Sail Ariel

Isolated in Bocas del Toro

2012-02-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

The Pan American Highway in western Panama has been closed for several days now by protesting indigenous Ngäbe Bugle Indians over disputes with the government about mining and hydroelectric projects in their region. Trees and other debris are used to block the road and clashes with police have been violent at times.

courtesy Panama-Guide.com

While we are well away from the protest, we are never the less cut off from the rest of the world by the blockages. We have developed shortages very quickly. Gasoline was the first to be completely sold out, and then diesel became scarce. Fresh fruits and vegetables have not been delivered and tourist, other than those flying in cannot arrive. The ferry from Almirante has ceased operations.

We are luckily in good shape personally. We had just topped off diesel and gasoline, and filled our propane shortly before this began. This was pure luck as we had no insight this was about to happen. My dental appointment with Dr. Wong was cancelled as he normally arrives from Almirante on the ferry.

So far no real adverse impact to us and we are enjoying our time on Bastimentoes.

Based on the news we expect this to be resolved soon.

http://www.panama-guide.com/

Arriving Panama

2012-01-13T10:19:00.001-05:00

Well before we started out on this several year adventure, we became very interested in the San Blas Islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama as a cruising destination. During the past couple years while in the Western Caribbean we have talked with many cruisers that have made the circuit through the Eastern Caribbean across the north coast of Venezuela and Colombia and then up through the Western Caribbean. Almost to a person they site the San Blas Islands in Panama as their favorite location. Interesting enough, the Eastern Caribbean, where we initially thought we would begin our cruising barely gets mentioned. These stories were the motivation to get us here to Panama. As we studied Panama we came to realized there are many more cruising opportunities than just the San Blas so we decided to explore it all on the Caribbean side. (We have no plans to go through the Panama Canal.) We have arrived at the archipelago of Bocas del Toro which is in western part of Panama. This area is made up of two big bays, eight major islands, 51 cays and an unlimited number of places to drop the hook. We intend to spend the remainder of this cruising season in the Bocas del Toro area and then leave Ariel in a marina here while we are away for the summer.

Tropical Sunset Over Bahia Almirante

Anchored Off Bocas Town

The challenge for the trip from San Andres Isla to Bocas del Toro was to keep the boat speed down to five knots or less. We wanted to depart during daylight hours and to also arrive during daylight hours. Our plan was to clear out and leave immediately, but while in with our agent clearing out of Colombia, a heavy rain squall blew in, so even before we were cleared out, we were delayed a day. It was not a problem so stay even though we were cleared out. We left San Andres at 4 pm the following day and were well clear of the island before sunset. The winds were light and on the beam which played right into our plan to go slow. Conditions remained the same through the night and all through the following day. The second night the winds became too light for sailing as was expected. We motored through the night and arrived at Bocas del Toro at 8 am right on plan. On our way in we heard on the VHF radio that it was a public holiday. This was great news because all of the offices would be closed so we couldn't check in. We headed for a quiet bay just inside the channel and dropped the anchor, thankful for a chance to get some rest and things cleaned up before clearing in. The next morning the Port Captain directed us to anchor just off from his office and indicated we would need to be boarded. About 45 minutes later a boarding party of four arrived. It is a good thing we have a scanner and printer aboard, because they wanted multiple copies of everything. I am not sure what they did because I was making copies the whole time. Soon they were finished, leaving is us with a stack of completed forms and instructions to make additional stops in town before we would be completely cleared in. Our first stop was at the Autoridad Maritima de Panama (AMP) (Maritime Authority) to obtain our cruising permit. The cruising permit is good for one year. Now this next part is where it got weird. We were told to go to Banco Nacional de Panama to purchase National Stamps, which would be $10 each, and we would need two. We were then to deliver these to Immigration and then we would get out passports stamped. After waiting in the teller line for 1/2 hour, we were told they do not sell National Stamps. By now it was lunch hour so after lunch we sheepishly pushed open the heavy wooden door to the Immigration Office and explained our failed attempt to obtain the National Stamps. The Immigration Officer replied "If they do not have the stamps, that cannot be helped", at which point she processed our passports, good for 180 days and sent us on our way.

2012-01-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

Approaching San Andres form the North Northeast we had to pass almost the entire length of the island running just outside the reef to reach the only opening. Once inside the reef we then turned back and again ran almost the entire length of the island to reach our anchorage. The reef is on the east side of the island giving us the benefit of the trades, but with a well protected anchorage behind the reef.

Fantastic Reef

Hotel Area

We anchored just off Club Nautico, a private yacht club right in the hotel and shopping districts. For just $25 per week we gained access to all the facilities, which include pool, tennis courts, showers, restaurant, WiFi, amongst others. During the day the area around us is busy with tour boats of all kinds and jet skis and such, but as soon as the sun sets it is becomes very calm and quiet. We are sharing this spot with just one other boat, a French boat with a family of four aboard.

We took a narrated tour of the island lasting about 3 1/2 hours with stops along the way. The narration was even more beneficial to us after the first stop when we let the narrator know we understood very little Spanish. From then on it was bilingual and he went out of his way for us. It was a wonderful tour and even included a Reggae lesson.

Raggae Lessons

Tanya, Our Casa Museo Tour Guide and Dance Instructor

Getting Around Providencia

2011-12-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

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 hiking 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. Our's 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. These are in no way distinguishable 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 someone's 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

2011-12-26T13:35:00.001-05:00

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 crowed 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 one 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.

Our Lovely Cook Bringing The Turkey

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 a perfect place. Anyway we placed our dishes on the tables which had been placed in a long row so we could all 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 be uncomfortable saying it in English, so we all suggested French was fine. The turkey and ham had not arrived and suddenly dishes are 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 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

Port Captain Stopping To Visit

Agent Mr. Bush at End of Table

Isla de Providencia

2011-12-19T11:12:00.001-05:00

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. The 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 send e-mail. After spending several days and hours at 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

2011-12-15T16:03:00.001-05:00

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 offGuanaja. 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 turns we were sideways to the waves which made for a very uncomfortable sideways rolling motions. After 26 hours we reached our waypoint and made the turns. 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 form 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

On The Move Again

2011-12-05T15:49:00.000-05:00

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 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 boat 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 have 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

2011-11-04T15:07:00.001-04:00

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 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 re-markedly beautiful and the view of Lago Atitlan is spectacular. We enjoyed touring the grounds and we also enjoyed a 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.

Waiting For Our Taxi To Fill

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. Pictured further below is Marguerite, wearing the clothing from her village of San Antonio.

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 were we spent a couple more days, 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

2011-11-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

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

Beaufiful 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 location, 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 anything 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 advange of the flat calm peaceful creek the marina is on to work on installing the new radome and cableing 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.

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

2011-10-28T18:14:00.000-04:00

This is not a story I wanted to tell, but is is too often part of the cruising life. We discovered yesterday morning that our dinghy and 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 have 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

2011-10-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

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, this 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 parameter. It has long since been allowed to re-forest. In 1935 a hunting cabin was constructed on the site and this was added on to 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 as 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

2011-04-05T10:30:00.000-04:00

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 on at a beautiful location overlooking Calabash Bight. They are building a cafe, but currently giving priority to finishing their house. Without the cafe their 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 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 hangin 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 dominos 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. Remember Mobetah has the propane burner and Ariel has the large post 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

2011-03-09T13:04:00.002-05:00

Jim and Kitty (Dreamaway) are returning to the United States and 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 is 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, allso from Monkey Bay. This is an interesting story and for those interested here is a link to Dreamway's web site. Dreamaway Log

End of Lobster and Shrimp Season - Storing Traps

Grocery Store (Jenney's)

Woods Marina - Larry Woods

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 boat, 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 id 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 is 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 they 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 of 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 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 this very pleasant community right along the northern coast of Roatan.

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

2011-02-19T08:47:00.000-05:00

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 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

2011-02-01T14:07:00.001-05:00

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 of course getting together with fellow cruisers.

We had a fun day at Slippery Sues, a sports bar that just opened. For the 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 out dinghys 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.

West End Pictures

Oh What a Reef

2011-01-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

The Wrong Side of this One Would be Costly

Arriving in Roatan's West End, the first requirement is to get through the reef. It isn't really that difficult once the channel markers are located. The channel markers are about four inches in diameter and about two feet tall. One was very clearly red, the other we were uncertain about, even questioning if it was a channel marker. We just kept hoping that Honduras observed Red Right Return (keep the red marker on your right as you return from the sea). They do and coming through turned out to be easy and it was nice to start breathing again. Behind the reef is a mooring field. There is no longer any anchoring allowed. This is a good thing as it protects the bottom from damage caused by anchors and more importantly anchor chains which drag across the bottom as the boat swings. West End does not look like a typical place to either moor or anchor a boat as it is exposed to the sea on about 180 degrees. The difference is the reef. It breaks down the waves and makes it a comfortable location, unless there is a strong wind with a westerly component. With strong winds from any westerly direction it can get very bouncy and some boats leave and go around to the southern side of Roatan and then return after the blow.

Mooring Field - Ariel in Center

Reef Not Apparent in Calm Seas


Reef Knocking Down the Waves in a Blow

The most beautiful part about the reef is below the surface. The Marine Park has placed many moorings sized for small boats and dinghys all along the reef, making it very convenient to explore. Sorry we do not have pictures yet from below the surface.

One More Christmas Story

2011-01-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

I know it is mid January, and we are no longer on the Rio Dulce, but one more Christmas story. Our local newspaper (only electronic) on the Rio Dulce is the Chisme Vindicator. I am attaching a link to an article Chisme Article which features the special involvement of some of the Monkey Bay cruisers. It was delayed in getting published having been lost in email world for awhile.

For anyone possibly interested in other stories published in the Rio Dulce Chisme Vindicator, here is the link Chisme.

Chisme Article

Bay Islands

2011-01-11T14:02:00.000-05:00

To arrive in Guatemala last spring we traveled in a south, southwest direction along the coast of Mexico and Belize. Guatemala has very little coastline on the Caribbean side of the country.

Leaving Guatemala just a few days ago, we then set in an easterly direction along the northern coast of Honduras. Honduras juts into the Caribbean Sea. The area of water between Belize and Honduras with Guatemala tucked in the corner is known as the Gulf of Honduras.

Travel along the coast of Honduras in an easterly direction is usually a challenge. Honduras is at a latitude that places in in the trade winds. The trade winds blow from the east, so easterly travel is usually directly into the wind.

We were delayed from our planned departure which was to be right after Christmas waiting for favorable wind and sea conditions. We finally found a window of light and variable winds, which was about the best we could hope for. Our trip then from the Rio Dulce was without sails (motorboat) and true to forecast we had light winds which over our 24 hours travel were from just about every point on the compass. The seas were a foot or less so we were happy with the conditions all around.

About 20 miles off the coast of Honduras are a string of islands, collectively known as the Bay Islands. If you are a diver you probably are already aware of the Bay Islands as they are a popular dive destination. Going from west to east, the islands are Utila, Roatan and Guanaja. Roatan is the largest and the most popular for cruising boats. While the islands are part of Honduras, both English and Spanish are spoken, with English being more predominate. The islands were controlled by the British during the colonial period.

We stopped for a few days in Utila We had the option to check into Honduras in Utila or Roatan. Since this is our first time in the Bay Islands we did not want to pass Utila by. There were very few cruising boats there. Utila has a reputation as a party place and we can attest that the music is loud and last late into the night. We did explore extensively and had a couple of good lunches at a restaurant called Bundo. It seemed to have the biggest crowd so using that as the criteria we were not disappointed.

With heavy winds forecast we decided to move on to Roatan. We heard on the morning radio net that there were still three open moorings at West End so we decided to go for it. West End is a premier destination for cruisers. There is no anchoring, so getting a mooring is a must. The mooring field is in the Roatan Marine Park. We have paid for 30 days, which is 100 USD. The daily rate is 10 USD so you can quickly see our logic. It is absolutely beautiful here and we are happy to be here.

On Our Way to Honduras

2011-01-05T09:12:00.000-05:00


Departing Monkey Bay Marina

We are the first boat in the New Year to leave the marina to head out for the cruising season. It is with mixed emotions that we leave. The good news is that we will see just about everyone out at the islands this winter. They had a pot luck dinner the night before in our honor since we were leaving.

We are on our way to the island of Utila, Honduras. It will be an overnight trip so we will need to sharpen our skills quickly. We will leave Livingston, Guatemala on Thursday morning and plan to arrive Utila, Honduras the following day.

Christmas At Casa Guatemala

2010-12-27T20:37:00.001-05:00

Some of you may be wondering why we are not out sailing. For those not keeping track we returned to the Rio Dulce in mid October and now it is almost the end of the year. Actually it is quite simple. We stayed to get involved with the Casa Guatemala Christmas. Casa Guatemala is an orphanage that is down the river two or three miles from Monkey Bay. Over the years the cruising community here has done a lot to support the orphanage, especially at Christmas. The orphanage provided us with a list of needs, so this year we did our Christmas shopping in Fronteras. It was just as hectic as going to one of the malls back in the US, but it was totally different experience and really rewarding as we we thinking about the kids that would be getting the presents. Kitty (Dreamaway) offered her husband Jim up to be Santa for this year's Christmas Eve celebration at the orphanage, so that led to a closer relationship between us at Monkey Bay and the staff at Casa Guatemala. We learned of a special need for girls undergarments, so some of the Monkey Bay women spent a long afternoon on a special shopping trip after getting specific needs and sizes. We also learned they could use some help preparing the dinner which is served Christmas Eve, so Pat, Linda and Jan (Jock's Lodge, staying at Catamarans) went to Backpackers Hotel and Restaurante on Christmas Eve morning to help prepare the dressing and stuff the turkeys.

Linda and Pat

Linda, Pat (s/v Mobetah), Jan (s/v Jocks Lodge) and Heather (Casa Guatemala)

Backpackers is owned by Casa Guatemala and provides employment opportunities for the older children. Christmas Eve, Santa arrives at Casa Guatemala on a large launcha brightly decorated with lights and outfitted with reindeer and sleigh. We arrived in the Monkey Bay launcha to large group of excited children on the piers waiting for Santa.

It is the tradition at Casa Guatemala, that Santa first visits the children living at the orphanage. He did this in one of the dormitories. The gifts were handed out by Santa to each child as their name was called.

Santa delivering gifts

After this Santa moved on to an area where the local children and their families were waiting for his arrival. There were literally hundreds of waiting children. When Santa arrived he was rushed by the children but they soon organized in a single file line beginning with the youngest and ending with the older children, to match the way the gifts were arranged.

