Final post this year from Belize!

Scott, Morgene, Marc and Heather

We met Morgene and Marc from Lianda at the Pelican Cayes earlier in the season and have enjoyed many fun times with them since. Morgene is French and Marc Belgian and Lianda a 57 foot Swan.
We did land trips to Dangriga and Hopkins and fun evenings on each other's boat. One day Morgene arranged a bread making class with a French professional baker (from another boat) - fantastic opportunity!
Renate was feeling well enough back in Vancouver after her heart attack in Belize that Jim decided to fly back and sail Emerald Seas south and back up the Rio Dulce in

Heather and Marc at lunch at Hamansi

The grounds and pool at Hamansi in Hopkins where we had a delightful lunch

Students gather to watch while Patrice gives a demo

Guatemala. Scott and I sailed north to meet him on his first night in Sapadilla Lagoon and then buddy boated with him all the way back to Tortugal Marina. It was a fun trip, although we missed Renate a great deal, and for a change, everything went well!
We had an easy trip across the bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce with only a short time pulled over on our side to cross the shallow bar. And we managed to get Scott Free ready to leave with less than a week at Tortugal. Happily, as the weather turned hot, hot, hot. Jim, Scott and I had a long trip up to Guatemala City on 4/26  and all flew out the next day. For the second time we stayed at Las Americas Hotel and find it very comfortable and convenient. There is a large modern mall nearby with lots of dining options and the buffet breakfast at the hotel is good. They have a free shuttle to the nearby airport.
Now we are enjoying a week with our son James, daughter in law Morgan and new grandson Kolya, now 9 months old. After a few days with my sister Paula, we return home to Vermont!

We watched the master baker and then copied
his every move.

Scott makes a lot of bread but mostly in the bread
machine or the "no knead" recipe so this was
different. We had two risings and the second one was
overnight in our frig followed by baking it for breakfast.

Dinner at Wendy's to say goodbye to Uli and Imke from Eiland and Dani & Jens on Arwen. They headed north up to
Mexico and then Florida. Rick & Marsha from She Wolf and Roy & Dale from Wahoo joined us.

It was Heather's 74th birthday and we celebrated at Yoli's.
Our friends Rosie & Don from Chickcharne ordered a
beautiful cake!

Our charming waitress at the great
Garifuna restaurant Tuani we visited in Dangriga

The owner gave us a history of the Garifuna people. The
walls of his restaurant have paintings illustrating it.

Here's one showing the process of making cassava bread

Our host, our waitress, Marc and Morgene

Heather, Rick, Jim, and Marsha enjoy a fun dinner on board
Scott Free at Sapadilla Lagoon. Jim sailed down that day
from Cucumber Beach Marina to join us on a buddy boat
trip south to Guatemala.

Sean & Will visit Scott Free

Will, Sean, Scott, and Heather on South Water Cay at the bench

 This was a special year for us as our son Sean and son-in-law Will came down to visit us for the first time in many years. It was an exciting two week trip for them. The first week they visited Guatemala - Antigua, Tikal, and Flores. Then they flew some tiny planes into Placencia, Belize where we met them.
After a two night rest at a lovely beach resort, we all got together for a full day tour with Truly Wild Belize through the whole country by van up to the ruins of Xunantunich and then cave tubing. Great fun!
We enjoyed two nights anchored in Placencia and then headed out to Pelican Cay for another two nights. There we did some snorkeling, exploring by dinghy and kayak during the day and socialized at Hideaway Cay in the evening with other cruisers and our hosts: Dustin, Kim, and their daughter Ama.

Will and Sean watch the sunset with Scott Free anchored off South Water
Cay 

Sean & Will at the summit of  Acatenango volcano near
Antigua, Guatemala. This was a grueling hike to over 12,000 ft. 

