A Good Ending to a Hard Night's Passage

After towing us for about 2 hours to Cozumel, the Mexican Navy rescue boat rafted up to us to put us on a mooring in front of their base. 

April 17 - We are celebrating my birthday here in Cozumel but it was a very difficult trip. We had an early problem with the engine coming out of Sapadilla Lagoon but Scott thought changing the filters would resolve it. And it did until we got 100 miles down the coast in the early evening. And the engine hasn't worked since. Well, let me make this clear, we have no problem with the engine. It's the fuel. Unfortunately we have no control over the quality of the fuel in foreign parts. And the boat wasn't used for several years over COVID so we need to empty tanks and have them cleaned thoroughly as soon as possible. Certainly in Isla Mujeres! 

We managed to sail all the way until just south of Cozumel. Our boat doesn't go upwind well and our "tacking angles" make it difficult - so we were having a hard time getting east to Cozumel. And then the wind dropped and we were stalled.. 

We had been talking to friends on the Northwest Cruiser Net that morning and they instituted hourly check ins. Jeff and Sue on Blue Jacket contacted the Cozumel Port Captain and he offered to arrange a tow. Scott didn't want to do it for some time (we also were concerned as we didn't have much cash on hand) but finally agreed. Not long after the Mexican Navy rescue boat arrived with 3 men and towed us 2 hours into a mooring off the Navy building (just south of the regular anchorage). So we are there now and what a relief. And they didn't charge us anything!!! (Happy Birthday Heather). 

Scott gave me this lovely necklace and cooked up a terrific dinner for my birthday.

But now our problem is getting to Isla. The weather for tomorrow is for Light & Variable and we would like to be able to sail. Scott can change the fuel filters but it is possible that the fuel line might be clogged so we really want to sail as much as possible. From Cozumel we need to go northeast up the channel and that doesn't look good tomorrow. And the forecast from Saturday was for wind filling in from the NE Monday night. So we'll talk to Chris tomorrow morning. We can't check in here but we were told we can stay here until the weather allows us to go.

April 18 - We enjoyed the first sleep (and real meal) last night we'd had since Friday. It was so quiet and peaceful on Scott Free! After our conversation with Chris this morning, we decided to wait until Wednesday when the wind turn more easterly to continue on to Isla Mujeres. The officials here have agreed to our remaining on this mooring. We expect a bouncy night tonight when the front comes through with northerly winds but we're on a safe huge buoy. 

(earlier notes from before our trip) April 13 - Scott checked out of Belize and we did last minute provisioning and laundry. Marc's son Hadrian arrived so we had them over for dinner. I managed to make a lasagna and carrot cake - lots of baking in the hot weather! But it was all great and sad to say good-bye.

April 14 - An even sadder good-bye was to Yoli, Reagan, Cherie and Eric. We went in early this morning after talking to our weather guru (all continues to look good). As we were exiting the north entrance of the harbor a pod of dolphins escorted us - good luck sign for sure! It was an easy trip up to the Reserve Marina at Sapadilla Lagoon - sunny day with wind behind us, around 10 knots so we motor sailed. We haven't been able to find the slow water leak so wanted to fill up our tanks. We had planned to anchor out in the lagoon but the dockmaster Taina gave us a price we couldn't refuse (much less than expected) so we stayed on the dock for the night. 

April 15 - After talking to Chris at 7 AM and the Northwest Cruiser NET at 8, we were off the dock and starting north. The rest of the trip is covered in the first post. 

Two of our Mexican Navy rescuers. 

Scott's birthday dinner for me - Pork Chop,
coconut ginger rice and squash

Our cruiser friend Renate sent this shot from
the AIS tracking website. That's our boat
showing on it's way the north off of San 
Pedro, Belize.

Update April 12 - Plans are made!

 April 7 - Thursday

Our new cruiser friends Roni & Jerry heard that we were renting golf carts and taxi's and insisted we borrow their golf cart for a week. They are building a house just north of Thunderbird Boatyard and are still living on their boat at the dock there. They have a car as well so the golf cart was a spare.  We took our friend Marc and his newly arrived crew Volker up to the Maya Beach Bistro for dinner. 

