svbeachhouse

Category: 2015 Blog

  • Guatemala and on to Honduras…..

    March 17th – 24th, 2015 (-6 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,  (LOTS OF PHOTOS and a VIDEO at the end of  this  post)
    Our trip to the entrance to the Rio Dulce of Guatemala from Placencia, Belize wasn’t particularly exciting until we arrived at the entrance to the “Rio”.

    \""Beach

    The charts show low tide depths as little as 3 1/2 feet for over a quarter mile! As such, it’s best to get there at higher tides and follow the track that the guide books give to avoid the shallow mud banks.
    Being a “skinny water” boat, “Beach House” went over the bank – where we did see water depths as low as 5 1/2 feet – without even a touch of the bottom; at least none we could feel.

    \"Nikki
     Nikki posing for our traditional hoisting of the colors. The Guatemalan maritime flag over the Quarantine – \”Q\” Flag (which Carmina made for me 39 years ago!)  The \”Q\” Flag is flown by any arriving vessel until cleared by local Customs.

    About an hour later (and with an even higher tide), “Windward” started to traverse the bar and we were able to radio back where the shallowest part was. The other news was that indeed, the shallows did run almost a quarter of a mile. Just when we radioed to Dennis that the bar was at it’s shallowest, “Windward” came to a grinding halt. Their draft is 6’4” and my guess was that they were probably trying to push a foot of mud and it just wasn’t going to work. The other good news was, that the sea was as flat as a board. I imagine in a big swell and wind, the bar would be breaking the entire width of the entrance channel.

    We had already had the Guatemalan officials aboard and were with our agent, Raul of Servamar, when I radioed out to Dennis if he wanted Raul to arrange a “tip over”? A tip over is where a local fishing boat for a fee, comes out, ties a line off to the halyard on the top of your mast and tips you over – literally!  This allows the keel to rise up sufficiently to sort of get dragged over while the vessels motor powers it over the top of the river bed.

    \""Windward"
    \”Windward\” in the back right being \”tipped\” by \”Wally\” on the far left. The photo was taken through the rigging of the small French monohull \”Clown\” that had just arrived from Honduras. Bahia de Amatique in the background (seaward of the Rio entrance).  The Peninsula in the background is where Cabo Tres Puntas is en route to Honduras.  Photo from \”Beach House\” – Livingstone, Guatamala – Rio Dulce

    As Raul was standing right next to me, he heard the conversation and Dennis’ “yes please” and was on the phone to his friend Hector of the small fishing boat, “Wally”. Within 10 minutes, “Wally” was on site, tied his drum reel off to “Windward’s” halyard and while tipping him over from the side, Dennis could then scoot along the bottom until deeper water was found.

    This whole process looked quite amazing and took only about 10 minutes. The fee was $50.00 which in Guatemala, is a good days wage.
    (SEE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST OF “WINDWARD” BEING TIPPED OVER ON THE WAY OUT OF THE RIO DULCE).

    Once “Windward” was inside, we all went ashore to finish up our check in process Livingstone is a small quasi tourist town but has a not very good reputation. When we got to the public dock we were swarmed by locals who for about $3.00 would “watch” your dinghy. They almost got into a fist fight over who was going to get the “job”. Of course the issue here for us was, if we don’t pay to have our dinghy watched, the same guy who is getting the “job” might be the guy who steals your dinghy if you don’t contract with him!….

    \"Local
    Local ladies doing the wash. People would bathe in this pool and others would get fresh water from the white PVC pipe at the bottom middle before it hit the community wash and bath.
    \"Dennis
    Dennis with Raul en route to Customs – Livingstone, Guatemala.

    It’s always a bit creepy when being ashore and watching the locals sort of size you up. Frankly, I did feel a bit uncomfortable ashore and was glad that there was security around the ATM when we went to get local currency to pay our agent and our entry fees. The worst “feeling” I’d ever had like this was when Nikki and I were in Guyana two years ago up the Essequibo River. Must be something about rivers?….:-)

    When we got back to the boats, it was getting dark and we did not want to go up the Rio Dulce Gorge, (which is beautiful) at night. First, we didn’t want to miss the scenery and second we were warned that it was not a good idea as to the possibility of opportunistic locals to turn temporary banditos. The other good news was that the conditions were very benign and despite that the Rio Dulce entrance is very open to the sea, it was quite calm. The current, which always comes out of the river, put our sterns directly into the wind coming into the river. When we anchored, this allowed us not feel much roll from the small swell coming in from the sea.

    When we woke up the next morning, we saw dozens of small fishing boats who were working the mouth of the Rio Dulce just on the seaward side of the bar.

    \"When When we woke up the next morning, we saw all the local fishing boats out over the Rio Dulce Bar entrance. Many were using nets, many used fish traps.

    The conditions were calm, the light good and so together, we motored up the 7 mile long, very winding Rio Dulce Gorge. The Gorge is a mostly deep river that has high cliffs on either side with lots of bird life and thick vegetation. Not only was it gorgeous, but I actually got a glimpse of a Manatee when we were about 1/3rd of the way through. At first I thought it was an inner tube floating down the river, but then the inner tube had a tail and sounded toward the bottom. We’d heard stories of Drug Lords and Banditios up the Gorge but we’re happily pleased to just see nice locals waving as they went by in their Pangas. Some of the houses and resorts seemed quite lavish on the banks of the Gorge, but we weren’t going to stop and ask any questions….:-)

    \""Beach
    \”Beach House\” entering the Rio Dulce Gorge (from Windward)
    \"The
    The long and winding gorge. Note the deep high walls. This is about where I saw a Manatee!
    \"Fisherman
    Fisherman with fish traps are scattered throughout the Gorge. We must be alert as to not get our propellers caught up in the traps.
    \"Jungle
    Jungle Outpost…. There were a few somewhat up market homes and resorts along the route. Note all the modern conveniences on the roof.

    The full trip up the Rio Dulce is actually 20 miles where all the marinas are and the water is fresh (hence – Rio Dulce “Sweet River”). The “Bridge of the Americas” is a landmark where the Rio ends and Lago Izabel (Lake Isabel) begins. The bridge would be not quite high enough for us to pass under, but smaller boats could go upwards of another 10 miles further inland. We also heard that it took 30 years to complete the bridge which clearly could have been built in 6-12 months by any 1st world engineering company. Apparently, for the adventurously initiated, there were wildlife and Manatee trips up to the far west end of the lake. At the far western end of the lake, one has a better chance to see a Manatee. As such, I was lucky on my spot of one the day before.

    \"Docked
    Docked at Ram Marina (Windward left and Beach House right)

    We were headed toward RAM Marina which we heard was the most upmarket and full facilities marina in the Rio. Owned by an ex pat American named Rick (a complete character – in the nicest way), we found nice docks, friendly folks, good water and power and we could finally get a bit of mechanical assistance. Rick even let us use his USA phone line to take care of making our airplane reservations to go on a land trip to Columbia (planned for early May) and our trip back to LA for Skye’s wedding oat the end of May.

