| WELCOME TO ATTITUDE Neil & Kathy's Sailing Adventures June-Dec '07 |
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JULY- SEPT 07_
Sept 15.WEDDING IN CINCINNATI: Beautiful day for a wedding all went perfect.. bride and groom could not stop smiling!
Sunday was a Bengals game so B&G had tons of people over for the game. Honeymoon waited until Monday they had their
priorities! Did a spin to NY to visit Neil's mom and sis, even squeezed in a b-day dinner for our friend Lynne
SEPT. LA CEIBA Honduras: Time to lv Attitude and get to Cincinnati for daughter Cari's wedding. Rita owner of Lagoon
Marina meets us at the dock and invites us to the "big soccer game" La Ceiba vs Tegucigalpa. Tons of fun and so different
from the states. We are talking fireworks IN the stands like bottle rockets! Tis the season HURRICANE FELIX heading right for
La Ceiba! So there are 11 boats in the marina and only 4 had people on it. Rita & Tony called a meeting and we all worked
from 6 am to dark moving boats, hooking up to mooring balls, taking canvas, wind gens and solar panels down, putting all
dinghy in a storage unit T&R had. Everyone is watching the weather ,we plan to all stay together off the boats in R&T's office..
but things seem to be calming a bit.. we all decide to stay on our boats …Dodged a bullet again. We have been extremely lucky
with our hurricane avoidance ! Made it to Cincinnati ,a few days late but in plenty of time for the wedding!
AUG 19 Hurricane dean is on his way! We buz back to Honduras to Diamonte anchored down ,listening to Chris Parker
(weather guy) downloading weather fax.. whew.. lucked out again. We woke to a beautiful rainbow and the sound of howler
monkeys.. my kind of hurricane. Off to UTILA met some gringos (Sharon and Bruce)who own the driftwood bar fun evening.
Utila is a great place to dive so we got a few in, a nice wreck and some good wall diving,
AUG BELIZE, GLOVERS & LIGHTHOUSE REEFS: again but hey we have time to kill so we went to play with Windfree . On the
way we hooked a 49 inch dolphin YUM, and had dolphin(other kind) lead us into Glovers (cool) nice way to start! Snorkeled
around we found a nice BIG GREEN MORAY EEL , slipper lobster and tons of fish . N Went back to boat I hung out and on the
way back I saw a batfish ,which I have never seen and they are kind of rare.. Attitude is still about 300 yrds away so I'm yell'in
& yell'in nothing! Really about 15 minutes and the entire little Cay heard but not N. FINALLY he hears and says no way I'm not
swimming all the way back.. "you'll be sorry I told him" I hear him grumble and jump in. He was glad he got to see one. But
wouldn't ya know he spots another one, Always has to outdo me DARN! Ok head for the famous Blue hole we lv from
lighthouse reef and it's a bit tricky. They say you can't miss it ,Well ..not true! I'm on the bow for 3 hrs as we weave in and out of
coral patches Windfree is with us doing their own weaving. It's getting late we are all a bit cranky(can you believe it) we all
decide we just need to anchor and look tomorrow. The thing was it should have been right by us .. DAH once we anchored and
looked to our SB side ,,,, yep the Blue Hole.. The bad news is the weather turned and we could not stay to enjoy the sucker.
Early next am we are weaving our way out!
AUG 6th Neil hit the big 60 so I'm up at 6 trying to tie a tarp, I wrote happy birthday on, to the boom and put a few balloons
out. Mike (windfree) comes by in dinghy and gave N nice papaya and pastry for his b-day breakfast! You meet the greatest
people cruising!