April 8 - Friday

Roni & Jerry checked out this morning and we took them out for lunch and a swim at Mariposa and returned their much appreciated golf cart. 

Roni & Jerry

That evening as predicted the cold front blasted it's way south with squalls up to 30 knots all night. Happily the holding is good in Placencia harbor and no one (as far as we know) dragged. But the hatch over my bed started leaking again with the heavy rain and I had to move to the v berth. Funny how you get used to every day noises, in the stern stateroom it's the dinghy creaking and the wind generator over our heads. But in the v berth it's halyards beating against the mast and the anchor chain that's creaking. But my mantra was, "I'm safe and dry so stop complaining!"

Two of Reagan's workers helped us reinforce our dinghy. A quite lovely piece of mahogany was
bolted on the stern to provide a strong anchor for our outboard.

Scott's got a list of boat repairs and projects to complete but the leak in the water system has found a new outlet (Mark had found one source when he and Connie were visiting) and it's in an inaccessible location. So we're conserving water like crazy. Yoli let me have a long hot shower at her home.

April 9 - Saturday

It rained and blew all day but we had a fun afternoon at Yoli's. It's Trivia afternoon at 3 PM and we teamed up with John & Shelia and came in a respectable third. No walk today - too wet.

April 10 - Sunday

It cleared up nicely for Yoli's BBQ and what a fun afternoon with lots of friends and great food. 

Marc and I and Volker 

Yoli & Reagan at the BBQ cooking ribs, chicken, pork chops and this week only, lamb steaks

April 11 Monday

We talked to Chris Parker, our weather guru on the SSB this morning and it looks good for starting north on Thursday and making it to Isla Mujeres on Monday. We have to check out on Wednesday as Customs, Immigration and Port Control are closed for Easter holidays. Rosie & Don, our long time cruiser friends from Montana on Chickcharne arrived and we went out to Rick's for dinner with Rosie's daughter Monica, who had just flown in.

Heather, Scott, Rosie and Don having fun as always

April 12 - Tuesday

We spoke to Chris again this morning and have made our plans. Tomorrow Scott will clear out of the country (they are closing early on Thursday and no one knows how early it will be). Thursday we'll head north to the Reserve Marina to fill up with water and then anchor. Friday we'll sail north to Bannister Bogue above the ship channel and anchor. Saturday we'll carefully exit through a gap in the reef and sail overnight up the coast. On Sunday we should arrive in Cozmel later afternoon and anchor for the night. Monday we'll sail up to Isla Mujeres and check in. We haven't settled on a Marina yet. Our former Tortugal cruiser friends Dani and Jens are there right now and we'll be hanging out with them. HOPEFULLY!!! I'll try and put a quick update in underway if possible. 

The end of Yoli's dock is a favorite hangout for 
the birds.

Amazing flowers everywhere on our walk!

Update April 6 - We're at anchor!

 

We often stop at De Tatch for a fresh orange juice or breakfast during our morning walks. 

April 1 - April Fool's Day - We fell for the news that the last Spider Man actor Tom Holland would be the next Dr. Who. Other than that, kind generous cruiser friends who are building a house up the peninsula lent us their golf cart for the week (they have a regular car)! So we spent the day out at the boat repairing sudden problems. First it was the lack of water due to the pump over heating and failing. Scott was able to buy a new one from Belize City and they flew it down to us (it's only money). Then our shore power (and air conditioning as a result) failed due to the electrical connection at the steering pedestal burning out (did I mention it's 89 degrees, feels like 96). That was really old and he was able to get a new one locally. But the evening ended beautifully when our Belgium friend Marc took us out for dinner!

Mariposa Resort where we sometimes have lunch and swim in the pool - which is over to the right.

