the Port Captain.  

Later on, when we had finished our jobs, we picked up our anchor and moved closer to boats ahead of us as we felt vulnerable where we had anchored previously.    We waved goodbye to the cruise ships and watched the pirate ship go through again….playing the Essex girls anthem of “I will survive” LOL.    And there was another beautiful night sky.

Saturday morning we were up early and headed into shore.  Pulled dink up to his beach position, secured the chain around the pillar, and walked down the boardwalk.   We arrived at the Port Captain’s office to find the door open but the shutters closed…..oh no….we know it is a Bank Holiday weekend (yes, even here in Mexico) please don’t say they’ve made us come back on a day they are not working.    Luckily a guy turned up and we got down to the process of checking out.  He was happy with our papers and we had to fill in another sheet….then we took a seat.  It took him about an hour to input all the information and then printed and stamped a number of different documents for us to take with us.   We then hailed a taxi – went to the airport – and visited immigration.   They seemed unsure what to do with us – but photocopied our papers – removed our visas and stamped our passports for the 39 April LOL.  Oh well…..I guess departing on the 2 May is OK then?!?   Delighted that the whole process – including cab rides – only cost 450 pesos (US $27) versus the $180 they wanted in Puerto Morelos.  That’s a lot of drinking tokens!

We then taxied back to a large out-of-town supermarket and stocked up – with Richard looking lovingly at the beer mountain – and was lovely to get some lovely crusty bread and fresh product.  Yum…….  

We now have everything we need to leave.  We returned to Morphie and risked life and limb getting back on board with large swells lifting her up and down…..   We managed it – unpacked everything – and then came back ashore.  We have a few pesos left over to spend so we are planning to have an afternoon picking up internet in a bar plus some lunch ….   We do not plan on going ashore tomorrow – Sunday – we’ll chill, cook our passage food and generally do pre-passage maintenance checks.

We are definitely going to leave here on Monday morning for the 275 mile passage due south.  We have 10-15 knots (make that 20 knots LOL) forecast from a E/ESE direction so should be a good sail.  The current is going to be against us again so expect this to be a slow passage..…   We will be in touch once we have arrived, got legally checked in, and find some internet access.  

In the meantime, Happy May Day and bye for now.

Jan

Sunday morning and it was time for more laundry…..   Later in the afternoon we went to the infinity pool for an afternoon bob followed by a few sundowners at the beach bar and saw the aftermath of the strong winds that had wiped out the swimming area markers, before an early night on board.    Just love the pelicans flying past in formation as the sun goes down.

Monday and we were up early.   When we returned the car on Saturday the hire company had given us vouchers for breakfast at the neighbouring hotel Now Jade – and on this voucher they promised us $150 cash back if we attended.   We knew that this was the hook to get us to attend a timeshare spiel but, having nothing better to do, we thought we’d go along…..   We walked the beach and were told to wait in reception – and while we were sitting there minding our own business a departing guest gave us two bottles of champagne as he headed towards his taxi.  Result! 

We were taken to breakfast – the sales spiel started – and then we went on a tour.  Nice place – although the suites were lovely it was all a little clinical, but I wouldn’t say no to the Jacuzzi on the balcony and the sea views LOL.    

Tour over and the guy took us to a room to do the selling job on us – showing us figures and explaining the deal…..    And all this is going on to a background of champagne corks popping and cheering as people joined up.  Of course this is all part of the scam and the tactics didn’t work on us – so he tried reverse psychology by saying that he didn’t expect poor Europeans like us to buy into this as it was really aimed at rich Americans and Canadians.   We enjoyed our charade – he gave up – and we got our cash back having only been there for two hours.  Result….the car more than paid for itself!!!  

We returned to Morphie and remained on board for the rest of the day pottering about before heading off to see Roberth at the infinity pool bar for a couple of hours speaking Spanish and drinking frozen Mud Slides in the evening.    We really like this bar and it has some pretty cool wall art too…. 

Tuesday morning we had a lazy start before taking ourselves off to the infinity pool for the afternoon.   We fancied one of the large double beds as we thought it would be a good place to do our future passage planning…..   We had a productive day – including paying a deposit for a marina in Guatemala – and we now have a clearer idea of what we are doing…..

The challenge for the passage planning session was the routing and the visa restrictions.  The C4 treaty – which covers Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador – means that you can only get a 90 day visa total for all four countries with free movement across the borders.  It is possible to renew but you have to leave the C4 zone for three days and then return.  So a Roatan (one of the Bay Islands which belong to Honduras) to Guatemala direct routing would restrict the time we had diving in the Bay Islands.….if we wanted to allow time to explore up the Rio Dulce as well as putting Morphie to bed.   On top of that the direct route from Roatan to Guatemala also takes us way too close to the Honduras mainland coast where there have been a few piracy issues in recent years.   

Bearing all this in mind we have decided to go to the Bay Islands directly from Mexico with our first stop in Utila.   Then having explored / dived these three islands we’ll run north back up to Belize before heading to Guatemala.  That keeps our dates flexible…..   Phew!   Now we just need the weather window to make it happen…. 

