Sailing, sailing,

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Putting the boat to bed...

Johnny from "Quest" and Scott at Bruno's

It was a calm sunny day for our easy motor sail out of Belize and into the anchorage at Tres Punta. We were settled in and jumping off the boat for a cooling swim by 3pm. Not long after our new friend Johnny, single handing his sloop "Discovery", anchored near by. He called to invite us over for drinks but as I had just finished making a corn, bacon and chili chowder, we pursued him to join us for dinner instead. We first met him in Placencia, shared the anchorage at Tom Owens, and tomorrow were heading across the bar with him. He is Norwegian and drives boats supporting oil rigs with dynamic positioning software - very interesting. Like a number of other "younger" men

Linda and Mike Odom from "Casa del Mar" at Tortugal

And again on Scott Free with Judy from "Quest"

we've met sailing, he works periods of time without a break and then gets a long period off to compensate.
The next morning we left at 5:30am at dawn and entered the river at the optimum of time of 7am. We had 1.7 feet of positive tide but nevertheless plowed a furrow in the soft mud for about a quarter of a mile, no problem with our 135 hsp but nerve wracking just the same. Just me of course, not Scott, who never worries about practically anything.
It was an easy check in to Guatemala. A launch arrived with six officials headed by the "coordinator" Raul's nephew. He translates and facilitates the process, somewhat complicated in this case by our 12 month extension on our cruising permit, which ends in August. Lots of discussion on what to do, followed by a decision to let it lapse and then handle the situation when we return in January (this was the recommendation of the group).
We and Johnny were motoring up the river by 9:30. He stopped in Texan Bay for a few nights but we decided to go straight up to Tortugal Marina and settle in. What a pleasure to tie up and have dinner at their lovely breezy restaurant that night! This is a beautiful place.
The next nine days went by like a flash. We had lots of work getting the boat ready to leave but the main highlight was spending time with Mike and Linda Odom on "Casa del Mar". We first met them in Georgetown, Bahamas back 7 years ago at the "Going South" meeting of cruisers planning to make the very scary trip leaving the security of the Bahamas and off down to Trinidad.
"When do you plan to go?" was the big question of the meeting (many would never leave, the anchorage has been coined "Chicken Harbor" for a reason). We answered "Sunday". Mitch and Diane were arriving on Saturday to crew for us and we had a good weather report from Chris Parker. There was a ripple of shock among many. We were actually leaving!
Seven boats left that morning and a number of them have become good friends. Someone coined the group name of "Lion's Pride" as "Lioness II" was one of our boat names. Casa del Mar, Linda & Ed on "Dreamtime" and Benno & Marlene on "Diesel Duck" have become fast friends. But we hadn't seen Mike and Linda since Trinidad six years before. It was a wonderful reunion. They are such terrific people. Among our special memories of our times with them are our reunion with them in Portsmouth, Dominica (Dominica to Martinique 6/2006 post) and attending Carnival (Carnival in Grenada 8/2006 post). We had wonderful times in Trinidad and Tobago too (several posts in June and July 2006).
This is one of the most important reasons we love our cruising lifestyle - meeting people like them.

Monday, May 20, 2013

On Our Own Again

The way to Yoli's by land

We had such a wonderful time with all our guests this year and we look forward to more visits in the future. But we love our times alone together too. We are a bit "joined at the hip" for sure and used to the rhythm of life together. Of course we have made some friendships here in Belize as well so our last few nights before returning up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala we visited three of our favorite couples and made new friends on Tom Owens Cay. First we had a complimentary dinner with Angela and Julio at "De Barcelona". Scott has designed a web site for them (www.debarcelonabeach.com) and we've eaten there many times, especially when Angela is singing.

Yoli herself with Scott

As we walked back from the restaurant we saw lightning flashes all around. It was a calm trip out to the boat in the dinghy but about 10pm it started to blow up fast. We had up to 50 knots of wind for close to an hour. Pretty crazy. Our boat sailed around frantically going sideways at times and heeling over some. But our anchor held and all but one boat in the harbor did as well. And that small boat only dragged about 100 yds and didn't hit anything. Pouring rain of course. Then it cleared up over the next two hours, but still windy. We got to bed around midnight.
The wind turned to the west but wasn't that much over the next day. The next night, our last in Placencia, we spent with Yuli and Reagan at Yuli's Bar for their Friday BBQ. This is a home away from home for ex pats living in the area and cruisers. We keep our dinghy here when we're on land and enjoy their company and bar tender Eric. It was a rollicking night with music from the "Lost Reefers" and a young singer songwriter. I've forgotten his name.
Then we were off to Ranguana Cay - our favorite out island for an evening visiting with Desiree and Denby. She made her wonderful conch fritters and we sat and talked while watching the sun go down. This is nesting time for many of the birds on the island and we paid them a visit, carefully. A huge thrill was seeing an enormous eagle up close on the beach. We hope it's a harpy eagle, one of the largest in the world and a rare sighting if so. We've sent our photos to the Belize Zoo to check it out. We'll let you know.