April 2 - We were down at the boat early working but returned in time for the 3 PM Trivia contest at Yoli's. Good week - we came in second. And we've been stopping at the Mariposa resort for lunch and a swim in their pool for a few days. That night was Yoli's Granny's 89th birthday and it was a big celebration under tents between Yoli's and Meryl's Cafe - music, food, lots of people.

Our apartment kitchen set for dinner

The porch and table

April 3 - We only spent a few hours in the morning working and then enjoyed the weekly BBQ at Yoli's - are you still feeling bad for us? 

April 4 - Scott got the first Hooky Pooky water taxi over to Independence and met the Customs and Post Office officials. He was back by 10 AM on the boat and the two mechanics showed up right away and worked all day till 5 PM. It's going well but a hydraulic hose needs to be replaced so Scott is back on the first Hooky Pooky tomorrow morning for a new hose and hopefully, they will finish. Meanwhile I'm washing down all the walls in the boat with vinegar, doing some provisioning and cooking. As soon as it cools down outside a bit, I'll put a new coat of teak oil on our exterior teak. It looks like a norther is coming in on Friday night so that means it will be next week before we can leave. Quiet last night at our apartment eating the chicken curry I made. We're moving back to the boat tomorrow.

Chicken Curry special at Mariposa. I copied it for
our dinner Monday night (with lots of leftovers)

April 5 - Scott was able to get the hydraulic hose but the right fittings were not available. I packed up and vacated our apartment and moved us back to our boat by 9AM hoping our mechanics would get an early start but they couldn't come until 3 PM. BUT they finished up that afternoon. We went back over to the Mariposa with newly returned cruiser friends on Blue Jacket for drinks and a swim. Then a quiet dinner on the boat.

April 6 - Our next challenge was getting enough money out of the bank to pay for all this. Scott was able to arrange a transfer to the bank from our States account and we paid the mechanics and the Boatyard. The high tide was 12:30 PM and we left right on time after a slight glitch - all the work had accidently detached the line to the fuel pump. It was an easy motor back out to Placencia Harbor where we gratefully anchored and popped two beers to celebrate! 

So now we are checking the weather for a weather window north. A cold front is coming in Friday night and then they'll be squalls through Sunday so not until Monday at the earliest. We'll keep you posted...

Update Monday March 21st.

 Quick update. We got towed into Thunderbird Boat Yard this morning and Pete, a South African mechanic here, with several helpers pulled apart the transmission from the engine and as Scott predicted, the damper plate had a piece broken off. That was what caused the noise and stopped the transmission working. Sott ordered this part last Friday and it is on its way - not an expensive item. No telling how long that will be of course. We are staying here tonight and then moving into our friend's Yoli & Regan's one bedroom apartment behind their home tomorrow. 

Sunrise this morning over Placencia Caye. We were up early as usual preparing for our tow into the boatyard.

When the repair is finished we'll motor back to Placencia harbor and start looking for another weather window north. A friend of ours's is planning to head to Florida at the end of this month. It would be wonderful if we could buddy boat with him. We'll see. Everyone here seems to think we'd be lucky to get the part in 10 days, but Scott had one delivered once in 8. But no instant solution. But we are healthy and safe so no complaints!

It was an open coffin in the church but closed at the Dinner afterwards - this is the porch of Meryl's Cafe just behind Yoli's Bar. Tents were erected and dinner was served underneath and in both establishments. They served plates high with turkey, ham, stuffing, potato salad, beans & rice, and cranberry sauce. Then, out came trays of pastries. Meryl was famous for her wonderful desserts. Her cakes graced every special occasion here in Placencia. 

Last Saturday we attended the funeral services for our Belizean friend Yoli's mother Meryl. She was only 65 and died very suddenly. It was a huge loss for her family and the whole community. Pretty much everyone who lives in Placencia was there and it was a beautiful service. We enjoyed being with her whenever we could - her smile could light up a room. Afterwards everyone gathered for a feast held between Meryl's Cafe and Yoli's Bar and exchanged memories. What a lovely tribute.

Our tow boat pulled us for an hour
to the Thunderbird Boatyard.

On the way we circled this small Caye with more solar
panels that we've seen anywhere in Belize. 

