Hello Friends,

 

VIVA finally left Bocas del Toro, Panama in mid January after waiting for that elusive  weather window. We have learned that, unlike the eastern Caribbean, one does not head North on December 1 unless you are willing to dodge some nasty "Norther" cold fronts. Of the four boats leaving Boca's Marina in Dec/Jan, two were abandoned and lost on the reefs along the Nicaraguan/Honduran coast and one was dismasted 75 miles from San Andres.  

 

We really enjoyed our stat at Bocas del Toro, the marina and the surrounding Almirante Lagoon area which made for some great gunkholing. The quaint little Boca's Town was originally the center for banana shipping in the early 1900's and is now experiencing a major real estate boom. 

..In and Around Bocas del Toro          





There are a myriad of neat little hotels, waterfront bars and restaurants perched on stilts over the lagoon and the variety of  backpackers, surfers and local Panamanians makes for an interesting mix along with a nice sprinkling of transient cruisers. Shortly after our return in November, old CA friends Chuck and Ann Silvers aboard MIRAGE arrived and soon became the new marina dockmaster/manager, a great move both for them and the marina.

Some of you may remember them from their Catalina Isthmus days. We also made a few interesting side trips to the inland mountains of Panama and the coffee-growing area of Boquete. At 4,000 feet and year round temperatures of 72 degrees, Boquete offers a nice change from the heat, rain and humidity of the coast and has also been discovered by expat retirees. Also, unlike the eastern Caribbean, the rainy season in this area seems to start in November, continuing through January.

 

Our first leg north was a calm 200-mile motorsail to the Isla San Andres, a duty-free vacation island for wealthy Colombians. Only 100 miles off the Nicaraguan coast, it is interesting that the island is a possession of Colombia, over 400 miles away. It was nice to be out of the rain and back in the land of blue skies, trade winds and crystal clear water.

 

...glimpses of San Andres 

We fortunately had a smooth passage and anchored in front of the dilapidated, but friendly little Nene's Marina. The alternative was Club Nautico, a pricey private yacht club which charged $50.00 a week to use their dinghy dock. Only twelve miles long, low-lying San Andres has been largely overbuilt with a lot of tacky 60-70's architecture, much in need of repairs, mixed with a lot of charming old West Indian colonial buildings. There are some beautiful beaches inside the barrier reef and we found the locals to be extremely friendly and helpful. Thet are mostly descendants of English Puritan settlers, Spanish explorers, Jamaican woodcutters and a variety of pirates who roamed and rules this area centuries ago. The music was a mix of salsa, reggae and even a sprinkling of country western. There was the usual mix of duty-free jewelry/ perfume stores, discount liquor stores, trendy boutiques, and "wholesale" electronic outlets usually associated with the cruise-ship crowd. For the cruising sailor, the duty-free status makes for good provisioning and we found several good markets and restaurants. With a population of over 100,000, it is necessary to explore the back side of the island if you want to escape the masses.  We actually  rented a motor scooter one day for a circumnavigation of the island, which took a little encouraging as this was a first-time event for Pam. I am still waiting for the fingernail marks to heal! Today a Yamaha, tomorrow the Harley's!

...Slea-zy riders!

The next stop was Isla Providencia, another Colombian Island about 60 miles north. Unlike San Andres, Providencia is much more laid back. The island is only eight miles long but is quite beautiful and more mountainous with green-covered hills and a population of only 4500 people. After another pleasant motor sail, we were greeted upon arrival by Mr. Bush, the local ship's agent, who arrived in a beautiful launch with both Customs and Immigration officers aboard. "Welcome to Providencia, where God takes his vacations" was his greeting as they tied alongside and quickly took care of all the usual check-in paperwork. A far cry from schlepping documents all over town in the mid day sun of other ports we've visited. For the next five days, it was kick-back time for some snorkeling, and a nice walk over a foot bridge to Santa Catalina Island. For a mile or so the path follows the waterfront and then climbs up through the jungle for a visit to ruins of the old Dutch fort and a spectacular view of the harbor.

        

Once again we rented a motor scooter for a circumnavigation of the island and some spectacular views of the surrounding barrier reef, the third largest in the world. There are several nice restaurants, hotels and numerous eco-lodges, where for $500.00 a night you can sleep in a tent cabin, eat from a communal bowl, while hiking and studying the thousands of species of birds, insects, butterflies and plant life. We opted for the bargain moto photo tour! As luck would have it, at the far end of the island we ended up off a side road at a neat beach hangout, owned by Roland, a local Jamaican descendant rasta dude. Rolando's Hideaway was everything you can imagine about the perfect beach bar/restaurant, complete with palm-covered tables, hammocks, palapa bar, BBQ pit and a great assortment of rum drinks served in coconuts with fruit and those cute little umbrellas.

At this point I must mention that we have been traveling with several  fun-loving California couples since leaving Panama. Pat and Mary Ann from Long Beach on SAILOR'S DREAM have been traveling a bit ahead of us with constant e-mail updates of weather, waypoint and cruising info. Tony and Sharon aboard HOOFBEATS, a brand new Beneteau 52 from Dana Point and Damien and Debbie aboard TICKET TO RIDE, a Celestial 50 from Newport Beach have become our "mother ships", complete with washer/dryers, multiple icemakers, satellite TV with all the latest DVD movies, refrigerated wine lockers and espresso/cappuccino machines.

