The Roatan Story

In mid November Mark left our “slice of paradise” with our two dogs in tow, Maggie and Ziggy, to fly back to the states to be reunited with me, Harley (our Hahn’s Macaw), and our 44’ CSY sailboat, Aeolus (I jokingly told him that I thought if it hadn’t been for the sailboat being in Tampa, he probably wouldn’t have come back at all. He grinned and started to nod his head in agreement but saw the look on my face and changed the subject. ( I married a smart guy!).  He left our new home in Calabash Bight in the trusting hands of Jose, our watchman, and Darcy, a daily employee.  Jose, who speaks only Spanish, would stay on our property 24/7 in Turtlegrass  Pequeño and Darcy, who does speak English, would call Mark to report any significant happenings while he was away.

When Mark arrived in Tampa, Aeolus was stocked to the gills and ready to sail.  The deck was newly gel-coated and the teak had eight coats of new varnish.  There were some minor preparations (such as building a perch for Harley in the main salon) and last minute provisioning that we accomplished by Thanksgiving.  I finally retired from my job at Verizon (hallelujah!) and we both spent time with friends and family. Finally with everything ready and all our good-byes said, we cast off our lines on November 28, 2007.  On board were Captain Mark, Admiral Lori, First Mate Harley, and the two swabs, Maggie and Ziggy. We were very excited and slightly apprehensive. Of all the crew, Mark was the only sailor who had made a trip of this magnitude.  I kept a daily log of our journey and have reprinted it here….Be warned that the writing changes from present to past tense and back again. This is due to the timing of events in relation to actually recording information in the log.

11/28/07 – Departed Davis Island Yacht Club at 7:15 am and sailed and then motor sailed out of Tampa Bay.  Ziggy peed as we cast off the lines and then peed two more times, once on my feet while I was at the helm and again on the stern.  Both dogs were a little freaked out, especially when we tacked or jibed.  Maggie was shaking all over for a bit but everyone is relaxed for the time being.  We passed the sea buoy at 11:15 am and found the winds were from the SSE and not NNE as forecast.  I poured what I thought was rum into a glass and handed to it to Mark so he could make the traditional offering to King Neptune as we have always done at the start of every voyage.  He smelled and then tasted it and told me I gave him a glass of water.  I was stunned and it took a minute, then it dawned on me that what I thought was a bottle of rum was in fact another of the liquor bottles my teenage daughter had siphoned off when the liquor had been stored in our house.  So, King Neptune had to settle for gin and we hoped this would appease him as we laughed about the rum/water.  I took the 6:00 pm to midnight watch (this is so much easier than trying to stay awake from midnight to 6:00 am!) and by 7:00 pm the sky was black with millions of stars. A shooting star was so dazzling, it could have been fireworks.  Also, a dolphin leapt out of the water close to the boat and the surprise scared me to death!  The moon rose at 10:00 pm and lit up the night, it was beautiful! We motored at 4.5 knots on a flat sea. I never saw another boat. When Mark came on watch (he hardly slept, as usual), a school of Spinner dolphin visited and he spoke briefly on the radio to a tug boat captain that passed about 2 ½ miles away.  Mark identified this tug, Ellen Moran, on our new AIS receiver.  What a wonderful device!  While Mark was on the midnight to 6:00 am watch, I slept about four hours which is the most I have ever slept on a passage.  Maggie and Ziggy make perfect “on watch” companions.  They both stay close. Maggie cuddles right up to us and it is a nice feeling. 

Above is Ziggy's favorite game, Peek A Boo!

Maggie and Mark snoozing, so who's on watch?

11/29/07 – As I write this we are approaching the Dry Tortugas and can see the lighthouse on Loggerhead Key.  It is a little after 4:00 pm and we hope to make it in the anchorage before dark.  During our passage today we mostly ate and napped. I played with the house plan on the computer (I designed the new house we are building in Roatan) and Mark caught something big on his fishing pole. It got away but he thinks it may have been a King Mackerel.   Mark also reefed our main sail for the first time just before a small storm. It was actually kind of nice, no lightning and the boat was washed.  The doggies both peed on the foredeck this morning but neither has pooped since we left Tampa.  As we approached the outermost marker, Maggie puked.  She hasn’t eaten much or drank any water all day.  Also, we discovered a propane leak at the tanks and because of this, one tank was almost empty.  Mark fixed the leak and we should be okay because we still have one full tank.  So, our timing was perfect.  We dropped the hook at 6:00 pm just after sunset under a blue and pink sky.  There was only one other boat in the anchorage (a fishing boat).  We ate dinner and hit the bunk by 7:30 pm, we were tired!  Shortly after laying down, I thought I heard rain but it turned out to be Ziggy peeing on the aft deck above us.  Mark unhappily got up to wash it down.  

