Dec 28

Roatan, Honduras

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Tutty Lee

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Geography

The island rests on an exposed ancient coral reef, rising to about 270 meters (890 ft.) above sea level. Offshore reefs offer opportunities for diving.^[1] Most habitation is in the western half of the island.

The most populous town of the island is Coxen Hole, capital of Roatán municipality, located in the southwest. West of Coxen Hole are the settlements of Gravel Bay, Flowers Bay and Pensacola on the south coast, and Sandy Bay, West End and West Bay on the north coast. To the east of Coxen Hole are the settlements of Mount Pleasant, French Harbour, Parrot Tree, Jonesville and Oakridge on the south coast, and Punta Gorda on the north coast.

The easternmost quarter of the island is separated by a channel through the mangroves that is 15 meters wide on average. This section is called Helene, or Santa Elena in Spanish. Satellite islands at the eastern end are Morat, Barbareta, and Pigeon Cay. Further west between French Harbour and Coxen Hole are several cays, including Stamp Cay and Barefoot Cay.

Location

Located near the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the largest barrier reef in the Caribbean Sea (second largest worldwide after Australia’s Great Barrier Reef), Roatán has become an important cruise ship, scuba diving and eco-tourism destination in Honduras. Tourism is its most important economic sector, though fishing is also an important source of income for islanders. Roatán is located within 40 miles of La Ceiba. The island is served by the Juan Manuel Gálvez Roatán International Airport and the Galaxy Wave Ferry service twice a day.

Text from Wikipedia

Dec 21

Guanaja, Honduras

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Tutty Lee

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As was the case in most of the Caribbean, the first European to arrive was none other than Christopher Columbus. His first stop was right here at Isla de Guanaja, in the Bay Islands. Columbus named the land, Honduras, meaning, “depths” for the deep water he found here, along the coast.

The history of Honduras began a long time ago, with the first settlers arriving by either walking across the Bering Strait Land Bridge, or by floating on rafts across the Pacific Ocean. Anthropologists theorize that these early Hondurans arrived around 10,000 BC.

For almost 20 years after Columbus’s visit, only a couple of Spanish explorers visited Honduras until 1522, when an expedition came. Their only true goal was to acquire wealth and power for the explorers involved.

The Spanish fought the local native tribes into the latter 1530s, and at one point almost were driven out. If only all the indigenous people in Central America had banded together, the outcome would have been far different. One leader, Lempira whose name means “Gentleman of the mountain”, was unusually successful against the invaders. Lempira, a tribe chief organized 30,000 fighters into a resistance force that the Spanish could not defeat in battle, so they resorted to treachery and deception. Under a white flag of truce both sides met to negotiate a peace treaty. During the meeting, the Spanish shot and killed the Great warrior stopping the resistance movement entirely. Today Lempiras name is synonymous with the indigenous peoples heritage and so honored is the great leader that Honduras currency is named after him. By 1841 the number of indigenous Indians were around 8000, approximately, 1% of what their numbers were when the Spanish arrived.

Dec 14

Route To The Rio

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Tutty Lee

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Fellow Cruisers, Marj and Tom Lamb on mv 3/4 Time

After reviewing cruising guides, FB groups, numerous weather sites and Chris Parker { weather guru }, and considering advice from fellow cruisers, it looked like we had a solid sail plan. Years ago when we were in the Bahamas we bought a world radio off our friends Pat and Karl on Ishmael. This radio allowed us to pick up SSB channels and most important the weather report broadcast every morning from Florida, when internet is not available.

All was a go, we checked out of the country….. again, and prepared Mistress, put together our defense system, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Early the next morning we hoisted the anchor and motored out of the harbour to a mark 3 miles from the island. From there we turned north to pass through a reef and the coastline of Nicaragua this is where most of the boarding and thefts are reported to happen. Some say it is the fishermen trying to supplement their income others say if just a bunch or rowdies in boats. When you rob a boat you are a pirate and this is a known problem area.

For the first day, we motor sailed almost directly into the wind, doing a surprisingly 5 knots. The wind had been predicted to be more east, meaning the waves would be from the side. Even though the wind was light it seemed like we were travelling faster than we were, the sound of the wind can fool you. After sunset the wind became lighter and constantly shifted direction. This caused the boom to slam, and the sails to pop, hard on the rigging but kept the boat steadier and avoid rolling. The next morning we were completely by Nicaragua. and at a place we could begin to ease the sails, and turn west and get a gentler ride. As the sun rose higher in the sky the wind died completely leaving us to sail along at 3 kts. The light wind lasted all day and night, we were still 200 miles away from our destination.

Day 3 Again light winds all day, we had been running the engine al night but now had to conserve fuel to make sure we would not run out. In the evening,a group of dark heavy rain clouds passed over us one after another we got rained on till we were soaked to the skin. Our old foul weather was no match. we must have changed 3 or 4 times only to get soaked again.

Day 4, brought another problem, if we continued along at the present speed we would arrive at nigh tin the dark. The Harbour entrance is reef strewn on both sides, no place for error. We could turn on the engine, but we would take the chance of running out of fuel, or just slow right down, and drift for the last 75 miles. This is what we did.

On the morning of day 5 we had Guanaja in sight and slowly made our way into the harbour.

Honduras Immigration Office

Dec 07

Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Tutty Lee

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We wanted to leave at first light, to make our way out of the reef strewn harbour of San Andres, but were held up a bit getting the anchor up. We enjoyed our time here on this busy little island, you can see why tourists and travellers from mainland Colombia love it, almost anything is available.

Once outside, in open water we set the windvane steering to handle the approx. 10 hour voyage.

The islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina are located 80km northeast of San Andres. Their topography is much more abrupt than San Andres due to its volcanic origin which offers a particular landscape and varied vegetation. Providencia’s highest point in 360 m above MSL in a place called Peak. Providencia is comprised of cliffs and several cays, such as Crab Cay and Three Brothers Cay.

The economic activity of these islands is based on agriculture, fishing, and tourism. The main means of transport for trading is the maritime ways.

The islands have a reef bar of 32km, which is the longest in Colombia, and the second longest in the Caribbean.

Providencia and Santa Catalina are separated from each other by the Canal Aury, and are joined by the Lover Lane {Puente de los Enamorados}, which is a wooden bridge that links both islands.

These islands are connected by an artificial canal of around 100 m built by pirates to defend the islands in the 17th Century. The remains and the fortifications of the legendary corsairs Morgan and Aury are located in the islands.