Bocas del Toro, Panama to Isla Mujeres, Mexico 1/19-2/10/11 Part 1

This text is by Bill Eddy with illustrations and a few comments added by the captain.

Trip Summary:

Ports	Nautical Miles	Total Hours	Avg. Knots	Sailed Hours	% Sail
Bocas del Toro to San Andres Is., Columbia	204	38.75	5.26	10	26%
San Andres Is. to Roatan Is., Honduras	430	66.00	6.52	64	97%
Roatan Is., to Belize City, Belize	138	21.00	6.57	20	95%
Belize City to Isla Mujeres, Mexico	283	47.50	5.96	41	86%
Totals:	1,055	173.25	6.09	135	78%

Virago Crew:

Paul Goss, Captain ( Retired Business Consultant)

Bill Eddy, (Retired HR Exec.)

Harry Reppert, (Retired Oil Exec.)

Jim Graves, (Retired Educator)

Day by Day Comments and Data:

Wednesday 1/19/11:

I arrived at Bocas del Toro after 23 hour trip from San Jose, CA at 5:30pm. Harry kindly met me at the Bocas International. We cabbed to the water taxi, then across a small bay to the Bocas del Toro Yacht Club and Marina, arriving at Virago at 6:00pm. Harry had arrived in Panama a few days earlier and spent time touring Panama City, the Canal and other small Panamanian villages along the way. Jim Graves arrived just hours ahead of me from Ventura via San Jose Costa Rica.

	Well, maybe not exactly how we arrived, but geezers on holiday just wanted  to have fun.

After greetings, we all pitched in and did some interior mold and mildew cleaning before we stored our personal gear. This was necessary because Virago sat in Puntarenas Costa Rica and Bocas for a few months in the heat and humidity, the perfect incubator for mildew. Once cleaned we relaxed with a welcome sundowner cocktail then went to dinner at a marina side palapa café called the Calypso Cantina and Grill. The Calypso was run by a South African national named Dillon and his partner who lived on their sailboat in the harbor. We enjoyed the special of the day, lasagna, salad and French bread in a wonderful relaxed atmosphere situated between a large anchorage bay and the marina. A picture of rustic beauty right out of a sailing magazine. We frequented the place each night for dinner while we were berthed in Bocas, as noted below.

Marina Office	Heads, Showers, and Laundry
Water Taxi Dock (no land access to town)	Marina Grounds with Anchorage in Background

Thursday, 1/20/11:

Up at 7am to bright sun, 80’s temps, for coffee and conversation. We spent the day doing boat tasks to get ready for our passage to Mexico. Projects included:

1. 1. Removed and disposed of the roll up dinghy. It had delaminated. Had appropriate funeral.
2. 2. Removed and gave suffering 4 hp Johnson outboard motor to local dock guy Tyrone.
3. It never ran correctly after many fixes. Good luck Tyrone!
4. 3. Installed lee cloths and wall anchors for them inside
5. 4. Installed 2 Nicro Day and Night vent fans in main saloon hatches for air circulation
6. 5. Reinstalled all bimini canvas and brackets
7. 6. Jim and Tyrone filled our 8-5 gallon diesel jugs with two shore trips by dinghy. Bill and Jim decanted about 27 gallons into the main tanks and he and Tyrone refilled those we emptied so we had the full 8.
8. 7. Filled all water tanks
9. 8. Paul and Jim started to install cockpit tether anchors on the wheel binnacles. More later.
10. 9. Harry sanitized the galley and prepared it for loading provisions later
11. 10. Jay, a local boat guy installed our new power inverter control panel

Around 5:00pm, Harry returned to the boat from a tour of the ecological research center near Bocas run by the Smithsonian Institute. He brought with him some provisions for the trip. We all took a break for cocktails and another nice dinner at the Calypso. The night’s special was Spicy Curry. Dillon treated us well and made us feel welcome. Harry left on the water taxi at 9pm for his last night in his shoreside inn, and we all turned in at 9:30pm.

