Ship's Logs and Trip Diaries 

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Belize & Mexico 2004

November 13, 2004:  Livingston, Guatemala to Punta Gorda, Belize

It is overcast and rainy and we don't feel good.  It's been a long time since we've been cold.  A search for long pants and long sleeve shirts follows.  Nothing smells quite like clothes that have been in the bottom of your locker for a long time.

We made it to Punta Gorda and checked into Belize.  It cost us $40.00 in overtime charges because it was Saturday.  Expected to pay overtime fees, but it was better last time we checked into Belize as it was free.  It took a long time to get checked in, about 1.5 hours.  They were definitely not in any hurry.  We did a lot of waiting outside on a bench and we met a local that told us about a local bar and a little about the town. 

Punta Gorda is not much to see and since we didn't feel well we decided to just go back to the boat without any exploring.  Abby went to check her email and we started back toward the dinghy dock.  We didn't get too far before we ran into our new local friend who decided the time was right to ask us for money.  When Abby got back to the dock she said she too had met up with our friend and he had also requested money from her.  I guess we've gotten a little hard hearted during our trip and no longer hand out money to locals.  We've been hit up so much we'd have to stop traveling and get back to work if we accommodated everyone that wanted a donation.

Although Punta Gorda is not a good spot for overnight anchoring, it was so calm we decided to stay for the night and get some rest.

November 14, 2004:  Punta Gorda to Placencia

Made it to Placencia after a couple of squalls and beating into the wind & waves.  Our friend Jon Luc from s/v Shanti was there and came over to visit.  He told us of his troubles.  He single hands and during his trip from Livingston to Placencia his auto pilot went out, his mizzen sail blew out in a storm, his anchor fell overboard during a storm (remember no auto pilot), and then he had to try and anchor in the dark in the pouring rain.   Yikes.

November 15-21, 2004:  Placencia

We spent a lot of time bumming around town with Jon Luc and Laurie, another visiting Canadian.  One evening we had Jon Luc and Laurie over to the boat for dinner.  Everyone came in from town on our dinghy so Thane took Jon Luc to his boat to get his dinghy.  On the way back from Jon Luc's boat, they decided to have a dinghy race back to our boat.  Thane was going full blast when the dinghy extension came loose.  The dinghy flipped and threw Thane out of the dinghy.  Luckily Jon Luc was able to get our dinghy under control before it managed to meet back up with Thane.  No real damage was done except that we lost our dinghy extension.  Laurie, Abby and I were sitting in the cockpit and were obviously engrossed in conversation because we missed the whole thing.

We met Frankie and Marcus from s/v Talisman while in Guatemala.  Placencia is their home base so we met up with them while here.  They charter Talisman and know the Belizean water like the back of their hand...they are true sailors...they sail everywhere and never use their motor.  We are going to meet up with them at Pelican Cay and go fishing & lobster catchin'...yeah.

November 21, 2004:  Placencia to Sapodilla Lagoon

Ready to head out.  Talisman will meet us at Pelican Cay tomorrow.  While pulling up the anchor, Thane dropped the cap for the hawse pipe in the water.  He went to Sea Source Diving and found a kid that said he could dive for it.  He brought him over, but he couldn't find it.  Gave him a little cash & said thanks anyway.  Thane then went to find Marcus from Talisman, rented a dive tank for Marcus and after quite a while of looking for it, Marcus found it buried in the muck.  We have now attached the caps to the boat where they cannot get knocked off again.

We finally left about 11:30 am in beautiful weather.  The weather caught up with us when we were almost to Pelican Cay.  High winds and pouring rain.  Couldn't go thru the reef in this mess.  Turned and ran with the storm and ended up anchoring for the night in Sapodilla Lagoon.  It was a beautiful anchorage.

November 22 - 23, 2004:  Sapodilla Lagoon to Tobacco Cay

Tried for Pelican Cay again.  It's overcast and rainy.  Couldn't reach Talisman on the VHF, but we did reach Sandial.  Sandial and Reason were leaving Pelican Cay for Tobacco Cay, so much for plans, off we go to Tobacco Cay. 

Tobacco Cay is beautiful.  We went in to walk around the small island and lo and behold who should we find at the only bar in town but our friends from Sandial and Reason.  We went snorkeling and I we really enjoyed it.  It is very shallow so I didn't have to worry too much about sinking!  Saw barracuda, stone fish, lots of purple fish w/yellow stripes, rays, & sea urchins.

Looked like it would be a nice night, but it was a very rolly anchorage.  Worst of all though, a HUGE palmetto bug flew in our forward hatch and woke me up when he crawled right over me.  Eeeeewwwwww.      

November 24, 2004:  Tobacco Cay to St. George's Cay

We sailed the entire way.  That doesn't happen very often.  Sandial called on the VHF from Bluefield Range and invited us to Thanksgiving dinner, but we pressed on so we could get to Cay Caulker and a phone so we could call Michael & our other family for the holiday.

Pictures are of me on watch & Thane on watch!  Didn't go into St. Georges, just slept.

November 25, 2004:  St. Georges Cay to Cay Caulker

It's raining again.  But if we want to have Thanksgiving in Cay Caulker we have to press on.  Went into town to make our phone calls.  We could only reach Michael, but he's still my "little boy" so it was worth sailing in the rain to talk to him.  Didn't have a turkey so we had chicken and all the trimmings.  Sans dressing as you cannot buy sage in Central America ... bring yours with you.   