    Of course one of the highlights of this trip would be a visit by long time friend, the lovely Ms. Carmina Robles! Carmina lives in Guatemala City and would be making the 5 1/2 hour drive to the Rio the next day. Cindy and I had a great time with Carmina in 2009 when we were on the Pacific side of Guatemala. “Beach House” had yet again, by coming to Guatemala made another “country to country” circumnavigation. This time, we were only 150 miles as the crow flies from Puerto Quetzal on the Pacific coast where Carmina last visited “Beach House” 6 years ago.

    \"Carmina
    Carmina Robles Perez aka: The Guatemalan Princess!….:-) Frontera, Guatemala
    \"Nikki
    Nikki on a \”recky\” of Frontera, Guatemala with the gals.
    \"Open
    Open Market – Frontera, Guatemala
    \"Note
    Note the \”semi truck\” in the road. That\’s about all the room he had to get by and you can imagine with 500+ trucks a day, this is a might crowded bridge.

    When Carmina arrived, we decided that we wanted to take a trip to one of the largest ancient ruin sites of the Mayan world at “Tikal”. Carmina’s car would have been a bit small for the 5 of us and as such, we hired a mini van with driver to the trip to Tikal. Another reason was, that it was a 4 hour drive each way!

    \"Bridge
    Bridge of the America\’s from the Rio Dulce. This bridge is only two lanes wide and took 30 years to build! It gets well over 500 semi truck trailers over it daily.

    We left the town of Frontera (Frontier), at 7 a.m. and were very glad we’d hired Jorge to do the driving. He knew the road very well and seemed to know where every pot hole and “tumelo” was.
    A “tumelo” is a speed bump which are found all over Mexico and Central America as the most effective way to keep speeding vehicles from going too fast. The tumelo’s sometimes seem as big as a mountain! In fact, Jorge was so familiar with this road, he was waving to someone everywhere we went. As such, I told him that he was so popular, he should run for President….:-)

    The Guatemalan elections are coming up soon and universally everyone says they’re corrupt. In fact, the political parties apparently go into the country villages and give away food and supplies to people to get their votes on or just before election day. It seems to be a national disgrace, but no one seems to have the political will to change the system. As Guatemalan Presidents can only stand for one 4 year term, it seems it’s just the well off folks trading who gets to be in charge of the graft and corruption for the next 4 years. We were taken aback a bit by the $2,000,000 US made sport fishers owned by politicians whose annual salaries were about $60,000 USD…..umm

    Another rumor we’d heard was that there is a huge mine near the west end of Lago Izabel where about 250 semi trucks haul dirt (unprocessed) to Russian ships at Puerto Barrios near the mouth of the Rio Dulce. The rumor part was that officially, this was a nickel mine, but locals said they believed what was being mined was uranium. As such, Guatemala didn’t want it to be processed in country and off to Sevastopol it goes. Welcome to cruising and all the stuff that goes with it!….:-)

    We arrived at Tikal around 10:45 a.m. and paid the entry fees and found an English speaking guide, Josh. It was a walking tour and we were able to go up on the largest temple – “Temple 4”. Josh showed us a scale model of Tikal where you could see this was the tallest of the Temple structures.

    \"Welcome
    Welcome to Tikal Often heard, but rarely seen, this \”Howler Monkey\” greeted us with his loud territorial screams just as we entered the park. They are apparently pretty good shots on the heads of unsuspecting tourists with brown aerial ordinance….:-)

    When Cindy and I did this in 1996, you could actually climb up the western steps. Today, the park has installed a wooden walk way to get to the top. It’s easier and safer too. These temples are very steep and I’m sure a fall would not be pleasant if not down right disastrous.

    For all about Tikal, see the following links:
    Tikal via Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikal
    Tikal National Park: http://www.tikalnationalpark.org
    UNESCO World Heritage Site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/64

    \"Panorama
    Panorama of the main Temple Square
    \"The
    The \”Gang\” at the top of Temple IV – Tikal
    \"Temples
    Temples of Tikal – Note the excellent restoration.  This cannot always be done due to the cost and as such, most of the ruins are still buried in the jungle.
    \"Temples
    Temples of Tikal with \”The Gang\”
    \"Traditional
    Traditional Tortilla making at Katok Restaurant on our way back from Tikal to the Rio Dulce.

    The walk was long, it wasn’t as hot as it could have been, but still hot. We walked back to our ride and Jorge took us to the Katok Restaurant that was recommended and fortunately not full of tour busses which it often is. We took a quick trip through the small town of Flores on the lake and headed back to the Rio where we arrived around 8pm. It was a long day, thank you Jorge!

    We were watching the weather carefully as the next leg of our voyage would be a bit daunting. Being in the Rio Dulce, we next had to get to the Bay Islands of Honduras which were 120 miles straight up wind. This would be a motor boat ride and we wanted to make it as comfortable as possible.

    The day before we left, I was doing maintenance and I went to tighten a plumbing fitting on the generator. It broke off in my hand with the slightest touch. This did not bode well!

    Carmina drove me into Frontera and with her wonderful bi-lingual skills we were able to finally find the plumbing fittings (which were US “NPT\”) and could at least then see how the system could be fixed. The problem was, that due to the compact nature of the generator’s design and it’s difficulty in accessing it, we had to take apart many pieces to finally get to the broken fitting, etc.
    Essentially, this took 4 hours and the project became an entire days event. “Noye”, who was one of the marina’s mechanics, assisted me in the operation which made it easier and more pleasant. Thank you Noye!

    We took the dinghy for a lunch about 3 miles up Lake Isabel at Rosida’s Lobster Bar that was best accessed by boat. It was a lovely outing. Despite the name of the restaurant, there was no lobster at the “Lobster Bar”….:-)

    \"En
    En route for lunch by dinghy to Rositas Lobster Bar – Rio Dulce, Guatemala.
    \"Rositas
    Rositas \”Boat Kitchen\” at the Lobster Bar. BTW, there was no lobster at the lobster bar….:-)
    \"Rositas
    Rositas Lobster Bar accessible by boat just west of the Bridge of the Americas – Rio Dulce, Guatemala

    Many people chose to keep their boats in the Rio in the hurricane season and we could see why. There are several marinas, lots of services and frankly, the prices were unbelievably cheap!
    I have never stayed at a dock for $10.00 US/day. The electricity was twice as expensive as the berth. The small, air conditioned marine store at RAM Marina is now working with West Marine and anything in their catalog can be delivered in three days from the US! They have a travellift and are putting in a new one for big catamarans. We were staying at “Zia’s” slip and could easily see keeping the boat here for the offseason as an option.

    The next day with hugs and tears we said goodbye to Carmina and were off to make the afternoon tide and check out at Livingstone with a weather window for Utila Island, in the Bay of Islands, Honduras. We topped off our fuel and about an hour behind “Windward”, headed for Livingstone. Raul had all the paper work done ahead of our arrival and “Wally” was on call for “Windward”.

