We returned to Roatan in late March, and I thank all of you at home who are making our retirement easier by getting your taxes done earlier each year. The boat is again in great shape and seems to get better each year so some of the repair work we do must be paying off. We were aboard only two days at the tiny Brooksy Point marina (10 boats) before we were ready to set sail for Belize.
We planned on provisioning at the local market in Honduras because we had been warned about the high prices for good food and bad beer in Belize so we hiked the two miles to the store stopping along the way for breakfast at a car wash (go figure). As we entered the “casual” restaurant the waitress popped up from a nap in a nearby hammock, took our breakfast request to the kitchen, and promptly returned to the hammock. She moved again to deliver food to the table, but it appeared that the hammock was her duty station in this café. Yes, Honduras is “laid back”.
The supermarket did yield one treasure. We found a bottle of gin (actually several bottles of gin as it turns out) for only $3.00. “London Dry Gin” said the label in big letters along with some smaller letters indicating that “London” may actually be in Kentucky and is “not” where the queen lives. Still, a bargain is a bargain and not to be sneezed at, and yes, my eyesight doesn’t seem to have suffered even a week later.
Waiting for favorable winds for the 100 mile passage to Belize we headed to West End, Roatan to again enjoy the ambience of this small, popular dive town (that’s scuba dive) at the end of the island. We anchored off the long sand beach for 4 days enjoying snorkeling on the reefs by day and strolling the town in the evenings. We were joined here by our friends George and Pixie on Silver Sea (Panama acquaintances) and Lenny and Sue on Wind Dancer. All in all a perfect place to wait for a good east wind.
We fairly floated out of West End with little wind for the first two hours and then we picked up a nice easterly for our west bound trip. In fact the wind was so nice that we changed destinations mid stream (so to speak) and instead of heading directly to Placentia, Belize to check into the country we angled north to reach one of the three coral atolls off the Belize coast. These atolls are three of the only four atolls in the world that are not located in the Pacific and they are a treat. Complete circles of coral reef surround shallow lagoons that are as much as 30 miles long. Sea depths on the outside of the reefs climb from 1500 feet to as little as 3 feet on the reef almost instantly, and inside the reef calm seas prevail, ideal for anchoring, diving, relaxing, having a beer, etc.
The atoll we chose first was only 25 miles off the coast of Belize and a pleasant all night sail found us within 15 miles of the atoll at 6 AM when the wind shifted. Our easterly became 20 to 25 knots of northerly (on the nose) and the last 15 miles, in rough, bouncy seas took us 8 very uncomfortable hours. When we got in we were wet (very), happy (relatively) and exhausted (completely). Andrea and I both fell asleep by 5 PM and slept through to the next AM. Our reward however was to awake to one of the most beautiful vistas we have experienced in all of our travels. Bright turquoise waters with foamy waves breaking on the reef while we sat in absolutely flat water with sunshine and a brisk breeze. We took a couple of days to recover from the passage and then headed to a second atoll (Turneffe) before heading to Belize proper.
Belize was formerly British Honduras and the language here is English. This is actually the first English speaking country we have visited on Mañana, and it does make it much easier to get around. Coastal Belize is protected from the Caribbean Ocean by a long barrier reef which provides great diving and snorkeling opportunities as well as a wealth of fish. Inside the reef are hundreds of islands, some just mangrove patches and others with coconut palms and sand beaches. Navigation is tricky and we move around mostly at midday when the sun is high (and hot) and the coral patches and reefs are visible. There is a broad, deep channel between the mainland and the outer cays and this has provided some of the best sailing we’ve ever had. Winds blow regularly from the east and the deep channel runs north to south, a perfect point of sail. We have had several sails moving 6 to 7 knots through beautiful turquoise waters while the ocean breezes kept temperatures manageable. We have seen no rain on this entire trip and we are salty.
We sailed into Placencia, our first town in Belize and anchored in a pleasant, colorful harbor with about 20 other boats. Our detours had turned the 100 mile trip form Roatan into a 240 mile sail. Placencia is a very pretty little tourist mecca with one paved street, one long paved sidewalk through town, and a maze of short, sand streets running everywhere. We sampled the local beer only briefly. Beliken may be the worst beer I have ever tasted although the alternative Lighthouse beer is passable. We are learning to drink dark rum and OJ (well not actually “learning”) and consuming our supply of Honduran beer when afloat. We have also found good food here at places like the Barefoot Bar, Yolis, Purple Space Monkey, the Shak and the ubiquitous Crow’s Nest. Friday night we spent the evening at Yolis for a BBQ and live music. The band members (very entertaining) appeared to all be about the same age as the Rolling Stones so last call was about 8:30 PM. The crowd included boaters, tourists and a large number of ex-patriots who now call Belize home for at least part of the year. Saturday we treated ourselves to fresh fish at La Dolce VIta. This small Italian restaurant was as good as any we have in CA.
Today we are off again for another week of anchoring in the cays. We will miss this town. Everyone in Placentia has been very friendly, helpful and smiling and that makes us very happy to be in Belize. Unbelizeable!!.
Tom and Andrea