We really enjoyed Cay Caulker this time around even though Abby was pushing to move on as her friends were waiting for her in Isla.  Sandial, Reason & Shanti are here.  We spent a lot of time at the Lazy Lizard Bar at the cut where you can snorkel while you drink.  Went to the Oceanside Bar one night and actually danced.  Fun.

November 29, 2004:  Cay Caulker to San Pedro

We were going to sail with Sandial, Reason & Shanti to San Pedro, but our friend Cliff from s/v Ablique (a charter boat out of Belize City) was in the anchorage with charter clients.  He stopped by and dropped off some of the blueberry muffins he had made for his charter clients... yummy.  By the time we finished visiting, everyone had left without us. 

Arrived in San Pedro and went into town to check out of Belize.  What a rip off.  They charged us $82 Belize to check out.  When we checked out of Big Creek on the way down, it was free.  It was 2:00 pm and the custom's official wrote on our paperwork that he was charging us for overtime.  We protested that it was 2:00 in the afternoon so he scratched that out and wrote boarding fees.  What ya gonna do? 

November 30 - December 1, 2004:  San Pedro, Belize to Isla Mujeres, Mexico

Abby is even more anxious to get to Isla (I think she's getting sick of her parents) so off we go.  We lead the way out of the reef for Sandial, Reason & Shanti as we had been through it before.  Sandial and Reason pulled ahead quickly and headed for Banco Chinchorro for the night.  Shanti was continuing on too but he's bigger boat so he had no problem pulling ahead. 

We left without a good weather forecast as all of Belize's internet and phone service was down.  What a rough trip.  It was a terrible night.  We beat into large swells and NNE wind all night.  The next day was the same so we decided to go into Bahia de la Ascencion.  We dropped anchor, but it drug.  So Thane changed his mind and decided we were going to continue on. 

Another day, another night.  By nightfall the seas & winds are not so bad so the beat has stopped.  We arrived in Isla at 7:00 am.  Shanti is not here.  We checked in on the net and then went to town to check in.  We were boarded & inspected twice, first by Health & Sanitation, then by Agriculture.  Used Miguel at Marina Paraiso to check us in with the Port Captain.

December 2 - February 21, 2004:  Isla Mujeres, Mexico

What a fun time.  We don't want to leave.  So many of our friends from Guatemala are here.  Friends from Port A are crossing paths here too.  Querencia is here before returning to Port A, Griffin is here on their trek down to Guatemala.  Not to mention all the new friends we've met here.  There must be 40 boats in the anchorage.  Happy hour at Marina Paraiso is packed. 

Abby is happy as her friends from Guatemala are here.  She often stays in the hostels rather than coming back to the boat.  Isla is a very safe place and we don't worry (well not too much) about her staying out till all hours of the night.  She's met so many people that we can't walk down the street without stopping every five steps.  She's having a blast.

Michael flew in from Denver to spend Christmas with us.  Wally's (from m/v Sandial) sons flew in to spend Christmas with them also.  Michael and Brian are both musicians and entertain us at various "too happy hours."  Charles & Mary, m/v Chasmar, put on one of their famous pig roasts.  How much fun.

The anchorage is another adventure.  With so many boats and several cold fronts blowing thru, we play slide around the anchorage a lot.  Our friends on Back to Basics are great...they have a pilot house and can sit inside during the blows and watch for dragging boats.  How many times did you guys call us on the radio to let us know a boat was dragging down on us?  We finally learned that if we want to sleep and there is a norther blowing thru, we should pick up anchor and move back to the lagoon.  The Mexican Navy will only let you anchor back there when there is bad weather.

Once we went back to the lagoon avoid dragging and ended up laying ashore the next morning.  Thane gets tired of hoisting the anchor since it is all back power (not that we don't have a windlass that lives in our lazarette, but that's another story).  We anchored really close to the shore in about 6' of water then went down and went to sleep.  We slept great knowing that we were safely tucked back in the lagoon, even though a big norther blew threw.  The next morning Thane got up and called for me.  We were laying up on the shoreline.  This is the first time we have ever drug that I slept thru it.  We were able to use the dinghy to push us off the shore and back into deep water.  No harm done, but kind of scary when you consider the consequences if it had been a reef or we had drug about 75' south and hit the boat docked there. 

We had our once a year go home at 4:00 am evening during this trip.  Kim s/v Querencia's friend Greg came in for a visit and since Carl was back in the US working, we felt we should show them both a good time.  We started with "too happy hour" and then went into town as it was some Mexican festival weekend.  We met up with Al & Linda from s/v Carina, Hal, Jon Luc & ??? others.  We were a terror unleashed on Isla.  About 3:00 am we went to La Pena (the local hot spot for young people) to find Abby.  I'm so proud ... you can see how focused some of us were by that time.  It took us 2 days to recover.  Thank goodness that's a once a year or two occurrence.   

We took Mariah from m/v Sandail to the zoo one day.  We had a great time feeding the monkeys.  Here's a video:

February 22, 2004:  Isla Mujeres, Mexico to the Dry Tortugas

All good things must come to an end.  We don't want to leave.  Abby doesn't want to leave, but she is also anxious to get on with her life.  Now that she has a goal...join the Navy:  still get to travel, save money to buy her own boat, get money for college.  Guess we have to go. 

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