 Next, we spent 2 nights at South Water Cay out on the barrier reef. This reef is the second longest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Sean and Scott went scuba diving one day and saw sharks, a turtle and manta rays as well as plenty of fish and coral. We also did lots of snorkeling and exploring. One night we had drinks at the EZE bar on the island and the second night enjoyed martinis on Wahoo with Roy & Dale and Scott & Tamara from Kookie Dance.
There was some discussion on where to go next but Sean solved the problem by suggesting we just return to the Pelicans and spend another night at Hideaway. And it was a lovely one with just our hosts. Next day Ama came out to swim and paint with us.
But it was time to return to Placencia as our week together was coming to a close. Our last evening we had drinks at Yoli's and then dinner at Rumfish. We were celebrating our 40th Anniversary the next day and Sean's birthday the day after.

And watching the sunrise over the ruins at Tikal

They flew a number of small planes in Guatemala and
Belize - 9 passenger and 4 passenger ones with Tropic Air. 

Will gives a thumbs up for their "private plane" to Flores, Guatemala from Guatemala City

To get to Xunantunich we had to cross the river on a hand
cranked ferry.

A series of gears made the job easy. Scott
gave it a try as well.

Our guide for our full day tour, here at Xunantunich

The stonework was very intricate

Heading up to the main temple which we were able to climb

Looking up the steep stairs

You can get an idea of how steep the stair is

The view over the plaza from the top of El Castillo, the main temple

Sean and a view of the countryside. The border with
Guatemala was only less than a mile away,.

You really couldn't have a problem with
heights and climb over these ruins.

And we got lots of exercise as well!

We pose in front of the amazingly intact carvings on El Castillo

The start of our cave tubing adventure! We
spent an hour exploring a series of caves
with an underground river.

Sean with Heather at the wheel

But then Sean takes charge

The morning we traveled out to the reef was misty and it
was hard to see the border between and sea and sky.

Heather, Sean and Maya work diligently at the drawings

The local fishing vessels are amazing - 8 or more fisherman
live on these tiny sailboats for a week at a time.

Our dinghy with Sean, Heather, and Scott heading into the
bar at EZE, South Water Cay.

Scott Free under sail from Wahoo

Sean & Will with Scott from Kookie Dance on Wahoo for
a Marini Night.

Scott and Sean scuba diving

Having a close encounter with a turtle

And a number of manta rays

Pluse a few sharks

Sean floating in space...

Raccoon Attack and Other Stories

First of all, his name was Chucky. But we didn’t know that walking out on a very dark dock to get our dinghy. It was late and Yoli’s bar was closed where we keep our dinghy. Suddenly this large raccoon appeared and rushed at our legs. We were surprised and scared - thoughts of rabies shots in the stomach ran through both of our heads. Scott batted him away with our shopping bags and yelled, but he kept coming on. We jumped in the dinghy and frantically untied the painter while pushing off. It was quite a scene.
Next morning we reported the situation to Yoli, the owner of the bar and the dinghy dock. She became quite upset.
“You go right back there and talk to Reagan (her husband) and don’t let him sweet talk you!”

We were rather mystified but not for long. There was the said raccoon playing around Reagan’s woodworking shop. Reagan laughed and dismissed the concern. “Chucky” is the pet raccoon of one of his employees and he loves to hug your legs. But who is going to know that unless you are already acquainted! Let’s just say that Yoli agrees with the surprised customers

Here's Chucky!

Well, that’s the most humorous of my stories. I’ll get the serious one out of the way next. Our good friend Renate Mendria on Emerald Seas had a heart attack on Friday, March 16 while anchored at Shag Bogue with 3 other boats. After they anchored Renate felt totally exhausted, unusually so, and told Jim to go over for a drink with the others while she rested. After he left she experienced numbness spreading down her arms and up to her chin. She felt like her teeth were loose. She called Jim and he returned. The other boats contributed advice and aspirin & nitroglycerin. She felt somewhat better after these and they decided to wait until morning before getting her to the hospital. Early the next morning Jim and Mike sailed the boat over to Cucumber Beach Marina where Don & Rosie on Chicharne were waiting with a taxi. Renate was admitted to the hospital and stayed until Monday afternoon. She had tests which indicated she had a minor heart attack with little heart damage. They don't really know what caused it and that will have to wait until she has further tests home in Vancouver. On Thursday, March 21 we went up there to see her with Dani & Jens from Arwen in a rental car from Placencia (7 hour round trip). We took Jim and Renate out to lunch right there at the Cucumber Beach Marina. She seemed just like herself and it was hard to believe what she’d been through. We’re so sorry that we’re so far away! They are such good friends! On Friday she had a visit with the cardiologist and on 3/25 she and Jim flew home to Vancouver. Happily, they have insurance which took care of the expenses. They have left Emerald Seas at the Marina until Jim can either come back with someone and take it to Tortugal Marina on the Rio Dulce, or hire a delivery captain.

