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Sail the main course in a simple sturdy craft, Keep her well stocked with short stories and long laughs.  Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.  Moderation seems to be the key.                                                                >>>>"Barometer Soup", Jimmy Buffett

December 1, 2006

I had a really bad day my second time of being net controller.  It started the usual way, but then the propagation went bad, then the Mexican cross talk began, and I had to change channels three times in the middle of asking for emergency, medical, priority traffic.  As they say, the shit hit the fan after that.  Everything went wrong and all I wanted to do was to get thru this.  Here it is December 1st, the last month of the year, and I am all stressed out about this radio net controller thing.  I said to myself, I don't need this. But, I will try again next week and see how it goes.  I'm no quitter.

Anchored here at Caye Caulker, with Kaija's Song and Valentina.  The girls went for a long walk on the island this morning while the men did their thing.  It was hot and the sand fleas attacked the ankles, but if felt great to be moving around on land.  It's not a very big island, but there is lots of construction going on.  It's going to become the next hotspot in Belize for tourists.  It's a shame because the atmosphere of this small town is unique.  The Rasta mons sellin their jewelry on the sand streets, the quaint little shops spread out thru town sellin trinkets, the restaurants and bars, the bakery and two internet cafes.  It's a quiet town, not very many golf carts unlike San Pedro where you can get run over by one if you aren't careful.  Everyone is friendly, always saying a pleasant hello when you pass by.

The sundowner get together was suppose to be on our boat, but Aaron had gotten the caulking gun out and had caulked all around the coaming of the cockpit, (as well as the shower I later found out). Somehow you manage to get some on you before its dry and it spreads everywhere.  We ought to fight wars with this stuff, it would make the enemy go crazy!  So, Valentina invited the group over and around 6pm, we headed into town for dinner.  We had heard about this guy named Jolly Roger who cooks the best food on the island.  So, we were in search for Jolly Roger mon.  We found him in the middle of town on the main road, grilling away.  Jolly Roger is a rather large man, round and jolly of course.  His sister Fran invited us to sit at a picnic table, (this little eatery is outdoors).  The menu was your choice of red snapper, lobster or chicken, with a side dish of coleslaw, mashed potatoes and cherry cheesecake for desert. Oh, and a rum n coke, all for $25 Belize ($2 Belize for $1) in other words $12.50. What a deal and delicious.

December 4, 2006

Our little flotilla decided today was the day to motor the 8 miles on up to San Pedro to check out. (that means to check out of the country to get your zarpe (paperwork) needed to check into the next country you visit.  On the way, the wind was right on our nose, and it seemed to have blown the water out of the bay because we bumped all the way there.  Not fun leaving marks.  Anchoring was a challenge, the place we had anchored before didn't have enough water under our keel so we had to anchor elsewhere.  Aaron dove on the anchor to make sure it was set, the holding here isn't that good.  Once that was done, Kaija and I walked to the Sausage Factory, where you can buy all kinds of meats and they will even vacuum pack it for you.  Great for cruisers.  Aaron jerry jugged 60 gals on diesel since we can't use the fuel dock like everyone else because the water isn't deep enough.  And running aground isn't an option if we can help it.

After we had loaded up our meat in our backpacks, we walked the mile or so back into town in a light drizzle.  And made a few more stops along the way.  We just had to stop at this little stand that sells the best flan in Belize.  It is so good that we cant resist buying 2 slices. ($4 BZ/per slice). We waited for our ride at the Tackle Box cafe and when Aaron arrives he has 2 slices of flan also.  You just can't have too much flan. We decided to check out also since Marc, our friend in Ft. Lauderdale wasn't able to make it here for Christmas, so we might as well follow Valentina on south to Honduras.  With our paperwork in hand, we walk to the Customs/Immigration, where we had no problems checking out. Paid our $15 BZ conservation fee and we are outta of here manana.  Piece of cake (flan, I mean).

December 5, 2006

Rising at 630am, a cloudy rainy day greeted us.  It is not always sunny and 88 here.  Northeast winds 15-20.  Valentina had checked in with their weather guru, Chris, who told them that today and tomorrow is the weather window for heading south to Honduras.  So, up and away we go.  The cut is marked with a yellow buoy and it is plain to see the reefs today, with the surf breaking over them.  We bumped bottom a couple of times getting to the cut, and kept the buoy on our starboard and motored right thru.

