Getting Around Providencia

Isla de Providencia is a small island with a 18 km two lane paved roadway running the perimeter. Most of the islands 4500 inhabitants get around on motorbikes.

For us besides walking, which we enjoy, we have tried some other options, all of which worked out and were memorable. A bunch of us planned a day hike to the Peak and then having lunch in Southwest. We caught a taxi right at the park next to the dinghy dock to take us to the hiking trail. Taxi's are typically pickup trucks with a U shaped bench around the inside perimeter of the truck bed. Ours was driven by Trinidad. Linda got to ride in the front so she had a good conversation with Trinidad.



Trinidad 

Taxi

The island also has bus service. The so called bus just keeps making a circuitous route all day. The bus is actually a converted delivery truck. It has had windows cut into the sides and crude wooden benches bolted to the floor. Apparently the most important piece of equipment on the bus is a big amplifier to blast music well beyond the buses' interior. Luckily for us on our trip it was Christmas music. We recognized the tunes, but not the lyrics. One such song was something about 'A Ghetto Christmas'. We all piled on the bus while the driver was on break. He came out, started the bus, and after moving about ten feet, the engine acted up. After about twenty minutes with the driver and the local neighborhood men starring at the engine, the problem resolved itself and we were on our way.

Bus Service

Another way to get around is mototaxi. This is only good for one person, since it riding as a passenger on a motorbike. I needed to get our propane tank filled and decided the mototaxi would be the best option. There is no way to distinguish a mototaxi from any of the other hundreds of motorbikes around, so I just yelled out my need for a mototaxi, and I was soon on my way, propane tank held to my side. We had no sooner started when it began to rain. It has rained here frequently since we arrived, but the showers are usually of short duration, but can be heavy. My driver made for someones garage and we waited out the rain there before continuing on. As it were, there was no propane available that day, so all I accomplished was ride to a part of the island I had not been to.

Also available are motorbike and golf cart rentals, neither of which we did, because the other options are such an adventure.

Very International

Before traveling to a new area we try to learn as much as we can from a cruiser's perspective. This has become easier now with blogs and other internet articles. One source we found very interesting and helpful for this area was written by Sharon on 'Rose of Sharon' describing their journey from Guanaja to Bocos del Toro. One comment that Sharon made that really puzzled me was that in arriving at Providencia she described the anchorage as crowded with cruisers from every country. Up until now we have seen a preponderance of American and Canadian cruisers, and occasionally a boat or two with another flag. Every country may be a slight exaggeration, but clearly we are finally out of close proximity to the United States and Canada so we no longer dominate the anchorage in numbers. One evening since arriving here, for example, we were invited aboard a Swiss boat 'Anna' along with other cruisers in the anchorage. Besides our Swiss hosts, there were couples off two Dutch boats, a family of three off a German boat, a Canadian couple from Vancouver Island and a French Canadian couple from north of Montreal. We were the only Americans.

We are going against the general flow. Most boats, especially European, arrive in the Eastern Caribbean and then come across the coast of Venezuela, usually stopping at the ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, to the arrive in the Western Caribbean. Others arrive here from the North American west coast by coming through the Panama Canal.

Leading up to Christmas, they constructed a stage near where we land our dinghy.  We were not sure exactly what and when the event would be but knew it would be around Christmas.  Christmas Eve they had live entertainment and much partying.  At midnight they set off fireworks and we had perfect seats on Ariel.

To clear into Colombia, one must use an agent.  Here in Providencia the agent is Mr. Bush.  We all get to know him as this is not a fast process to clear in so there is a lot of sitting and waiting and talking.  One of the boats in the anchorage decided to organize a traditional Christmas dinner and Mr. Bush was instrumental in getting the resources needed, namely someone to cook the turkey and ham and a place to have it.

We are really enjoying spending time with cruisers from so many different places.  On Christmas day, there were ten boats in the anchorage.  Of these nine boats attended our Christmas potluck.  The one other boat was asked by a local family to spend Christmas with them.  The turkey and ham  was prepared by a local lady with help from friends.  Originally we were to have dinner at her house, but she felt the house was too hot with the baking so it was moved to a pavilion at the Port Captain's facility.  This turned out to be the perfect place.  Anyway we placed the dishes on the tables which had been placed in a long row so we could sit together.  The turkey and ham was still back at the house and they left to retrieve them.  Mr. Bush asked the French Canadian women to say grace.  She said she would feel uncomfortable saying it in English, so we all agreed French was fine.  The turkey and ham had not arrived and suddenly dishes were being passed and plates filled.  No one listened to my protest and not to be left out I filled my plate.  We all started eating and after the plates were pretty much cleared, the meat arrived.  Later I found out that in Holland, it is normal to have the meal in courses and for the vegetables and such to precede the meat, and since we had three Dutch couples at the tables, all was very normal to them and we just had  involuntarily adopted a different way of eating our meal.   It was was a wonderful and memorable Christmas

Our Lovely Cook Bringing The Turkey

Port Captain Stopping To Visit

Agent Mr. Bush at End of Table



Isla de Providencia

Colombian Flag

Ashore in Providencia we were hearing three languages. They would speak to us in English or Spanish, often starting with Spanish, but quickly switching to English once they knew it to be our preference. However the language heard on the street and in the stores, shops and restaurants is Kriol, the native language.