Scot & I, Renate & Jim, Jerry & Deborah earlier in the season

Our other stories all involve problems with Scott Free. She is 29 years old and showing her age. Not in appearance - she looks great - but in mechanical failures. Our first recent excitement came just as we were approaching the reef entrance to Wippari Caye. An unfamiliar alarm went off. We frantically looked around for the reason. “Try the engine room”, I suggested. Oh dear, it was flooded up to the main engine and water was spraying around. It was the salt water pump - - the hose had burst. We had forgotten to shut off the pump after cleaning the chain and anchor. We shut off the engine and started manually pumping, adding power to the automatic bilge pumps. A half hour later we had emptied the engine room and bilges. Now came the scary part. “Would the engine turn on after being soaked in salt water?” What a wonderful engine sound that was!
But there was no guarantee that this situation would continue so we headed to the nearest Marina, seven miles away. Meanwhile, Scott started washing off all the engine parts and checking everything. We made it to the Sapadilla Lagoon and anchored just outside the Marina. Unfortunately, the starter motor didn’t work a second time so we had to send it off to be rebuilt. And Scott installed a new saltwater pump hose.
Luckily, this is a lovely place to be stuck in. The lagoon is a beautiful anchorage and the Marina has a laundromat, convenience store and a Beach Club with pool and restaurant. We suffered lying in the pool with Margaritas. I know - you feel sorry for us - not!

Heather with a section of the dinghy raftup in Sapadilla
Lagoon. Fun time getting together in for sundowners and
an appetizer pot luck.

Sunset looking over the Lagoon

After installing the rebuilt starter motor we sailed out to the Funk Cayes with Emerald Seas (this was before her heart attack) and anchored in a gorgeous cut between two cayes not far from the barrier reef. There we bought conch from a local fisherman (and feed him lunch and cold drinks- these guys spend all day out in a tiny wooden canoe) and Renate made the most delicious conch fritters. We snorkeled during the days and took turns entertaining each other on our boats - perfect.

Well, lots of other boat parts have failed since then - the rudder sensor (can’t use the auto pilot), the portable VHF, the hydraulic seals that power the rudder (no steering at all) and the alternator (charges up the batteries with the engine). We moved down to Placencia after the starter motor was rebuilt and installed. The rudder sensor and new radio made it down to Customs from the U.S. but nothing is easy in the third world. After taking the boat shuttle (the Hookey Pookie) to Independence on the mainland to recheck into the country (necessary every 30 days), he went over to pick the package at the Placencia Post Office. Oh no, they are over in Independence. Too late that day to get there. Next day he goes over and meets with the Customs officer at the Independence P.O. He can’t release the parts because Scott doesn't have a Belize radio license (he has a U.S. one). He needs to get one from the Public Utilities Commission. OK says Scott, I’ll leave the $25 radio with you and just take the boat parts I need. Oh no, says the Customs officer - you take all or none. So Scott worked his way through the red tape at the PUC to get that license and returned over to the Independence Post Office. Now the Customs officer was missing. Luckily, Poppy, Scott's taxi driver, knew where she was - a softball game. Would you believe, she left and released the package. Hopefully, her team didn't lose as a result We're sitting here right now waiting for the hydraulic sealers to be rebuilt. “Still not feeling sorry for us?”. Well, you’re right…

One more story and that’s it for now. We were anchored in Placencia harbor with at least 30 other boats when a squall hit us at about 8 pm. We weren’t at all concerned as our anchor was well set and before dark we checked and there wasn’t another boat in front of us. But suddenly we got a VHF call warning us that a boat was dragging into us. Scott went out to the bow with our big flashlight and I put on the engine and got on the wheel. A local fishing boat with 7 men was trying to motor back and forth just in front of us. The wind was howling and rain pouring down. I tried getting out of their way with our engine and bow thruster but they kept coming back. Then we realized they had tried to anchor in front of us and had caught their anchor in our anchor chain. Finally, one of the fishermen dove off their boat and managed to untangle it. By this time their boat was alongside ours and we all registered relief together. They reanchored behind us, thank God!