8-07 PUNTA SAL/PUERTO ESCONDIDO/DIAMONTE Honduras: Since we are hanging out through hurricane season we
thought we should check out some hurricane holes. Windfree (Mike and Gloria) knew the place so we went with them, Nice 7 hr
sail N had lines out like always. I hear man I got something hum not a dolphin or a tuna it's fighting funny. A STICK,not great
sashimi. Nice bay in Puerto Escondido, good beach I found lots of shells and donkey eye nuts I'm a happy camper! We took
our dinks over to Diamonte (around the corner smaller opening and more protected) with our depth sounder to make sure
Attitude could get in if needed. All seems good we can relax a bit now we know we have a place to hide. Took a trip to smaller
bay trails in the Parque National Jeannetter Kawas hiking around the trails we saw howler monkeys ( heard them at our
anchorage too) lots of orange trees and banana plants PLus Neil found a beautiful PENDULUM ORB NEST. Cool the next day
Windfree and Attitude were off to hunt and gather. We put two boat hooks together with duct tape(what else) and we had bags
to put our haul in. Mike and Neil took turns swinging the thing and nearly knocked all of us out as the oranges began to fly! Ok
enough oranges on to the banana plants. Neil and his ever ready machete started hacking again just missing us the huge plant
came crashing down. Gloria even did some hacking! Now we have oranges that ended up terrible! Bananas that were really
some kind of plantain (which we like) but these were all seed and no fruit AND sucked! Plus the bugs were eating us alive.,
good thing we were not starving the gathering really was the best part, fun in the jungle !!
7-07 Friends Mike &Lynne came aboard Attitude in Roatan Honduras. Headed for Utila, which we thought would be a nice
sail. Well force 7 winds (30 knots) were not what M&L expected..Attitude was rock'in & roll'in that's for sure. The good news
was we had spinner dolphins with us for an hr or so, Always nice to have for the "tourists". Anchored near Sandy Cay Utila
great snorkeling and the boys had their spears ready! I'm the scouter and found a nice BIG HOG FISH, trouble was I couldn't
find Neil SO Mike got the kill of the day he was closest. Wanted to go for a dive so rounded Cay for lg dive buoys Ok got it tied
up but wait are we moving and pulling the buoy with us??? HUM let go.. we went for another one just in case! The dive ended
up not even being worth the trouble.
CAYO COCHINOS Honduras: A nice short sail turned out to be 8 hrs in 30 knots on the nose.Not comfy for our guests. Trying
to pass the time we played the old I'm going on a vacation ya know with the a.b.c Well we were really bored so we played the
Adult version, only adult(aka gross) words . You wouldn't believe how hard it was to think of words it was extremely funny
though. Hey at least we caught a lg tuna so it wasn't all bad! The sashimi was fantastic! THE DIVE: between the 4 of us we
have 100 yrs of diving experience , plus Lynne is a dive instructor! In for a dive ,time to turn we look everyone is shrugging
Lynne takes off we follow finally we are all shrugging again L goes up to look ,M goes up now it's getting murky but N& I hear a
boat we see M&L hanging on it. Cool maybe they can spot the buoy our dinghy is tied to. All of a sudden the boat takes off with
M&L. CRAP we can't swim that fast and now we can't even see them! We take off in the direction we"think" is right. N has to go
up and we swim like maniacs .Moral ,YA JUST NEVER KNOW HA! Back to Roatan M&L flew out and we hung at West End,
which is feeling like home we have been there so much. Snorkeled from Attitude ea day to the reef where the turtles hang
out and lots of sea life.. We also cashed in at West End ,by the time we left we had collected from the water a baseball cap,
fish hook, nice dive clip, a snorkel and a few dive wts. Hunting for fish ya never know what you'll find. Sailed back to Cayo
Cochinos to explore the outer islands. Shell heaven for me even N got into it this time
6-07 Great week in Cincinnati, daughter Cari's wedding shower with the whole family in to party. Delivered Mr. (grandson)
back to his mom , ate and drank way to much I need to get back to Attitude!
Sept 15.WEDDING IN CINCINNATI: Beautiful day for a wedding all went perfect.. bride and groom could not stop smiling!
Sunday was a Bengals game so B&G had tons of people over for the game. Honeymoon waited until Monday they had their
priorities! Did a spin to NY to visit Neil's mom and sis, even squeezed in a b-day dinner for our friend Lynne
SEPT. LA CEIBA Honduras: Time to lv Attitude and get to Cincinnati for daughter Cari's wedding. Rita owner of Lagoon
Marina meets us at the dock and invites us to the "big soccer game" La Ceiba vs Tegucigalpa. Tons of fun and so different
from the states. We are talking fireworks IN the stands like bottle rockets! Tis the season HURRICANE FELIX heading right for
La Ceiba! So there are 11 boats in the marina and only 4 had people on it. Rita & Tony called a meeting and we all worked
from 6 am to dark moving boats, hooking up to mooring balls, taking canvas, wind gens and solar panels down, putting all
dinghy in a storage unit T&R had. Everyone is watching the weather ,we plan to all stay together off the boats in R&T's office..
but things seem to be calming a bit.. we all decide to stay on our boats …Dodged a bullet again. We have been extremely lucky
with our hurricane avoidance ! Made it to Cincinnati ,a few days late but in plenty of time for the wedding!