 The last time Aaron had left this cut was back in 1981.  His flashback to that time wasn't a good one as the boat he was on sunk 20 miles offshore.  But more on that story later.

 There is a swell today, 5-7 ft seas.  Chris didn't say anything about that!  We raise the sails: main, mizzen and jib, broad reaching, but as soon as we get speed on, a swell would raise us up and then bring us not so gently down and we would lose our wind.  The sails would flap and slap, an uncomfortable ride.  Big rollers coming at us on our aft quarter so its hard for the autopilot to keep course. It is 50 mi to Lighthouse Reef, so we decide to head there.  Anchored back at our favorite spot just before sundown, and it's dinner, a good ole pot of chili with beans (made with Williams seasoning from KC) then bed early.  Leftovers for tomorrow, oh yeah!

December 6, 2006

A beautiful sunny day greeted us, close to that sunny and 88,  and it's a shame that we can't stay here and snorkel one last time, but alas we must make our move south to Honduras because the weather window is a good one.  It is 100 mi to our destination so after checking things, a hot breakfast, listen in to the net, since it's Wednesday and Sonny and Kay are net controllers), waypoints and a route in the GPS, we weigh anchor at 10am.  Motoring out and around the island and thru the cut, it's northeast winds at 15-20k and calmer seas; so we were sailing on a beam to a broad reach.  It's a much more comfortable ride today and the pleasure of sailing is high.  The highs and lows of sailing are intense, when it is good, it's awesome and when it's bad, it's extremely bad.  Thank goodness that short term memory works.  You do forget those awful days in a hurry and the good ones definitely outweigh the bad ones.

 Two school of dolphin swam on our bow at different times, as many as 30, jumping and enjoying the cruise on our bow wake.  They are so much fun to watch and Doll and Finn, our favorites, were right in there.

Aaron put on his fishing suit, (naked) and gave it his best shot to call in the big one, but no joy today.  We kept in touch with Valentina via the VHF all thru the trip.

At 5:15pm we enjoyed watching the sunset, and marked our progress.  Aaron blew his conch horn, a daily ritual at sunset.  We ate chili for dinner and prepared ourselves for the night ahead. 

With Valentina's radar, they kept us abreast on the location of the squalls.  We had four squalls pass us by during the night, with some rain and winds increased each time, gusts to over 25-30k.  But they passed on quickly, and then the winds decreased to less than 10k.  We had just the main and mizzen up with preventers tight to keep the booms from going side to side.  There was an almost full moon, so when it peaked out from behind the clouds, it lit up the night.  We hadn't had a nite passage since leaving Florida back in April and it was fun to experience one again.  We had our watches set, Aaron taking the early one, 9-11, my watch was 11-1, then Aaron again 1-3am, and my last watch was easy as we had made it into the lee of Roatan.  From 3am till sunrise, we idled making a slow way to the anchorage, waiting on the sun to rise so that we could safely get into French Harbor to anchor.  Watching a beautiful sunrise, Aaron awoke and with our Honduran and Quarantine flags flying, we followed Valentina on in.

Honduras reminds us alot of Guatemala, hills, green tropical beauty.  It is a shame though seeing the trash and debris along the shore.  French Harbor is a small protected anchorage with shrimp boats all around.  Shrimp industry is big here, can't wait to eat some of them.  Friends Roberto and Ani on Deux Pieds (two feet; a catamaran) are in the marina here.  We met them at Mario's Marina and are originally from Argentina (they speak Spanish very well, after all it is their first language, English second).

 After setting anchor, checking into the net to let them know we arrived safely, showering and breakfast, we went ashore to see Roberto and Ani.  The Yacht Club is a small but nice facility, with full amenities.  We hailed a taxi and split up girls in one, boys in the other and made the 6 mile journey to Coxen Hole.  While we checked into customs/immig. Roberto and Ani shopped.  It began to rain, it rains everyday here, and then it poured.  We had lunch at a cafe buffet and enjoyed a nice hot meal of grilled chicken, rice, potatoes (love those starches), salad, and tortillas and drink, all for 100 lempiras or $5.  We had to wait for either the immigration officer to show up or the port captain, but eventually we got checked into Honduras with a visa good for only 90 days.  After that you must leave, so we hope to be.  Our Spanish is a little rusty after the break in Belize where English is spoken.  Back to the tapes and the books to refresh the memory.  And back to the boats we go tired and worn out from a long nite of sailing.  There is a cold front moving in and not being comfortable here, we decide to move to another anchorage.  At 230pm we haul anchor and motor to Jonesville and set anchor by 4pm and get tucked in safely for the blow.  It's a pretty area and look forward to doing excursions tomorrow and finding out where everything is located.

