Tuesday, 05/09/2006 – Underway from Honduras to Belize
We lifted anchor in Guanaja around 9am. Busting out of the reef we were under full throttle, with waves breaking on our bow and catching quite a bit of air. As soon as we were outside of the reef, we raised the yankee only, no main sail needed as there was plenty of wind, and headed downwind on our sail all the way to Belize. 10 knots of SE wind with 3 foot waves was giving us a hull speed of 5-6 knots. Smooth sailing. If we kept up this speed we would be at our destination within 24 hours. We cruised right along all day long. The entire day we were sailing off the coast of Roatan which is 30 miles long. It is unbelievable how large this island is and that it took all day to pass. Around 2pm the winds picked up to 13-18 knots and the swells were still around 3-4 feet, still smooth sailing. We were finally clear of Roatan around 6pm.
As darkness fell two dreaded things happened. A tanker appeared on our bow in what looked like a direct head on collision. It must have been cruising at least 30 knots because within 30 minutes the tanker was on top of us and thanks to our diligent watch it cleared us on our bow. Had we not been paying attention we would have been right in its path and within no time underneath its keel. The second dreaded thing was that the winds picked up to 20-24 knot gusts. We held our breath. Would it get worse? The seas became rough with 6-8 foot swells. At their highest we saw some 10 foot swells. Sailing was no longer comfortable, but rather bumpy and tiring.
The boat was going too fast for the autohelm to keep our course. It was overpowering the autohelm and we had to switch to hand steering the boat. When I got up at midnight to take my 3 hour shift, I could not handle the steering in these waves. Jake had to put in another hour at the helm until things calmed down a bit and I could take the wheel. In order to slow the boat down we shifted from the yankee to only the stay sail. At one point even Jake was having a tough time steering and threats and muttering were heard from both of us to the tune of getting a bigger and better boat. Anything had to be better than the conditions we were enduring. Mind you we were not in a storm, nor in danger, just very uncomfortable and not having fun.
The rough waves continued all night long. I had a heart-stopping experience on my early morning shift. I swear it must have been a rogue wave. I cannot confirm this because I did not dare look, but I know that I heard this wave coming seconds before it hit the stern of the boat… I heard a nasty hissing sound and then a low deafening roar. That is when I held tight to the wheel and held my breath anticipating what would happen next. The wave caught us directly on the stern and it felt like we were lifted 10 feet into the air with a severe shove to port the Woodduck rode out the wave and I clung tightly to the wheel and corrected our course as best I could. The wave passed and I got us back on course my heart pounding in my throat, my legs and arms like rubber.
Jake had been down below sleeping but something made him get up at that precise time…. Fortunately, he was just a few seconds late getting on deck and missed getting a saltwater shower as the wave had exploded quite a bit of spray on deck. Unfortunately, he did not see the wave either so my account of what happened is all we have. No actual visual confirmation of the rogue wave. I just know this wave was the biggest and most powerful one of the evening. The worst of the waves were around 3am… not a real good time to handle weather like this when you are tired and it is difficult to see the waves coming at night. Luckily, we had a near full moon. It was so bright that it drowned out all of the stars.
The 3am shift also brought another encounter with shipping traffic. Jake came up to take his watch and I pointed out a freighter on what I believed to be clearing us on a starboard to starboard path. Jake’s trained eye quickly determined that it was another direct collision path and a few minutes after he took the wheel I spotted another tanker also headed at us. Jake let out a curse that I have never heard before and which I cannot share. With his steady hand on the wheel and correction of our course he diverted us from the path of these huge monsters. There was something uncanny about the timing of Jake’s shift at the wheel with mine. He was always there when I needed him most! Daylight came at 6am to reveal calm seas and light wind. We had made it through the night.
We had been under sail the entire way. The sailing we have been experiencing here in the Caribbean is unlike anything we saw on the Pacific coast where there was little to no wind and we had to motor sail most of the time.
Wednesday, 05/10/2006 – We made it to Belize!
We crossed into the Belizean reef at Tobacco Cay entrance, a ¾ mile entrance with clear water and calm seas. We have not seen clear water like this anywhere in our travels! We are so happy to be here! The sky was overcast and hazy but was quickly burning off. Our check in city was Dangriga. We dropped anchor at 11am and prepared to head in as quickly as possible and get our passports stamped with immigration. We were preparing to depart the Woodduck and head into shore when we ran into a small snag. Jake took a look behind the boat and the dinghy was missing….