Waiting to see Santa

We wanted to do more than just be spectators so we went to the kitchen to help out. They serve a turkey dinners to the children and staff at Casa Guatemala, but they also serve a hot tamale to each and every neighborhood child or parent that came. Boy did we get busy, and it was gratifying to see they really needed our help. Once Santa had handed out all the gifts, the mass descended upon us. We had already prepared about 200 plates before they arrived and then prepared more as fast as we could and handed then out at a blistering pace. Tamales are cooked in a leaf wrap, which needs to be discarded before serving. We had to keep bring bowls of cold water to cool the hands of the ladies that we unwrapping the tamales. Soon the meals were eaten and the crowd dispersed, so we cleaned up and then went inside, where just about all of the turkey dinners with all the traditional fixings had been served.

Children of Casa Guatemala enjoying turkey dinner

They had settings ready for us so we enjoyed some really good food with the children of the orphanage. We contributed to the cost of our meals, helped clean up and then climbed into our launcha to head back to Monkey Bay with memories we will never forget.

Casa Guatemala

We plan to depart Monkey Bay Marina as soon as we can get some favorable winds. The winds are generally from the east and we need to go east so it may take a little while.

A Monkey Bay Christmas

2010-12-26T13:58:00.000-05:00

As the holiday season approached Pat (Mobetah) suggested and we collectively decided to get Christmas gifts for the family that lives here at the marina and looks after the owner's property. We are all close with the family, especially the children so we really looked forward to Christmas morning. Below is a link to pictures of our Christmas day. We all delighted in watching the family open their gifts and then playing with the children for awhile.

In the afternoon we had reservations at Kangaroo Las Mexicanas Restaurante and everyone at Monkey Bay went. They were overwelmed at the restaurante with the number of guest. While they took reservations to know how much food to prepare, in the end they had 60 some guest all to be feed at the same time so our scheduled 2 o'clock Christmas dinner of turkey, roast pork and prawns was served at about 4 o'clock. Other than the delay we had a relaxing time in a beautiful setting.

Picassaweb

Marina Bahia Mono Fiesta de Flatulence

2010-12-22T09:18:00.001-05:00

You can tell we are all getting pretty close here at Monkey Bay. We have a little social get together every day around 4:30. That may seen a little early, but once it starts getting dark the mosquitoes start attacking. One evening the conversation turned to pressure cookers. Almost all cruising boats have pressure cookers aboard, but most like us have them in deep storage. Jim, off Dreamaway, (you may remember him, he was the Santa Claus carving our turkey at Thanksgiving) uses his pressure cooker frequently. He offered to give us some tips on cooking with a pressure cooker. Anyway our plan quickly evolved into cooking beans, and then to a bean cookoff, and then we initiated the first annual Marina Bahia Mono, Fiesta de Flatulence. We allowed a couple days for the teams to decide and register their entries so we decided to meet in the marina kitchen on Sunday at three with our pressure cookers and ingredients. The guys did the pressure cooking and the spouses prepared rice and other sides, got the tables ready and all the other things that go into getting a meal ready.

The Four Cooks

All of the dishes tasted great so we made no attempt to pick a winner. We just had a great meals with good company. We had planned to watch "Blazing Saddles", but started watching "From The Big Apple To The Big Easy - The Concert For New Orleans" a two disk DVD and never got to "Blazing Saddles". We all had a great time.

Just Waiting On The Beans

We are getting ready to leave Monkey Bay soon, and it will be really hard to do. We know we will see everyone out at the islands, but we will miss the camaraderie we enjoy here.

Footnote: Most of us soaked our beans overnight so our little Fiesta did not live up to it's name.

Frutas del Mundo

2010-12-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

Not far outside Rio Dulce is a very special fruit farm - Frutas del Mundo. The owner, Dwight Carter grew up on a farm in Minnesota and came to Central America in the mid 80's with the Peace Corp to work with livestock. He developed an interest in indigenous fruits and in 1987 bought 20 acres which became Frutas del Mundo. He is experimenting with different types of fruits, grafting methods, selection and other techniques. His primary product is seedlings for other farmers in the area. In addition to promoting indigenous species, he has also introduced fruits from all around the world. The tour includes sampling fruits right off the trees and a luncheon of tilapia caught from his fish and irrigation pond.

Our group included most of us at Monkey Bay Marina and two French Canadian couples from Ram Marina.

Our favorite new fruit is the Rambutan. Unfortunately it is now just at the end of the harvest season. When ready to eat they are bright red. We have seen them in town but didn't know what they were or how good they are. We look forward to seeing them in the market next year.

Pictures of our day on Picasaweb

FrutasDelMundo

Copan - Part 6 - Zip Line Canopy Tour

2010-12-20T07:10:00.000-05:00

A really fun opportunity in Copan Ruinas is the Zip Line Canopy Tour. The zip line is just outside of town. It is four kilometers in total length and the longest zip line is one kilometer. Most descriptions say there are sixteen zip lines but our guides told us there are fourteen. The last zip line crosses the Copan River at a bend in the river which was a pretty cool way to end. If zip lining is on your bucket list, this is a good one.

Pickup Service at Our Hotel (get it)

Equipped and Ready
Terry
Pat
Linda
Norm

Time to Apply Brakes (Norm)

Always a Smile (Pat)

Showing Off (Terry)

Copan - Part 5 - Copan Ruinas

2010-12-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

Copan Ruinas is a very small town. It is typical of towns in Central America, with a central square. Copan Ruinas is very hilly but since the town is so small the hills do not become onerous. The narrow streets are coblestone but quite dusty. There are several hotels in all price ranges and plenty of good places to eat. Our hotel was on the inexpensive (cheap) end of the scale and we will not mention the name nor recommend it. The rooms were clean which was our main selection criteria. None of the staff spoke any English so it was very difficult to communicate. Luckily Terry can speak Spanish very well so as long as we had Terry around we could get by. We had to change rooms because the hot water in our shower did not work. Our biggest complaint was the noise. The floors are tile and very typically the windows open into the central hallway so late night guest returning could be very annoying.

We had a couple experiences with total power outages in the town. We are accustomed to power outages in Rio Dulce so it was not a total surprise. One evening we were returning from dinner and suddenly the town went dark. Walking on the sidewalks and the cobblestone streets is a challenge when lighted, but downright treacherous in total darkness. Sandy had a small flashlight so we were able to proceed to our hotel. The power was restored soon after we arrived back to our rooms. One morning we awoke to another power outage which lasted much longer, but were able to find a restaurant with a generator so it really didn't inconvenience us.

We felt very comfortable in town. One evening was especially festive. Two of the Honduran soccer teams were playing. All day long we saw flags and banners and other signs of support for the teams. They set up a movie screen in the square and televised the game to a sizable crowd, and of course every television in town was tuned to the game. Everyone was in great spirits and with each score the entire town would erupt with cheer.

Scenes from our time in Copan Ruinas

One of many wonderful meals. The Honduran cervasa (beer) we are drinking is Salva Vida (lifesaver).

Tuctuc Ride

Good security. Now if we could just get these guys to spread out around town.

Wonderful Markets

Happy Hour

View from our hotel

Copan - Part 4 - Macaw Mountain

2010-12-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

Just outside Copan Ruinas is a bird sanctuary for rescued birds. It has been beautifully done. It is situated in old growth forest augmented with native species tropical plants to create a natural tropical garden. The Jungle Bistro restaurant is located in the park next to the Sesemil River which runs through the park. The Jungle Bistro is run by the same couple that run Twisted Tanya in town, a very popular backpackers restaurant. We had planned our day to have lunch at Jungle Bistro, and we were absolutely delighted with our meals. It is very evident that the birds are getting great care in the perfect setting. Do not miss this if visiting Copan.

Our tuctuc drivers waiting to take us to Macaw Mountain


Jungle Bistro

Toucan

Horned Owl

Young Macaw (about six months old)

Copan - Part 3 - Horseback Riding

2010-12-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

On our first full day we visited the ruins. The ruins are just outside town and we found the most inexpensive way to get there was to take a tuctuc. With six of us we were able to get there in two tuctucs. After our tour of the runis, then lunch and the museum we were ready to get a couple of tuctucs back to town. That is when we met Renaldo, a tuctuc driver. Renaldo's english is quite good so we soon learned he could arrange horseback riding for us. As it turned out the others were not interested in horseback riding so it was just the two of us. Renaldo was our guide and the horses belonged to his uncle. He picked us up at the hotel in his tuctuc and we then went to the horses which were tied up just at the edge of town. We rode up a mountain to the small Mayan village of La Pintada. From the village we then hiked to Mayan ruins Los Sapos. Los Sapos, known as the birthing place is where ancient copanecan Maya women went to give birth. As we approached Los Sapos, were heard voices and then we heard Renaldo say "your friends are here". After we had left on the horses, Bill,Pat, Terry and Sandy decided to visit Hacienda San Lucas, which they reached by tuctuc, and from there they hiked to Los Sapos. What a coincidence we met up as they were planning to return to Hacienda San Lucas which was the opposite direction from La Pintada. We told them they should not miss La Pintada village and invited them to return with us. Renaldo called his brother, also a tuctuc driver and arranged for him to come up to the village to give them a ride to town. We returned on our horses and then we all met at the hotel and then Renaldo and his brother gave us rides to Macaw Mountain, which will be the subject of another posting.

This village makes dolls and flowers with corn husk. They are quite nice. Here the children are attempting to sell us some. They also sell in town so we already had purchased our fair share.

Linda's new friend Rosa

Corn Husk Products - made in La Pintada

Typical Mayan homes constructed of mud and sticks.

View of Copan Ruinas during our short hike to Los Sapos

Tuctuc driver, guide and all around good guy - Renaldo

Leaving La Pintada Village

Copan - Part 2 - Mayan Ruins

2010-12-16T09:19:00.000-05:00

This is our third major Mayan ruins site. This site is probably our favorite. The stelae are the largest and best preserved that we have seen and as can be seen in these photos the stone carvings are also well preserved. They have moved many of the carvings and some stelae into a large museum which on site which will protect them from the environment.

There is a lot of information on the internet about Copan. Here is a connection to Wikipedia - Copan which has a nice summary.

Dancing Jaguar

Old Man

Bird with Fish in Mouth

The currency in Honduras is the Lempira. This scene is on the back side of the Un (1) Lempira. Pictured is the ball field with change rooms on each side.

Macaw


Stela B			The date that this stela was commissioned was August 22, 731 A.D.

Copan - Part 1 - Travel

2010-12-14T09:48:00.005-05:00

Six of us from Monkey Bay took an inland excursion to Copan Ruinas, Honduras to see the Mayan ruins at Copan. Traveling with us were Bill and Pat s/v Mobetah, and Terry and Sandy s/v Gambit II. We made it easy on ourselves and hired a van to take us, rather than deal with the several bus changes it requires otherwise. Crossing the border is very easy as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua have an agreement that allows their citizens to travel freely across the borders. This agreement known as C4 also allows citizens from some countries, including the US and Canada in our case, to cross the borders with very limited formalities. The town of Copan Ruinas which is very close to the Mayan ruins is becoming a tourist destination, but it is remote so it has not (yet) been overrun by the visitors. We saw very few other tourist while we were there.

This first posting features our travel.  Future (soon) postings will be about our activities while there.

John, the marina manager at Monkey Bay taking us to Brunos Hotel and Marina in town to meet up with our van ride.

front - Bill (Mobetah) Sandy (Gambit II)
standing - John
back - Norm

our ride

ready to go
front - Terry and Sandy
back - Norm and Linda
not pictured - Bill and Pat sitting more forward

roadside stop for a snack or lunch
all the buses stop here so we have been here a few time

clearing with immigration at the Guatemala - Honduras border

Scenes along the way

Coffee Plantation Tour

2010-12-03T13:52:00.009-05:00

Antigua is internationally renowned for its high-quality arabica coffees. This region is located between three volcanoes in a valley with a climate perfect for cultivating coffee with elevations ranging between 4,600 and 5,600 feet. Antigua coffee is described as having a full and velvety body, a rich and lively aroma, and a fine acidity.

While we were in Antigua we visited the Finca Filadelphia coffee plantation. It was an extremely interesting tour at a beautiful location. Their coffee is under the label R. Dalton and is shipped all over the world with Japan as their largest consumer country.

Our tour began in the nursery. Each of these new arabica coffee plants has been hand grafted to the roots of another species with roots that grow deeper and are stronger than the arabica plant roots.

Only the red beans are ready to be picked. These need to be hand picked and because they ripen at different rates, the workers will make several passes over the area during the harvesting season. During harvesting season which will begin soon, they hire hundreds of workers. They are paid by weight of the beans picked.

The coffee plants under a canopy of shade trees.

The beans are processed through machines to removed the outer layers and then the beans are spread out in the sun to dry. They are periodically raked to turn them over. The beans pictured are a lower quality as evidenced by some lighter colored beans in the mix.

Transporting beans from the warehouse to the coffee roasting and packaging building. Each bag weights 150 pounds.

Packaging operations

Documental Imagine Guatemala

2010-11-27T19:42:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving Week

2010-11-27T11:59:00.005-05:00

There are plenty of opportunities for traditional Thanksgiving dinners on the Rio, but we decided to have our own here at Monkey Bay. We all chipped in for the turkey and then we agreed on the other dishes to prepared and then used a sign up sheet to keep it organized.

Earlier in the week we said goodbye to "Worldwide Traveler". They are heading to Maine this coming summer and along the way have paid charters so they have a schedule to keep. This is a link to their website. "Catamaran "Worldwide Traveler" Be sure follow the link to Wendy's blog. She is an excellent writer.

Lee and Wendy

Our Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. We have fourteen in all and all of the food was wonderful. Jim did the turkeys on the grill, using it like an oven. We have most of the traditional dishes; mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, fruit salads, rolls, green bean salad, yams, pumpkin pie, whipped cream and spice cake.

We had also invited Kevin from town, whom we all know, and Petra, a Mayan that our marina manager, John, has been sponsoring to study tourism, and Christina, an 11 year old Mayan from San Antonio on Lake Atitlan. She is here, living with Petra (also from the same village) working selling goods from her village until school resumes in January.

Christina

Jim (Dream Away) carving turkey

Our dinner table (note flowers which were provided by Kevin)
.

Antigua, Guatemala

2010-11-19T12:57:00.005-05:00

We visited Antigua last spring as we were leaving Guatemala for the summer and we were anxious to get back there. We just finished another inland trip where we spent almost a week in Antigua and a few days in Guatemala City.