We were very interested in the history of the island and how it became Colombian, with it's close proximity to the Nicaraguan coast. Looking into this we found the history, like the island itself to be fascinating.



A Morgan Cannon

Morgans Head

Providence Island was settled by Puritans in 1630. They found the tropical island more promising than the cold and harsh New England shores. The development of Providence was nothing like that of the New England colony. They used slave labor to work the plantations and resorted to privateering. The privateering led to their capture by the Spanish in 1641. In 1670 English buccaneers led by Sir Henry Morgan took control of the island and held it until 1689.

In 1803 Spain assigned the area which includes Isla de Providencia and San Andres to be administered by Cartahenga (Colombia). In 1822 these colonies became independent, but voluntarily aligned with the Republic of Colombia.





Fort Warwick

With the islands not far off the coast of Nicaragua one would expect a difference of opinion as to ownership and indeed there is. In 1928 Colombia and Nicaragua signed a treaty giving Colombia control of the islands. In the 1980's the Sandinista government assumed power in Nicaragua and repudiated the treaty.

In 2009 the International Court of Justice ruled the islands were Colombian territory. Still to be resolved in the International Court of Justice is a maritime border dispute since Nicaragua claims the waters these islands lie in as their territory. Colombia maintains a military presence on these islands. We have seen troops rotating, being transported by the Navy. We know from fellow cruisers that they even keep troops stationed on the Albuquerque Cays, an uninhabited atoll southwest from here.

The chart for Isla de Providencia is based on the British survey completed in 1835. It shows the safe route through the coral reef is done by lining up the front edge of Morgans Head with Fairway Hill in the distance. Studying these old charts is interesting. What the chart does not show is that a ships channel has been cut with modern lighted buoys. It was a little disconcerting following the marked channel while the chart indicated we were passing directly over coral heads, which if there could severely damage our boat in short order.



We are anchored in a protected bay just off Santa Isabel Village, the largest settlement. Supplies for the island come from San Andres to a pier at this village. The pier, close by to us is a beehive of activity when a supply boat arrives. We have found everything we need in town. Our biggest issue was finding an internet connection with enough speed to accomplish even simple tasks such as sending e-mail. After spending several days and hours at an internet cafe, paying for time, not data, I finally got a lead on a faster source. I tracked down the guy that manages the computer and networks for the government. He gave me access to their system, which is free and I am able to work in one of the government buildings.

As you might expect the diet here centers around fish, and it is so good. It makes it easy when planning to dine out, just plan for seafood.

We have found the people friendly wherever we have been, but particularity so in Providencia. They know we are off one one the boats, that goes without saying, and it is obvious they want to help. We have found it very easy to become engaged in conversation.





On Our Way To Panama

Last season we did not make the 37 mile trip to Guanaja because we had planned to be there at the end of the year waiting on weather to continue on east and south to Panama. Well, so much for that idea. We saw very good conditions developing for our trip, so our stay in Guanaja was just 17 hours. We arrived at El Bight, got anchored and then hurried to the town of Bonacca to clear out of Honduras and to jerry jug fuel to top off before our 343 mile trip to Providencia, Colombia.

We were very disappointed we could not spend more time on Guanaja. We definitely will try on our return trip. Our very limited experience was fascinating. Bonacca is actually a very small island in a bay protected by the larger island of Guanaja. It is literally packed shore to shore with structures, homes and businesses, with only narrow sidewalks running between then. The people were friendly and quick to lend assistance, as getting lost in the maze of buildings is very easy to do for the inexperienced.

By dinner we had checked out, topped off the fuel and checked weather, and decided it was a go for a 6 am departure. We departed our anchorage at 6:15 am. At 8 am we called into the Northwest Caribbean Net on SSB to report our position, weather, and conditions aboard. This way the Net Controllers can keep tabs on us and our friends on the net are updated on our progress. Each day we reported in at 8 am.