    \"Goodbye
    Goodbye Carmina. We \”lub\” you too!!….
    \""Windward"
    \”Windward\” in the Rio Dulce For “Beach House”, this would again be an easy exit back over the river bar. In fact, it was about 6” deeper than when we entered. This time, “Windward” had planned ahead and Hector aboard “Wally” was at the ready. When “Windward” started to get stuck, “Wally” tipped them over and in 10 minutes our escapes were made good. Check out the photos and the short VIDEO of “Windwards” escape. Fee – $50.00, Cool – Priceless!…:-)
    \"Hector
    Hector on \”Wally\” doing the Rio Dulce Tip Over Dance……:-) $50.00 – Cheap, Getting out of the \”Rio\” – Priceless! Note \”Windward\’s\” halyard (line from the top of the mast going to \”Wally\’s\” big line reel with it\’s guide.

    CLICK ON THE VIDEO LINK BELOW TO SEE: \”Windward\” being \”tipped over\” to get across the river bar at the Rio Dulce, Guatemala…..
    VIDEO IS 39 SECONDS
    https://svbeachhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Windward-Tip-Over-VIDEO-1.mp4

    Note \”Wally\” (small fishing boat) \”tipping over\” Dennis and Lisette\’s Norseman 44-7 \”Windward\”.  The Rio Dulce River Bar was only about 4 1/2 feet deep at this point.

    We made our exit with a plan to be off Cabo Tres Puntas (The Cape of Three Points), which was 10 miles along our route so we could pass near the infamous Puerto Cortez at night. Puerto Cortez is just inside the Guatemalan/Honduras border (Honduras side) and has recently had a few bandido fisherman hold up a yachtie. As such, we decided a tandem, night voyage without lights would be most prudent. As we had no lights on and could watch traffic with our radars on, we studiously avoided all the targets and kept occasional chatter up on the radio. One boat about midnight was in our direct path and I turned to go by him 3 miles closer to the beach. As such, we were only 5 miles offshore, but saw no further traffic.

    Despite the wind being light for most of the night, the trip was awful! The seas were only a meter high, but very, very short period. We felt like we were in a washing machine and it was perhaps the worst I’ve felt on a trip in years. It was uneventful until the next morning when we approached Utila and the shallow reefs to it’s western side. Again, the charts were not particularly accurate.
    “Windward” swung well to the South and we picked our way (easy enough) through the “weeds” (unmarked reefs).

    We arrived early enough to just get anchored and checked in which was only $6.00 and very easy. The town was cute and the island was all about inexpensive diving and partying for 20 somethings.
    “Windward” had some trouble getting anchored, so would have to wait to get the check in done.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki hoisting the Honduran courtesy flag, East Bay, Utilia Island – Honduras The next day, we decided a quick overview of East Harbor, the main town, would suffice and we’d be off to the main island in the Bay of Islands – Roatan.

    Stay tuned,
    Scott and Nikki (Still in Roatan – awaiting a weather window to get around “Thank God Point” (Punta Gracias a Dios) – more on this in our next blog!

  • Leaving Cuba and on to Mexico – Part 1…..

    February 18th – 24th, 2015 (-5 UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We departed Havana on the 15th of February for the anticipated two day sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The Gulf Stream is the dominant feature and it would definitely let us know it was still here on our last day before we arrived in Mexico.

    The first day, we motored for awhile and were then able to set sail with winds from the Southeast. We had nice protection from the land and were zipping along. We passed the famous harbor at Mariel where the Cuban boat lift departed from in 1980. This is where thousands of Cubans were let out of the country and Jimmy Carter welcomed them with open arms. They didn\’t really expect as many people to depart as ultimately did, but you can get the full story here:
    Mariel Boat Lift 1980 – Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift

    As we approached the West End of Cuba, a milestone was reached. \”Beach House\” had sailed around the world via longitude within the tropics. These milestones for me are still  bittersweet and I suppose they always will be. I still often \”see\” Cindy standing where she always used to stand on the scuba cockpit hatch in her white visor, long sleeve blue sun shirt, white muslin pants and sandals. She doesn\’t appear to me as often as she used to, but she did on this day.

    According to our calculations, we should have been off Isla Mujeres, Mexico (near Cancun) by around 9 p.m. on the 17th of February. However, we were really feeling the teeth of the Gulf Stream. Essentially, the Gulf Stream is part of the enormous clockwise current circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. It is actually an offshoot of the greater North Atlantic \”gyre\” that gets compressed into the Western Caribbean, wanders through the Gulf of Mexico as \”the loop current\” and again blasts off the Florida Keys, up the US East Coast and across the North Atlantic to the British Isles . Two areas are of particular strength. One is off Florida\’s Southeast coast and the other is where it essentially begins in the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and mainland Mexico. At this time of year, it\’s supposed to be slower – around 1.5-2 knots, moving south to north – but we started experiencing speeds of 3.5-3.8 knots!

    Now imagine that were going around 7 knots and you can quickly see that we were often going less than 4 knots over the bottom. This really slowed us down and worse, the wind angle changed from ESE, then South, then finally to the  WSW. This additionally slowed us down and we arrived 8 hours after we had thought we would. In addition, this made for a somewhat uncomfortable ride as we were plunging into 1-2 meter swells, current and wind against us. In some regards, it worked out okay as we were delayed till a few hours before daylight which would make a safer entry into the shallows of Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres means \”The Island of the Women\”.   See this page for how it was named:   Isla Mujeres: http://www.isla-mujeres.net/history.htm

    \"Welcome
     Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    \"Nikki
    Nikki on the beach at Isla Mujeres

    Another factor was the \”Cruise Ship Tango\”. We passed several cruise ships all buzzing around the north side of Isla Mujeres en route to Cozumel which has become a cruise ship heaven….of sorts.  Cozumel which is a true scuba diving destination is now inundated with 4-6 cruise ships per day, six days a week.  It ain\’t what it used to be and I have no idea what the appeal is to the tourists as there isn\’t much to do there but dive!

    Dodging the behemoths (doing the tango!), is always a bit challenging and stressful, but we do have experience at this sort of thing. You can imagine us, cold, wet and rained on at 4 am in a squall listening to Disney Music (think It\’s a Small World) emanating from the speakers of a 950 foot Disney Cruise Liner! 4am, really?

    At first light, we entered the long shallow reef on the north side of Isla Mujeres (only a few miles east of Cancun) and went through the islands\’ canal into a sort of inner lake where we anchored and the finally tied up at the dock at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina. Though I\’d been to Cancun in 1996, I wasn\’t really prepared for how much the area had grown. I might add….not for the better.