December 8, 2006           

The net went well today, the propagation was good and just a little crosstalk intervened.  I had 25 boats check in; more boats are coming out of the Rio Dulce to join the sailing world once again. 

We dinghied to the famous "Hole in the Wall" bar.

    The owner Bob, with his beautiful macaw named Abo, run the place. 

 Bob settled here 16 yrs ago, built a beautiful  2 story home out of stone (took 3 1/2 yrs to build) .  It's built right into the hill that goes straight up.  The bar is right on the water and only accessible by boat.  He does a Sunday BBQ serving up a beef tenderloin that he marinates and lobster as the main course, coleslaw, potatoes, bar beans, homemade bread and dessert. It's quite a spread for $20 all you can eat or until the food is gone.  His friends, Harry and Dwayne help out also.  Harry owns a cat named Beast, and at 5pm when its time for dinner, he calls Beast on the VHF radio Channel 72, saying "Come Beast Come".  Beast who is on the boat here's the call and comes to dinner. 

 There is also wireless access to the internet, so this is where I publish and update the website.  It's been raining since we got here, so internet access has not been good.  Patience is a virtue and you learn to acquire a good deal of it out here.

December 10, 2006   

We have met new friends anchored here.  Damon and David on Bruadair, (which is Scottish gaelic for dream), a Hans Christian 33, used to manage Monkey Bay Marina on the Rio Dulce for a 1 1/2yrs but finally pulled it all together and escaped in November.

  Damon came over to our boat and lucky for us, he is an electronics wizard.  He used to be in the navy and that is where he learned about electronics.  We have had problems with our inverter and panel since it was installed 4 years ago.  It wasn't wired correctly, but Damon worked his wizardry and in 5 hours, we fortunately had extra wire onboard so he was able to wire it correctly and get it working properly.  Now we know exactly how many amps are being used, amps charged and voltage capacity on the batteries.  He also looked at our radar dome and confirmed that it is fried by the lightning strike.  We will have to replace it somewhere down the line.  The VHF radio also has DSC (digital select calling) ability, so after acquiring our MMSI # off the internet, he programmed it.  But our radio is different that everyone elses here in the anchorage and so we can call friends but have limited ability to receive.  Oh well, no biggie, we can still communicate the regular way.  What a great day it was to have success in a boat project.  Thanks so much to Damon for his help. 

We also have met Greg and Judy on Lonestar Love, a 47' sloop.  Originally from Houston, TX, they have been cruising for four yrs now and have been in this area for awhile.  Judy is full of helpful information and knows alot of people in the area.  They are getting ready to head for Belize since their visas are about to expire.  Judy and Greg had everyone over on Saturday night for happy hour.  We met Dave and Donna on Bella Donna.  Dave is the weather guru on the NWCaribbean net, so it was great to put the face with the voice.  They have been here 8yrs now but plan on leaving next year in the spring.  Margo and Clive on Rived who have been cruising for 7 yrs are originally from Britain.  Love their accents.  As I was talking to Margo about  their crossing of the Atlantic from the Cape Verde islands to Barbados in the Caribbean, the passage took 22 days. She exclaimed, "You better like your mate alot, because there is no where else to go".

December 13, 2006    

Happy Birthday greetings to my Dad who is 77 yrs young today.  We wish him a sumo-sized birthday. (inside joke).

Dave and Donna invited us over to a laundry party at their little lake home that they are renting.  It came with a washer/dryer so we gratefully accepted.  They are in the process of fixing up Bella Donna, a CSY 44. 

