Belize

29 July 2011 – Departed Caye Caulker, Belize heading north to San Pedro, Belize.  This was pretty much an uneventful ride 20 mile sail except the last half hour when we got hit by a squall which is pretty much a daily occurrence this time of year.  The problem really isn’t the squall it is the 15 to 20 knot winds that precede the squall.  The squall is a welcome event as you can stand on deck and get an extra shower without worrying about using precious water from the boat’s tanks.  Water at the dock at Cucumber Marina in Belize city was $0.05 per gallon USD, in San Pedro it is $0.30 USD per gallon, so we make our own with our water maker now.  Our water maker can produce 8 gallons per hour, the down side is it uses 18 amps of electricity to run the pump, so we usually make water when the engine is running as to not run down the batteries.

Anthony working

Walking around San Pedro today we met Anthony, a wood carver, very nice man as well as being very intelligent.  In talking with him, most of the souvenirs sold on the street in San Pedro come from Guatemala, there are very few like himself that actually make the souvenirs in Belize.  We discussed Belize politics, economy, foreigners in Belize and how they are taking control of his country.  The local people welcome the tourist as they are a very large part of the Belize economy, the problem is the wealthy foreigners that come to Belize and buy the country and doing nothing to improve it.  There is no form of welfare in Belize and poverty is high.  Only the wealthy have medical insurance and there is no form socialized medical care.

One thing that has really stood out is the friendliness of the people; you make a purchase, or just greet someone on the street and they all say “Welcome to Belize” and mean it.  Like most of the beaches in the U.S. there is a public easement from the high water line, but when we bring the dinghy to shore and beach it in front of an establishment we always ask the business if it is alright to beach our dinghy there.  No one has ever told us “no”, and most say “Yea man, your dink is OK there, and I’ll be here all day and watch it for you.”  So you eat lunch or dinner in their establishment and you have great dinghy parking anytime you want.

Jeff & Geff

We enjoy eating from the locals rather than the tourist restaurants owned by the foreigners, the prices are considerably less and the food is the local flavor.  One must change their thoughts concerning health standards that we follow in the U.S., if you can’t handle a few flies buzzing around better not come down here for dinner.  Last night Rose and I ate in the park in the center of the beach, there were several vendors set up, we chose one that had pork chops and stewed chicken.  I had the pork chop Rose had the chicken, the meal came with rice and beans, plenty of meat and both meals only cost $17.00 BZD (Belize Dollars) or $8.50 USD.

Escondida dropping anchor

Geff Fishing

We are anchored between the reef and the shore in about 5 ½ feet of water, it is about a mile from the shore to the reef and the water inside the reef is very shallow, we are so glad we have a shallow draft boat, My Peace only draws 4 ½ feet, if she needed any more we would miss so much.  Right after we dropped anchor yesterday, I waited about 10 minutes then put on a mask and snorkel to check how well the anchor set.  I looked under the boat and the biggest barracuda I have ever seen just stared right back at me, he must have been 5 feet long.  He was curious and swam straight at me, he got about 3 feet away and figured I was too big to eat and went back under the boat.  I followed the anchor line 175 feet away from the boat, the anchor was in 6 feet of water and a 4 foot barracuda had already claimed the area behind the anchor as his home.

Boys on the dink

BC’s

We went to shore and pulled the dink onto the beach at BC’s, a local watering hole, great place, had a beer, ate dinner; whole evening cost $25.00 BZD.  Two little boys walked up to the dink and used to front as a bouncing platform to jump into the water.  I really didn’t see anything wrong with it until I walked over and looked inside.  They would jump into the water then run to the back of the dink, climb in walk to the front and bounce back into the water.  The end result was about 30 pounds of sand tracked into the dink.  Yes David the sign over the TV says Luckenbach, Texas and the lower one center bottom of the beer box says "I love Texas".

Fishing boat

Many of the local fishermen here use a boat that kind of resembles the “Skipjack” used by the fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland.  In the reef cayes other than tourism fishing is the industry, most of the larger cayes have a local “Fishermen’s Co-Op”  where they bring their fish and lobster to sell to the co-op.  In turn the local restaurants go to the co-op to purchase fresh fish for their menus.  The way to come out ahead is to catch the fisherman between his boat and the co-op.  That’s when you get a real good buy on dinner, you purchase at a little above what the co-op pays but a whole lot less than what the retail stores sell it for.  (about half)  

Police Station Sign

As we were walking down the street the other day in Caye Caulker, Rose saw this sign on the wall of the police station and I just had to post it.

Billie, Don, and Mia at BC’s

31 July 2011 – Went ashore for a while, had to make 2 trips to the fuel dock, can’t get the boat to the dock so had to take the Gerry cans and fill them bring them back to the boat fill the tanks, then back to the dock and refill.  After the work was done Rose, Mia and I went to shore had bar-b-que at BC’s, it was great.  Ran into our new friends Don and Billie, while we ate Billie held Mia so we could eat in peace.  Billie has claimed “grandparent rights” on Mia.  Don and Billie retired to San Pedro, the Belize government has a program for foreigners to retire here, they can bring in an airplane, boat and a car duty free, the catch is you can’t work.

1 August 2011 – Time to head back to Caye Caulker, did our last minute provisioning and headed back to the boat.  Pulled the anchor up and just as I was about to lock the chain, the swivel that connects the chain to the anchor broke and down it went.  The wind was blowing about 15 knots and by the time we were able to drop the backup anchor we had moved quit a distance.  I put on mask and snorkel and went to where I thought it was, the water was only 6 ½ feet deep and crystal clear, about 40 foot visibility, but was unable to locate it.  A storm was coming in from the east and we needed to get underway.  With no windless on the backup anchor I had to pull it up by hand all the time thinking I had just lost my main anchor and a replacement down here if I could find one would be around $500.00 USD.