    \"This
    This is the canal from the outer anchorage into the inner lagoon which is very well protected and where we stayed at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina

    I\’d not been to Isla Mujeres before, so Nikki and I walked into town which had all the usual tourist \”chachki\” traps and what turned out to be some nice restaurants. We stopped at Bahia Tortuga, a boutique hotel, bar and small marina. Friend Karen Derrick had been here with family last year and it was owned by a friend of hers from Sonoma, but unfortunately she was in the US so we didn\’t get to meet here.. After dinner, we taxied back to the boat and planned our next day to take the ferry over to Cancun for a \”recky\” (that\’s reconnaissance in OZ speak…:-))

    \"This
    This ferry runs every half hour from about 6 am to 11pm daily! Cost was about 15.00 USD each way pp

    Culture shock was the order of the day. In 1996, Cancun was a place with perhaps 10 large hotels, a remote small town and what would look like the best of Miami Beach with sugar white sand beaches all widely spread out. Today, it makes Miami look like a quiet little hideaway. The overcrowding is amazing, the town is 100 times the size it was 19 years ago. The traffic was awful and there was a hodgepodge of old and US Mall \”new\”. It completely caters to the fly in tourist and now the ubiquitous cruise ships. In short, for me it had lost it\’s charm irredeemably. Yet another unfortunate feature was the ever present Saragossa Weed. This \”seaweed\” grows in the mid Atlantic in the Saragossa Sea, and due to what seems the recent COOLING of the Atlantic Ocean (the past two years), the weed is dying off and has washed up on virtually every beach across the Caribbean. Notably, the cooling temperatures have also decreased the amount and intensity of the last two Atlantic Hurricane seasons. This phenomenon is well documented and if you google \”Saragossa Weed\” you can read all about it.

    \"The
    The ever present \”Sargasso Weed\” has inundated every beach in the entire Caribbean in 2015

    We did find a nice market and along the way met a taxi driver who we hired to meet us the next morning for our day trip to the famous Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza in the central Yucatan Peninsula. The Ferry runs every 1/2 hour from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and that made for an easy return. We went to a lovely restaurant and would be off on our junket the next morning.

    We returned at 8 a.m. to the Cancun side and met our driver, Jorge. Jorge didn\’t speak very much English, but had made the drive before. We\’d take the toll road which added to our costs (about 35.00 USD each way!); the drive was about 3 hours, the road was very straight and in excellent shape. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, we were in luck (good planning) and we\’d beat the endless line of tour busses that were sure to be close behind. We hired an English speaking guide (wearing an LA Dodgers baseball cap) and were off.

    \"Chicen
    Chicen Itza Gate. We arrived early enough to beat the big crowds that followed

    I\’d been to Chichen Itza 19 years earlier and was interested to see it again. This of course would be Nikki\’s first trip. The area is actually quite immense, but due to lack of funding only a small part of it is excavated. It is thought best by the archeologists not too uncover areas until funds exist to preserve and maintain them. To this end, you can no longer climb the structures including the main pyramid known as \”The Citidal\”. I was able to climb this with Cindy in 1996. They stopped allowing the public to climb on them in 2007.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki and Scott at \”The Citadel\”. This was the main temple structure of Chichen Itza and where many human sacrifices occurred at the top platform.
    \"The
    The Serpent shows up at the equinoxes in March and September and appears to be slithering down the stepped pyramid on the left. Click on the You Tube video URL I\’ve provided to see it in action.
    \"Sacrificial
    Sacrificial Altar. This is where the sacrificed victims heart was placed for all to see.
    \"Ball
    Ball Court: You can see the \”hoop\” vertically mounted on the wall. The opposite wall is a mirror image. Two teams would compete while royalty watched from the distant pedestal. It is unclear if the winner or the loser\’s team captain was then sacrificed. Currently, they think it was an honor the winner was pleased to oblige!….

    Often it would beat for several minutes. No thanks, sounds a bit too much like current events to me.

    The Citidal Pyramid is noted for how the Mayans knowledge of the stars and calendar worked. It\’s also where under Toltec influence, the Mayan civilization turned to every increasing human sacrifices. These were performed at the top of the pyramid by the elite\’s Priests. They were so precise in the orientation of this pyramid that on Spring and Fall Equinoxes , the \”serpent\” could be seen (his shadow) all along the edge of the structure as if were were climbing along the wall. This is pretty astounding and you can imagine that around March 21st and September 21st of each year, the crowds flock here to see this phenomenon.

    Chichin Itza – Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza

    You Tube Video: Watch the Serpent appear at the Equinox!: http://youtu.be/66ewEFbPCKg

    Nikki\’s favorite was the \”Observatory\”.  It is here that the Mayan mathematicians worked out the true 365 day calendar  and oriented the building to key celestial passages and events.  This is why is does not appear to be symmetrically placed on it\’s platform which faces the four cardinal directions of north, south, east and west.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki at the \”Observatory\”
    \"Note
    Note the asymmetry of the observatory to it\’s platform

    It was a long day with a 3 hours ride each way, but very well worth it and a highlight of our time in the Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

    \"German
    German \”Tall Ship\” with Cancun in the background – departing Isla Mujeres
    \"Farewell
    Farewell Cancun – High Density tourism at it\’s finest….?

    Every season, we somehow find a \”buddy boat\”. A buddy boat is another cruising boat who you more or less tag along with. We never know who it will be or if we\’ll even find one (though we have every season!). When we were nearing our departure from Isla Mujeres, we met Dennis and Lizette of s/v \”Windward\”, a Norseman 447. This is the same type of boat that our friends Dave and Kathie have whom we met in the mid Indian Ocean in 2012. They became our \”buddy boat\” that year and Ron and Kathleen of s/v \”Lady Amelie\” (sister ship Switch 51) were last season. We would both be departing for Puerto Morelos the next day and it\’s what Humphrey Bogart said in \”Casablanca\”…..\”Louis, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship\”….:-)

    Stay tuned for our second Mexican Blog….I\’ll try to get it out in a few days!
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki (written from Barefoot Cay Marina, Roatan – The Bay of Islands, Honduras)

  • Leaving Cuba and on to Mexico – Part 1…..

    February 18th – 24th, 2015 (-5 UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We departed Havana on the 15th of February for the anticipated two day sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The Gulf Stream is the dominant feature and it would definitely let us know it was still here on our last day before we arrived in Mexico.

    The first day, we motored for awhile and were then able to set sail with winds from the Southeast. We had nice protection from the land and were zipping along. We passed the famous harbor at Mariel where the Cuban boat lift departed from in 1980. This is where thousands of Cubans were let out of the country and Jimmy Carter welcomed them with open arms. They didn\’t really expect as many people to depart as ultimately did, but you can get the full story here:
    Mariel Boat Lift 1980 – Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_boatlift

    As we approached the West End of Cuba, a milestone was reached. \”Beach House\” had sailed around the world via longitude within the tropics. These milestones for me are still  bittersweet and I suppose they always will be. I still often \”see\” Cindy standing where she always used to stand on the scuba cockpit hatch in her white visor, long sleeve blue sun shirt, white muslin pants and sandals. She doesn\’t appear to me as often as she used to, but she did on this day.