Update Thursday, March 17th

 Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. We now have 3 mechanics names and have contacted them but haven't been able to arrange a visit out to our boat yet. We may have to wait till the weekend as most have full time jobs with either the one boatyard here or one of the charter companies. Meanwhile I wanted to answer an obvious question you might have had: "Why didn't you just sail up to Mexico?"

When this happened we were still inside the barrier reef in Belize. The main Ship Channel was just north of us and goes east/west for a few miles threading through small cayes and reefs. It is lined with lighted buoys and serves as the main entrance into Belize for large ships. In order for us to sail out of this we would need to beat our way up wind. This is a fun exercise for a small or lighter boat designed for racing, but our motor sailor is built for long voyages on one tack. We have a wide tacking angle and the genoa, because of the inner staysail, needs to be furled in every time we would change tacks. Secondarily we had the possibility of sharing the channel with large ships and not much maneuverability. Now we could do this but there are more problems ahead. 

Once out of the channel we could sail slowly north in the light winds until they filled in later in the week and in a few days reach Isla Mujeres or Puerto Morales. Now we would face narrow twisty channels into these tight harbors. We would probably have to reach out and get towed in by someone. Then there would be difficulty getting repairs done there. Belize isn't anywhere as good as Guatemala, but this section of Mexico isn't a cruising area and we believe there isn't a boatyard or marine parts store anywhere around. If our transmission needs to be replaced, we would need a boatyard. 

So that didn't look like a reasonable choice, although we did consider it. We were pretty desperate to reach Mexico and if this had happened after we had made it out to sea, we would probably have continued on. Any way, I just wanted to explain the situation better for you. I'll post an update when we have real news,

Scott and I play Cats Monopoly with Ama at 
Hideaway Caye after we dropped off Connie and
Mark in Placencia. 

Connie enjoys a Belican beer at the Blue Marlin
Resort (photos here dropped from earlier post)

Mark pretends to "heel over" under sail. In reality
we were sailed downwind in a light breeze.

Connie or Mark took this photo of a pelican
checking out Scott Free at anchor at South
Water Caye.

Bad News

 Quick update: 

We checked out of Belize on Monday with an excellent weather window to Mexico from our weather guru, Chris Parker. As soon as we returned to the boat, we cast off and made our way north up to the Colson Cayes, near the Ship Channel out of the country and anchored for the night. The next morning as we were leaving our anchorage at 5:30 AM the engine started making loud clanking hissing noises. We stopped and Scott investigated but was baffled. The only thing he had done after anchored the night before was add more transmission fluid. So he took some out and for a while it didn't seem to make noises. He suggested we start north again, but I was concerned we didn't know what had happened We'd chosen the weather window due the lack of wind and waves - we needed an engine.

So we decided to head south motoring and see if it reoccurred. After awhile despite very emotional concern, I suggested we might turn north again. Before we did however, the noises came back and the transmission stopped working - it wouldn't go into gear. Something was really wrong and we didn't know what was causing it. [Editor's note - it turned out the stress plate that goes between the transmission and the engine had small pieces break off and that's what caused the problem!] We couldn't continue and turned south under sail back to Placencia, the nearest port of entry. It was a long 10 hour sail as there was little wind and the slow entry into the north channel to Placencia and anchoring under sail, took all our experience. But we made it last night and this morning have successfully reextended our time in Belize for another 30 days - everyone at the Port Authority, Customs and Immigration were very nice to us. 

Anchored safely back in Placencia, Belize a golden sunset greets us!

We have contacted a few mechanics and are trying to arrange for a visit. It looks like it is either the transmission, which is really bad news as rebuilding that is probably not available here in Belize, or the pressure plate between the transmission and the engine, which may be fixed here. 

We are very disappointed that this probably means we will not be able to spend the much hoped for visit with our friends Lily and Eldred French in Isla Mujeres. They are flying there on 3/22. And it means that our trip north is delayed for who knows how long at present. BUT we are not floating around off the coast of Mexico without an engine. We have our health and are safe - so we are thankful for that. 

