We are at the island "split" with Lyla and Cindy (and Aaron and Jeff)

We are anchored at Cay Caulker.  We really like this island.  The streets are sand, locals walk around bare-footed and the best food is what the locals sell on their bicycle with trays along the streets.  It is a friendly island.  No one is trying to get you to buy anything.  Things are more expensive here.

Cottages are all painted very colorful

Girls playing games in the sand.

Locals on bikes, very, very few vehicles.  Cokes and water are delivered in town with a tractor and trailer.

Kay in the sand streets

We met Santiago at the dock the first day we came and asked him about getting lobster or fish here.  He said he would go fishing and bring some to our boat.

So, he did.  He brought 6 lobsters, 9 fish and 1 conch.  Sonny asked him how much he wanted for the fish.  He said, "It doesn't matter.  Whatever you have.  An old snorkel or goggles.  My son needs some goggles".   We did not have any goggles, so we gave him a couple of our beer and a package of cigarettes, $10 US and a coke and M&M's for his son.

We ate on the beach from a fellow sailor.  He came here over two years ago on his sailboat and has not pulled up his anchor since.

He grills shrimp on the beach using his boat grill and sells them 5 for $5 Belize ($2.50 US)

Kay went walking on the island this morning with Lyla and Kaija.  Then, later, we all met in town for dinner.  We had absolutely the very best meal we have had inland for a while.  We had mashed potatoes, garlic bread and snapper, with cheesecake for $25 Belize ($12.50 US).  Sonny and Kay shared a meal and was full.  Delicious!

Jolly Roger is grilling our snapper

The most delicious meal inland

Palm trees line the beach

This is the main street along the beach.

Just a reminder....We update our current position report "Where is Valentina" (go to satellite view) on our website daily, so you can track us there at any time to see where we are in paradise.

We all headed to San Pedro, inside the reef, from Cay Caulker, where it is very thin water.  We were at high tide, but with a north wind.    We all bumped on the bottom the whole way.  It was a very long two hour trip.  We all got checked out. 

Tuesday morning, we talked to Chris on the SSB and the weather looks pretty good Tuesday - Thursday to head to Roatan.  Higher winds and seas today than Wednesday and Thursday.

We checked in on the NW Caribbean Net as vessels underway and pulled up the anchor and headed out of San Pedro.  To get out of San Pedro, there is a solid reef that breaks at the top of the water with a break in it.  You must pass through the break.  The only problem is in the middle of the break, there is a huge coral reef that comes to the top of the water.  So, you must maneuver around the coral reef in the middle of the opening to pass through the reef.  To make matters worse, there are always big waves coming inland so it is very rough as you pass through.  Whew! 

Blow Me Away is right behind us and KaijaSong is headed back to Belize City.  We will meet again down the road.  You cannot see Blow Me Away's cabin from the waves.

We have 16-20 knot winds and 5-6' seas every 7 seconds on the beam.

It was very rolly coming out of San Pedro through the reef, but, after we put the mainsail up, it helped to stabilize us.

It is still rolly, but settling down somewhat.  A platter and bowl down below fell on the sole with the last big wave.

We put on our life vests and went forward to raise the staysail.  The wind is now 15-20 knots with 5' seas and our speed with our main and staysail is 6 knots.

The plastic bottles of diet cokes just slid down on the sole.  I went down below and put them in the refrigerator for later.

The seas are calming, with a big roller every minute or two.  About 7', but, it is a nice sail.  Sometimes, you still have images of a toy sailboat in the bathtub getting tossed to a fro with the splashes and waves.

The wind is dying to 10-15 knots ,and our speed has dropped to 5 knots, so we are going to put out the jib also.   Now our speed picked up to 6.6.

We ate a banana, some cantaloupe and diet coke.  Good snack for a rolly, rocky day.

It is 3,281 feet deep right now and we have gone 8 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

But, no motor needed, no diesel used, a free ride.

Since leaving Kemah one year ago, we have sailed 2,661 miles (with 5 months in a marina for hurricane season).

We see a black storm cloud on our port side we are watching.  We can get our sails down in a hurry with our roller furling and electric winch.  The dark cloud dissipated and all is well.

