Spring in Honduras 2009
Three other boats, Destiny, Pelican’s Flight and Tempest, were also planning the same itinerary, so we gathered aboard Destiny while still in Placencia to discuss our itinerary. This was the first of many happy hours for the group. First stop was South Water Cay in Belize before heading over to Glover’s Reef.
Glovers was quite pleasant and the morning we decided to leave, winds were up, however we were able to put them to good use and arrived in Puerto Escondito on the mainland in mid-afternoon.
Next stop, Isla Utilla, beating into the wind for several hours, but upon arrival, all thoughts of the crossing disappeared -- the island is charming. We enjoyed several days in Utilla before heading over to the ultimate destination, Roatan.
While enroute to French Harbor, Roatan from Utilla, our autopilot which we had serviced in Belize, quit altogether. We ordered a rebuild kit which included hydraulic fluid, and because it couldn’t be transported via air, we waited several weeks for it to arrive. While in Roatan, a few strong fronts came through, again causing us to wonder why so many peope rave about Caribbean weather. Turns out that this year was exceptionally bad -- many cruisers that had spent several seasons in this area assured us that this was the worst they had experienced. Destiny had windlass problems from the beginning, so they decided to return to the Rio, but stayed on at French Harbor for a while. Pelican’s Flight and Tempest took off, heading east while we waited for our part. The wait was well worth it because it gave us a chance to visit with Jan and Rich from Slip Away who arrived at West End while we were there.
There were many interesting street sights as well.
O.K., so after waiting for and fixing the autopilot, we’re the last boat in the group to head over to Guanaja, still heading east. We had a pleasant sail for the first hour, and the autopilot had a catastrophic failure! Just about ready to throw in the towel and call the end to the season and retreat to the Rio (oh no, not again!), we pulled into Guanaja. Jim on Pelican’s Flight called and offered to help trouble-shoot the problem. Sure, we said, so once again, we’re down in the engine room and discovered that the autopilot motor was the culprit! Another call to the supplier in Florida, another call to Roatan Air to arrange for immediate delivery. “Immediate” in Central America is different than in the U.S. Rather than risk Roatan Air getting the part over to Guanaja which has a tiny, not often used, airstrip, we sailed back to Roatan to pick up the part, due in the next day (Tuesday). Luckily for us, Jan and Rich were still in West End, we had another visit with them, we visited with other cruisers in French Harbor, and finally on Friday, we had our part, installed it, and checked out of the country.
When we returned to Guanaja, the weather report called for a big front to arrive a few days later. We decided to scoot over to the Vivorillos or Hobbies, many miles off the corner of Honduras and Nicaragua. The overnight passage had head-on wind for half the night but eventually smoothed out and by the time we arrived the next day, all was calm. However, the other cruisers decided to leave with the front and while they got tossed around quite a bit, no injuries either to people or boats. We make every effort to not go out in bad weather if it can be avoided. Anyway, we met some new folks in the Hobbies and enjoyed our stay there, but wanted to see the Vivorillos, so this time we left in advance of the group. Bird Island in the Vivorillos is a rookery and a nice place to visit. A gathering on Damiana included folks from Tempest, Pelican’s Flight, Tisha Baby, Jacana, Living the Dream and Caribbean Soul.
We took off for Providencia, but once again a boat problem occurred --- the main sheet broke. We sailed back to the Hobbies under Jib alone where the group was still anchored along with a few additional boats, all heading for Panama. We fixed the problem but by now the weather window for heading down to Providencia passed. We returned to the Vivorillos in time to visit with Chris and Heather from Legacy, who we last saw in Mexico on the Pacific side. Many people ask what we do when we’re at anchor. Here’s a glimpse of one moment: inspecting line, laundry:
Anxious to get to Providencia to meet up with Susan and Mark who by now had flown in there, hoping to sail with us from Providencia to Panama, we took the first break in weather to begin our two day sail.
Traveling down the ICW and Key West 2007
Photo Albums, Guatemala & Honduras 2007
Guatemala & Belize, November & December 2008
Photo Albums, Colombia & San Blas 2009-10
One of the most interesting places to visit on Roatan is the Iguana Farm -- hundreds of these prehistoric looking creatures roam freely. The parrots in cages add to the exotic experience.