More to come!

Now It's Connie and Mark's Turn

 

Scott, Heather, Connie and Mark at Yoli's Bar in Placencia

Jenny left on Monday morning and on Tuesday our friends and Shrewsbury neighbors Connie & Mark Youngstrom arrived. The first half of their vacation in Belize was at the Table Rock Resort near St. Ignacio in the interior of the country. They kayaked, did some bird watching tours, and saw Caracol, the largest Mayan site in Belize. They were pretty impressed with the Sanctuary Development and the Reserve Marina when they arrived and we had a lovely first day. We enjoyed a great dinner and got them all settled in for the night. 

Mark peaks out from on top of the engine
 while Scott provides support.

Boat repairs continue to dog us and one problem had become a real concern. Our water meter shows a decline in our water storage that is not due to usage. We could hear the water pump going at odd hours and Scott knew we had a serious water leak in the system. When Mark heard what was happening, he dove into the problem - head first! For 3 hours on his first morning, he crawled over the engine space and eventually found the leak and repaired it!!! 

That allowed us to cast off from the dock and head out of the lagoon and over to Blue Ground Range for our second night. It was a lovely spot although overcast all day. The next morning however the clouds parted and we continued over to South Water Caye for two nights. The weather was as perfect as possible down here - not too hot and a gentle breeze. Connie and Mark did some snorkeling in two different locations and we all enjoyed the crystal clear water for swimming. 

In the evening we went over to IZE for Happy Hour and had fun with bartender Camille and Yoga Instructor Heather. One afternoon we walked around the island and had a drink at the Blue Marlin Resort on the north end. Our next stop was at our friends Dustin, Kim and Ama's resort at Hideaway Caye. We enjoyed a big dinner there after Scott and Connie enjoyed the good snorkeling nearby. Connie said it was the best so far and they saw a wide variety of fish and a shark - a nurse shark and resting on the bottom but still a thrill. 

That's Scott Free anchored off South Water Caye. 

Our last few days were spent in Placencia and happily we were able to sail for part of the way there - a nice change from our usual motoring. The chef was delighted to take a further brake as we enjoyed breakfast at De Tatch, the BBQ at Yoli's, and dinner at the Barefoot Bar. Of course we had several happy hours at Yoli's Bar so that Connie and Mark could meet some of our cruiser friends. It was a sad morning saying good-bye!!! What a fantastic visit and over all too soon.

BBQ Sunday at Yoli's: from left Mark, Connie, Lori, Peter, Jerry, Debarah, Marc, Brigitte and Heather. 

This week has been spent provisioning and saying good-bye to our friends here in Placencia. It's Friday and we go up to Hideaway for the last time and then to Sapadilla Lagoon to weather the cold front arriving tomorrow night. If all goes well, we will sail to an anchorage in the north of Belize on Tuesday and sail overnight Wednesday to Mexico Wish us fair winds and calm seas.

Fresh veggies and fruits at the start of our trip

Scott and I pose on South Water Caye

And checks the sail on the way to Placencia.