It had somehow (?) become untied and was 30 feet from the boat and heading into shore without us! I had to jump off and swim after it…. Jake chose me to do this little chore as I had just changed out of my wet swimsuit and had not yet put dry clothes on… I tried to jump back into my wet swimsuit but it was not cooperating so I tossed it aside and jumped in to fetch our dinghy. I caught up with it in a few minutes. At this point I realized I might be in trouble. I had a firm hold on the dingy but I was unable to pull myself into it so I could start the engine and drive back to the boat. Jake and I had been working on this particular task over the last few weeks. I have always been unable to get into it by myself from the water and Jake always has to give me a shove. This time there was no Jake, and I tried but could not get in by myself.
My only option was to swim… but when I tried to swim back to the boat, the current was a bit too strong for me and I was losing more ground than gaining. Jake watched helplessly from the deck of the boat and envisioned me drifting away to Guatemala. He didn’t want the Navy to have to come and rescue his naked wife and dinghy from the water so instead he grabbed a halyard and tossed it to me…. After the FOURTH toss I finally caught it and he towed me and the dinghy back to the boat. Whew! Was I ever tired and glad to get back on the boat and into some dry clothes??!!!!
Check in at Dangriga went much smoother than the escape of the dinghy. It only took us two hours and we were granted a 30 day stay in Belize. Dangriga seemed like a nice laid back town, lots of school kids and mom and pop grocery stores. We didn’t have time to see much other than the Immigration Office and the Treasury Office which were our only two stops for checking in. We met a local who we will call the Timeshare Dude… he told us that he sells timeshares and all that we had to do is show up and listen and we would get a free dinner or $200 cash. We didn’t bite and he didn’t persist. He said he actually lives in Ambergris Cay and we said that is where we are headed, so we parted with a “See you later.”
We picked up anchor at 2pm and headed away from Dangriga as quickly as possible. We didn’t even take the time to do our usual phone call or email home to check in with the family. My belated apologies to any family member that was worrying about us. We were way too excited to begin our exploration of the over 300 cays of remote anchorage of Belize. We especially did not want to spend the night at Dangriga as it was an open roadstead and would have made for an uncomfortable anchorage. We had to hurry.
We only had 2-3 hours of optimum sunlight to get to our next anchorage. Good sunlight is needed to proceed into the shallow reef waters of the anchorages here. As it turned out, our timing was perfect. The wind was a steady 10-15 knots and the seas are flat here in the protection of the reef. We put up all the sails and started both engines and were ripping along at 8.5 knots. The wind was very brisk, so we decided to see if we could cut the engines without losing speed. The answer was “YES”!!! We only lost half a knot we reached our anchorage at Bluefield Range by 4:15. It was the smoothest sail we have ever experienced! We are in heaven!
This was a very well protected anchorage and we had just enough sunlight to maneuver through the reef without running aground. This was a lagoon in between mangrove islands, some deserted fishing shacks, and peace and solitude. Again, we were in heaven!! We wrapped up the boat, made cheeseburgers for dinner and barely saw the sun set before we had to lay our heads down and catch up on all the sleep we missed out on the last 24 hours. It was the most peaceful night we have had in a long time!
Thursday, 05/12/2006
The first morning at Bluefield Range, I awoke to see several manatees playing and feeding just a few yards from the boat. I did not know what they were at first. They had large broad backs so I did not think they were dolphins. They came up for air and made the same snorting sound you hear a sea lion make. I read the guide book later that morning and confirmed that were indeed manatees.
We had unexpected visitors around midmorning. Three local fishermen in their canoes approached our boat. We have been approached numerous times in our travels by locals like this. They always want to meet us and sell us their latest catch of the day. The four young lads said hello to us (in English—is spoken in the majority of Belize) and proudly held up a lobster and a red snapper and pointed to the many conch shells they had collected. We passed on the conch as we had just finished off the two pound batch from Honduras, but I quickly said yes, that I would like the lobster and the red snapper. How much? How about some soda, they asked. We shook our heads, sorry, we had no soda. How about some cigarettes? Sorry, no cigarettes.