Aeolus at anchor, Dry Tortugas.

11/30/07 – Our day began (after coffee of course) with putting the dinghy in the water.  Mark then took the dogs for a ride over to Fort Jefferson.  Maggie still hadn’t eaten or had any water and was vomiting.  We tried anti-nausea medicine and Mark shot water down her throat with a turkey baster. What finally did the trick was Dramamine.  We had some children’s chewable pills that Mark cut in half and Maggie took easily.  She now seems normal again, thank goodness!  We had really begun to worry about her surviving the trip. So now we will keep her on a low dose of Dramamine while at anchor and then dope her up good on passage.  Mark was “Mr. Fixit” this afternoon.  He repaired both heads so they would flush with sea water.  He enlarged the entrance to Harley’s house so the bird could actually fit inside (slight design flaw to begin with), and he unstuck the shower door.  Afterwards, we walked the moat around the fort and watched the colorful fish swim through crystal clear water.  Later, we laid in the cockpit and looked at a zillion stars…..absolutely amazing sky.

12/01/07 – First thing, I broke out the Christmas decorations which amounts to a twelve inch tree with battery operated lights and Mark’s collection of Snoopy ornaments.  I tied it to the bookcase rail and hope it will remain secure.

  Then while Mark took a dinghy ride to visit a newly arrived sailboat to the anchorage (Rich, Carol, and Rich Jr., who live aboard Sienna Bella in Isla Mirada), I baked banana bread that turned out yummy. After our afternoon walk with the dogs around the moat (the two Rich’s came with), we stopped in our dinghy to meet Sue and Graham aboard Chandrika.  They had just arrived from the Keys and had lost a cat overboard on the trip.  Sue was very upset over it.  We also learned that like us, they are headed to Isla Mujeres but may leave the Dry Tortugas ahead of us.  Once back on Aeolus, Mark and I spent a good hour removing sand spurs that both dogs acquired during their romp on the beach.  Afterwards our fingers were sore and we decided they would have to make the trips to the island on leashes from now on.  After dinner, we watched a movie and munched banana bread.  Three fishing boats pulled in, rafted up, and commenced to make a lot of noise.  One boat had a dog that barked constantly and of course, Ziggy had to respond!

12/02/07 – Today I used the “Wonder Wash” and all the laundry is clean.  It is a nifty device with a small barrel that sits on a stand with a handle to crank the barrel around.  I didn’t read the directions closely at first and spun the thing so fast the barrel flew off and sailed across the cabin…oops!  At least I didn’t break it.  I also made pesto sauce for the first time and stored in the reefer for later use.  Graham and Sue came aboard to visit and check out the weather grib files that Mark had downloaded.  They plan to depart for Isla Mujeres tomorrow (Monday).  We still plan to go on Tuesday.  I did some touch-up varnishing and Mark used silicone to hopefully seal leaks in the aft cabin and big hatch in the salon….we will see!  Otherwise, we relaxed, ate chicken pot pie, and watched a movie.  For some reason the TV screen quit working and we had to view the movie on the teeny DVD screen, BOO HOO!

12/03/07 – In preparation for departure tomorrow, I made a huge batch of tuna salad (I tease Mark by saying tuna is the only seafood I have eaten since being aboard, some fisherman he is) and also pasta with pesto sauce.  I am making meatloaf for dinner thinking that will be good leftovers to munch along our two day, two night, passage to Isla Mujeres.  Winds are now light but out of the north so we are hoping to have a smooth trip.  Since the water was so calm we took a long dinghy ride and took pictures and video and then our usual walk with the dogs.

  Mark finally came up with a way to keep the dogs from tracking sand all over the boat. He carried them from and to the dinghy at the beach, keeping their feet dry.  This has made a huge difference and I am not sweeping the boat so much now.  When we returned to Aeolus, Mark put the dink on the davits and tied her up good.  Because the wind had swapped and Aeolus swung, Mark turned on the depth sounder just to make sure we were still in deep enough water.  I told him he was being anal but when he turned it on, it showed only one foot beneath our keel!  I quit laughing right away.  Funny thing was, when we looked over the side at the water, a Goliath Grouper was swimming out from under the boat.  The depth sounder had been reading off of the fish. We were actually in fourteen feet of water.  It was a hilarious moment.

