On to Honduras
Author: Shirlz
I left Port Antonio on Wednesday, 7th May. The day started out perfectly and I was able to actually see the spectacular coastline as we glided along.
But it was not to last and by mid day we suffered an ongoing sequence of ferocious squalls interspersed with deadly rolling calms. Not the most comfortable way of making progress. By next morning we had only covered 15 miles and the track showed a wobbling line as we were battered this way and that. The snotter (yard hauling parrel) looked about to wear through. I thought about making another stop before we left the coast of Jamaica to take a break and check the gear.
The weather improved and before dark the next day we made our way into Bloody Bay at the far eastern end of the island. In the old days it had run red with the blood of slaughtered whales but now it is surrounded by pristine tourist resorts offering thrills on jetskis, towed parasails and other noisy aquatic toys. The water is beautifully clear. I had a swim and celebrated my birthday with a bottle of warm Red Stripe. On the off chance I scanned for a wifi signal and was rewarded with a good useable open network which meant I was able to pick up a weather forecast. I decided to stay where I was and leave the following day so as to arrive at the island of Guanaja, 450nm away in Honduras, when the strong winds had hopefully worn themselves out.
I replaced the snotter and grieved over the state of the sail which was chafing badly where ever it touched the lazy jacks. There was a very welcome tropical downpour in the afternoon which subdued the holiday makers and filled my water buckets. I was able to do some washing.
I set off again early the next day but the weather was still unsettled and we struggled on through squalls and calms. As I lowered and raised the sail with monotonous regularity I thought about the poor souls who did not have the advantage of easy-reefing junk sails. Thankfully it had worked itself out by sunset and the night sky was clear with a bright half moon. A bird, possibly a Black Noddy, settled itself on the solar panel for the night and kept me company.
For the rest of the trip the weather was perfect with a waxing moon setting later each night and making my head torch almost unnecessary. The bird returned to its comfortable overnight roost for 3 nights and then was seen no more. I was able to do some cooking and enjoyed real food after having to make do with bananas, nuts and biscuits to get me through the rough days.
I spent one beautiful day hand stiching a courtesy flag for Honduras and felt happy to carry on and on.
I made landfall at the NW end of Guanaja about 30 miles off the coast of Honduras. My Samsung Android had been refusing to charge so my handy mini-chartplotter was no help at all. Luckily I had printed out CMap charts of the island and had a waypoint for the entrance to the channel through the reef. After one near mistake we found it and soon were snugly anchored at Bonacca.
A kind neighbouring boat gave me a lift ashore to get cleared in. The little town is built on a small island and most of the buildings are perched on wooden pilings. No roads or cars but look out for the heavily loaded trollies being trundelled through the narrow alleyways. A friendly guide was waiting at the dock to shepherd us to the immigration office and was a great help. (For a small fee of course). Long term anchoring off the town is not allowed as it is just too busy with water taxis and fishing boats constantly on the move.
After a quick lunch I moved on to the peaceful anchorage at El Bight abour 1.5 miles back inside the lagoon and started doing running repairs.
May 24th, 2014 at 08:26
Wonderful news – always a cheerful post and it brightens up my day exactly right – as I am still on the hard hemorrhaging money – I need something to cheer me up.
fair winds
Kris
May 25th, 2014 at 06:14
Good to hear you had a nice day for your birthday. Hope you managed to pick up my email at some point.
Ian xx
June 10th, 2014 at 19:05
You made a great job of the flag, Shirley!
See if you can get hold of some soft hosepipe and put that over the lower spans of the lazyjacks. I think you’ll find it makes a great difference to the chafe problem. Clear polythene tube would do at a pinch, but the sun gets to it quickly and it goes sticky and horrible!