We had just about the best conditions that could be hoped for. The wind was always favorable throughout the trip, usually on our side from a close reach to a broad reach, but usually a beam reach. We had a few hours with the wind behind us, but slightly off the port quarter which made for comfortable sailing. The seas were not as kind. We traveled east until Vivorillos Bank and then turned more southeast. Until the turn we were sideways to the waves which made for a very uncomfortable sideways rolling motion. After 26 hours we reached our waypoint and made the turn.  Immediately the boat motion was very comfortable, and remained that way for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived at Providencia at 1:30 pm after 55 ½ hours. We were actually several hours ahead of our plan due to all the help we got from the wind. So here we are in Colombia. We plan to stay here through the holidays. We are only slightly more than halfway to Panama, and early in the new year we will finish our trip. More on Providencia in the in our next post.

Ariel Secure in Providencia

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On The Move Again

We were waiting at Monkey Bay Marina for our dinghy to arrive with more time on our hands than we knew what to do with. We both managed to read several books each and so made positive contributions to the book exchange at the marina. We bought our new outboard motor at our leisure at the local Yamaha distributor. We had dealt with them before when we had our previous outboard serviced. We bought a 15hp two stroke. This is actually the motor we wanted originally, but they are no longer sold in the United States. Our motor that was stolen was a 15hp four stroke, which was much heavier than our new one. Our dinghy arrived the day before Thanksgiving, actually ahead of schedule. It turns out Karen at Ram Marine where we bought it, pads the delivery date a few days to give her customers a pleasant surprise. With the dinghy and outboard we were now back in position to leave the Rio Dulce. We checked the weather and the beginning of the following week looked good for going east against the trades. We were then suddenly very busy with last minute provisioning so we could leave the marina on Saturday.

We went to Backpackers Hotel and Restaurant with many friends for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Backpackers is owned by Casa Guatemala, an orphanage on the Rio Dulce that we care very much about. Backpackers provides jobs and training to some of the older young adults. There were about 60 or so for dinner which was served buffet style. The traditional turkey dinner was fabulous, which is amazing since this type of food is totally foreign to Guatemalans. We even finished the meal off with pumpkin and apple pies. Linda got a chance to talk with Angie, the founder and director of Casa Guatemala. She got an update on Beverly, a fifth grader we know and like to get news about.

Heather Checking That Buffet Line Is Ready To Open

We left Monkey Bay marina on Saturday morning as planned. Phil and Nikki on Ajaya, a Prout 39 catamaran from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, left Monkey Bay Marina shortly after we did and we have been traveling more or less together since.

Our first stop was to anchor at Texan Bay, a very convenient stop on the way down the river. In all there were five boats planning to leave the river Tuesday morning at high tide. Monday morning we all piled in the Texan Bay Marina launcha for the trip to Livingston to clear out of Guatemala. Texan Bay Marina is now under new ownership and management. Gary has been living on the river for 6 or 7 years and decided to invest in the marina. We were gone for several hours on a small adventure making stops down and up the river. All in all this was our best visit ever at Texan Bay.

We were the first boat to depart Tuesday morning. Ajaya had planned to depart earlier, but engine problems delayed them. They are as mentioned a catamaran so they have two engines and can travel with just one, which is what they ultimately decided to do. We later heard one of the boats behind us, Menacee, which has a deeper draft became stuck on the bar at the mouth of the river.

The wind on our trip to Isla de Utila, Honduras was not as forecast. During the day and night we had wind from just about every point of sail. The seas were also varied and during the night were quite rough. When we arrived at Utila and got the anchor down, we discovered pressing the stop button to turn off our diesel engine had no effect. Very strange. I couldn't remember where the manual stop lever was on the engine and I couldn't spot it, so I blocked the air intake which killed the engine. Later after we were rested, I decided to re-start the engine to see if this was a continuing problem and by now I had found the well hidden stop lever. The engine would not start until I added our house battery bank to the circuit. Ah, problem solved, our starter battery completely died on the trip across, probably from the pounding we were taking. It did not have enough power to activate the stop solenoid.

We cleared into Honduras, which was the purpose of our stop in Utila. It is so easy in Utila and everyone is so friendly there. There was absolutely no fees for us or our boat to clear into Honduras. We had lunch at Bundu Cafe and picked up some groceries at Bushes. Ajaya diverted to Utila because they heard there was a Yanmar supplier there and maybe they could get the parts they needed for repairs. We only stayed one night as the anchorage was very rough. Ajaya got their parts and they departed Utila a couple hours behind us. We moved on to French Cay Harbor, Roatan, where we knew it would be calm but principally to do provisioning before moving on. The stores here are the closest thing we know of anywhere around to American style selection, in fact much of the selves are stocked with imports from the United States.

If you are thinking, wait a minute these are the places they went to last season, well you are right. This time however we are just passing through. Our next planned stop is Guanja, the next island to the east, which will be new to us.

