Adventures on Max

WELCOME!

2009-02-10T18:42:00.010-05:00

Thank you for visiting us at adventuresonmax.com. Below and to the right are the weekly chronicles of our eight month sailing adventure from Key West to Columbia and back. They are in order (mostly) from the oldest to the most recent for a clearer read from begining to finish. Immediately to the right is a link to many of our photos taken during this adventure.

We would like to thank our very good friends Landon and Jo Elle for their thoughtful efforts in initially setting up this website. We hope you all enjoy our stories!

Homecoming

2007-11-27T19:12:00.000-05:00

The wind was down right howling for days while we were anchored off Isla Mujeres. The guide books will tell you that there are only a few months out of the year when the weather is somewhat favorable to make the crossing from Mexico to Key West andvise versa. These are March, April, May and November. In November the windows can be few and far between due to strong winds that begin to blow from the north and continue all winter. We know that if we don't get favorable winds in the next week or so, it may be our last chance to make a comfortably safe crossing before spring! After diligently checking in at the internet cafe for weather updates we were fortunate enough to find two days where satellites show that the winds and waves should be down to a minimum. This is almost perfect as the crossing generally takes 2 1/2 to 3 days. The weather is forecast to lie down early Thanksgiving morning. We pull anchor late Wednesday afternoon deciding that it is not so bad to rough it at the begining and the end of the crossing if it is going to be nice in the middle. Wednesday night is quite choppy, but the sun rose on Thanksgiving morning over a flat, tranquil sea. I went to bed at dawn after my watch and had not been down for a few hours when I heard the engine throttle way down. I ran up to the cockpit just in time to see a large mahi mahi jump bodily out of the sea, Jeremy on the fishing platform reeling her in. Fifteen minutes later Jeremy was holding the 25 pound fish up and saying "Happy Thanksgiving Baby!". Dinner was delicious, but I must admit that that night we dreamt of turkey.

The following day began with a large pod of tiny spinner dolphins playing at the bow. I was sleeping after a long night watch, but Jeremy had the pleasure of their company and was especially liked by one dolphin in particular. As he stood on the bow watching them play one of the smaller dolphins in the pod would repeatedly jump into the air right next to him (about ten feet out of the water), peaking at eye level before playfully belly flopping back into the water with a big splash!
The weather remained favorable all day and around 4am on Saturday morning (November 24th) we began to see the familiar lights of Key West glittering on the watery horizon. To make our arrival even more perfect, we even had a full moon to help guide us the two hours up the channel and to our home,the mooring field. We easily found the mooring ball that Larry had put lines onfor us as it had a plastic jug with a bright green glow stick inside tied to the end of the line- a nice surprise after a long few days (he thinks of everything!). After we tied up to the ball we warmed up with an anchedram of a nice double pour of scotch, toasting to a safe return from our greatest adventure...so far!

As we fell asleep we could hear a dolphin breaching as she made wide circles in the mooring field. Another nice welcome home.

The first faces we see are Scott's and his two children Courtney and Jacob as they dinghy up right after we made the arrival phone call. It is sooo good to see them! We should stay aboard and do the usual tedious post crossing clean up, but this is easily forgotten as we make plans to spend the day with Scott and the kids. On our way into town we stopped at Larry's boat Valhalla for a huge welcome home hug. At his house Scott sets us up with washer and dryer and (wait, sit down because you are not going to believe this!) a long, HOT shower!!! Later Larry joins us for happy hour and Scott cooks up the dinner of our choice, hamburgers! It was an early night as we were still exhausted from the trip.

For us this adventure didn't officially come to a close until Sunday when, thanks to our very good friends Landon, Jo Elle, Brandon, Rick, and Jack, we had a huge traditional Thanksgiving dinner even though we had arrived late. This was a better homecoming than we could have hoped for!

And so,
we sailed in and out of weeks and almost over a year
to come home and find Thanksgiving dinner waiting for us...

and it was still hot.

Many Thanks

2007-11-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I would like to thank everyone for keeping up with us along the way. Our experiences were made even better by knowing that so many of you were sharing them with us.

Also a special thanks to:

*Landon and Jo Elle in Key West for setting us up with this web site as a very special going away gift. Thank you for giving us a way to stay in touch with our friends and family even though we were so far away.

*Our friends and family in Albuquerque for the Satellite phone. It really, really came in handy.

*Our very good friend Scott in Key West both for joining us on our first leg of the journey and for taking care of all of our things back home for us. You really are one in a million!

*Larry our sailing guru in Key West. The wealth of information you provided us with as we prepared for this trip was priceless. Thanks also for keeping us in the know with weather.

*Our moms Laurie and Gail and my dad Pete for their support and inspiration.

*Our families. Your love and enthusiasm was with us all of the way!

I will still be updating the site every now and then for anyone who would like to check in on us. It may not be be quite as exciting as the last eight months in Central America, but Key West can be pretty interesting too!

Love, Jeremy and Crystal on "MAX"

Sloths In Isla Linton

2007-11-17T13:43:00.000-05:00

October 2007

Hi everyone! As usual, I had a hard time finding internet at our last few stops, so I apologize that it has been a while since we have caught you up. Anyway, here is an update of our travels and adventures over the last couple of months!

We left the Rio Chagres and after a quick stop in Colon to get our zarpes (exit paperwork) we sailed about 5 hours to Isla Linton. Here we met up with friends Paul and Maureen on Calypso whom we had met a couple of months previous in Cocos Banderos,San Blas. They are spending some time on land here in Isla Linton taking care of two dogs, a cat and three sloths for a while so the owners Binnie and Rodger can do some traveling. We walk up to visit their home that sits on the top of a hill overlooking the bay and surrounding mountains. Maureen walks out onto the patio to greet us with a smile. She has a small furry animal hanging from her neck. "This is Bandito", she says, lifting him up and wrapping his long arms around my own neck. "He is a six month old three toed sloth." He looks up at me with a sleepy little smile and half closed eyes, nuzzles my neck and fallsback to sleep. He has a patch of darker fur across his eyes that looks like a bandit's mask, hence his name. He is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

The day after we arrived, Jeremy got quite sick. Luckily we had stocked up on antibiotics in Guatemala and within a few days he was all better- just in time for his birthday on October 20th! We celebrated together on the boat, eating and drinking and swimming the day away. We spent the next several days hanging out with Paul, Maureen, Binnie and Bandito- playing ping pong, feeding the sloths bright red hibiscus flowers and mango, and enjoying Paul's delicious BB-Q chicken! At one point Jeremy and I even took the dinghy back to the island with the killer spider monkeys, hoping to get a better video of them walking around and stuff this time- while keeping my distance. I was expecting them to be timid and stand-offish at first just like before, but it wasn't so. They remembered us and actually came right onto the tiny pier to greet us when we arrived- sending me airborne, leaping right back into the dinghy without my shoes! After looking into their little monkey eyes I was now convinced that they remembered our little brawl last time and were determined to sink their teeth into more than just my hair this time! Jeremy insisted that their eyes were in reality cute and sincere, but I wasn't fooled this time. We soon left once he realized that I was not setting foot back on to that island with them so close.

During our last few days in Linton we were joined in the anchorage by "Blow Me Away" and "Kaija's Song". It was great to see them one last time and we all spent an evening on "Blow Me Away" drinking wine and playing sailing trivia the night before we left...and Max won! We also had a little visitor on the boat. I am not sure who had the ruder awakening, me when I was awakened by a bat flying into my head at 1am or Jeremy who was awakened by my frightened shriek. Either way we were both wide awake and staring down the dark companion way where the animal had just retreated to, wondering who would have the nerve to go first. It was Jeremy, but I was close behind. We turned the lights on and found a little leaf-nosed bat clinging onto our fruit hammock, loudly chowing down on a huge plantain. Upon closer inspection we realized that he was being so loud because now his head was stuck in one of the loops of the hammock. Jeremy picked up the hammock and took it into the cockpit. With the little guy scared and gnashing it's sharp little fangs the entire time, Jeremy lifted the loop with a pair of tongs and gently pushed it'shead through with the end of the flashlight. It stayed outside the rest of the night and in the morning half of a plantain four times it's size was completely devoured!

Well, as the time to leave approaches we are forced to make a decision as to wether we are going to be responsible and begin our journey back north from here, or go back to San Blas where we are supposed to pick up a tiny sailboat boat that one of our Kuna friends has carved out of a special rainforest wood and is painting for us and where other Kuna friends are expecting us back to spend the very end of hurricane season as planned. After much thought, we reluctantly choose to be responsible, as we do not know how much longer our transmission hold out. So, after a quick weather check via sat phone (thanks again Larry!) we say our goodbyes and head out for the two day crossing back to Providencia, one of the Columbian islands off the coast of Nicaragua. Our plan is to stop here briefly on the way to the Bay Islands. The 30 hour crossing is perfect and as the mountainsof Providencia become prominent on the horizon we check our stores, diesel, and the weather once again. We have plenty of stores and diesel, and Larry informs us that though there are a couple of depressions out there, none appear to contain over twenty knots of wind. Fine. We decide to bypass Providencia and go straight to the Bay Islands, meaning one less time the transmission has to be put drive and possibly the longer it will last. This turns out to be a big mistake...

RETREAT!
The weather is fine for the next 160 miles or so (1 1/2 days), until about 4pm when we begin our turn west around the massive point of land that jutts out right where Nicaragua and Honduras meet. Slowly the wind begins to strengthen from the North. Jeremy layers on the foul weather gear and goes up into the cockpit to battle the elements while I try to get some sleep below so that I am ready to be his releif. We expect that this should pass soon as is usually the way, but four hours later things have only gotten worse with the wind increasing to a steady 30 knots and Max being pounded by waves as big as 15 feet high. We are no longer making headway but only barely holding our ground against the wind and waves. Jeremy takes a champion watch of another four hours, at the end of which the windspeed is a steady 40 knots (almost 50 MPH) and the waves worse as well. I climb into the cockpit and clip in with a harness as waves are now crashing into the cockpit. Only thirty minutes go by before the engine suddenly dies. Upon careful inspection on the roller coaster of a bow Jeremy realizes that the heavy anchor rhode has been shaken loose and blown overboard only to become wrapped up in the propellor. The only way to get it out is to dive- impossible before the seas calm down. We are lucky at this point that the wind has shifted slightly and is now pushing us parallel to the exposed reef several miles away and not into it. Still, we decide to try sailing with a reef in the Jib and mainsail (meaning that afraction of the sail stays rolled up so that it has a smaller surface area). After about 1/2 hour of pounding into the wavesand getting throughly beat up without making headway, we decide that this is only making things worse. But the problem now is that the rollerfurling unit for the jib is stuck and 1/3 of our jib sail is left flapping in the wind making a noise like a gunshot, eventually beating itself to death. There is nothing I can do but watch as pieces of canvas are swept away at 4o knots. Now we have a sea anchor out (like a small underwater parachute used to create drag) but it is small and only slows us down a bit. With nothing else to be done at the moment, Jeremy tries to get some sleep, completely exhausted after a solid 11 hours of action. It is after 3am. As the sun comes up at 6:30am the wind is considering letting up, but still blowing at gale force strength. Around 7am I spot a local looking boat pop up on a 15 foot wave. It just so happens that here off the coast of Nicaragua is one of the very few places in the Western Carribean where there have been more recent incidents with pirates- of course! Now, I am having a hard time believing that there is a fishing boat out here in 16 foot waves and gale force winds- so I pick up the satellite phone and call my mom. Just in case we are boarded I want someone to know exactly where we are and the situation we are in. The boat passes by very close, but continues on it's way. After we drift for another 7 hours the wind is down around 20 knots and the seas are in the 10 ft. range. Jeremy hops in the water with his snorkel gear and a safety line tied around his waist. It was wrapped up good, but 15 minutes later he has succeded and we are finally on our way!
At this point we decide to forget about Guanaja for now and turn back towards Providencia. With the elements now pushing us we are flying at 8 knots (about 3 knots faster that our average!) and by noon the next day we are safely anchored in Providencia- where our transmission promptly dies! We are lucky that it got us here safely, though. We are also extremely lucky when we find a mechanic who actually has it fixed in less than two days (Thank you Barnnaby!!). Although we are ancy to be on our way at this point, we do our best to relax and enjoy Providencia. This really isn't so hard since it is an incredibly scenic island with very friendly locals. After almost a week of waiting for a good weather window (we are not making that mistake again!) we have a comparatively uneventful crossingto the island of Guanaja in Honduras' Bays Islands. Here it is great to see Hansito and other friends from our last visit. If you have to be stuck, this is a great place to do it!
We have been here almost a week now and those Northers still won't give us the break we need to get us back to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. From there it is only another 300 miles to Key West!
I probably won't be able to update again until we are at the end of this journey, safe and sound in Key West. Until then wishus luck & as always, thanks for checking in on us!!

This Crossing Was For The Birds

2007-10-12T12:39:00.000-04:00

Wednesday September 12, 2007

The 30 hour crossing from Cartagena back to San Blas was forecast to have ten foot waves and plenty of wind. We prepared for weather as we left the waters of Cartagena. I gave Sergio some preventative Dramamine for motion sickness and stowed while Jeremy strapped on the scuba gear and scraped Max's propellor. It was covered in growth from weeks of exposure to the filthy city water. When we got under way again Max was was going 25% faster than before!

