Beautiful day at Albuquerque Cays... with sharks

A lazy day today. Mostly lounging around reading books until after lunch. Then big event of the day was exploration of the reef system and a snorkel. A break in the trade winds today allowed for extended exploration in the dinghy as the wind waves were small with almost no wind. Our goals were to find a southern pass from the cays for our intended departure in a few days and then try to find the best place to try to catch dinner. In good light the pass to the SW looks pretty straight forward. Perhaps, we list WP's in a future post if we find a good enough route. Granted we only need about three feet of water to float the boat so traveling across relatively shallow patches is not as critical as it would have been on our mono-hull with 7'-6" draft.

We also looked at lots of prospective snorkel sites by "sticking our heads in the water" from the dinghy. Finally, we discovered a patch of coral with depths ranging from about 1 meter to 11 meters with nice live coral and good visibility. Perfect for spear fishing and lobster hunting. Kathy was out for the lobster and I on a hunt for grouper. Within a few minutes Kathy spotted a nice 3 pound lobster and I helped speared it. Turning to head for the dinghy I swam about 50' from Kathy and came face to face with a 4-5' grey reef shark. Apparently, the shark also enjoys lobster as he was very interested in my catch. I held the lobster out of the water and hoped for the best. At about 10' away the shark flinched and turned tail. Whew! Then I look to my right and there is another shark. Yikes! I pop my head up and yell at Kathy. SHARK!! Before I know it she passes me on the way back to the dingy.

It's good to see sharks as you know the reef habitat is pristine when apex predators like sharks are abundant. These sharks intended no malice they were most likely just curious and a bit excited by the death throws of the lobster. Still it gives you a bit of a shock to see sharks up close as the water magnifies their size and they seem more intimidating. It takes time to get used to the presence of sharks. We eventually got used to sharks in the South Pacific, but this was only the second or third time we've seen sharks other than nurse sharks in the Caribbean. Nurse sharks are overly abundant we see them routinely... they are pretty much harmless. We also spotted a 2' green turtle on the reef hiding under a coral shelf. The turtle was backed into a corner so we could get a really close up look.... was he hiding from the sharks?

The draw of more big lobsters had us back in the water in a few minutes and our grey shark friends continued to keep an eye on us as we pursued the reef for more lobster. Needless to say, I abstained from shooting at any fish as I'm sure the temptation of an injured fish on the spear would have proved too much for these curious sharks. Spear fishing with sharks around can give rise to encounters of the unwanted kind. I've heard that 90% of shark bites are obtained by spear fishermen.

After picking up a second lobster we moved to a new reef where I speared a smaller lobster and then got a nice grouper. Mission accomplished we headed for home before the sharks picked up the sent of fresh grouper blood in the water.

Lobster tail appetizers and grouper for dinner with a side of quinoa and a fresh tomato, cucumber garlic salad.

Life is good!

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Day off from the sun

After three days in of too much sun we decided to stay aboard the boat for the entire day. A tough decision with all this pristine reef and 200' of underwater viability. The painful sunburn on the back of my legs, from too much snorkeling, reminds and encourages me to stay below decks and work on boat projects all day.

My number one nagging project has been the water maker. Its a Spectra Catalina 300 (12 gallons per hour at 15 amps/hr making it very efficient). The system is pretty complicated and I've spent many tens of hours reading and trouble shooting each of the many components with limited success. Today was a major break through when I found two blown seals under the annular rings. A most unlikely location that that allowed a undetectable high pressure leak. On our last trip to Florida I sprung for a water maker rebuild kit ($400 overpriced bag full of o-rings) so I had the spare I needed. With our extensive solar array we should be able to make water daily without running the engines to generate power. We are now really off the grid and independent of fossil fuels. Except for our dinghy which has a generous 25hp engine... our one small excess.

Since beginning the journey in 2005 we have managed just fine without a water maker even during the 15,000 nautical mile passage across the South Pacific. The water maker is a luxury for sure, but another complicated and expensive system to maintain. Think how many bottles of water I could have bought for the $400 bag of o-rings.