Friday, 1/21/11:

Up at 7am for tasks. Paul and Jim labored diligently in limited inside access space to install two new tether anchor rings on the two binnacles below the steering wheels. This will provide easy attachment and more freedom of movement in the cockpit when tethered in. I inspected running and standing rigging. Save for replacing two worn out circlips and a couple of loose non safety related bolts everything was ship shape.

In the afternoon, we all went across the bay by water taxi to downtown Bocas. En route, we passed the area’s power plant. Looked like a WWII deal in a tin building with 4 stacks venting the diesel generators inside. We had lunch at the open air Reef Bar and Grill that doubled as the water taxi dock. All the walls and the bar were bamboo. The crew did a city walk while Paul was doing customs work in town. When Paul returned we walked to the airport terminal 6 blocks away to get our immigration papers and passports stamped. We learned that we couldn’t clear until we walked back to the local bank, paid $15 per person, got a payment stamp and returned tomorrow for our final passport stamps. Very much like the Mexican clearance process.

We got to see more of this vacation town filled with dive and scuba shops, the main business for this area with its many European and Canadian tourists. As with all trips to and from town, Harry did some provision shopping and we returned to Virago. After showers we had another dinner at the Calypso. Tonight’s special was Mahi Mahi and ribs. To make this final Bocas dinner special, they had a small local band playing in the bar. Tunes from Eagles, Train, Stones and even James Brown. Back to the boat at 9:30pm for rest.

Saturday 1/22/11:

Up at 7am for coffee and final preparations. At 8:30am, Jay and his wife Danika came and put the finishing touches on the bimini cover. No more rain drops draining into the cockpit!! We water taxied to town for final shopping and more touring the streets. We went to the bank for our payment stamps, then the airport again for our final passport exit stamps. We are cleared to leave. We returned to the boat, repositioned it at the docks, pulled out all the spare anchor chain and marked it with color coded wire ties.

iPad is Now Nav System #3 – Waypoint List	Chart View

 

We left the docks at 5:15pm and cleared the Bocas channel into the open Western Caribbean Ocean at 6:00pm. We had to follow the chartplotter very carefully, as the actual channel markers were missing. At 8pm we had a large mixed Feta cheese salad and pasta by Harry and started our watch schedule. The conditions were too light for sailing so we motored into the night, with ¾ moon, stars and temperatures in the 80’s. One cruise ship en route south passed us. The only shift excitement.

Sunday 1/23/11:

8am, off the coast of Costa Rica in brilliant sunshine, 80’s, and light breeze on our nose. No sailing yet. Harry prepared fruit and juice for breakfast and we witnessed our one and only sea life sighting with 20 Dolphins putting on a little show for us. So we can make San Andres Island, Columbia entrance in daylight we slowed the boat motor down. Had a relaxed day at sea with dinner at 6pm of chicken and sausage gumbo and a cashew salad. At 8pm, we experienced a wind shift from north on our nose to easterly and the velocity increased to 9-16k. Finally, all sails up and off we went in 5’ seas. Felt good to sail and shut off the motor. Good sailing through the night and morning shifts.

Monday 1/24/11:

As predicted, we arrived too early at the San Andres Island harbor entry spot so we did some loops to kill time. A Columbian Navy inflatable came by but only observed us. No guidance into port or conversation. Probably looking to see if we were a drug boat. They sped off after 15-20 minutes. We entered the harbor over a serious reef and set anchor at 9am in a protected bay on the north end of the island. The anchorage was in front of Nene’s Marina where we ultimately plan to berth. Paul hailed Rene of the Serrano Ships Agency for one stop customs/immigration check in service. Rene arranged a panga into shore for Paul and Jim to do the paperwork and check things out. Harry and I, sensing that we were dragging anchor, repositioned and re-anchored the boat. Success. From the boat, this island looks well developed with at least 5-7 high rise hotels and office buildings to our north and a large less fancy business district in the middle of the bay area. Nene’s Marina looked very small and difficult to med moor in but we will try to do so tomorrow morning.

Nene’s Marina

Above: Rene was our agent who handled the official choreography of checking into a foreign country. Right:  Allvarro with his son.