As evening came we waited in anticipation for the weather that was supposed to come, but it never did. Instead we had a much more friendly visitor. A beautiful gray seagull-sized bird began to curiously circle the boat. It was especiallyinterested in Sergio who was standing on the cabin top, and after circling very close a few times, landed right on Sergio's shoulder! Even when he yelled out in alarm and moved around, sure that it was going to peck his eyes out with it's long sharpbeak, it stayed perched. After a few moments it took flight again and landed on our spinnaker sail covor which was fluffed uplike a big soft nest. It stayed there all night and hung out much of the next day after Jeremy fed it one of the sardines that had jumped on the boat in the night.

The seas remained calm for most of the next day and we all spent it lounging around the boat, watching our fishing rod hopefully. Sometime in the late afternoon I was taking a nap below when I heard Sergio shout "Pescado! Pescado!". I hopped up onto the fishing platform as the line was rapidly whizzing out behind us and picked up the rod. The moment I did so the huge fish decided to stop messing around and took off towards the bottom of the sea, snapping the line in an instant and taking with it our last lure which we had just purchased in Cartagena. To add insult to injury we had canned tuna fish for lunch.

Later in the afternoon a strong squall hit and repeatedly blew sea water over Max's bow and washed it off again with heavy rain. It only lasted an hour or so, and then left, taking all of the wind with it and leaving us with smooth seas for the rest of the crossing.

As the sun began to set we were visited by another feathered friend. A lovely little fly catcher bird hovered briefly around the fishing platform where Jeremy was standing before landing right on his shoulder! Jeremy perched it on his finger and handed it to me, the tiny bird snuggling my shirt. Then a few more came and as Jeremy and I stood on the platform and held out our hands they lighted right on our index fingers! Two took flight again and found perches around the boat, but the first one stayed and kept me company, sleeping in my hands as I kept watch. Within a few hours we were entering the waters of San Blas. It was a new moon, and though we had waypoints programmed into the GPS from our previous visit, it was quite nerve wrecking sailing between reefs and around coral heads without any kind of visual in the suffocating darkness. We decided to play it safe and anchor on a nearby flat rather than to get closer to any of the reef- lined islands. Once the anchor was set we had a stout anchedram (In case I haven't mentioned this important piece of information before, an Anchedram is the norwegan sailor's tradition of having a stiff drink upon setting anchor after a passage) of rum with which we toasted to Sergio's first crossing, said goodnight to our little birdie friend, and went to bed.

Back to San Blas and the Beautiful Rio Chagres

2007-10-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

Friday September 14, 2007

It was so nice to be back in the clear San Blas waters yet again. We spent much of our few weeks here swimming and visiting Kuna villages in between fishing and studying spanish. When we had parted with Travis and Joanne in Cartagena they gave us several bags of t-shirts, ball caps, kitchen and fishing supplies etc. that they had collected over the last couple of years in hopes of trading with the Kunas. Since they never got the chance they passed it on to us to try our luck. I've had a great time trading and bargaining with the Kunas. It has been a great opportunity to get to know them better while practicing my spanish. They run a hard bargain, but so far we have traded for plenty of lobster and fish and even a few molas!

Sergio has been a nice addition to our little family. Our spanish is definately improving and he is a good cook as well. He has a recipe for this awesome chilean omelette that we are stealing for sure! He also makes a mean fish stew and has introduced us to some exotic new fruits. Jeremy is also happy to have a new chess opponent. They play several games over coffee every morning- Sergio has even beat him once or twice!

Friday October 12, 2007

Well, it is time to reprovision once again. This means making the 10 hour crossing back to Colon. We stock up, say farewell to Sergio and wish him good luck on his way to the U.S.. Then I get a real treat- we are going back to the Rio Chagres with the sloths, monkeys and crocodiles! When we arrive there are many more boats here than before, about seven. As we pass them on our way up the river we see that one of them is our friends Sonny and Kay on Valentina! We haven't seen them since we were in Bocas Del Toro months ago! They came over once we were anchored and we all dinghied down one of the smaller river branches to a beautiful waterfall with a deep pool at the bottom. The water is incredibly cool and refreshing and we end up swimming and diving from the top of the fall all afternoon! That evening we went to another boat called Queen Mary and watched the sun set while we listened to Brenda play a key board and sing while her husband Gene played base guitar and Sonny was on the harmonica! It was a great time!

Our second day in Chagres we went back to the falls, of course. Then in the evening everyone in the area (eight boats) gathered near the top of the river in our dinghies and tied them all together in a circle. Then we all drank wine and passed around appetizers as we floated for hours down the river watching the animals emerge as the sun went down. The conversation was great as everyone has come here from a different route and has had different experiences and stories to tell. It was a truely unique experience and we werehappy to be in the company of such fun and interesting (not to mention creative!) people! As we passed Max on the river Jeremy took the opportunity to jump on deck with the camera, climb up onto the boom and capture the perfect moment! The photo turned out great, accept for the fact that Jeremy is not in the picture... Well, the days pass by quickly here in Rio Chagres. We have had a fantastic time waking up with the monkeys and birds calling from the trees in the mornings. Of course we head to the falls every afternoon in the heat of the day before "floating" in the evenings. So far I have only seen crocodile eyes glowing red around the boat when I shine the flash light out on the water at night, but two other boats have seen some big ones up close- a 12 and a 15 footer! Needless to say, we do not swim in the river!!

It really has been all fun and games, until yesterday. Jeremy and I took a long walk up to one of the marinas to buy a used battery charger. We parked the dinghy at a little dock at the begining of the jungle trail that we have hiked many times before without any problems as very few people are on this river. Well, the walk ended up being a lot longer than we had anticipated, and when we finally arrived back at the little dock, exhausted, our 6 horse Johnson outboard was gone! It was a big blow, but we were lucky to be surrounded by nice people who gave us a tow back to Max after searching the surrounding jungle a bit to make sure it wasn't stashed somewhere. We were too spent to "float" that evening, but the party came by our boat and offered us some fresh fish and snacks insisting that we shouldn't have to cook after the day we had! The next day Sonny on Valentina even insisted on giving it another go with searching the area again. We went out, hacking at the vines with our machetes. No luck, but we were lucky enough to have a family of howler monkeys in the trees all around us and some on the ground cheering us on with their loud howls! It is also lucky that we were prepared enough to have a back up outboard, so even though it really sucks, it is not the end of the world, right?

Well, from here we may head back to the San Blas for a couple more weeks to be sure that hurricane season is pretty much finished before we put ourselves back in the middle of the Carribean again. I should have the opportunity to check in again in a few weeks, most likely from the Columbian island of Providencia.
Hope all is well with all of our friends and family! We miss and love you lots!
- Jeremy, Crystal and Max

Columbia: Just a Taste of South America

2007-09-08T13:12:00.000-04:00

August 23th- September 9th
We ended up stopping back over in Coco Banderos for a couple more days to wait out weather from Hurricane Dean. This we didn't mind at all as there are certainly worse places to spend time! The horizon was painted white as huge waves crashed into the reef, flinging sea spray twenty feet into the air. But Max remained quite still in the calm protected cove. Once the weather quieted we left the shelter of the islands and found ourselves surrounded by nothing but wide open ocean once more. The first night was long with sloppy weather and large waves, but I felt right at home after using my mom's toggle treatment to overcome my seasickness at last. It was a rather strange watch, however. For the entire night a flock of about twenty tiny yellow sea birds flew with Max as she sailed. They never once stopped to rest but kept flying close all around the boat, even in the worst of the wind and heavy rain, until about 4am when they disappeared. I was glad for their company through that cold and gloomy night.

After a thirty hour crossing we reached Cartagena at dawn, the impressive city sky line glowing crimson as the sun rose.We traversed the channel carefully with sky scrapers on our left, the beautiful european-style buildings of the Old City ahead, and a gigantic U.S. aircraft carrier following too close at our stern! We ducked out as it sped by on the wrong side of the channel, blowing it's deafening foghorn. The huge tanker passing it in the other lane (also on the wrong side of the channel!) was simply dwarfed by it's enormity. A bit confused, we called Travis on the radio just to make sure that you aren't supposed to drive in the opposite lane in Columbia.
You aren't.

As soon as the anchor was set we dinghied in to the Marina to say hello to Travis and Joanne. Then we eagerly set out on foot to check out the city. After walking around for a while I realized that it is the little differences that set Cartagena aside from other places we've been. Donkeys pull wooden carts filled with snacks down the crowded streets and young men walk aroundwith thermoses full of delicious strong Columbian coffee, filling your cup for 200 pesos (less than 10 cents). Women in brightly colored fringed dresses walk up and down the busy sidewalks selling exotic fruits from huge baskets carefully balanced on top their heads. Men push heavy wooden carts filled to the brim with vegetables, calling out the prices at the top of their lungs. The vendors' call mixed with the sound of hooves clacking on pavement, latin music in the streets and parrots squaking in the trees makes a song of zest and life which becomes the soundtrack to our day. Even the walls add to the festive feel with their vibrant splashes of bright orange, blue, and yellow. We walk for hours on end, just happy to be lost in this world of foreign flavor.

A week turns into two and before we know it it's well into September. We walk to the old section of the city almost daily, fighting the heat with treats sold from stands on every corner. Limeade, orange juice, and coconut water are squeezed to order or served straight from the coconut for 500 pesos (about 25 cents). In our wanderings we explored the massive fort at the center of the city, lovely cathedrals, museums, endless shops, and plazas- yet as we prepare to leave I feel that there is still so much that we have not seen.

Our last couple of days will be spent provisioning for our return to San Blas and getting to know our new passanger, Sergio. Sergio is a 26 year old backpacker from Chile who is sailing with us to Panama in exchange for some in depth conversational spanish instruction (yes, we're still determined!). It is almost impossibly dangerous to cross from Columbia to Panama by land, so it is not uncommon for backpackers to hitch a ride with sailboats, usually for a hefty fee of $300 per person. We have learned a lot more spanish in our travels, but are still no where near fluent. If he can help us to become so it will be an even exchange in our eyes. Fingers crossed!

This will be a somewhat sad farewell to Cartagena for a few reasons. This is partially because it is such a cool city, but also because it is the last new country we will be visiting on this trip. In addition to that, this is where "Calico Jack" and "Max" part ways. From here "Calico Jack" will head back to Key West via the Eastern Carribean. We will really miss Travis and Joanne, as they have made these wonderful experiences so much more with their great company and friendship. Farewell and fair winds.... Well, unfortunately it is time to start thinking about going back to the real world to make more money for the next grand adventure- which will hopefully take us to the Pacific! So, we have decided to make our way back North as well, but will be backtracking and visiting our favorite places along the way. From here we'll head back to San Blas for a while to wait out most of the rest of the hurricane season studying spanish with Sergio, so again we will be out of touch for several weeks. I hope you enjoyed catching up on our adventure as much as we enjoyed reliving it to you. Thanks again for checking in on us & we'll be back in touch again soon!
Lots O Love, Crystal, Jeremy, & MAX

San Blas at Last!

2007-09-01T12:38:00.000-04:00

July 30, 2007

We left Isla Grande at around 5am headed for the famous Comarca de Kuna Yala (The San Blas Islands). The moment we we left the protection of the island we were greeted by large rollers, and they continued to shake Max like a salt shaker for the entire 8 hour crossing. It was a tricky entrance to Kuna Yala (SanBlas) and Max had to squeeze in between two reefs with an 8 foot following sea. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but we were glad to do it and be back in the lee of an island once again. The calm did not last long however, and within 30 minutes a 45mph squall hit. It was a bit unnerving because there were so many exposed reefs around, but we were already quite prepared, as we have been since the surprise squall in Mexico and our valuable WWFD lesson. It only lasted 45 minutes or so and though a boat in sight did drag it's anchor, it was nowhere near us. Once we cleared in and payed all of our dues to the Kunas we motored to the nearest island chain and dropped anchor at the island of Chichime. Within minutes after we arrived several ulus (dug out canoes) were pushed from shore and heading our way. One arrived at Max's cockpit and before I knew it the woman and two younger girls were unloading heaps of hand made crafts onto the cockpit rail. The woman was dressed in full Kuna garb which is strikingly colorful and consists of a "mola" blouse, "sabburet" skirt, headdress, "wini" rings of beads on the arms and completely covering the calves of the legs, and lots of large hand-made goldjewelry. This is worn by all of the women while the men and children wear western clothes. So, among the crafts were lots of bright multi-colored molas (Designs intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colorful cloth; the women wear blouses made of these), wini bracelettes, wood carvings, beaded necklaces, & cloth headbands. It was a bit overwhelming, but after looking over more than twenty designs I chose my first mola: an eagle carrying a man in the sky. I was quite happy with it and even happier because now I could go swimming. But more ulus were waiting for their turn and it is true that they would rather you look through all of their beautiful crafts and buy none than to just turn them away. So after a couple more visits I climbed up onto our stern rail and made a leap into the cool turquoise water. We swam over to Calico Jack where they broke out the pool noodles and there we stayed, drinking rum and cokes and relaxing in the water all afternoon. Later on a couple of larger ulus came by with men selling their fresh catch of the day. We picked out a few lobster tails and a huge king crab for a total of $8. Shortly after that another even larger ulu showed up full to the brim with fruits and veggies. Joanne and I swam over and poked our heads up over the rail, picking out the freshest tomatos and lettuce, oranges and pineapples, potatoes and onions. Trust me, it's the only way to shop! We all went over to Max where Jeremy made a huge crab boil with grilled lobster tails on the side! It was by far one of the best meals of the trip so far, and probably one of the least expensive!