Antigua is among the world's best conserved colonial cities, It makes you feel time might have stopped some 300 years ago.

Antigua was founded in 1543 and for more than 200 years it served as the seat of the military governor of the Spanish colony Guatemala which at that time included almost all of present-day Central America and the southernmost State of Mexico.

On September 29, 1717, an estimated 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit Antigua Guatemala, and destroyed over 3,000 buildings. Much of the city's architecture was ruined. The damage the earthquake did to the city made authorities consider moving the capital to another city.

In 1773, the Santa Maria earthquakes destroyed much of the town, which led to a decision to abandon the city and move the capital to a safer location which is where Guatemala City, the modern capital of Guatemala, now stands. The badly damaged city of Santiago de los Caballeros, the original city, was ordered abandoned, although not everyone left, and was thereafter referred to as la Antigua Guatemala (the Old Guatemala).

Antigua is in the mountains, so the climate is generally very comfortable. The surrounding volcanos have kept Antigua to just about it's original size which is actually quite small. Antigua is very popular with Spanish language immersion and has around 75 language school generally providing one on one instruction. Antigua is also a popular tourist destination with a large selection of hotels ranging from hostels to luxury, and the same with restaurants from fast food (but incorporated into the existing architecture) to fine dining.

We like it as a great place to relax, with an ample number of places to explore. We will keep returning to Antigua.

Halloween Party at Marios Marina

2010-11-04T12:06:00.003-04:00

Halloween Party at Marios Marina

Russ and Janet (Rock n Roll)
Monkey Bay Marina
before leaving for party

Tom and Thrish (Double Up)
Monkey Bay Marina
before leaving for party

Iain and Jan (Jocks Lodge) We last saw them before this at Cumberland Island, Georgia about two years ago.
Catamaran Marina

Winners of costume contest - White Trash

Master of Ceremonies Suzy (Caberet)

Bottom Painting Again

2010-10-28T15:49:00.005-04:00

We left in the spring planning to get the bottom painted as soon as we returned. We had visited our chosen boat yard in the spring and had made some rough plans. We had nothing but good recommendations for this yard. It is know as Abel's which is the first name for both the father and son that run it. It is actually Astillero Magdalena. We made the short trip further up the river and under the bridge to the boat yard the first thing Monday morning. We pulled right into the travel lift basin and were hauled immediately. They went to work right away, pressure washing, and then sanding the bottom. By the end of the day it was practically ready for paint. This is the first time we have not done the work ourselves. We could not have accomplished in a week what took them a day. Firstly we would not be able to work in the heat as they do, and even without the heat we would not have the stamina. We stayed aboard on the hard, but maybe that was not the best idea. During the day, each day, the temperature top out a 106 degrees inside the cabin. We managed to get it down to 92 degrees by bedtime and it would be mid-eighties in the morning. We stayed off the boat pretty much except for eating and sleeping. The second day they finished up sanding and then applied two coats of paint, leaving about four hours between coats. The third and final day they moved the stands and applied the two coats there and then finally lifted it on the travel lift, applies paint were the blocks were under the keel and let it hang for awhile to dry. At about 11 we were back in the water. We could not have been happier with the whole experience. The work was excellent, everyone was friendly and hard working. We feel we got excellent value for our investment.

We are so glad that is behind us and we should be good for another couple of years. Our timing worked out well as it has rained a lot since getting back to the marina.

Back On Ariel

2010-10-18T16:30:00.006-04:00

We are back on Ariel. Before we started this adventure we expected we would be off Ariel to visit friends and family for about a month, two at the most each year. Never did we expect to be away for four months. With hurricanes and the rainy season in Guatemala it didn't make sense to stay in Rio Dulce. Our travels home and returning could not have been smoother. We were concerned returning to Guatemala as we we maxed out on luggage with four checked bags, each weighing just under 50 pounds, and each with carry-ons. The luggage included boat parts which we kept our fingers crossed would clear customs in Guatemala. We sailed right through. The taxis here are very small so it was a real pinch getting our bags and us into such a tiny vehicle.

A day before our planned departure last June, we got word that my brother Bill died. Our plans had been set to spend a week in Antigua, Guatemala before our flight out. Given plans for the memorial service and the cost to change the air tickets, we decided to stay with our original schedule. Despite the circumstances we enjoyed Antigua and highly recommend it as a tourist destination. While there, we both visited the dentist for checkup and cleanings and Linda saw a dermatologist. The cost savings are substantial and the quality is excellent. We are anxious to get back to Antigua and plan on doing so later this year.

When not traveling, we stayed with my mother. We have done this before, but for shorter periods and knew it would work out. We are able to help with work on the house, yard and garden, which we appreciate to have something meaningful to do. We thank her so much for putting up with us and for agreeing to have us back next summer.

The highlight of the summer was spending time with our grandchildren. We managed to spend extended time with all them without their parents. We had Thomas with us for a while his parents went on vacation to the Adirondacks and Vermont. He attended Vacation Bible School at my mother's church and had a great time.

We went camping with Michael and Evelyn on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie. We hadn't been camping for a number of years but we all did pretty well. We then took them both back to upstate New York with us for a NASCAR race at Watkins Glen.

And then in early September Scott and Pamela were in a wedding party so they decided to add a few days on to make it a vacation. We moved into their home and had Camyrn and Claire to ourselves for a few days. It was at times exhausting (Camyrn almost 3 and Claire just turned 1) but wonderful.

Of course we visited family and friends beyond spending time with our grandchildren.

We made the first step toward life beyond cruising, but not to be mistaken that we have plans to give this up anytime soon. We bought some land just outside of Corning, NY. We bought the land to eventually build on, but it does have a small house on it now which we are renting.

Right now we are getting Ariel back in shape and getting back in touch with old cruising friends and meeting new cruising friends. Our calendar is already becoming booked with social activities. We found the interior of Ariel to be exactly as when we left with no mold, mildew or insects. Our sealing and setting up the dehumidifier worked perfectly. The exterior is another matter. It was pretty black, especially the teak. A film of mildew covered everything and the spiders had made quite a mess. The good news is that the mildew cleaned off easily, but not so for the spider messes which takes some serious scrubbing.

Right now we are getting our plans set to haul out and have the bottom painted. This will be the first time we have not painted it ourselves. Hooray.

Off For The Summer

2010-06-18T11:31:00.001-04:00

We are back in the United States. We will not be making any additional blog entries until we return to Guatemala in mid October. Everyone please enjoy the summer.

In Memory of Bill

2010-06-18T11:14:00.005-04:00

William R. Merrick, age 59, of Covington, PA, died Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Lindley, NY. William was born January 8, 1951 in Wellsboro, PA a son of Varley and Gladys (Karns) Merrick. William was an accountant for Ron Baltzley Hardwoods in Covington, PA. He was a U.S. Army veteran having served during the Vietnam War.

William is survived by mother, Gladys of Lindley, NY; a son, Chad Merrick of Wellsboro, PA; a daughter, Alicia Merrick of Wellsboro, PA; three brothers and sisters-in-law, Mark (Brenda) Passmore of Marion, NY, Richard (Maggie) Passmore of St. Paul, MN, and Norman (Linda) Passmore of Broadview Heights, OH.

October 2009 Blog Posting - Bill's Visit With Us On Ariel

Last Days in Guatemala

2010-06-05T11:03:00.005-04:00

We are now in Antigua, Guatemala, making a brief stop on our way out of Guatemala. We will write about Antigua when we return to Guatemala in October. For now we are just getting ourselves an advance review since we plan to spend two weeks here at Spanish language school when we return.

We spent the past couple weeks getting the boat ready to leave for four months, but we were not so busy that we did not have time to enjoy the area and spend time with other cruisers. We were down to two couples, us and Bill and Pat aboard Mobetah, but then two additional boats came in to Monkey Bay - TiTaRo and big catamaran from Munich, Germany with Theo and Rosemarie aboard, and then Calusa with John and Robyn aboard .

We visited a fort just a short distance past the bridge and only about a 15 minute dinghy ride. Castillo San Felipe dates to 1641.

Pictures - Castillo San Felipe

This is a Boa Constrictor that stayed in the same spot next to our kitchen area digesting it's last meal which we think may have been a bird. The large bulge has since disappeared.

Some of the devastation caused by the flooding from tropical storm Agatha is very near the Rio Dulce, just about 30 minutes away, but on the other side of the mountain. As is typical, the cruisers came together to provide food and clothing which was gathered in town and trucked in to the effected areas each morning.

Life On The Rio

2010-05-22T16:07:00.005-04:00

Rio (river) Dulce (sweet) could not be more aptly named. We have settled into our life here and it is everything and more than we expected. There are several marinas stretched over a few miles around the town of Rio Dulce, sometimes referred to as Fronteras (Frontier). I would say the average marina size is 15 - 20 boats and so there are probably in excess of 300 boats waiting out hurricane season here. Many marinas, such as ours are accessible only by water, as are many of the businesses. Needless to say our dinghy gets a good workout. We take our laundry to the Backpackers Hotel just under the bridge. Each load is 35 Q, washed dried and folded which is is about $4.50 USD. We visit businesses along the river and in town and while it takes some searching we can usually find what we need. The fruits and vegetables in town are fantastic so we go often.

The orphanage, Casa Guatemala, comes to the marina in their launcha twice a week with frozen and refrigerated goods, so we buy our meats, cheese, butter and yogurt from them. Friday nights we go to Tortugal marina for pizza and a movie. Actually they send their launcha to pick us up. There is usually a good crowd from Marios marina, Catamarans marina, and from our marina - Monkey Bay. Of course there are many restaurants and the prices are very reasonable so they are fun to try out.

And the monkey have been around.

Tikal

2010-05-17T15:21:00.004-04:00

We took our first extended inland trip to the ancient Mayan ruins Tikal and to the city of Flores on Lago Peten Itza. We traveled with Ray and Vonnie sailing on Wishbone from Toronto, Ontario. It is a three hour bus trip to Flores and Tikal is another 63 km. The trip could not have been better. We got to our hotel, La Casa De Don David, which was 2/3 the distance between Flores and Tikal in time for a late dinner, which was included in the room price. We arranged a guided tour which would start with our ride from the hotel at 5:30 am. We had an excellent tour guide, Caesar Moran. By 1 pm we were all exhausted from the heat, hiking and climbing and called it quits to return to our hotel. Beyond the ruins, the park has such an incredible variety of flora, fauna, birds and wildlife. We would have liked to spend several days, but our time (budget) was limited. The following day we went back to the city of Flores to get a hotel on the little island connected by a causeway. We liked our minivan driver that took us to and from the park so we had made arrangements with for him to take us Flores. It was also a treat to walk around this very quaint city. After a short three days we were back on the Rio Dulce, but with great memories.

Link to wikitravel Tikal

Tikal Pictures

Agua Caliente

2010-05-09T20:05:00.007-04:00

A group of us from Monkey Bay, fourteen in all, planned a little excursion to an agua caliente (hot springs). This one is about one half way along the northern shore of Lago Isabel or about 12 or 13 miles from Rio Dulce, also know as Fronteras. We each brought our own drinks and most of us bought fried chicken in town to take for our lunch. We caught a collective, a mini van which dropped us off near the entrance to the agua caliente. While a collective is crowded, it is very inexpensive. The agua caliente was great for swimming. It consisted of a stream flowing by with cool, but definitely not cold water, with a waterfall cascading into it from the hot spring. The spring water was extremely hot, so the water in the pool below the falls was quite warm. Just upstream the water was much cooler. It was a fun outing. Luckily when we hiked back out the collective (same guys) had guessed when we would be done and had parked under a shade tree to wait for us.

Agua Caliente Pictures

Monkey Bay Marina

2010-05-07T10:40:00.009-04:00

We arrived at our marina on May 1, so we have been here just a week. We could not be happier with our selection of Monkey Bay. There are several marinas and each is unique. We struggled trying to decide, of course site unseen. Monkey Bay is noted to be a little more quiet than some mostly because it does not have a restaurant attached. It is only accessible by water. We were welcomed by everyone and immediately included in all the activities. It seems there is always something going on. Right now there are a lot of us here but it will begin thinning out soon as people head north for the summer If nothing else we all get together everyday for happy hour, but there is also dominos, eating out at restaurants, going shopping and taking little excursions, and it has only been a week. It is so comfortable here. You can leave your things out, like food in the refrigerator, or shower stuff in the cabinets at the showers, or maybe the book you are reading in the palapa and no one will bother it. We have our sail bags in the palapa to be out of our way until we leave for example. The marina is managed by John, a super guy with a very good reputation for caring for the boats while the owners are away. We have heard the monkeys, but have not seen them yet. They should be back soon. They apparently make a circuit, allowing time for the leaves to grow back before returning. We do have a couple porcupines living in our palapa.

Rio Dulce Pictures

Monkey Bay Pictures

Arriving Guatemala

2010-04-29T12:47:00.004-04:00

With the forecast for high winds later in the week outside the entrance to the Rio Dulce, we decided, along with most other boats in Placencia, to advance our arrival in Livingston, Guatemala a few days. Monday morning I alone with three other boats caught the 7:45 am Hokey Pokey water taxi from Placencia to the small village of Mango Creek. Once in Mango Creek we negotiated with John, a taxi (mini van) driver a rate to take us to all the stops to clear out, wait for us at each stop and return us to the water taxi. We piled in and the first stop was immigration in the police station right in Mango Creek. Next we went to Big Creek, about three miles away to clear customs. Big Creek is a shipping port, primarily for the export of bananas. A ship was arriving so the customs officer was not at the office. Nothing to do but wait. While waiting the Port Captain rode up on his bicycle and processed our papers and collected a departure fee. Meanwhile Kathy off Tundra would knock on the customs door every once in awhile, probably out of frustration. Eventually a guy open the door. He had worked a long hard weekend and was not on duty and would we please stop banging on the door. About 15 minutes later he again opened the door and said he would process us. I think he just wanted to get rid of the noisy crowd.

On the way back to the water taxi, John stopped in town at a fruit and vegetable tienda, obviously a friend or relative, but were were please as the selection and the prices were good. I returned to the boat with a pineapple, a papaya, cucumbers and tomatoes.

