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Bay Islands Honduras
Oct. 14, 2001
Log: Puerto Escondido Bay to Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras 44.87 nautical
miles
Winds S 1-2 kts.
Seas rolling from NE 3ft.
8:45AM the Net finished we hear Dreamer calling for more sailboats to
help pull them off. We are saddened to hear the tug was too expensive
for them and too much politicking between Belize tugs and Guatemalan. We
pull up anchor after a cool swim and head out along the desolate
Honduran coast with high mountains off our starboard side. It is a
jungle out there. They harbor jaguars, ocelots, deer, crocodiles,
coyotes, howler moneys, coati mundis, turkeys, boars, tapir and many
poisonous snakes. We have a fine day sailing. 4:45PM arrive in Utila,
Bay Islands but stay aboard to check in tomorrow. The Bay Islands of
Honduras are an underwater extension of an old volcanic mountain range
that lie 10 to 30 nautical miles off the north coast. There are three
major islands Utila, Rotan and Guanaja. Utila is closest to the mainland
at 20 miles offshore and is 7 ½ miles long and under 3 miles wide.
Oct. 15, 2001
Log: Anchored off Utila, Bay Islands Honduras
Motor the dinghy ashore and check in with immigration and customs. It is
a quick process. The authorities all speak Spanish but some early Bay
Islanders are descendants of English, Dutch, and French pirates and
historically kept at arms length from the Spanish speaking mainland.
Utila is predominately English speaking. We find is a haven for dive
shops. Marine biologists estimate that 95 percent of all known species
of Caribbean coral can be found in the Bay Islands, creating an
underwater museum of corals. Close to 100 recognized dive sites in the
islands are visited by organized dive parties. We decide to take a
refresher dive and sign on with a boat leaving this afternoon for a dive
off two small islands called Suck Suck and Pigeon known locally as Up
and Down. The names describe their relationship to the prevailing trade
winds. Water temperature remains within 2 degrees of 80 degrees
year-around with visibility usually in the 60 to 100 foot range. Today
it is not so clear and we find a lot of debris due to the hurricane. We
dive 40 feet for 40 minutes. The highlight is coming face to face with a
Moray eel under a low lying outcrop of coral.
Oct. 16, 2001
Log: Utila to Cochino Grande, Gulf of Honduras 25 nautical miles
Wind east 10kts.
Seas 1-2 feet
Warm and sunny
We provision Ariel with local produce but find a store with imported
American food. Lots of divers here so supply for demand. We find $12 for
a big box of Cheerios outrageous but we can’t resist the break from
local off brands. A girl approaches us to buy local ‘whelks’ a type of
sea food that taste like conch. She claims they are fresh and offers
them at a good price but must go get them from her brother so will meet
us in 45 min. While shopping we run into her in a local shop trying to
buy welks to in turn sell to us at a higher price. We pass on the offer
and leave the island forgetting to pick up our box of paid for Cheerios.
10:15 Heading SE 101 degrees at 6 knots. Consoled ourselves with cream
cheese and bagels fresh from the bakery. 2:30PM arrived in Cochino
Grande. The entire Cayos Cochinos archipelago is a protected biological
preserve. Bali Ha’i and another boat s/v Endurable are on moorings off
this exotic little island of palm-covered hillsides rising 469 feet
behind a sandy beach which look as if it had been transplanted from the
South Pacific.
Oct. 17 & 18, 2001
Log: On mooring in Cochino Grande, Gulf of Honduras
It is Gayla and Georgianna’s birthdays. We are in paradise and loving
just being lazy and not doing anything in particular. Bali Ha'i invites
us over one night for a meal and to meet the older couple on Endurable,
but they do not show. Their dinghy engine conked out and they had to row
a long way so were exhausted. They are headed back to Miami to sell
Endurable. They say they are too old, too weak and too argumentative to
continue sailing. This sparks the ‘girls’ into action when Doanne on
Bali Ha'i treats us to a special scuba dive, without the ‘boys’. We dive
40 feet for 40 minutes and are enthralled by the diversity of coral and
sponges, Doann who is studying marine biology points out some special
ones in our favor. We end our celebrations by watching a PBS video
“Remember When”.