 Dave, originally from Alabama, used to be in the navy also.  Donna is from North Carolina and used to own a 31' Westerly, but unfortunately it was destroyed in hurricane Lily back in 1996.  She met Dave there in Carolina when he was sailing south on his Tayana 37 named Victoria and anchored there for a few days.  She says it has been a stormy relationship, but one based on love, the love between them and the love of sailing/traveling.  Dave's motto is: "We aren't getting out of here alive, so we better enjoy it while we can."

Yesterday, the sun finally shone and how pretty it is when the sun shines.  Judy organized a minitrip ashore to Miss Pauline's.  She makes jewelry and sells T-shirts and bags.  After meeting Pauline, who has lived here all her life, and her brother Clyde, who is good with numbers and can add up the sales quicker than a calculator. He says, he has had a lot of practice, since he's 67 yrs old.

We take advantage of the sun shining, and pull out the snorkeling gear and head out in the dinghy towards the reef.  Sonny/Kay and Damon and Greg join us.  For four hours we swim and enjoy seeing the fish and coral.

 Our second site was better than the first, the first being a bit deep and the visibility wasn't the best.  The second one by Calabash bight was shallower and visibility was clearer and proved to be productive in fishkilling.  Greg, who is one with the sea almost, speared four fish.  One a huge ocean trigger, biggest I've ever seen, 2 bermuda chubs and a hogfish.  My fishkiller didnt come away empty handed, speared 2 queen trigger fish.  Good enough for an appetizer.  It just felt good to be back in the saltwater and getting some exercise.  Back onboard, it's a quick shower, clean the fish, and head to shore to meet everyone for dinner.  

     We park the dinghies at BJ's, a local bar/restaurant, but they are closing early because their daughter is flying in at 6pm.  We meet Polly, a parrot who loves peanuts. Polly will open the shell, discard the red skin and then eat the peanut.  Pretty talented bird, eh?

 We stroll down the sidewalk, stopping at Sally's eatery  but she isn't serving food only drinks.

    We check out Lucy's but she isn't serving dinner either.  So, it's back to Miss Iris's, a small eatery in an L shaped with fixed stools, nine exactly.  We ask if they can serve a group of nine for dinner. Emily and her daughter agree to make dinner but they only speak Spanish, and the menu consists of three items: pasteles, enchiladas or baleadas.  Being starved, we all take a stool and order, writing our own order down on a piece of paper.

 Beer/sodas are bought at the local grocery store just 2 buildings down, and as the sun sets, the Off with Deet is pulled out from pockets/purses and everyone takes a Deet shower. The no-see-ums and sand fleas are fierce here.  Dinner for us was pasteles, a deef fried tortilla (either corn or flour) filled with meat and rice.  Aaron loves them, similiar to the JazzFest meat pies, (his favorite).  Enchiladas are not like the U.S. ones, these are served like a tostada.  Everything was delicious and for 72 lempiras ($3.60) it was a bargain.

December 14, 2006 

Boat project of the day, which turns out to be for the week, is a turning block, which guides the jib sheet to the wench.  On our passage to Honduras, it broke on a jibe and needs to be replaced.  Aaron tore apart the aft cabin where we sleep, and in the process of removing it, which isnt easy, the bolts just broke off due to rust and corrosion.  It is the original block, over 25 yrs old, so no surprise there.  We went into town today, renting a minivan here at Jonesville including driver, and found a marine supply store that carries the bolts needed.  Sonny/Kay and Damon/David came with us also.  Everyone has their need to fulfill and we all have good success in finding parts.  Other stops were to an electrical suppy store, hardware store, grocery store and a great little restaurant serving rotisserie chicken.  That's all they were serving with side dishes of coleslaw, potato salad and french fries.  It all was delicious.  Oh, the last stop was the distribution center for coca cola.  Well, might as well stock up while we can.  We have been out of beer for a month, so order up 2 cases.  It's much cheaper here than Belize.  2 cases of coke, diet coke and orange soda and we are set for another 3 months. 

At 4pm, it's time to head for the Hole in the Wall.  John yesterday overheard me saying that I would love to have pizza, and lo and behold he says "I make killer pizza".  Well, it was decided there and then to have a pizza party and John prepared his secret recipe pizza dough and made 3 pizzas this evening. Which were awesome, thanks John.

