Guatemala & Belize, November and December 2008
We returned to the Rio Dulce in early November, so laden down with luggage that we asked Bill, Roy’s brother, to accompany us. Luckily, he stayed with us for a week, helping to get Damiana ready for the cruising season which got off to a quick start -- primarily because Bill and their Mom, Charlotte, had tickets to join us in Belize and were due to arrive on December 6. Two days after spending Thanksgiving with several cruisers we left the Rio Dulce. We arrived in Placencia, Belize on December 1 after spending the night at buggy North Moho Cay. Weather in Placencia was cloudy, and the anchorage was “rolly.” We continued north, toward Belize City, stopping along the way, encountering squalls and rain every day. The evening that Mom and Bill joined us, we had rain, no electricity in the marina, so we used our generator to power our air conditioner. Early morning, we departed and went to Cay Caulker to enjoy some of the Caribbean lifestyle. Luckily we had a nice sunny day to walk around the island and enjoy the sights. Look at that smile on Charlotte’s face -- she and all of us had a great time!
The next day we sailed up to Ambergris Cay, dinghied into San Pedro for the afternoon and dinner at a beachfront restaurant. The anchorage was quite rolly so the next morning we left and went to St. George’s Cay. Just a few of the residents live there full time; we met a nice woman who told us about the aquarium at the north end of the island. We were surprised to learn that our docent was Cali, a 7-year old boy, who with his parents had collected numerous specimens from the Belizean waters, both fish and shells. About 25-30 tanks, each with a different specimen, and our docent gave a complete description of how each one lived and survived, whether they were reef fish, who were their predators, etc. He told us he’d like to be a scientist when he grows up. His father takes him to Belize City every day by fast launch boat to attend school.
That night while anchored at St. George’s Cay, a strong front came through, heavy winds and rain. Our anchor dragged and we ended up almost in the mangroves. Around 2 a.m. we shared anchor watch to make sure that we didn’t move any closer. As it turns out, we had moved far enough so that we were sitting in a mud bank and couldn’t have moved another inch unless a tornado came and twisted us around! So, in the morning, we weighed anchor and used the fresh north wind to sail all day, ending up in Sapodilla Lagoon, a very calm anchorage. The next morning we sailed down to Placencia, one of the nicest towns along the mainland coast, to show Mom and Bill typical Belizean lifestyle. We invited Slater and Julie of Xenos over for breakfast. They were on their way to help his grandmother harvest maple syrup in Vermont. We discovered that her farm is just a short distance from Charlotte’s home in Dorset. We had a lot of fun comparing notes on people and places in Vermont.
Bill signed up for a day of diving, and another day we took Damiana outside the anchorage to try out our spinnaker. Alas, there wasn’t enough wind to completely fill it. Bill, in a moment of inspiration, jumped in the water and grabbed the bridle, swimming forward, showing us that he could get us going faster than our spinnaker!
A few days later, Bill and Mom boarded a taxi which took them to the small Tropic Air airport in Placencia, connected to their flight home to California. It was wonderful to have them come and spend some time with us on our floating home.
After Bill and Mom left, weather worsened, so we stayed in Placencia for a few weeks. Once again we, along with several other cruisers, went to Roberts Grove for a spectacular buffet with all the lobster you could eat and many other sumptuous dishes. We participated in the second annual Placencia cruiser Christmas potluck, and thanks to Linda Jones’ recipe, won the rum cake competition.
On December 30, a sudden loud bump saw both of us running outside to find that a motor yacht flying a Guatemala flag had collided with Damiana’s port bow. The captain and crew promptly edged away but without power, they were drifting. Eventually a rescue boat arrived and towed the motor yacht to the pier. Police and others were involved, someone brought out some money which Roy accepted, thinking that we’d never be able to put in an insurance claim in a foreign country against a boat from yet another country. Soon afterward the men from the motor yacht were seen leaving the pier and weren’t seen again. At least we didn’t have a gaping hole, only some cracks around the eye which we use for our bridle when at anchor. We removed the line and instead have been using a cleat at the bow for anchoring.
So on new years eve, we had lots of conversations with folks, everyone wanting to know all the details. New Years eve raft up, really an on-deck party, was hosted by Barb and Torrey on Out of Practice, a wonderful time was had by all, and since at 6 pm Belize time it was midnight in Greenwich, we toasted the new year and most everyone returned to their boats before dark.
Traveling down the ICW and Key West 2007