It seems that after all these years of cruising,  the Californians are always the most fun. Damien is the self-appointed route planner, weather guru who is always correct 50% of the time.

 

From Providencia, the 350-mile passage to Guanaja in the Bay Islands, winds its way through a treacherous minefield of offshore atolls, coral reefs and cays along the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. I wouldn't to attempt to guess how many boats have been lost in this poorly-charted area over the years. In order to break up the trip and eliminate some night passages, we had all decided on a couple of overnight stops. Damien found an anchorage on an obscure chart called the Edinburgh Cays, which I am sure was last surveyed in the late 1700's.

After another calm overnight passage, we arrived at the designated waypoint coordinates, only to find - - nothing above water, no palm trees, no islands, no breaking reefs. Maybe it all sunk in a hurricane. The only clue was that the depth went from over 2,000 feet to less than 25 feet! Pretty spooky. After circling the shallow area for awhile, we all decided to anchor overnight and then depart for the Vivorillo Cays for a daytime arrival. The Vivorillos were actually three little cays, complete with palm trees, a sizeable fish camp and several shrimp boats. Before our anchor was set, we were approached by a couple of local fishermen who were willing to trade 10 lobster tails, 2 bags of cleaned conch, and a bag of crab claws and legs for a 1/2 pint of local rum, a pack of cigarettes and two recycled baseball hats. Such a deal. Life is good!

 

The following morning we received reports on the SSB net of a strong "Norther" cold front approaching in approximately two day. Since the Vivorillos offered minimal protection, we decided to depart immediately for Guanaja in the Bay Islands of Honduras, a 160 mile passage. Well, once again, the weather gurus were wrong and our good luck had run out. The first 50 miles was a beautiful beam reach in 15 kts. of wind and six ft. seas, but our first clue of impeding doom was a large black cloud approaching at dusk from the north. By nightfall, the wind had increased to 20-25 kts. with the seas beginning to build. For the next eight hours we were next hit with intermittent cold rain squalls, with the wind building in the 25-30 kt. range. By midnight it was a steady 35 kt. wind with 10-15 ft. seas on the beam. As luck would have it, the wind moved forward, and by dawn we were showing 40 kts! After hand steering most of the night to relieve the autopilot, daybreak was a welcome sight except for the ugly skies and seas. The last couple of hours the wind came on the nose, which meant motor sailing into 45 kt. wind gusts and some really huge breaking seas. Needless to say, we were happy campers to arrive at the Guanaja entrance buoy. Other than a  few frayed sails and nerves, we didn't suffer any major damage.

What a difference a day makes. The following morning broke bright and sunny and it was off for a fifteen minute dinghy ride to Bonacca to clear Customs and Immigration.  Bonacca is a tiny little 4-acre island, a half mile from mainland Guanaja, jam-packed with narrow streets, stilt houses, and a population of over 10,000 people. There are no cars on the island and the only access is by boat.

Guanaja has been hard hit in the past few years with several natural disasters, starting with Hurricane Mitch which devasted the northeast side of the island. This was followed by an uncontrollable forest fire which wiped out 1/3 of the forests in the middle of the island. Several attempts to develop dive resorts, hotels and housing have also failed, but in spite of it all, the island remains a beautiful spot without all of the commercial aspects of other islands in the area. While exploring some of the little neighboring cays, we ran into Bill and Martha Pullum, a Florida couple who bought one of the cays several years ago and are currently building a 200-boat marina adjoining a 500 acre townhouse development. They invited Pam and I to join them the next day with some friends for a launch ride, lunch and a snorkeling trip on the north side of the island. To reciprocate, I offered to photograph Bill's marina project from his helicopter, which he keeps on a pad next to his house. This included a two-hour aerial tour of the islands. I think I got the better part of the deal. Their welcome sure gave a new meaning to "southern hospitality".

  

...Guanaja from the air

Next, it was off to Roatan, the largest and most developed of the Bay Islands, 30 miles to the west. Our first stop was at French Harbor, a pretty dilapidated spot, which is home base for a large shrimp fleet and a few rag tag sailboats. The only saving grace was a large supermarket a short distance away. The next day we moved around the west end of the island to a beautiful anchorage located inside a long barrier reef. Once again, it was back in paradise with some of the clearest water we have seen in ages. The little village of West Bay is a world class dive center with numerous dive shops and lots of funky little beach bars and restaurants. There were only four boats in the anchorage and we soon learned this is definitely not a spot to be when the "Northers" arrive. Roatan has also been discovered by the gringos as a place to invest in property and we passed numerous new plush gated developments. Our friends on HOOFBEAT and TICKET TO RIDE opted to stay in a swanky little marina on the south shore for awhile so it was time to part company.

   

 

Our next destination is Belize but we decided to sail to La Ceiba on the mainland and check out the local boatyard there for a possible haulout in the fall. We are currently up a muddy river in the little Lagoon Marina, arriving a day before the next "Norther" hit. Two days of cold rain and wind, but it is predicted to be clearing tomorrow. We'll close for now, but would love to hear some news from you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Steve and Pam

 

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