We decided to break our trip from Placencia to Livingston into two short days. We definitely wanted to arrive in Livingston in the morning and get on up the river. Livingston is not a safe place to stay. High tide was at 7 am and we crossed a couple hours later. We were the last boat for the day, joining about a 1/2 dozen boats already at anchor while clearing in to Guatemala. We arrived in time to catch Raul, the agent that helps with clearing in or out, and the entourage of officials while they were still out boarding boats, which is the beginning of the process. We only had the anchor down about 15 minutes before Raul, the Port Captain, immigrations, customs, and the medical officer (in scrubs) came aboard. They all gathered in the cockpit where we presented our papers and answered their questions. They all spoke English and very very friendly and professional. After about 10 minutes they were on their way and we were left with a map and an 11:30 appointment at Raul's office to pick up our completed paperwork and pay our fees.

We had our first experience ever with boat boys when arriving at the government dock in our dinghy. Not really boys or at least not young boys, they will look after your boat while away in town. It is recommended to pay this small expense in Livingston. Well our first experience was not pleasant. They were all clamoring for our business and we choice a young man that appeared to be trustworthy. A guy we didn't choose felt cheated and a pretty good shouting match broke out. We could not shake the rejected guy and he followed us to the bank constantly still arguing his case. He even went into the bank with me and I sent him back outside. Coming out I gave him Q20 to go away and that worked. 1 USD = 7..88 Quetzales. We walked around town while killing time before our appointment, but the heat was just too much so we found a restaurant, ordered drinks and watched the activity from our shady spot.

We had Raul also process our boat extension. The initial boat permit is for three months, but it can be extended an additional year. We will fly back to the United States in June, so we paid Raul the extension fees and signed the application and he will forward the extended permit to Monkey Bay marina when it arrives.

We found our dinghy in good shape, paid our boat boy and were back on Ariel before lunch.

Our reservation at Monkey Bay marina is not until May 1 so we will take our time going up the river. We could certainly go in right away but we wanted to spend some time at Texan Bay marina which is about halfway, just after entering El Golfete, a wide part of the river.

Going from Livingston at the mouth of the river to El Golfete is an amazing 10 miles or so. The rivers winds through a canyon that at times is shear rock walls that soar 300 feet. Most of the steep sides are covered with trees and vines hanging down to the water. It is just one of those places where pictures do not do it justice.

Texan's Mike and Sherry Paine started Texan Bay Marina about five years ago. We took a slip ($10/day) and are using the opportunity to meet cruisers. Most boats stop here on the way and either take a slip or anchor in the peaceful bay in front of the marina. It is a fun place. Last night the excuse for the party was - Full Moon.

Placencia

2010-04-23T16:29:00.003-04:00

We are now in Placencia, only the third community we have been to in Belize and the first on the mainland. San Pedro, where we cleared in is actually on Ambergris Caye. After leaving Caye Caulker we traveled short distances on the days we moved and stayed behind some of the numerous cays that lie behind the barrier reef. Most of the cays are uninhabited, some are private and a few have only fishing camps. For the most part we had the place to ourselves with no one within site as far as we could see.

We have really lost contact with news from the United States since losing our satellite radio signal. We tried the BBC on the HF radio, but the short time they are on did not carry any real news of importance to us. We were talking with a cruising family from Vancouver and they asked if we knew whether the healthcare bill in the US had passed. Well, that was old news so we were able to answer that one. Logically you would think with internet we could keep up. Our internet access is sporadic, that when we get it we have much higher priorities that checking on news stories.

The boat are headed for the Rio Dulce in pretty good numbers now. The is a full moon coming up, so there will be dozens taking advantage of the higher tides to get across the bar outside the entrance to the Rio Dulce. Our draft is such that we do not have to worry so much about timing. We plan to stay here in Placencia for another four or five days and then clear out of Belize and head for Guatemala, which will be our home, or at least Ariel's home for the hurricane season.

Here in Placencia, the Paradise Resort Hotel is cruiser friendly, with free WiFi, trash disposal, laundry and happy hour - who could ask for more. This is our new temporary hangout.

I got a new face mask, although not a very good one, and decided to finish cleaning the bottom of the hull. I immediately found two barracuda had taken up residence under the boat up against the hull. They didn't seem happy with my arrival and approached me in an intimidating fashion. I was hesitant, but one was about 20 inches and the other smaller so I decided they could not do too much harm. They behaved just like little nippy dogs. The would approach menacingly to with in about six inches and then if I made a move toward them they would dart away but come right back and repeat. I decided to ignore them the best I could. I was down there for about 1 1/2 hours and they were still there when I finished still playing the same old game.

Belize

2010-04-15T17:25:00.002-04:00

Belize is a small country, about the size of Massachusetts and with a population of only about 300,000. With such a small population the environment and the wildlife in Belize is able to thrive. Belize is protected from the sea by a barrier reef, the largest in the Western Hemisphere. At 185 miles in length it is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in size. Belize gained their independence from Britain in 1981. Belize is culturally diverse with Creoles, Latinos, Maya, Garafuna, East Asians and whites. Belize also has a sizable Mennonite community which has been helpful in Belize becoming self-sufficient in chicken, dairy products and corn.

We really feel like we have transitioned into another world and can certainly understand how cruisers stay year after year. We feel like rookies again as we meet cruisers that have been in the Northwest Caribbean for a number of years. Certainly Belize is the best cruising grounds we have encountered to date. The locals are friendly and we enjoy interacting with them. Our surroundings are just beautiful beyond description. The water temperature is in the mid 80's. The temperature on the boat as long as we have the trade winds hovers between a low of about 80 just before sunrise to about 90 at the peak. It is bearable with fans going a descent winds. I think we are adapting because if it gets into the 70's we feel a chill.

San Pedro, Belize Pictures

Caye Caulker, Belize Pictures

Traveling to San Pedro

2010-04-14T17:01:00.001-04:00

It was quite the adventure traveling from Isla Mujeres, Mexico to San Pedro, Belize. We cleared out of Mexico easily enough, first stopping in at the Immigration office and then getting the final paperwork completed with the Port Captain. He issued us our all important Zarpe (clearance document). We had estimated two long travel days, the first to be about 18 hours and the second to be about 24 hours. After lunch we got underway and with the steady trade winds the sailing was good. There is a two and sometimes three knot current flowing south to north. The only hope to minimize the impact is to stay close to shore, which is often times a reef. It turns out this is easier said than done.

We always carry paper charts, but navigate with electronic charts. The electronic charts are made from the same datum used for paper charts so they are not anymore accurate. We found very little in the way of depth soundings along the Mexican coast and some that we observed were wildly inaccurate.

During daylight we attempted to maintain a depth of 60 feet which put us in close but not so close we would get into trouble. At night we moved out to 100 feet. The continental shelf is very close to shore so often we were in very deep water (too deep to get a sounding) and of course running against the current. We arrived at our planned stop behind Culebra Cay in Bahia de la Ascencion at 8:45 am. It was a very quiet isolated location and a good place to rest.

The following day we left right after listening to the cruiser's net on the SSB radio. We continued to use are same strategy using the depth sounder to keep our comfortable distance from the shore. During the night the winds began to build and with that the seas became a little rougher. We both got unexpected soaking whenever a wave would hit the boat at a awkward angle. These were not light showers, these were full drenchings.

The entrance to San Pedro through the barrier reef is very narrow and requires executing a right hand turn immediately after clearing the barrier reef to avoid running up on the drying reef. We began to expect it would not be possible with the heavy waves to enter, but pulled in close to have a look see. The yellow buoy which marks the entrance was out of sight behind the rollers more often than being visible so it was not a hard decision to pass on that.

The bad news was the next safe entrance was an additional six hours away. We have learned to take these things in stride so we just picked a new waypoint and pushed on. We entered the main channel, which is very wide and deep. This is the way the cruise ships enter Belize. We anchored behind Water Cay, the first available place to stop. We were anchor down at 3:30 pm. We had to clean up the boat, especially the cockpit which was sticky from all the saltwater. We actually waited for our first Belize sunset before retiring to bed.

The next day we left a 6:30 am so we could get in to San Pedro in plenty of time to check in. We didn't realize it at the time but it was actually 5:30 am Belize time. They do not have daylight savings time in Belize. Keeping track of time has been more challenging that expected. Mexico just switched to DST on April 4.

Our charts are much better in Belize waters which makes sense since Belize was a British colony and the charts are British Admiralty. Traveling back to San Pedro inside the reef was an entirely new experience. Even though the charts were better, it would not be prudent to attempt travel in some of these areas without Freya Rauscher's Cruising Guide. The water can get very skinny. We traveled for miles with depths around six feet. Your whole perspective changes so when it goes to seven feet, you feel you can now relax now the water is deep again. I thought I was slightly off track at one point, steering by headings and sightings on objects (no GPS waypoint) and in correcting found ourselves rubbing the keel on the bottom for awhile. No harm as it is all sand, and we don't think there is any paint left on the bottom of the keel anyway. Luckily we were able to push our way back to deeper water - ah now six feet sounds good.

Finally, at 11:15 (10:15 Belize) we were anchored in San Pedro. We finally became aware of the actual time when we got to Immigration and had to wait for them to return from lunch. There were several people waiting. Belize only grants 30 days at a time so everyone else was there to renew for another 30 days. You can easily get additional days but it requires a visit to Immigration every 30 days. The first 30 days is free, but after that it is $50 for the next 30 days and each 30 days thereafter.

Checking into Belize was very straight forward. We first went to Immigration and then next door to Customs. Each charged us a boarding fee of $20 US. (In Belize either currency can be used and it can be intermingle in the same transaction. The ratio is $1 US = $2 B. After completing the paperwork at customs we took a customs officer our to Ariel in our dinghy for his cursory inspection.

Now to enjoy Paradise

Enjoying Isla Mujeres

2010-04-03T11:55:00.006-04:00

It could be real easy to get too comfortable here in Isla Mujeres and forget to move on. We plan to leave Monday after Easter, bound for Belize. We typically get our day started first by listening to the Northwest Caribbean net on the SSB radio and then the Isla Mujeres net on the VHF radio. The majority of the cruisers we have met are heading in the opposite direction. Cruiser gatherings for potlucks or breakfast at one of the local resturants are announced on the net so it is really easy to meet other cruisers.

Anchorage at Isla Mujeres (Picture taken from ferry)

One of the many ferries that run between Pureto Juarez (Cancun) and Isla Mujeres

Cancun now has three Walmarts. We didn't go to Walmart (we did go to one in Merida), but we did go to the Sam's Club and bought a few groceries. It was interesting. The layout and operating procedures seemed to be the same, but the goods carried where very much tailored to the preferences of the local community.

Frigate bird

On Good Friday we noticed a large crowd moving south along Rueda Medina, the major north-south road. We assumed it was related to Good Friday and then spotted a cross being carried as confirmation. We hurried in and joined the solemn procession of hundreds just before entering town. The reenactment of Christ crucifixion was very well done and a moving experience.

Chichén Itzá

2010-03-20T12:04:00.014-04:00

Some people have asked us about or expressed a concern about our safety in Mexico, especially with the recent news of the violence in the border regions. For us the opposite is true. While we have not even been here two weeks, we have covered a lot of ground and we could not feel more secure. In Merida , a fairly large city, we wandered all over and never felt even a hint of insecurity or even impoliteness. We did not even hear a single police siren during our stay. The police we present; in the parks but also providing information, at intersections to keep the flowing, and at government sites providing security. For the most part we sought out restaurants and cafes away from the hotels, trying to avoid any that might cater to tourist. We were never disappointed and managed to communicate one way or another. Our last night in Merida we went to a close by park that has free concerts every Thursday night at 9 pm. We really enjoyed the atmosphere. The gathering was huge, the performances excellent, only the speeches to honor some event were lost on us.

We booked a tour to Chichén Itzá, which is a Mayan ruin, about 1/3 of the way on the return to to Cancun. We found an option where we could start our day with a group traveling from Merida and then switch to a group that had traveled from Cancun, therefore arriving in Cancun without additional transportation. After checking out of the hotel in plenty of time for our 9 am tour, we waited, and waited. At 9:30 I asked the hotel desk to dial the tour company for me. The tour company asked us to wait a few more minutes. Finally at 9:45 a couple guys in a van picked us up and explained they would take us to our 19 seat your van which was at some gas station. Finally joining our tour group we were on our way. Later in the day our tour guide, explained that it is not polite in Mexico to be on time and that they know many Americans have trouble adjusting to Mexican time. We were happy that we had a tour guide at Chichén Itzá to explain twhat we were seeing.

After leaving Chichén Itzá we went to a cenote (sink hole). There are no above ground rivers or lakes in the Yucatan, but there are underground rivers and many cenotes. This particular cenote was spectacular.

After lunch we were left to wait for our new tour group that was much larger and traveling in a bus. While waiting we met an interesting couple from Hong Kong. They were at the very end of a three month vacation. They had been to Argentina, took a two week cruise to Antartica, visited Chile, the Galapagos, Guatemala, Mexico and others. After about an hour wait we were on our way to Cancun. They had told us 20 minutes, but knew that was not true as soon as the words were spoken. We are adjusting to Mexican time. They normally return people to their hotels, but since we didn't have one they agreed to leave us at the ADO bus terminal where we knew it would be easy to get a taxi to our ferry in Puerto Juarez. Our trip became very interesting once we got Cancun as we got a bus tour of the complete hotel district. We had been interested in seeing it, but not necessarily willing to go out of our way to do so. From our view, you would not know you were in Mexico in that part of Cancun. We were that the last to be dropped off. A quick taxi ride, a run to catch the ferry and a few minutes later we were back at Isla Mujeres. We were back on Ariel at 9:30, exhausted from a week of substantial immersion into the Spanish language and Mexican culture. It was wonderful.

Chichén Itzá Pictures

Hacienda Soyuta De Peón

2010-03-18T19:15:00.003-04:00

We took a one day organized tour to Hacienda Soyuta De Peón which is south of Merida. Between the mid 19th century and mid 20th century there was a boom for the fibers from the henequén plant. This grows well in the rugged, dry and rocky Yucatan soil. The fibers are used primarily to make rope. Synthetic materials brought and end to the era.