Are you thirsty, I asked? Would you like some water? Yes, they said…. I quickly handed them two gallons of water and some Zucar (flavored drink mix) and that is all they wanted in return. I am sure they had already spent many hours fishing that morning and had many more hours to go. They were very thankful for it. Jake threw in some Oreo cookies too and they smiled at that. And they were on their way and Jake and I had our solitude back and a feast for lunch!
We also enjoyed snorkeling, not the best coral in this particular anchorage. But Jake had an unexpected surprise when one of the manatees swam directly across his path while he was snorkeling. He was flabbergasted! Jake also caught his first fish by way of his new spear gun! It was little fish but enough to make a light lunch of fish sticks for the two of us!
Friday, 05/12/2006 – Bluefield Range to Bannister Cay, Belize
We then left for Bannister Cay (20 nautical miles) …a mere four hour sail…. Ah, no more long, grueling overnight sails! However, we are finding that our guidebook being 15 years old is a little outdated. We arrived at Bannister Cay anchorage to find a small resort there. Our guide book had promised that this would be another remote anchorage. So, we were a little disappointed to find we were not alone, and we decided to stay on the boat and did not even venture onto land. We wanted to hang onto our solitude as long as possible.
Saturday, 05/13/2006 - Bannister Cay to Caulker Cay, Belize
Another 20 mile sail today. Light winds and calm seas again. This is a paradise for catamarans and smooth sailing! Early in the morning we saw two sailboats anchored nearby. It was filled with fisherman – about 6 to 7 of them occupy these very small sailing fish boats. They have their canoes on the deck and when they get to a stop they drop the canoes and fan out and search for food. These are the guys that gave us the lobster and fish from the day before.
On our journey here we saw an old tanker which was rusted and run aground near Robinson Cay. It was an eerie feeling to see a dead rusted ship as you sail merrily by.
To get to the northern cays you have to pass through some island passageways. It is much like sailing through a maze which is very new to us.
The shallow waters of Belize bring on a mixture of feelings. At one moment it just seems so cool and beautiful and then you think, whoa, this is scary to actually be able to see the bottom. You have to be on watch and alert at all times. You have to examine the colors and shading of the water. When you see light tan and light light brown -- looooooook out!!! Light blue and dark blue show the deeper waters – all is well!
We arrived in Cay Caulker around 1pm. There are only 4 other boats here and it is a very well protected anchorage. We headed into shore to grab a bite to eat and send a message home to let family know we were indeed alive and well.
Cay Caulker unfortunately, is an Americanized town. The prices are ridiculous!!!?????? Everyone said Belize would be expensive but who believes everybody? Internet is 2 USD for a mere 20 minutes versus $1.50 USD for one hour in Guanaja, Honduras. It seemed like the internet lady just made up prices telling us we can use our own computer to make calls, but then she started to nickel and dime us by saying, oh, but it will cost an extra dollar every 20 minutes on top of the already exorbitant price for the internet.
Let’s talk beer prices. Here in Belize, an outrageous $2.50 for a beer!!! Beers have averaged .60 cents in most of Central America - most recently we paid $1 in Colombia, and let’s not forget our favorite – a mere 50 cents in Benoa, Panama. Ah, the fruitless search continues for those ever elusive cheap beers.
I don’t know if it is the price sticker shock that is bothering us most about being here and paying Belizean prices, or if instead, it is the fact that we have just finished enjoying almost 5 entire days of being “underway”. Being underway spells being out in the elements. It means we have to be careful and be on watch at all times and make sure we and the boat arrive safely at our next destination. Weather, boat traffic, the mechanics of our own boat and dealing with our own mood swings are all factors of being underway. One of the most rewarding things about being underway is that we are not spending money. If we have provisioned correctly, we can stay at sea for days, weeks, or even months at a time. We just spent 5 days… not a huge challenge in the grand scale of things, but still it takes a lot of effort to make sure that you have everything you need to enjoy those five days. Even more rewarding than the not spending money part is the feeling of accomplishment when we do lay down anchor for the firsr time…. Ah, safe and sound, and home sweet home, because, yes, our boat is our home and even though we are in a new and foreign destination, we have the luxury of having indeed brought everything along with us -- including even the kitchen sink!