    According to our calculations, we should have been off Isla Mujeres, Mexico (near Cancun) by around 9 p.m. on the 17th of February. However, we were really feeling the teeth of the Gulf Stream. Essentially, the Gulf Stream is part of the enormous clockwise current circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. It is actually an offshoot of the greater North Atlantic \”gyre\” that gets compressed into the Western Caribbean, wanders through the Gulf of Mexico as \”the loop current\” and again blasts off the Florida Keys, up the US East Coast and across the North Atlantic to the British Isles . Two areas are of particular strength. One is off Florida\’s Southeast coast and the other is where it essentially begins in the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and mainland Mexico. At this time of year, it\’s supposed to be slower – around 1.5-2 knots, moving south to north – but we started experiencing speeds of 3.5-3.8 knots!

    Now imagine that were going around 7 knots and you can quickly see that we were often going less than 4 knots over the bottom. This really slowed us down and worse, the wind angle changed from ESE, then South, then finally to the  WSW. This additionally slowed us down and we arrived 8 hours after we had thought we would. In addition, this made for a somewhat uncomfortable ride as we were plunging into 1-2 meter swells, current and wind against us. In some regards, it worked out okay as we were delayed till a few hours before daylight which would make a safer entry into the shallows of Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres means \”The Island of the Women\”.   See this page for how it was named:   Isla Mujeres: http://www.isla-mujeres.net/history.htm

    \"Welcome
     Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    Welcome to Isla Mujeres – The Island of the Women

    \"Nikki
    Nikki on the beach at Isla Mujeres

    Another factor was the \”Cruise Ship Tango\”. We passed several cruise ships all buzzing around the north side of Isla Mujeres en route to Cozumel which has become a cruise ship heaven….of sorts.  Cozumel which is a true scuba diving destination is now inundated with 4-6 cruise ships per day, six days a week.  It ain\’t what it used to be and I have no idea what the appeal is to the tourists as there isn\’t much to do there but dive!

    Dodging the behemoths (doing the tango!), is always a bit challenging and stressful, but we do have experience at this sort of thing. You can imagine us, cold, wet and rained on at 4 am in a squall listening to Disney Music (think It\’s a Small World) emanating from the speakers of a 950 foot Disney Cruise Liner! 4am, really?

    At first light, we entered the long shallow reef on the north side of Isla Mujeres (only a few miles east of Cancun) and went through the islands\’ canal into a sort of inner lake where we anchored and the finally tied up at the dock at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina. Though I\’d been to Cancun in 1996, I wasn\’t really prepared for how much the area had grown. I might add….not for the better.

    \"This
    This is the canal from the outer anchorage into the inner lagoon which is very well protected and where we stayed at Puerto Isla Mujeres Marina

    I\’d not been to Isla Mujeres before, so Nikki and I walked into town which had all the usual tourist \”chachki\” traps and what turned out to be some nice restaurants. We stopped at Bahia Tortuga, a boutique hotel, bar and small marina. Friend Karen Derrick had been here with family last year and it was owned by a friend of hers from Sonoma, but unfortunately she was in the US so we didn\’t get to meet here.. After dinner, we taxied back to the boat and planned our next day to take the ferry over to Cancun for a \”recky\” (that\’s reconnaissance in OZ speak…:-))

    \"This
    This ferry runs every half hour from about 6 am to 11pm daily! Cost was about 15.00 USD each way pp

    Culture shock was the order of the day. In 1996, Cancun was a place with perhaps 10 large hotels, a remote small town and what would look like the best of Miami Beach with sugar white sand beaches all widely spread out. Today, it makes Miami look like a quiet little hideaway. The overcrowding is amazing, the town is 100 times the size it was 19 years ago. The traffic was awful and there was a hodgepodge of old and US Mall \”new\”. It completely caters to the fly in tourist and now the ubiquitous cruise ships. In short, for me it had lost it\’s charm irredeemably. Yet another unfortunate feature was the ever present Saragossa Weed. This \”seaweed\” grows in the mid Atlantic in the Saragossa Sea, and due to what seems the recent COOLING of the Atlantic Ocean (the past two years), the weed is dying off and has washed up on virtually every beach across the Caribbean. Notably, the cooling temperatures have also decreased the amount and intensity of the last two Atlantic Hurricane seasons. This phenomenon is well documented and if you google \”Saragossa Weed\” you can read all about it.

    \"The
    The ever present \”Sargasso Weed\” has inundated every beach in the entire Caribbean in 2015

    We did find a nice market and along the way met a taxi driver who we hired to meet us the next morning for our day trip to the famous Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza in the central Yucatan Peninsula. The Ferry runs every 1/2 hour from Cancun to Isla Mujeres and that made for an easy return. We went to a lovely restaurant and would be off on our junket the next morning.

    We returned at 8 a.m. to the Cancun side and met our driver, Jorge. Jorge didn\’t speak very much English, but had made the drive before. We\’d take the toll road which added to our costs (about 35.00 USD each way!); the drive was about 3 hours, the road was very straight and in excellent shape. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, we were in luck (good planning) and we\’d beat the endless line of tour busses that were sure to be close behind. We hired an English speaking guide (wearing an LA Dodgers baseball cap) and were off.

    \"Chicen
    Chicen Itza Gate. We arrived early enough to beat the big crowds that followed

    I\’d been to Chichen Itza 19 years earlier and was interested to see it again. This of course would be Nikki\’s first trip. The area is actually quite immense, but due to lack of funding only a small part of it is excavated. It is thought best by the archeologists not too uncover areas until funds exist to preserve and maintain them. To this end, you can no longer climb the structures including the main pyramid known as \”The Citidal\”. I was able to climb this with Cindy in 1996. They stopped allowing the public to climb on them in 2007.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki and Scott at \”The Citadel\”. This was the main temple structure of Chichen Itza and where many human sacrifices occurred at the top platform.
    \"The
    The Serpent shows up at the equinoxes in March and September and appears to be slithering down the stepped pyramid on the left. Click on the You Tube video URL I\’ve provided to see it in action.
    \"Sacrificial
    Sacrificial Altar. This is where the sacrificed victims heart was placed for all to see.
    \"Ball
    Ball Court: You can see the \”hoop\” vertically mounted on the wall. The opposite wall is a mirror image. Two teams would compete while royalty watched from the distant pedestal. It is unclear if the winner or the loser\’s team captain was then sacrificed. Currently, they think it was an honor the winner was pleased to oblige!….

    Often it would beat for several minutes. No thanks, sounds a bit too much like current events to me.