John, by the way, is from the Northeast and loves pizza with cheese only.  We nicknamed him "slingblade" because he talks in a very low growly tone that is just like the character.  What am I sayin, he is a character, one we have truly enjoyed gettin to know.  He owns his own business here working on outboard motors.  He keeps busy he says, every boater needs one that runs.

December 16, 2006

We pulled up anchor yesterday at Jonesville, with Valentina close behind and since there was little wind, we motored the 20 miles to West End, aptly named since it sits on the very west end of Roatan, arriving in the afternoon.  Roatan island is approximately 40 miles long and 4-5 miles wide.

 The western half is much more developed than the eastern part, due mainly to the cruiseship port at Coxen Hole, and the good diving off of of West End, which draws in alot of tourists.  West End is a marine park, and we were visited by the marine patrol this morning and after signing in and paying our $5/per person we were awarded green badges.  Badges? (we don't need no stinking badges, per Blazing Saddles movie, one of my favorites) so okay, I guess we need these badges.  A list of rules was read, and no fishkilling allowed. So put the spearguns away.  There is a coral head just off our stern just 50 yds away and alive with all kinds of fishlife: lobster, grouper, moray eels and assorted tropical fish and coral.

  We dinghy ashore today and walk the sandy main street checking out the layout.  It is a clean town and so far of what we have seen of Roatan, our favorite spot.

 We ate lunch at Eagle Rays, and met another couple Jim and Nancy and their 3 children, from the U.S.  Jim, is a naval attache and stationed here in Honduras and monitors all of Honduras and Belize.  We invited them out to our boats later on since they were staying in the resort right behind where we were anchored.  But first, we had to take advantage of the sun and good weather and go for a swim and snorkel West Bay, 3/4 mile south.  What a joy, as we saw another black grouper, 2 squid swimming side by side, a huge puffer but not puffed up, and lobster.  It was so clear and with the sun up high it made all the coral and the purple sea fans that much brighter.  Aaron played like he was shooting all these fish that he would normally spear with his finger, but they just swam on by with a smirk on their face. 

After a couple of hours, we dinghied back to our boats, and Jim and Nancy waved us down on the docks for a pickup.  They came aboard and we had the nicest visit, as it was interesting to hear of their 3 years spent in West Africa, before being stationed here.  Aaron took the kids, Sam, Maggie and Jack in the dinghy and went snorkeling on the coral head behind our boat, while Sonny/Kay and I visited more with Jim and Nancy.  Pina Coladas and rum and cokes were served up, and the after the snorkeling tour the kids enjoyed blowing the conch horn or trying to and jumping off our bow.

 I had made the famous Nanaimo bars, complements to Kaija on Kaija's Song, that morning, and served a slice nice and cold.  Yummy treat. Next for the family was a stop at Valentina's for a boat tour there.

 The sunset was again a beautiful one and the conch horns were blown on Blow Me Away and Valentina signaling the end of another day in paradise.

December 19, 2006

Today is a special day for us.  Our good friend, Craig, and his son Joe, are coming to Roatan via their vacation on the Grand Princess cruiseliner which makes port here this morning. We sighted their ship this morning and have anxiously awaited the reunion and yesterday we scouted out the location of where their excursion is that they have planned.  Gumbalinda Park offers many activities such as a tour of the monkey and bird refuge, a zipline canopy tour, and beach activities.  Since the weather has been calm and settled, we have anchored close by and took our dinghy ashore and tied up at their dock.  Promptly at 9am they arrive in the van full of other tourists from their ship and hugs and welcomes abound, plus a bonus: Craig has brought our mail from home.   We catch up on the latest and find ourselves with their group taking the monkey and bird tour.  It's a beautiful park, 50 acres in all but only 12 developed, and as we walk along the tropical landscaping the names of each species are printed below on a board.  Walking across a bridge, we encounter a friendly monkey wanting to cross, and as we reach the other side, it's parrots, macaws and monkeys, oh my!

