We finally saw a weather window for Belize, just like Santa Clause we checked once then checked it twice then again we confirmed with our meteorologist friend on Tiger Lily 2 and off we went…
Oh what a feeling or lack of a feeling.
For those who have done a passage you can relate to the numb butt passage. The forecast was for 15-20 the first day, dying to 10-15. As luck would have it we started with 10-15 and the winds did die off. We ended up motor sailing for all but 6 hours of our 3 day passage to Belize. Not something to complain about after getting beaten going to Grand Cayman! Boring is good. Two books read!
During our passage we celebrated our One year anniversary of retirement with a beer in a champagne glass with a hint of Lime.
As we saw the sun rise on our third day, Belize was in sight. We made our way through the Barrier Reef and head to the Belize Yacht Club…..after running aground 4 times we finally got on the radio and asked for assistance on what sand patch to take to the docks. An Aussi came on the radio and directed us in by saying “a little to port mate…..more to port…it will get shallow soon but no worries mate” He was not kidding it was swallow, we went aground again, so now we know exactly how much water we need to float the boat. We finally made it to the dock and did all the usual check in with customs and immigration stuff. First impression of San Pedro was we love it. They drive around in golf carts because there are very few roads and it is an easy way to get around. We walked the town in 1 hour to get the lay of the land.
We arrived in Belize on a Tues and had friends fly in (Deb and Jim) on Thursday. After meeting them at the airport in a golf cart we went off to find a dive operator to dive the Great Blue Hole the next day. So the next morning before even the sun was up the 4 of us were off to the Blue Hole a 2 hour boat ride. The blue hole 1000 feet across and 412 deep. This is the hole is famous for the stalactites around the 130 – 160 feet depth. We did see some sharks but they were not hungry that day so we were okay. After diving the Blue Hole we went off to two other dive sites that we loved, we swam in and out of among coral tunnel and met a few fishes along the way including some spotted and southern rays. We lunched on island that had red footed boobies (birds) and after an all day diving adventure we got back to the boat and crashed.
The next day was the tour of the island on our hot rod golf cart with Cheryl trying to hit every pot hole she could find. Day 3 of Deb and Jim’s visit was a lazy day at the pool and watching the football game. Their team lost but the boat beside us (Steve and Monica on Fedilis 2) their team won so good banter was had by all.
Day 4 was a tour to the main land via local ferry arranged by this woman we meet on the road who offered a great deal. So we left for the main land at 6:15 a.m. so much for sleeping in. We were met by Denis (local taxi driver) started off by saying he had beer and rum punch for us ….a interesting way of starting a day…we opted for coffee and juice. The first stop was the Zip lines through the trees, were we had some great laughs. Karen over came her fear of heights for at least a minute or two. We only swallowed a few bugs as we smiled all the way. After getting our legs back on the ground off we went to float our butts down a river through some caves. First step is to numb your feet then comes your butt as you float down the river in an inner tube. At one point our guide would yell out “Butts up” as we would have to raise our butts or we would run aground on the rocks. After our lunch we headed off to Old Belize City were Jim and Cheryl, who did not get enough of the Zip line, tried the Zip line the Old Belize City a 450 drop. We made it back to San Pedro and crashed once again after another fun filled day.
On Deb and Jim’s last day we went off for a little snorkeling tour at the reef just by the dock and saw a ray and some great fishes. Week one of Belize summarized in a word ‘Super’.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Passage of the Travelling Wok
After checking the weather a million times and not seeing a long enough weather window to go to Belize, it is 4.5 days sail, we opted to go to Grand Cayman a 1.5 day sail and break the Belize passage up and after the front moves thru we would continue to Belize, a further 3 days.
The weather sites we researched forecasted we will have 3 days weather window before a cold front comes down from Canada. We only need a 1.5 days to get to Cayman so off we went.
Well what can we say….we had 8-12 foot seas, winds at 20-30 knots with gust a lot higher…..with confused seas…..The seas were not the only things confused needless to say it was rough. At one point Cheryl was down below getting a drink of water when a wave hit the side of the point (the confused wave) the wok that is normally safely stowed under the over and Cheryl not safely stowed away went flying. Newton’s law of Gravity what goes up must come down but the light one goes down first heavy second, you guessed it Wok landed first then Cheryl on top of the Wok. The Wok has a new bend in it and Cheryl is brandishing a “wok butt bruise”. There is new ancient Chinese provoke: “Wok stowed properly may someday bit you in the butt”.
Anyways we arrived safely into Cayman with a warm welcome from Port Security, Harbour Control and Customs and a ice pack for Cheryl’s butt. Sorry No Pictures
We kept checking the weather to see when we could continue our passage to Belize but those damn Canadians kept sending down cold fronts. In fact it was so cold down in Cayman we had to dig out our socks and sweats. It got down to a high of 19c dropping to 10C at night, burrrrrr…..We rented a car for couple of days and toured the island, there is a village called ‘Hell’ here but we could not find so we can honestly say we tried to find ‘Hell’ but got lost. We walk the famous 7 mile beach twice in one day Karen calls this walk her pedicure, Cheryl just calls it a long walk. We went out for some great food and one memorable night was at the Old House, the Petra Plantation this dinner was a Christmas present from Karen’s dad. Cayman is known as Cruise Ship destination with 2-3 cruise ships in a day and also for great diving and the famous Stingray City, but it was so cold we decide we would stay above the water instead…wimps.