AUG 19 Hurricane dean is on his way! We buz back to Honduras to Diamonte anchored down ,listening to Chris Parker
(weather guy) downloading weather fax.. whew.. lucked out again. We woke to a beautiful rainbow and the sound of howler
monkeys.. my kind of hurricane. Off to UTILA met some gringos (Sharon and Bruce)who own the driftwood bar fun evening.
Utila is a great place to dive so we got a few in, a nice wreck and some good wall diving,
AUG BELIZE, GLOVERS & LIGHTHOUSE REEFS: again but hey we have time to kill so we went to play with Windfree . On the
way we hooked a 49 inch dolphin YUM, and had dolphin(other kind) lead us into Glovers (cool) nice way to start! Snorkeled
around we found a nice BIG GREEN MORAY EEL , slipper lobster and tons of fish . N Went back to boat I hung out and on the
way back I saw a batfish ,which I have never seen and they are kind of rare.. Attitude is still about 300 yrds away so I'm yell'in
& yell'in nothing! Really about 15 minutes and the entire little Cay heard but not N. FINALLY he hears and says no way I'm not
swimming all the way back.. "you'll be sorry I told him" I hear him grumble and jump in. He was glad he got to see one. But
wouldn't ya know he spots another one, Always has to outdo me DARN! Ok head for the famous Blue hole we lv from
lighthouse reef and it's a bit tricky. They say you can't miss it ,Well ..not true! I'm on the bow for 3 hrs as we weave in and out of
coral patches Windfree is with us doing their own weaving. It's getting late we are all a bit cranky(can you believe it) we all
decide we just need to anchor and look tomorrow. The thing was it should have been right by us .. DAH once we anchored and
looked to our SB side ,,,, yep the Blue Hole.. The bad news is the weather turned and we could not stay to enjoy the sucker.
Early next am we are weaving our way out!
AUG 6th Neil hit the big 60 so I'm up at 6 trying to tie a tarp, I wrote happy birthday on, to the boom and put a few balloons
out. Mike (windfree) comes by in dinghy and gave N nice papaya and pastry for his b-day breakfast! You meet the greatest
people cruising!
8-07 PUNTA SAL/PUERTO ESCONDIDO/DIAMONTE Honduras: Since we are hanging out through hurricane season we
thought we should check out some hurricane holes. Windfree (Mike and Gloria) knew the place so we went with them, Nice 7 hr
sail N had lines out like always. I hear man I got something hum not a dolphin or a tuna it's fighting funny. A STICK,not great
sashimi. Nice bay in Puerto Escondido, good beach I found lots of shells and donkey eye nuts I'm a happy camper! We took
our dinks over to Diamonte (around the corner smaller opening and more protected) with our depth sounder to make sure
Attitude could get in if needed. All seems good we can relax a bit now we know we have a place to hide. Took a trip to smaller
bay trails in the Parque National Jeannetter Kawas hiking around the trails we saw howler monkeys ( heard them at our
anchorage too) lots of orange trees and banana plants PLus Neil found a beautiful PENDULUM ORB NEST. Cool the next day
Windfree and Attitude were off to hunt and gather. We put two boat hooks together with duct tape(what else) and we had bags
to put our haul in. Mike and Neil took turns swinging the thing and nearly knocked all of us out as the oranges began to fly! Ok
enough oranges on to the banana plants. Neil and his ever ready machete started hacking again just missing us the huge plant
came crashing down. Gloria even did some hacking! Now we have oranges that ended up terrible! Bananas that were really
some kind of plantain (which we like) but these were all seed and no fruit AND sucked! Plus the bugs were eating us alive.,
good thing we were not starving the gathering really was the best part, fun in the jungle !!