12/04/07 – We woke before dawn, both of us excited about getting underway.  But, when the sun came up, we saw a very black sky just to the north of us.  Mark got on the radio and requested a weather update.  He learned that the front forecast to stall had in fact continued to move (I am really beginning to wonder if meteorologists ever know what they are talking about).  We were disappointed but decided to sit tight.  A hard rain came through and then cleared by 11:00 am so we pulled anchor and departed the Dry Tortugas at 11:25 am.

Lori with Loggerhead Key in the background. Dry Tortugas.

 10-15 knot winds out of the NNW and 4’-6’ seas are what we experienced all day.  Waves were from the north and the ride was very rolly.  We motor sailed until the sails flapped and banged and Mark took them down.  A super tanker, Front Chief, (info thanks to AIS) was headed for us so Mark talked to the captain and he changed course to pass us astern.  I took the 6-12 watch and Mark the 12-6.  I slept well but I don’t think Mark did.  Because of the Gulf Stream current we are only making 5 knots.  At this rate, it will take three days to get to Isla Mujeres, BOO!  Maggie is not eating or drinking (Ziggy is doing great) so I told Mark he may be forcing water in her with the turkey baster again by tomorrow.  My Christmas tree fell over but all the ornaments are hanging on.  I think it might survive!

12/05/07 – Mark woke me with a cup of coffee at 6:30 am (he let me sleep in a half hour AND made coffee, what a sweetie!).  Maggie had spent all night in our cabin and when I rose and went to the head, she peed all over my bunk, ARGH!!  I stripped it and washed the bedding in the shower and hung on the lifelines to dry.  We started the day with 2’ seas and 15-20 knot winds from the NW.  Mark raised all sails and we flew along at 8 knots, it was a beautiful morning!

One of those rare moments sailing gives you.

 A small yellow bird (I guess from Cuba as this was the closest land mass to our current location) landed on our lifelines and stayed awhile to rest and then flew off.

  Mark put out his fishing line but didn’t even get a bite.  By afternoon, both seas and winds swapped to the SW, right on our nose, so we dropped sail and rode a bucking bronco into the night.  Going down below to get a drink or go to the bathroom became a real challenge and it was great we had so much readymade food as there was no way I was going to cook! We kept our usual watch schedule and Mark encountered several cruise ships as we entered the Yucatan Straight.  We hope to make it to Isla Mujeres by tomorrow night.  I am looking forward to a hot shower and eight hours sleep.

12/06/07 – This morning the seas were flat and glassy.  The wind was non-existent.  Mark woke me again with coffee, I love it!  The wind finally showed up from the SE at 20 knots around 2:30 pm and we sailed at 7.5 knots all the way to Isla Mujeres.  Just as we were approaching the first mark into the anchorage, the sun dropped below the horizon.  So, we dropped the hook in the lee of the north end of the island.  Depth was only 9’ and water was calm.  It was a wonderful feeling to have arrived after 55 ½ hours at sea!  I drank one of the best cold beers I ever had while Mark took a hot shower.  I took one next and then we woofed down the remainder of the meatloaf and tuna salad and went to bed.  I woke Mark at midnight when I felt light rain hitting my legs through the overhead hatch.  We closed up the boat just in time.  It poured hard and long.  It was nice though as Aeolus needed a wash after the trip.