Finally underway at 1430 hours and arrived at Key Caulker at 1630 just before the squall.  On the way from San Pedro to Caye Caulker I got the spare anchor out of the back storage of the boat and hooked it up to the chain.  The replacement is a 35 pound 20 pounds lighter that the one I lost.  All we could think was, thank God it broke while we were pulling it up and not overnight during the 25 to 30 knot winds we had the prior night.

Matt and Carla gave me hope when we stopped to think that when I set my anchor I always record the lat & lon of the boat.  Later in the evening Rose and I went over to Corina IV, a 52 foot sloop belonging to Al who we me at Cucumber Marina in Belize City and told him what happened the earlier.  Al told me he was going to San Pedro Tuesday morning and he would tow my dink behind his boat and his captain, Max, would help me find my anchor.

Corina IV

2 August 2011 – 0830 hours I took my dink over to Corina IV we had a cup of coffee and up anchor for San Pedro 11 miles to the north.  We arrived at the approximate location where we had anchored last Friday afternoon and dropped anchor.  We checked the GPS coordinates and we were about 300 feet south of where I had previously anchored.  Al and I got in the dink and Max put on fins and mask  and the search began.  Due to the wave action Al and I could see very little even though the water was crystal clear and only 5 ½ to 6 ½ feet deep.  We tried this for about an hour and no success, so we went back to Corina IV so Max could rest for a moment and we could plan a new strategy. 

We took my hand held GPS and went to the exact coordinates that I had recorded when we were anchored in San Pedro.  We dropped the dink anchor and swam 150 feet north east, and yes right where it was supposed was my anchor.  We put it in the dink and went back to Al’s boat to pick up Al and Kat.

We then went to BC’s on shore to celebrate with a few Bilkins, the national beer as well as the only beer in Belize.  From BC’s we went to the fuel dock, filled up my 3 gallon gas tank, took Al, Max, and Kat back to Corina IV.  Al gave me an old towel to put under the anchor to protect the bottom of the dink, tied the anchor down and off I went across 11 miles of the Caribbean in the 11 ½ foot dinghy powered by a 9.9 hp Mercury outboard.   It only took me 40 minutes to get back to Caye Caulker, but it was kind of rough bouncing along for 40 minutes.

Geff returning from San Pedro

Got the anchor onboard My Peace attached it with a new shackle and re-anchored My Peace for a more restful night having the heaver anchor holding us.  I still shiver to think that if the old shackle had snapped during the high winds last Sunday night our adventure would have come to a very abrupt end on the sandy beaches of San Pedro.

My thoughts, hope I don't offend anyone.

Just came down below into the cabin after being on deck looking at the stars, you can see the Milk Way looking up and the stars are like nowhere else I have ever been.  The new moon is just above the horizon to the west, the lights of Belize City can be seen reflecting off the clouds to the south, and the lights of San Pedro can be seen to the north.  Just think less than 2 years ago I was content with sailing Canyon Lake, 8 miles long and 4 miles wide.  I looked at the GPS and since 16 October 2009, we have traveled 5,797 nautical miles on My Peace.  Down the Chesapeake Bay from Chester MD to Norfolk, Virginia, to Morehead, North Carolina, off shore in the Atlantic to Charleston, NC, back in the Intercostal waterway to Savanna, GA, across the Atlantic to Cape Canaveral, FL, down the east coast of Florida to Key West, across the Gulf of Mexico  to Port Aransas, TX, down to Port Isabel, TX, across the Gulf of Mexico to Progreso, Mexico, around the tip of the Yucatan to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, back across the Gulf of Mexico to Port Aransas, TX, then back down to Port Isabel, across the Gulf of Mexico to Progreso, Mexico, back around the tip of the Yucatan to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, down the east coast of the Yucatan in the Caribbean to Belize and we’re just getting started.

The sights we have seen, the Mayans celebrating the Summer Solstice, the Mayan ruins near Progreso, Mexico, the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico, the second longest barrier reef in the world, the sunset from the north western tip of Isla Mujeres, a ship wreck on the reef outside Xcalak, Mexico, life on the various Cayes of Belize, the various cultures of the various peoples in the different countries we visit.  I can truthfully say that the people we have met along the way for the most part have been wonderful, Americans, Canadians, French, Dutch, Mayan, Mexican, and the people of Belize. The nationals of the countries we have visited have been sincere and welcomed us into their countries with open arms and are more than willing to share their country and culture with us.  They separate the cruisers (yachties) from regular tourists and treat us differently, what I have seen of many tourists we have met they come to these countries flashing money, wanting to be waited on hand and foot, show little or no respect for the culture, people or the countries.  It is of little wonder that Americans are not respected around the world any more as a great many of them don’t deserve any respect by the way they act when they are away from their own country.  As I think about it they act the same way in America, maybe we the “Greatest Nation In the World” should learn from the so called third world countries on how to behave at home and aboard.  Think about it.

By no stretch of the imagination has it been easy, there have been storms encountered, anchor lost and recovered, continual maintenance to be performed, entering ports and breaks in the reefs that have scared us to death, and we have worked harder than either one of us have in our entire lives, but it is the greatest experience one could experience.  Many of our friends have said we are living the life and I guess we are.  The thing we both miss the most is being able to take a “recreational shower” just to stand there and let the water pour over your body without having to worry about how long it is going to take the water maker to make the 80 gallons you can waste in a 15 minute shower.  (For those keeping track our water maker makes an average of 6 gallons of water per hour so that kind of shower would take the water maker 13.20 minutes to recover and it would process 8,000 gallons of sea water to make that 80 gallons of fresh water.