Cayman to Roatan with Sandy and Marc

While we wait for Sandy and Marc to arrive, we checked out some of the anchorages in North Sound. Governor’s Creek area was a very well protected anchorage. There is a narrow channel you enter from North Sound that opens into a large bay. At one end of the bay is the Cayman Island Yacht Club and there are 15 canals that that run off the bay. These are part of an exclusive housing development and there are many stunning homes and docks with various sized boats tied alongside. It made for a fun dinghy ride, wondering what was around each corner. We also enjoyed the beach off of Kaibo, on the far side of the bay. Its not far from Stingray City, a very popular cruise ship tourist excursion. It was also very nice if not quite as swanky.

We moved back into the marina to await Sandy and Marc’s arrival. Their flight was on time, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Yacht Club that evening. We needed to check out of the country and the next day was Saturday. The Port Captain and Customs offices are only open until noon. We could not boat all the way back to the main harbour before closing so we walked the 40 mins across the island to check out with the Port Captain and Immigration. There were no cruise ships in town that day so it was pretty quiet and most of the shops were closed. After walking back to the marina, we untied the boat and began to make our way to the mooring balls in the main harbour to stage for our departure to Roatan the next morning. We were under sail and heard a crash. Our boom vang just fell off!

In our case the boom vang is a long tube with a hydraulic dampener in it that helps control the motion of the boom. Without it there is a lot of unwanted, and due to the size and weight of our boom, potentially dangerous movement. Upon inspection it turns out the tube has pulled out of the lower end cap that attaches to the mast. With Barb at the helm Derick and Marc were able to get the pieces back together and re riveted, 20 mins later, we carried on to the mooring field. After a good sleep its off to Roatan.

Up with the sun the next morning to greet the partly cloudy skies, light winds and calm seas we untied from the mooring ball and raised the sails. After an hour or so the winds lightened up some more, so we unpacked and raised Barney. Barney is the name of our Gennaker sail also know as an asymmetrical Spinnaker or cruising spinnaker. It’s a big billowing sail flown out the front of the boat. Ours is all purple so it’s been affectionately named after the purple dinosaur. These sails are made with light weight fabrics that are easily torn so we make a point of not using it in anymore that 12 knots of wind. We had several hours of this then the winds picked up and we reverted to the normal head sail. Just after dark the winds dropped right off, and we spent the night motoring. Barb was on the 3- 6 am shift. 30 minutes into her shift the starboard engine died. This could be a problem, we hope its something simple. She shut it down and started up the port engine. At first light Derick changed out the fuel filters hoping that will solve the issue. Yes, that did the trick!  The seas calmed right down on the last day, and we got into Roatan before the next big weather system came in.

The Bay Islands of Honduras consist of three main islands Guanaja the eastern most, Roatan in the middle and Utila to the west. We elected to sail past Guanaja and go directly to Roatan. Choosing to take a berth at Fantasy Island Resort and Marina (no relation to the TV show, several years back). Felix is the taxi driver familiar with all the stops necessary to check us into the country. Remember our last post where we said how easy it was checking into the Cayman Islands. Roatan, not so much. First stop was the Immigration office. Located in a shopping complex in the middle of one of the towns on the island it’s a good thing Felix knew where to go, there was no way we would have found it on our own. It took an hour and a half to get the four of us checked in, fingerprints taken and passports stamped. Next up the Port Captain. Again, thank you Felix. I never would have thought of driving across the beach to find the office. At the Port Captains office, we discovered that the online form we completed and submitted to their office, was actually supposed to be printed by us and brought to him. Fortunately, we had a copy on our phone and with a little grumbling the Port Captain agreed to allow us to email it to him so he could print it. That process took 30 minutes, but we are all checked in now. Felix also took us to the Claro store to get a cell phone sim card and a hardware store. Total time from pick up to drop off back at the marina 4 hours.

The Fantasy Island marina is “rustic” but functional, the resort is dated and could use a face lift but the beach area around their lagoon is beautiful and the water is bathtub warm and crystal clear. We enjoyed our time here and had a chance to walk around the town of French Cay and enjoy dinner at a couple different restaurants.

It was fun having Sandy and Marc aboard. Its always nice to have extra help on the night shifts, especially with our temperamental auto pilot. I think Sandy was the winner of the most card games. Their week with us flew by and before we knew it, Felix was coming to pick them up and take them to the airport.

With the aft cabin empty now, we could dive into another electrical gremlin issue that arose. Our solar panels just decided to quit charging. Derick had to get under the bed where all the electrical components are. He spent a couple of days troubleshooting and finally found a loose connection and Bingo we’re charging again! Time to do some exploring.

We left Fantasy Island and moved 6 miles east along the coast to Jonesville Bight. It was a very cool spot. We entered the channel through a break in the reef, the bay was well protected from the outside waves and swell. The reef itself runs for several miles parallel to the shore. This feature provides a protected small boat channel that allows the movement of goods and people between 3 bays and communities.

The other side of the bay has a mangrove tunnel that runs parallel to the shore and it was worth exploring as well.

We are exploring the islands for another 2-3 weeks, then we will head for the Rio Dulce in Guatamala to leave the boat for hurricane season.