July 31- August 23th,2007

We spent most of the rest of our time in San Blas mainly snorkeling, Island hopping, and eating seafood. We explored several island chains including the Chichime Cays, Lemon Cays, Holandes Cays, Coco Bandero Cays, and the village on Rio Sidra. This may seem like a lot, but it is a very small percentage considering that the Kuna Yala archipelago contains over 340 islands! Most of these are deserted with soft white sand beaches and coconut palms and surrounded by translucent waters. The Coco Bandero Cays were probably our favorite. One of the anchorages we chose was swimming distance to a stunning little island which we had all to ourselves. It was surrounded by an expansive live reef whose mountainous corals took my breath away. We enjoyed walking around collecting some of the plentiful sand dollars and sea urchine shells, but snorkeling was by far the best. We spent several days here and never saw another sailboat nearby. Our other anchorage in Coco Bandero was equally as beautiful but chosen more because of the several boats anchored there. We met some great couples, notably on "Calypso" (Paul from South Africa and Maureen from Canada) and the catamaran "Lioness" (Terry from Austraila and Marjetta from Finland). There was also a schooner anchored there that was loaded with backpackers from all over the world who were making their passage from Columbia to Panama (it is nearly impossible to cross by land). We all dinghied or swam into the small central island and cooked BBQ over and open fire.We had a great time and it was nice to have other boats around for a couple of days. One of my favorite parts about cruising these islands is that from day to day you can choose to be in a large eclectic social gathering or all by yourself in a quiet, serene anchorage.

Another notable area we visited was the Kuna village on Rio Sidra. We went there to find Lisa, a local transvestite (this is openly accepted in Kuna culture) and "master mola maker". We had hired her to make a custom mola for our boat after having seen her work in Chichime. When we arrived by dinghy a group of little boys was at the dock, most of them playing naked and saying the only word they knew in english: "Spiderman!". The whole group led us to Lisa's hut, excited by the strange visitors. The village was picturesque and clean, packed with traditional huts that are made out of entirely organic materials. The floors are slightly elevated with compacted sand, while the walls are made of cane. The roof is a real piece of art, made froma special kind of palm leaf found only in the jungle; the whole thing has not one nail or fastner, everything being held together by thick vines and most withstanding the fiercest San Blas rain and winds for up to fifteen years! Inside the traditional hutsthere is no furniture, only hammocks. After seeing Lisa we walked around and found fresh coconut bread and only a few fresh groceries.The children were very friendly and curious, but the women, the heads of the households, were much more stand-offish; unless of course you are buying their hand made necklaces and braceletes or molas- of which we left with plenty. We anchored here for a few days until Lisa had finished our beautiful "Max Mola". Before we left we were invited to the village "chicha" festival in four days time, where the entire town gets together and becomes hopelessly drunk on chicha; an intoxicating drink brewed from sugarcane and other special ingredients. We had hoped that we would be lucky enough to recieve such an invitation and experience this "traditional" practice, but at this point our visa is almost expired and we are on our way to Columbia the next day. We say our "thank you's" and "goodbyes"- especially to Lisa who did a great job on our "Max mola" (it is of a scene from the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are", after the main character of which we named our boat) and were on our way.

Portobello, Isla Grande, and Some Cheeky Monkeys

2007-08-30T13:42:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone! It has been a long time since we were in touch, but we are glad to be back in civilization so that I can fill you all in on what has been going on with our adventures. Well, here it goes...
July 27-28, 2007
After saying goodbye to the beautiful Chagres River we made a quick stop back in Colon on our way to the tiny fishing villageof Portobello. Portobello was a very welcome scene with our last city experience bieng in Colon. We arrived to a calm bay lined with mountains, the village itself in the foothills. Howler monkeys can still be heard from somewhere in the distant treetops as we bring Max in and drop anchor next to Calico Jack. The town itself has a very laid back feel to it. The locals are reserved, but amiable. It was the weekend and there were families sitting on their doorsteps enjoying the afternoon, children playing in the quiet streets and amongst the moss-covored ruins. In the 1600's Portobello was one of the most important places for the transfer of South and Central American riches, due to it's central location. Tons of gold and silver passed through the area, making it necessary to build two large forts lined with cannons, one at each end of the bay for protection from pirates. The remainder of these stand strong today, as do other ruins which are strewn about town. The houses and shops are just built right alongside some of these great remains, giving the entire village an ancient feel. The locals say that old relics and silver pieces can still be found in the surrounding mountains. We settled into a little cafe/bar called El Drago where the owner, Marco, gave me a tiny old glass bottle which he had found in the mountains for our collection. Jeremy guesses that it may have held mercury used for gold-panning.
July 29, 2007
Curiosity about a rumor involving some friendly monkeys brought us to our next stop, Isla Linton, which is East about 5 hours from Portobello. The moment the anchor was set Jeremy and I wasted no time dinghying in to shore to explore. The only building is a deserted Florida State Research Center which has been reclaimed by the jungle. We had been walking around for just a few minutes when two monkeys began a noisy descent from the treetops. One, all black, reached the lowest branches and swung there by it's tail, teeth bared. The other, more slender and lighter in color, reached the ground, stood up on two legs, and strolled over to a bucket filled with rainwater, not paying us any mind. We took a couple of pictures and continued our walk, watching the ground closely for vipers this time. When we came back about 15 minutes later, the vibe had completely changed and the two monkeys were ready to be friends. The black one came right up to us. Now, this is going to sound funny, but though it's teeth were bared he seemed to be doing so in a "friendly" manner. I know what you're saying, "Riiiight. Friendly fangs", and perhaps we should have been so wise... The lighter one soon joined the party and we all hung out and had for a half hour or so. Towards the end the black one was begging Jeremy to let him crawl onto his shoulders. It knew better than to beg me as I was keeping a bit of a farther distance. Jeremy sighed and damned his better judgement as he shook his head at those big brown eyes and turned to leave. The monkey was still making it's innocent face and saying softly "whooh. whooh." as I turned to leave, at which point it very quickly became a different story. I began to make my way past, still keeping what I thought was a safe distance according to their behavior so far, when, without warning, the black one pushed off from the tree, it's tail still wrapped around one of the branches, and dug it's monkey paw into my side, fangs jutting & screeching loudly. Freaked out, I lunged to the right to escape it's strong grip, but this put me directly underneath the other monkey. Startled, it grabbed my hair, which was pulled back into a bun, jerked my head back, and sunk it's teeth into my bun. Jeremy was there in seconds, yelling in his loudest captain's voice & ready to pull it off of me. Luckily, the captain's voice was all it took- it knew he meant business. The monkey released me, but in my shock I stayed put, frozen with my arms wrapped around my head, and the monkey attacked again. "Get out of there!!!" Jeremy yelled, and I ran for it. I believe I was pretty lucky to escape with just a few monkey paw marks on my side and a stiff neck. I was certainly glad for the unique experience, I just don't think I'll be seeking out more monkey friends any time soon. According to my sister, Tigra, it is already a joke back home that Jeremy got the monkey off my back!
We left Isla Linton and anchored for the night right off of a beautiful little beach on the neighboring island of Isla Grande. This is a popular beach town getaway for well to do Panamanians and the place was pretty hoppin'. Much of the beachfront is dedicated to colorful bars and loud reggae. The residential area was much quieter with lots of families in chairs out in front of their houses, enjoying the evening's cool relief. Across the street is a big old Mc Donald's Playplace, just sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. It is the closest to a McDonalds we have seen in months, and I am happy for this fact. Back on the boat we had Travis and Joanne over for sunset cocktails and we even had a little sunset bonus as a noisy flock of huge scarlet macaws flashed red and blue overhead.

The Panama Canal in Colon

2007-07-26T16:26:00.000-04:00

Wednesday July 18, 2007
I felt as if we were sailing through a mine field as we approached the bay at the entrance to the Panama canal. We are so used to those long night watches where we strain our eyes for the enormous tankers, making sure not to come within several miles of the incredibly fast ships the size of city blocks. Now we were squeezing in between these looming masses, keeping a close eye on which ones had no anchor down. After about an hour of navigating through this maze we were anchored safely with the rest of the sailing boats.

Thursday July 19, 2007
Today we took a cab around town to do some provisioning at the big grocery stores here. The selection was vast in comparison to what has been available since we left the state. Unfortunately the prices were nothing special, but not too bad either.
Our cabby Hines took us on a little tour around the town, and it was clear why most people choose not to leave the cabs to walk around while they are visiting Colon. The poverty was painfully evident with most buildings literally falling down around their residents.
After seeing this side of the town we decided to take a tour of the Canal, where we could actually get out of the cab and walk around. We were just in time to see a gigantic tanker loaded with cargo entering the locks. The comparably tiny track cars attached to it by a thick cable, keeping it steady. We watched for about an hour while each of the three locks emptied and then filled up again, bringing the ships to a higher water level with each one they transit.
The locks were very fascinating to watch, but we were really hoping to have a chance to transit the entire canal to the Pacific side. Apparentlt this is off season, though for smaller sail boats, so we may have to wait until we bring our own boat through!

Friday July 20, 2007
Our curiosity got the best of us today and we decided that we wanted to see Colon on foot. It has such a bad reputation, but we are convinced that if we are smart about it there is no reason we shouldn`t be able to take a walk around. We were glad we did. Most of the town was burned to the ground in the 1800`s and rebuilt in the French style of the time. So although the buildings are in horrible shape now, you can see how beautiful the once were. The living conditions of most of the residents were appaling, but at no time did we feel threatened. We were looking for the Zona Libra (Free Zone), whick is the second largest tax free area in the world next to Hong Kong. At one point we stopped and asked an officer who was standing on the corner (police presence was very evident in the streets) for directions. We ended up getting a entire police escort by paddy wagon, sirens chirping! It was quite an experience and we were glad to have done it. Now we feel like we have actually seen the town and not just the inside of a cab.

Wednesday July, 23, 2007

This morning we took a three hour motor west to the Rio Chagres. It was one of the coolest places this nature lover has ever been! The moment you enter the mouth of the river you can hear the roars of a nearby troop of Howler monkeys. All around sloths are hanging from the trees and Toucans are flying overhead! When we set anchor for the night a troop of about 20 howler monkeys was swinginging in the trees just above Calico Jack. For quite a while we watchedthem play and jump from branch tobranch, often hanging from their tails looking at us or eating leaves. There were several young and we even spotted a tiny baby hanging onto her mom`s back for dear life! After this entertainmant we took a dinghy ride down one of the river`s tiny branches and saw lots of ridged basilisk lizards. When evening came everyone took a swim (nevermind the crocodiles!) and relaxed as flocks of noisy green parrots and toucans flew overhead and the howler monkeys sang their eerie song in the not so distant treetops. I am so excitedto have finally found the active wildlife I had imagined in the jungle, and a bit relieved to see with my eyes that it can still be found completely untouched.

From here we head southeast to the much awaited San Blas Islands and land of the Kuna Yala tribes. We hope to stay there for about a month, so we should be out of internet range until we arrive in Cartagena, Columbia in early September!

Thank`s again for keeping up with our adventures!

Love, Crystal and Jeremy

P.S. I got some awesome shots of monkeys and sloths and stuff, but the computer here at the only available internet place won`t let me upload them. Sorry for leaving out the most fun part of the site, and I promise to get them up in Cartagena!

Leaving Bocas

2007-07-16T18:11:00.000-04:00

July 16, 2007
We finished our visit to Bocas with a 1 hour bus ride through the rainforest to Bocas Del Drago at the other side of the island. It was a nice ride and I even saw a three toed sloth hanging from a tree branch from the bus window! The beach at Drago was thick with palm trees and starfish. We enjoyed the afternoon walking in the sand and scoping out the many interesting animal calls that were coming from the forest. I also took the opportunity to write a "Hi Mom!" message in the sand!
This town has been great, but now we are ready to make our way to the rest of Panama's east coast. We leave early tomorrow & it is about a week's sail to the next town of Colon, where we will hopefully be able to completely reprovision and have internet again. Look out for another Max update then!
Lots of love ,
Crystal, Jeremy and Max

More Bocas Del Toro, Panama

2007-07-10T16:59:00.000-04:00

Tuesday 7/03/2007
Now that we have made it to Panama and are out of hurricane range it has been really nice to finally be able to sit back and relax here on Isla Colon (Bocas Del Toro). We've enjoyed spending time with "Sashay" and "Calico Jack" and have also met many otherfriendly cruisers who are here from all over the world. Martini left us to continue her travels down to the San Blas Islands. Shortly after she left, our good friend Reef from Key West came to visit for a few days with his friend Bill and we had a great time hanging out and catching up over cocktails. We haven't explored a whole lot around this area even though we've been here for almost a month. It has been raining quite abit, but we try to take advantage of the sun when it does come out. A couple of days ago we took a four wheel drive taxi out to the north eastern end of the island with Bruno, Estelle and Montana. You must have a four wheel drive because the road is very bumpy and quite muddy with all of the rain. We got off at La Coralina, a beautiful resort nestled in the jungle with amagnificent ocean view. The owner, Stacy, who also used to live in Key West fixed us some drinks and thanked Jeremy and I for stopping some thieves who had boarded her boat several nights ago. She was not on the boat at the time and the thieves left as soon as we flashed a spotlight on them without taking anything. Lucky... Stacy has spent the last two years fixing up La Coralina and has done a really incredible job. As she gives us the tour I cannot stop thinking about how this should be my family's next vacation spot. Just a 20 minute walk from the resort and you find yourself all alone on a lovely five mile stretch of white sand beach. We had a memorable afternoon playing with the girls and getting beat up a bit in the rolling surf!