7-07 Friends Mike &Lynne came aboard Attitude in Roatan Honduras. Headed for Utila, which we thought would be a nice
sail. Well force 7 winds (30 knots) were not what M&L expected..Attitude was rock'in & roll'in that's for sure. The good news
was we had spinner dolphins with us for an hr or so, Always nice to have for the "tourists". Anchored near Sandy Cay Utila
great snorkeling and the boys had their spears ready! I'm the scouter and found a nice BIG HOG FISH, trouble was I couldn't
find Neil SO Mike got the kill of the day he was closest. Wanted to go for a dive so rounded Cay for lg dive buoys Ok got it tied
up but wait are we moving and pulling the buoy with us??? HUM let go.. we went for another one just in case! The dive ended
up not even being worth the trouble.
CAYO COCHINOS Honduras: A nice short sail turned out to be 8 hrs in 30 knots on the nose.Not comfy for our guests. Trying
to pass the time we played the old I'm going on a vacation ya know with the a.b.c Well we were really bored so we played the
Adult version, only adult(aka gross) words . You wouldn't believe how hard it was to think of words it was extremely funny
though. Hey at least we caught a lg tuna so it wasn't all bad! The sashimi was fantastic! THE DIVE: between the 4 of us we
have 100 yrs of diving experience , plus Lynne is a dive instructor! In for a dive ,time to turn we look everyone is shrugging
Lynne takes off we follow finally we are all shrugging again L goes up to look ,M goes up now it's getting murky but N& I hear a
boat we see M&L hanging on it. Cool maybe they can spot the buoy our dinghy is tied to. All of a sudden the boat takes off with
M&L. CRAP we can't swim that fast and now we can't even see them! We take off in the direction we"think" is right. N has to go
up and we swim like maniacs .Moral ,YA JUST NEVER KNOW HA! Back to Roatan M&L flew out and we hung at West End,
which is feeling like home we have been there so much. Snorkeled from Attitude ea day to the reef where the turtles hang
out and lots of sea life.. We also cashed in at West End ,by the time we left we had collected from the water a baseball cap,
fish hook, nice dive clip, a snorkel and a few dive wts. Hunting for fish ya never know what you'll find. Sailed back to Cayo
Cochinos to explore the outer islands. Shell heaven for me even N got into it this time
6-07 Great week in Cincinnati, daughter Cari's wedding shower with the whole family in to party. Delivered Mr. (grandson)
back to his mom , ate and drank way to much I need to get back to Attitude!
June 23, 2007
Thought all of you who think we just drink rum and sit in the sun would appreciate this!
ok we already had to change our plans due to weather and head N again..200 plus miles which is a pain and cost us big
bucks to change mr's flights out. Anyway June 23rd my b-day... we up anchor at 7 by 8 auto pilot is out again!! after spending
big $$$ and flying a guy down from Florida to fix it. SO needless to say N is not in a good mood and Im already sulking cuz
no one remembered my b-day. 9 am Im "trying" to hand steer (not well in the big waves and wind) mr and N are up on
deck,trying to attach a pole to the jib(sail out front which requires N standing on railing) which i think is to rough out to with mr
out there. By now N can fall in for all i care :) Here is the pic. N is screaming mr is looking at both of us and trying to help
gpa.. What do we hear the f'in FISH reel.. and its a big one!!! N and mr run to the stern waves are up. N is in Fish mode which
is get this do this....poor mr was fantastic he helped hold fishing pole got rum to knock fish out handed pliers and whatever
gpa needed.(the boys did provide us with a 50in. King mackerel) While I on the other hand am getting screamed at and I
don't know about you guys but I cant do squat than. SO we jibe not once 3x's ,non boaters that is REALLY BAD. The vang line
breaks & I managed to break the preventer!! Fun b-day so far... finally all is calm and I mention my sucky b-day... still looking
for a happy b-day.. I did have a card shell sent with mr so I opened it all alone(feel bad for me yet ha).. the rest of the day
goes well which is good cuz its a 28hr sail.. It just gets dark,Mr goes below he is tired and I look up and see a UFO with the
brightest light I ever saw descending on us!! When we here "vessel off my port this is US coast guard!!" Ok its pitch dark out
and we are off the coast of Honduras what is up???? We go back and forth a few x's wait about 45 mim w/ their HUGE
spotlight on us.. and they say they need to board. Fine we are flying 9 knots plus come on...Now a big launch come out w/ 7
guys waves are 10ft and rolling with 38knots of wind 3 guys jumped off onto Attitude! Well ya know I had that camera out(pics
didn't take darn).. In the mean x I'm trying to wake mr so he wont miss the excitement, he is dead on the sofa with all the guys
around him and all lights on. They pick up every floor board to check under. This was kind of fun.. they kept falling down not
used to sailboat rock ha! and one was getting sea sick. The biggest guy was already topside w/ that crap Im sick look. Next
they had to take swipes like at the airport . ok fine gloves don't fit the guy ha they both try. gloves on they swipe different
places in the boat and then the launch has to come back and get the swipes, guys stay on while launch takes swipes back..