Hacienda Soyuta De Peón Pictures

link to site: http://www.haciendatour.com/

Mérida

2010-03-18T19:14:00.011-04:00

We decided to visit Mérida which is in the Northwest part of the Yucatan Penninsula. To get there we took the car ferry to the mainland (only 18 pesos, compared to 70 pesos we paid for the high speed ferry last week. We then took a van to the bus terminal. There are buses leaving about every hour for Mérida so we knew we should be able to get one soon. We got on the 12:30 ADO-GL and then we had about a four hour ride from Cancun to Mérida. ADO or ADO-GL is the recommended level of service. It was very comfortable. Arriving in Mérida, we then took a taxi to our hotel, which we had booked in advance. We are staying at the Gran Real Yucatan near the city center. After getting settled in and washed up we went out searching for a place to eat. We found a place with live music and it looked no further. Now that we are away form the high tourist Cancun area, the menu is more of a challenge. I think we are both just ordering by names that sound good. So far it has been working and we are getting to try new dishes. To get off to a good start we booked a two hour narrated bus tour of the city for the next morning. At breakfast, we found almost all the other guest in the hotel are with a German your group. We shared our table with a young German couple so we had someone we could speak with in English. Before our tour we checked out a couple churches close by. After our tour we had lunch and then went to see a Dali art exhibit at the Olympio, Of course we had to check out the shopping. Our best tip came from a local who pointed us to a Mayan Cooperative. We feel very comfortable in this city. The people are very friendly. The streets, parks, plazas and shops are just a bustling with activity. Our little bit of Spanish we have absorbed is really paying off.

Bienvenidos a Mexico

2010-03-14T11:42:00.007-04:00

Hola,

Isla Mujeres (EES-lah, moo-HEH-rehs), island of women is about five miles long and maybe at most 1/2 mile wide. It is offshore 4 miles from the mainland state of Quintana Roo and about 4 1/2 miles NW of Cancun. High speed ferries depart every 30 minutes to provide a steady stream of tourist from the Cancan hotel district. The north end of Isla Mujeres is packed with small shops, restaurants and golf cart rentals and the sort. Our marina fortunately is well away in a quiet part of the island. All of the boats in the marina are foreign flagged. It is about 1 1/2 miles to the tourist area and we walk there daily, if nothing more than to get the exercise, but often for lunch.

Any boat staying in Mexico more than six days is suppose to pay an import fee of $50. The certificate is good for ten years. Our first big adventure then was to go pay the fee. We took the ferry to Puerto Juarez, walked to the new government building which houses Customs, Immigration, Health and the one we needed - Banjercito. We provided forms with inventories of equipment and electronics on board and serial numbers for boats and engines. Jose at the marina reviewed our forms before we went so it went smoothly. With our business completed we returned as there really wasn't much to see in Puerto Juarez.

We have been fascinated watching the instillation of some new pilings in the marina. The only power tool used was a pump to pump the sand out of the hole to sink the piling. The huge pilings were delivered by the road. These guys used a chain-fall to drag the pilings to the water then floated them to the site. They erected the scaffolding you see them on, worked the piling to a vertical position and then one guys dives down to place the suction hose while the other two wiggle the piling. It slowly sinks several feet into the sand bed. These are very hard working men.

Crossing to Mexico

2010-03-10T10:58:00.004-05:00

We set our departure time from Key West based on our desired arrival time in Isla Mujeres using a range of speed assumptions. We wanted to arrive during daylight, preferably in the morning with the sun behind us. We were at our first waypoint just off Key West at 9 am exactly as planned after topping off the fuel on the way out. We rolled out the sails and turned off the engine and spent a fantastic day sailing to our next major waypoint 12 miles south of Dry Tortugas. We saw several turtles along the way, get it, turtles - tortugas. We then turned south toward Cuba for a nighttime gulf stream crossing. We shorten sails at night so we rolled in the jib and started the engine, running at low RPM's. A shark checked us out with his fin breaking the surface. We saw several ships during the night as we were running perpendicular to the shipping lanes. It was really dark until 1 am when a half moon finally made its appearance. The gulf stream was pretty rough making it virtually impossible to sleep when not on watch. With dawn, Cuba was visible on the horizon. . Our plan was to be out of the gulf stream and catch a counter current which usually runs along the coast of Cuba. Unfortunately when we reached the 12 mile limit, still in international waters we were still in the gulf stream. We had little choice but to turn west directly into it. For the next 24 or so hours we pushed against a 2 knot current. Approaching Cabo San Antonio at the western tip of Cuba, we finally found a counter current but it was less than 1/2 knot and didn't last long. Crossing from Cuba to Mexico we had a period during the night with 5 plus knots of current with very high seas. Needless to say we were very happy to finally get out of the gulf stream. Our total trip on the GPS was 401 miles from our Key West mooring to Marina Pariaso in Isla Mujeres, but the knotmeter record 488 miles which means were traveled an extra 87 miles due to adverse conditions. Good sailing conditions (very fast) and changing our route to shorten it by 20 miles let us still arrive at a favorable time. We were tied up at the marina at 10:45 local time (11:45 EST) and that was after waiting about 30 minutes for a boat to vacate the slip they had for us.

Neither of us are prone to sea sickness but we were concerned about the length of time at sea and the potential rough conditions. Linda put on wrist bands which place pressure on an acupuncture point. I took Stugeron, a drug known to combat seasickness, but not approved by the FDA or available in the US. Neither of us was at all seasick, so who knows. I was able to carry on all normal activities including reading with no ill effects.

They recommend having all the paperwork ready before arriving to incudes 6 copies of our passports, 6 copies of our crews list and 4 copies of our ships documentation. I did, and it was a good thing because Jose, who became out agent, jumped aboard to help with lines and as soon as we had the last line tied he wanted our documentation. Within minutes I was up to the office to meet with Health and Sanitation. Our first obstacle was explaining why we did not have Zarpe. When leaving the US they do not clear you out of the country. Almost all countries will clear you out and you show this to the next country to clear in. I provided the fuel receipt from Key West, when we topped off and this was enough to get by. Within the hour we had 8 officials aboard Ariel representing Immigration, Customs and Health and Sanitation. Interestingly these were all women. I wrote a letter addresses to the Port Captain explaining again why we did not have Zarpe. They know but it is a ritual I guess. Jose did the running around in the afternoon to pay the fees and get the final approval from the Port Captain. The agent fee for all this was only $30, but I tipped Jose generously. We were exhausted and were delighted we did not have to negotiate the clearing in process on our own. We stayed aboard the rest of the day even though we were cleared and went to bed right after dinner.

Windsong Heading North

2010-03-05T15:35:00.003-05:00

Ted and Alice on Windsong after overcoming a dismasting and numerous maintenance issues finally had to give up on the adventure when Ted received his follow-up blood test results. There really isn't any room for compromise on medical situations with the cruising lifestyle. They certainly could not put out to sea for about 72 hours with a known medical condition. It is extremely hard continuing on without them. We have traveled together for the past few months and during that time worked out our plans to visit Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. They are good friends and we miss them dearly. Their home port is Oxford, Maryland and they now plan to return with Windsong immediately. Their son Scott is a medical doctor so they always have good ready medical advise. Be safe Ted and Alice

Key West Revisited

2010-03-05T08:41:00.016-05:00

From early November, 1968 through the beginning of May, 1969, I was stationed in Key West to attend school. Our school was on a small corner of the base next to the old sea plane base. This is on the north side of Key West adjacent to Fleming Key. We are now on a mooring not far off from that exact area. I really enjoyed my time that winter in Key West and have always wanted a return visit. It has brought back a lot of wonderful memories and it has been interesting to see the changes, which are many. The school no longer exist. The grounds now have Key West School Board buildings and parking for the school buses. My former classroom buildings still exist but they are boarded up. The biggest change we see is the level of tourism. Back then there were no cruise ship visits, and now we see one in port almost every day. The area that then had a shrimp boat fleet and shrimp processing plants now has modern marinas. Duval Street is much busier and even more crowded. I took the Conch Train ride back then. It is a narrated tour of the old town part of the city. I think then they had two or three trains at most. We just took the Conch Train tour and they now have fifteen operating. That about says it all.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville - of course we had cheeseburgers

Bikers are finding it too cold in Daytona for the upcoming Bike Week. The same thing happened last year and they had to close Duval Street to make it a parking lot for the motorcycles.

The southern most point in the United States.

The famous "Sloppy Joes"

Where To From Key West?

2010-03-04T08:03:00.003-05:00

We are in Key West positioned for an adequate period of settled weather to continue on. It has taken a long tome to get here, but we have been watching the weather in the Gulf of Mexico carefully for the past three months and has been unsettled to one front after another passing through with the southern branch of the jet stream very low in the US. We arrived in Key West on March 1, taking advantage of a brief period between fronts. Before leaving Marathon we saw the potential for a good size weather window (favorable conditions) in the Gulf of Mexico beginning on March 5 and wanted to be positioned for it. Why the interest in the Gulf of Mexico weather? Our next stop will be Isla Mujeres, Mexico, an island off the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and just off Cancun. The trip will take us about three days and three nights at sea, the longest by far for us. We are still working on our exact routing, looking at the current gulf stream position and strength. We hope to transmit our position every few hours which will then be posted on our blog. We will put a posting on the blog just before we leave. We have not yet decided on a Friday or Saturday departure.

Marathon (Boot Key Harbor)

2010-03-04T07:57:00.001-05:00

Our original plan for this winter was to be in Boot Key Harbor before Christmas and to secure a mooring for a month. Boot Key Harbor is one of the major gathering places for cruisers in the winter. There are 246 moorings, ample room for anchoring, although it is tight because there are so many boats.. The major attraction is that it is a well protected harbor and the City Marina which maintains the mooring field is extremely friendly with good facilities. The delays for Windsong caused us to finally arrive here two months late. This turned out to be a blessing. While it is a nice place we are now glad we did not spent a whole month here, especially with the unusually cool weather this year for Florida. In hindsight spending the time in Cocoa was a much better option. We stayed a week in Boot Key Harbor and enjoyed our stay but a week was plenty for us. We have concluded these large gathering places where cruisers stay for extended periods with organized activities is not our thing. John and Piper now have their boat in Fort Myers. We last saw them in Solomons as they passed on their way south. They just returned to their boat after spending a couple months back in Ohio. They drove down from Fort Myers to Marathon (Boot Key) to visit with us. While the visit was short as they drove both ways in the same day, it was so nice to see them again and it was the highlight of our stop in Marathon.. Next year we plan take Ariel to Fort Myers to visit them. The troubles for Windsong continue. They discovered a leak in the hydraulics for their steering after arriving in Boot Key. That has been fixed, but then Ted developed some medical problems which required a trip to the hospital. He is feeling better now, but needs a followup visit before being cleared to travel. We have moved on to Key West without Windsong given the level of uncertainty that they will be able to continue. We are hopeful that they will catch up with us.

Starting Down the Florida Keys

2010-02-19T15:21:00.006-05:00

We are at last in new territory for us. Ted and Alice on Wingsong re-joined us in North Palm Beach on February 14. Their boat is completely repaired and in good working order. We got underway the next day taking the ICW to Pompano Beach and then the following day going outside down the coast to Miami. We spent two days ashore in Miami Beach. We are now moving down the keys, expecting to be in Marathon on Sunday before the cold front

This is the end of the line for us on the ICW. The Inter Coastal Waterway continues on the inside (north) of the keys but becomes too shallow for the draft of Ariel. We will move to the outside going through Angel Fish Creek which is at the end of Key Largo. We will be in the Hawk Channel all the way to Key West. The Hawk Channel is between the outer reef and the keys so it is somewhat protected.

The Saga Continues

2010-02-07T16:47:00.003-05:00

We have continued south without Windsong. Their woes continue. Before their repairs were finished, repairs on a bridge just south of their location were started causing the center span height to be too low for their passage. They were then forced to wait for acceptable conditions to make an offshore leg. Our location at Ft. Pierce was fine for a couple days but not good for the long term. We have previously spent a lot of time at the anchorage in North Palm Beach and like the area. Windsong is underway now, but I will not jinx it by predicting when we will meet up.

On the Move Again- Finally

2010-01-30T15:28:00.003-05:00

We are now back in Fort Pierce, Florida. We last arrived here on April 2, last year, after returning from the Bahamas. We never dreamed it would be so long before we passed this way again. We are traveling temporarily without Wingsong. Their boat is repaired now and they should be just a day or two behind us. We just needed a change of scenery so we started without them but are holding to a very slow pace. Last spring we heard that the Farmers Market here in Fort Pierce is really worth visiting so we timed our visit to be here for the Saturday morning event. The advise was sound and we return with two large shopping bags filled with fruits, vegetables and breads. It is noticeably warmer now that we moved just a little farther south. The water is also warm and much clearer with the gulf stream having it's effects. Once Windsong arrives we expect quickly move on and will probably be in Miami for Superbowl weekend.

Feels Like Winter Here in Florida

2010-01-06T10:15:00.002-05:00

Ted and Alice on Windsong take about a month off from cruising to be home with their family for Christmas. For them Christmas is the time the whole family gets together. They left Windsong at a boatyard in Cape Canaveral to be repaired while they are away. We are at Cocoa Village Marina in Cocoa. While not as far south as we would like to be, we do like Cocoa and had jointly agreed on this area for the interruption to our travels southward. Almost since arriving here in mid-December it has been unseasonably cold, with temperatures at or below freezing at night and daytime highs averaging in the 50's. A benefit of the marina is being plugged in so that we have heat. Everything we need in readily available here in Cocoa. The bus stop is close by the marina and the fare is only 60 cents. The bus has stops at the mall entrance and at the Walmart entrance so shopping is very convenient.

Almost as soon as we arrived in Cocoa, Linda's sister Darlene and her husband John were here to pick us us for a visit with them in their recently acquired second home in Sebring. We enjoyed spending a few days with them. Their neighborhood goes all out with outdoor Christmas decorations and at night the line of cars is non stop as people form all over come to see the displays. This was a good way to get into the spirit of Christmas.

Having spent so much time this past summer getting Ariel in tip top shape their is little needed now so Linda is busy with cross stitch and I am keeping myself occupied with reading. There is a movie theatre at the mall so we treat ourselves occasionally. We did take on one major boat project. We decided to replace the vinyl windows in the dodger. The old vinyl had become scratched and with all the dew, fog and rain we had coming south we concluded it had become a hazard. Again the Sailrite sewing machine has proven to be a great investment. We replaced it with

Stratoglas, a better material than what we removed, which should hold up very well.

Ted and Alice will return on January 18 and with the boat repaired we hope we can get going again very soon thereafter. We had originally plan to be in the Keys before Christmas, but that idea went out before we ever got started with delays for repairs. We expect to move very quickly in that direction.