An iguana poses on a tire for his photo

Camille and Heather snap a selfie at
the IZE bar

Heather prepares papaya for breakfast, still
in her PJs

Looking Back at Our Belize Adventures - Part II

Scott and I had talked about bringing the boat back to the U.S. at the end of the cruising season in Belize in 2021.  We'd probably sail up to the Chesapeake and leave it there for the summer. We might put it up for sale at that time. This was our 17th year sailing her and she is now 30 years old. Scott rather enjoyed fixing things the first time and there was a satisfaction the second time, knowing what to do. But now the third and fourth times are cropping up and he's getting tired of it. And of course, we are now in our middle 70's and not as spry as we used to be.
So we were looking forward to an easy cruise in Belize this year, hopefully, back out to the atolls for some time. But the season was unexpectedly cut short due to the Covid 19 virus, as several of my previous blog posts testify. And during the two months, we were there, we had both more than usually predicted blustery weather and a number of "exciting misadventures" that all, thank goodness, turned out safely. It puts a lot of stress in our lives, particularly Scott's, as he usually heads up the rescue procedures.
The weather as I mentioned, was more predicted than experienced. At this point, when a cold front is expected we anchor in one of two safe locations: Placencia or Sapadilla Lagoon. Both provide secure anchoring and protection from wave action.  But we never got a long enough weather window to enjoy more than a couple of days out on the barrier reef islands.
Our first accident occurred on our way out of the Pelican Cays. We often visit one of these islands where Dustin, Kim and their 7-year-old daughter Ama run the tiny resort, Hideaway Caye. We were in a narrow passage between the islands heading for the shallow passage over the reef to the deepwater when the engine quit. Scott went into the engine room to diagnose while I watched us drift towards the shallow sandy bar off the island (thank God it wasn't coral). We went aground, rather softly.  I got on the radio to Dustin as we were only about 500 yards from them and he raced out in his launcha and pulled us off. Meanwhile, Scott had figured out the problem and was solving it. Really the whole incident only took about 15 minutes. And we were in no danger.
The next one was a longer process. We followed Emerald Seas, motor sailing in stiff wind and seas, over from Sapadilla to Blue Ground Range. It was rather exciting sailing but somewhat upwind. That's called tacking and we don't do it well. The engine was necessary to keep us in a reasonable direction. We were bashing into the waves nicely when again, the engine quit. It wasn't the same problem, we know that, but assumed it was a fuel problem exasperated by the wave action. He changed filters but no help. We called Emerald Seas and considered turning the boat south which would comfortably allow us to sail to Placencia (anchoring with sail alone is something we hardly ever do but we can do it).  But after a half-hour in the hot smelly engine room Scott found the problem - a loose wire on the fuel pump. Great job Scott! And we resumed our trip up to anchoring with Emerald Seas. We invited them over for dinner to celebrate and then spent several lovely days at South Water Caye snorkeling, swimming and enjoying happy hours at the newly renovated IZE bar.
The third incident occurred a week later in basically the same place and again we were joining Emerald Seas. This time the engine alarm went off (very scary sound) and we had to turn it off. This time there was almost no wind so the sails wouldn't be much help. It was very hard for Scott to figure this one out and it took a while. Meanwhile we were well away from land so in no immediate danger. It was a low coolant error and after filling the coolant up we were able to slowly motor up to Blue Ground Range and through the narrow gap in the reef. Jim came over to help Scott and they found the leak.
The last incident happened again just off Hideaway Caye! Dustin has 3 buoys deployed off his bar as the anchorage is very deep for many boats - 65 feet. Jim & Renate and ourselves usually anchor as it isn't a problem for us. Every year some huge catamaran drags one of the buoys and breaks the line. Jim gets his scuba equipment and tries to find it. He's always successful but this year it took over 10 dives in murky water where you can't see more than 5 feet ahead! We watched the process from our boat and cheered when he finally located it. The next day we went to lift our anchor and found that the buoy line had tangled around our anchor chain. It was a mess! Our anchor and the buoy anchor together weighed 175 lbs, with another 75 pounds of chain. Dustin in his launch and Jim and Kevin from My Jo in a dinghy and Scott up on the bow, wrestled with the problem. There were two immediate dangers - someone could lose a finger or worse with this heavy mess and our boat was drifting towards the reef in the wind. Finally Jim put his dinghy up against the side of our boat and tried pushing us - it slowed the drift, but Dustin's launcha was necessary to pull us further off.  When we were finally far enough away, they managed to untangle the lines and free us. Whew!
This gives you an idea of why we are starting to feel that maybe we should think about the ending of our wonderful time cruising. By the time we sell (assuming it doesn't take a LONG time), we'll have 20 years under our belt, so that will be enough. And when we sail the boat up from Belize to Florida, we'll have some crew with us (hopefully someone who knows diesel engines! That's the one thing we haven't replaced.)