Wednesday 7/04/2007 Happy Independence Day!
Pablo, the owner of Bocas Marina (Which is located right by where Max is anchored and where we spend a lot of time) bought a huge box of fireworks so that all of us gringos could celebrate the 4th of July in style. Jeremy and I offered to head into the jungle to help him light them off at the top of the hill. Once it was completely dark outside six of us began our hike through the mud and cutter-ant hills. I kept my flashlight in the treetops with the hope of spotting a sloth or bats or something cool. We finally made it to the top of the hill without dropping the box of fireworks, but more importantly without spilling a single drop of beer! After setting the box in a clearing we lit the fuse at the top of it and ran for cover in the trees, not really knowing exactly what was about to happen. Luckily nothing got too out of control and one beautiful explosion after another shot straight up into the sky (Good ones Pablo!). We could just make out the sound of the people below cheering over the deafening noise of the fireworks. Once the show was over, and we all pulled out our flashlights and started to look around, one of the guys suddenly called out in alarm "Hey! I think I've been standing on a grave!" We immediately realized that we had just set off a huge noisy box of fireworks on a pirate graveyard! It was a really neat little graveyard with many of the stones over a hundred years old! A couple of people were a bit uneasy at this point and so we all stumbled back down the slippery slope of the hill. At one point I looked down and realized that I was standing in between four huge cutter-ant hills! My flip flops were instantly covered in ants with heads so big they look as if they could barely lift them! It was a bit unnerving, but luckily they are not as ferocious as they appear. We were relieved to be back at the marina, cold beer in hand. It was a 4th of July to remember!

2007-06-23T17:43:00.000-04:00

Thursday 6/07/2007- Saturday 6/09/2007
We spent these few days in San Andreas- eating meat pies and drinking strong Columbian coffee at the little bakery Bread Fruit, walking about, ancy to be in Panama. Our ever generous neighbor Hugh did have us over to his boat on Friday for a little dinner party of sorts. It was great. we met a couple of incredibly friendly locals- George and Cecilia who run the marina and party boat where we dock our dinghy and a very nice couple on "Suenos". Kay from another neighboring boat brought homemade pecan pie that was to die for! Saturday evening Jeremy and I took a ride on George's booze criuse party boat. It was cool. His son was upstairs D.J.-ing and we were the only gringos among a crowd of vacationing Columbians who were letting loose! We spent most of the time talkingwith George about traveling, boating, Columbia, etc. At the end of the cruise he refused to let us pay a penny (even after we consumed all of those rum punches!), as he considered us his guests. All this and we only met him last night- what a guy!

Sunday 6/08/2007
This morning we recieved a call on the radio from Sonny and Kay on "Valentino" that we had all been invited by Cecilia to her church this morning. My first thought was "this will be an experience!", as it seems that most of the locals attend church, and so I began to dig out my nice clothes and real shoes from the very depths of our boat. Luckily, I found some that were acceptable,and Sonny and Kay came over to pick me up (Jeremy opted to stay on the boat to prepare for our crossing tomorrow). We hopped a cab to the little seaside Baptist church and marched upstairs where the sermon in english took place. Today happened to be Children's Day", so all of the little children took turns singing in the chorus, clappin' their hands and all swingin to the beat. So much noise and life here! It really was an experience, all the way up to the ride back to the marina, where Cecilia put us on a full school bus and sent us on our way. She is really great... When Hugh was hit by that panga, Cecilia was there in minutes to help him and George was close behind, ready to accompany him to the Coast guard office, translating and pulling contacts where he could. It was a huge help, and they hardly even knew him. It is just how they work. They're two in a million.
This afternoon the wind had completely died down, and though we had planned to make this crossing with our three neighbors in the morning, we cannot stand to wait any longer. Our very good friend Martini flew in to Panama several days ago from California and her birthday is on Tuesday. So we say "until later" to our friends, pull anchor, and are off. Since we are leaving in the evening rather than the morning we will have to skip the Albuquerque Cays (which I really wanted to see: uninhabited, quiet, perfect.). Perhaps on the way back.

Monday 6/11/2007 I am awakened this morning by Jeremy's voice calling down the companion-way "Love, there are whales at the bow!". I am not even completely awake after last night's long watch as I stumble to the bow and behold three pilot whales, lazily riding our wake. The dad is about 16ft.long, accompanied by the mother and little baby who is about eight feet long. Jeremy said that he was securing the anchor at the bow when the giant suddenly surfaced directly under him, giving him quite a start! I watch as the dad rolls over on his side to inspect us for a moment before the three disappear. For hours we spot them only for a few minutes at a time, off of our stern or at the bow. Always a welcome sight. Once they are gone, we see nothing but a desert of ocean for hours and hours (ahhhhh. so nice!) until late in the afternoon when we hook a beautiful 5ft. silky shark. It was a chore setting her loose from the hook,but Jeremy managed, and miraculously without any blood shed from either!

Tuesday 6/10/2007 We arrive in Bocas Del Toro at dawn after a delightfully calm and fruitful (mmm. Tuna!) crossing. We take in the scene as we put the last channel marker to our stern, and it is just as we had hoped! The area is dotted with green islands, backed by a vast horizon of purple mountains covered by a blanket of milky clouds. Around us locals float by in their little cayucas, even the children tossing cast-nets with a master's grace and skill. We anchor-up and wait around for hours before the "hola- now give me your money" check-in crew finally arrives. They are a sour bunch, but they get the job done and in no time we are on Calico Jack, hugging greetings to Martini, Travis and Joanne! We got word in San Andreas that a lovely French family who used to be our neighbors in Key West on their boat "Sashay" are here in Bocas Del Toro. We sadly lost touch when they sailed away over a year ago to who knew where and are very excited to greet them with a little surprise visit this evening! We head in to explore the town a bit and soon find out that other friends from Key West whom we had lost touch with, Bill and Sharron, have a bar here. Then we see Eli, who lives in Key West, just strolling down the street. He takes us over to a restaurant where a whole group of Kew Westers are eating and having a good old time. Turns out they are all here in Panama doing a real estate video. It is cool to see them all, but I must admit that it has put me in a bit of the twilight zone, if you know what I mean. As our friend Jessie Brown (who we ran into the next day-also on the film crew) put it, "You try to get away from it all..." Later we make our way to the Marina to see "Sashay" and only Sophie (mom) is home. She cannot believe it and agrees to keep it a secret so that we can surprise Bruno and the girls when they are back later on this evening.Unfortunately Travis is under the weather tonight, so it is only Jeremy Martini and I heading out for some birthday celebrations. First we go to Bocas Marina. Little Estelle (8) and Marjorie (5) give us an overwelmingly warm welcome. Bruno is busy being the chef, but is also very pleasantly surprised to see us! It is difficult forus to tear ourselves away from these little smiling faces but it is time to get on with the birthday rounds, and we've already missed the big Key West party down town. We ran into Eli and we all went to this hip bar called The Iguana for some drinks. After that we wandered around a while before heading back to Chateau Max for some more cocktails. It was a heck of a first day in Panama!

Columbia - Providencia & San Andreas

2007-06-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

Thursday 5/31/2007
Providencia is a gorgeous mountainous island about the size of Key West (2 by 4 miles) but with only about 5000 inhabitants. As the mountain peaks get nearer on the horizon the air becomes sweet with the parfume of flowers. A huge solitary bolder with the profile of a man's face sits at the entrance to the anchorage. The head of the pirate Captain Morgan- A protector of the island for all time in the eyes of the locals. Across the anchorage a mountain peak stands out from the rest due to it's odd shape - like a piece was taken from the center to make two small peaks on one. The locals smile and say "That's Captain Morgan's butt!". In no time at all the welcome boat arrives at Max with the clear-in crew aboard. This time we use an agent (as reccomended), so once they leave we are completely legal. No additional trips to customs and immigration necessary (for a fee, of course). Upon arrival this morning we noticed a large yacht that Travis recognized from Key West. We gave them a call on the radio and they swung by the boat. Susan, the captain and her 14 year old son Mateo recognized me within the first few minutes of talking. "Banana Cafe, right?". What a small, small world it is! In town Jeremy and I walk around a bit and find some dinner- a fried fish as big as my head, some rice and fried plantains.

Friday 6/01/2007
This morning we accept an invitation to Susan's yacht, Phantom Explorer, for some coffee. Phantom is a 96 foot steel work boat that they have converted into a cruiser/research yacht. It is awesome! A giant octopus is painted on the bow, making it very easy to recognize. The interior is incredibly nice with such conveniences as two kitchens (one with a built-in push-button espresso machine, of course), a 40 gallon an hour water maker, a huge flat screen television (which she said I can watch movies on any time when we meet up in Panama!),and a jacuzzi- but at the same time maintaining a very comfortable, homey feel. While chatting over coffee we learn that Susan and Mateo have been on the boat for two years and are studying and making videos of sting rays! Mateo is home schooling, so this is like one big field trip! He is extremely smart and fun to talk to. Susan is really great too. She has her captain's licence and runs the boat with two other crew, Ricardo and Frank. We enjoy their company so much and are reluctant to leave. I feel like I could talk to them and listen to their stories for hours. This town is small and the locals are pretty nice. Things are pricey, though, and we definately feel the tourist gouge every time we pull out the wallet (we paid U.S. $30 to have two loads of laundry washed and dried- more than even Key West!), but the nice thing is that a completely satisfying afternoon can be spent simply walking around and taking in the beauty. What more could you want. For happy hour we are invited back to the Phantom Explorer for margaritas and more great conversation.

Saturday 6/02/2007
Phantom Explorer left early this morning. We plan to meet up in Panama where they also expect to spend hurricane season. Jeremy and I walk to the lovely little South Beach where all kinds of crabs scurry in the mud and turquoise lizards as well as lots of tiny baby iguanas hang out on the rocks. Later Travis and Joanne come over for happy hour and we toast to their big news... they just got engaged on Thursday night under the full moon! Que romantica!

Sunday 6/03/2007
This morning Travis and Joanne make a decision to skip a visit to the neighboring island of San Andreas and head directly to Panama. They are having transmission difficulties and are eager to be in Panama where they will have more access to parts and technicians. Jeremy and I have refueling to do in San Andreas, so we will meet up with them in a week or so. We spent our last day in Providencia driving around the island on a scooter. We met an artist named Carmeni who gave us delicious poma-rosa fruit from a tree in her yard and told us lots of stories. The islands we visit really do just keep on getting better. This evening we pulled anchor before sunset to begin the easy 10 hour sail to San Andreas.

Monday 6/04/2007
At sunrise we began the entrance to the San Andreas with the GPS as our guide. The light was still very low, but we followed the electronic map and made the turn towards the first marker where it showed 20 feet of depth. A couple of minutes on this course and Jeremy notices something pequilar in our path. Squinting to get a better view with such little daylight, it dawns on him what it is- small waves breaking on a completely unmarked reef directly in front of us!!! Immediately we change course and make it around the shallows, very shaken by such a close call, but safe. The process of actually anchoring turns out to be a chore as well with nothing but guess work and a trial and error method of figuring out wether or not an area is too shallow. This would be a lot faster and easier if we could only find a guide book for this area. Hopefully in Panama. Immediately upon anchoring we are greeted by fellow cruisers. Hugh on "The Bear Necesities" pulls up first and introduces himself. After a minute of chatting we learn that he was not as lucky with same reef that gave us a scare. The only lucky part about his experience was that they managed to pull her off before she sank. We cringe at the thought of what would have happened if we had abandoned our rule about entering unknown waters before daybreak. This will Always be our policy. This island is much different from Providencia. Every street reminds us of Duval street in Key West. Everywhere are condos and t-shirt shops. It was a necessary stop, but we will be more than ready to leave.

Tuesday 6/05/2007
It looks like we will be stuck here for a few days longer than planned due to weather, but hopefully this will give us time to find access to a guidebook. This afternoon our poor neighbor Hugh had another pitfall in paradise. His dinghy was run over by a local panga (15 ft. speed boat)- while he was in it! The propeller went right through the middle of his dinghy and he had to dive overboard to safety! We feel really bad for his luck (he is an extremely nice guy) and offer to help if we can. He spent five years making his yacht just right (complete with a very nice dinghy), and this is his very first port away from Texas. This place is kinda crazy, and we have certainly taken note. Wednesday 6/06/2007 Breakfast. Refueling. Internet... Once again, thanks for keeping up with our journey and wish us a safe crossing to Panama! Miss you!! Also, for those who don't have it, my e-mail is crystalvillegas@hotmail.com I'm able to check this much more often than I can upload info to the web site, so drop us a line any time! Again, miss ya & hope all is well in the real world! We'll be in touch again

Honduras - The Bay Islands

2007-06-18T15:48:00.000-04:00

Tuesday 5/15/2007
I was a little sad to say goodbye to Guatemala and the Rio Dulce, but hurricane season looms in the distance and we must be on our way. Soon we were sailing alongside the rugged mountains of Honduras. We made it to Utila (the northern most Bay Island) around 2am and carefully navigated our way in pitch black (no help from the new moon!) around numerous coral heads and safely into the anchorage. Though it made for minimal visibility on the water, the lack of moonlight made the sky absoluteyl glitter with stars. This beauty paired with almost perfectly calm seas made it an incredible crossing - thanks for the fair weather wishes! Wednesday 5/16/2007 A painless clear-in at the Port Captain's office. We changed some money to Honduran Lempiras, which are 19 lp to $1 U.S.. Everything is very affordable here, even though the Islands are more expensive than the mainland. A large breakfast is about $3 U.S. and a nice steak or tuna dinner is about $5 U.S.! This is also a paradise for divers because the reefs are teeming with fish, coral, sponges, rays, sea turtles and the deeper water just off of the coast is even one of the best places in the world to see whale sharks! In addition to all of this, the Bay Islands are also among the cheapest places in the world to go diving, with Utila and Roatan constantly competing for business. That last part won't do us much good though since we have our own gear. We even have an air compressor so that we can fill our own tanks! All we have to do is find a good dive site guide book for these waters. we spent the evening at the Utila Dive Center where they had a barbeque and all you can drink rum and beer (for $7.00 U.S.!!)- Did I mention that our favorite rum is Flor De Canya which is Nicaraguan, so it is dirt cheap here and always the well rum! Woohoo-bonus!-. The barbeque turned out to be mostly locals, which is a young, crazy, ex-pat crowd. Lots of fun. Most of them are from Europe and Australia, with a few Canadians and only a couple Americans. The whole island has a very hip feel to it. Thursday 5/17/2007 We managed to find a pretty good dive guide at the Utila Dive Center (U.D.C.) and this afternoon we did a 100ft deep wreck dive on a 98ft steel ship called the Haliburton. The guide didn't give an exact location, so we just took the dinghy out to one of the many bouys in the area and got lucky. Sure enough about fifteen feet into the descent we saw the huge ship. The water was crystal clear with about 70ft. of visibility. We saw tiger grouper, lots of reef fish and arrow crabs, trumpet fish, and lots of coral and sponges. It was the deepest dive I have done so far and the first time I actually went inside of a wreck (that is often prohibited in the U.S. for safety reasons). Lots of fun! Of course the locals said that they haven't seen any whale sharks in weeks, so I'm not getting my hopes up for that just yet.