Windsong Recovering

2009-11-26T10:44:00.003-05:00

Windsong is getting their mast repaired on the go. They met with the insurance adjuster in Belhaven, NC just two days after the accident. They decided to have an Annapolis, MD rigger do the replacement. As it happens this rigger would be in Wrightsville Beach, NC the following weekend visiting relatives and he agreed to remove the mast and take it back to Annapolis. A new mast has already been ordered and when it is ready it will be shipped to a yard in Florida for the installation. So far we have only lost one day due to the accident which is really amazing. We spent the weekend in Wrightsville Beach, rented a car and visited Norms's cousin Bob and his wife Hattie in Ocean Isle, which is about a hour south of Wrightsville Beach. On Sunday they had some friends from work, along with us from both boats for some Frogmore Stew. We all had a great afternoon and a wonderful meal.

Once called Frogmore Stew, this one-pot wonder was created by a National Guardsman when he needed to cook a meal for 100 soldiers. Richard Gay, who learned the recipe from his family, had everyone remembering his stew. The dish was later named Frogmore, where Richard was from, by the guards who teased him about home. The postal service eliminated the name Frogmore, which changed this popular dish to Lowcountry boil.
This seafood dish is a combination of shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes. Great for relaxing trips to the beach, it is also easy to create for a crowd. Lowcountry boil can be served on newspaper for easy clean up. Crab, onion, and butter are frequent additions to the pot, and having a removable drain basket only makes cooking easier. The rule of thumb here is the bigger the crowd, the bigger the pot.

Lowcountry Boil
4 pounds small red potatoes
5 quarts water
1 (3-ounce) bag of crab boil seasoning
4 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
2 pounds kielbasa or hot smoked link sausage, cut into 1½-inch pieces
6 ears of corn, halved
4 pounds large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
optional Cocktail sauce
Add potatoes to large pot, then add 5 quarts water and seasonings. Cover pot and heat to a rolling boil; cook 5 minutes. Add sausage and corn, and return to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Add shrimp to stockpot; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain. Serve with cocktail sauce. Serves 12.

We are spending Thanksgiving at a marina on Pawleys Island, SC. The marina is managed by Ron Hamm. Ron and his wife Silvia are now former cruisers. We were introduced to them two years ago by Iain and Jan from Jocks Lodge. They just bought a home on Pawleys Island, finally giving up on cruising. We had a great visit at their new home Wednesday evening. They already had family plans for Thanksgiving, but left us with their car and the keys to their home. Windsong and Ariel have split the preparation of the meal and will have a traditional turkey dinner on board Ariel.

What A Time In The Dismal Swamp

2009-11-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, November 10, just after exiting the lock at Deep Creek and entering the Dismal Swamp Canal, we stopped at the free Elizabeth Dock. Severe weather was forecast and we knew Elizabeth Dock would be our best option having waited on weather there last year. As forecast the southern Virginia and northern North Carolina area along the coast got beaten up pretty badly with a nasty Nor'easter. Remnants of hurricane Ida combined with a strong coastal low, all of which was blocked by a high pressure system to the north. We had around eight inches of rain and wind gust we in the 60 - 70 mph range. We could not have been in a better spot since the locks somewhat protected the canal from coastal flooding. We saw the water level in the canal at our end go up about 6 inches and they did open the flood gates to drain the excess. At the other end of the canal the water had threatened to breech the lock. The bad news is the winds topple some trees across the canal. After the storm passed we had to wait on the Army Corp of Engineers to clear the canal before we could move on. Finally on Sunday the canal was reopened. The current was still pretty strong in the very narrow canal and we had to watch carefully for floating debris. While waiting on the 1:30 bridge at the far end of the canal it was quite a challenge to handle the boat with extra strong current from the receding flood waters flowing toward the bridge. We managed to get turned around with our bow facing the current which gave us much better control. Windsong was not so fortunate and got pulled over to the side. They snagged their mizzen mast on a tree limb, which is a hazard on this route, and unfortunately they were dismasted. They were able to come through the bridge with the toppled mast hanging over the side and tree limb trailing. We all tied to a bulkhead between the bridge and the lock. We had made friends with Debra, her husband David and her brother Scott on Ling Ling back at Deep Creek so they also stopped to help out. Between all of us and several people from the neighborhood that turned out, we managed to recover the mast, strip it of all hardware and get everything stowed on deck. We finished before dark and we all pretty worn out, but enjoyed going out for pizza before turning in for the night.

We Are Heading South At Last

2009-11-07T15:52:00.002-05:00

We are now back in Solomons having failed to escape the Bay before the cold weather settle in. Last night was a frost in our area. The good news is we are officially on our way south with our buddy boat Windsong.

A little more than a week ago we were passing the time on the very peaceful La Trappe creek enjoying watching huge flocks of geese, when we got the idea to defrost the freezer. Having completed this not so enjoyable task, the next day Linda then noticed the temperature was slowing rising in the freezer. It was very apparent that in my haste to get the defrosting done, I had damaged the evaporator plate. We decided to return to Oxford, now a day sooner than we had planned to be in better position to make a repair. Just before arriving at Oxford we had a call from Ted. He had found that his engine heat exchanger was leaking and the the entire unit would need to be replaced. The part would need to be shipped in and therefore we could not leave on schedule. We shared our story and we were both relieved that we were not holding each other up. The US distributor for our refrigeration system is in Bowie, Maryland so I made arrangements to go to their office to pick up the parts they recommended, which was a replacement evaporator, but also a filter dryer as a precaution, since the system had been compromised with the leak. Ted's brother in law David loaned us his car for the trip to Bowie. I installed the parts, which was really labor intensive, especially fitting the evaporator in the freezer. We made arrangements with Bachelors Point Marina and Boat Yard to evacuate the system and recharge it with R134 refrigerant. We tied up at their T head and stayed a few hours to allow the system to settle down after the new charge. Meanwhile Ted and Alice were continuing to have their own problems. The first part sent in was defective so a second had to be shipped. In testing the new heat exchanger, a leak in the exhaust system at the mixing elbow was discovered which ultimately required the fabrication of a replacement. Both boats were then ready and wouldn't you know, the winds on the Chesapeake were gusting 35. causing another day's delay.

We enjoyed our stay in Oxford. It is rich in history, having been established as the first port in Maryland in 1683. Ted's sister Margarete and her husband David invited us to dinner one evening. Margarete made the best crab cakes either of us have ever had. They are wonderful host with fascinating stories and have a beautiful home looking out on the Tred Avon River.

Eastern Shore

2009-10-28T13:02:00.006-04:00

Having been delayed in Solomons we trimmed our eastern shore exploration to the Choptank area. Our first visit was to Oxford, where Ted and Alice keep Windsong. They are wrapped up in the final, no matter how well planned, hectic preparations. They took time out to show us around Oxford. Ted's sister and her husband have a beautiful home on the waterfront. They graciously welcomed us into their home. A special treat was to spend a day fishing for Rockfish. Ted and his sister own a wooden hulled fishing boat. Originally built as a work boat, it was soon converted to recreational use. We didn't catch any fish, but we sure enjoyed the day. After leaving Oxford we went to St. Michaels arriving at the back door to save a long trip around. We have been there before by car on a couple occasions and enjoyed seeing it again. After leaving St. Michaels we went on up the Choptank to Cambridge. There is a small basin in town and we had it to ourselves for the few days we stayed there. Cambridge is pretty good size so we got in plenty of walking.

There are dozens upon dozens of places to anchor in the Choptank and all of the creeks and rivers that flow into it. We will spend the next few days sampling a few of these. We will return to Oxford on Saturday and weather permitting Ariel and Windsong will begin the trip south on Monday.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

2009-10-18T11:00:00.003-04:00

We never expected to still be in Solomons at this late date. We went into Spring Cove marina for one night to faciliate a survey of our boat the following morning. The survey, which is an in depth inspection of the boat structure and safety by a professional was required because we are changing insurance carriers. Our plans this winter will take us to the Western Caribbean which was not covered by our current policy. The survey found only two very minor deficiencies which we corrected the same day. After the survey we returned to anchor in Back Creek with a forecast of several days of bad weather. Our next planned stop is Oxford, Maryland on the Chesapeake's eastern shore and due northeast from Solomons. The winds were forecast to be from the northeast for the next week. It has been just downright cold and rainy and breezy. It has rained almost continuously for days with daily high temperatures barely breaking 50. We have made only a couple of excursions off the boat, one to visit Peter and Jane Bugg off Kinvara, dock mates from our marina in Rhode Island, and another just to go ashore for a cup of tea to stretch our legs. John and Linda Piper on Sea Life are anchored nearby, also pinned down, for them due to high seas. They have been anxious to get to the Norfolk area. We will be traveling again with Ted and Alice aboard Windsong. They keep their boat in Oxford when not traveling, hence Oxford being our next destination. We are looking forward to getting together to work on cruise plans.

More Friends Come to Solomons

2009-10-15T11:12:00.005-04:00

After leaving the marina we stayed relatively close to Solomons Island. We planned to meet Don and Janet Leech, friends from Pittsburgh when they came to Maryland for the boat show and then on to Solomons. We also expected John and Linda Piper aboard Sea Life, also mutual friends of Don and Janet to arrive the same weekend. John and Linda are on their way south having started in Sandusky, Ohio in late August. We returned from Smith Creek, just behind Point Lookout at the entrance to the Potomac River on Friday to find Sea Life quietly anchored in Back Creek. Many years ago when we lived in Ohio and sailed on Lake Erie in our previous boat, we took many many weekend and vacation cruises with John and Linda. We have been looking forward to sharing a few days in the same anchorage with them for a long time now. Don and Janet arrived a day sooner then expected and we were happy to see them. They sail out of Sandusky, Ohio and take extended summer cruises on the Great Lakes. We really enjoyed hearing about there trip this last summer from Lake Erie to the North Channel and then on to Lake Michigan. They were very kind to run us around shopping for a few needed items.

We Are Back in Cruising Mode

2009-10-15T07:28:00.007-04:00

We left Spring Cove Marina in Solomons on October 1, after four months. This summer was our time to visit family and friends and to complete a few boat projects.

Late last May we were still in the Dismal Swamp sitting out an all day rain event, when we received word that Linda's mother Elizabeth, aged 88, passed away. At the time she was in a nursing home recovering from hip surgery and plans were being made for more permanent arrangements, so it actually came a a surprise. We had already made arrangements with a marina on Solomons Island for the summer so we checked with them to be sure we could arrive a few days earlier than planned. We were still two days away but the weather was not cooperating. We moved the next day to Hampton in a light drizzle, but were then pinned down there for a day because of high winds and seas on the Chesapeake Bay. The following day the wind clocked around enough that we decided we could probably get some sails up to help pound through the waves. It worked as planned and we arrived at our new summer home late in the afternoon to be greeted by Linda's sister Dale and her husband Steve. They were driving up from Florida and we had made arrangements for them to pick us up on their way Penn Yan in upstate New York. On the return trip they dropped us at BWI airport as we already had to tickets to fly to Cleveland to retrieve our car from storage.
Having made reservations at Spring Cove Marina, site unseen, we have been extremely pleased. It was perfect for a long term stay. They have a large tree covered park like area with several picnic tables and charcoal grills, which we especially liked.
Our summer was a mix of many boat projects, getting Ariel ready for another couple years on the go, interspersed with visits to family and friends. In June we spent a week vacationing with our three children and their families in a large Victorian house we rented in Grand Haven, Michigan. It was a real treat to have everyone together. There was a pool, which is all that was needed to keep our four grandchildren happy. The vacation home is situation within a couple blocks from the downtown area with it’s shops and restaurants and also just a few blocks from the very active waterfront. It was touch and go that Pamela would be able to travel to our gathering so late in her pregnancy. Just a few weeks later, on July 23, their second daughter, Claire Parker Supelak was born.
In mid June we returned to upstate New York to visit family. We stayed with Norm's mom which has become our adopted land home base. We moved all of our belongings from our shipping container to a garage owned by Norm's mother. With the passing of Linda's mother, the future of the property on which the container is has become uncertain.

We were at the marina for four months, actually slightly longer and were anxious to get back to traveling. We made one last trip to visit our families, which took us to New York, Ohio and Michigan. We spent a couple days with each of our children and grandchildren. We stayed with Norm's mom a few days while she recovered from a needed surgery. She recovered quickly and she and Norm's brother Bill brought us back to Ariel and then spent the weekend. We had a wonderful weekend which included a day in Washington DC. Bill had never been to Washington. He did a tour in Viet Nam with the 173rd Airborne, and as difficult for him as it was, he visited the Viet Nam Memorial.

Just before leaving Spring Cove Marina, we had a surprise visit from Harry and Barbara Cochran, church friends from Franklin, MA. They travel around the country in a 5th wheel RV and we enjoy exchanging experiences with them. There is so much commonality between the RV community and the cruising community. Our paths have come close to crossing several times in the past couple years so it was very nice to finally connect.

Parked in Solomons

2009-06-02T14:31:00.004-04:00

We are now at our summer home at Spring Cove Marina in Solomons, Maryland. It is a wonderful marina, one we had noted when anchored nearby in the past. We have already retrieved our car from storage in Ohio, so we also have the luxury of personal transportation. We expect to stay here for at least three months, mixing our time between visiting family and friends and completing some much need maintenance on the boat. We already have a good start on the exterior teak. I have disassembled our windlass (used to lower and lift the anchor) and ordered the parts to bring it back to new condition. It is no longer manufactured, but I found a source for parts in the United Kingdom. So far we have been able to repair, rather than replace, but I am not sure how long we will be able to do that especially with the electronics.

Since we are staying put we will probably not be adding updates to the blog. Once we get going again we will of course publish updates.

Southern Hospitality

2009-05-14T08:18:00.003-04:00

We of course stopped in Belhaven, North Carolina, one our favorites. We were again rewarded with the kindness of strangers. On our way to the Food Lion supermarket, which by our standards is a short walk, we were offered and accepted a ride. We were walking with a French Canadian couple so three of us rode in the back of his pickup truck. The next morning we were off to fill a propane tank. Walking through town, we were met on the street by a guy who offered us his car. Since the propane business was a pretty good distance away and the tank would be heavy on the return trip, we gladly accepted his car keys. Arriving at the propane facility, we were disappointed to learn no one was available to fill our tank. Just as we were turning away, a propane delivery truck returned. The driver had seen us walking through town and returned to help us out.

We finally got to tie up at the town docks in Elizabeth City. (Last fall it was too crowded) This beyond any doubt is the most cruiser friendly stop on the entire ICW. We were greeted by Sam. There is aways a greeter waiting during the day. After getting settled Sam made sure we knew what was available. Our highlight for the afternoon was visiting the museum. This is a large modern building dedicated to the history of the Albemarle Sound and surrounding area. It is well done and recommended to anyone visiting nearby. Like the town dock, it is free. At 4:30 we were invited to a wine and cheese party, which Elizabeth City is famous for. The mayor joined us, was well as the tourism staff and the Rose Buddies. While they do this every night when there are at least five of six boats, they made us feel very special . Another tradition is each women is given a rose and pictured is Linda receiving her rose from the mayor.