After the tour, we all boarded our dinghy and motored to our sailboat.  It's been 10 yrs since Joe's last visit aboard, and Craig just slid right into the port settee and felt right at home.  The weather didnt cooperate and rain began to fall.  We visited until the rain stopped and then snorkeled the reef just 50 yds away from our boat.  Lobsters, eels, groupers, parrotfish, grunts, were all a joy to look at.  After a brief intermission onboard BMA, we all got in the dinghy to search out another spot to snorkel.  Snorkeling along the reef you swim towards the wall where the reef just drops away into the abyss, the big blue and it's there that you normally see the bigger fish, such as hogfish, ocean triggerfish, and mutton snappers.  The time passed away much to quickly and after a few beers at "The Bite on the Beach" bar/grill, we escorted our friends back to the park.  Arriving there precisely at 345pm, (4pm was the last scheduled bus back to the cruiseship) much to our surprise the last bus had departed some hours ago, since the weather was dismal and rainy. The owner, Marco, offered to take Craig and Joe back.  Hugs again and this time hasta luegos, amigos.

December 21, 2006

It's time to move on and have decided to make the trip south 20 miles to the little island chain called Cayos Cochinos, (island of hogs).  Not a very respectable name for one of the prettiest places in Honduras. There is a cold front expected to arrive on Christmas, but til then the weather is calm enough, (the anchorage at cayos cochinos offers no protection from the north or west).  The wind is light and on our nose so we motor all the way.  We arrive in 4hrs and take a mooring ball since anchoring is illegal here. Several little canoes with children aboard row out to us selling shell jewelry.  No gracias, but we offer them sodas and cookies for their visit.  It is a national park and no sooner than we had snorkeled around our boat for 10 minutes, the marine park authorities show up, and speaking poco ingles inform us to return to our boat.  Osman, the marine ranger, comes aboard, leaving his two guards from the Honduras navy on their boat tied up alongside.  Osman gives us a list of the rules that are written down in English and collects the fees, $5 for the boat, and $10 per person per day, but the Captain doesn't have to pay.  Staying for two days, we pay the $25 and head back into the water.  Before sunset, we dinghy ashore and tie up at the Plantation Beach Resort dock.  It's a little diving resort that has been in operation for 15 yrs.  After being offered something to drink, we meet Roger, the manager, originally from Florida and Nadie, his assistant.(they are not an item).

  Sitting at a table made from a slab of wood and stumps of wood for seats, we sit down and introduce ourselves and visit as we watch the sun set behind Cayos Pequenos, which, Nadie informs me, looks like a brontosaurus.

  We head back to our boat before dark and enjoy a peaceful nite.  To bed early, tomorrow is a big day.

December 22, 2006

At 730am, after checking in with Sonny on the SSB, we motor ashore and enjoy a delicious breakfast with Nadie and two guests from Durango, CO, Joanne and Reed.  They have been here a week and enjoy scubadiving.  With a full belly, we have decided to make the hike up to the top of the tower, which sits on top of the island.  Roger says it takes him 30 min, so we figure on an hour.  Aaron says he doesn't want to do "arriba" anymore, but being a good sport, he takes the challenge.  As we ascend higher and higher along the switchbacks, the trail becomes less defined and the trees are much denser.  After 30 minutes we reach the top of a hill and take a break on a rock that looks out to the other side of the island. 

  We continue on thru the foliage, under bushes and trees hoping that we are still on the trail.  It's down another hill and up another one?  After an hour of hiking, we begin to think that we have somehow missed it, but how could we?  You can't see the sky, due to the African palms and other trees so dense, that trying to figure out where you are is impossible.  So, on we march, on and on.  Finally, I spotted something red ahead, and yippee it's the tower.  But oh no, we have to climb the ladder inside the tower to get to the top.  I climb up the ladder, never looking down, and make it out onto the platform and enjoy a spectacular 360 view seeing approx. 20 miles.  Aaron braves it also, but decides to stay on the ladder foregoing the platform.  (he's a bit shaky on heights).  But, I am proud of him for getting this far.

After catching our breaths and leaving our names on the wall of the deserted guardshack (the lighthouse doesnt work anymore), we make the trip back down.  On the way, a vine snake attacks a gecko right in front of me and gives me a brief panic attack. The vine snake is so skinny, looking exactly like a branch on a tree, and the poor little gecko wriggles and then expires.  Poor little gecko.

 Proud of ourselves for making the hike up and down, we celebrate with a beer and visit with Reed awhile.  Joanne is out on a diving trip.