As a reminder we are anxious to sell 'Pacifica' our PDQ 39 http://www.PDQ36.blogspot.com (yes, we currently own two boats) 'Pacfica' is wonderfully outfitted and ready to cruise the Bahamas or beyond. She is located in Stuart, Florida.

Our new boat 'LightSpeed' is far more complicated and I spend four times more time just keeping things maintained. More is not always better... We look forward to simplifying many of the complicated and expensive to maintain systems on 'LightSpeed' such as the electric flush toilets, twin A/C units and complicated engine driven charging system. Less maintenance = more fun.

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Colombians

Of all the countries we have traveled to in the past few years the Colombians are by far the nicest we have met. They will go out of their way to give you directions or show you the way or just to chat. They are a very sociable lot. On the island of San Andreas there are a handful of liquor stores that turn out to be the social gathering place for the evening. Just walk in, buy your poison and hang out outside with the music blaring. If your lucky there might be a few chairs and even some tables. One such night we met a young couple there on holiday from Bogota. One a banker, one an accountant. Products of the young growing economic boom of Bogota. The were happy to practice their English and I, Kathy, got an impromptu salsa and meringue lesson. The guy was so cute when he would tell me to move my lips. I corrected him a few times by shouting out over the music "hips", but he never caught on. Well it was more entertaining that way. We became fast friends and they are excited to show us around their city if we make it up there.

What was extra nice about San Andreas is that even though it's a tourist island we never got harassed by vendors selling snorkel trips, coconuts or any thing else. Frankly they see us gringo's and they don't know what to do with us. We think we saw 2 other North Americans why we where there but no sure. In general it's really just a holiday place for Colombians.

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Snorkeling bliss... great day!

Another gorgeous day in paradise.

Waking up around 6AM, living with the natural cycle of the sun (it's been up since 5:15) we listen to our weather forecast from Chris Parker and some cruisers nets between 6 and 8AM. Freshly brewed Columbian coffee helps inspire our plans for the day and we enjoy some breakfast with the last of our fresh bread... after this if we want fresh we bake it ourselves.

Today, as yesterday we decide to go for an early snorkel... that ends up concluding way later than planned with possibly serious sun burns. So much for staying out of the sun between 10 an 2. Our snorkel trip was at least 4 hours of bliss,but too much sun. Greg on s/v Coconut joined us to our pre-chosen destination is about 1.25 nautical miles south east of our anchorage. Today the wind is blowing about 20 knots so the dinghy ride was pretty rough. We run down close to the leeward side of the reef in a few feet of water to avoid the wind chop that is building up quickly in the lagoon. It's a rough ride none the less. As we approach the destination way point we see three large dolphins jumping out of the 5-6' waves at the end of reef. Very cool to watch the dolphins frolic as they explode out of the face of the waves and completely clear the next wave crest in their airborne flight of clear joy. We stopped the engine, but the dolphins didn't lend us much attention.

The seas were too rough to anchor the dinghy at our chosen spot so we surf down white foaming crests to a more protected point just behind the end of the reef. Actually, pretty fun stuff to surf on a 11' dinghy.

We did find some nice snorkeling although with the strong wind induced water current it was lots of work to stay close to the dingy. We speared plenty of fish including some tasty trigger fish, grouper and snapper. Later we moved to shallower water and picked up a half a dozen Conch. Not a single lobster of acceptable size was spotted. But, still a perfect day none the less.

Back at the islands we landed at the northern most island and the Columbian marines stationed on the island were happy for the distraction and helped us clean our catch. Super nice guys! They also supplied a dozen shucked coconuts as a take home gift. We offered to bring in some beers for the twelve guys stationed on the island, but the commander said that guns and beers don't mix so thanks, but no thanks. Good policy in action.

It was a bit funny to have several guys armed with loaded machine guns helping/watching you clean your fish and conch.

Later we spun by in the dinghy with Kathy riding on her knees on a boogie board behind the dinghy. Her college water ski team talent showing off a bit. We offered to give the military guys a free ride and they just looked to the commander for approval. He said "no". A tight ship he is running with very disciplined and respectful troops. Oh well, at least we tried to add some extra fun.

For dinner we had s/v Coconut over for a feed of fish and conch. Way to much great food and a great way to end another perfect day.