We met up with some friends we met in Jamaica Wilfried and Annette on Sentra had dinner on Interlude and on our last day in Cayman had drinks with them in one of the many bars downtown along with all the thousand of other tourist. To describe Grand Cayman is like going to Fort Lauderdale. Unless you go under the water, then it is amazing!
The weather sites we researched forecasted we will have 3 days weather window before a cold front comes down from Canada. We only need a 1.5 days to get to Cayman so off we went.
Well what can we say….we had 8-12 foot seas, winds at 20-30 knots with gust a lot higher…..with confused seas…..The seas were not the only things confused needless to say it was rough. At one point Cheryl was down below getting a drink of water when a wave hit the side of the point (the confused wave) the wok that is normally safely stowed under the over and Cheryl not safely stowed away went flying. Newton’s law of Gravity what goes up must come down but the light one goes down first heavy second, you guessed it Wok landed first then Cheryl on top of the Wok. The Wok has a new bend in it and Cheryl is brandishing a “wok butt bruise”. There is new ancient Chinese provoke: “Wok stowed properly may someday bit you in the butt”.
Anyways we arrived safely into Cayman with a warm welcome from Port Security, Harbour Control and Customs and a ice pack for Cheryl’s butt. Sorry No Pictures
We kept checking the weather to see when we could continue our passage to Belize but those damn Canadians kept sending down cold fronts. In fact it was so cold down in Cayman we had to dig out our socks and sweats. It got down to a high of 19c dropping to 10C at night, burrrrrr…..We rented a car for couple of days and toured the island, there is a village called ‘Hell’ here but we could not find so we can honestly say we tried to find ‘Hell’ but got lost. We walk the famous 7 mile beach twice in one day Karen calls this walk her pedicure, Cheryl just calls it a long walk. We went out for some great food and one memorable night was at the Old House, the Petra Plantation this dinner was a Christmas present from Karen’s dad. Cayman is known as Cruise Ship destination with 2-3 cruise ships in a day and also for great diving and the famous Stingray City, but it was so cold we decide we would stay above the water instead…wimps.
We met up with some friends we met in Jamaica Wilfried and Annette on Sentra had dinner on Interlude and on our last day in Cayman had drinks with them in one of the many bars downtown along with all the thousand of other tourist. To describe Grand Cayman is like going to Fort Lauderdale. Unless you go under the water, then it is amazing!
Final Week in Jamaica
Christmas in the tropics, was great we spent Christmas Eve with the crew from the 138 foot Islandia and on Christmas day we enjoyed a Cornish hen dinner on Interlude. It was weird to hear Christmas carols and seeing Christmas decoration on palm trees but we will get use to it. Cheryl got her Christmas wish to go up the mast of Islandia, 125 feet up “What a View”.
After checking the weather we made our way down to Montego Bay with Interlude where we stayed for a couple of days repaired another diesel tank leak (on our brand new tank) and toured around the town a bit. Montego Bay is not a touristy as Ocho Rios. Cheryl’s cousin and his Wife (Bill and Laurie) where at a Sandals resort and we got to meet up with them for a ½ day before they flew home to the cold. The four of us snuck into a Sandals resort in Montego Bay (okay Bill and Laurie used there pass we snuck) for an afternoon of all you can drink and eat. After that we took them to the boat for a quick tour. It was great fun.
It was New Years Eve and rather then going out we spent a quite night on Interlude. Since we are true cruisers or we are getting old now (we like that former) we stayed up to celebrate New Years till of 9 p.m. we figure it is News Year day some where in the world. We woke up at midnight to the sound of fireworks going off, then back to sleep! After doing some final shopping off we went with Interlude to Negril the western most part of Jamaica.
After checking the weather we made our way down to Montego Bay with Interlude where we stayed for a couple of days repaired another diesel tank leak (on our brand new tank) and toured around the town a bit. Montego Bay is not a touristy as Ocho Rios. Cheryl’s cousin and his Wife (Bill and Laurie) where at a Sandals resort and we got to meet up with them for a ½ day before they flew home to the cold. The four of us snuck into a Sandals resort in Montego Bay (okay Bill and Laurie used there pass we snuck) for an afternoon of all you can drink and eat. After that we took them to the boat for a quick tour. It was great fun.
It was New Years Eve and rather then going out we spent a quite night on Interlude. Since we are true cruisers or we are getting old now (we like that former) we stayed up to celebrate New Years till of 9 p.m. we figure it is News Year day some where in the world. We woke up at midnight to the sound of fireworks going off, then back to sleep! After doing some final shopping off we went with Interlude to Negril the western most part of Jamaica.
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