Lago Atitlan - May 2011

High on our list of places to visit in Guatemala was Lago Atitlan. It lies at the foot of three large dormant volcanoes. It is in our minds the loveliest place in all of Guatemala.



Lago Atitlan

After returning to Monkey Bay, we very quickly got Ariel ready so we could leave it for a few months. We decided to stop in Antigua, our most favorite place in Guatemala on our way out of the country, and from there do a three day trip to Lago Atitlan. In Antigua, we usually stay at Casa Cristina, a small hotel in a quiet neighborhood, just a bit away from city center. The owner is nice, speaks English, and we were sure she would agree to hold our luggage while we took our trip to Lago Atitlan. Bill and Pat off Mobetah had left Monkey Bay a few days ahead of us for an inland trip to the west coast with Rodney and Katrina off Angelina. We planned to met them in Antigua and then travel together to Lago Atitlan. They arrived and we spent a couple days enjoying Antigua together. We used a travel agent in Antigua to book our transportation to and from Lago Atitlan and to book a hotel in Panajachel.

Our hotel, Jardines, is the nicest we have stayed at in Central America with a wonderful view of the lake and volcanoes from our room. It was also very close to the ferry dock so it made it easy to come and go.  Our first stop after checking in was to have lunch at La Casa del Mundo. Everyone that we talked to about their experiences at Lago Atitlan highly recommended staying at least one night at La Casa del Mundo. We decided since our stay was to be so short just to have lunch. La Casa del Mundo is situated on it's own remote cliff. After the water taxi left us on their dock, the first order of business was the climb to the top. The place is remarkedly beautiful and the view of Lago Atitlan is spectacular. We enjoyed touring the grounds and we also enjoyed wonderful meals. We took a private taxi back to Panajachel after negotiating down to the public rate.



 

Restaurant - La Casa del Mundo

The next day we decided to visit San Pedro, which is on the opposite side of the lake. The water taxi ride in itself was quite an experience. Firstly, the taxi does not leave until it is absolutely filled. So it is just luck as to whether it is a short or long wait. Secondly, the lake anytime after early morning will be deceivingly rough. It is a long ride to San Pedro, and for us it was very rough and very wet. They provide blue tarps for the passengers in front to shield the spray, but regardless we were all dripping. The constant thought is that we will still need to go back later and it will be even worse.

San Pedro was a nice little village. We enjoyed lunch there and did some shopping. We bought some cushion covers made from hulpil, which is a woman’s blouse. We know the patterns from the village of San Antonio, also on Lago Atitlan so we purposely selected those patterns.

Just after returning to Panajachel, again tired and a little wet from our boat ride, we discovered our camera was missing. I remembered laying it down while paying for our cushion covers. I had to beat myself to get back on the water taxi for a another round-trip ride to San Pedro. They had my camera, but before returning I felt I owed myself a burger and a couple beers. Back at Panajachel, the gang was growing concerned by the time I finally arrived back.

While wandering the markets in Panajachel we ran into Marguerite, a young Mayan girl that we had met in Rio Dulce. She had come to Rio Dulce to sell their goods, but it didn't work out and she was sent back. She was on the streets, along with her grandmother selling their goods.

Marguerite

After returning to Antigua we spent a couple more days, and then we went our separate ways. We took a shuttle directly to the airport in Guatemala City. Bill and Pat returned to Rio Dulce as they still planned another month on Mobetah before returning to the United states.

   Pictures - Lago Atitlan    

April 2011

Before moving on I need to go back and fill in some missing posts from last spring. Our last entry was from Calabash Bight on Honduras. After leaving Calabash on Roatan we returned to Utila. Our visas were soon to expire so we needed to stop in at immigration to get 30 day extensions. After getting our extensions we took a chance that our shipment of a new radar and chart plotter would arrive in the next few days, so we crossed to La Ceiba on the mainland Honduras to be ready to pick it up at the shipyard. We checked into the Lagoon Marina and found we were the only boat scheduled to be there that week.



View from dock at Lagoon Marina, La Ceiba

Beautiful Marina - no visitors

We stopped in at the Shipyard to find our delivery was not yet out of the container but should be within the next couple days. The marina offers van service into town with drop offs in a couple different locations, one being a fairly nice mall. We took advantage of that on several different days. The trip is one way only so each time we needed to flag a taxi for the return trip. The marina is well out of downtown and not all drivers know exactly where it is, so a couple times it was an adventure getting back. La Ceiba is a working town with really nothing at all for tourist. There were very few gringos around, those few we saw were at Expats, a well recommended restaurant catering obviously to the expatriate population.