    The Citidal Pyramid is noted for how the Mayans knowledge of the stars and calendar worked. It\’s also where under Toltec influence, the Mayan civilization turned to every increasing human sacrifices. These were performed at the top of the pyramid by the elite\’s Priests. They were so precise in the orientation of this pyramid that on Spring and Fall Equinoxes , the \”serpent\” could be seen (his shadow) all along the edge of the structure as if were were climbing along the wall. This is pretty astounding and you can imagine that around March 21st and September 21st of each year, the crowds flock here to see this phenomenon.

    Chichin Itza – Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza

    You Tube Video: Watch the Serpent appear at the Equinox!: http://youtu.be/66ewEFbPCKg

    Nikki\’s favorite was the \”Observatory\”.  It is here that the Mayan mathematicians worked out the true 365 day calendar  and oriented the building to key celestial passages and events.  This is why is does not appear to be symmetrically placed on it\’s platform which faces the four cardinal directions of north, south, east and west.

    \"Nikki
    Nikki at the \”Observatory\”
    \"Note
    Note the asymmetry of the observatory to it\’s platform

    It was a long day with a 3 hours ride each way, but very well worth it and a highlight of our time in the Cancun and Isla Mujeres.

    \"German
    German \”Tall Ship\” with Cancun in the background – departing Isla Mujeres
    \"Farewell
    Farewell Cancun – High Density tourism at it\’s finest….?

    Every season, we somehow find a \”buddy boat\”. A buddy boat is another cruising boat who you more or less tag along with. We never know who it will be or if we\’ll even find one (though we have every season!). When we were nearing our departure from Isla Mujeres, we met Dennis and Lizette of s/v \”Windward\”, a Norseman 447. This is the same type of boat that our friends Dave and Kathie have whom we met in the mid Indian Ocean in 2012. They became our \”buddy boat\” that year and Ron and Kathleen of s/v \”Lady Amelie\” (sister ship Switch 51) were last season. We would both be departing for Puerto Morelos the next day and it\’s what Humphrey Bogart said in \”Casablanca\”…..\”Louis, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship\”….:-)

    Stay tuned for our second Mexican Blog….I\’ll try to get it out in a few days!
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki (written from Barefoot Cay Marina, Roatan – The Bay of Islands, Honduras)

  • TITSNBN – Cuba Part 1…..

    February 6th – 12th, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    I noticed that some of you may not have received the Ship’s Blog on how we got from the Bahamas to TITSNBN (aka: Cuba).

    The link is here: https://svbeachhouse.com/ships-log/bahamas-to-titsnbn/

    Also, it is the Ship’s Blog post just prior to this one.  As a reminder for those of you who did not see the previous post – “TITSNBN” stands for – “That Island That Shall Not Be Named”.

    We last left you having checked into Marina Gaviota, Varadero Peninsula – Cuba. The first full day we spent was in quest of finding some assistance from the local boat yard. Let me set the scene. Marina Gaviota is located at the very Eastern end of the Varadaro Peninsula on Cuba’s north coast, about 85 miles East of Havana. The peninsula runs more of less parallel to the north shore with a large bay to it’s south side.

    The Marina (which is still under construction) is apparently under the ownership/control of the Cuban Military and will eventually be able to accommodate 1000 boats (so we were told). Raoul Castro (Fidel’s brother and current President) is in charge and has personal financial interests in the property. The Peninsula is 10 miles or so of 4 Star “All Inclusive” Hotels which the boaters all jokingly called, “The Tourist Prison”.

    It’s not that you can’t leave the Peninsula, we did, but that they try and control all the prices and businesses where the tourist dollars flow. Sixty Five Percent of the tourists are Canadian. The Cuban’s enjoy their fun loving nature. The Germans are next. The locals say they are not overly friendly in the sense that they are not outgoing (which the Cubans definitely are!). Next in line is the British, French and other European tourists, closely followed by the Russians.
    The Cuban youth (more likely most Cubans), DO NOT LIKE the Russians. We found them in our personal experience to be at best classless and rude. How’s that for a ringing endorsement? They acted like stero-types out of a cold war movie.

    So after inquiring at the shipyard about getting some mechanical assistance (where we were told “manana” – tomorrow), we walked around the hotel area and met the local boaters. Most of the boats in Cuba are from Canada and Europe. Despite all, there are lots of Americans. Apparently, before 2001, there were LOTS of Americans. Now, the Cubans are very hopeful due to President Obama’s recent statements that the Americans will return….in big numbers. The Cubans like Americans.

    We were told by our Dutch friends, Tom and Anneke that there was a Canadian gal named Debbie Armstrong who is the “Mother Teresa” of Cuba. Debbie, who we met the next day, was flattered by the remark. Debbie was a wealth of information and lives on her boat in Marina Darsena (Varadaro). Debbie told us, that the Cubans have closed Marina Darsena to International Boats upon arrival as they want all of them to go to Marina Gaviota (where the Cuban Army/Raoul Castro) have a financial interest. The trumped up reason was that the “incinerator for international garbage at Darsena no longer gets hot enough”. Ah, welcome to the third world….:-)

    \"Debbie
    Debbie Armstrong – (seen far right with Pink top) – Holding court with the cruisers to get the lay of the land aboard Beach House. Marina Gaviota, Varadero

    Since we were stuck awaiting “Godot” (as it turned out), we decided to have a look around for ourselves. We hired a car and took a two day tour to the South side of the island to visit the towns of Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara.

    The roads were overall pretty good and we heard that the major highways were built by the US back in the 1950’s. Care had to be taken as occasionally, the pot holes were an issue. Seeing all the crummy Russian Lada’s and a wealth of American 1950’s automobiles was quite a hoot.

    \"We
    Our first stop was the south coastal town of Cienfuegos.  It was an old historic town with lots of Spanish Colonial architecture. We first visited the Marina and the Club Nautico and quickly realized in essence…they were (politely stated), “down trodden”.
    \"The
    The wayward home for boats on the south shore at Cienfuegos Marina
    \"The
    The Plaza in the \”New\” part of Cienfuegos – Note the Classic Car in the foreground. Cienfuegos was very clean in the new areas and definitely ready for it\’s close up….:-)
    \"In
    In small ways, Capitalism is making a big resurgence. These young artists were very \”market savy\” young entrepreneurs

    We soon found our way to the “new” part of the town which is only 200-400 years old. Nicely being restored, it is now and one day will be – quite the tourist destination. There is lots of history about the Revolutions of the late 1860’s and Jose Marti’s revolution of the years around 1895-8 which was a precipitator of the Spanish/American War. We found the people everywhere we went to be open and friendly. They just love Americans and were thrilled to see more and more Americans arriving on their island…more on this later.

    From Cienfuegos, we drove to the historic Colonial town of Trinidad. Founded in 1514, the town just celebrated it’s 500th year anniversary!

    \"The The main Plaza in Old Trinidad. The city has just celebrated it\’s 500th birthday!

