16-30.424N
088-21.933W
Anchored
Near Placencia, Belize
Tuesday, June 28
(Birthday of Cindy Fall)
Lobster Fest was the immediate motivation for our 50 mile trip from Middle
Long Caye to the charming fishing town (population 500) of Placencia. Lobster
Fest is like any ethnic outdoor eating event, such as The Strawberry Festival
or the Spanish-American celebrations in downtown Indianapolis: lots
of good food, music, dancing, crafts, beer and good fellowship. We
have enjoyed all of this, while getting to know other cruisers, especially
Sandy and Cherri, who are on board one of the five to ten other visiting
craft anchored here.
Gabriella has had an especially good time. Finally, we were able to
snorkel under the calm guidance of Berty, a fisherman, tour director, and
all around good fellow, who took us to two excellent spots. We had
feared Gabriella might miss this experience, because she has only a day left,
and weather forced us to cancel a trip in Caye Caulker. But all things
work out.
After snorkeling and a good hair wash with conditioner, Gabriella had her
braids redone so that they are in fine shape when she arrives in Indianapolis
on Thursday. This was done by Brenda. We met Brenda on the porch
of our dive/snorkeling shop. When we returned and said that we were
hungry, she invited us to her house for lunch, fried fish and onions on rice.
Terrific. Then, last night, Sandy and Cherri gave us Key Lime
Pie, the best desert we have had for weeks.
Chichi had a challenge during our first hours anchored on Friday. After
ten minutes in the water off the stern, she was stung by a jelly fish. A
quick check in The Merck Manual (a most valuable reference) revealed a prescription
for lots of vinegar, salt water, and baking soda. By the next morning,
the itching and blistering largely disappeared.
17-15.747N
088-05.466W
Anchored
Middle Long Caye
Belize
Wednesday, June 22
Granddaughter Gabriella arrived Friday and immediately plunged into Belizean
life. By Tuesday, she had island-like braids from Caye Caulker, sore
legs from walking up the ruins of Lamanai, and the start of Central American
sunburn, which is well under control.
Tuesday we sailed east two hours to The Drowned Cayes, where Chichi and
I had anchored before Cucumber Beach. Today, we had a great sail, two
hours again, to Middle Long Caye. From here, it is 59 nautical miles
to Placencia, where we will enjoy lobster feast, a fine beach, and, hopefully,
a snorkeling ttrip, replacing the trip we had planned in Caye Caulker.
John took a gigantic rope burn today, a result of a classic disease known
as sailorstupidityitis. If only I had put on the gloves before the genoa
furling line decided to run out like the bull in a bull fight.
Gabriella is bright, enthusiastic, thirteen, curious and helpful.
We hope that, for her, this visit is both fun and revealing.
17-28.371N
088-14.945W
Docked
Cucumber Beach Marina
Belize City, Belize
Saturday, June 11
Nothing pleases John more than watching Chichi giggle, hop, and scream
like Tarzan, an event somewhat rare, always prompted by a unique experience.
There we were, in a 20 foot fiberglass run about, with a 150 horsepower
Yamaha on the back and an awning covering about 50 %, throwing sardine laden
hooks off the side, with no rods or reels, and just our fingers and wrists
to control the line, about 50 yards from The Reef, in 6 feet of clear water,
catching fish every minute or two. Chichi threw her hook, and seconds
later she brought a fish aboard. That is not quite right. She
wound in the line with a fish at the end until the fish was nearby. Then,
she removed her feet from the water, and gave the line to Fishmeal, who did
the rest. What a hoot. No amount of intimidation or cajoling
would prompt Chichi to complete the task, or to fire up the hook again with
a new sardine. Mainly, she giggled.
The day before, we anchored off one of the Drowned Cays, west side, and
took the dink into the rivers between the mangroves. Arriving on the
east side, the windward side, we turned north toward a dock. On arrival,
we asked if we could park a while. The caretaker, Wynn, said sure,
and gave us a quick tour of the dock, three cabins at the end of the dock,
the kitchen and power station (a Honda), and his little shack. He introduced
us to Grandpa, who, at the time, was sleeping, and often continued to sleep
even while standing and talking to us. We invited them to lunch. (Half
a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, and iced tea.) On saying good-bye
after lunch, we thought that was it. Nice guy; so long; have fun;
be good.
Having finished siestas back at The Mother Ship, we heard shouting and
banging. There was Grandpa, grandfather Ishmel, grandmother Sylvia,
mother Desiree, and her two or three year old daughter, whose name we cannot
remember. They invited us for a quick tour of the island, and fish
dinner. They have a big family, populated with at least three Ishmels.
As a group, they have two major businesses. The first is lobstering.
(The season opens next week.) The second is tourism. They
escort people everywhere, many from cruise ships for one day fishing and
snorkeling. So, the next day we went fishing and snorkeling--a great
time.
We arrived in San Pedro under high winds and dark skies, a condition that
remained from then until just a couple of days ago. Apparently, it
took passage of tropical storm Arlene, about 150 miles east of us, to clear
things out. The last two days have been windless, which means: HOT.
We find our reactions to people and places depends on conditions. Considering
the high winds and overcast skies, we had difficulty adjust to both San
Padre on Ambergris Cay and to Cay Caulker. Our memory of San Pedro
is limited to a terrific luncheon at a place suggested by a Sandy Schroeder,
a friend from Indianapolis, who told us to look up Maggie. We did.
She did. Good food. Good time. And a great coincidence.
On the ferry, we met a gal who has played piano for The Indianapolis
Symphony Orchestra. She is building a home on Ambergris.
We also had a fine dinner on Cay Caulker, but we stayed too long. We
could not see/find Pachamama. After running around the bay a bit in
the dink, we gave up and took a hotel room. Next morning, of course,
we found Pachamama, but almost a half mile west of where we had left her.
Not good. The next night, we dragged again. This was not
to be our favorite place, although we know many people who love Cay Caulker,
including Chico Guy, who stopped her several years ago on his South American
adventure.
Speaking of Chico, on behalf of our granddaughter Gabriella, Chico
accepted our invitation for her to visit us for two weeks starting next Friday.
This is a great event for us. We got the plane tickets and passport
thanks to our Iridium satellite phone that allows us to talk from the boat.
Modern technology is a blessing.