When our delivery arrived it was missing a part. We took what did arrive and took advantage of the flat calm peaceful creek the marina is on to work on installing the new radome and cabling down the mast. This required about two hours working about one half way up the mast so it was a perfect place, with virtually no boat motion. We decided we couldn't wait for the last part to arrive and that we would figure out how to retrieve it later. We knew our friends on Angelina were planning to stop in La Ceiba and hoped the package would arrive before they too departed. It did and were were ultimately united with it back at Monkey Bay Marina in Guatemala a couple weeks later.

We had a very unusual experience while in La Ceiba.  John, the marina manager at Monkey Bay upon learning we would be in La Ceiba, asked us to pick up a package at a freight company.  We caught a taxi at the mall, after riding into town in the marina van.  We gave him the address and arriving there it was not apparent where the business was.  We eventually found the nondescript warehouse back from the road.  I provided the package number and they went off searching.  There was no apparent organization to the mounds of packages.  After about 1/2 hour they tried to explain to us that they could not find it and were instructing us as to what we should do.  The problem was we had no idea what they were saying.  Now this is like an Amazing Race episode.  Our taxi driver, still waiting took over.  We jumped in the taxi and we're off, totally clueless as to what we were doing.  We actually found it comical that we were the only ones that had no idea what was going on.  By now we had taken so much of our driver's time, that we first needed to pick up his daughter at school.  We then went to the business offices of the shipping company.  He motioned us to go inside.  They spoke English in the office, so we were able to sort it out.  They called the warehouse and provided additional information needed to locate the package.  We then went back to the warehouse, and with additional tracking information, they were able to find the package.  Our taxi driver took us to the marina, and we paid him well.

After five days in La Ceiba we returned to Utila. I had started some dental work there before going to La Ceiba and needed some follow up work done, Back at Utila we once again met up with Mobetah and with them spent some time exploring including moving to an anchorage on the west end of Utila called Diamond Cay.

Mobetah - west end of Utila

We traveled with Mobetah to return to the river. To avoid an overnight voyage we departed at 3 am so we could arrive at Puerto Cortez on the mainland during daylight hours. Puerto Cortez is a large ship port but there is a very nice anchorage just off the Navy base. The next day we continued on and anchored that night at Cabo Tres Puntas which is in Guatemala and about two hours from the mouth of the Rio Dulce and Livingston.

Mobetah - on Rio Dulce

Our trip up the Rio Dulce was uneventful with an overnight stay at Texan Bay so we could arrive at Monkey Bay marina in the morning well before the afternoon winds. It is tough enough backing into the slip with cross current, but the higher afternoon winds make it virtually impossible.



Ariel - traveling up the Rio Dulce

What's Missing

This is not a story I wanted to tell, but it is too often part of the cruising life.  We discovered yesterday morning that our dinghy with outboard was stolen during the night.  For those not cruising this is equivalent to having your car stolen.  We are backed into our slip and we raise the dinghy up on the davits so we felt pretty safe.  This marina like all on the river has had dinghies and outboards taken before but they were in the water at our dinghy dock or otherwise easily accessible.  This was the most brazen they have been since they had to board Ariel while we were sleeping to release the lift lines.  There have been a number of thefts recently and based on past patterns they will intensify into the holiday season.  They are only interested in the outboard and sometimes the discarded dinghy is recovered.  So far no word on ours.

I immediately had the Navy called in.  They patrol the river, attempting to stop this sort of thing and will be notified if someone spots our dinghy.  They were a sight when they arrived, as they showed up in mass, heavily armed to take down the report. 

I then went to the police station with John our marina manager to file a report.  John speaks pretty good Spanish which is absolutely essential to file the report.  Even at that it was a struggle.  I did secure a police report to submit to our insurance company.  I am scheduled to travel to Puerto Barrios to further meet with the police.  After that they would send an inspector to investigate the crime.  I doubt I will follow through with the visit to Puerto Barrios as I am certain the time and money expended will not lead to a recovery.

We have ordered a replacement dinghy which will be put in a container on a ship leaving Los Angeles on October 31 with an expected arrival here in three weeks.  We have been down this road before waiting on a container so we have proper expectations.  I met with the Yamaha dealer here and if I understood enough Spanish he can get what I want delivered from Guatemala City one day after I order it.

I guess we will still be at Monkey Bay for Thanksgiving this year.  It wasn't what we were expecting, but we just go with the flow. 

Ready For New Season

We are back in Guatemala ready for a new season.  We have been back on Ariel just one week, but have already accomplished much.  There is always a lot of cleaning as the tropics, during the summer in particular is very harsh on a boat.  The interior was again just as we left it, protected all season by a dehumidifier.  This was our second time returning and it was so much less stressful as we are now familiar with Guatemala City.  We were in luck this time as John, our marina manager happen to be making a trip to the city so we caught a ride back in his van, thus avoiding the scheduled five hour bus ride.  As it was, the van ride which should have been four to four and one half hours took eight hours.  As is typical on the mountain roads in Guatemala after heavy rains, there were many landslides which were partially blocking the road.  We were extremely thankful we were not on the bus. 