We are also making the most of the internet and are looking at routings for our flights home…very complicated flying from Central America to get the schedule workable – a US stop over is possible but definitely not a Canadian one based on the prices we’ve seen so far.  We have had a couple of invites to stay in the US so we’ll be looking at what is manageable…

Wednesday morning we had another lazy one followed by a few hours in the pool.  Then we came back to Morphie – admiring the flowers in the grounds along the way – to get ready to go out for dinner as we had reservations in the hotel to go to their Asian fusion buffet evening.  

The tickets were only 350 pesos each, that’s £14 each, and that includes unlimited drinks!  We admired the sight of the Full Moon as we wandered over to the hotel.

Well…the buffet was huge…and the ice cream / deserts were pretty impressive…but we were disappointed with the Asian fusion theme, although certainly didn’t go hungry.   But this is a family hotel so I guess the pasta / pizza area was for the kids?   Anyway, the food we had was very nice, and the house wine was a little potent but we had a great time and returned to Morphie pretty well hydrated.

Thursday and we had a very lazy day recovering from the night before – must remember not to drink their house wine again LOL.  It was raining and thundery too so we just stayed put for the whole day.   But we were productive as we were researching the clearing out procedures here in Mexico.  It appears straightforward enough – unlike the complicated entry procedures – but here in the marina they want US $180 to organise it via an agent.   We are loathe to pay that much money to leave the country, it already cost us $360 in total to check in, so we think we’re going to try doing this ourselves without an agent and the best place is allegedly Cozumel as the airport and port captain buildings are short taxi distances apart.   So we’ll go there and suffer the noisy and rolly anchorage for a couple of nights to get our zarpe prior to departing for Utila.   Fingers crossed this works out!

Friday morning we defrosted the freezer and also did some maintenance on the cooker as the burners were depositing soot on the bottom of the pans before heading to the pool to cool off.  It is very hot and steamy here right now. 

Later on we went aboard Didier and Mary’s boat for sundowners – a lovely French couple that we had met in Isla Mujeres.   They are really nice people and very informative about the Rio Dulce and the Bay Islands and they showed us some diving videos they had done which certainly whetted our appetite.  

We asked Didier what he did for a living before he went cruising and we found out he was a rocket scientist!!!  Really….we’ve met a rocket scientist…    Never thought we’d ever say that LOL.   Really interesting that they lived for a long time in French Guyana as being close to the equator it made it a better base for launching rockets or satellites.   

While sitting in the cockpit a large motor yacht came in and was reversing into a slip – but he was not big enough for a helicopter pad – so Didier got out his on-board helicopter to poke fun at them…..   Hysterical!

Saturday we spent on Morphie again – we did swap out the shredded Ensign though – before we went out to the infinity pool bar for a few drinks in the evening. 

Walking through the grounds we were admiring the artisan goods being displayed along the walk ways and stopped to watch a guy painting pictures to order – using spray cans.   Hugely talented guy – we did consider buying one but didn’t have enough cash on us so that made the decision for us!  

After a couple of drinks at the infinity pool checking out the great views out to sea we returned to the main pool to watch the evening show.

The show was Mexican themed and, at last, a live Mariachi band.  Was a really good spectacle and my favourite of the night was the guy with the lasso.   Wasn’t so keen on one of the drummers using a turtle shell as his instrument though…..

After the show we returned to the bar for a few more drinks and the full moon lighting up the sea  was just stunning….and the illuminated walkways to the piers was really romantic.

This morning I’m blogging and Richard is washing down the topsides.  Later on we have Didier and Mary coming on board for sundowners so we’ll need to clean Morphie up down below as well to look her best before we have company.

Looking at the weather forecast we are hoping to leave for Cozumel mid week and then onto Utila once the paperwork has been completed.   Currently the wind is forecast to be due east at 15 to 20 knots – fingers crossed that it remains that way.   North winds would give us very uncomfortable choppy seas and south winds would mean a beat all the way which would not be ideal.   Currently we’re looking at a window to leave for Utila on Friday for the 270 mile passage.   We should arrive sometime Sunday but we are heading into a current all the way so we’ll just have to see how long it takes – and slow down if the need arises to ensure landfall in daylight hours.   We’ll be in touch when we can get internet again.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday morning we tinkered doing odd jobs around the boat before heading to the hotel’s beach.  Bobbing wasn’t the most enjoyable experience we’d ever had as the waves bounced us around and invariably we landed on top of rocks buried under the sand.    But we soldiered on LOL.

Having returned to Morphie to get cleaned up, and have dinner, we went to the main pool area to watch the fire show, which was really good.  Returning to the marina we were accosted by a security guard who tried to stop us going to the docks as they are private – took a while to convince him we actually had a boat in the marina and to let us pass.  Irritating but reassuring all at the same time.

Tuesday morning and we headed out in a taxi to Cancun airport to pick up our hire car – much cheaper option than renting one from the resort.   We finally managed to meet up with the appropriate company – dozens of rental agencies here – and we were taken off in a minibus to their site.   It took about 45 minutes to get the car and paperwork sorted out and then we were off.