ooopppppsss guys in main ship dumped all bags thinking ea swipe was marked not ea bag.. back they come with more
swipes.. poor guys go below again,launch comes for pickup, hummm they want a few more , cool but guys sent gloves with
swipes, seriously launch comes back guys get gloves do it all over!.. sent them off. boss guy says may be pot!! ha.. do again
in few places... 1st guys says hey no issue if its for personal use.. I was not worried cuz I REALLY never had any on the boat,
maybe off the boat but not on!! Boss calls them and tells them to measure inside of boat& deck ,looking for secrete
compartments... Ok now its raining and they dont have a tape measure..I give them one and we have to measure the inside
of our fridge.. they check all flares,saftey jackets emergency equip.. all is good. Now boss calls " check what is in the dinghy"
,only garbage, baggy w/old baggies in it.. big guy has to get up and go pull bag out. I'm not making this up but he almost bit it
and fell off the transom ( I so was laughing on the inside). Fine he says all clear lets go. Boss finally calls guys on Attitude
again and says "ok all test is neg for pot" .Big guy finally chums overboard,launch comes to pickup guys, big guy hangs on
side of Attitude and misses launch 1st x while others get in. N says hey dont fall in Big guy says OH dont worry I cant swim
and hate water!!!! Is it me or did this sound like a 3 stooges movie???? BTW this took 3 1/2 hrs, mr slept through the whole
thing and I lost my sleep time it was N's watch. but hey since it was my b-day he gave me 2 hrs of sleep!!!!
Thought all of you who think we just drink rum and sit in the sun would appreciate this!
ok we already had to change our plans due to weather and head N again..200 plus miles which is a pain and cost us big
bucks to change mr's flights out. Anyway June 23rd my b-day... we up anchor at 7 by 8 auto pilot is out again!! after spending
big $$$ and flying a guy down from Florida to fix it. SO needless to say N is not in a good mood and Im already sulking cuz
no one remembered my b-day. 9 am Im "trying" to hand steer (not well in the big waves and wind) mr and N are up on
deck,trying to attach a pole to the jib(sail out front which requires N standing on railing) which i think is to rough out to with mr
out there. By now N can fall in for all i care :) Here is the pic. N is screaming mr is looking at both of us and trying to help
gpa.. What do we hear the f'in FISH reel.. and its a big one!!! N and mr run to the stern waves are up. N is in Fish mode which
is get this do this....poor mr was fantastic he helped hold fishing pole got rum to knock fish out handed pliers and whatever
gpa needed.(the boys did provide us with a 50in. King mackerel) While I on the other hand am getting screamed at and I
don't know about you guys but I cant do squat than. SO we jibe not once 3x's ,non boaters that is REALLY BAD. The vang line
breaks & I managed to break the preventer!! Fun b-day so far... finally all is calm and I mention my sucky b-day... still looking
for a happy b-day.. I did have a card shell sent with mr so I opened it all alone(feel bad for me yet ha).. the rest of the day
goes well which is good cuz its a 28hr sail.. It just gets dark,Mr goes below he is tired and I look up and see a UFO with the
brightest light I ever saw descending on us!! When we here "vessel off my port this is US coast guard!!" Ok its pitch dark out
and we are off the coast of Honduras what is up???? We go back and forth a few x's wait about 45 mim w/ their HUGE
spotlight on us.. and they say they need to board. Fine we are flying 9 knots plus come on...Now a big launch come out w/ 7
guys waves are 10ft and rolling with 38knots of wind 3 guys jumped off onto Attitude! Well ya know I had that camera out(pics
didn't take darn).. In the mean x I'm trying to wake mr so he wont miss the excitement, he is dead on the sofa with all the guys
around him and all lights on. They pick up every floor board to check under. This was kind of fun.. they kept falling down not
used to sailboat rock ha! and one was getting sea sick. The biggest guy was already topside w/ that crap Im sick look. Next
they had to take swipes like at the airport . ok fine gloves don't fit the guy ha they both try. gloves on they swipe different
places in the boat and then the launch has to come back and get the swipes, guys stay on while launch takes swipes back..