12/07/07 – We woke at sunrise, had coffee, and then I spotted Chandrika behind us, outside in the rollers.  We thought since they had a 28 hour head start from the Dry Tortugas that they were already here. But we beat them!  They did move into the anchorage before us and we waved as they passed.  Soon after, we followed them in and discovered that we had never purchased a yellow Q flag.  We ran a bright yellow beach towel up the halyard.  It looked ridiculous and we laughed.  Then we dropped the dink in the water and Mark went over to ask Graham and Sue about their passage.  He also stopped and met the people on a large custom steel trawler, The Dorothy Lee.  While he was gone, I tuned in to the Isla Mujeres cruisers net and announced Aeolus as a new arrival.  This was the first time I had ever talked on the radio and it’s silly, but I was nervous!  By 10:30 am we headed into town to check in.  We had to run all over the island but got it done in a couple of hours.  The process didn’t make much sense though.  As Sue pointed out, one of the stops you have to make is at the doctor to be declared free of infectious disease.  But this is after you have already been around the entire town and could have infected everyone!  Oh well…they got our money and we are sure that is what they really want anyway.  We then went to the grocery and found prices cheaper than Honduras, great!  Back at the boat, we looked at charts and discussed our next destination as we had several options (depending on weather, of course).  I prepared tacos with the tortillas I just purchased and as we sat down to eat, Mark noticed we were dragging and about to hit The Dorothy Lee.  He jumped up and started the engine, putting a foot in the dog’s bowl and spilling dog food everywhere.  I flung stuff quickly out of the cockpit locker trying to dig out the Danforth anchor since the Bruce wasn’t holding.  But, the Danforth wouldn’t hold either and Mark just about wore himself out pulling it back up by hand.  We motored around the anchorage and finally found a spot the Bruce would hold.  We set the drag alarm on the GPS, ate what was left of the tacos (while we scrambled around the boat, the dogs helped themselves), and went to bed.  Mark was up several times during the night and I don't think he slept at all.

12/08/07 – Mark jumped up just before sunrise and (amazingly) right before the drag alarm went off. I heard him and got up just as the GPS beeped its alarm.  We were dragging again!  He pulled the anchor while I jumped to the helm and kept us from hitting a nearby boat which was quite stressful, I must say.  As we slowly cruised through the anchorage deciding what to do, we saw a catamaran had dragged right into The Dorothy Lee and was caught in their anchor line.  Other boats had changed position during the night as well, so we weren’t the only ones having trouble.  We dropped the hook and seemed to be holding next to a rusted old NOAA ship (we later learned this was a smuggling boat seized by the Mexican government) and close to Chandrika.  We had some coffee and recuperated from our abrupt awakening.  Mark was going to go to town but as we lowered the dinghy into the water, the drag alarm sounded.  Turns out I had only interfered with the GPS antenna mounted on the stern rail and caused the alarm to go off but Mark decided not to go as neither of us liked the idea of me being alone on the boat with the possibility of dragging again.  I think I could have managed it, but who would want to!  Sue and Graham visited for a few hours in the afternoon.  We drank gin and tonics while they taught us how to play Bridge. When they left and began rowing (no motor on their dinghy) back to Chandrika, a large boat flotilla was quickly approaching.  It had something to do with a Mexican holiday named after one of the saints or virgins that I can’t recall.  They made it back to their boat but barely before the huge wake caused by the flotilla dumped them over. The winds built as the night progressed and swapped to a more northerly direction, but we didn’t drag.  Mark did start the engine around 1:00 am as a strong squall line came through.  The weather is supposed to be crappy for a few days, so we may be here longer than we had hoped.

12/09/07 – Since the winds were up we decided to hang at the boat.  Graham and Sue rowed over for a visit. They are a really nice couple and we enjoyed their company.  I made a spaghetti dinner and we watched movies.  I received an email from my Mom and was glad to hear from her and to know that everyone back home was doing fine.  It was a nice day overall and we still haven’t dragged anchor again, yippee!

12/10/07 – Happy Birthday to my sister, Lynn.  I sent her an email.  Graham and Sue came over for coffee and then Mark and Graham took our dink to the marina for a total of seven trips back and forth.  Since we haven’t dragged, we didn’t want to risk raising anchor and taking Aeolus over to the marina.  Our fuel tank and jerry cans are now all full.  Diesel is only $2.43 a gallon here. Then Mark went into town for groceries.  He also tried his bank card at the ATM but it didn’t work (We found out later the bank had put a freeze on the card right after he used it to purchase the diesel. Since it had been used in Mexico, the bank thought the card had been stolen, DUH!  What a hassle to get that straightened out.) While he was gone, I cleaned and put netting (that Sue gave me) around Harley’s perch to keep her from pooping on the cushions below her.  Mark also took the dink around the boat and scrubbed the rub rail, it was filthy.  He has worked very hard today!  We had nachos for dinner (found the best tasting tortilla chips ever in the island grocery store), watched a movie, and crashed.