Hideaway Cay is one of our favorite places in Belize. Dustin, Kim and Ama run a wonderful tiny bar and restaurant. Dave
from Cordelia is a singer/songwriter and sometimes we can prevail upon him to entertain us here or at Yoli's in Placencia.

Fragments of Hope, an NGO dedicated to saving the coral
reefs of Belize is growing this coral in the Pelican Cayes.

Scott after a successful diagnosis of our engines' problems.

Jim pointing and Kevin driving diagnose the problem

Lifting up the anchor chain and buoy lines

Notice how much further the other sailboat is
 from our boat as the process unfolds. I start to
panic as we approach the reef.,

We've been pulled into safer waters and
the lines are finally untangled. Yeh!

We enjoyed several lobster dinners before the end of the
season mid February. One great one was at Hideaway.

Sunset at the newly renovated IZE bar.

Here's a professional shot of the IZE dock and bar

One of the two charming bartenders at IZE

Looking Back at Our Belize Adventures - Part 1

Emerald Seas left Tortugal a few days ahead of
us to spend time in Texan Bay. We joined them for
one night before checking out of Guatemala and
crossing the bar at the Rio Dulce.

For the first time we anchored off Punta Gorda, the
southernmost town in Belize to check into the country. 

It was an easy and pleasant check-in as all three of the
agencies were in one building. We had time to tour the
small town as well.

The clocktower in the small central plaza is the town's
icon. 

Next we motored up to the quiet harbor of New Haven for
several days. There is nothing there but the wildlife. Jim
and Renate practiced on their new paddle boards. 

The weather was so fine for several days that we decided to sail over to the Sapadilla Cayes, the southernmost islands
on the barrier reef. We had only been there one other time with Walt & Honoree many years ago. On the way we stopped at the beautiful Seal Cay to snorkel. Our first anchorage was Lime Cay. It's definitely a settled weather spot only but we had a quiet night with the dramatic sunset you see above.

The next day we got a tour of nearby Hunting Cay by a
charming Coast Guard official. 

There is a customs/immigration office there along with the
Coast Guard but they aren't always open.

A view of Emerald Seas and Scott Free from a beach at Lime Cay 

Sanny Garbutt cooks up some wonderful meals we're told
but didn't have a chance to try one this time. We'll be back!

The Garbutt resort on the island is rustic but very comfortable
with ensuite bathrooms in the cottages. The graffiti has
been collecting for many years. 

The next day we sailed up to Tom Owens Cay to meet our
friends Woody & Judy on Lapis. The "Shell House" is a
charming rental built on the smaller of the two islands
around the harbor. 

We had a tour of this lovely spot, all built by hand from
conch shells and concrete over the last 4 years. 

Jim, Renate, and Scott at the dock

Another view of the house - you can see the
conch shells form the exteriors. The two rental
units inside are very elegant.

We had drinks aboard Emerald Seas at Tom Owens with
Woody & Judy and Pauline & Alan on Kristiania. 

After two nights we headed to Placencia and much
to our surprise, this amazing Tall Ship, the Frederick
Chopin, came sailing into the harbor at night all lit
up as you see here. What a sight!

The next morning we followed Cordelia out during "visiting"
hours. 

Unfortunately, it was really crowded at the landing spot and
it was necessary to climb a rope ladder. We passed, but
got a great look at the ship and heard some of the live
music. 

Jim "hams" it up at the Barefoot Bar!

I had no idea my dress was fluorescent!

We caught up with our friends on Lianda at the Reserve
Marina.As before, we came for drinks and stayed for dinner.
Marc's son Hadrien and his girlfriend Albina were visiting
. Marc's wife Morgan was still in Belgium. They sailed
 over to Roatan a few days later
and are still there as of April due to the Covid 19 virus
closing the borders.

Marc looks like he's about to break into
an aria!

We organized an excursion up to the Maya Beach Bistro for
lunch and a swim. Cordelia, Wahoo and Canel joined us.

That meant two golf carts - Jim & Renate joined us on the
smaller one. Great meal as always. It's one of our favorite
spots.