The afternoon session begins after lunch, and we take a dinghy ride out to the outer islands, one is a Garifuna community.  There are several tourist boats that take a day tour out here from Roatan or La Ceiba.  And the Garifunas sell their jewelry, sodas or beer.  We walk along the island for a bit, then we snorkel the reefs and explore the other islands.

At sunset we meet up with Roger, Nadie, Joanne and Reed and visit some more.  Nadie explains that there is an island called Booby Cay, which the Italian Survivor show rented for the duration of their filming.  Nadie says that the marine park authorities shouldn't of done that and also, the contestants cheated by fishing off of the island with poles, when they weren't on film.  Also, they didn't stay on the island for the entire duration

December 23, 2006

It was ten years ago that we took the plunge and bought our boat in Ft. Lauderdale thru Jeff Erdmann at Bollman Yachts, and living at the time in our 28ft RV at a RV park with lots of Canadians from Quebec. .Bon Jour. After talking with Wayne on the phone about flying in from San Francisco and helping us out by sailing with us around to St. Petersburg in January, he insisted that we call Marc whom we had met that May at JazzFest in New Orleans.  We called him on Christmas Eve and met for dinner at Dave and Buster's restaurant and he insisted that tomorrow we drive our RV to his home and park it in the driveway and make ourselves at home.  We spent Christmas with him and his family, Jana and Jamie his two daughters.  His hospitality and generosity was greatly appreciative as we worked long hours in cleaning up our new home, and at the end of the day he would greet us with a rum and coke, instruct us to take a shower  and dinner will be ready shortly.  We nicknamed him Dad because he took such good care of us and always has. 

Today we dropped the mooring line at 7am and motored northeast and back to Jonesville.  There is a cold front coming Christmas nite so we need to tuck into a protected anchorage and wait out the blow.  There is no wind at all this morning,  but the seas are rolly rolly. Halfway the winds picked up out of the east 10k, so we threw out the jib and it stabilized the boat some so the rolls were not so rough.  We anchored at noon and found Valentina close by as well as Adagio, Bob & Peggy, who we met at Marios on the Rio Dulce this summer.  Not feeling very well today, I believe I'm just exhausted from our day of full activity yesterday and need more rest. 

December 25, 2006  Merry Christmas!       

Here we are in Jonesville, Roatan-Honduras celebrating the holiday with friends.   The day started with listening to the NW Caribbean net at 8am with Rob on Carmelita anchored here as net controller today.  We met Rob earlier this month and introduced ourselves, and yesterday we had gathered at the local hangout, Hole in the Wall, and had invited everyone over to our boat for traditional bloody mary 's.  Rob on the net today announced that he was looking forward to Blow Me Away's world famous bloody mary's, (for the recipe check out the recipe section). I didn't know they were world famous until now!  We were joined by Sonny/Kay, Cora/Allan on Ute (we just met them yesterday and what a fun couple from California), Rob on s/v Carmelita and Larry, who has lived here the last 12 years and has a generous heart.  He offered his washing machine to use as well as his wireless internet service.  Internet from the boat rules!  The world famous bloody mary's went over really well.

  The potluck dinner started right at 2pm, bringing along my treasured green bean casserole (no green beans located in area, but Kay came thru with 3 cans).  The food was delicious, the turkey moist, enough food for an army, and a great turnout of friends.  I'm stuffed because it's been awhile since we have had this much food offered before us and couldn't help from making an ogre (wearing a Shrek Christmas hat) of myself with the buffet line.

December 29, 2006

Today is a lazy day, spent onboard relaxing, reading, and cooking.  Last nite a major rum front hit us broadside by two utes.  Cora and Allan s/v Ute, came over for happy hour and were the latest victims of a Blow Me Away cocktail hour, plus 3.  These two left San Francisco last October and have successfully crossed thru the canal and working their way (they do canvas repair) to Florida and up the east coast. The last two days we have spent exploring the area.  We went on a walk with Sonny/Kay to check out the place in the corner of the bay.  It's called Friendship village, dealing with Christian disaster relief.  But there's something weird going on as there is lots of abandoned buildings with camouflage on top, lots of machinery rusting away, and it looks like nothing has been operating here in many years.  There is only one couple living here taking care of the place but we walked along their driveway up to the main road and stopped at the local roadside bar and enjoyed a cervesa and met Joel, who is 6 yrs old and his Mom, Iris. Kids love to see themselves after you take their picture, (digital camera) and Joel was no exception. 