Paul and Jim returned and reported that we all had to come ashore to get personal entrance stamps on our passports for $24@, and Paul paid the $70 zarpe for the boat. During this process, we met and Paul hired a panga guy named Alvarro for $20 per day so we would have transportation and help throughout our stay with fuel, marina mooring and such. Got to call home. Great contact.

In the pm, we all panga’d to the marina dock and took our laundry in, walked the old town (non-tourist) areas. We observed literally several hundred small motorcycles on the main malecon road, the standard transportation mode for the locals. Young, old, whole families, even nursing mothers riding on these motor bikes. Cars were almost an inconvenience.

The business district was lined with small family businesses with all types of products available, like hardware, internet cafes, bakeries, appliances, phone shops. After our walk we returned to Nene’s Marina and had a beer with fellow cruisers. Barry from Santa Cruz CA on a Catalina 42, and Troy from Colorado on a Lagoon 36 Cat were very friendly and informative about local services. They had been buddy boating south toward the canal in no hurry for 3 years. Barry was alone, but Troy had his wife and 3 young daughters (13,9,and 7) aboard. Fun to meet them and hear about home schooling and incredible experiences the little girls were getting. Late afternoon, Alvarro took us back out to Virago for sunset cocktails and a robust hamburger dinner with all the trimmings by Harry. Deep sleep by 9:45pm.

Tuesday 1/25/11:

Up at 8am for coffee and pastry and to move Virago from the anchorage to the “berth” at Nene’s. With help from trusty Alvarro and his panga, Barry and Troy we backed into the marina and med tied in a very confined area. Good effort by all concerned. See pictures. To say that Nene’s was a dump would be charitable, but the staff was friendly and it gave us access to fresh water, ac power, fuel, town shopping and a single trough rainwater shower. What fun. Not the Ritz, but essentially the only place in this particular bay that would accommodate our keel depth.

Mid day we did little projects in the 90 degree temps and sunshine. Nice breeze over the area made it comfortable to work. Some projects included:

1. New burgee halyard
2. New radar reflector halyard
3. Replacement steaming light and upper rig inspection by Paul in bosun’s chair.
4. Complete wash down of sailing dinghy Toyot
5. Removed and disposed of old rusty tie down binders for Toyot. Good riddance.
6. Fueled 30 gallons with Alvarro’s help. Refilled the fuel jugs and lashed them down.

Late afternoon, Jim, Alvarro and his son Alvarro, Jr. went snorkeling at a small islet called the Aquarium. Jim reported that the area was full of tourist boats. The fish sightings were not that great and the current was raging across the reef system. The current even tried to tear Jim’s sandals off. When Jim returned, we all had a beer with Alvarro; picked up our laundry ($7); took cold showers and had sundowners followed by dinner at a very non-tourist street café called El Parqueradoro. Meat, rice, salad and beer for $5 each. While eating there was a constant stream of motorcycles going by. Fortunately the town has mostly one way streets so the chaos was non life threatening. Back to Virago at 10pm for sleep.

In the Captain’s Humble Opinion: The best local food and best bargain food on the whole trip.

Wednesday 1/26/11:

Up at 8:30am for coffee and projects before departure to Roatan. We reinstalled the sheared instrument pod grab bar that had broken en route to San Andres. Harry had found a good machine shop in town to reweld the anchor screw on one side of the loop. Good stainless welding for $14. Harry also did some final provisioning at the local supermarket. At 10am, the immigration lady “Daisey” came with our agent Rene and we all got our checkout papers completed. She was very attractive and dressed like she was going to her high school prom.

Paul and I took a long city walk around the tourist end of town. See pictures.

Very nice hotels and restaurants, modern designer shops, beautiful white beaches and clean streets. We saw Club Nautico de San Andres. Beautiful grounds with a pool, and shallow water docks for their motor boats. Too shallow for us.

Along the way, we met 1 of only 2 American born permanent residents of the island. He was so happy to talk to other English speakers that he toured us around and shared info. He shared that there are only 2 ways Americans can permanently reside in San Andres. 1. Marry a native islander which he did or 2. make a $200,000 or more government approved investment as in “payola”.

