“Belly say”…. We made it to Belize

We left Mexico behind and, finally, just a day sail away, we reached Ambergris Cay in northern Belize. The sailing guide predicted another tricky entrance through the reef, but this time we had another ace in our pockets. My mad, Scottish friend Dave, who I met during my adventures down in Ecuador, had been living down in Ambergris for a couple of years and was part owner of the local water taxi company, Island Ferry, so he had offered to send a boat out to guide us in. Awfully handy – the next thing we knew we were anchored off the island and prepping to head in and deal with customs and immigration.

Tragically the officials were moving offices and didn’t seem to have the new one set up yet and so had taken the Friday afternoon off… so there was nothing left for us to do, but head to the closest bar and catch up with Dave and Corinne.

The next week basically involved more of the above… hanging out… drinking beer and rum (Arrrrrr!) … we finally got our papers sorted after being in the country almost 4 days… talking to the local charter company (no luck with work as we’re not Belizian)… checking out dive companies to see if we wanted to do out divemasters…. And helping out Dave, Corinne, Sterling and Isobel with their yard sale… as everyone was heading off!!

Yup, we finally get here and Dave and Corinne had decided to move on after 2 years here… aw well, just in the nick of time!


So just before everyone disappeared north… we had the pleasure of attending Sterling and Isobel’s wedding and the drunkenness that followed… not to mention the first crazy, high-speed golf cart ride through San Pedro.


The Happy Couple

… Welcome to the cays!

What we do all day.

Q: So what do you do all day?

A: It's not just what we do all day, it's what we do all day and night. I can best explain this in a chronological breakdown for you. For illustrative purposes with entertainment value, I will combine several typical situations that may or may not all occur in one 24 hour period. If all of these things happened in one day, most assuredly, we would either move to a new location or sleep the entire following day. I'll start in the morning, using the 24 hour clock, or military time.

0200: Wake up for a squall. Winds are blowing from a new direction. Lie there and feel for the tug of the anchor lines and wonder if we are adrift. Worry if the anchors will hold. Get up out of bed and stand up on deck. Watch the lightning in the distance and gage the direction of the center of the storm. Wonder if the wind will blow harder or subside. Decide that there is no way to predict this and go back to bed, but don't sleep until it starts raining. Get back out of bed and close the hatches. Turn on the fans, start to sweat a little under your back and wait for the storm to pass.

0400: Fall back asleep.

0600: Wake up with the sun. Wonder if the batteries are approaching the critical level of 10.5 volts. If they do, they will never last as long again. Get out of bed. Look at the battery meter. Look at the refrigerator temperature. Decide to start the engine to save the batteries. Let the engine heat up the cabin while you go back to bed for a bit. Sweat.

0800: Peel yourself off the sweaty sheets and be disgusted. Get out of bed. Scratch yourself all over. Put the kettle on. Check the battery meter and refrigerator temperature. Turn off the engine. Go topsides for a look around and rub your eyes. Make sure the dinghy is still tied to the boat. Make breakfast of coffee or tea, hot or cold cereal, perhaps yogurt or fruit and if you're really hungry, both. Put up the bimini and the tarp over the boom for shade. Bring in any laundry that's still on the lifelines.

0830: Wash the dishes and check the to do list. Realize it's longer than yesterday. Dress for the day. Tilt the solar panel to the East. Check the battery meter. Make a stink in the head.

0900: Try to get a free internet signal. Read something. Discuss with your mate what it is that seems most important to get done during daylight. Fix something that's broken. Write down on the list what you have found to be broken while fixing the thing that was already broken or corroded from salt. Sweat some more. Write a blog.

1100: Apply liberal amounts of sunscreen. Gather your things. Put them in a waterproof bag. Stow the rest. Think in exacting detail about what it is that you've set out to do ashore. Talk out loud about those things. Realize you've forgotten to pack something that you need. Go back down below and get it. Repeat the process from think until you're irritated about it and decide to just get going. Get going. Pull the dinghy alongside. Tie the dinghy alongside. Shut the hatches and lock up so it gets real hot and stinky inside, if anyone breaks in, they won't be able to stand it long enough to find anything of value. Get in the dinghy. Untie the second security line from the dinghy. Load the dingy with the items needed ashore. Look for your flops. Get back out of the dingy for your flops and sunglasses. Rotate the solar panel level to the horizon. Get back into the dinghy. Hope the engine starts. Untie and putter to shore.

1130: Approach a dock or the beach. Assess the waves and depth. Abandon the original plan and find a new spot to come ashore. Bounce all around in the surf and get salty. If you swear, now is a good time for it.

1200: Beach it or tie it to a dock. Run a cable through everything that remains in the boat and lock that cable around something that cannot be easily pulled up or cut off. Bounce all around as you hand up all the things you need ashore to your mate. Don't take your eyes off the item or dare let go until they have firmly taken it from you. Clamber out of the dinghy and quickly get your sandals on your feet or be burned. Sweat some more. Get your backpack or shoulder bag on and get going to the first place that has shade or air conditioning.