We had a wonderful summer, especially our time with our grandchildren and their parents.  Last year just before returning to Ariel we bought some property just outside Corning, New York.  We actually completed the closing after we returned to Guatemala so we didn't really get a chance to really know what we had.  In the mid 1800's it was a farm, which is still evidenced by the remains of a stone fence around the perimeter.  It has long since been allowed to re-forest.  In 1935 a hunting cabin was constructed on the site and this was added onto over the years, so that it is now a small house but in need of much improvement.  There was a tenant at the time we purchased and it appeared she was taking good care of the place so we let her stay.  It worked well until this past spring when she basically ran out of money.  We returned in May and started working on the issue and finally in August we had her and her possessions out.

We worked very hard all summer on repairs to the house and correcting some drainage issues with the land.  We discovered that the previous owners had discarded scrap metal along one of our lanes.  We recovered almost 10,000 pounds of metal which more than paid for the mini backhoe we needed to rent to move it. 



1982 John Deere - A Landlubber's Life

We moved in in August.  We soon found it very comfortable as a summer home, but  Ariel is our primary home.

We plan to leave the river soon first returning to the Bay islands of Honduras and then we'll see.

Camp Calabash

Several bights with Jonesville toward the west and Calabash a couple miles to the east are linked with canals.  This distance can be covered quickly in the dinghy while up on plane much of the way.  While in Jonesville we went to Calabash Bight to specifically visit Turtlegrass, a new marina.  Mark and Lori have built a marina (for long term storage) and their home at a beautiful location overlooking Calabash Bight.  They are building a cafe, but currently giving priority to finishing their house.  Without the cafe they are not really set up to handle cruisers.  They invited us into their home and we also discovered Mark produces pineapple wine commercially.  We sampled some, it was quite good, so we bought a couple bottles.  We left with plans to return next season once the cafe was complete and open for business.

Turtlegrass 

Camp Calabash Gang

After leaving Jonesville we went back to French Cay Harbor to provision and to catch up with friends.  One evening a group of us were discussing a way to watch March Madness NCAA Basketball, when John and Beth (Up Jinks) suggested maybe Mark and Lori at Turtlegrass would let us watch there.  The next morning six boats were leaving French Cay Harbor together headed ultimately to Calabash.  Ariel and Mobetah already had plans to go to Jonesville so we stopped there overnight before continuing on to Calabash Bight.  Terry and Sandy on Gambit were already in Jonesville, having just returned from Guanaja and so we wanted to see them at least one more time.  As it turned out the whole gang that went on to Calabash came to Hole in the Wall in Jonesville later in the day so we were all together, including Terry and Sandy and some of the expats we know in Jonesville.  Terry and Sandy had to get to French Cay Harbor to meet friends flying in, but we convinced them to come to  Calabash for at least one night to spend an evening with all of us at Turtlegrass.  So on Thursday, Gambit, Mobetah and Ariel joined our small fleet anchored and moored just off Turtlegrass.  We planned a potluck dinner with each boat to bring their own meat to grill.  Mark and Lori opened their home to us and set up two large flat screen televisions for the games.  It became clear that neither of them were very much into basketball, but neither was at least half the group.

Mark and Lori with Maggie hanging with Mark

Mark and Lori's home

Little did we know that this was the beginning of what was to be know as Camp Calabash.  We began doing everything as a group.  The next day Gambit left and most of us went to Pukies for lunch.  On Saturday we again planned to watch the games at Mark and Lori's.  We were trying to be less of a burden so planned snacks only, but we were all outfoxed by Lori, who prepared a fabulous spaghetti dinner with homemade meat sauce.  Mark called the Reef House and made plans for Sunday dinner for all of us.  The Reef House is a dive operation that serves family style dinner after the dive boat returns.  They will accept additional guest if they are notified in advance.  It was a really fun time at a great location with superb food.  

Reef House  clockwise from front - Beth, Marilyn, Leeanne (standing), Greg, David (standing), John, Bill, Pat

Reef House

Camp Calabash continued with a Mexican Train dominoes tournament on Monday.  On Tuesday, our last full day at Calabash we planned a shrimp boil to be held in the uncompleted and not open for business Turtle Cafe.  Mobetah has the propane burner and Ariel has the large pot and together shrimp boils are our speciality.  We were all feeling extremely indebted to Mark and Lori, having opened their home to us and helping in so many ways.  Bill from Mobetah came in Tuesday morning with printed plans for a picnic table and then convinced Mark to let us built it with some of his spare lumber.  A few of us spent the next few hours constructing what turned out to be a very well made and sturdy table, completing it just in time for the shrimp boil.  Lori brought down strings of white lights they had planned to put up around the perimeter of the cafe so we installed those.  Bill and Pat from Mobetah had gathered all the ingredients for the shrimp boil and when it was time Norm from Ariel did the cooking.  We essentially opened Turtlegrass Cafe well ahead of the expected grand opening date.  The shrimp boil turned out well and it was followed up with an excellent desert made by Leeanne off Live Sea Lee.  Beth from Up Jinks led a little Kum Ba Ya and broke up Camp Calabash later that evening.