Looks like the other two boats will leave tomorrow for Panama and we'll have the place to ourselves for the next week or so.

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Columbian Coast Guard

August 27, 2009 (9AM)

Position
12* 10' N
081* 50' W

Anchored at Albuquerque Cays

This morning were boarded by Columbian Coast Guard for an brief inspection of our paperwork. They run a open deep-v boat with triple two hundred HP engines that they say goes 48-52 knots. Must be a pretty rough ride going that fast in the swells. Anyway, very nice guys the commander even took off his combat boots while he was aboard. The crew of the patrol boat stood by in full gear including, long pants, combat boot, long sleave shirts, life jackets and ski masks. Not sure why the ski masks, maybe due to the harsh sun all day? I know I got a nice burn yesterday so it could make sense or maybe for wind burn going so fast.

Some interesting stories from the Coast Guard:

1) A sailboat at Albuquerque Cays was stuck by lightning on Sun/Mon? during a severe squall as the last Tropical waved passed by. Not sure if we know the boaters, but hope everyone is OK.

2) The Coast Guard said they found 4 million USD here at Albuquerque Cays burred on the island using drug and money sniffing dogs. Two days ago! A day late and 4 million short. Hmm. Maybe we should get a dog and taking it for lots of potty breaks. Anybody know how to train a dog to sniff for Ben Franklins?

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Freshly caught lobster and fish for dinner.

August 26, 2009 (6PM)

Position
12* 10' N
081* 50' W

Just dropped the hook at Cayo Albuqurque, Columbia about thirty nautical miles south of San Andreas.

About one minute after the anchor was down Kathy was in the water hunting for dinner. I quickly followed and after a long swim Kathy spotted a nice big lobster. After harvesting the lobster and handing it off to Kathy my spear gun found another target and we enjoyed an early dinner of lobster and fish at an unmatched level of freshness.

Planning on lots of snorkeling tomorrow and lots of lobsters.

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Good Catching

Albuquerque Cays & Cayo Este Sudeste

One of our next stops is at Albuquerque Cays or Cayo Albuquerque about 20 nautical miles South of San Andreas. We hear that the cays are spectacular. This image is from the international space station. It appears to be oriented 180 degrees out thus, in need of 180 degree rotation.

Here's the route we hope to use. Until we get a chance to edit DO NOT USE THESE WP's.

Albu01 12°11.4829 N 081°52.8750 W
Albu02 12°11.2490 N 081°51.8308 W
Albu03 12°11.2190 N 081°51.7870 W
Albu04 12°10.9550 N 081°51.6862 W
Albu05 12°10.1020 N 081°51.2169 W
Albu06 12°09.9320 N 081°50.9751 W
Albu07 12°09.8640 N 081°50.8288 W
Albu08 12°09.7590 N 081°50.6989 W
Albu09 12°09.7530 N 081°50.4489 W



Another ISS short shows off the pristine Cayo Este Sudeste or ESE Cays about 17 nm to the ESE of San Andreas. This image needs to be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise.

We hear that visibility is 200' while snorkeling.

San Andres scooter tour

A road rings the island. Our trip was cut short by a huge rain storm so we only went about half way around the island.
Notice huge conch shells that crown this wall.
San Andres roads. Note wrecked boat on shore. There are lots of ship wrecks here including a 300' local supply ship that hit the reef back in January. A local ship and local captain and he still lost the ship to a moment of bad judgment.

Local meal

Island transport

Two adults two kids one moped. Not an unusual sight.
Kathy and a scooter we borrowed for the day.
The most popular mode of transportation on the island of San Andres is motor bikes, busses, walking and cars in that order.

San Andres Flower Festival

Festival we stumbled upon in San Andres.
Lots of flowers
A great opportunity to mix with the locals.

Fish

Nice King Mackerel caught just of the Vivorillos.
Little Tunny for some sushi.

Little Spider Money video

Anchor down in San Andres

August 15, 2009 (2PM)

Position
12* 32' N
081* 44' W

Just dropped the hook at Isla San Andres, Columbia.

Amazing that these islands (San Andres & Providencia) belong to Columbia since mainland Columbia is 400nm distant.