12/11/07 – A guy on the morning cruiser’s net said he had a Q flag, so Mark bought it for $5.00. Now we won’t have to fly our yellow towel anymore!  Then, Dave and Paula, the owners of Dorothy Lee invited us over for coffee. They gave us a tour of their very large boat, and were very gracious hosts. Paula is from Argentina and she and Dave met at the Panama Canal almost 40 years ago when she was a line handler and he was bringing his boat through.  They have spent most of their lives sailing together and had some interesting stories to tell (One horrifying tale was about watching their sailboat completely burn up).  The visit to their boat was the first time we ever left our dogs alone on Aeolus.  We watched them closely through a pair of Dave’s binoculars and were relieved that they didn’t jump ship!  Then Mark, the dogs, and I toured the anchorage in our dinghy.  We dropped our trash at the marina then walked the dogs around town.  It felt good to get some exercise. We stopped and looked at trinkets in a shop and the owner asked if we wanted any ganja or cocaine, crazy!  Mark lectured him about the dangers of drugs as I walked away giggling.  Back at the boat, we listened to the weather and it sounds like we may never get to leave here! Tropical Storm Olga is over Haiti and heading this way, CRAP!  We can’t believe there is a named storm this late in the year.

12/12/07 – I woke up depressed today because of Olga and also a cold front is headed down.  We are probably stuck here until Monday or Tuesday.  I am upset because it looks like I may not make my flight from Roatan to Atlanta on December 29^th.  Savannah (my daughter) is flying from Tampa on the 29^th and is supposed to meet me in Atlanta.  We plan to rent a car and drive to North Carolina to spend New Year’s with my sister and parents.  These plans may not work out.  I did laundry and started fish cakes for dinner.  Mark went ashore to try the bank again but it is a holiday, Saint Guadalupe or something, so everything is closed (How many holidays do Mexicans have anyway?).  We learned on the net this morning that Jim and Rosie on La Bella are heading south too.  Jim says they may leave Tuesday.  Sue and Graham came for a visit and lifted my spirits.  This was the first night all week that we didn’t get any rain.

12/13/07 – Sue called on channel 13 and asked if Mark would come over and dunk Squeak (their cat) in the water.  They want to train him to climb a net to get back aboard if he ever goes over.  Sue didn’t have the heart to dunk Squeak the first time.  Mark is not a cat lover, so was the perfect man for the job.  We checked weather and Olga is dissipating and forecast to go north of us. Conditions will be favorable to head to Belize tomorrow.  Scratch that!  Olga is weakening but seas and winds will not be favorable for departure tomorrow. We went into town and cleared out anyway. The Port Captain said we could stay a few days, no problemo.  Also, we will have to stay and wait for a cold front headed this way.  In the late afternoon, Dave and Paula from the Dorothy Lee and Sue and Graham from Chandrika all stopped by Aeolus for an impromptu party.  We had fun.

Left to Right, Graham, Sue from Chandrika and Paula from Dorothy Lee.

Left to Right, Me (Mark) and Dave from Dorothy Lee and the rusty old NOAA ship in the background.

12/14/07 – The drag alarm sounded at 4:00 am and we were dragging again!  Wind gusts were over 35 knots and Aeolus couldn’t take it.  We idled around the anchorage until there was enough daylight to see so we could make our way through a narrow channel to a protected lagoon.  We anchored at 6:30 am and I went back to bed.  Later in the morning, we listened to the net and weather was not good for departure for at least a few more days.  We put the dinghy in the water and Mark motored over to the nearby Isla Mujeres Yacht Club to inquire about a slip.  It was affordable ($1.00 per foot per night), so we moved in.  It has been raining all day so we made use of the free wireless internet offered by the yacht club.  Mark also gave the stinky dogs a bath on the dock.  After we went to bed, the winds really kicked up.  Mark added a port spring ling at 3:00 am to help keep our bow off the dock.  I am SO glad we are in a slip!  I also feel better today because I received emails from Alex (my son), Mom, Mother-in-Law, and sister, Lynn.  It was great to hear from them!

12/15/07 – We woke this morning to find Chandrika had come in the lagoon and anchored.  They had dragged in the anchorage too.  Sue, Mark, and I shared a cab to town while Graham stayed to watch their boat.  Sue needed to finish the check out process and Mark and I shopped and had lunch at the Bucanero’s restaurant.  The food was great but spicy, so I was glad there was plenty of Corona to wash it down with!  Back at the boat, we laid around and listened to music.  Graham brought over a beautiful pastel drawing as a parting gift.  We figured once we all left Isla Mujeres we may not see each other again.  I had baked them a batch of oatmeal cookies but think Mark and I got the better end of the deal with the drawing!  Seas and winds were rough today as remnants of Olga passed by.  It is very humid and everything on the boat is damp.