Our first destination was a Home Depot near Playa del Carmen…..   We liked the spacious dual carriageways with good signage – but some of the joining / exiting lanes are downright scary!   Anyway……we found the way (eventually) into Home Depot and worked our way through our shopping list….   We did pretty well and have most items that we need to put Morphie to bed now – we were planning to buy this stuff in Panama but hey, no worries, we can adapt just like our cruising plans!

We returned quite late in the day so ended up having a quiet night on board having watched a spectacular sunset.

Wednesday morning we were up early and drove back down to Playa del Carmen to get the ferry to Cozumel.  We used our iPad and Bad Elf as a sat nav so we found the car park pretty easily and wandered down to the terminal, enjoying the views on the way.  

Just before the terminal we were stopped by a number of car hire companies and were persuaded by their argument to pre-purchase a hire car in Cozumel for the day.   Very reasonable priced so not expecting much – but avoids the queues at the other end, particularly as it is a three cruise ship day in Cozumel.   Anyway……we waited for the ferry…..and were pleased to make the 10 o’clock crossing.  It was very nice too – air conditioned / drinks / snacks and nice seats.  We enjoyed the trip over.

Arriving in Cozumel and we wandered down the main drag away from the terminal to find the hire car office admiring the horse and trap tourist carriages. 

The office was only one block away and we gave them our paperwork – and waited for the car to arrive.  This took a while….sigh….  We had chosen the cheapest option which was a VW Beetle convertible, and a purple one turned up!!!  

We looked around the car – shocked by its poor condition – and then realised that it didn’t even have an accelerator pedal just the linkage, no handbrake, no working seat belts and the passenger seat wasn’t even attached to the floor!!!   Richard declined to take the car.

We then asked for our money back…..and they said no refunds allowed.  We argued that if they provided us with a road-worthy car we would be happy to honour our contract – they just needed to honour their part or give us a refund.   Back and forth it went – until finally they agreed to give us another car.  And then we waited again for it to arrive…..sigh…..   OK this will do – so we agreed to take the automatic Chevy ‘upgrade’ that they gave us.

We drove off down the road looking for the new marina – which is not on the charts yet.   We found the entrance from the road about four miles out of town and drove to the car park, which was pretty busy.  We realised that half of the marina was working boats – snorkel / dive / fishing boats – and there was one solitary catamaran in the rest of it.   Nice concrete docks with all slips alongside so not looking too bad.  

We walked the docks until we could eyeball the entrance and – with our handheld Garmin plotter – we put in a waypoint in preparation for a trip over here.  

We finally found the marina office and they confirmed they had space for us – no, really?!? – and also confirmed the cost at (US) $40 a day.   That’s pretty steep considering this marina has no laundry; no bars; no restaurants; no pools; no wifi; no nothing – nothing, not even a taxi rank or even walking distance to one.   We spoke to the people on the catamaran and they confirmed that even the showers and toilets were not kept clean….  Hmmmmm…    Realistically we would need to hire a car for the whole time we stayed here… and the only convenient thing about it is the walk to the dive boat.    Don’t think this place is for us yet – may be nice when they finish building the rest of it….

Moving on – as we had the car – we decided to take ourselves on an island tour for the rest of the day.   A few miles up the road we stopped at Playa Corona and had a couple of sodas – first shock, the price.   40 pesos each –v- the 15 pesos we’re paying here in Puerto Morelos.    We decided to move on….

Guess what, the car wouldn’t start!!!   We tried – the chef tried – the waiter tried – the manager tried – the cleaner tried – all to no avail.  So, very kindly, the cleaner phoned the car rental company and we waited….and waited….and waited….and eventually they turned up with another car for us, another Chevy.   Another wreck but at least it was drivable – so we took it. 

The main road goes through the middle of the island and you can’t see anything….we had just decided to turn off onto a dirt road to visit some Mayan ruins…and Richard changed his mind.   He realised that if we went off road – with no phone – and if this car didn’t start we really were royally up the creek without a paddle.   Having no confidence in the car we decided to call it a day.   So we just drove it back into town and dropped it off.

We then wandered back to the terminal and decided to have a late lunch in the Mexican restaurant – which, actually, comes highly recommended.  Well….we had a very light lunch and a couple of drinks each….and then got another pricing shock – paying more for this than we had paid in Isla Mujeres for a nice meal in a restaurant including a bottle of wine!   Obviously Cozumel caters to the cruise ship crowd and prices accordingly…..    Fed up we headed back onto the ferry and returned to Playa del Carmen.

Back into the square and we were just in time to see the Mayan spectacle of the guys going up a tall pole and then flinging themselves into the air, just held on by a rope, as they circle down to the floor.  Great to see – and glad we made it in time.

We decided to return to Puerto Morelos at this point and drove back up the motorway and, feeling hungry again by now, we had a fantastic Chinese meal for the fifth of the cost of the light lunch!   Having had a tiring and frustrating day we had a few pontoonies in the beach bar before having an early night.

Thursday morning we headed out to Puerto Aventuras – another possible stop on our future itinerary.  We got a quote for the marina – at $24 a day much more reasonable –  although it is a real shame that there are so few anchorages on this coast as we really like being on the hook rather than tied to a dock all the time.   This marina narrow entrance is tricky in the wrong conditions – and was interesting to see the flag system they use.  