    The central area is a walking tour only and quite the tourist scene. There are just dozens of busloads of tourists in much of Cuba. Who knew?
    Trinidad has a very old world charm and for the most part, Cuba reminded me of most of the Central American countries and Mexico that I have visited. An interesting feature is that this is a rare island in Latin America where there are no indigenous people mixed into the gene pool. About 60% are of direct Spanish heritage, 20% mixed race and 20% Africans who were freed and descended from slaves. Cuba was the last place in the Caribbean to abolish slavery which was part of the first Revolution in the late 1860’s.

    The indigenous peoples either died of disease or were enslaved by the Spanish after they conquered the island. According to our guide, there is racial discrimination in Cuba, but not so much in the economic sense. It seemed to be more of a situation where they just didn’t want to mix socially.

    We stayed in what is called a “Casa Particular” where we stayed on the second floor of a private home. One other young couple was there who were from Israel and we had some great conversations. They were doing a “gap year” after their army service – seeing the world on a shoestring budget. They wondered why we were staying in a “Casa”? We told them that there were so many tourists in town, we could not find another hotel room. To give you an idea, the “Casa’s” fee was 25 dollars/night! It was clean, but not overly comfortable. Hence, we stayed one night. The Iberostar (a very lovely old Colonial Hotel) was booked solid at 450.00 USD/night!

    En route back to the boat, we stopped at Santa Clara. This is where the monument to Che Guevara is and his mausoleum. It is here, that his bones and those of his 40 ill fated companions are interned. It is sacred grounds to the “believers”. They were killed in their attempt to spread the revolution to Bolvia, supposedly with the assistance of the CIA. Some locals believe it was Fidel who ratted out Che to the Bolivians.  He was jealous of his cult of personality which was known. Perhaps we\’ll never know?

    Che and his companions remains were turned over to Fidel Castro in the late 1990’s which is when this monument was built. Santa Clara was chosen as it’s the city where the decisive battle was led by Che to overthrow the Batista Government. When we drove back to Marina Gaviota, we saw a hotel that was built by Batista for his Generals. It looked like a nuclear blast facility on an immense scale.

    \"Memorial
    Memorial and Mausoleum to Che Guevara and his Bolivian Guerillas
    \"Photos
    Photos of Che – which of course rings greatly of propaganda – are everywhere. His image is the most reproduced of any image in the world!

    Che is a mixed bag in Cuba. His picture is EVERYWHERE. Fifty photos or drawings of Che to every one of Fidel you see in the countryside. Fidel has no monuments to himself as he realized they might become used as a symbol to show some of the people’s displeasure with him. Che has become the iconic symbol of “revolutions” everywhere.

    His image is on everything and for sale. So much for the anti-capitalists. The young kids don’t think much of him and realize that he was at least as bad a guy as a force for freedom in Cuba’s history. They “respect” Fidel and Raoul Castro, but believe that – “they are the past”. They are VERY much looking forward to the day when normalization with the US will occur and are a well educated people who will embrace the West in a very big way. The people, especially the kids under 35, have no reservation about telling you their opinion of everything Cuban. From “Hawkish Cuban Americans” to the excesses of Fidel, Raoul and Che the youth will unabashedly discuss all things Cuban. And oh by the way, they singularly despise the Russians……nuff’ said.

    After seeing the “Soviet Style” Mausoleum to Che, which includes an almost terrarium like display by his internment – representing the forests of Boliva where he died – we did the long drive back to the boat. Along the (in fact both ways), we saw huge block (read that as very UGLY) Soviet era schools and housing mixed into the sugarcane fields. They are now all in complete disrepair with only squatters living in them. Very eery looking.

    \"We
    We saw dozens of these Soviet era style school and housing blocks. For the most part they were completely abandoned except for the squatters

    When we returned to the boat, we needed to do maintenance and took the day to try and follow up with the boat yard. Again…..”Manana”. This would be the theme for our getting a bit of mechanical assistance while in Cuba.

    The next day, a weather window started to open, so we checked out of Marina Gaviota and spent an evening with a Canadian and another American boat at Cayo Blanco. Quite tricky in the anchorage, but pleasant and quiet. This is the place where one of the dozens of “day cats” bring the tourists to snorkel and sun on the beach. When I say dozens, I mean dozens of these 80 foot Fontaine Pajot day catamarans.

    \"There
    There were dozens of these big 80 foot Fontaine Pajot Day Charter Cats. Whether the weather was good or not, they were usually full of people staying at the \”tourist prison\”, heading out to Cayo Blanco

    As we could not get any assistance for the foreseeable future, we decided to try Havana – 85 miles to our West.

    The wind was light and the current with us – most of the way. When the current turned against us, about 20 miles East of Havana, it really slowed us down. We arrived late in the day at Marina Hemingway, named by Fidel for the late author whom he met once in Cuba. Hemingway and all things Hemingway are an industry in Cuba. More on this in our next Ship\’s Blog.

    \"Ernest
    Ernest Hemingway used to come here by boat to what was then known as Monte Carlo Marina. Fidel Castro renamed it after Hemingway\’s death to Marina Hemingway

    We again went through the very formal check in procedure. This time with a dog (whom I was convinced was just the Customs guy’s house pet) who supposedly sniffed for narcotics and gunpowder. Every time you arrive or leave a Cuban port, they thoroughly check the boat. We suspect they are concerned with smuggling people out by boat, but today, Cubans are allowed to leave the island. First, If they can afford too – the average Cuban makes 15.00 USD/month and secondly, If they can get a visa. Ecuador is the only country in the world where Cubans are not required to have a visa and as such, they do travel to Ecuador the most. They can apply for a visa to the EU, Canada and even the USA. The USA visa costs 160.00 USD and there is no guarantee it will be issued. Overwhelmingly, they are not issued and as such, due to the price, most Cubans do not request a US visa.

    The last thing that happened as we arrived here, different from Marina Gaviota, (and we were warned) about officials asking for “gifts”. We did experience this. I’ll leave it at that.

    Next, we would try and find some mechanical help in the big city and while waiting, we did a tour of Havana! Can\’t you just here Lucy and Rikki Ricardo doing the rhumba in the distance?…:-) Stay tuned for that experience – a real eye opener – next!

    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki (written from Puerto Morelos, Mexico)

  • Eleuthra – The Bahamas Part II and The Adventure Route…..

    February 2nd, 2015 – Continued (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    On Friday, in the midst of my marine procuring expedition, we decided to take the \”Bo Hengy II\”, the local ferry that comes from Nassau everyday and continues on to Harbour Island which is supposed to be quite up market and full of the \”R&F\” (rich and famous). While waiting, we met Anneke and Tom from s/v \”Elisa\” which Tom had sailed from Holland to the Caribbean a few years ago. They Winter in the Caribbean and then go back to Holland for the summers; leaving the boat on the US West Coast. We became fast friends and hired a golf cart at the end of the ferry ride together. The ferry ride took us through, \”The Devil\’s Backbone\” route which locals suggest hiring a pilot to do if going on your boat. Frankly, in calm conditions, it would have been a piece of cake. It was calm and the 150 foot long, 50 foot wide, 6 foot deep \”Bo Hengy II\” blasted through without any issue. The ferry ride was about an hour and it would have taken us much longer in \”Beach House\”. Also, if the conditions did get breezy, you might get stuck there for awhile. All in all, the ferry ride, though expensive at 102.00 USD round trip for the two of us…was the way to go.