Friday 5/18/2007
Today we walked around for hours on the island's dirt roads. The main road has lots of shops and restaurants. If you branch off to the side streets, they lead you over hills covered in lush trees and tropical plants- most of this is sadly on sale for building of course, but I believe they will keep some of it protected. After our walk Jeremy and I spend the rest of our day out on the boat in between snorkeling trips to the reef.

Saturday 5/19/2007
More snorkeling! We saw a large 3ft. Porcupine Fish and I still cannot get enough of the funny looking Trumpet Fish that are everywhere. The huge reef here on the north west side begins at the surface of the water and slowly deepens to a wall that drops to a 50 ft. sand bottom. All different kinds and colors of reef fish circle around our heads. Large schools of Sergeant Majors and Blue Tangs actually swim close with us for minutes at a time. If I wasn't already addicted to the water, I definately am now!

Sunday 5/20/2007
When we finished another swim on the reef, the word in town was that they saw two whale sharks this afternoon. Tonight Jeremy and I went to a little whale shark presentation at the Whale Shark Research Center to find out exactly where they were found so that we can scout it out tomorrow. Afterwards we met up with Travis and Joanne at a great little tiki hut bar on the beach at the West end of the anchorage.

Monday 5/21/2007
Late this morning Jeremy and I set out on Max to the north eastern end of the island to find what proved to be a needle in a haystack. Three hours and no sign of a wale shark. Instead we swam with a big pod of large bottlenose dolphin in about 1000 ft. of open water! I suppose my whale shark can wait- we are having the time of our lives! Tonight we were invited along with Travis and Joanne to a local couple's house for a delicious salmon dinner. The couple, Brent and Doris, are having a new house built on the island. Also at dinner were Patrick and Nelly, the owners of a fun local restaurant called La Pirata. Nelly was formerly Miss Hawiian Tropic and is "La Pirata". Lots of people get an autograph of her standing beside the wall- sized photo inside the restaurant. It was a night full of great food and company!

Tuesday 5/22/2007
Today we stocked up on water and Flor De Canya in between swimming. After a yummy dinner at La Pirata with Patrick we went home to check out our course to Roatan tomorrow.

Wednesday 5/23/2007
I kept an eye out for whale sharks today as we made our way to Roatan, but again sited none. It was a bit of a sloppy slog with the wind on our nose from the west, but only for a few hours. Coming into Roatan was more of a hassle than it should have been. The wonderful guide book we've been using so far ended in the Rio Dulce. There are not sufficient charts of this area and we were not able to find a guide book. The thing that makes these islands so great is that there is coral reef everywhere- great for diving, not so good for blind navigation. After Calico Jack's failed attempt to enter a bay that ended up becoming very shallow very quickly, Jeremy decided to jump in our dinghy and scout out the area while I drove Max around in slow circles just off the reef. With our 20 horsepower Honda outboard Jeremy could zip all around and find info in no time at all. He ended up finding another sailboat and following them into a different cove where there were a couple of mooring balls to tie up to. I think we finally found a name for our dinghy- Scout. It may have to grow on Jeremy a bit, but I like it. Max and Scout! Anyway, Jeremy got directions and we stayed to the far left of a narrow entrance channel which was full of coral heads and shallow water. I stood on the bow to direct around obstructions and was glad when we were out of that channel and in the calm waters of the bay. We dinghyed in to the small town of West End for some lunch. Roatan is several times bigger than the other two islands at about 27 miles long, and it is more built up, but still very lush and beautiful in many areas. After lunch we dove just outside of the channel we came in through. It was a mystical sight as we slowly descended to an expansive reef complete with many large colonies of towering pillar coral (quite rare) in the distance. We made our way along the fish, coral, and numerous huge barrel sponges to the wall and bounced down to about 120 ft. and then slowly floated upwards, admiring the numerous kinds of plants and animals on the wall. After about 30 minutes we all met up at the dinghy and agreed that that was one of the best dives we've ever done- even better than the amazing reef at South Water Cay!

Thursday 5/24/2007
We leave bright and early to make our way to Coxon Hole at the other end of Roatan. It does not take long for us to realize that Coxon Hole is, well,a hole. The reason we had to come here is to provision at the best grocery in the Bay Islands. It's like Christmas for Jeremy and I as we peruse the fresh meat & produce isles. By the time we leave Coxon Hole our fridge and freezer is filled to the brim with goodies! On our way out we watch a free for us dolphin show from the prestigeous Anthony's Key Resort where they have several dolphins jumping way up in the air as we moter right beside the water-level fence. The entry to the anchorage at our next port,French Harbour, is much easier than West End. We are lucky with two sailboats entering just in front of us- so we just follow them right in. The anchorage is lovely and calm with about 15 other boats inside- more than we have seen since Rio Dulce. Jeremy and I make this a nice relaxing evening with hamburgers by candle light in the cockpit and the stereo playing Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue". With this company and the gorgeous view of Roatan's green hills, it doesn't get much better!

Friday 5/25/2007
This morning we all make the decision to go ahead and sail straight to the third island of Guanaja today rather than spend a couple more days here. Roatan is nice, but Guanaja is supposed to be even better, and hurricane season is now looming right over our heads. During the six hour sail we spot several small pods of pilot whales in the distance! I love marking animals off of the to see wish list! We anchor up in the shadow of the mountains of Guanaja and dinghy into town. Guanaja Town is actually a tiny little island just off of the main island and has something built on every inch of high ground. This gave the tiny town a very different feel than any of the others so far and it was really refreshing to see something new. Lots of the houses are built right up to the water with boat access. Some call Guanaja town the Venice of Honduras. Very cool. Immediately we meet some friendly ex-pats. Jan and his wife extend an invitation to us to have drinks at their home on the other side of the larger island some time over the next few days and lets us in on the best bar to hang out at- The Manati (spanish for Manatee) on the larger island. This is a big wooden open air two-story bar and restaurant run by Hansito from Germany. We head over there and spend the evening watching geckos scurry across the celing and taking shots of a strong dark liquor from a bottle full of leaves (a Garifuna speciality usually only found in certain places on the mainland) called Gifitti. "First one's on the house, but be careful." Says lovely Lucia with a smile from behind the bar.

Saturday 5/26/2007
This morning we knew exactly what Lucia meant by "Be careful." We enjoy walking around town and later return to Hansito's despite our heavy heads- but this time we stick to safer beverages like rum y cola. The ex-pat community here is extremely friendly and in no time we have made lots of friends. Jim and Cathy from the states are retired from their under water demolition business. Gar made his last home in Alaska and has lived here on his sailboat for 7 years. Hansito, the owner of the Manati... is a character and a half! Mostly thanks to his company there was no lack of entertainment at The Manati.

Sunday 5/27/2007
We're back at the Manati at 8:00 this morning. Don't worry- it isn't for a rum y cola! It's because Gar, one of the very few people on the island who knows the trails through the mountains, has offered to take us on a 3 hour hike to the other side of the island. An offer we cannot refuse. The mountains are dense and in many places you cannot even see the trail but rather you have to feel it with your feet through the thick blanket of foliage (of course these spots are primarily on the steep downhill runs!). To the left and right of the trail largish animals slither from the low trees and scramble through the bushes. "Probably just iguanas" Gar insists. About an hour into the hike Joanne's hiking boot loses it's rubber lace inforcement from the top. Five minutes later the other boot gives. Having not been worn (who wears hiking boots in Key West?) the rubber was slowly discintegrating on the boat over the last four years. Very reluctantly she and Travis are forced to turn back. Jeremy, myself, and Gar make our way straight up and then straight down, panting in the opressive tropical heat- not to mention the difference in altitude from to sea level to 1700 feet! But the glorious views from the top of the highest peak makes it all worth while! Different shades of blue and green of the sea stretch from as far away as you can see all the way to the foot hills below. I trace the way we came on Max from Roatan in on the horizon. Then I look into the distant blue to the southeast, where further adventures await us. At the top of the mountain Jeremy has the same problem as Joanne with his boots, but it is too late to turn back. As we all but slide straight down the mountain I am picking up the pieces as Jeremy's old faithful hiking boots deteriorate around his feet. By the time we reach the bottom there is nothing but a thin layer of cloth between his feet and the rocks. But this is sufficient since we immediately rip our shoes off and hit the beach, cold beer in hand. After lunch and a quick recovery we stroll barefoot into the woods to a lovely little secluded waterfall for cool dip in the natural pool below it. As a nice wrap up to our day, the latest president of Honduras introduces himself at The Island House bar where we are drinking to further recovery from our hike. Jim and Cathy give us a lift back to the boat, where we have some dinner and promptly pass out for the night, exhausted.

Monday 5/28/2007 - Wednesday 5/30/2007
Today we say our goodbyes and apologize to those friendly locals who's invitations into their homes we were not able to accept due to lack of precious time- for we have a weather window for the three day crossing to the Columbian island of Providencia and it is time to disappear from here. We pull anchor and sail away. Soon we realize that the weather information we recieved was false and we have the wind directly on our nose, something that is always a chance. It is rough going, but our spirits are lifted by a sunset visit from a pod of about twenty small (5 ft. max) and beautiful Atlantic White-sided dolphins. I routinely run up to the bow and see ten of them playing and pushing eachother to ride our bow wake. They are so playful and several jump bodily into the air right next to my head while others pop their noses up and dart immediately back into the sea, deliberately splashing us with a huge slap of the tail on the way down! I stayed at the bow for about twenty minutes, until the very last one dove down and faded into the deep blue of the darkening ocean. The wind is directly on our nose for the entire 200 mile eastward slog to the Honduras/ Nicaragua border. Where Honduras ends and the coast of Nicaragua cuts south there is a cape called Gracias a Dios- Thank God. This is because when Columbas sailed this route from the Bay Islands it took them nearly thirty days to reach this point due to the winds and current. When he finally made it he named it apropriately. Unlike Columbus we were able to motor into the wind, but we sure were glad to reach the cape and make a more Southerly turn for a better angle on the wind for some possible sailing- or so we thought. Believe it or not, when we changed our course the wind also changed it's direction. We were headed directly into it, Again!! Oh well, we had other things on our minds at this point which far outweighed the discomfort of the sea conditions. The coast of Nicaragua is notorious for it's ruthless piracy. Here at the cape and for the next 12 hours or so we are the closest that we will come to the coast, which is still about 50 miles. From here we cut a little more South-easterly to line up on Providencia, putting more and more distance between us and the coast. We are being very careful, but stories from the Honduran locals keep playing over in our heads as we near the potential danger zone. We choose not to run any lights tonight. All night long we take turns keeping a strict watch. Constantly scanning the horizon and checking our radar for activity. The morning comes without a single other boat coming in sight of even the radar all night (radar can scan about 24 miles!). The worst is over, and it wasn't half bad.

Guatemala

2007-05-14T20:55:00.000-04:00

Tuesday 5/01/2007
A final smoothie for breakfast at The Shack. The
owner of the tiny shop, Murial, is very nice. She also owns
the bootleg DVD shop across the street(there's one on every
island). I ask her about the use of papaya leaf tea as an
anti-malarial. She does not know, but runs back to her
garden and plucks a lovely handfull of papaya leaves for me
anyway. She reccomends Serosa (sp?) vine leaves to cleanse
the blood and papaya seeds to rid the sysyem of parasites.
I hope I will never need this information, but make a
mental note just in case. After stocking up on fruits and
veggies, we wish farewell to this wonderful little village.
It was such a pleasure that we even stayed and extra day,
and now it is definately time to be on our way. A couple
hours of sailing brings us to Monkey River Town. We anchor
up at the mouth of the river, hop in the dinghy and make
our way up the river. The foliage on either bank is
unbelievable! Giant palms ,mango trees ripe with fruit, and
groves of bamboo six stories tall! Beautiful birds with
yellow tail feathers fly overhead to their nests which
resemble large seed pods hanging from a paricularly tall
palm tree. About 1 1/2 miles in we find what looks like
steps carved into the bank. Without a second thought we
pull up and tie the dinghy off. There is a little trail
leading into the forest. Good size spiders make their
webbed homes on either side of the path. It is not long
before we come upon a sign that warns us not to proceed any
further without the presence of a guide. We proceed a
little further but turn back when Joanne is bit by the
member of a small swarm of insects. Perhaps we'll venture
into the rainforest when we are a little more prepared- not
in shorts and flip-flops! We tromp back to the dinghy and
motor slowly back to the town at the mouth of the river.
Entire families laugh and play together in the brackish
water. A large sign on the beach reads "Welcome to Monkey
River Town". We walk around the village, which is slightly
larger than a neighborhood. It is so small and simple, and
the locals certainly seem to like it that way. They are for
the most part less than friendly to us outsiders. With
complete understanding we finish our sprites, which we
bought at the one tiny drink stand, and head back to the
boats to continue our way to the little island near New
Haven. The river tour was definately worth the stop, even
though the monkeys stayed out of sight. Joanne said that
they must have taken the day off because it's Labor Day! We
arrive at our destination two hours later and anchor up
close to the tiny, uninhabited shore. Jaonne and Travis
come over and we all sip coconut rum and coke while Jeremy
fixes our dinghy outboard (it sucked up some silt from the
river and needed to be unclogged). The water is still
around us, the shore line at our bow is the perfect jungle
scene, and as we chat and sip on our rums in the cockpit
the enormous full moon rises to starboard.