Sadly there is no pool or beach access here though – although you can pay for a day pass into the fancy hotels that surround the marina.  Lots of tourists around – mostly to see the sad dolphins and sea lions in their fenced-in prisons…. 

Another place to ponder on – certainly lots of bars, shops and restaurants to visit, but that’s about it.

Moving on we headed off inland to Coba – a Mayan site that we had not visited before.  There is a lot of this area that has not been excavated but is notable for its extensive system of ceremonial white roads (sacbeoob), remote jungle landscape and several interesting pyramids – including the tallest pyramid on the Yucatán Peninsula.   The main network of roads was built between 600 and 800 AD and during this period the stelae were built.   These were sculptured stone monuments on which the basic events of the ruling class were registered – the inhabitants, however, who did not belong to this social class lived on the outskirts of the central zone, in houses not too dissimilar from those inhabited by Mayans in this region today.  The whole site covers 76 kms and is based around two lakes.  As this site is so vast we decided to hire a tricycle taxi to take us around – and the driver was pure Mayan so had some interesting stories to tell us too, especially about his grandparents who, to this day, still only speak Mayan with no Spanish at all.

We stopped and started and had a wonderful time – particularly taken by the two Pita courts – and, of course, the huge pyramid Ixmoja which stands at 138 feet.  

Richard – aka mountain goat – was very keen to get to the top.   I was kitted out in trainers in preparation but realised that as the steps were so uneven and worn I was risking my already dodgy ankle, so sat at the bottom in the shade while he ventured to the top.  

Back at the bottom I was people watching as many tried – and failed – to reach the summit.   Then Richard reappeared ready to start his descent and, it was clear, that this was much more difficult so I was glad to have stayed put.   Anyway back in our taxi and back to the car park – had been a great visit.

We headed back in the car towards the coast and enjoyed the sights of all the colour rugs being offered for sale on the side of the road – we don’t really need a rug on the boat so we just carried on by…..

In the evening we headed back into the hotel and ended up practising Spanish with Roberto in the infinity pool bar and decided not to venture to the ‘circus’ show.

Friday morning and our last day with the car – Richard did some DIY in the anchor locker to stop the chain getting caught on the windlass motor while I had all our provisions out from the cupboards.   I made lists and by lunchtime we were ready to go……shopping of course!    Back to the supermarket – list in hand – and back to Morphie fully laden.   Phew….   

We then decided to go cool off in the pool and met a really nice family who were staying in a suite and had their own butler!!!   They spotted our BVI Soggy Dollar coozies and it turns out they had done a sailing trip there – they were interested to hear about our travels and, when they realised we were not all-inclusive, they decided to adopt us into their family and the drinks started flowing.   Thanks guys!!!

Later on we returned to Morphie to get cleaned up and had dinner…..smoked pork and onions with linguine in an alfredo sauce tonight.….before returning to the hotel to get a drink to take into the show.  This was billed as ‘Broadway’ so we were looking forward to musicals – and it started off with a lot of promise with Phantom of the Opera.   Then it was Grease…then Aladdin…then little Mermaid…  Well the crowd were obviously delighted if the whooping and hollering was anything to go by  – we were a little bemused that Disney animated movies could come under a ‘Broadway’ show title….  Oh well – never mind, back to the bar.  

We chatted with Roberto again – in Spanish of course – and then with Max who is Russian.    Finally we walked back to the marina and Richard decided the night was still young and wanted to go into the disco….and we ended up dancing and having fun and didn’t actually get back to Morphie until 1.00 am!!!

This morning – Saturday – and we’ve taken the car back and returned to the marina.   We’re chilling out on board right now and are thinking about whether to go and see tonight’s show or not – it is billed as PreHispanic so I guess they mean Mayan – but we’ll see.    What next?   Well…we need to finalise our future passage plans as there are a lot of routing options…so will let you know when we know LOL.    In the meantime, having a great time in Mexico that’s for sure!!! 

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday afternoon the rain stopped so we went into the lagoon to Oscars to drop off the gas bottle.   The docks here are rammed and we managed to find a space – so I stayed in dink while Richard picked his way through all the rubbish and did his mountain goat impression!  

Job done we meandered back down the channel and heard music coming from this big thatched roofed bar – we managed to find somewhere to put dink – and climbed onto the rickety dock.   The pelicans were circling us at this point looking for handouts.

We went inside and were amazed how large the place was.  There was a great live band with lots of dancing going on…..   We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, had a couple of cold ones, combined with some good fish appetizers.

After a few hours we headed back to Morphie and raised dink back onto his davits.   We then headed into the bar to catch up on the internet – the wifi signals on the dock rarely work – and bumped into Mike and Hank so enjoyed catching up with them before heading off out again down the road to catch some more live music.

Monday morning and it’s raining cats and dogs – again!!!   Damn…..no diving again…..  

We waited for the rain to abate and collected our gear from the shop – that’s it folks – no more diving here with Paradise Divers so time to pay our bill.  We’ve had a great time with this small organisation and have enjoyed ourselves a lot – as you can see from my silly farewell photos!

