|
1/1/07 |
Happy New Year to you and your
family. We hope your dreams and goals for 2007 come true and this
is the best year of your life.
We started out the New Year with great memories. We sailed from Jonesville Bight, Roatan to West End with Taylor, Kodi and Riley. We all ate Black-eyed Pea Soup along the way for good luck and prosperity for 2007.
Upon arrival, as normal, Sonny grabbed his snorkel gear to dive on the anchor. Taylor decided to jump in too. They snorkeled around the anchor to make sure we were set tight, then we took Riley to the beach to play in the sand and had dinner at Eagle Ray Restaurant. We ate lobster sandwiches, conch patties and fish. Not a normal lunch, right? It was very tasty.
We were all anxious to get back to the boat to snorkel in the crystal clear blue water. Taylor, Kodi, and Sonny snorkeled around and were amazed at the huge lobster, conch, and fish at a coral head nearby the boat. They were free-diving down to get a closer look at the fish and lobster. |
|||
 |
||||
|
We have thoroughly enjoyed
Taylor, Kodi and Riley. Taylor had to fly back to go back to work
on Wednesday, but Kodi and Riley are staying until Saturday. Riley
loves the sand and beach, so that is in our everyday schedule, along
with one sucker a day. We can spoil her some while we have her. We took the collectivo bus to the iguana farm and saw hundreds of iguanas and monkeys and fish. Riley liked the monkey the best.
It was so good to get to spend time and have fun with them. On Saturday we took Kodi and Riley to the airport to return to Austin, Texas and, at the same time, pick up Barry and Judy Lower. We are looking forward to having them come down. We can't wait to see them. Roatan is a great place to vacation, snorkel and sail.
|
||||
| 1/7/07 |
This was a snorkeling
day.....we went to West Bay and snorkeled, we snorkeled a great coral
reef near our boat, and then we went down and snorkeled around Half Moon
Bay. We all enjoyed the snorkel and saw tons of fish. Kay
snorkeled over a snake and did not even see it. Sonny, Barry and
Judy went around it.
We had a very good day. We are all pooped and ready for a good night's sleep. But, just as we went to bed, the wind picked up and blew all night in the anchorage.
|
|||
| 1/8/07 |
There is a northern coming
our way so we need to leave West End. There is no protection from
a north or west wind, so we headed out, along with S/V Halliday Girl and
S/V Sunday's Child. They stopped off at French Harbor and we
sailed on to Jonesville.
 We took Barry and Judy to the Hole in the Wall, over to meet Larry Wood and we strolled down the canal with the Mangroves along-side. People who come to Roatan on cruise ships, come to tour the Mangrove canal as a tour. It is nice.
|
|||
| 1/9/07 |
Today was a boat project
day. Barry and Sonny cleaned out the dingy and threw away the
galvanized chain that was rusted and installed the stainless steel chain
that Barry brought down, they worked on the generator and changed the
relay switch, so now our generator is working again. We are so
thankful! We had just ordered the cruiser's spare parts kit for our generator, so
it was perfect timing.
Kay made a couple of pecan pies, then Judy and Kay made some shrimp ceviche and cleaned shrimp (with some help from the guys) and grilled shrimp for dinner. It was delicious. Our time is going by too fast with them. |
|||
|
|
||||
| 1/10/07 |
This morning, we saw Clyde (a
local friend and water taxi) come
by in his dory and asked him about taking us all around for a tour.
He has a 24' dory with an 9 hp Wisconsin gas engine (lawn mower) that he
has had for 48 years. He said he could take us down to Port Royal
and we agreed. Our friends, Aaron and Lyla on S/V Blow Me Away
are down there, so we decided to make the trek down to see them.
It poured on us on our way back and the water was pretty rough as we surfed down the waves with Captain Clyde.
|
|||
| 1/11/07 |
We bought some more shrimp today. So we fried
shrimp for dinner tonight. Sonny is almost shrimped out, but
we could all eat it again. We hope to have lobster tomorrow if the
local fisherman can get some.
We had an adventure today taking the local bus to Coxen Hole. We walked around and shopped then came back on the bus. Our bus was very slow and they pulled over for us to all get off and catch the next bus. We sautéed shrimp in butter and garlic for dinner.
Delicious!
Here are some local children playing on a surfboard with
palm frons. |
|||
| 1/12/07 |
Today was a good day. We have sure enjoyed Barry
and Judy on board.
We went snorkeling early and it started getting dark and dreary and
began to rain. Sonny and Barry both shot a fish spear fishing.
They sure did have fun. Judy and Kay stayed in the dinghy watching
them.
We went to the Hole in the Wall for the barbeque buffet. But, of course, it included lobster, so we all had our fill of lobster. It was very good food. We were all hungry. We came back to the boat and tried to stay awake until 8 p.m. It is the slow rocking on the boat that makes it hard to stay awake after the sun goes down at 5:15 p.m.
|
|||
| 1/13/07 |
We had to take Barry and Judy back to the airport today.
We wanted to keep them longer, but it didn't work. They flew to
Houston and had to spend the night because of the ice in Dallas.