So only a few of the stories encountered this season. There are many more….for another time.

We're in the water now...

Blue Ground Range is a circle of small cays around a deeper lagoon. From our anchorage we could see over a submerged connecting reef to the outer barrier reef that runs the length of Belize. That's where we headed next - to South Water Cay. This is a favorite spot with several small resorts and good holding. One of the better cuts through the barrier reef is just south of the island but the anchorage is well protected from north easterly directions.

Sorry to be adding a few professional photos on this entry but I wanted you to see the view from wider prospective than
my camera could provide. We anchor right off this spot - EZE Resort on South Water Cay. The red roof building is a casual fun local feeling bar where we enjoy Happy Hour - half price drinks.

Emerald Seas, Lapis Ten Year's After and Indian Summer joined us there. We had a fun snorkel over by the tiny Carrie Bow Cay just past the opening in the reef.
Then the next morning we sailed 13 miles east to one of the few atolls outside the Pacific - Glover's Reef. This oval shaped atoll is 20 miles long and 7.5 miles wide. A few small cays rise above the encircling reef and there are a few cuts that allow passage inside. We entered through the largest, on the south east corner and made our way following the deeper blue passages to a anchorage west of Long Cay.

This is what Glover's Cay looks like from the air. There is a breaking reef around most of the atoll. This view is looking from the north. The entrance and the Cay where we anchored is in the upper left corner. 

The bottom here is tough sea grass and we had a hard time getting our anchor to bite in. It finally did but we set our anchor alarms carefully that night. Two small nice dive resorts share a nearby cay. We'd been there before and headed over for drinks with Ten Year's After, Summersalt and Emerald Seas at Mariposa Resort. Scott was hoping for some wifi to have a conference call with Rights and Democracy but it turns out they have very poor reception and it only works in the morning! It's expensive out here so far from the mainland - our two drinks came to $18 American. They were good though - carefully made Mojitos.
It was a windy night and after listening to the weather report from Chris Parker on the SSB the next morning, we decided to head back to South Water Cay. We just didn't trust our anchors to hold when the wind direction changed (sometimes in the middle of the night) and we were surrounded by either the cay or shallow reefs. Hopefully we'll be back here to do some diving and snorkeling when the weather is better. We spent a week here a few year's ago later in the season.
On the way back we had some bad problems with steering. Our auto pilot couldn't hold a course and the wheel/rudder connection seemed loose. This is a time when it's good to be with buddy boats! Luckily Scott is a very clever amateur mechanic and tore apart our bed to see the steering cables and hydraulic system underneath it. He discovered a slow leak in the hydraulic fluid so we topped it up (the boat is rock & rolling with steep waves and we're both huddled over the steering post trying to carefully pour fluid through a tiny funnel into a tiny hole!).  After pumping the wheel back and forth we were able to hand steer back through the cut to South Water Cay. What a relief to put the anchor down!
So two lovely more nights there snorkeling during the day and one memorable evening with 10 cruisers on Emerald Seas, and we had a great sail back to Placencia. We needed to be there to watch our Patriot's win the Super Bowl. Yeh! Not a exciting game but a great outcome.

Belizean Montage

Sunset in New Haven with Czech & Mate, Emreald Seas
and Ten Year's After with the full moon already in the sky.

Everyone but myself went into shore to cut down and open
up coconuts. I had already had a few bites from the "no
see ums" at anchor so didn't want them to feast on me even
more.

