Numb Butt Passage

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’.