ooopppppsss guys in main ship dumped all bags thinking ea swipe was marked not ea bag.. back they come with more
swipes.. poor guys go below again,launch comes for pickup, hummm they want a few more , cool but guys sent gloves with
swipes, seriously launch comes back guys get gloves do it all over!.. sent them off. boss guy says may be pot!! ha.. do again
in few places... 1st guys says hey no issue if its for personal use.. I was not worried cuz I REALLY never had any on the boat,
maybe off the boat but not on!! Boss calls them and tells them to measure inside of boat& deck ,looking for secrete
compartments... Ok now its raining and they dont have a tape measure..I give them one and we have to measure the inside
of our fridge.. they check all flares,saftey jackets emergency equip.. all is good. Now boss calls " check what is in the dinghy"
,only garbage, baggy w/old baggies in it.. big guy has to get up and go pull bag out. I'm not making this up but he almost bit it
and fell off the transom ( I so was laughing on the inside). Fine he says all clear lets go. Boss finally calls guys on Attitude
again and says "ok all test is neg for pot" .Big guy finally chums overboard,launch comes to pickup guys, big guy hangs on
side of Attitude and misses launch 1st x while others get in. N says hey dont fall in Big guy says OH dont worry I cant swim
and hate water!!!! Is it me or did this sound like a 3 stooges movie???? BTW this took 3 1/2 hrs, mr slept through the whole
thing and I lost my sleep time it was N's watch. but hey since it was my b-day he gave me 2 hrs of sleep!!!!
water. Start the generator-CRAP-won't stay on. So we have a boom falling off (can't use mainsail)no gen(which means can't
water. Start the generator-CRAP-won't stay on. So we have a boom falling off (can't use mainsail)no gen(which means can't
make water) our Jib is ripping N has sewn it 2x's, Plus the new laptop we just bought in the states(old one died) would not
work!! Boy its fun on Attitude these days! For 13 days N and I took almost the whole Gen apart! N going Northern Lights gen
co.tech support via email. Not easy with no comp and sat phone not working most of the time. So each Day N heads to shore
to gather more info from N L on what to try next. We even had Mike on Windfree stumped!
Day N heads to shore to gather more info from N L on what to try next. We even had Mike on Windfree stumped!
Good News: Many days &eves we worked but got boom all fixed again. There was a guy in Placencia Belize who works on
NL gens he worked in U.S. . for yrs and they highly recommend him … Sony re:comp said send the thing to San Diego ,
usually it would be ridiculous to think about shipping anything. Just so happens N was heading for San Diego, to go off on a
GREAT WHITE SHARK trip,so all is well we just have to head back up to Belize. .We have been heading to Panama since July
right! Which is SE and we have now gone 315 miles NW .Something is WRONG! AH..the cruising life!
worked hard all weekend to get our gen working, He ended up getting some parts and we were good to go. Turned out our it
worked hard all weekend to get our gen working, He ended up getting some parts and we were good to go. Turned out our
people you meet! 8 days later we are out of there.
exhaust elbow was clogged, fouling the valves. Poor guy lived & worked 1 hr plus away all on really crappy dirt rds but he got
it going. We also were invited to his house on a shrimp farm. Man…. That was really good. Just another example of the cool
people you meet! 8 days later we are out of there.
TOM OWEN CAY. Beautiful sm island (50 yrds wide and 200 long)in middle of a reef ,good protection and clear water. Great
snorkeling , a few nurse sharks , scorpion fish, sm lobsters lots of conch and N speared a grouper so we had a good dinner!