1215: Be hassled by the vendors because you look like a tourist. Keep walking.



1500: Finish the banking, shopping, exploring, or whatever it is that seemed so important earlier. Accept the fact that prices are different for you because you look like a tourist. Notice that you are carrying more weight and there is much less wind onshore. Sweat profusely. Smile, you're in paradise.

1600: Fill the water jugs before leaving shore. Carry them back to the dingy. Load up and look offshore to be sure your boat is where you left it. Sigh relief and get going. Get salty from the waves splashing up over the front of the dinghy. Again, if you cuss....

1630: Unload, tie up the dinghy with two lines, fill the water tanks, rotate the solar panel to the West. Check the battery meter and refrigerator temperature. Open the hatches. Hand things down below to your mate. Stow everything. Drink something cold. Sit up on deck in the shade on cool off. Swim if you feel like it, you'll have to shower later anyway.

1700: Wash yourself with a hose in the cockpit. Hang your clothes on the lifelines. Go online and look for free internet. If you get some today, check for tropical depressions, go to Facebook, look for a job online, and read your email.

1800: Play the ipod and have another cold drink. Feel the contentment of living in a beautiful place. Watch the sun go down. Take a picture of it.

1900: Think about starting dinner or watching a DVD on your laptop in the v berth. Pump out the holding tank. Check the battery meter and refrigerator temperature. Decide to run the engines again. Wonder if you have enough diesel fuel in the tank. Check the tank. Top up the tank with 5 gallons and start the engine. Talk very loudly over the engine noise and sound irritated even though you're not. Cup your ear at your mate. Give up on communicating.

2000: Make dinner. Wash the dishes. Wonder if the water in the tank will last until the last dirty dish. Shut down the engine.

2100: Finish the movie or read if you haven't started watching one. Perhaps you can write a blog now that it's really cooled down outside.

2200: Go to bed and be happy that today, the wind is blowing right down the wind scoop and onto your face. Read a couple of pages and drift off to sleep.

Repeat.

On The Border

Tadd setting up the fans for an overdue nap after a long hard watch

We reluctantly left Chinchorro behind in the early evening after some less impressive snorkeling and a heavy squall had passed through. We’d tried fruitlessly to get our army friends from the day before to answer us on the radio and give us any weather report they could… actually we couldn’t get anyone to answer… not sure what the deal is in Mexico… maybe they just don’t talk to gringos!

During the night there was lots of lightening going off all around but we got lucky and nothing actually passed right over us… still it’s more than enough to make you nervous. I had a great watch with lots of wind, though there were a few moments when I had to start wishing it would calm a little so I wouldn’t have to wake Tadd to help reef the mainsail. Unfortunately, once Tadd took over, the good conditions I had had turned really crappy, and he had to suffer through a watch with no good wind and the boat being bashed this way and that by the waves… no fun at all.

So when we arrived off the coast of Xcalak with following seas and potentially unclear instructions how to get through the way-too-narrow gap in the reef 50 yards we were not too feeling too happy or refreshed, but knew it could have been a lot worse. Luckily as we headed in to take a look and see if we could work it out… we were very surprised and really pleased to catch sight of some small buoys… the depth was looking good… the lighthouse and the range light were in transit… we were even happier when we gradually became confident that the buoys were in actual fact marking our passage into town… only the second time we’d seen anything so helpful since we’d left the US… just what we needed after a long night.

Things got even better when we spotted a couple of mooring balls again… thank you!

After a well-deserved nap we tried all usual to call into the port captain… last chance to make it happen before leaving Mexico… nope… not going to happen. So after some food we headed in person.

Susi, the port captain in Xcalak is fabulous! She got our paperwork sorted in a matter of minutes (there’s no immigration or customs there, so she’s everything)… and while chatting, we learned that the storm that had passed us out in Chinchorro had come in and hit Xcalak the day before and the winds were too much for the concrete posts that hold up the power lines… not that surprising considering they’re planted in the swamp. So one post came down and brought down a bunch more with it… so no power, no lights, no air conditioning, no internet… no refrigeration for food… so no shops really and no open restaurants.

Luckily Susi was there to help out and offered us a ride in the back of the official Port Captain truck to the next town 40 miles away, where she was going to get ice and stuff anyway…

Hold on tight… Susi’s also a speed demon… 100 miles an hour watching the road fly away behind us, as the trees bent and swayed as the we passed…. But we survived the trip and picked up some supplies… food… beer… gas… diesel…. What more can you want? Thanks Captain Susi!

With the lights not coming on any time soon, we loaded up on some water and headed back to boat to relax and chill and eat tamales, rice and beans… a few drinks and good night sleep before an early morning start to Belize!