12/16/07 – Early morning rain signaled the arrival of the cold front.  Winds are strong and from the north.  It is cooler and dryer today which is nice.  I spent the morning cleaning the aft cabin top to bottom (mold off the overhead, drying out the damp bedding, vacuuming, etc.).  Mark tied up the dinghy to make ready for departure and did garbage run.  I emailed pictures of our trip to everyone.  We took the dogs for a walk around the yacht club. Ziggy ate some iguana poop and puked twice on the boat later in the evening.

Lori and the "Kids" Maggie & Ziggy

Mark and the "Kids".

12/17/07 – Weather still looks good for departure tomorrow.  We are more than ready to go.  The anchorage is lousy with little protection and poor holding.  Ferries come and go non-stop, day and night.  Loud music and noise from the tourist traps on shore bombard your ears constantly.  The only good things I have to say about Isla Mujeres is the people are wonderful (both locals and cruisers) and the groceries and fuel are very inexpensive.  We discovered today that for some reason our water maker isn’t working right and we are concerned, but don’t want to fill the tanks with the water here.  I waxed black streaks off the sides of the coach roof until I was exhausted.  The bilge was stinking so Mark flushed it with fresh water (We will use local water for stuff like THAT!).  Then he went and paid our slip bill and went to town to spend the rest of our pesos.  He returned with a necklace for me, what a nice surprise!  The Brits on the three boats in slips near us partied all night and made it difficult for us to sleep.

12/18/07 – We cast off from Isla Mujeres Yacht Club at 7:30 am.  The Brits helped which was nice.  Winds were from the NNE about 20-25 knots and seas started out at 3’-5’ but built to 6’-8’ with 9’ swells.  It was mostly a following sea but once in awhile a rogue wave would hit us on the port beam.  When this happened, the boat would rock and roll and loose items would fly around the cabin.  I thought everything was secure but apparently not.  We passed the large and numerous hotels off Cancun between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.  By my watch at 6:00 pm, we were passing Cozumel.  The waters smoothed out a little between this island and the mainland so I hoped Mark would get good sleep but he really didn’t.  We passed three cruise ships and the Cozumel ferry came close, but no problems.  The moon is close to half full and shines brilliantly off the water.  A pod of dolphins came by on my watch to say hello.  By midnight, we were at the end of Cozumel and the seas were back up again.  Jim on La Bella called Mark on channel 16 and said there were squalls forecast so he was going in to anchor at Espirito Santo.  Mark told him we might do the same.  The ride was so rough that as I lay down to sleep, I kept sliding and bouncing across the bunk.  I finally jammed myself in, with pillows all around and got a little rest.

12/19/07 – Sometime on Mark’s watch, the sailing vessel Red Cloud from Houston Texas came behind and started following us.  This boat had left Isla Mujeres about the same time we did. At first light when I assume was his first opportunity to read our boat name on the stern, he hailed us on 16.  They were headed to Ambergris Cut.  Mark told him we were going about 35 miles south of that to the East Ship Channel.  On the chart, Ambergris looked like a scary cut to navigate in the dark so earlier we had opted for the larger channel.  He said he was having trouble with his auto pilot and had to hand steer all night.  That has to be awful.  I am so thankful that our auto pilot, Casper, has been working wonderfully the entire trip.  Red Cloud (never did get the captain’s name) followed us all day, only stopping once when they caught a Maui Maui.  I wished that Mark had his line out and made the remark of only eating tuna again.  Jim on La Bella saw a blue boat anchored in Espirito Santo and hailed Mark and asked if it was us, but Mark told him no, it’s not.  The weather report we received called for ESE wind and 3’-5’ seas with no squalls so we were going to keep going.  Jim is a Ham like Mark so they will be able to keep in touch even as our boats get further and further apart.  At sunset, we saw Chandrika way off our port side.  We hailed them but got no answer.  At 1:00 am Red Cloud hailed to thank us for being a good “star” to steer by.  They were going to Ambergris to pick up coffee to import to the U.S.  He said we could read about it in February’s issue of Sail magazine.  We wonder if Aeolus will be mentioned in the article.  Mark’s night watch was busy.  He went through three rain storms (so much for the forecast calling for NO squalls!) and had a cruise ship bearing down on him as we neared the ship channel at Belize.