We never checked out of Honduras or into Belize ( it was to be a quick trip) so when the coast guard came circling we were a
bit nervous. This is when a bikini and a bit of distance worked out well! I told N to stay below , while I was on deck polishing
I waved and smiled, they just waved and left… maybe they COULD see it was just an old lady and not worth the stop ha!! Met
Donna and Gayle , older couple who have been working off and on building a resort on T.O for 5 yrs they have some big plans
rebuilding a sm island ,that went under with one of the hurricanes, with an underwater research center Amazing. Tempest
showed up and we did a circumnavigation of the island with snorkel . N found a lg trident trumpet ( a very cool shell) made
my day! Time to move on and weather was looking good. Headed back to Puerto Escondido Honduras just in time for
Halloween! Into the Mystic , Connie Marie & Tempest joined us for a Halloween party on Attitude. We had a pirate of course ,
2 really, Wally the weather man , miss sunshine and I was a tree! N had gone ashore with Bob on Tempest to hike and collected
some leaves and bark. I just stapled it all over me and added a few lizards (rubber ones , an earring and pin) We had cookies
with orange & black m&m's and a scary Halloween Cd played .
NOV 1 Utila Diamond Cay; 7 hr motor sail to Diamond Cay in the rain most of the way. We did see a lot of dolphins which ALWAYS makes me smile. It was nice to see
Windfree anchored when we got in. N flagged down a launcha in the rain the next day so we could go over to East Bay. Herman, a great guy, ran us over to the bay(6 miles not
fun in a dinghy ) in the rain so we were all soaked! N needed to make arrangements for his great white shark adventure !!
The sun finally did come out and the anchorage turned out to be a fantastic snorkeling spot. Just off Attitude we had a spotted moray, banded coral shrimp, HUGE porrcupine fish,
brittle starfish, conch and helmets. Took the dink into the sm cay called Suc-Suc , no I didn't make that up! Picked up Pauline and Helmut on Tiami & Stopped at Hermans little
bar plus took a walk to end of cay , a nice deck had been built where you had a wonderful VIEW OF ANCHORAGE and sm islands.
hit the grocery store there, hassled with a st. merchant for 30 oranges we wanted local ,NOT gringo prices ! Hit the GOOD bakery loaded up a backpack w/ bread, filled a sm
done on the net.
done on the net.
Nov. 22 Turkey Day ROATAN-VIVORILLOS We head out eating our turkey sandwiches(we found sliced turkey in the store) and a can of cranberries. Watching a lg wahoo
dance across the water under a rainbow is not bad for turkey day entertainment! Awesome night watch 12-5am calm 15 knots & almost full moon! This was a fantatic 35 hr
sail!!One sm issue NO RADAR! Always something. Vivorillos, sunny at 8 am when we anchor,so we take off R dome and its full of water not good. N takes things apart
cleans some contacts and we hope the sun will somehow fix our problem ,yea right! In the mean time into the water .gathered a few conch and had a nice swim. Next day took
dinghy out to reef so N could hunt. The water was a bit murky but N still managed to shoot a dog snapper and a hog fish. I found a lobster family of 5 hanging under a rock but
they were a little smarter than we were.. ok they were to sm anyway! While N hunted for HOURS I swam to the sm island and hunted shells got some good ones too, hey we
still have a bit of room in the bilge. At one pt we had 6 shrimp boats in the anchorage might as well see if they are up for a trade! We took a cheap $2.50 bottle of rum and a 2
gallon bucket up to the boats no problem they were happy and we had a FULL bucket 12 lbs of shrimp.. needless to say we ate 2lbs asap!!
Connecting to Cruisers is part of the experience , while in Vivorillos we met up with 2 boats going N SO,,we picked their brains , traded phones and phone cards..thanks again to
Aquabi & Helen Louise.
Nov 29:VIVORILLOS-QUITA SUENOS COLUMBIA: Lots rain this trip but hey it was N that got the rain at night w/15 or more lights surrounding him(shrimp boats?) and NO
radar… he said " I sure hope everyone has lights on!" Anchored at 8 am alongside a 30 mile reef out in the middle of nowhere AWESOME! At QUITA SEUNOS all you see is
waves breaking and many many wrecks sticking out . We spent 2 nights there, loved it but wind was shifting. N proved again he is the great white/tan hunter.When we left QS
we had 6 conch,lg hogfish,redsnapper,grey snapper and a schoolmaster!! YUMMMM we are eating well now. I guess I will have to keep him around.
