Newsletter June 3rd position 016.27N 085.52W
Out Of India
Birgitte and Ray Charmak
Tue 5 Jun 2007 19:02
on May 28th. First stop West End,Roatan. What a struggle to get a good hold
for the old anchor. The following day the Marine Park came over and we were
told to pick up one of their moorings. They were concerned if we had damaged
the sea
grass..... Ray and Jon enjoyed a drift dive. Despite our dear guests almost
suffocated from the heat in the guest cabin, we had a wonderful time with
loads
of good food and wines and very serious backgammon tournaments between the
two Norwegians. I am currently enjoying the last victory whilst Jon is back
at Utila figuring out new hard core strategies to make a final kill for our
next visit.
Next stop French Harbour Roatan which we didn't like at all. As soon as Jon
and Amanda left for La Ceiba by ferry, we set off for Port Royal. A stunning
spot. Amongst the most beautiful anchorages we have been to with picturesque
beaches backed by coconuts and a cool breeze blowing over the reef.
Arrived Guanaja June 1st. As with Roatan the interior is sparsely inhabited,
the people preferring to live in small communities clinging to the Cay and
shoreline. We are anchored quite near to the only sizeable community,
Guanaja Settlement, crammed onto two low-lying cays with the houses spilling
off on all sides into the surrounding water. The Venice of Honduras.
Finally having a dingy which can get up to considerable speed, we prepared
ourselves for the waterfall expedition in approximately 40 C degrees heat!
We dinghied the canal cutting through the island to the most beautiful
beaches on the inside of the reef of the north-western shore. We instantly
got tempted to try and get Out of India in there, if Columbus did, why
can't we?
We parked the dinghy by the restaurant, and ordered food for our return as
well as extra supply of water for the expedition. I soon learned that Clogs
are not suitably foot wear in these conditions. As we were climbing the
dried out waterfall my feet were slipping inside the shoes of sweat and I
started to worry about a twisted ankle. Ray slipped but fortunately didn't
hurt himself. As in charge of Health and Safety, I declared I had enough and
we started to descend. Ray then found another path, the right path and
after some persuasion Ray got me back on the track. What a wonderful
experience. The waterfall is small, but lovely and cool and this is
absolutely high up on the hot list of exotic experiences we have had. Sweaty
clothes off in an instant, and pure joy of cool splashing water. A paradise
as Ray called it comparing us to Adam and Eve..... what about the snake I
wondered? A few minutes later, there it was, sleeping peacefully on a sun
heated rock in the water.....
We are seriously digging into our supplies. Our fantastic freezer which we
filled up in the States and partly in Mexico has provided us with a
delicious cuisine throughout our journeys. A bit of a joke really, last
night we enjoyed Kirkland's Shrimps from Cosco, South Carolina, whilst
literally sitting on top of Guanaja's considerably big shrimp fleet.
We are also working our way through the wines, no point in leaving any fancy
bottles of French behind when we leave the boat for the hurricane season. It
is a hard life!
It might not be a very, very hard life, but it certainly is a very, very hot
one and itchy one. Ray got attacked by sandflies yesterday and I counted 40
fat bites on his back. We seriously considered turning back to Rio Dulce for
the next high tide midweek. There is zero breeze, and in the 40's. The water
is only cool
in the morning. We are almost hallusinating about the cool weather in Maine
and slightly regretting being here this time of year. Nevertheless, Ray is
out with neighbouring yacht doing a wreck dive. I have hid myself down below
with the air con and dug a little further into the frozen brownies.