Clouds and Weather

August 15, 2009 (8AM)

Underway Position
14* 03' N
081* 47' W

We have about thirty nautical miles to go to San Andres and plan to stop for a few days. Weather forecast still calls for more squalls to forty knots so it will be good to hide out to wait for better weather. . As I look out the window I see major clouds up ahead.

Squalls: At night it can be difficult to identify a squall until the wind starts to pick up. Just before a squall hits the air temperature will drop noticeably then you know strong winds and rain are imminent. We use the radar just like the weather channel to identify the squalls while they are still many miles away. But, unlike the weather channel our radar only has a range of twenty four miles. The heavy rain associated with a squall will show up on our radar screen at about twelve miles out giving us advance notice that something is brewing. This particular radar is pretty old and doesn't work so hot, it's mono chrome screen is worn out and it's user interface is what you'd expect from 1997. Just like using a super old computer. At night you might also a large could depending on the moon and starts and also see massive amounts of lightning from one area that indicate squall activity.
During the day it's much easier to spot potential squalls simply by looking at the cloud formations.

We would want to avoid building thunderheads like this.But, mostly you don't have much of a choice.
A ugly boiling mass of black clouds like this usually packs some extra wind as well.

Evading the squalls is more luck than anything and is only possible with the smaller cells. Last night I did manage to steer between two ugly lightning riddled storms and raced the boat through going at a speed just shy of ten knots. Again, this is mostly luck, but a fast boat gives you more options.

Most of the night we ran just the jib and a double reefed main and then took the main down and rolled in some jib if sever squalls threatened. A very conservative approach that cost of lots of distance over night, but necessary until we really understand our new boat. A third reef is available, but not rigged and I plan to get this set up before our next voyage as a third reef would have suited the conditions much better and resulted in higher boat speeds and less sail handling.

This morning the seas are double the size of yesterday at maybe two meters plus and the winds about five knots stronger. Still excellent sailing conditions and while I eat my breakfast we are sailing in the mid-eight knot range on just the jib. After breakfast the double reefed main goes up and we should be running high nines. Even at these speeds and sea state I still don't have to worry about my coffee spilling. Very cool.

Heading South to Panama

August 15, 2009 (3PM)

Underway Position
14* 33' N
082* 22' W

COG 163*
SOG 8+ knots
Wind 070* @ 11-13 knots true.
Seas 1.5 meters
Sea Temperature 86F
Air Temp ~92F

Underway again today headed South. Possible destination San Andres Island off the Nicaragua coast, but a Columbian island or Bocas Del Toro, Panama or some where near Colon, Panama. At our current speed of eight point five to nine point five knots we would be in San Andres around six in the morning. Destinations in Panama add another two hundred miles or about twenty four hours.

Weather forecast calls for squalls to forty knots starting around midnight tonight and running through Sunday as a tropical wave passes through the region. Hoping we can avoid the most severe squalls and or tuck into San Andres if it gets ugly.

Just had to pause to put a reef in the main as we were going over ten knots and it looks like the wind may keep picking up based on the clouds I'm seeing. A precursor to the tropical wave?

Although we carry a six hundred square foot fully battened main sail it only takes a few minutes to tuck in a reef. Never thought I'd enjoy having the added complication of a power winch, but it sure makes things go quickly and without breaking a sweat. Actually, the breaking a sweat thing is impossible in this weather as it's pretty hot and humid and sweat is a fact of life pretty much twenty four hours a day.

Kathy just whipped up some fish pasta from the nice King Mackerel we caught a few days ago. She's feeling a little sea sick today so kudos for heading to the galley to make lunch. I just woke up from a nice nap and feel fine. Justification for the nap was all the times I got up in the middle of the night last night to check our position and make sure the wind hadn't changed and the anchor was holding. Last nights anchorage was pretty dodgy with coral heads all around. I think the motion of this boat is superior to any I've owned and I can even sit and type on the computer or read on the first day out at sea. I think it might have to do partly with having a pilot house as you can always see the horizon.