Wednesday 5/02/07
Today we sail to our very last Belizean port, Punta
Gorda. The Maya Mountains on our right are a very welcome
addition to the beautiful coastal view. Punta Gorda itself
is framed with a backdrop of rolling hills in the distance.
This is a very sleepy town indeed, so much that Belizeans
don't even bother calling it by it's full name. It is known
simply as P.G.. We seem to have arrived during siesta, for
most of the shops are closed. We head straight to the Port
Captain's office after lunch- which wouldn't have been
complete without a last Belikin stout: Belize's excellent
dark beer. It will be missed, but of course we do plan on
finding many more fine beers and other such beverages along
the way! Anyway, we had planned on staying the night here
and leaving around 4:00am to arrive at and enter the Rio
Dulce at 8:00am for high tide, but just to stay those few
extra hours in Belizean waters will cost us another $70
Belize (thats about $35 U.S.). We decide to push it through
the night even though the weather is not very pleasant. We
say goodbye to Belize and continue on our way to Guatemala.
When we finally reach the mouth of the Rio Dulce and
attempt to anchor outside, it is so rough and windy that
the anchor will not stay put. After ten minutes of watching
our boat stray on the GPS, we finally break out our "Oh
sh**!" anchor. It is a trick to haul it to the bow and
heave it overboard in these conditions, but once it is down
we know we aren't going anywhere. Now we can finally sleep,
or at least we could if we weren't being tossed out of our
bed by the waves!

Thursday 5/03/07
We awake at 7:00am and our grumpiness over the
previous night is melted away in moments as we look around
and take in our surroundings. We pull anchor and make our
way slowly to where the panorama of dense mountains haults
to form the Rio Dulce (Sweet River). Small spinner dolphins
dart bodily out of the water around us as we inch
forward. The sea floor at the mouth of the Rio Dulce is
made of very fine mud which frequently shifts with waves
and current. This and the fact that at high tide the depth
is still only 6-7 ft. makes it a pretty tricky entrance. We
are about half way through the mouth when Max gently comes
to a stop. This sort of soft mud grounding is not nearly as
alarming as running into hard rock or coral, but it's still
quite unnerving. Holding our breath, we decide to try
pushing through it. Jeremy throttles up the engine and we
inch our way through the silt, hoping that we are just
over a small 5 1/2ft. hump. Disappointed locals in cayucas
(small wooden dugout canoes) watch as we finally make it to
good water after digging a 20 ft. trench! We anchor just
inside the river at the small town of Livingston. In a
couple of hours a boat pulls up with five smiling men on
board. We invite the Port Captain, Customs, Immigration, &
Health officials and the driver aboard. "Welcome to
Guatemala" says the Port Captain as we shake hands. They
check our papers and are on their way to the next boat in
less than ten minutes. If only every country could be so
easy, and friendly. In town we check in officially at the
Customs and Immigration offices, exchange American and
Belizean dollars for Guatemalan Quetzales, and buy a hand
made Guatemalan flag (these courtesy flags are required,
and we forgot to pick one up before we left Key West) from
Phillip the Flag Man who sells his sewn crafts on the
street. Anxious to be on our way into the Rio Dulce, we
promptly give 20 quetzales (about $3 U.S.) to the kid who
kept an eye on our dinghy for us and head back to the
boats, 3 month tourist visas in hand. As we motor up the
river we are engulfed on either side by 300 ft. cliffs that
are completly covered in growth. As I stand silently on the
bow looking way up at the giant walls of dense jungle, the
buzz of life is borderline intimidating. This is the scene
for several hours until we come to El Golfete lake and
anchor up for the night. For dinner we find the one nearby
restaurant. Well, it's kind of a restarant... We walk in
and put in our order to be ready in a couple of hours. The
establishment is basically a woman's house with seating on
a large waterfront patio. Joanne and I order a local
Garifuna (AKA: Black Caribs of South American and African
descent) dish which I believe is called alabundinga. It is
a stew of coconut cream, boiled potatos and spices served
with rice, a large plate of seafood (a whole fried river
perch, blue crab, and shrimp), and fried plantains. You
peel and pick apart the seafood and add it with the
plantains and rice to the broth. It was one of the best
meals I have had. We later found out that the Rio Dulce is
the best place to have this rare dish, if you can find it.
We noticed while we were eating that the chicken that had
been running around earlier was no where to be seen (Travis
said that his spiced chicken was delicious!).

Friday 5/04/2007
This morning we go straight to a nearby wildlife
refuge to walk the looped nature trail and take a couple of
cayucas up a stream that leads into the forest. Jaguars and
lots of other notable wildlife are in the area, but the
main thing we see aside from beautiful dense jungle are
some basilisk lizards (the ones that can run on
water) and bright orange crabs. After getting a good
walking and paddling exercise we head back to the boats to
motor up to the town of Rio Dulce and La Jolla Del Rio
marina... Back in Placencia I sent an e-mail to a friend
from Guatamala City who I met in Key West but had been out
of touch with for over three years. I thought that it was a
slim chance that he still had the same address, and still
remembered me! "Of course I remember you guys!" he wrote
back almost immediately. I couldn't believe it! Needless to
say we will be hooking up!- We travel into town to research
busses from here to Guatamela City. Along the way we find
some delicious home made corn tortillas (much thicker than
mexican tortillas). This little town has a very wild west
feel to is with lots of trucks driving down the dusty dirt
roads weighed down with cattle, rope and saddles sold at
many of the little stores and many of the locals wearing
cowboy boots and hats. Back at the marina, which is across
the river and only accessable by boat, we relax and watch
the large bats darting around overhead. The marina is in a
big lagoon with plenty of birds, bugs and lizards. Needless
to say I pull out the bug screens for all of the hatches
before we retire to bed!

Saturday 5/05/2007
We spent today lounging around, cleaning the boat
and packing for our 10:00am bus ride to Guatemala City
tomorrow. Sunday 5/06/2007 I am a bit reluctant to
leave our boat for several
days, but visiting our friend Luis and his family in the
city is an opportunity that we cannot pass up. We say
goodbye to Max and catch a 4-5 hour bus ride through the
Highlands to Guatemala City. The bus ride was more pleasant
than I had expected, even for 100 quetzales (about $12
U.S.). It had air conditioning (wow!) and we got a tour of
the beautiful rolling hills of the Highlands, where most of
the Mayans live. Along the roads were Mayan women and
children dressed in beautiful brightly colored embroidered
blouses and long skirts carrying baskets perfectly balanced
on top of their heads, full to the brim with clothes, food,
firewood etc. Many of the men wore cowboy hats and boots
and could be seen riding horses with firewood strapped on
either side or pulling carts loaded with building or
farming materials. Much of the farmland we pass is dotted
with large Brahma cattle, or growing corn and vegetables.
Everywhere are wild mango, papaya and banana trees heavy
with fruit. We exit the bus and our friend Luis Pedro and
his mother Sonia are waiting for us. It is so good to see
Luis again (and not to mention the relief of having a local
friend in this neighborhood!) He and his lovely mother
invite all four of us to stay in their home. Sonia hugs me
and says "Mi casa es su casa" and I am almost in tears over
her warmth. We stop briefly at their home in the City to
clean up and then the four of us along with Luis and his
good friend Julian head straight to their other home in
Antigua (a city we had really wanted to see on this trip)
to stay for the night. The house is beautiful and rustic,
typical of this city. We eat the best nachos in the world
at Mono Loco (Crazy Monkey) and spend much of the evening
catching up at the local hot spot Reilly's, Guatemala's
only Irish pub.

Monday 5/07/2007
Today Luis takes us all over Antigua. We visit the
markets selling local Mayan handicrafts, tour two of the
town's beautiful hotels and check out some of the ruins of
a convent. The feel and style of Antigua reminds me of New
Mexico's Santa Fe- on a larger scale and with two huge
volcanos in the background! We drive 1/2 hour back to the
City and Sonia has dinner all planned. Joanne and I cannot
believe our luck when she invites us into her kitchen to
help her and Florentina (the family's Mayan helper who has
been in the family since Luis was a child). We watch
intently as they make mayan lasagna (something you won't
find in any restaurant!), a huge salad with apples,
mangoes, olives, tomatos etc., and reyenitos for dessert (a
plantain dough made into tortillas, stuffed with refried
beans carmelized with sugar and cinnamon, and
fried.).Another friend from years ago in Key West- Carlos,
Luis' brother (also Carlos), and his wife Andrea came over
and we all ate dinner together. We can already tell it is
going to be hard to leave this place!

Tuesday 5/08/2007
Bevore leaving for work Sonia make us breakfast of
homemade tortillas, scrambled eggs, refried beans and fresh
apple pancakes with honey. To drink she has made a pitcher
of fresh squeezed mango juice (from their mango orchard)
and a pitcher of hamaica (local rose tea served cold). Yum!
After breakfast we Luis drives us three hours to the town
of Panajachel, on Lago (Lake) De Atitlan. This is a cool
laid back bohemian town. We check into a room ($12 U.S.)
and wander down the main dirt road lined with stands
selling mayan crafts, to the lake. Three huge volcanos can
be seen directly across the lake in the distance, and two
more across to the east. The rest of the lake is trimmed
with shadowed hills that sprawl across the highlands. What
a sight. It is no wonder this is a place sought out by
travelers from across the globe.

Wednesday 5/09/2007
Jeremy is ill this morning and insists that I go
with our friends on a tour of the lake while he stays in
the room and sleeps. It is nonthing serious, but he
definately needs rest. Sad that it is only the four of us,
we hop on a little boat and zip east to the tiny Mayan town
of Santa Catarina. It is very small and even Luis can
hardly understand the locals as they speak mostly Mayan (a
language with over 20 dialects)! Children dressed in
beautiful Mayan attire do know some spanish- specifically
"Une quetzal?". This they say to tourists with out
stretched arms and open hands as they skip barefoot in the
streets. A beautiful little girl no more than three years
old is skipping along side us not trying to sell the
fistfull of colorful bracelets in her hand, but rather
twirling them around in the air. As she is dancing around
giggling she looks up at me with my camera in hand and says
"Una Photo!". I cannot resist and end up taking several
photos of her and her brother and mom. In the end I place
two quetzales (about $.30 U.S.) and a jolly rancher in her
tiny hand and she is extatic. On our way to San Antonio the
driver pulls into a tiny cove. Steam rises from the water
and nearby rocks. We reach overboard and are not surprised
to find the water hot to the touch. If only we had brought
swim suites- next time! On to San Antonio, a town built
into the side of a mountain. Walking up the steep streets
you can look out on a great view of the volcanos across the
lake! The last town is slightly larger- Santiago Atitlan.
Here a child leads us to Maximon (mah-shee-mohn), a sort of
saint carved from an extinct tree. He is paraded around
during Semana Santa (around Easter time), and spends the
rest of the year in a chosen home, recieving offerings of liquer, cigars, clothing, and money. We
hiked up the steep streets (Santiago is also built into a
mountain) until we finally reached the present home of
Maximon. We ducked inside and the eldest son told us the
history of Maximon (translated by Luis!) and answered our
questions. It was an extremely intimate experience. I gave
Maximon an offering of 10 Q for a photo and we were on our
way back to the boat. As soon as we were back in Panajachel
we checked on Jeremy, who was feeling much better. We drove
back to the City and Sonia made us enchiladas (tostadas
piled high with beets, beef, spicy vegetables, sauce, and
boiled egg. We all felt really bad for Jeremy who couldn't
eat the amazing meal (still feeling pretty low) until we
saw that Sonia had "whipped up" some homemade chicken soup
for him (she is really amazing!). He could not have been
better taken care of than with Sonia.

Thursday 5/10/2007
For breakfast Floren makes pancakes, eggs, refried
beans, a pitcher of fresh squeezed watermelon juice and a
pitcher of fresh mango juice (we are trying to talk her
into coming back with us!). Afterwards Luis and his mom
take us on a tour of Guatemala City. It is very cool! The
city is broken into zones (1-14 I think). They are great
tour guides with tons of information. For dinner we insist
on treating the family to dinner at Sonia's restaurant of
choice for Guatemalan Mother's Day. It is a blast!

Friday 5/11/2007
It is time for us to head back to our boat and the
Rio Dulce. We have had such an amazing time here and met so
many wonderful people. We hope to come back some day, and
have been invited to do so any time. Luis gets us to the
bus station and we hope he can take us up on our invitation
to visit us in Rio Dulce. The bus ride back is long and
Jeremy is still not feeling good. Back on the boat we
decide to stay down for the night for him to hopefully
recover.