 After a break, we were ready to head on so we crossed the road and strolled on down the dirt road to a little village called PollyTilly Bight.  This is a friendly community on the north side of the island of Roatan situated by the water.  The residents take pride in their village and many homes were well taken care of, clean streets,  lots of children outside playing, and women dressed up carrying Bibles.  As we walked past the church, children were inside singing so we stopped to listen.  One of the women passing by told us that they were practicing for their Christmas program for tonight.

  We turned around and headed back, stopping again for refreshments before journeying down the dirt driveway back to Jonesville.

   Yesterday, a group of us traveled by bus to French Harbor.  We all paid our 20 lempiras ($1) and enjoyed a ride thru the little town of Punta Gorda stopping and picking up or dropping off passengers along the way and reaching our destination an hour or so later, a chicken rotisserie restaurant, that serves the best chicken dinner in French Harbor.  After lunch, we walked along the road to the bank, since there is not a bank in Jonesville, withdrawing funds from an ATM, then on to the marine store, and grocery store for some light provisioning, buying those items not found in the Jonesville, Oak Ridge area, like canned green beans and spinach,  cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese.  With all of our bags, each of us walked to the bus stop and hopped aboard for the ride home.   This bus ride was a lot different than the chicken buses in Guatemala, it wasn't crowded for one, and no live animals brought onboard, so the entertainment value was a lot less, but getting to town for $1 it's the best value around.

December 30, 2006

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary.  It's amazing how far we have come and what we have accomplished being together.  We do work well as a team, knowing each others strengths and weaknesses.  Aaron has the muscle power while I have the goddess power.  For example,  Aaron has the strength to reel in "The Big One" while I on the other hand can just put on my bikini and flag down a local fisherman and get fresh lobster.

We went on a dinghy ride to the west of here, meandering thru the canals cut thru the mangroves.  These canals were made by the Pacaya indians more than a hundred years ago and are narrow in some places only allowing one boat thru at a time.

The canal runs into Carib Bight another inlet bay surrounded by land on three sides and protected by the reef that does provide an opening thru so that vessels can enter or exit.  This is a much quieter area than Jonesville and we came across Marsha, and her sister Candy and friend Debbie having a drink out on their porch.  They invited us up and we sat and visited awhile.  We were surprised to find out that they are all from the St. Petersburg, FL area. Small world isn't it?  Marsha and her husband came down here six years ago and built a lovely home up on the hill (took 3 yrs to build) and then built a boathouse overlooking the water.  What a gorgeous setup. 

Back home, we enjoyed a candlelight dinner of crab bisque and crab claws, with a bottle of wine. No details!

December 31, 2006

Celebrated the day on our boat with many friends (14 in all) coming by throughout the day. When you own a rather large vessel and an icemaker, the party comes to you as we have discovered! The day started with the crew of Valentina, their son Taylor and wife Kodi and 2 yr old Rylie coming by for the world famous bloody mary's.  Taylor and family are from Austin, TX and had quite a time getting to Roatan.  They were suppose to of been here last week for Christmas but there flight was cancelled.  They were able to reschedule and make arrangements to visit this week.  Riley is a cutie, and she enjoyed treats of smarties.  Rob (s/v Carmelita) and Candace, who works at the Hole in the Wall came by around noon, then in the afternoon the three girls, Debbie, Candy and Marsha, out kayaking stopped to take a  rest.  The Utes, Cora and Allan, came by bringing brownies and ended up staying til midnite.  They had done research the nite before and had cheers memorized in different countries that were celebrating the new year hours before us.  Margo and Clive (s/v Rived) and Larry rounded out the evening.  Larry left shortly and I had made some shrimp creole earlier and dished up a bowl for the partyers.  At 9pm, we uncorked the bottle of champagne and enjoyed the bubbly in champagne flutes.  (I had retrieved them from the basement).  We didn't think we would make it to midnite so we celebrated in the county Bolivia. Here's to upshishoun (oppsheshoun, which means to your health). 

We actually did make it to midnite, but crashed soon thereafter. It's been a great year, full of firsts and lasts.   We have now lived on the boat for one entire year.