I know I've got lots of typo and will need to edit all these underway blog posts. The computer I'm using is a "net book" with only a 8.9" screen and tiny key board. Plus, I purchased this computer in Mexico so the key board is in Spanish and not every thing lines up. Not to mention the obvious that I'm on a moving boat swaying around a bit.

Looks like we'll be having guests in Panama. If you want to visit let's set something up for Sept/Oct as we plan to spend maybe two months in the stunning San Blas islands famous for their Kuna Indians, molas, lobster and amazing beauty. Friends Kent and Heather s/v Hiatus just spent the last two years cruising and they said "San Blas is outrageous...
Very very cool." and "We could have spent the entire two years there easy."

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Discovery of missing islands...

Our chart showed several small islands and lots of reefs around Cayo Media Luna which lies about forty nautical miles off the Honduran coast and about fifty five nautical miles south of Vivorillos and very close to the border with Nicaragua. As we approached we couldn't locate the islands visually or via radar. Missing islands can make navigation tough and the captains a bit nervous. Missing islands make you wonder if you might be lost... After cruising around for the better part of two hours between what should have been islands all we could find was island remnants. Nothing above water, just reefs shaped similar to what that chart showed as islands. The conclusion, albeit after careful consideration and triple checking is that a hurricane removed these small islands and deposited their contents elsewhere.

The point of finding the islands was to find an anchorage. After so much time spent searching for islands that no longer existed it was getting late in the day and good sun light essential for eyeball navigation was quickly slipping away. We did spot one small island just a speck at some three miles away. It was make it or break it time and decided it would be our last ditch effort or we'd put back to sea and continue on sailing overnight. Several reefs blocked a direct approach creating considerable difficulty and adding a bit of stress, but eventually we got the anchor down behind this tiny island that is maybe three times the size of our boat. Needless to say it doesn't offer too much protection from the swell and no protection from the wind. But, it has one shrub and a considerable population of birds.

Never thought I'd say "I discovered missing islands"... in this sense, but I just did.

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Discovery of missing islands...

Our chart showed several small islands and lots of reefs around Cayo Media Luna which lies about forty nautical miles off the Honduran coast and about fifty five nautical miles south of Vivorillos and very close to the border with Nicaragua. As we approached we couldn't locate the islands visually or via radar. Missing islands can make navigation tough and the captains a bit nervous. Missing islands make you wonder if you might be lost... After cruising around for the better part of two hours between what should have been islands all we could find was island remnants. Nothing above water, just reefs shaped similar to what that chart showed as islands. The conclusion, albeit after careful consideration and triple checking is that a hurricane removed these small islands and deposited their contents elsewhere.

The point of finding the islands was to find an anchorage. After so much time spent searching for islands that no longer existed it was getting late in the day and good sun light essential for eyeball navigation was quickly slipping away. We did spot one small island just a speck at some three miles away. It was make it or break it time and decided it would be our last ditch effort or we'd put back to sea and continue on sailing overnight. Several reefs blocked a direct approach creating considerable difficulty and adding a bit of stress, but eventually we got the anchor down behind this tiny island that is maybe three times the size of our boat. Needless to say it doesn't offer too much protection from the swell and no protection from the wind. But, it has one shrub and a considerable population of birds.

Never thought I'd say "I discovered missing islands"... in this sense, but I just did.

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Vivorillo to Cayo Media Luna

*August 13, 2009 (Noon)

Position
15* 30' N
083* 00' W

Location: Underway

Underway to day to Cayo Media Luna a fifty five nautical mile sail. Beautiful conditions and we are starting to learn just how fast our new boat can be. I still have plenty to learn to make her sail faster, but happy today with the high eights to mid nine knot range sailing close hauled in thirteen to fifteen knots of true wind. Very fast, dry and comfortable motion.

The Cayo Media Luna area will be a true adventure as we have zero information aside from a poor chart and it will be eyeball navigation all the way. Beautiful weather for this sort of adventuring and we look forward to finding a great anchorage.

If any of our readers out there want to do a little research and send us some info on "Mosquito" or "Miskito" Cayo/Passage/Channel area or further south on "Isla Grande Del Maiz Island (Corn Islands) area it would be much appreciated. Anchorage info and any WP's would be helpful. Text only (as we can't receive attachments) and send it to any email address you've got for us any will work.