Saturday 5/12/2007
Luis arrives with his good friends Diego (from
Peru) and Lisa. Jeremy is feeling better and we all spend
the night eating and drinking around town- especially at
hang this great bar called Sun Dog- before crashing out on
the boats.

Sunday 5/13/2007 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
After calling to wish our moms a happy Mother's Day
we take Max out for a cruise on the river with Luis, Diego
and Lisa (Joanne is down with what is probably the same
thing Jeremy had). We have a great time swimming and
fishing. We all have lunch together at Backpackers before
wishing them farewell (sadly they all have to work on
Monday). Luis is an incredibly fun and unique person. We
have never met anyone quite like him and will miss him a
great deal after this last week; and this time I won't let
three years pass by without keeping in touch- promise!

Monday 5/14/2007
It is time to start planning for the next leg of
our journey. We pull out the charts for the Bay Islands of
Honduras before I disappear below to type up this last
entry (we finally found a decent internet cafe here!). We
anticipate being out of touch for a while again in
Honduras, but I'll do my best to keep you all updated! Miss
you all- wish us fair weather for our crossing (probably on
Wednesday or Thursday)!!

Placencia Village

2007-04-30T17:31:00.000-04:00

Friday 4/27/2007

This morning we pulled anchor pretty early to head to Placencia village. We had a beautiful sail south, flying the spinnaker almost the entire six hour run! Along the way we managed to snag a 24 kilo. square grouper, but after talking it over we decided to release it back into the wild for someone else to catch!... Placencia is the most adorable town. The main passage through the village is a mile long sidewalk with large conch shells used as filler in the concrete. Mayan women and girls sit in the shade along the sidewalk with blankets displaying hand made bracelets, necklaces, baskets and painted masks. Bright green iguanas zip past and disappear into the blanketed green fields, much too fast for me to catch a photo. Overall this village has the nicest locals we have encoutered. So warm and friendly... For dinner Jeremy made us all enchiladas (Thanx to the Batemans for the yummy New Mexican red chile powder- a little taste of home!).

Saturday 4/28/2007
Jeremy and I woke up early and went to The Purple Space Monkey Cafe for breakfast of local fry jacks (like unsweetened funnel cake) and butt bacon... mmmm! Then we walked around the dirt paths and the long flower-lined sidewalk before stopping at a tiny little cafe called "The Shak" for a smoothie made with irish moss (a lacy clear seaweed), milk and nutmeg. Very different and verrry tasty! In the afternoon we pulled the boat into the fuel dock to fill up on fuel and water. I asked the local guy who was filling the tanks if he saw a lot of the green iguanas around the island. "Oh yeah mon." he said. "You should come by for iguana season in March. Den you see da big daddy ones- some are 5ft. long!". "Really?" I said excitedly. "Well, where do all of the big ones go after March?" He looked at me really funny then and said "What you tink Iguana Season mean?... It taste just like chicken!" I had to work to keep my jaw from dropping. I saw the signs around town saying "Protect the Iguanas" and I just thought that they were protected everywhere. Silly tourist girl! Anyway, after the enlightening conversation on the dock we prepared to shove off and though they were nice enough, the dock guys were a little lacking in their boaring skills. They threw off all of our lines before we were ready and with the way the wind was blowing we drifted right into the overhanging roof, snapping off two of our wind generator blades (Only our main source of power!). Angry (With ourselves as much as anyone) and a bit flustered, we motored back and dropped anchor. It will take some research to find a place close by who sells this model wind generator- or a large shipping bill to get it from the states. Oh well, valuable lesson learned- don't let anyone touch our lines unless we absolutely need them to! Really, it could have been a lot worse. Once we cooled down a bit, Jeremy got the bright idea of cutting the other blade down to the same size as the ones that broke. This will work for a while, just not at maximum efficiency. Better than nothing, right?

Saturday 4/28/2007 Part Two :
So we meet Travis and Joanne for happy hour at the Barefoot Beach Bar, attempting to lose our woes inside tall glasses of friuty rum (Actually mine had 9 kinds of rum in it!!- I was a little depressed.). By the time we left happy hour in search for some dinner, we were feeling much better about the whole situation. We had not taken a dozen sandy steps when we looked up and realized that the horizon was covored in billowing black smoke. Some people were running towards us, away from the blackened sky. We quickly hustled our way to the cause- overcome with curiosity as usual. A home was completely engulfed in flames. Lots of people were standing aroung gawking, not quite sure what to do. Others were hauling buckets of water, which instantly evaporated into useless steam, from a hose one hundred feet away. Minutes later a bucket brigade started, which was slightly more heplful. Travis and Jeremy both jumped into the line, but realized very soon that there were more people than buckets, and definately more buckets than water. Looking around it seemed that the entire community; black, white, locals and tourists alike; had come together to help put out the fire. It was a good thing too because this village was on it's own. No fire department to speak of. Few hoses. It did not take long for Jeremy to see an opportunity to help out. He told the older woman who was standing outside of her neighboring home filling buckets with a single length of hose to be hauled off to the site that it would take ten minutes for him to run to the dock and dinghy out to the boat to grab our own 100 ft. of hose. "Well, I don't think that this fire will be put out in ten minutes" she replied as flames and smoke burst out through the roof of the home just behind us- and the wind did not appear to be lightening any. Without another word Jeremy dropped his shoes and sprinted the mile back to the dock. Moments later he returned, hauling the hose to the front door of the building. I was with the woman (Artie) filling buckets and could hear Jeremy several times yelling above the crowd- most of the time his voice coming from INSIDE the burning building! I know that he is very level headed, but it made me cringe when i could hear the roof crashing to the ground. Omar's, the restaurant directly next door and down wind from the burning house, was in much danger- as was the little mayan gift shop next to that. If one of these buildings caught fire, the entire neighbohood might be lost, as they were wooden unlike the burning cinderblock home. Everyone worked together feverishly. Finally, About three hours from the time we arrived, there was much cheering as only a few bright embers glowed in and around the house. We did it! Jeremy emerged from the crowd soaking wet, full of sand and ash and starving! We went straight to Amigo's just off of the sidewalk. The waitress took one look at Jeremy and said, rather unapologetically, "You look just like a wet chicken!". We all cracked up. In a matter of minutes Jeremy had gone from the hero to "a wet chicken". She continued to give him a hard time all throughout our dinner, much to all of our- Jeremy included- entertainment. As we walked away Jeremy said that that was his favorite waitress in Central America. She never even knew why he was all wet... Looking back on the evening, it was quite an experience to see everyone come together like that. Jeremy said that as he was entering the burning house, a guy from the crowd yelled out to offer Jeremy his shoes. It is a good thing to periodically have your faith in the overall goodness of humanity restored.

Sunday 4/29/2007
Back to the Purple Space Monkey for breakfast. Soo good! The rest of the afternoon is spent tinkering around on the boat while Travis and Joanne do some more extensive exploring of the peninsular. We walk by the charred house on our way to get some post cards and hear Omar's voice yelling out from inside his restaurant. "Hey mon, thank you so much for your help wit da fire last night." It feels good to help good people out. We have dinner at Yoli's - Yummy barbeque under a thatched roof with a lovely view of our boats out on the water! The green parrot on a branch just above my head is a nice dinner companion, especially when he began chewing on Travis's hat!

Monday 4/30/2007
Eggs and fryjacks at Omar's for breakfast. They still don't have the water running, but the building is cleaned up for the most part. For lunch we go to "Brenda's Carribean Cookin' on da Beach". She has a whole table set up on the beach with a few scattered chairs under a large palm tree. Perfect. Stewed chicken and fish with fresh squeezed limeade and homemade coconut macaroons for desert! She is a little crazy in the best kind of way. She laughs aloud and reveals the quote of the day :"Thank you god for making me poor and happy!". It is not until well after lunch that a local kindly warns about the extra ingredient in Brenda's macaroons. We all look at each other and laugh- perhaps just a bit too heartily!

Tobacco Cay

2007-04-28T11:26:00.000-04:00

Sunday 4/22/07
Whoopie! Slumber party! - This morning Jeremy and I packed a bag and hopped onto "Calico Jack" for an over-nighter to the nearby island Cay Caulker. We couldn't bring "Max" because the water is a bit shallow there, but we are confident that she will be safe for 24 hours by herself. Cay Caulker is lovely, sleepy little island town. We had a great time wandering around on the unpaved roads and soaking up the local color. The reef here is really incredible too. First we took the dinghy to a little sandy spot called shark and ray alley where about 20 large stingrays were circling around and around swimming within inches of us! Then we went to the enormous reef which starts off very shallow and drops off to about 20 feet or so. I swam with an eagle ray that was about 5ft. across and was chased by a 6ft. green moray! It was a really great snorkel, after which we went back to "Calico Jack" to start our 3 hour long sail back to Ambergris and "Max".

Monday 4/23/2007
Time to head a little further south, this time to Tobacco Cay of the "Drowned Cays". It is a beautiful 6 hour sail with perfect conditions. It is a picture perfect scene as we pull into the tiny anchorage at Tobacco Cay. The water is absolutely pristine and the small island itself leaves nothing to be desired- it is covered with tall, bushy palm trees, two beautiful beaches with a bit of surf crashing on the long reef just off the beaches. Immediately after dropping anchor Jeremy and I jump in the water! After playing for a bit we dinghy to the island and are greeted by Charlie who gives us a quick tour of the island (for $5 Bz). Only five families live here. There are two small resorts, one restaurant and two tiny bars on the island. You have to make reservations for the restaurant by 10am, because they have to go to the town of Dangriga on the mainland to buy the food. After a nice snorkel off the beach we head back to the boat to relax and make dinner. Joanne and I agree that this is one of the prettiest places we have ever been to!

Tuesday 4/24/2007
It is our turn to host a field trip. Today Joanne joins us for a mainland excursion to the town of Dangriga- the second largest town in Belize. We have to buy fresh veggies and drop off trash, but the main reason for going to Dangriga is to visit the best hot sauce factory ever- Marie Sharp's. Jeremy has been a fan of her spicy products for about ten years. After anchoring up we have an interesting experience dinghying in. First a local man enters the shallow water to help pull us over a mud bank and into the river where we meet several other enthusiastic locals, some running others off to ensure that they are the first to greet us. As we walk away I can't help but be a little unsure of the safety of our little vessel, especially since the guys were so insistant that it was in good hands. But we haven't much choice, so we hop in a taxi and are on our way to Marie Sharp's. we turn left off of the main road and pass fields of habanero peppers and fruit orchards. The factory is small and quaint and Marie Sharp herself is present after the tour as we stocked up on sauces at wholesale prices. 8 miles back to town, past wild jungle and tiny houses. In town we buy some fresh fruits and veggies at the market (yum pineapple and papaya!) an pick up a belizean cd (punta pop). All stocked up, we pay our dinghy sitters (it was still there - whew!) $10 bz. ($5 US) and head back to the serene Tobacco Cay. Right after arrival Jeremy and I are right back in the water- well, actually I am in the dinghy pulling him behind while he searches for tasty conch. Suddenly a pod of about 8 dolphins is all around us. I throw on my mask, fins and snorkel and jump into the crystal clear water with the dinghy line in my hand just in time for the last dolphin to swim right up to me. Then it went just feet below me and turned over on it's back to get a really good look and squeal at me! I have day dreamed of such an experience since I was a little girl, and it was all the magic I had imagined. What amazing animals! Jeremy said that several dolphins in the pod came up and checked him out before I made it in the water. We looked at eachother with wide eyes, gave a big snorkel-clanking embrace, and continued the dive together, seeing a large sea turtle, eagle ray, 7ft. nurse shark, & a barracuda. I love it here!

Wednesday 4/25/2007
A quick early morning sail south and we are at South Water Cay. It is also quite beautiful, but much more well groomed and resort covored. The best part about this cay was when the four of us threw on our scuba equiptment and did a reef dive from the dinghy right off shore. The numerous reef fish here are very beautiful, but the many different kinds of vibrant colorful coral are what made the dive for me. We saw a group of scientists on Tobacco Cay who are here just to study the area's coral, and now I can see why. Huge blue and purple cones, bright orange fingers, large plates and much more. It was a great dive- but an expensive one. Jeremy lost his dive knife and I lost my snorkel! Oh well, Travis has a spare snorkel. It's a good thing too because I think I would die if I couldn't play in the water here! After the dive we go back to "Calico Jack" for some fresh pinapple pina coladas, and then to "Max" for a tapas dinner.

Made it to Belize

2007-04-22T20:46:00.000-04:00

SATURDAY 4/14/07
We found a tiny little restaurant called Rene y Renee's where the husband and wife team will fill you up with fresh bread, tortillas, juice and jam before you even get to your huevos rancheros! Needless to say we have made this our regular breakfast spot before heading to spanish class. This morning was our third and final spanish lesson. We would take more while we're here, but the amount of information that Betty gave us thus far is enough to study for weeks (which is exactly what we plan on doing!). We said our goodbyes, took a couple of pictures and were on our way to meet Scott for some quality boat-lounging time before happy hour and dinner on his last day here. Travis and Joanne arrived from their inland excursion with lots of pictures to show and stories to tell.

Sunday 4/15/07
Our whole crew went inland this morning to enjoy a farewell breakfast with Scott before waving goodbye as he disappeared inside the ferry headed for Cancun. There was a bit of a silence as the four of us headed back to the dinghy dock. He has added so much to this adventure so far, and though we were sad to see him go, we know we will see him again down the road no matter where we end up! Thanks again Scott!