Blow Me Away came on the VHF and said they are heading in between Lighthouse Reef and Turneffe Reef, hoping for calmer seas.  So, we jibed and are headed to the same waypoint.  They may stay, but, we plan to continue on to Honduras.

We are rolling though, the seas are behind us, so we are going to take the staysail down.  We are only sailing with the main now and are going 5.7 knots.  We are listening to Willie Nelson singing about Texas.

11:30 a.m.  Sonny is hooking up the boom brake so the main will not slam across with the rolling waves.

12:35 p.m.  We are 24 miles from Lighthouse and have figured if we continue on to Roatan, we will arrive at dark, so we called Blow Me Away and decided if we can get into Lighthouse before dark, we will do that, then head out tomorrow morning to get to Roatan in good light.  So, we are starting the engine to help us.

12:50 p.m.  It is raining.

2:00 p.m.  We are 2 hours and 18 minutes away (16 miles)  The rain has stopped.  We have following seas so we are still rocking.  But, it is OK.  It's just that "everything" in my house is tossed back and forth every 7 seconds with each wave.  It rolls to port...starboard....port....starboard...I secure everything before we leave, but it still shifts around.

3:00 p.m.  We are 1 hour and 20 minutes away.  The seas have calmed in between the reefs somewhat.  We can see blue sky. 

Much nicer!

5:30 p.m.  We are safely anchored in the lee of Lighthouse Reef.  Location:  17 11.623N 87 35.967W

We grilled pork chops and fried potatoes for dinner and will go to bed early. 

There is a full moon and it is just breathtakingly beautiful.

5:30 a.m.    We woke up early after a good night's rest

We listened and talked to Chris, the weatherman on the SSB, regarding weather to Roatan today.  He said it would be good, but by Thursday afternoon, wind and seas will kick up, so be there by Thursday.   The sun is out with  various clouds on the horizon.  We will probably run through some rain on our way.

But, hopefully, tonight will be cloud-free so we will have the light of the full moon to guide us thru the night.

Sonny was net controller for the NW Caribbean net today.  All went well.

We had bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast before the overnight crossing to Honduras.  I love to smell bacon on anchorage.

It is a beautiful day. 

10:00 a.m.  Blow Me Away and Valentina pulled up anchors at Lighthouse Reef.

11:00 a.m.  Safely exiting the reef

In this picture, you can see the shallow water and also a dive boat out on the reef.   You can see where the reef comes to the top of the water by the surrounding white waves.   The reef totally surrounds the island about a mile out, with small breaks in it that you pass through.  There are coral heads all inside, so you have to watch on deck to miss them.

12:00 noon  We just got back in the cockpit after a bunch of dolphins were up at our bow.  We took lots of pictures,  They were jumping totally out of the water.

We just made our turn from Lighthouse.

1:30 p.m.  We thought we may have had a fish on our line we are trolling with...we had two lines out.  One line caught the other line and both caught seaweed.  After the untangled mess, we only have one line out.  No fish today.

Sailing on....big, slow swells with 15 knots of wind.  Speed: 5.2,   Depth: 3,271 feet, 15 miles from Glover's Reef, 66 miles from Roatan

Took showers on the deck today.

2:30 p.m.  We located a squall on the radar.  It appears to be going away.

      More dolphins visited us.  There were probably 50 of them.  You could see them coming towards us in the water off our starboard side.

5:20 p.m.  What a beautiful sunset! 

Bright red.....

Red sky at night, sailors delight. 

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

And.....we have a full moon coming up in one hour.  Beautiful!

We had a great sail all night.  Neither of us got any sleep; we have a hard time on the first night of a crossing going to sleep.   We take turns (watches) while the other one rests, but, we cannot go to sleep.

We had to slow down because we would get into the harbor before daylight, so we were actually waiting for the sun to rise. 

Land Ho!

The anchorage at French Harbor has a very shallow spot you have to cross, so we needed good light to see the bottom.

We anchored and within minutes, Roberto and Any were knocking on our boat.  It was so good to see them. We have missed them.

There is a north wind blowing in and this harbor is very cramped with huge shrimp boats, so we are going to move about 5 miles down the island to Jonesville Bight.   Dave of S/V Bella Donna, does the weather for the NW Caribbean Net told us that would be a good anchorage for storms coming in and there is plenty of room, so, we pulled up anchors and headed to Jonesville Bight.