Back to Morphie and we cleaned all our gear in fresh water again and hung it around the boat to dry.  

Later on we planned to go back to the pool but the weather was still up and down so decided to stay on board.   We had previously downloaded loads of movies and TV shows from Charlie’s hard drive – and settled down to watch – and that is where we stayed!  

Tuesday morning we did our pre-passage engine / navigational / weather checks before we headed to Oscars for the cruisers bring and buy sale.   We laid out our table – we had agreed prices in both US dollars and Mexican pesos – and awaited the crowds. 

Well, of course, the numbers failed to materialise and, when they did, they didn’t want to pay what we were asking for our stuff.    We sold two courtesy flags – and one guy wanted all the others – so we rolled them up and agreed a bulk price.  He was supposed to come by later to pay….guess what….he didn’t show so glad we didn’t trust him with the goods.  Never mind.  Oh yes, and our gas bottle was returned, but empty!!!  The guy couldn’t fill it for some reason – more sighing…

Back to the marina we were amazed by the sheer numbers of frigate birds who were hanging out on the large boat opposite us – and they have been causing havoc around here with three wind instruments broken so far by their heavy bodies sitting on top of masts!   

Back on board we unloaded our bags and went to the pool where we had a great afternoon bobbing with Mike.   We said our farewells to him – as we were leaving in the morning – and quickly got cleaned up before heading out to dinner with Saundra and Charlie.  They had reserved us a table at a highly-regarded restaurant. 

The table was lovely – and the starters were great – although we were a little disappointed with the flavours on the mains.    It was nicely presented though. 

Back to the marina and we had a few cocktails before turning in.

Wednesday morning we were up early and got ourselves ready to leave.    We’ve had a great time in Isla Mujeres, have met some great people and hope to bump into them again in the future.   At the agreed time of 10 am, Charlie and Saundra came by to release our lines and we waved farewell……  

We motored out and, once we were through the entrance buoys we went head to wind and put up full genoa and main.    The wind was blowing at 15 knots – absolutely lovely!!!  

Great sail….apart from dodging ferries and booze-cruise catamarans which made us change course a few times.… 

The current against us was strong in places but we were fascinated by the sights of the Cancun hotel zone so we didn’t mind being a bit slower than we’d hoped LOL.  

Sadly the wind died for the last few miles so we had to motor sail the final part.  Great to be back on the water.

We arrived into El Cid marina around five having done 33 miles in seven hours.   The marina actually answered the radio on our approach and gave us great instructions on which slip and which side for the fenders – and there was a guy on the dock to collect our lines.   Pretty impressive welcome!   The marina has huge floating docks – really long – which are well protected behind a huge breakwater.  

We were checked in very efficiently and purchased tokens for the self-service laundry, got our wifi codes – which actually work on the dock, woo hoo!! – and found out about the hotel.   We also got branded by wrist bands to give us access to the resort….  Long time since we’ve worn these, that’s for sure LOL.

We had an early night on board having watched our first Puerto Morelos sunset.

Thursday morning and we had our early morning tea in the cockpit watching the dolphins in their prison interacting with their trainers before the tourists turn up.   Sad….  Not keen on this at all.

We then headed to the laundry – time for some domestic duties! 

Everything clean and fresh smelling we went back and put everything away.  Then we went to the hotel to explore and to purchase drinking vouchers – this is an all-inclusive resort so they don’t take cash but we are able to pre-pay at reception.   We walked along the hotel beach towards the large main pool and were surprised that a foam party was underway along with techno music – not sure that this is really our scene LOL.  

We found reception and got the vouchers – 50 pesos a drink, which is about £2.  Not a bad price although a bit more expensive than the 35 pesos per beer in Isla Mujeres.   But….and here’s the interesting bit….these vouchers include any local drinks so we can drink anything we want for that.  Cocktails in Marina Paraiso were 90+ pesos each so looks like we’ll have to change our drinking habits while here to make the most of it LOL.

We wandered to the smaller infinity pool and had a nice time there for a while before returning to the main pool and enjoyed a few hours at the swim up bar.  Not the nicest bar in the resort but had a novelty factor for us – and we engaged with a lot of very drunk and loud people!!!!   They were stunned when they found out we were on a boat and suddenly we were ‘awesome’ LOL and we ended up having to turn away rounds of shots.

Back on board we had an early night.

Friday morning and we were up at a reasonable time as we wanted to go exploring.    Sadly the shuttle buses that were supposed to be supplied by the hotel have been discontinued – and the taxis here on the mainland are much more expensive than in Isla Mujeres.  So we decided to walk into town – which according to google maps would take about half an hour.  Well, that was about right, but the road was long, dusty and very hot!!!    

We explored this small fishing village before having a late Mexican lunch on a shorefront property which was great.  Richard purchased his first t-shirt of the trip but we had to bargain hard to get it at a good price – the hotel wristbands mark us down as tourists with cash to flash.

We then decided to find the supermarket – a Super Chedrui this time – and got on a local bus to the main road.   After a successful shop we cabbed it back to the hotel. 