Monday 4/16/07
This morning Joanne recieved an e-mail from a former co-worker of ours in Key West, Nickola. Nickola is originally from northern France, lived in Key West for a while working as a baker, and has been traveling around mexico for a couple of years. We had not had much contact since he left Key West, but managed to catch him via e-mail over the last couple of days. This gave him just enough time to get to Cancun and catch a ferry over here before we left. It was great to see him again and hear some of his stories about traveling around Mexico- especially while enjoying a rum and coke happy hour on "Calico Jack". We all went in to town for another tasty meal at Picu's cocktereria before heading back to the boats for the night.

Tuesday 4/17/07
After saying goodbyes to Nickola, filling the boats up at the fuel dock, and checking out of Mexico, we're on our way south for a two day crossing to Belize. This started out beautifully with an incredible catch only a few hours after leaving the waters of Isla Mujeres. We heard the drag whiz away and i jumped to the reel while Jeremy fastened the fighting belt around my hips - and i needed it! It was a tug of war that surprisingly only took about fifteen minutes (I'm such a stud, huh?) before we could see the 4 1/2 ft. wahoo just below the surface. One of the tastiest fish in the ocean- and a big one! We packed the fridge and freezer to the top with 18 large steaks! What a great day back on the ocean! Tuesday night Okay, so maybe I spoke too soon... or perhaps i shouldn't have had that wahoo sashimi-style. Either way, halfway into my 11am-3am watch I began to think that my wahoo bit back. For the next 24 hours I am what can only be described as wickedly ill.

Wednesday 4/18/07
Yup, I'm still wallowing around on the cabin floor. In fact, I honestly cannot recall anything but wallowing up until about 4 or 5pm when I finally began to come around a bit. By nightfall I was just barely well enough to keep watch. It proved a pretty long night with heavy cruise ship and tanker traffic (ships the size of small cities that travel about 5 times as fast as us and generally don't keep much of a watch out for smaller traffic) and the fact that we were both pretty exhausted- me from being deathly ill and Jeremy from having to make up for my watches all day long. We miss you Scott!...

Thursday 4/19/07
By dawn things were finally starting to get a bit rosier with Belize's Ambergris Cay in sight. Entrance to the island is quite nerve-wrecking because the entire area is surrounded by a very shallow barrier reef. The giant spanning coral that make us so nervous with the 6ft. of keel underneath our boat is the same thing that makes this area perhaps some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world. The water is so crystal clear that 30ft. of depth looks more like 5ft.- and once we were in only 7 or so feet of water at the entrance to the shallow anchorage it looked like at any second our boat would be sitting on the ground, or worse- the reef! But our charts and GPS proved well and we had just enough water to safely sail in and set anchor at last! After what should have been a relatively painless crossing, we arrived both weary and myself several pounds lighter. Calico Jack arrives only a couple of hours after us and in a similar state. We had all hoped for slightly calmer weather- but we've made it to Belize, and it is just beautiful! Clearing in through customs takes most of the afternoon, after which we pick up some fresh local produce to enjoy back on the boat with some wine and four of the beautiful wahoo steaks (this time it does not bite back!)... Also, special thanks to the girls at Banana Cafe for the wonderful well-being care package you all put together for our trip. Those vitamin C packets and the tea really came in handy on my road to wellness-and the papaya enzymes are perfect following the beloved delicious but sketchy Central American taco stands! You guys are the best!!

Friday 4/2o/07
This morning after putting the boat back together Jeremy and I went snorkeling. There are only a few other boats in this anchorage and the water is so clear that we decided this area would be fine for a quick first snorkel trip. We loaded our fins into the dinghy and went to the reef just at the edge of the anchorage (about a 1 minute dinghy ride). The water is so clear and we saw several stingrays and lots of tiny brilliant reef fish dodging in and out of the giant sprawling coral heads. We only stayed in for a bout 45 minutes or so since we had not yet had breakfast and there was still plenty of cleaning up to be done on the boat, but it was wonderful to see such life right in our back yard. Once we got back to the boat we learned a little more about the life in our back yard when we saw a very large dark shadow head in our direction from about 400ft. away. We are not yet sure what kind of shark it was, but we had a blast keeping an eye out for the 8-footer as it circled around our area all afternoon! (Did i mention that we had thrown a couple of the wahoo steaks overboard earlier to make room for fresh veggies? Hmmm...) This evening was spent strolling around the little Ambergris Cay town of San Pedro. It is a really fun, clean island town. I think there are more tourists here than most of the other islands we will be visiting further south in Belize, but this also makes it a more convenient place to stock up on fresh groceries again (though the prices are much more expensive than Mexico- of course). We did find an awesome little tortillaria with three tacos for $1 Belize (that's 50 cents US!) and little delicious hand made fluffy corn tortillas (that's the only way I can describe them) layered with veggies, cheese, beef and pork! I cannot remember what they are called, but What a find! There are four main streets in San Perdo. The beach is one of them, followed by front street, middle street and back street. Also the three main modes of transportation are walking, biking or golf cart. Simplicty is a beautiful thing! ...

Saturday 4/21/07 This morning I am heading to the internet cafe (the Coconet) to post this last week's activity. In a couple of days we plan to head south to some of Belize's much more remote cays. I promise to keep taking lots of pictures and will post more as soon as I can find internet service again, but am not sure when that will be. Please keep checking in on us! Love & miss you all. xoxoxo

Life Is Good

2007-04-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

WEDNESDAY 4/11/07 So the morning after.First, what we learned. Back to the old boy scout motto of "be prepared"". Second, the late great Douglass Adams said it best on the inside cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- DON'T PANIC.Really everything was good. We just adopted a new mantra. WWFD (what would fifty do- fifty knots that is!). We'll sleep better at night if we prepare the boat every night for a squall like that one. We were still tired when we awoke at 8:30 the following morning for the cruiser's net (that's the daily vhf radio chat among the cruisers regarding news, weather, finds on the island etc.), but there was work to be done. An older couple across the anchorage on a vessel called "Destiny" were busy trying to find the anchor they had to cut lose in the previous night's squall. This was proving impossible since the 20ft. deep water was murky from all of the wind. Jeremy and I went by their boat after breakfast and offered to help find it with the use of our scuba equipment. They were very grateful, and we set out to find a needle in a haystack. Now, Jeremy has been doing salvage work and the like for the past year or so, so diving for work was nothing new to him. I on the other hand had not been diving in a while, so after an hour or so of searching the muddy bottom and working to keep up with his pace, i headed back up to the dinghy to watch for traffic and wait for his signal. After another hour he came up with the rhode in his hand! It took about another 45 minutes to actually dig it out from the bottom since it had dug in so deep in the gale, but Jeremy would not leave without it. The couple could not believe we found it and offered to adopt us and put us through college! Hey, this salvage thing may pay off after all! We insisted that we were just glad to help. It felt good, especially knowing that they would never have retrieved it without help. I suppose it never hurts to build karma either. Who knows, maybe next time we will be the ones in need of a friendly hand. Now that our good deed for the day had been done, we headed to town to sign up for some spanish lessons. We are determined to at least be able to hold a decent conversation by the end of this trip. We found this great restaurant called Dragonfly when we first scoped out the island. The food is great (mmm. mole!) and the owner Claudia is the best.We have been spending lots of time here! Travis and Joanne went inland to check out some Mayan ruins this afternoon, so Scott will be boatsitting for them... I have been having way too much fun hanging out with the resident iguanas! I don't know what kind they are, but we see them around every corner on our daily 20 minute walk to downtown. THURSDAY 4/12/07 We had our first spanish lesson this morning. Our instructor is Bettie, a German woman who has been in mexico for twenty years. This is an ideal learning situation because not only is she a talented teacher, but after class we immediatly hit the streets to practice what we've learned with the locals... There is supposed to be a Norther (stronger winds from the north which usually blow for a day or so) coming on the day that we are scheduled to leave for Belize (Sunday), so we may be extending our visas and staying a couple days longer than planned. If so we will be happy to have this extra time to study with Bettie. It's a win win. FRIDAY 4/13/07 Today we took a verrry long walk to explore the southern end of the island. There is a little zoo and some Mayan ruins on the cliffs at the southernmost end. Unfortunately the zoo was closed by the time we got there, but we sat outside the gates and drank fresh coconut water from the little coco stand and ate the meat with some chile and lime. Yum! The ruins weren't much to look at, but the view of the turquoise ocean from on top of the rugged cliffs was well worth the walk. Jeremy, Scott and I then hopped in a little cab to downtown at the other end of the island (the whole island is only about 2mi. wide by 5 mi. long) for some pina coladas and whole fried fish. Life is good!

Isla Mujeres

2007-04-12T17:32:00.000-04:00

So far we have had a great time here on Isla Mujeres. First thing on Monday the two captains, Jeremy and Travis, went to the Pariso marina to clear us in through customs. It wasn't too bad for Scott, Joanne and I since all we had to do was take a cab ride with them to the Port from Captain's Office so that immigration could stamp our passports. Jeremy and Travis got the fun job as captains of having to take a ferry to Cancun to register the boats in Mexican waters. Meanwhile the rest of us kicked back on the boat and recovered from being at sea for a few days. We were a little put out by the extra hassle and $ of having to re-register the vessels (it is a new customs hoop to jump through) until we found out that it is good for another ten years.
Once we were all legal it was straight to downtown Isla Mujeres to further our search for the perfect shrimp coctail. We were not disappointed. Miguel at the marina pointed us in the direction of Picus Coctaileria where we toasted to friendship and adventure over seafood coctail and chiladas (beer mixed with chile and lime). Happy!
Tuesday after a little breakfast and boat tinkering (cockpit stereo speaker installation- woohoo!) we went in for a more detailed scout of the island. Travis, Joanne and Scott found the jackpot of beach bars - two large mahogany bars with swings and hammocs instead of bar stools overlooking the white sand beach which streched to the gorgeous turqouise ocean. Wow! As nice as this spot was, Jeremy and I could not sit still until we knew the layout of town. We walked for hours up and down the little downtown streets finding, in order of importance, the local liquor store, spanish school and grocery. A success! Now we were desperately ready for that fruity drink on the beach! Aaahhhh. Another day in paradise!

ANOTHER NIGHT IN PARADISE

Tuesday night wasn't quite so pleasant. We went to bed with a nice good day buzz and woke up around 1am to the sound of wind and waves as the windspeed slowly increased from the south. There was no need for alarm at first with the winds up at about 25 knots and we simply checked our anchor and then sat in the cockpit, waiting for what was next and watching our neighbors on the boats all around us wake and climb to their cockpits to monitor the weather as well. Before we knew it the wind piped up to 40 knots and all around we began to see tiny anchor lights drifting about as boats began to drag their anchors. Jeremy, Scott and I watched in alarm as lightening and heavier winds began to move in on our tiny anchorage. Suddenly a huge gust of wind hit us and our jib sail tore from it's furling at the exact same second as our neighbor's anchor lost it's grounding. With the jib out our boat began to sail, dragging our own anchor with it, bringing our boat closer and closer to our other neighbor to the north, Cop Out.

Jeremy and Scott went to work immediatly refurling the jib while I stood by the helm in case we continued to drag. Fortunatly our 35 lb. Delta anchor re-set itself (thanks again, Larry). This 52 knot gust (that's about 60 mph) was luckily the worst of the gale and the winds began to slowly subside by about 3:30 am. We were up for a couple more hours putting the boat back together and hauling Jeremy up the jib to untangle the jib sheets so that we could re-furl it correctly. It was a miracle that it was not damaged, though about a year's worth of wear had been put on it in just a couple of hours. Once everything was tidy again we all sat down with a glass of bourbon and talked about the lessons we learned from this gale that came without warning in the middle of the night. We toasted to our good fortune that we were able to learn these lessons without damage to any person or vessel in the anchorage. We went to bed around 6am, a little shook up, but safe and sound. ... I'll fill in more with Thursday's excursions and pictures soon!!

our first port of call

2007-04-08T14:03:00.001-04:00

hello everyone! thanks for checking in on us.... well, we left key west thursday afternoon (4/05/07) for the 360 mile crossing to the mexican island of isla mujeres, and arrived this morning safe, sound and ahead of schedule- happy easter! the crossing couldn't have been much better, with agreeable weather and fresh caught tuna and mahi- not to mention some great sailing; lots of it with the mountains of cuba on the southern horizon. this was a great shake down cruise- especially since all of our new electronics worked soundly (aahhhh, the autopilot is my new best friend =) ) speaking of best friends, the presence on board of our long time buddy scott made this leg of our adventure even better. he certainly did his part in sharing the work load and long night watches -but don't worry,he got to share plenty of the fun and rum too! ... i don't think it has quite set in yet that we are actually here in our first port of call, but i'm sure it will start to once we clear customs and head in to do some exploring ( mainly in search for the perfect shrimp coctail!)... we will be here for about seven days before heading towards belize and plan on adding to this site wherever we can find internet access, so please check back!
oh yea! thank you so much landon and joell for putting together this site so that we can keep in touch with everyone- it meant a great deal to us. also huge thanks to all of our family and friends in albuquerque who pitched in on the awesome satellite phone - it works great! and larry, our good friend and sailing guru; your wealth of knowledge and gift of precious time will not be forgotten. thank you. we love you guys!!! xoxoxo C & J

Bon Voyage!

2007-03-20T13:42:00.000-04:00

We've known Jeremy and Crystal a little over 4 years.

This day was always on the horizon.

They bought, Max and that was a step.

They Fixed Max and made her into a dream.

And now, in a few weeks, they will sail Max out of Key West in search of New Adventures.

This is my gift to help all of those who love them stay a little closer to them as they traverse the seas.

What good is an adventure if you don't have anyone to share it with?

Bon Voyage, my friends. Key West will always be a welcoming port for you.

love,

Landon and JoEll