It is very nice here.  There are several other boats in the anchorage and a nice area.

We love you.                           

  One Year Cruising Anniversary!

One year ago today, we cast off our lines at Kemah Boardwalk in the wee hours of the morning to begin our adventure.

During the past year, we have experienced every emotion possible, good and bad; we have learned to truly become one and trust the other's judgment and respect each other.   We realized how much we have learned, and some things we may have done different.

In our first year, we sailed (or motored) over 2,400 miles.  At about 6 mph, that is a lot.  We were at a marina for five months during hurricane season.

Things We've Learned This Past Year:

• Wherever you go, most of the time, the wind is on your nose.
• We ran our motor a whole lot more than we expected.
• Totally trust each other.  Brought us closer together.  We like being together 24/7.
• There are so many good people doing the very same thing that we are doing.
• Weather rules everything.  We no longer hear any world news, but we get the report for weather every day.
• You must keep your boat in top shape for it to carry you through tough times.
• You are much tougher than you think you are (Gulf of Mexico).
• You meet so many close friends.  And then, run into them again somewhere else.  Great reunions!

Things We Would Have Done Different:

• This is a hard one, there is not a lot different we would have done.
• We probably would not have bought the flat screen TV, because, we do not use it at all.  No TV stations out here, and we watch movies on the laptops.
• Put more solar panels somewhere.  We plan to get a hard bimini at Cartagena and put solar panels on top of it.

Things We Do Not Like:

• Storms (in the Gulf of Mexico)
• Lightning
• Nothing else, everything is good.

Things We Would Choose Not to Do Without:

• Good, strong, sturdy boat
• Good Autopilot - thanks Otto!
• Good batteries
• Solar Panels/Wind Generator
• Chartplotter and Radar
• Watermaker (we have only had this for 2 months and it is nice)
• Good communication - VHF, SSB, email on board
• Windlass
• Good small laptop

I attempted to explain what our first year of cruising means to us in A-Z format.  Kind of cheesy maybe?

On Sunday's, they have a buffet in the afternoon with tenderloin steak, lobster and crab, all you can eat for $20 US.   Most of the cruiser's do not eat there for the buffet, but the tourist will come in on boats to eat at the "Hole in the Wall".

Bob, the owner has a scarlet Macaw parrot named Abu.  Abu rules at "The Hole in the Wall".

One afternoon on the VHF radio we heard, "Come... Beast..... Come....."     After asking around, it was one of the assistants at the "Hole in the Wall" with a boat nearby.  He calls his cat, Beast, who is on the boat nearby, from  the VHF radio in the restaurant to let Beast know it is time to come eat.

Between the Hole in the Wall and our boat is a grounded cement boat that has been made into a local bar, the "Float and Drink".  See the boat under the building in the photo below?  The locals here love country and western music.  They play loud music until sometimes 4 in the morning.

To go to any town on the island, from here, you have to go in your dinghy about 1 mile, between islands, through a little channel until you get to BJ's Backyard.  She has a restaurant and will let you park your dinghy to walk to town.

Then, you follow the sidewalk path through the village about 1/2 mile until you get to the end, where the taxi waits.

Then, it is about $1 per person and they will take you to town, about a 30 minute drive.

The harbor where boats anchor are lined with small houses that the locals live in. 

Here is an outhouse - over the water, of course.   

There are also some pigs here - over the water, of course.

Our generator has not worked since November 1st and we were waiting to go to Le Ceiba to get it repaired.  It was leaking water out the bottom.

Greg, on S/V Lone Star Love, volunteered to help Sonny check it and see if he could repair it.  So, he came over yesterday and today and repaired a metal line that had a hole in it.  So.....our generator is working again and we can charge our batteries with it rather than the engine.  We are so thankful.

This afternoon, Aaron and Lyla, Damon, Greg, Sonny and Kay went snorkeling and fishing.  It was pretty far down the coast, but it was nice.  The water was still a little cloudy from the recent rains, but it was pretty.  Not as many fish as Belize though, but, it was good to get back in the water.