After our tour and final prep and shopping, we departed Nene’s Marina and Columbia at 4:30pm for Roatan Honduras. Dock departure was tricky around obstructions and shallow areas. We traversed the narrow harbor barrier reef and into the open ocean by 5:30pm. We passed a grounded freighter (been there 2 years) that apparently missed the reef opening.

Not a pretty picture. We also passed a picturesque little island off the main beach called Johnny Cay on our port side as we headed north. Looks like a postcard picture. By 6:00pm we were under full sail for the night in 13-21k easterly breeze, 4-10 ft. swells, boat speed of 6.8-8.5k, 85-93 degree temps, a half moon and lots of stars. How do you beat that? We reefed the main by ¼ early on and the rig seemed perfectly balanced, with 0-1 degree of rudder angle. It was a little tough to sleep between watches due to the boat roll on the swells and the interior cabin heat We had dinner of hot chile, sweet San Andreas rolls and pineapple upside down cake, all made from scratch by Harry while he was bouncing around in the galley in the heat. Our hero! Around 1am we got a couple of rain squalls but missed most of them. Good night on watch.

Thursday 1/27/11:

At 8am watch change we had bright sun, 90+ degrees and same sea state. We had covered 100 nautical miles overnight. At 11am we were 72 miles off the northern coast of Nicaragua in the Edinberry Channel. We will be in Honduran waters in 4 hours. We sailed all day in the 12-18k trades heading north around the NE tip of Honduras for the Gorda Banks. At 6pm we turned 35 degrees west for various vectors to Roatan Island. Perfect westerly sailing at 8-9k in 12-23k breeze. Dinner at 8pm of beef soup, green salad with parmesan cheese and egg with the works. Very tasty. Sailed all night. No traffic or sealife.

Friday 1/28/11:

Sunrise at 6am found us along the Honduran coast between Gorda Bank and Punta Patucca, 131 miles out of Roatan Island in 18k NE breeze. Harry prepared sausage and eggs and his special fried corn meal mush sticks and juice. At 9:30am we looked at our fine boat speed of 7.2-9.2k in 23k breeze and determined like so many previous trip legs that we would arrive Roatan too early (3am tomorrow) Thus, reluctantly we reduced sail and speed to 5.5-6.0k for the balance of the trip. Beans and weenies at 6pm (captain’s note: we didn’t run out of propane) and we kept on trucking along. Breeze picked up to 25+k but the reef handled it with ease. Sunrise arrival expected.

Saturday 1/29/11:

Great sailing overnight with a “Cheshire cat moon” as Jim called it. By 8am, we passed the coastline of Roatan’s sister island Guanapa Island and could see the south and east end of Roatan. As we traversed this long and narrow island (23miles by2 miles), we had pancakes and fruit and enjoyed the views. Nice to see land after 3 days and nights at sea. At 10am, we called the Barefoot Cay Marina announcing our arrival off their reef ridden harbor entrance. They sent a guide motor boat called “Chalupa” out to guide us through the 40’ reef opening. We came across into the calm bay/harbor where dock hands helped us secure at 10:22am. We connected power and checked into the marina/resort. We spent the afternoon sleeping, lunching, swimming in the beautiful Barefoot Cay pool and exploring the little resort island. (See pictures and brochures) This place is truly 5 Star.

The Pool at Night
The Pool in the Day
	The Ferry to the Mainland (about 200 Feet)

We took our laundry in and it was delivered back to the boat in no time. Harry precooked some meat before it spoiled and did a major clean up of the refer boxes after our days at sea. The rest of us cleaned around the boat, organized our stuff and took showers in the modern and fully equipped shower rooms by the pool. All the help spoke English and took pride in the fact that their little island in the middle of French Harbor was once a dump site before a Canadian couple developed it into this little paradise. The water around the island was warm and crystal clear for diving and snorkeling. There are at least 120 dive spots around both sides of the island and it is a main source of revenue for the tourist island. The sand is pure white and soft. You’ve got to see this place to believe it. See www.BarefootCay.com for a treat. Quite a stark contrast to Nene’s Marina in San Andrews.