seated - John, Tom, Yvonne

Yvonne, David, Lisa, Doug

Mark, Lori,  Leeanne, Pat, John

A Very Special Place - Jonesville

Jim and Kitty (Dreamaway) are returning to the United States to spend the summer on the Chesapeake and then next winter return to this area via Puerto Rico. As planned they stopped briefly in Roatan to see friends they had made in past seasons before heading off to Isla Mujeres, Mexico and then on to Key West.  We had made plans before leaving Monkey Bay, more than a month ahead of Dreamaway to meet up with them when they arrived in Roatan.  They were looking forward to introducing us to some of their friends that live on Roatan, mostly expatriates.  Jim and Kitty have lived on Dreamaway for about twenty years, most of the time in Kemah, Texas while they were both working.  A close friend of theirs, Sparky Jenkins, moved from Kemah to Roatan about fifteen years ago and Sparky introduced Jim and Kitty to the expatriate community.  We left Port Royal as soon as we knew they were here, and met up with Dreamaway in Jonesville.   We only got to spend a week with them as they were much delayed with serious boat problems, not on Dreamaway, but on buddy boat Serenity, skippered single handed by Paul, also from Monkey Bay.  

End of Lobster and Shrimp Season - Storing Traps

Grocery Store (Jenney's)

Woods Marina - Larry Woods

Typical canal through the mangroves

Jonesville in Bodgen Bight is a working seaport.  Most of the lobster boats and a couple of the shrimp boats are moored here.  Unlike the lobster boats in the US Northeast, these are constructed very similar to if not identical to shrimp boats.  The shoreline is is a wonderful mix of undeveloped land (very rugged), moored shrimp boats, many homes and a few businesses.  Some of the homes have road access, but many do not as the hillside behind the homes is too steep for road construction.

Hole In The Wall

The most successful business by far is Hole In The Wall, a purposely rough structure built on uneven piers over the water, owned and operated by Bob, a gringo.  It attracts boat loads of tourist for lunch, and on Sundays has an all you can eat lobster and steak buffet.  We now know it as Bob's Place and late in the day after the tourist have departed it is a gathering place for expats and cruisers.

Don teaching the puppy (Hole In The Wall)

We are not limited to Jonesville.  There are a series of bights beginning with Carib to the west and ending with Calabash to the east that are all connected with canals wide and deep enough for small boat traffic.  Here travel by water is as common, if not more common than by land.  The nearest town is Oak Ridge where we go by dinghy to do our major shopping and banking.  For quick items like eggs or bread Jenny has a little store just east of where we are anchored.  We found propane and fuel in Hog Pen Bight, the next bight to the east.  We were introduced to Gladys, a lady that will do laundry for cruisers.  She does laundry in her home on water days, which are Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  She hangs the clothes on the line to dry.  We are very comfortable here.  There are usually about three or four cruising boats anchored which isn't many but our world now includes some expatriates that live here.

We had no sooner arrived in Jonesville, when Dreamaway stopped by to invited us to a luncheon later that day to celebrate Don and Yvonne's thirty ninth wedding anniversary.  We had not yet met Don and Yvonne, but sure count us in.  Later we found Don and Yvonne's house and tied our dinghy to their dock which is on one of the small canals that run through the mangroves. They have a crew cab pickup truck that they brought down from the United States and so the women rode in the cab and the men in the back.  Our little group included besides Don and Yvonne, Jim and Kitty (Dreamaway) and their good friend Jim Bates, down to help crew the trip to Isla Mujeres, Dave (Barracha), and Larry Woods and his wife Norma.  Larry moved down here about fifteen years ago and Norma is native to Honduras.  Larry runs a small marina and Norma is a school teacher.  Norma teaches kindergarten through sixth grade in a two room schoolhouse with forty six children.  This lunch was a very special treat in many ways.  The ride over gave us fabulous views of both the south and north sides of the island.  The restaurant, Marble Hill Farms was fantastic.  It is actually a resort on the north side of the island.  We spend all of our time on the more protected south side.  They have wonderful gardens there and they can jellies.  They have a jelly tasting table and the jellies are for sale.  After lunch and a tour of the garden and buying a few jellies, Don took us back by way of a small village on the north shore, Punta Gorda.  This is a village with Black Carib ancestry.  The Black Caribs were shipped here by the Bristish in 1797.  We stopped in there for a couple of drinks at Pearls.