We all went tonight in our dinghies, through the canal, to BJ's to park, then walk down the sidewalk at Oak Ridge to find somewhere to eat.  There was no where open.  We stopped at one local restaurant that had 9 wooden stools outside and asked Emilie if she would cook dinner for all of us.  She said "yes".   Sonny and Kay had 8 pasteles, similar to a fried pie, but, with meat, rice, and veggies and 1 enchilada (like a chalupa) for a total cost of 63 limperas.   $3.00 US for everything.   It was good, too.   We will go back.

A very good day in Roatan.

West End is located on the western tip of Roatan, so there is not protection from the waves during a north or west wind while at anchor.   It was a 3 hour trip down, very nice.

We love You....   

West End is a very nice anchorage.  It is a marine park, so there is no spear fishing allowed.  They will literally put you in jail, confiscate your spear gun, and possibly your boat.

But, the snorkeling is fabulous.  Here, the water is so clear, you can jump off the boat.  There are coral heads all around.  We have seen a moray eel, squid, sting rays jumping out of the water, and lots of colorful, beautiful fish.

We went into town with Aaron and Lyla (Blow Me Away) and walked around.  While eating lunch at Eagle Rays, we met a family from Missouri who are currently living in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Jim works for the US government in the Embassy.  A very nice family. 

They came aboard Blow Me Away and Valentina for the afternoon and we had a wonderful time.  Aaron took the kids snorkeling in his dinghy.

It must be time for the sunset......  you can hear Aaron and Sonny blow their conch horns and echo through the hills nearby.  They are dueling conch horns.

In the evenings at 8:30 p.m. Sonny has set up a schedule and has been talking to his old Ham radio buddies in Waxahachie on the SSB radio. He has enjoyed that, and it helps us to stay up past 7 p.m.

We have had more fun with dolphins swimming around us.  How many dolphin can you count?

We weaved our way through the reef and shallows and anchored in French Harbor to a wonderful anchorage.   But, we found this pirate along the way.  There really are "Pirates in the Caribbean!"

We went ashore to Fantasy Island and walked around the resort, then we drove over to Old French Harbor and secured the dinghy at the Roatan Yacht Club to walk to the grocery store for some provisioning.

After another beautiful sunset,     we got out the constellation book and tried to locate some of the stars.  Not very successful.  There are way too many stars.

We are close to the reef and you can hear the waves breaking on the reef during the night.  Good sleeping.

We were sitting in the cockpit, when we saw Santa come by our boat in a launcha delivering bags of goodies to the children in their homes along the shore.   Children came running from everywhere to see Santa and receive their bag of goodies. 

Santa is the same, everywhere in the world.  Some places, just a little more creative.  Christmas is a wonderful season.  This year has been so different, not to be in the hustle and bustle of the commercialism of it.  You can ponder more of the real meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve to our family and friends.  We miss you all.

A lady came on the VHF and announced that a bunch of pilot whales are outside the harbor.

So, when Sonny came back to the boat in the dinghy, we headed out the harbor towards the pilot whales.  It was just awesome!  We were within 10 feet of the whales (in our dinghy!).  They were probably 15' long and very docile and graceful gliding through the water.  It was so exciting!

We are continually amazed at the diversified activities going on around us every day.  You would think it would be the same sometimes, but it is different excitement each new day.  We love it!

We are so excited to have our son, Taylor, Kodi and Riley Kay visiting us this week.  It looks like the weather will cooperate, winds out of the east for about 5 - 8 days.  We will hang out in Jonesville first, so they can meet some of the wonderful local people we have grown to love so quick.

Jonesville has been the first village we have been to (other than the Rio Dulce) that we have met so many of the locals.  They are very friendly, open, and it is a safe area.  We really feel at home here.

The kids have made the news on the NW Caribbean Net announcing their awaited arrival, and Rob on S/V Carmelita (net controller) bragged about how beautiful Riley was.   Of course, we agree.

Riley definitely stands out in a crowd with her big blue eyes and blonde hair.  She made friends immediately with Candace (above) at the Hole in the Wall.  Candace is a pre-k teacher at Utilla, one of the Bay Islands nearby.  She is a sweet girl.  Her father is 100 years old, and Candace, who is 21 has a 12 year old brother.

12/31

As we reflect on the end of another year in our lives, we continue to be so thankful that we are doing what we love to do, living our lives to the fullest each day, and loving each other more and more with each day's sunset.  Life is good.

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