At 5pm we took a 24/7 water launch across the 200’ channel separating the little resort island and their hotel area on the big island, walked up to the main highway for a cab ride into town for dinner. Jim served as our interpreter as the cabbies did not speak English. We went to the Miracle Mall where a local boater recommended a restaurant called Big Hamburger/Steak House. It was very Spartan with plastic chairs but good local dishes. We had a 4 person platter of beef, chicken, pork, beans, plantains, rice and various hot sauces.

The manager/owner personally helped us. After dinner, we walked the small but very modern mall, had an ice cream cone and walked across the highway to see a soccer game under the lights. The games were played on a ½ sized soccer field, fully netted and on Astroturf. The teams were mid to late 20’s ages and the speed of play and high scoring made it very exciting to watch. After the game, the competitors loudly and cheerfully argued about out of bounds calls waving their arms and drinking beer on the sideline. Almost better than watching the game.

The park developer told us that he was planning 2 beach volleyball courts for his already busy recreation area. While we were in town we saw fireworks from a big resort offshore called Fantasy Island. We returned back to the boat by 10pm for a nightcap and bed.

Sunday 1/30/11:

Up at 8am for breakfast of corned beef hash and eggs then some more touring and provisioning in French Harbor. We hailed a cab with David the driver who was willing to drive us around and wait for us while we shopped. Jim again interpreted for us. We drove by the Roatan Yacht Club that was closed and no where near the water. Then into a beater neighborhood where the real people live. Very poor situation and the pets looked in bad shape as well. What a contrast between the beachfront and island resorts and these housing areas. En route back to the boat, we shopped at Eldon’s supermarket. Modern and clean but could not help but notice the armed guard out front with his rifle. See pics. We stopped again for bottled water then home. We fueled the boat with only 5 gallons of fuel used after over 400 miles of sea travel from San Andres.

We had cocktails aboard then cabbed to dinner at a hilltop restaurant called El Executivo Restaurante and Inn. Had a nice meal with friendly service. Little English spoken. Back to the boat by 10pm for rest.

Monday 1/31/11:

Up at 8am. Harry and I went off the a local hardware store with driver David to get some plastic nuts and bolts to affix our forward toilet seat back on the toilet. Very complete store across the street from the Roatan Governors mansion. Looked like the White House in DC on beautifully manicured grounds. We then went back to the Miracle Mall and its “Hiper Mega” supermarket. Prices higher than Eldons, but it was the cleanest and most modern market I have ever seen.

Items of interest at Barefoot Cay Resort:

1. We met one legged Captain Ed , Dr. Dan and their nursing crew aboard a large sailboat/floating clinic. Their group was called Sailing Doctors and they were preparing for a mercy medical mission to Haiti. There are apparently a lot of doctors with this group, mostly from the US and Canada. They have a website as well.

2. We met “Champagne Cher” of the 120’ deluxe motor yacht of the same name. See pics. They were berthed just in front of us at the Cay. She was very friendly and shared a tin of her birthday cake with us upon departure. Her yacht was crewed by a professional Captain and two crew. The yacht was very modern but a little gaudy. They are oil people from Houston Texas wandering the world.

By 1pm, we had showered and relaxed before our departure at 2pm for Belize. We motored out through the narrow Brick Cay reef and under full sail by 2:30pm in bright sunshine. We sailed westerly around what they call “The West End” of the island. We observed many beautiful and large resorts, and several small towns that were obviously tourist spots. The main town Coxen’s Hole even had a cruise ship terminal. Once clear of the island, we set course for Belize in 17-22k ESE breeze, in 4-5’ swells on the starboard quarter and 80 degree temps. Had BBQ steak, Cos Cos, salad and Cher’s birthday cake for dinner. We rock and rolled all night due to the quartering sea state, but it was good sailing, no moon but lots of brilliant stars. We sailed 100% of the way to the Belize entrance channel in up to 25k breeze and boat speeds of 8.5k for the 137 mile crossing to the mainland.

	Captain’s Note": Bill too modest to brag about the fish he caught. Believe it was as hard to see in real life as it is in this picture. It probably measured three inches. (I later caught the biggest fish of the trip—it was four inches long. These turtles are only ones saw on the entire trip!

To Be Continued