Oct. 19, 2001
Log: On mooring in Cochino Grande Gulf of Honduras
1:00AM a big wind came up in the night sending us scrambling to remove
all drying dive gear from deck. Lightening and thunder for 1 ½ hours. In
AM we move Ariel to Bali Hai’s mooring as they pull out moving further
east. We will stay in radio contact as we have made a plan to round the
corner of Honduras in tandem a plan that formulated back in Isle Mujeres
Mexico months ago and now the time is close. Both captains have been
setting up their new WinLink email systems since passing the ham radio
license test. We hear on the Net that Dreamer is still aground but four
sailboats are now in New Haven helping dig and rig up block and tackle.
One more boat on the way. We check into a new net the Panama Net.
Georgianna and Everett recognize many boats from their past sailing in
that area. We are all getting anxious to move on. Steve repairs Ariel’s
computer after it crashed while making video birthday cards. He has
extra hard drives and mother boards, typical sailor to have many spares
for all occasions.
Oct. 20, 21, 22,2001
Log: Cochinos Grande to Rotan, Bay Islands Honduras 23.60 nautical miles
Wind West at 20kts.
Seas 3-4 feet
Overcast with squalls in area
9:10AM let go mooring buoy heading 005 under reefed main and jib going
7kts. On a beam reach port tack. Halfway hit a squall with winds up to
24kts, flying along at 8kts. Entrance to Frenchman’s Harbor is tricky
with many shoals but easy with scanned photo from Bali Hai for computer
navigation into anchorage. Rotan Island is not only the largest of the
Bay Islands but has many fine harbors. We found the Yacht club here had
great food and an air conditioned Internet. We stay several days, one
day taking a taxi overland to a sailors hangout 20 minutes away. Even
though it was Sunday we found our Sunday best not really appropriate in
a place with a name like ‘Hole in the Wall’ but we had a great time
meeting many live aboards who have already made Rotan their home. The
island is about 28 miles long and only 2-4 ½ miles wide with densely
wooded hills and ridges many with beautiful homes. A real estate agent
tells us business has picked up with many Americans leaving the states
looking for a quiet retreat away from the terrorism threats. We are
watching a cold front moving south which may give us our opportunity to
make
our big move. We also hear a fifth boat has arrived in New Haven to help
pull Dreamer off after two weeks aground.
Oct. 23, 2001
Log: Frenchman’s Harbor to Port Royal, Rotan 10 nautical miles
Winds E 5kts
Seas calm
Woke to find banana’s all over back deck. Our entire stalk we purchased
for $5 in Utilia with over 50 bananas all came ripe at the same time.
Spent the AM baking banana cake, listening to music and writing while
Georgianna, Ev and Steve went for a dive. They came back disappointed in
the bad visibility and lack of fish so ready to move on. 12:35PM left
Frenchmen’s Harbor motoring 5kts, 80 degrees to east end of Rotan. 2:30
arrived in Port Royal and anchored off Chili Chili surrounded by palm
fringed cays with white sand beaches. Steve makes a repair on the
hydraulic steering system and we have a big Thai meal aboard made with
all the wonderful vegetables found at the local markets in Frenchman’s
harbor.
Oct. 24, 25, 2001
Log: Port Royal Rotan to Barbareta Island, Bay Islands15 nautical miles
Wind E 17kts.
Heading east motoring 5kts.
Seas choppy 1-2 feet
Windy
Two fishermen pull alongside to sell conch off their small boat. We give
them $10 for 8 conch and 2 cans of beer. They removed the conch form the
shell right there and in record time. 10:30AM we motor into the wind
taking on spray over the bow when the winds rise to 25kt. 12:45PM we
sight our way through reefs in good light and anchor behind Bali Hai off
this privately owned island. In the 1980’s it was bought from Honduras
for $55,000 and a year later the present owners from the USA purchased
it for over 1 ½ million dollars. It is still owned by the same family
but moves are being made to turn it into a permanent wildlife refuge. We
walked for hours along the shores with 500 foot high hills of tropical
rain forest teeming with wildlife and the yellow napped parrots. Bali
Hai joins us for ceviche aboard Ariel as we discuss plans of moving on
together in areas not safe to travel alone. Our last day on the NW
Caribbean net we hear Big Foot report that Placencia Belize is now
turning on lights after Hurricane Iris, that water is still being
brought in but it is against the law to have tourists in the hotels yet.
Our friend Bull Durham survived although he remained in his clapboard
stilted house which literally blew away around him. And finally the
joyous news that Dreamer has been pulled off with the help of five
sailboats and is now afloat with minimal damage.
Update: To follow: Ariel sails through Tropical Wave now Hurricane
Michelle
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