We then had a lazy afternoon on board before having dinner and wandering into the hotel for the evening show being held in the convention centre.  You cannot buy drinks in the venue so we went to the infinity pool bar to get drinks to take in with us – and the guy encouraged me to speak Spanish so I did.  Felt great to be understood…..    Armed with drinks we went to the 9pm show and couldn’t believe it when it was called the ‘British Invasion’. How funny is that?!?  

They asked who was from Canada – half the room – and who was from the US – the other half.  We were the only Brits there….   They started off with a Beatles tribute going swiftly through James Bond, Dame Shirley Bassey, Robbie Williams, Elton John, Jessie J(!), One Direction (!) and Queen.    Strange mix but really good fun – great voices and pretty good dancing…..

After the show we retired to the hotel reception and enjoyed the band playing there too – along with frozen White Russian drinks……    Yummm……. And so we ended up having quite a late night.

This morning – Saturday – and I’m blogging while we’re making water. The water in the marina is clear and you can see the barracuda checking out the bait fish by using the docks as cover so we’re happy to use the water maker here.  The water on the docks is not potable so don’t want to fill tanks with that.   Later on we are planning another bobbing kind of day….. 

Looking forward we hope to get a car and explore a little – we particularly want to get the ferry to Cozumel to check out the marina facilities there.  We’ve failed to get any accurate information and so eyeballing is the next best thing.   The anchorage we know for sure is nasty so if we want to go diving over there then the marina option is the only way forward…..so watch this space. 

Bye for now

Jan

Wednesday afternoon we went to the bar and awaited the other cruisers – as we’d put out an open invitation to play boules on the morning net.   They are always advertising Mexican Train Dominoes / Yoga etc so we thought we’d add something new to the mix.   Well, of course, the allotted time of 3pm came and went and nobody showed….apart from Charlie and Saundra.   So I played with Charlie and Saundra played with Richard and we had a knockout competition……and amazingly I was on the winning team.   Woo hoo!   It was very competitive and great fun – although we had to constantly shoo away the large iguana who had a nest in the middle of our court and quite fancied running off with the orange coloured jack LOL.

Afterwards we retired to the pool for a bobbing session – and were joined by loads of other  guests in the hotel / marina – and had a great time before retiring to bed for an early night.  

Thursday morning and we were up early but sadly the diving was cancelled.   The wind had increased which had created large waves in the channel again….   So we caught up with the Richmond family – we’d been diving with Alden a few days earlier – and offered to take them out snorkelling in the dink.    So we had a lazy morning and later on we dropped dink, picked them up, and went out to the reef.   I’d forgotten to pick up my prescription mask from the dive shop so I was the dinghy monitor and sat around bobbing in the sun on anchor while the others went off.     The currents were strong and they had fun although slightly marred by the huge numbers of people around….

Back to the marina and we cleaned up and headed to the pool for a while before retiring on board for an early night.

Friday morning still no diving so we went food shopping again….   Then we had a lazy time on board before heading over to Oscars for cruisers night….which is organised by the guy who runs the cruisers net in the morning.   We got a beer – tried out the huge wooden carved chairs – and wandered down the dock.  

Well it was busy and we loved Precious the boat dog….but we got caught with a couple of not so golden oldies who decided to forcefully impart their superior knowledge on us…..   

We agreed to stay with the group for pizza night but chose a table away from these two curmudgeons and spent a nice evening with the family from Sunny Ray and enjoyed a surprisingly good pizza too!

Saturday morning we were up early and went to the dive shop – and decided to defer diving until Monday now….  Fingers crossed the wind will reduce….    We cleaned Morphie up and then went for a couple of hours by the pool – and I’m being very careful walking towards the bar as the wooden planks on the docks seem to be deteriorating day by day – certainly do not want to fall through!!!

At the pool we were entertained by the usual iguanas who live here – and we had some fun splashing him as he seemed to like the cool(ish) water on his back…..   

We returned to Morphie having used the shore showers to clean up and I started preparing the food – Hank and Mike were coming over for bangers and mash with onion gravy – and then they arrived, laden with cold beer….   So we had a very social evening – they enjoyed their taste of UK food (although the sausages were Argentinian and the potatoes Mexican) – and we were having a bit of a giggle.  Not realising we were being loud until Saundra and Charlie knocked on the hull – so we invited them on board – and ended up having a bit of a dark and stormy party which lasted until the early hours!!!  And of course no photos……   Must try harder LOL.

This morning – Sunday – and we have woken to a very cloudy and stormy day – with rain falling intermittently and the odd crack of thunder in the distance.  

So we’ve spent our time productively by organising our haul out in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala – and had paid a deposit so we have a secured place.   Phew….pleased to have that sorted.  We also sent a reservation request to El Cid Marina in Puerto Morelos which is on the mainland below Cancun and above Puerto Adventuras.   This marina gives us access to the hotel facilities there as well as complimentary shuttle buses up and down the coat so we can do a bit more exploring.  

We are not planning on visiting the famous Mayan ruins in this area as we’ve done that before while on holiday – but we haven’t been here for a very long time so it will be interesting to see how the coastline has developed, especially as the last time we visited was just after Hurricane Wilma which devastated the area.   Fingers crossed they can fit us in – this coast line is a national park area so no anchoring allowed – definitely looks like this is going to be the season for marina dwelling!   If they can accommodate us we hope to be leaving here on Wednesday for the 30 mile run.