 We had a fairly easy trip out of the Rio Dulce. Hector took our halyard and tipped us over enough after we got stuck. It was only about 100 yards before we were free again. Then we all motored over to Tres Puntas for a quiet night anchored. Next day we were able to sail part of the way up to New Haven (the rest had to be motored). A "Norther" was coming in on Sunday so this was a good protected spot to weather it out. One night everyone came over for Mexican Train Dominos and drinks.
Then on Monday we sailed up to Placencia and checked into Belize the next morning. The next few days we were plagued by winds from the south during the day that sent rollers into our harbor and had all the boats rocking and rolling. We were glad to head north up to Sapadillo Lagoon for a few days with the four boats already mentioned, Indian Summer and Cordelia. This is a very protected anchorage with a beautiful Marina and Beach Bar. The development here, called Sanctuary, has been through some tough times and there are only about 35 houses built (there are 700 owners suing the developer, who is under investigation from the FTC at present). They love the cruisers that bring some life (and money) into the place. There is a great laundromat, convenience store and fuel dock.
Fourteen boats spent a few days with us anchored outside the Marina and we enjoyed the Beach Bar and facilities.
After last night's Norther went through, we're off towards the reef for some snorkeling and swimming. Now anchored in Blue Ground Range.

Fearsome Scott brandishes his machete. 

Scott, Renate, Deborah, Pat and Jerry

It wasn't easy opening up the coconuts! But
they managed and we enjoyed the meat.

Jim's photo of Scott Free at our second sunset

Dick & Lizzie from Indian Summer enjoy some rum
punches at the Beach Bar at the Marina in Sapadillo
Lagoon.

Twelve of us, all from Tortugal Marina, have lunch 

The beautiful pool at the Beach Bar

We got ferried over to the Beach Bar from the Marina. That's
Jerry from Czech & Mate in the front

Back on the Rio

We had quite a scare on Tuesday Jan. 15. Our dinghy was out of commission getting a leak fixed and Jim from Emerald Seas volunteered to take the two of us into town. He has quite a powerful motor on his inflatable and had just come up to speed a ways off the Marina when my cloth shopping bag started to fly off. He lunged to grab it and accidentally threw the tiller/throttle over hard. The dinghy took a very sharp fast turn and threw Scott and I overboard. It almost took Jim as well but he managed to hang on and put the outboard in neutral. I was thrown upside down hard and was disoriented. But both Scott and I could hear the engine and feared being cut up by the propeller. Both of us stayed underwater worried about it. But I had inhaled and swallowed some water and finally had to come up. I was in pretty bad shape, coughing and having a hard time breathing. Luckily a nearby launcha was there very quickly and reached down to hold me up. Meanwhile Scott came up under the dinghy and Jim managed to haul him out from underneath.
It all happened so fast! We were very lucky it wasn't much worse. Everyone helped haul Scott and I up into Jim's dinghy and we returned to Tortugal. Some of the staff there had seen the accident and they were waiting with towels and welcome hugs. Jim was very shaken too. All of us were soaked. Scott lost one of his hearing aids and Jim his prescription glasses. Luckily my pocketbook which was around my shoulder, stayed on through everything (and neither of us had brought our cell phones!). A very hot shower helped us calm down and warm up. This morning a stiff neck from the whip lash and some nightmares last night are all that's left.
We've been back on the Rio since Jan. 3 and after a week getting Scott Free's bottom and boot stripe redone on the hard at Ram Marine, we were back at Tortugal. Alternator problems from last year are still with us and hopefully will be finally fixed tomorrow the 17th. New canvas, dodger, bimini and transition unit will be finished then as well. With any luck the bow thruster problems will at least be diagnosed too. We hope to check out of Guatemala and exit the "dreaded" mouth of the Rio on Friday the 18th. The high tide is early evening so it will be a dark crossing over to Tres Puntas anchorage for that night and then the next morning we will sail north for a safe anchorage either at New Haven or up to Placencia. A big norther is coming in Sunday morning so we need to be somewhere with good protection.
It's been lots of fun socializing here as many of our good friends are here. There is one group every morning enjoying the free coffee and another even bigger one at cocktail time. Good conversation and lots of support with repair issues. We'll be leaving the river with several boats - always a huge relief. More news when we get to Belize.
Quick note - we're at the mouth of the river waiting for the tide - in one hour. We've arranged for a boat to stand by and take our halyard to tip us over so we can make it out. Wish us luck!