    We had a nice lunch at \”Sip Sip\” right on the north shore above the Pink Sand Beach. The place was packed and interestingly, almost all the tables were groups of young women. Why? We don\’t know, but apparently one group was a birthday party and it must be a great hang out. The food and drink was great, but very expensive, the atmosphere delightful. We enjoyed carting around and arriving at 11:30 and departing at 3:40pm was just about right. If you wanted to really explore Eleuthra in more depth, it would take a car as it\’s over 100 miles long despite being only about 1/2 mile wide on average.

    When we got back to the marina, we made plans to come outside and stay in the anchorage as Anneke and Tom would be leaving to do our route to date; in reverse.
    We would be off to Chubb Cay in the Berry Islands, about 65 miles back to the west. It\’s always great to meet people you hit it off with well, but sad to depart; especially so soon. We had Anneke and Tom over to \”Beach House\” and talked about our experiences sailing and life in general. It was a lovely evening.

    The next morning, \”Elisa\” up anchored about an hour before us and waved goodbye as they began their trip north to the Abacos and on back to Florida.

    Nikki and I motored back along the inside of the reef (yet again watching out for that wreck) and enjoyed a 50 miles downwind joyride. We even had to gybe!
    Winds 12-22 knots, full main and genoa poled out to windward. We passed the odd big ship and a few cruise ships en route. We anchored in the same bay we did last year and tried to stay awake to listen to the Super Bowl. I made it to half time and despite the game sounding like a great one in the making was just too tired to stay awake any longer. I heard on Sirius Radio the next morning that New England won the game.

    Today, we\’re just hanging out at the anchorage, watching the weather which should turn favorable for our next part of the journey.

    Our ultimate destination is Panama but we wanted to avoid the full force of the Gulf Streams northerly current. Ideally, a north wind would be great to push us south, but that goes right into the chops of the Gulf Stream if you depart directly from Florida which makes for a long, slow and potentially uncomfortable ride. As such, we\’re going to to what we\’ve deemed \”The Adventure Route\” down the West side of Andros Island. Andros is the largest island in the Bahamas and nearly un-inhabited. It\’s the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world and a Biologists wonderland. Essentially, it\’s a huge mangrove swamp. I suspect Manatee\’s and Alligators might find this a perfect home away from humans. Only those who really go off the beaten path travel out there. The west side of the island for 50 miles to the west is very shallow. The charts look good and we\’ve the Navionics Soundings on Nikki\’s IPAD which really show the depth contours. We\’ll most likely make two stops in preparation to jump to Anguilla Cays which is part of the Cay Sal Bank. Not only does this route avoid the Gulf Stream, we might even get a little \”counter current\” assisted push. The Cay Sal Bank is the most remote part of the Bahamas and almost in eye sight of Cuba.

    Out intention is to go from Anguilla Cay to Cay Sal and depart west from there. It\’s weather dependant and definitely the path less traveled. Hopefully our fuel line won\’t be too much of an issue. To date, I\’ve been able to clean it up and store the waste fuel out of the engine room bilge into our waste oil containers.

    So…KIT (Keep in touch!)
    The adventure continues…
    Scott and Nikki

  • The Southern Abacos and Eleuthra – Part I….

    February 2nd, 2015 (-5 on UTC)

    Dear Friends and Family,

    We\’re on email only from now till we get to Mexico…so no photos in the blog till then.

    We write you today from windy Chubb Cay. We\’ve had steady winds – ESE to SE at 15-22 knots over the last day. We\’re anchored behind the mole outside the harbor, it\’s a bit bumpy, but really fine.

    We really enjoyed our time in Hope Town and did some bicycle touring of the island as well as met some interesting folks. It\’s a cruisers hub for sure and I would recommend the stop to anyone coming to the Abacos of the Bahamas. We especially liked our lunch stop at the Seabreeze Marina.

    We departed Hope Town for Little Harbour at the very south side of the Abaco Sea. It shortened our next days sail and turned out to be a great stop. We\’re shallow draft enough that we could enter the inner harbor where we secured a mooring. In the season, this place probably really gets crowded. They told us that after Valentine\’s Day till June, it will be non stop busy. There is a nice beach bar (reminiscent of the Soggy Dollar in Jost Van Dyke) as well as a large sculpture studio and sales office where the local Johnston family has been for at least 80 years. Some lovely cast bronze pieces and they have their own foundry on site.

    We left Little Harbour on the falling a.m. tide and departed the reef for the 65 mile trip to St. George\’s Cay in the Eleuthra Group. The sail was nice, winds 12-20 knots from the NE and we made great time. When we entered the reef system, there was a mark on the chart to see a wreck. I couldn\’t see it till we were only 100 yds. away! It was above the water by only 3 feet and about 15 feet long. I\’m sure there is a story and a lot of underwater steel there, but it would be easy to miss which of course would be disastrous.

    We motored west along the south side of Royal Island; a resort that was financed by football great Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys. It seems that it didn\’t work out and looked well kept, but closed. When we arrived at St. George\’s Cay, we had to wait for the ferry to enter and had to do a few loops for a couple of exiting boats. The entrance was maybe 70 feet wide, so we were given lots of radio \”thank you\’s\”.

    No moorings were available for our size boat so we decided to stay at Yacht Haven Marina for one or two nights. They had great power, water and their internet was some of the best we\’ve seen. I was able to top off the diesel, fill a propane tank and check out the marine store. It\’s not an emergency as such, but we\’ve discovered that our generator fuel system is leaking. Essentially, the boat was built around it and it\’s effectively inaccessible. As such, Mike Lonnes suggested we try and find some USCG A-1 fuel hose (good luck with that!) and run the fuel and return lines via a new serviceable route. We would then simply plug off and abandon the old copper tubing system. Another small matter was a speaker on our outside system went out which we were sure would require us to wait till Panama to get fixed.

    Low and behold! The first day, the store told us they only had 30 feet of the correct hose. On Saturday morning they cleared 200 feet via customs and we were able to buy the fuel hose. Great timing or good fortune…we\’ll take it. Putting it in will be another matter completely. I may need some expert carpentry assistance as well as a mechanic. We hope to be able to wait till at least we get to Mexico assuming the problem does not become worse. Next, we went to the R&B Boat Yard next door and they actually had marine exterior speakers as well as a few fuel plumbing parts we\’ll need in the future. Who knew?

    I\’m going to end this as \”Part I\” due to the fact that when we remote post our blogs, if they\’re too long, they don\’t post properly…
    Stand by, the rest will be out within a few hours.
    KIT,
    Scott and Nikki