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Banco Vivorillos, Honduras

August 12, 2009 Position
15* 50' N
083* 21' W

Location: Anchored Banco Vivorillos, Honduras

Pleasantly surprised to find a gem of a place here in the Vivorillos. We are anchored behind a breaking reef so as we look around we see nearly nothing but ocean. There are a few pristine little islands, but the anchorage has us feeling like we are anchored in the middle of a calm ocean. Anchorage over sand bottom with solid holding and good protection in everything except West component winds.

A great abundance of fish on the reef. Nurse sharks, trigger fish, hog fish, snapper, parrot fish, grunts, rays, and trevalli to name a few. Plus conch free for the picking off the sea floor. On the way into the anchorage we caught a nice King Mackerel so it's a sea food lovers paradise. To top it off a shrimp boat anchored nearby and we traded a $4 dollar bottle of rum (this is the more expensive stuff) for a huge bag of shrimp tails maybe seven or eight pounds worth.

The other day we had the good luck to meet up with some South bound cruisers Bonita and Bill aboard s/v Alcheringa a very nice 44' aluminum sloop. By pure chance we saw them about ten miles off the island of Guanaja and were within about ten miles of each other the remainder of the voyage to the Vivorillos. Tonight we enjoyed a wonder dinner of fresh shrimp aboard s/v Alcheringa.

We recently installed a class B AIS transponder aboard s/v LightSpeed and what a great piece of equipment. A transmitter aboard s/v LightSpeed sends out our position, speed, course and vessel name every second or so. Other vessels equipped with AIS receivers can then plot our position real time. Why? Collision avoidance which is pretty much the number one concern while at sea.

With our AIS receiver we can see ships on our navigation computer fifteen miles out which is far greater than can be seen with the naked eye or even binoculars. Like wise ships can see us fifteen miles out and thus we can both adjust our course so that we never even have to see each other or at a minimum keep a very safe distance. Very cool and much better than radar for being seen by big ships.

Since AIS transponders have just recently been approved for use by pleasure craft it unusual to see them on small yachts. But, we hope they will be adopted widely soon as this is an amazing tool. Our new friends on s/v Alcheringa also have a transceiver so on our recent passage we could track each other progress in real time. Can't say it enough... very cool.

Wishing we didn't need to leave, but it is hurricane season so we need to be moving along to get out of the hurricane zone. Otherwise we could and would spend weeks out here in the Vivorillos.

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Sailing to weather... Yuck!

After a delay with Immigration officials and a extra stop at the island bank we finally raised the anchor at 10:30AM nearly four hours later than our intended departure. Not a huge deal, but the weather was perfect for the 175 nautical mile 'slog' and on a trip like this you try not to waste good weather. Island time... get used to it!

As I write I've just begun my 1:30AM to 4:30AM watch. It's the time tested three on three off gig we've found works best for us. During the day the schedule is less rigid and we alternate taking naps and only enforce the schedule when we both want to nap at the same time. The good news is I slept very well on my off watch and haven't felt sea sick at all so far this trip. The weather started off picture perfect as we sailed out the reef pass at Guanaja, Bay Islands Honduras, but deteriorated into nasty squalls just about... yep, dark. Stormy weather in the dark is always more unnerving. It started with lots of lightning and driving rain then to top it off the seas picked up to make things pretty uncomfortable.

A small tangent. As cruisers 'those who sail without a set schedule or destination' we really strive for perfect weather as we have time to wait and the luxury to change the destination to ensure we have the highest chance of perfect weather. Some exceptions apply, but as a hard fast rule we never 'sail to weather'. Sailing to weather *toward the wind) is bumpy, wet and generally uncomfortably hot as hatches need to be closed to keep out the sea... just a few of the reasons making it worthwhile to avoid.

The current voyage is 'to weather' and there was no way around it, it just had to be done. It's Hurricane season and we are in the 'Hurricane Zone' and want OUT, thus we found some suitable, if less than perfect weather and are now 'slogging' it out.

Our weather router gave us assurances that the next week would be Hurricane free so we're on our way to Panama which is close enough to the equator to be entirely free of hurricanes.

