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 who 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.
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| End of Lobster and Shrimp Season - Storing Traps |
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| Grocery Store (Jenney's) |
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| Woods Marina - Larry Woods |
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| 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 similarly to, if not identical to, shrimp boats. The shoreline 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.
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| 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 boatloads of tourists 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 tourists have departed, it is a gathering place for expats and cruisers.
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| Don teaching the puppy (Hole In The Wall) |
We are not limited to Jonesville. There is 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 who 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 who live here.
We had no sooner arrived in Jonesville, when Dreamaway stopped by to invite 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 a native of 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 canned 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 British 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.
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 we will be returning to Jonesville again this cruising season.
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| Yvonne (In Her Kitchen) |
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| Jim, Jim Bates, Norm, and Dave (Don and Yvonne's Deck) |