In the year 1635 two Spanish ships carrying Nigerian slaves shipwrecked on the island of St. Vincent. At first, the Spanish, Nigerians and Kalipuna fought one another but eventually learned to get along and intermarried, thus creating the Black Caribs.

At that time, St. Vincent was a British colony and the Caribs tried to establish independent control of the island. The French supported the Caribs and there were many battles between the Caribs and the British. The greatest battle took place in 1795 and both sides suffered great losses. In 1796 the Caribs and the French surrendered to the British.

The British now had a problem. The Caribs were free men with black skin and St. Vincent was populated by slave-owning Europeans. The idea of a group of free black men living among them on the island was unacceptable so the British decided to deport the Caribs. The British hunted down and rounded up the Caribs, killing hundreds in the process and destroying their homes and culture. The remaining 4,300 Caribs were shipped to Balliceaux where half of them died of yellow fever.

In 1797 the surviving Caribs were shipped to Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras. Along the way, the Spanish captured one of the British ships which was taken to Trujillo where the captured Caribs did well. Later, the Spanish captured Roatan Island from the British. The Spanish rounded up 1,700 Caribs on the island and brought them to Trujillo where laborers were much needed. The Spanish were not good farmers and Trujillo suffered accordingly. On the other hand, the Caribs were very skillful at farming so they went to work and did very well in Trujillo. Some of the Caribs were conscripted into the Spanish army where they served with distinction.

Right now Dreamaway is safely in Isla Mujueres.  We continued to have some good times with them before they left and we have continued to have good times with our new friends in Jonesville.  We will be leaving soon to go to La Ceiba on the mainland to pick up a shipment of parts, but will be returning to Jonesville again this cruising season.

Link to more Jonesville Pictures

Yvonne (In Her Kitchen)

Jim, Jim Bates, Norm and Dave (Don and Yvonne's Deck)

Enjoying Roatan

We spent most of a month at West End, Roatan, not leaving until after the Super Bowl.  Since leaving West End we made a stop at French Cay Harbor, by far the largest gathering place for cruisers.  French Cay Harbor with Fantasy Island at the east end is a well protected anchorage.  On Fantasy Island is Fantasy Island Resort and Marina.  They very much welcome cruisers and make the facilities available even to boats in the anchorage.  We stopped here to top off our provisions.  Very close by and easily accessible is probably the best provisioning available in the Northwest Caribbean.  We didn't need a lot but wanted to check it out as we will likely be doing some major re-provisioning next fall.  I will come back to French Cay Harbor and Fantasy Island in a future posting.

Mango Creek Lodge

We are now at Port Royal, actually Lime Cay Bight, anchored off Mango Creek Lodge.  After almost a month in West End and then a week in French Cay Harbor, we were ready to get to some place much quieter and much less crowded.  This place fits the bill perfectly.  Port Royal is well toward the eastern end of Roatan and not heavily populated.  Mango Creek Lodge is owned and operated by Terry and Patrice, Canadians, ex-cruisers that have completed a circumnavigation.  They provide free moorings, run a honor bar inside the restaurant and if there is enough interest their staff prepares wonderful meals.  Mango Creek Lodge offers salt water fly fishing packages and also eco vacations.

Mango Creek Lodge.

One evening we had five boats moored or anchored off  Mango Creek and we all arranged for dinner.  With guest on board one of the boats, the twelve of us enjoyed good company and a fantastic meal.

It is a little difficult keeping up with the blog right now.  We are spending four months here in Honduras, moving from place to place.  Our main activities off the boat are snorkeling and socializing.  Aboard we both are doing a lot of reading.  These activities do not make for good blog material.

Cow and Calf  (Port Royal)

Hanging Out In West End

We are definitely in full cruising mode now.  Nothing like West End, Roatan to help get us in the proper frame of mind.  Our days typically include either snorkeling, walking on the beach or both.  We have been trying out the restaurants and of course getting together with fellow cruisers.

We had a fun day at Slippery Sues, a sports bar that just opened.  For the football playoff games a couple of the boats negotiated a super deal on drink prices and they let us bring in our dishes to pass.  Since we were staying for two games they let us have supper brought in as well.  We had a good portion of the boats from the mooring field there.  We expect to set up something similar for the Super Bowl.

One evening we had a dinghy drift.  We all just tied our dinghies together and floated around.  We each brought a dish to pass and our own drinks.  It was fun, but we spent a lot of time passing dishes.

The snorkeling is fantastic and there are so many places to go that it can be new each time.

Main street through town

West End Pictures