The usual crowd on a Friday night for the BBQ

Then it was off to a new anchorage for us. The two small islands called Tom Owens, home to a small hotel/diving operation well known in the area. They have been the only ones we know to see a whale shark this season. There we met John and Debbie, friends of the owners, who are living there and trying to sell it for their friends. It's for sale for $900,000 and they have an interested party at present but you could probably get a bit in there! We spent two nights there and found some wonderful snorkeling around the eastern cay. Then it was anchor up for a lovely 30 mile trip to Tres Puntas, a easy access anchorage about 9 miles from the mouth of the Rio Dulce. Twice a month there are a few days where the tide is highest and we need every inch to get across the shallow sand bar at the entrance. That high tide was at 7am tomorrow.

Eric serves up drinks at the bar

The Lost Reefers perform oldies

That's Yoli's on the right under the Palapa roof and the Pardise Resort on the left where we often eat and play dominos

We're not sure but this may be a rare Harpy Eagle

Sunset from Ranguana

This determined bird held her ground over her egg

Another sunset shot - I'm a succor for them

Frigate birds at rest as the sun goes down

Scott Free on her own while we enjoy our visit with Desiree and Denby

Sunrise the next morning over Ranguana

Doctor John and Deborah - caretakers on Town Owens

The tiny East Cay at Tom Owens Cays

The inviting outdoor living room overlooking the dock

Monday, May 13, 2013

Friendship (but no whale sharks) Part Two

We had a fabulous two weeks with Russ Wolf and Larry & Luke Barns in Belize. Our first night with Russ we celebrated Heather's actual birthday with cruiser friends at the Rumfish restaurant in Placencia. Luke arrived the next day on the last leg traveling all the way from Peru in January, hitchhiking some of the way. The next day his Dad Larry joined the party. We headed out to Ranguana Cay for a few days, then Wippari Cay with Walt & Honoree on "Will o' the Wisp" followed by several days anchored off South Water Cay. Lots of swimming, snorkeling, kyacking and of course eating & drinking. We then returned to Placencia the night before our big trip.

We had reserved a space with Avadon Divers 5 months ago to spend a day searching for whale sharks. One of the major spawning areas for groupers is off the western most portion of the Belize Ree, Gladden Spit, and this occurs just after the full moon in the months of April, May and June. Huge spirals of groups form up to a hundred feet under the sea and spawn. Whale sharks often gather around them to feed (not on the groupers; they are vegetarians). And divers gather to watch it all. Only a few boats at a time are allowed into the area.

This is policed carefully by the Belize Park rangers. Each boat registered is allowed to enter twice during the day. In between you go back inside the reef to rest and have lunch. Unfortunately Luke didn't know he'd be able to come early enough to get a place. But he had a great day diving on the reef wall twice that same day with another diving outfit.
We were picked up at the town dock at 7:30am and brought out to the dive shop where we enjoyed coffee and snacks before boarding our boat to head out to the reef.

Scott was the only one of us to dive. The rest of us went along to snorkel. Sometimes the snorkelers see the whale sharks, but all we mostly saw was the divers far below in the deep blue of the ocean and their funny discus shaped bubbles rising and dissipating near the surface. We did see some big schools of fish as well. In fact no one saw the whale sharks even diving, although they did see the spawning spiral and that was cool. Not just our day but the whole season so far.
Nevertheless it was a terrific day. Russ and I

That's Heather in her snorkeling outfit holding hands with Scott

did some snorkeling during the lunch break on the shallow reef nearby and it was wonderful. And so was our lunch - fried chicken, roast potatoes and salad, followed by lots of fresh fruit. It was at least an hour each way at full speed so we weren't back at the dive shop until after 4:30pm.
That night we were joined by Walt and Honoree, their guests Andy and Marilyn and other friends Lennie and Sue from "Winddancer" for a special dinner at "Da Barcelona Tapas Bar". The owners Julio and

Russ poses at the bow

Angela welcomed us and it was a wonderful dinner. Angela is an amazing singer with Steve on the guitar and this was one of the 2 nights a week they perform.
The next morning was relaxing one for everyone, after the long day yesterday. We had a good walk in the morning followed by a decadent breakfast at "Da Thatch" on the beach. Of course we got some swimming in too and a little dingy exploration.
The next morning was a sad one as Russ left us to fly home. It was another great visit. Larry and Luke stayed one more night. And it was a fun one. Scott hosted a belated birthday party for Heather, including making bread and chocolate cake.

Shrimp with lots of garlic and roasted veggies

Honoree and Larry

We had the same crowd over to the boat as Sunday night, sadly without Russ - ten people for dinner, a little crowded but we all managed to fit in the cockpit, even after eating the big meal. Everyone brought something to share and it was all delicious.
Again we said our sad goodbyes to Larry and Luke the next morning.