The purchase of the new boat 'LightSpeed' is the reason we aren't already out of the Hurricane zone, but it was definitely worth the delay.

The new boat is very cool and much more suited to carry us safely to places less traveled. The enclosed pilot house means I can sit inside and type emails on my watch and still easily keep 'watch'. Three hundred and sixty degree visibility from a seated position inside is a very nice feature and it sure is nice to drive from inside when it really storming outside! I can also drive from inside a rare feature on a sailboat.

Speaking of storming it was blowing sustanined over thirty five knots today in squalls. Add to the thirty five knots about five knots of boat speed and the 'apparent' wind is over forty knots (+45 miles per hour). Throw in some gusts above the sustained winds and it's pretty damn stormy. Yes, it's good to be inside th e pilot house and laugh at the weather as huge rain drops and wind driven sheets of sea spray pummel the windows.

The first planned stop is in the group of small islands called the 'Vivarillos' noted for it's isolation, pristine reefs and abundance of fish and lobster. It will be a great stop and one we'll need to keep short to stay safely out of the way of soon to be imminent hurricanes. We should be into the Vivarillos by early afternoon tomorrow.

Next we may sail the infamous 'Moskito Pass' along the Mosquito Coast. 'LightSpeed' as the name implies should have no difficulty covering the distance in daylight, but we have yet to decide as we will need decent weather to ensure good visibility in avoiding reefs. It's an area less traveled so we'd like to give it a try if possible.

We have nice moon light tonight that is really lighting up the sea when not blocked by storm clouds. A huge bonus for overnight trips.

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Heading to Panama (sent via SSB)

This morning we are at the island of Guanaja in the Bay Islands of Honduras and ready to head South to Panama. We are lucky to have excellent weather for the passage for this time of year.

We may make some stops along the way or maybe go direct depending on how we feel and the evolution of weather forecast. It is hurricane season so we can't linger anywhere too long until we get South of 12 degrees North latitude. Twelve North is a magic line of sorts as Hurricanes very very rarely go South of this line.

Will try to do some blog updates via the SSB while on passage.

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Heading toward Panama today

Narrow walkways ... no roads at all!
Customs and immigration are super easy to deal with and located at the water taxi dock.
Taxi dock at right
Durban rock at Guanaja.


This morning we are at the island of Guanaja in the Bay Islands of Honduras and ready to head South to Panama. We are lucky to have excellent weather for the passage for this time of year.

We may make some stops along the way or maybe go direct depending on how we feel and the evolution of weather forecast. It is hurricane season so we can't linger anywhere too long until we get South of 12 degrees North latitude. Twelve North is a magic line of sorts as Hurricanes very very rarely go South of this line.

Will try to do some blog updates via the SSB while on passage.

This dolphin swam around our boat for hours while we were anchored. He seemed to respond to us when we'd stand on the side of the boat. We tried to swim with him, but he was a bit shy to get too close. Little money named Velcro.
Kathy showing off the awesome bridge deck clearance of our new Atlantic 42 sailing catamaran.
Bay Islands of Honduras
Getting all the docking gear dried out and ready for storage.

Bonita Tuna. This little guy didn't last long as he made for some good sushi and fish sandwiches.Kathy making the early morning catch off Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras.Gotta love the pilot house option of the new boat when a squall hits.

Giant bugs and Scorpion?

How about finding a scorpion on your boat? Or a giant locust?

Panama Bound

Tonight we are in Texan Bay, Guatemala. The goal is to get checked out of Guatemala (obtain a Zarpe [international clearance] from the Port Captain and Immigration officer) tomorrow AM and head for the Honduras Bay Islands. Once in Honduras we are hoping for a weather window (opportunity) to head toward Nicaragua with the goal being 12 degrees North latitude. Points south of twelve degrees North represent the "safe zone" from tropical storms and hurricanes.

It's a tough time to make the trip as Hurricane season officially started in June and peaks in September. We only need two good days of weather so the odds are it will be safer than driving to work for most of our friends...

If the weather doesn't cooperate then we'll race back to the Rio Dulce for protection from any storms.