2009-05-03T07:22:00.006-04:00

We stopped at a marina at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach, the first time in a marina since early December. This is a popular stop as it is in the heart of a tourist area with outlet stores, restaurants and the House of Blues and Alabama theatres immediately nearby. While all interesting, our purpose was to stop nearby my cousin Bob's home in Ocean Isle, North Carolina. We had not seen Bob in many many years and had never met his wife Hattie. They drove down the 15 or 20 miles to pick us up so we could spend the day together. We had a wonderful time catching up. While in Ocean Isle we found a marina within about a mile of their home. It is a stack and store place for small power boats, but they have a transient dock that will accommodate us. We have made plans and are already looking forward to stopping to see them again in the fall.

Georgia Georgia

2009-04-26T09:54:00.003-04:00

We are working our way north at a leisurely pace, which is about 30 miles each weekday. We completed the entire ICW through Georgia for the first time. This completes for us all of the ICW between Norfolk and Fort Lauderdale. Through Georgia we have to travel during mid tide and higher since the tidal ranhe is 8 - 9 feet. With our short travel days we just plan around the tide table. We have had to deal with an onslaught of No-See-Ums. These are the particularly nasty insects since the screens which keep out almost all pests are not fine enough to stop the No-See-Ums. Any screen fine enough to stop them will also stop the air flow. It has been rare for us to encounter insects so we are not really complaining.

The wonderful aspect of the Georgia coast is that is mostly undeveloped. Much of it is as pictured. This picture was taken at high tide.

Returns to the US

2009-04-12T17:03:00.005-04:00

We had planned a return from the Abacos to Port Canaveral, which would have saved a couple days on the ICW. Our backup plan should the conditions deteriorate would be Fort Pierce. We left Great Sale Cay at 4 am and with strong breezes we were making a steady 7 1/2 knots. We usually assume a speed to 5 1/2 to 6 knots when planning our trip. As we approached the east wall of the Gulf Stream we realized with our good speed and with the added benefit of the Gulf Stream current we would arrive at Port Canaveral too soon and the lock would not be open. We decided to divert to Fort Pierce. Even though we would arrive at night we have been there before and felt we could navigate to our anchorage. We did get safely anchored but it was a challenge to say the least. Non of the day marks on the short stretch of the ICW were lighted and the side channel was also not lighted. With our flashlight and a careful watch of the depth we inched our way in without hitting anything or running aground. After several months of wide open seas it feels like walking on a rail navigating the ICW. We intend to stay on the ICW all the way north this spring. There are parts of Georgia we have not covered and some stops we would like to explore a little more now that we have some time.

We used both current analysis and sea surface temperature to plan our crossing route

Pictured is the sea current analysis we used to identify the location of the Gulf Stream. The color scale goes from blue with none or very little current to bright orange with current overe 3 knots.

Passing Through the Abacos

2009-03-30T16:24:00.005-04:00

We are making a quick pass through the Abacos, revisiting our favorite spots from last year.

Pete's Pub and Gallery

New paint on Hope Town Lighthouse

Weather Forecasting

2009-03-24T15:35:00.005-04:00

In the US there are so many weather resources readily available. For the mariner it is as easy as tuning the VHF radio to nearest NOAA weather station. NOAA continuously broadcast marine and other weather products. Once you leave the US it is a whole different story. Our principal means of getting good reliable weather information is our SSB radio. Chris Parker provides weather and routing information each morning (except Sundays) for the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean. Chris is a sailor and broadcast from his Morgan 34 'Bel Ami' in Florida. Equally important to us are our GRIB (Gridded Binary Data) files which we download daily for our geographic area. These are data files from forecasting models. We use the GFS (Global Forecasting System) which is NOAA's forecasting model. There are other models that we sometimes use such as WW3, which is a forecast of ocean wave dynamics. We view this data with GRIB Explorer from OCENS. A GRIB file contains a lot of data and presentation is important for the analysis. We download barometric pressure, wind, wave and precipitation at 6 hours intervals for the next few days, usually five. There are longer forecast times frames, but the accuracy deteriorates significantly. With Chris Parker's forecast, particularity his synoptic forecast, and the GRIB files we usually have a high confidence levels in the forecast for the next 2 - 3 days. The nice benefit of weather forecasting is that you can evaluate the forecast accuracy fairly quickly.

The screen print of a recent GRIB file shows the Abacos, outlined in white. Our position is the red cross. Wind barbs show the wind direction and speed at 2 pm. The solid lines are barometric pressure and the dashed lines are wave height.

Double click on the picture to get a better view

2009-03-21T15:25:00.003-04:00

We returned to Warderick Wells, moving about 28 miles south of Normans Cay after saying farewell to Warren and Karen. With the forecasted wind direction we wanted to improve our wind angle for the crossing to Eleuthera. The moved paid off big time. We turned the engine off as soon as we cleared the cut and had a wonderful sail all the way over until we were on the bank at Eleuthera. Every place we visit is unique. Eleuthera gets far fewer visiting cruisers and therefore it is not really part of their economy as is with many of the islands. We made three overnight stops on Eleuthera. Our plan was to stop at Spanish Wells which is just north of Eleuthera, but with a forecast for approaching high winds we did not want to get pinned down. Near Spanish Wells is Royal Island with a great anchorage, but the island is private. There are not really good anchorages in the crowded harbor at Spanish Wells. Not wanting to spend a week on the boat waiting on weather at Royal Island, we pushed on, and at that we were cutting it close. The winds were forecast to build in the afternoon and to be almost directly on our nose. We left early and pushed hard and the winds came in exactly as predicted, but we arrived at Little Harbour at our planned time which was near high tide. The passage into Little Harbour can be challenging and for us the waves were breaking about one half way across the cut but we did not have any difficulty. We want high tide so we could enter the protected harbour just insid ethe cut. We saw a low reading of 5'7" which isn't too bad for us. We will have to leave on a hide tide as well. It is great to come back to familiar territory. Pete's Pub is at Little Harbour and one of our favorites. This is a great place to wait for fairer winds.

Methodist Church - Rock Sound, Eleuthera
very friendly

Every town of any size in the Bahamas has a BaTelCo tower for communications. Rock Sound, Eleuthera

McDuffs on Normans Cay

I made friends with this little guy on my arm.
Not everyone wanted to be so close.
As it turned out he didn't want to visit with anyone else anyway
(at Pirates Lair, Warderick Wells)

Last Days in Exumas

2009-03-15T14:20:00.003-04:00

Picking up plastic - the ocean side of all the cays are awash in plastic - this is on Shroud Cay in the Exuma Land and Sea Park

Trash accumulated for park rangers to haul away

The entire center of Shroud Cay is mangroves with some channels accessible by dinghy during high tide - Karen stepping over mangrove roots while returning to dinghy

Plane wreck at Normans Cay

Starting the Return Trip

2009-03-10T11:06:00.005-04:00

We are working our way back up the Exuma chain. Our plan is to cross to Eleuthera, explore there and then go on north to the Abacos to revisit the places where we spent time at last season. We stopped one more time at Black Point Settlement, our favorite destination in the Exumas. On Saturday the primary school held a fund raising fair, with food, music and games. Karen from Sand Castle and Norm partnered up in the egg throwing contest and did quite well, but were no match for the Bahamians. Sunday morning we attended church services at a Baptist church. While the congregation was small, you would never know it from the beautiful sound they generate. We felt so welcomed there. Absolutely everyone made point to greet us with either a handshake or a hug.

Ariel at Exuma Land and Sea Park

Feeding Time

2009-02-22T14:30:00.002-05:00

Big Majors Spot

A group of pigs live on a small beach on Big Majors Spot. These are just ordinary domestic farm pigs, but they are accustomed to being fed by the cruisers. As you approach the beach they come out to see what treats you have. We offered bananas and sweet potatoes. They get a little excited and act like they will climb into the dinghy. Once they know the treats are gone they return to the beach to lay in the sand and wait for the next feeding.

Staniel Cay

At Staniel Cay is Thunderball Cave, after which the James Bond movie was named. At low water you can enter the cave without diving under. At high water it is just a short stretch through the entrance. The fish expect to be fed. The fish pictured were impatient for me to open the zip lock bag to release the food for them. It only took seconds for them to devour all the food I brought.

Really Busy in George Town

2009-02-16T08:50:00.008-05:00

We have had quite a change of pace since returning to George Town. We met Gerald and Diane off Thyme Off from Ottawa and through them Marty and Debbie off Bay Pelican from Chicago. The six of us have been almost inseparable, sharing meals and playing domino's on each other's boats in the evening and participating in activities during the day. We have taken walks ashore, spent time at Volleyball Beach, tried different restaurants for lunch, got engaged in French Day, sponsored by the French Canadians learning how to play Bocce Ball. Once evening we had an ABBA night watching and enjoying together an ABBA DVD. Marty and Deb are heading south to Trinidad this season so we parted with them. Gerald and Diane need to be in Nassua toward the end of the month to pick up her brother so we decided to travel a back up the Exuma chain with them for awhile before we return once again to George Town for the beginning of the Cruisers Regatta. As of this writing we are at Black Point Settlement. It was good to see Lorraine again and introduce Gerald and Diane to her. We were her only guest for dinner last night so she decorated our table for a one day late Valentine's dinner.

Gerald announcing sundown on conch

(being a trumpet player, he is very good)

After gracefully entering the dinghy

French Day Gerald and Diane

Bocce Ball

Linda, Norm, Debbie, Marty, Diane and Gerald

French Day

Yoga on the beach each morning

(not shown - guys just hanging out)

Garden of Eden

Willie Rolle

Lorraine at Lorraine's Cafe

Gone Fishing

2009-02-01T12:39:00.004-05:00

Until very recently we did not have fishing gear aboard. I could not decide exactly what I needed or wanted, so for well over a year I have procrastinated. The biggest obstacle has been there is no room on the stern to set up a rod for trolling and little spare room aboard to store fishing equipment. Shortly after we arrived in George Town, I attended a fishing seminar put on by a cruiser very knowledgeable on the subject. This really filled some hugh knowledge gaps for me and inspired me to get moving. In George Town, the prices on the fishing gear, as with most everything else was too much. I found the fishing gear prices at a marine supply store on Long Island to be comparable to US prices and 1/3 to 1/2 less than George Town and Nassau. I had decided with our cluttered stern situation and otherwise limited space aboard to go with a Cuban YoYo, which is a hand line. Our first opportunity to use the new gear was on our return from the northern tip of Long Island to George Town. This route crosses very deep water where the fishing is best. We had our line out for about one hour before we got a hit. We were under sail at about 7 1/2 knots so first we had to slow the boat down. We rolled in the jib and then turned slightly into the wind. The Mahi Mahi on our line was absolutely beautiful swimming and fighting in the crystal clear water. As soon as a Mahi Mahi is pulled from the water they lose their beautiful colors.

We were traveling with Demon Du Midi, so we immediately invited them to a fish dinner. They subsequently caught a smaller Mahi Mahi. It was an all around good day of sailing and fishing, finished with an excellent dinner and good company.

Exploring Long Island

2009-01-27T14:08:00.006-05:00

We are exploring Long Island with Remy and Dominique from Demon Du Midi and Brian and Jan from Wind Chaser. We are taking advantage of a long stretch of good weather without west winds as there really isn't any protection from the southwest in particular. We traveled as far south on the west side of Long Island that is reasonably possible with our draft. We have been in Thompson Bay near Salt Pond for several days. It is a beautiful location. We rented a van with Demon Du Midi and Wind Chaser so we could explore the entire island. Long Island is about 80 miles long and about 4 miles wide. At our current location we are below the Tropic of Cancer so we are now in the tropics.

roadside lunch spot

Cave just off beach in Salt Pond - yes there are bats

St. Peters Roman Catholic Church - built by Father Jerome after he converted to Catholicism

Old Spanish Church - thought to have been built by Spanish settlers in the 1700's

Remy and Brian collecting coconuts

Images

2009-01-18T14:36:00.006-05:00

typical hiking trail - very slow going

near a pirate's lair - actual cove a camping area of pirates as evidenced by non native plants and trees from seeds which fell from their belongings

Police Station at Black Point Settlement

Lorraine's Cafe - tending bar

Beach Church

2009-01-18T14:26:00.005-05:00

The center of activity here in George Town is on volleyball beach. This is a regular community organized and run by cruisers. We attended Beach Church our first weekend here and it became a hit with us immediately. It is an actual organized non denominational church. So far we have not had any actual ministers in the anchorage, but that has not diminished the quality of the message.

Arriving at George Town

2009-01-18T14:20:00.004-05:00

Elizabeth Harbor has to be approached from the east side. Since the winds are generally from the east, we timed our arrival in George Town to the wind and sea forecast. We moved to Little Farmers Cay to stage for going out the cut the next day and on down to George Town. There were two other boats at Little Farmers Cay, Nikita from Seattle and Free@Last from Sidney, Australia. Both boats had young children on board and had been traveling together since Annapolis. We all departed together at 7 am in perfect sailing conditions. It was a fast trip and we were generally running 7.5 - 8 knots. Free@Last caught a Mahi Mahi and invited us and Nikita to share the catch. It was a wonderful evening and it was fun to watch the kids, two three year olds and a five year old, keep themselves busy in the cabin while we enjoyed good conversation in the cockpit. Hamish grill the fish and the Bar B and it was excellent.Shortly after we anchored, Ann from Borrowed Horse brought three pounds of shark over to us. Neither of us has knowingly eaten shark (we are guessing it is probably in fish sticks and that sort of thing), but we were willing to give it a try. We grilled about a third of it a couple days later and while it was a good mild fish, neither of us cared for the texture. We gave our remaining shark to Brian on Wind Chaser as he likes shark very much.