Later on today we are heading off to Oscars – the pizza venue – as they can fill our gas (propane) tanks apparently.    After that I was hoping for a beach afternoon but this weather  looks set for the day so probably not…..   In the meantime we are being entertained by the pelican who has been fed by the local fisherman with some fish innards and is being bombed by the large numbers of frigate birds that are around at the minute.  

Interestingly enough the seagulls appeared to have moved on with very few sightings at the minute.  Fingers crossed for decent weather for our final dives here tomorrow in Isla Mujeres – not looking too good right now.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday night we met Charlie and Saundra as planned and walked down the road to the Sunset Grill.    The food was great, the ambience lovely, and the company were on form – fun time had by all!

Friday morning we were up early but bad weather had arrived during the night — William came to tell us that the Port Capitan had put out a severe weather warning for all boats under 40 feet because of the large waves out in the Yucatan channel.   So the only diving option was into the park again – we decided instead to postpone for another day.  As we were up early anyway, we headed into the marina for a fantastic breakfast before walking up the road to the supermarket.

Laden with fresh crusty bread, it is so good we really can’t resist, we arrived back and stowed our purchases.   I had a lazy day on the boat – not feeling too good to be honest – while Richard started to tackle a sewing job.   Our Lifesling currently sits on the rail under dink – which would make it pretty difficult to deploy.  

We’ve decided to move it to the port rail but, of course, our new dodgers cover this so will need to be adapted to accommodate it.    The weather cleared up a bit later and I was feeling a bit better so we went to the pool for a swim before heading back to Morphie for an early night, after a spectacular sunset.

Saturday morning and Richard continued with the Lifesling…..while I did some cleaning, stripping beds etc……

We were constantly being thrown around by the wakes of the large number of boat movements – some big motor yachts have arrived and there are the huge tourist catamaran booze cruises regaling us with their taste of music as they go on by….  

Richard finished his project and we installed the Lifesling in its new position – excellent job.  Well done!   We can use it now – although, of course, we hope that we never have to. We lazed around in the afternoon reading books and doing some more research on future destinations.    We have to clear out of Mexico but all the ports that can supply this service are quite a long way north – meaning that our original plan of meandering down the coast towards Belize doing small hops as and when the mood takes us is not a (legal) option.   Having to make a run for it – after clearing out – would take us between the mainland and the massive offshore reefs at night – and we know that these reefs are not accurately marked on the charts.  And then there is the added complication of getting to the cut through the reef at the top end of Belize in daylight hours….  So we’re thinking of doing an offshore 300+ mile passage to the Bay Islands instead.  These islands lay off the coast of Honduras – and we particularly want to dive in Roatan.   That would put us in the area at almost the right time (fingers crossed) to get in the water with whale sharks….so the idea really appeals.   And the sail back to the bottom part of Belize would then become a downwind run if the trades come from the east.    We’ve not yet decided – but will keep you posted!

Sunday we were up early and cleaned Morphie thoroughly down below – the humidity is picking up here so we need to keep on our toes to prevent mould appearing….    Later on I prepared some appetizers as Charlie and Saundra were coming on board for sundowners.    Had another great evening……and, of course, I forgot to take any photos!

Monday morning and we had a lazy start, dropped dink down from his davits, and took him for a run up the channel into the lagoon.   We enjoyed the sights of the fishing village and the very small marinas all overflowing with boats – not to mention the broken docks and the big boys marina at the end!   We wanted to go ashore at one of the small local hostelries that line the water front but actually couldn’t find anywhere to get out of the boat – with day tripper boats rafted up to drop off their guests everywhere.   

So we came back – a bit disappointed – and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool before a quiet evening on board.

Tuesday morning we were up very early as we were going diving at 8.30.    The boat was there….we were there….our gear was there….but the other divers weren’t.   We were going to have to share William with another two divers today rather than have the boat to ourselves – but both were experienced so we could still head out to do some ‘adventure’ dives.  We took off finally about 9.15 and headed out across the channel.  During the trip out to the dive site one of the guys was sea sick – good job it wasn’t that bad a day in terms of the waves…..    We all kitted up – jumped in – and William is telling us all to stop.   Well there had been a miscommunication on the boat – William planned to jump in, check the strength and direction of the current, to make sure we dropped in the right spot for the drift dive.   But we were all instructed to jump in!   So we did – and we then all had to get back out again.  Oops……   So William resorted to sticking his head in the water over the side to check our position before we all went in again.   

We descended to the bottom and Richard has a free flowing spare regulator – great, we’ve just had these serviced in Florida!   It wouldn’t stop so he is losing air but it should be OK…….   The visibility is poor and the water is cold with numerous thermoclines changing the temperature quite significantly.     Never mind – we drifted along – and enjoyed the sights, particularly the turtle who was so busy munching he couldn’t even be bothered to look up to check us out!