12/20/07 – Mark woke me from a sound sleep (finally got some good zzz’s!) at 5:45 am as we approached the ship channel.  The waters had calmed way down.  He was exhausted and went to sleep for about an hour.  He rose to do the NW Caribbean net on the radio.  As we were navigating the channel markers, Chandrika hailed us. We told them we planned to anchor behind One Man’s Key.  They said they would see us there.  We discovered our depth sounder took a dump and had to use the GPS to feel our way around Robinson’s Point to anchor.  Mark got out his sounding line and although I almost ran us aground (had a good laugh about my driving a little later); we anchored in about 25’ of water.  As soon as we shut down the engine, Ziggy puked in the galley, Maggie peed in the cockpit and I discovered Harley poop on the pillows in the main salon.  I was worn out from the passage but had lots of cleaning to do, fun!  Plus, Maggie had peed on Mark’s bunk the first night out and it had been so rough that all I did was throw all his bedding in the shower and close the door.  Now all that had to be washed as well.  Mark found a dead flying fish up forward. Guess he flew the wrong way, poor fish!  We both took showers and Chandrika pulled in and anchored behind us.  It hit me all of a sudden how different this was from the passage.  The water looked like an oil slick and it was so quiet that the ticking of our clock in the salon sounded loud.  It was a little warm with hardly a breeze.  It cooled nicely in the evening and the sunset was beautiful.

 We didn’t hear a peep from Chandrika.  We figure they must have been exhausted.  Mark and I had a large dinner and hit the sack at 7:00 pm.  We had sand fleas bother us for awhile but I lit the bug lantern which helped and Mark rolled himself up in his bed sheet like a cocoon, he looked hilarious.  It was wonderful to be so still and get a good night’s rest.

12/21/07 – We woke to a thick fog and heavy dew on the boat.  Everything was still and calm.  Mark was on the radio by 7:00 am and Chuck in Marathon gave him weather.  It was looking good to head straight to Roatan, yippee!  If we stayed along the coast of Belize for a couple of days, a norther might detain us from crossing at the bottom and cause us further delays.  We said our good-byes to Chandrika from the deck and told them they better show up in Calabash Bight.  They promised they would and by 9:30 am, we had the anchor up and headed south and out a cut in the reef at Glory Key.  Amazingly, our depth sounder decided to come back to life again.  This was perfect timing as we had to navigate through shallow water with numerous coral heads.  Mark stood on the bow, directing me which way to steer and any time the depth sounder read under 6’, I slowed way down.  Once at the cut, it was eerie to see a shipwrecked sailboat lying on its side with a huge hole through the hull.  I got goose bumps all over when I realized this boat had only missed the opening we were going for by a few yards.  It was a relief to get out in the open water.  But, the wind was from the east, right on our nose!  Seas were also out or the east but only 2’-3’.  It has not been a bad ride so far.  We are hoping the wind will shift a little so we can put up the sails and make better time.  At any rate, we should be in Roatan tomorrow and we are so excited!  Mark finally caught something on his fishing line…woo hoo!  Turned out to be a Barracuda and I didn’t feel like dealing with it and all its teeth, so Mark released him.

My what big teeth you have grandma....

 There were quite a few ships showing up on the AIS at night but none of them were close by.

12/22/07 – Same seas and winds as yesterday, right on the nose.  By noon we could easily see the mountains of Honduras and soon after, the island of Roatan.  We talked to both Alex Poirer (the realtor who helped us find our property and who also lived in Calabash Bight) and Darcy on the phone.  They said they would help lead us in Calabash Bight if we arrived after dark.  We ended up picking up some speed and arrived at our dock at 3:45 pm.  Jose was here to greet us.  The place looked great!  The dogs jumped off the boat and tore around the place.  They looked very happy to be here too.  So, now we will have Christmas in Roatan!  And, I will make my flight to Atlanta to spend New Year’s in North Carolina.  With everything that could have gone wrong on this voyage, we really had an amazing trip.  I am thrilled to be home, but a little sad as now the vacation is over and Mark and I have to get to work!

Notice Mark's concrete monolith for Lori in the background....The Guest House on the right behind the mangroves and the original small dock.