Our New Winter Home

2009-01-07T14:38:00.003-05:00

Wind Chaser left Exuma Park a day before us. They spent last winter in the Exumas, so they wanted to see some new and different places and maybe go to Georgetown at a faster pace than we planned. We will catch up with them later. We had some nice gatherings on the beach for cocktails. The park built a fire for us on Saturday night. After leaving Warderick Wells we went to Black Point to do laundry. The laundromat, Rockside Inn, came highly recommended. After some bad and expensive experiences last year in the Abacos were are very cautious. This turned out to be the very best, not only for the Bahamas, but for the US as well. A little more expensive than in the US but not bad for the Bahamas. The equipment worked very well and the place was spotless. We like Black Point so much we have decided it will be our home base, the place we keeping coming back to after exploring. We met Loraine who runs Loraines Cafe. We are so comfortable at Loraines. She has great reasonably priced meals, free WiFi, a book exchange and television. The bar is self serve. You just make up your drink or find one in the cooler and note your drinks on a pad to be settled later. Loraine's mom makes breads and we started with an initial order for two coconut breads. It makes the best french toast. We bought two lobsters off local fishermen that stopped by in their boat. The catch was fresh and we didn't take long to get them in a pot of boiling water. This was our first spiny lobster and they were very good.

Now in the Exumas

2009-01-03T07:36:00.004-05:00

From Nassau we left with a flotilla as everyone was waiting for the same favorable wind conditions. Our first stop in the Exumas was at Allens Cay. On the way across to Allens Cay we went through an area of coral heads and began honing our skills at reading the water (color). For about an hour I stood on the bow and directed Linda with hand signals to avoid any potential coral heads. As we approached Allens Cay all navigation was by sight using the color of the water to determine deep water and to avoid the sand bars. Allens Cay is known for its iguanas. These are friendly and just about as soon as you land on the beach they are around hoping to be fed. We did not feed them as none of the wildlife should be fed, but we noted commercial boats bring tourist to Allens Cay and some provided food for their guest to feed the iguanas.

After spending a couple nights at Allens Cay we were off to Normans Cay. Normans Cay was once held by Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder. Remaining now is the air strip, which is active. There is a beach club and a few vacation villas. We let our dinghy drift over a plane wreck. It is perfectly preserved and intact below the surface. The fuselage and tail which were above the surface corroded away. Normans Cay is just outside the Exumas Park where all plants and wildlife are protected. We found the conch to be very plentiful at Normans Cay.

We spent New Years Eve at Normans Cay and celebrated with pizza on Wind Chaser, but we back aboard Ariel by 7;30.

On New Years day we continued on to Warderick Wells in the heart of Exumas Cays Land and Sea Park. This park covers an area of 176 square miles. The entire area is a no take zone. Nothing can be removed, living or dead. This area has great snorkeling and the island has some very interesting walking trails. We were assigned a mooring in the north mooring field close by the park office.

We have been travelling with the same group of boats more or less since Nassau so we are getting to know many of our frequent neighbors.

Nassau

2008-12-27T16:34:00.003-05:00

Our original plan was to clear into the Bahamas in Bimini, get rested up there and then continue on to Nassau for a brief stop before entering the Exuma chain. The weather windows to cross have been few and brief. Our window would only stay open for a couple days, and knowing if we did not continue on we would be held up in Bimini, we decided to bypass Bimini and continue on to Nassau. We passed just north of Bimini, crossed the bank and then entered the Northwest Channel and then on to Nassau. We arrived at Nassau just a few hours before the window closed again. This is our first time in Nassau and we are glad we have the opportunity to see what it is all about. We are anchored. in the middle of the harbor formed between Paradise Island and the city of Nassau on New Providence Island. We are at a position east of the cruise ship docks and south of Atlantis and west of the bridges which connect to Paradise Island. Three or four cruise ships arrive daily. sometimes as many as five. They stay just one day. We ventured to the cruise ship dock end of town but didn't find anything of interest to us. Mostly luxury goods for the cruise ship crowd.

We spent an afternoon at Atlantis. We had permission to land our dinghy at a small dock in front of Dockmasters office. The marina caters to the very large luxury yachts. The aquarium is fascinating. We walked through the casino, and past all the shops. We concluded with a walk on the beach which was packed with vacationers.

The end of town east of the bridges is where most of the marinas are and is an area we like. It is where the locals shop. We needed just a couple items at the grocery and found the supermarket to be as well stocked as is typical in the US.

We met a lot of cruisers at a weekly luncheon organized by BASRA (Bahamian Air Sea Rescue Association). It was at the Green Parrot, a extremely cruiser friendly restaurant. They provide a dinghy dock and free WiFi. BASRA also runs a radio net in the mornings to provide a weather update and a chance for crosiers to connect.

A Fast Run to Miami

2008-12-20T17:36:00.004-05:00

Upon returning to Fernandina Beach after three weeks away. we found Ariel in good condition, meaning the birds had not made too big a mess. The very next day we we on our way south again. Our buddy boat, Wind Chaser had left the same marina a full week ahead of us so we were determined to do our best to catch up or at least not have then wait too long in Miami for us.

Along the way we did visit with Barry and Susan on Swan while anchored in Cocoa Beach and with Iain and Jan on Jocks Lodge while anchored in North Palm Beach.

After leaving the Palm Beaches area, the waterway was all new to us since we did not go any further south last year. The stretch between the Palm Beaches and Port Everglades has 21 bridges which have to open to pass through. Almost all of them are on a fixed schedule so timing is very important. We found the bridge tenders to be very pleasant and the schedules worked out to be very accommodating. We would do this stretch again without hesitation. We went outside for the last leg. going out at Port Everglades and coming back in at Government Cut in Miami. There is one fixed bridge in this stretch that we cannot get under.

Miami is an exciting place. There is abundant room to anchor and everything is easily accessible with the dinghy with the extensive system of waterways and canals. It is just amazing to watch the cruise ships arrive a depart. They come in at around 4 am and depart the same day at around 5 to 6 pm. We spent an afternoon at South Beach, having found a canal that took us all the way there. This is a place we both wanted to visit.

Next stop - Bahamas

Holding Up In Fernandina Beach

2008-11-23T10:11:00.011-05:00

We went on a mooring at Fernandina Beach and then for the weekend rented a car. Enterprise has great weekend rates, which are 1/2 the normal weekday rate. We had a great visit with Linda's sister Dale and her husband Steve in Palatka, Florida. We also made our last major provisioning for the winter months in the Bahamas. We had to take inventory and begin keeping records of our food stores in each compartment. They are not always visible, so it is good to know what is actually available.

We met up with Brian and Jan from Wind Chaser. We also met their son Cory. He is stationed at the Submarine Base at Kings Bay, Georgia and has an apartment in Fernandina Beach. We compared plans with Brian and Jan and we all agreed to do some travelling together this winter. We will visit the Exumas but also explore some of the islands between the Exumas and the Turks and Caicos. Brian and Jan will keep Wind Chaser in Fernandina Beach until after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Iain and Jan from Jocks Lodge arrived a week later at Cumberland Island so we took Ariel to Cumberland Island after dropping our mooring. It was extremely windy but we all made it in for a walk. We had quite an international group for our island touring. Jocks Lodge is Canadian. We were joined by a couple off a New Zealand boat, Long White Cloud, several years into their circumnavigation. They are extremely interesting and have so many wonderful experiences to share. We were also joined by a couple off an Australian boat, Tacu Tori. They purchased the boat in the US and are now traveling with Jocks Lodge. They will visit Cuba with Jocks Lodge and then continue on to Panama to cross to the Pacific Ocean and onto Australia.

Our plans have changed. We put Ariel in a slip at Fernandina Harbor Marina so we could go north to attend to some personal matters and to spend Thanksgiving with family. We expect to be away three weeks and then after returning we will move quickly to Miami to rejoin Wind Chaser for our crossing to Bimini.

Submarine leaving Kings Bay as we were returning from Cumberland Island to Fernandina Beach.

A Different Experience

2008-11-12T08:13:00.007-05:00

This year's journey south is so much different than our first trip last year. Our plan was to go outside (along the coast) most of the way, but the wind conditions, both direction and strength has kept us inside on the ICW most of the way. We are now in Fernandina Beach, having finally gone outside at Charleston and re-entered at the St. Marys river.

We also experienced the skinniest water ever in a stretch of South Carolina. We knew it would be a potential problem since we would be passing this known problem spot at absolute low tide. For a 1/2 mile stretch we had continuous depths less than 5 feet. We soon ran aground and for the first time ever we could not get ourselves off on our own. We were resigned to wait on the rising tide to lift us off, but almost immediately a local guy out checking his crab traps offered to try and pull us off. Not only did he pull us off, with some difficulty, but he gave us guidance on deeper water. In this case the deeper water was 3 additional inches, but enough to keep going. It was extremely nerve racking as occasionally we could feel Ariel being bogged down as the keel ran along the bottom.

We were extremely happy to go outside and hope to continue on with more outside travel along the Florida coast. The windows for outside travel have been short. As it was the seas were building rapidly with strong east to northeast winds as we entered St. Marys.

Dewees Creek - one of our favorite places to anchor - north of Charleston

Fort Sumter

Ready for the Push South

2008-11-01T15:30:00.005-04:00

High winds were forecasted so after leaving Elizabeth City we selected South Lake just off the Alligator River as our secure anchorage. It is a very desolate place with the only vi sable sign of human development being a flashing white light atop a tower in the very far distance. No other boats joined us so we were indeed isolated. The winds picked up just as it got dark increasing quickly to a sustained 30 - 35 knots with higher gusts. Without lights or moonlight it was not possible to see the shoreline. We both monitored our GPS position for a couple hours to assure we were not dragging our anchor. We were held in this location for three nights and two days with constantly high winds. When we finally retrieved our anchor it was confirmed that it had buried itself quite deeply.

Our next stop was Belhaven, NC. We like this town a lot. It is really made up of working folks, but offers the basic essentials we need. We find everyone extremely friendly. We stayed a day to pick up our mail, do laundry, fill our propane tank. and pick up a few groceries. At the post office they already had our package out front just waiting for us to stop in. What a treat compared to our experience in West Palm Beach last year.

Our insurance held us back until November to keep us out of the hurricane area, but now we are free to go, so we are serious about moving south as quickly as possible.

Dismal Swamp Canal

2008-10-30T15:53:00.009-04:00

Last year we were disappointed to find the Dismal Swamp route closed due to low water levels. At mile 7.3 on the Intercoastal Waterway there is usually a choice between the Virginia Cut route and the Dismal Swamp route. We called ahead and were delighted to find the water level was at least 6.3 feet and the locks back on four openings each day. The Dismal Swamp route is slower (no wake zone), much more scenic, and has more free docks available. There is no commercial traffic and most powerboats avoid due it to the slower pace. The Dismal Swamp canal has locks at both ends. Entering the canal you are raised up to the level of the canal and at the other end lowered back down again. We were lowered 8 feet when we exited the canal at the South Mills lock. Immediately after clearing the Deep Creek lock at the north end we tied up to a free dock which has room for about five boats. We stayed three nights and got to know our dock neighbors. One night when we had five boats staying we had a Happy Hour on the dock. The small town of Deep Creek has good shopping (from a boaters perspective). Linda made big additions to our provisioning by shopping a the Dollar General store. The last day before leaving three of us worked together to move our boats close to the one available water tap and we each then filled our tanks and washed down our boats by connecting our hoses together. We timed our departure from Deep Creek to the first lock opening. We were actually trapped between the lock and the bridge which operates in conjunction with the lock. The trip down the canal was everything we could have hoped for. It was a beautifully clear day and the canal was very scenic. The pace was purposefully slow to arrive at the lock on the far end at exactly the scheduled opening. We ran over three deadheads along the way. These are logs which have sunk to the bottom or near the bottom. The just bump along the bottom of the keel and do no harm. Exiting the South Mills lock after being lowered eight feet, we hurried on to Elizabeth City to arrive during daylight. Our big disappointment was to find all fourteen of the free city docks filled. Elizabeth City is famous for it's Rose Buddies. Friends of ours that went through about a week ahead of us confirmed the tradition is still going even though it's founder, Fred Fearing, died last year. The Rose Buddies greet the boater and invite them to a wine and cheese party. The city mayor attended the wine a cheese party our friends attended. We anchored out for the night with a few other boats caught in the same circumstances. It was probably just as well as we planned to leave at dawn to get across the Albemarle Sound before expected high winds and to find a secure anchorage.

The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States. Both George Washington and Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia felt that canals were the easiest answer for an efficient means of internal transportation. In 1784, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company was created. Digging began in 1793 and progressed slowly since the canal had to be dug completely by hand. Most of the labor was done by slaves hired from nearby land owners. It took approximately 12 years of back-breaking construction under highly unfavorable conditions to complete the 22-mile long waterway. By 1805 flat-bottomed vessels could be admitted into the canal, where tolls were charged to allay the continual expense of improvements and maintenance.
By 1820 the Canal was recognized as an important part of commercial traffic between Virginia and North Carolina. In 1829, improvements to the waterway made it possible to accommodate deeper drafts. The 1860's and the onset of the Civil War put the canal in an important strategic position for Union and Confederate forces. Wartime activity, however, left the canal in a terrible state of repair. The repairs and maintenance needed by the canal made travel difficult.
A new era for the canal came in 1892 when the Lake Drummond Canal and Water Company launched rehabilitation efforts in 1896. Once again, a steady stream of vessels carrying lumber, shingles, farm products, and passengers made the canal a bustling interstate thoroughfare.With the 20th century, however, improvements in modes of transportation meant another downturn for the canal. By the 1920's, commercial traffic had subsided except for passenger vessels. In 1929 it was sold to the federal government for $500,000 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates and maintains it.

Back Together Again in Spa Creek

2008-10-19T08:35:00.003-04:00

After returning from visiting family, we moved Ariel out of the marina and anchored nearby, still in downtown Baltimore. The next day we moved to Annapolis and anchored off the Naval Academy. The sailboat show had just ended and they were setting up for the power boat show in the harbor so it was busy. With all of the boat traffic it was pretty lumpy so the next day we moved into Spa Creek and took a mooring. Iain and Jan from Jock's Lodge, our cruising partners from last season have been anchored in Spa Creek a while as Jan is working at both of the boat shows. We had dinner on their boat our first night in Annapolis and had them over on Ariel a couple nights latter for dinner. They are leaving for Cuba as soon as the boat show is over. Their plans will take them onto Mexico, Belize and then Guatemala. Ted and Alice from Windsong, also our cruising partners for last winter, had prepared and hoped to cruise again this season, but Ted developed some medical problems which will keep them grounded for awhile. The six of us got together for dinner Thursday evening which was wonderful. Ted was looking good and seems to be off to a good recovery. We were so happy to see them and will miss having them out there with us. We are on our way now, having had a very fast sail from Annapolis to Solomons. A strong north-northeast wind push as along at 7 knots.
The anchorage is extremely crowded and we had to squeeze in.