Back on board and the guy is still being sick – so we scrap the idea of going to the far point of the island for another drift dive – and return to the marine park for a shallow dive where the water is calmer.    Again the visibility wasn’t as good as before and the water was chilly – and this time Richard’s pressure gauge failed!   So he was leaking air through his regulators and now his air drops from half a tank to virtually empty….   Luckily we had almost finished our diving bottom time so we started a slow ascent and Richard and I buddy breathed on my tank just to make sure.     Damn….looking like we’ll have to try and source another gauge on our travels…and he’ll have to rent regulators in the meantime.  Not the best diving experiences today.

Back to Morphie and we had a lazy few hours before heading to the bar to meet Hank and Mike – we had planned a pub crawl.   We all met up and hopped into a cab – first stop was the bar where we watched all the locals having fun – before heading into the more tourist area and stopped at El Patio for a bite to eat and to watch the band – obviously fans of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple – and quite amazing adaptions of their tunes.   Moving on we then listened to an acoustic set before ending up in the salsa bar wearing silly hats and a bit of dancing.   

Great evening – back to the marina suitably hydrated LOL!

This morning – Wednesday – and Richard is chilling while I’m blogging.  We’re planning on playing boules later – so should be fun.   We think we are going to be diving again on Thursday but watching the weather…..as another front is due to come through. 

Bye for now

Jan

Saturday afternoon we went to the bar for sundowners and came back to Morphie for dinner.   As I was down below cooking Mike went by on his dinghy so Richard invited him on board for an impromptu evening…..was good fun!

During the night the winds picked up – as forecast – and we were rolling around even tied to the pilings….    Sunday morning and the winds continued to howl – we did a few boat jobs and checked our lines / fenders and listened to the early morning cruisers net with its reports of boats dragging and going bump in the night.   Glad we are tucked up here in Marina Paraiso.

Later on we went to visit Island Sol – our Island Packet neighbours.   These very generous people are giving us loads of information about diving in Roatan and some detailed waypoints for when we head off.    Well – as we were sitting and chatting – the heavens opened and we had a horrendous thunderstorm.    I got caught out as I’d just popped ashore to phone Mum so while I was soaked through I checked all the lines on both our boats….   We ended up spending the afternoon with Charlie and Saundra and had a lot of fun (and drinks)!

Sunday night we ended up having a quiet one on board……having watched a spectacular stormy sunset.

Monday morning we were up early – we planned to go into Cancun – but, when we got online over breakfast we realised that it was a public holiday in Mexico.   So, although the big stores will be open the smaller chandleries will not be……   Hmmmm…..we’re heading off to investigate whether we can buy ablative antifoul as we’ve been told that it is possible to get this in Guatemala but it is very expensive.  We didn’t buy it before we left the States as we thought we were going to be in Panama where this stuff is readily available – but changed plans mean we need to source this if we can before we haul now.  So we decided not to go to Cancun today after all – and, as the weather was so nasty, we just vegged out on board. 

Tuesday morning and we were up early again…..and headed off to the fast ferry terminal.  We got our tickets and enjoyed the views of the island sitting upstairs, where we were surprised to find a guy playing live music for us.  He was quite entertaining and pretty good with his renditions from Guns & Roses and the Eagles.   Was a pretty fast trip and we admired the views of the hotel district along the way.

Arriving into Cancun we walked away from all the taxis at the ferry terminal as they are very expensive.    It is much cheaper to flag one down on the main road so that’s what we did.    We first went to Walmart and got everything on our list – primarily oil – of the transmission / engine and outboard / generator variety.    Packed everything into our wheelie bag and got a taxi back to the chandleries.    Well, they have no bottom paint apart from Seahawk Island 44 which is not legal down under so scratch that idea for now then!  

We went back to the terminal and were surprised to see the queues – we didn’t actually make the next ferry that came in, having to wait for the second, which was absolutely rammed.   Again we sat upstairs and had another guy playing music – but he wasn’t very good!  

Back to Isla Mujeres and we got a taxi back to the marina and back to Morphie to stow all our goodies….not a completely failed trip!    And that is where we stayed for the rest of the day.

Wednesday morning and we were up early and on the dive boat by 8.30.    The first dive was a drift dive – across an interesting bottom with lots of vegetation and huge sponges with the occasional sandy patch and shelf.  And as I’m going across the top of a shelf all of a sudden a large shark comes out from underneath me – not sure who was more surprised him or me LOL!    Another superman dive again and we were going along at about two knots.  Great dive.

Second dive of the day was on the Canyons – fantastic dive and our favourite of them all so far.   Interesting topography and lots to see – including some eagle rays, some large specimens and a school of big barracuda – not to mention the sunfish….and the large groupers and schools off fish out there in the blue……   Totally amazing!

Back on board we had a rest before going bobbing in the pool for a while before getting cleaned up and heading down into town for the evening. 

We went on a mini-pub crawl looking for live music and ended up visiting three venues and had a great time including a simple but tasty supper of fish tacos and chicken fajitas.   We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

This morning – Thursday – and we’re being lazy.  We’re going out for dinner tonight with Charlie and Saundra, so looking forward to that.    Friday we’re off diving again …   In the meantime, we’d like to wish all our family and friends a very Happy Easter!

Bye for now

Jan