They made it safely home on Sunday though. Thanks for the great
time!
|
|||
| 1/14/07 |
Today is Gary's birthday on S/V Kaija's Song
and it was the first
time in a long time that Blow Me Away, Kaija's Song and Valentina were
all in the same anchorage together again. The three of us all left the River on November 1st and been together on and off along the way, but, finally the reunion happened again. Great friends.
|
|||
| 1/17/07 |
|
|||
|
Today, we had a good surprise in the anchorage. Our very good friends, Mike and Karyn on S/V Suenos arrived from the River.
It was such a good
reunion to get together again.
We have been tracking them
for the past four days since they left the Rio until their safe arrival. Now in our anchorage are five boats from Mario's Marina in the Rio Dulce. S/V Blow Me Away - Aaron and Lyla S/V Kaija's Song - Gary, Kaija and Doc S/V Adagio - Bob and Peggy S/V Suenos - Mike and Karyn and S/V Valentina
|
||||
| 1/18/07 |
After our daily routine of listening to the NW Caribbean net this morning on the
SSB,
Larry Wood with Vicki. Larry is a great guy who caters to cruisers anchored in Jonesville. Kay went ashore to assist Larry on a computer project while Sonny went snorkeling and spear fishing with Aaron and Lyla, Gary and Kaija, and Damon in the next cove. They came back with a few fish. Sonny cleaned them and we will grill them later. We bought some shrimp at the local tienda this morning and Mike and Karyn has bought some Grouper from a local fisherman, so we got together tonight for dinner. We fried the shrimp and made the fish according to Any's recipe (S/V Deux Pieds) with a cream sauce. It was very good.
|
|||
| 1/20/07 |
It's Moving Day......we moved down island a couple of
miles to Oak Ridge. We are staying at Sandi's Marina (well, you
may not call it a marina in the US, but for Central America, it is
called one. There are four boats on the dock by Sandi's house). We plan to stay here a few days while we change out our batteries. We had installed AGM batteries one year before we left to go cruising, and the voltage on them is already not good, after two years. We were supposed to have 1,000 amp hours, but have to charge before we are down 150. So, we are changing them out, but it is a process.
We have ordered and received 6 Trojan T105 golf cart batteries and will be installing them on the boat. Of course, on a boat, everything is stored under something else. Our batteries, are stored under our quarter berth, which we call "our garage". And it is full of tools, spare parts, and other necessary items for living aboard. So, to get to the batteries, we have to empty our "garage", which is currently in the main salon while the project is underway. There is some kind of bug going around the harbor. Kay is not feeling well today. Achy....tired...
|
|||
| 1/21/07 |
After we lowered the dinghy down from the
davits, Sonny motored over to BJ's where you park the dinghy to walk to the
taxi or bus stand.
He has to go to the ferry down island to pick up our other battery. In transit from Le Ceiba (mainland) to Roatan (island) one of our batteries was ruined on the ship. So, Rita at Laguna Marina shipped us another one. So, Sonny is picking it up this morning. We do not have access to internet here, so we will update our website and emails as we go to the internet cafe. We will continue to check our winlink emails through the SSB radio though.
It is a different life, when you think of no television stations and no internet. We go to bed when the sun goes down (it goes down at 5:30 p.m. and our goal is to stay awake until 9 p.m. We do not always make it though) and get up when (or before) the sun comes up.
|
|||
| 1/22 |
Happy Birthday to our Gina.
We love you!
|
|||
| 1/25 |
We have moved back to Jonesville this morning. We are still in the
early charging process on the batteries, so we will be able to tell soon
how pleased we will be with them.
We received a great email this morning from Billy and Jeanie, Sonny's brother and his wife in Waxahachie, Texas.
On our website, we have put several photos of our feet while we are relaxing with a palm tree in the background, a rainbow, or other places in paradise so you feel like you are right here with us.
(Because you are in spirit). Above are various photos of our feet along our journey that we have used previously on our website.
Billy and Jeanie sent us photos of their feet in Texas, relaxing in the warmth of their living room during the cold, icy weather. I do love the palm tree!
If you would like to email us pictures of your feet, we will put them on our website too. Just for fun....
|
|||
| 1/26 |
We dinghied over to Mike
and Karyn's boat early this morning and asked them if they would like to
go down island and anchor in French Harbor today. Our mutual
friends and fellow buddy boat from Dry Tortugas should be arriving back
to their boat from a visit in Argentina today. They said, "Sure,
let's go!" So, we did....we are excited. After we were both safely anchored, we all went in their dinghy over to the marina where Duex Pieds was and we were all so excited to see them outside. It was a great reunion!
We first met Deux Pieds in the Dry Tortugas and then in Cozumel, we all met up with Suenos......we have all been traveling together and been great friends ever since.
|
|||
| 1/27 |
We went to the French Harbor Yacht
Club, where Roberto and Any have S/V Deux Pieds. Sonny was sitting at
a table in the restaurant talking to one of the local Captains.
Then, we all went to Fantasy Island Resort and the girls (Karyn, Any and Kay) took the kayaks for a spin.
|
|||
|
Group of Cruisers Above: Tony and Shelly (S/V Andiamo), Sonny, Allan (S/V Ute) Rob (S/V Carmelita) Kay, Lyla (S/V Blow Me Away), Cora (S/V Ute) and Aaron (S/V Blow Me Away)
Valentina entering Old French Harbor in Roatan, Honduras
|
||||
|
"Cruising has two pleasures. One is to go out in wider waters from a sheltered place. The other is to go into a sheltered place from wider waters." Howard Bloomfield |
||||