DEC 3 Providencia Columbia: Providencia like QS is off the coast of Nicaragua but owned by Columbia. Beautiful little harbor with clean water and nice cliffs. As we were
coming into Anchorage Heart of Texas called ,invited us to happy hr with a few other boats and had arranged out check in into the country. Cool! We had nice eve onboard H.
O.T. met people on Margoline and Roranga .Checking in was nice and simple, went to shore in the am met Mr,Bush who took care of everything. We will hang here a day or
so then head towards Bocas Del Toro Panama in time to meet up with friends from London,Nicky& Craig , who will spend Christmas with us!
Windfree anchored when we got in. N flagged down a launcha in the rain the next day so we could go over to East Bay. Herman, a great guy, ran us over to the bay(6 miles not
fun in a dinghy ) in the rain so we were all soaked! N needed to make arrangements for his great white shark adventure !!
The sun finally did come out and the anchorage turned out to be a fantastic snorkeling spot. Just off Attitude we had a spotted moray, banded coral shrimp, HUGE porrcupine fish,
brittle starfish, conch and helmets. Took the dink into the sm cay called Suc-Suc , no I didn't make that up! Picked up Pauline and Helmut on Tiami & Stopped at Hermans little
bar plus took a walk to end of cay , a nice deck had been built where you had a wonderful VIEW OF ANCHORAGE and sm islands.
hit the grocery store there, hassled with a st. merchant for 30 oranges we wanted local ,NOT gringo prices ! Hit the GOOD bakery loaded up a backpack w/ bread, filled a sm
done on the net.
done on the net.
Nov. 22 Turkey Day ROATAN-VIVORILLOS We head out eating our turkey sandwiches(we found sliced turkey in the store) and a can of cranberries. Watching a lg wahoo
dance across the water under a rainbow is not bad for turkey day entertainment! Awesome night watch 12-5am calm 15 knots & almost full moon! This was a fantatic 35 hr
sail!!One sm issue NO RADAR! Always something. Vivorillos, sunny at 8 am when we anchor,so we take off R dome and its full of water not good. N takes things apart
cleans some contacts and we hope the sun will somehow fix our problem ,yea right! In the mean time into the water .gathered a few conch and had a nice swim. Next day took
dinghy out to reef so N could hunt. The water was a bit murky but N still managed to shoot a dog snapper and a hog fish. I found a lobster family of 5 hanging under a rock but
they were a little smarter than we were.. ok they were to sm anyway! While N hunted for HOURS I swam to the sm island and hunted shells got some good ones too, hey we
still have a bit of room in the bilge. At one pt we had 6 shrimp boats in the anchorage might as well see if they are up for a trade! We took a cheap $2.50 bottle of rum and a 2
gallon bucket up to the boats no problem they were happy and we had a FULL bucket 12 lbs of shrimp.. needless to say we ate 2lbs asap!!
Connecting to Cruisers is part of the experience , while in Vivorillos we met up with 2 boats going N SO,,we picked their brains , traded phones and phone cards..thanks again to
Aquabi & Helen Louise.
Nov 29:VIVORILLOS-QUITA SUENOS COLUMBIA: Lots rain this trip but hey it was N that got the rain at night w/15 or more lights surrounding him(shrimp boats?) and NO
radar… he said " I sure hope everyone has lights on!" Anchored at 8 am alongside a 30 mile reef out in the middle of nowhere AWESOME! At QUITA SEUNOS all you see is
waves breaking and many many wrecks sticking out . We spent 2 nights there, loved it but wind was shifting. N proved again he is the great white/tan hunter.When we left QS
we had 6 conch,lg hogfish,redsnapper,grey snapper and a schoolmaster!! YUMMMM we are eating well now. I guess I will have to keep him around.
DEC 3 Providencia Columbia: Providencia like QS is off the coast of Nicaragua but owned by Columbia. Beautiful little harbor with clean water and nice cliffs. As we were
coming into Anchorage Heart of Texas called ,invited us to happy hr with a few other boats and had arranged out check in into the country. Cool! We had nice eve onboard H.
O.T. met people on Margoline and Roranga .Checking in was nice and simple, went to shore in the am met Mr,Bush who took care of everything. We will hang here a day or
so then head towards Bocas Del Toro Panama in time to meet up with friends from London,Nicky& Craig , who will spend Christmas with us!
| June 2007 |