Awake again at 2:00AM, wind blowing 24-26kn gusting to 32kn. Just now we had a rather anxious 45 minutes resetting our primary anchor in the dark after it pulled free. This surprised us since we have been sitting in the same spot for 4 days, including anchored through a rather windy night a few days ago - we were confident that our anchor was well dug-in and expected an uneventful night.
Perhaps we should have followed through on our earlier idea to relocate to a more sheltered area but our socializing got the better of us. Our friends on DreamKetch’r sailed here yesterday and although we had heard from one weather guru that the high winds were likely, other weather sources predicted calmer conditions so we elected to stay put in order to visit instead.
We are in a drop dead beautiful location here, which is another reason it was hard to relocate. Port Royal is it’s name and it is on the Southern coast of Roatan, toward the eastern end of the island. It is quite remote (the paved road doesn’t make it this far), has a few houses nestled into the hills, two small lodges cater to fisherman and divers, but little else beside lush hills rising from the water and rocky islands bordering the reef. In contrast to the flat mangrove islands we visited in the Belize this is absolutely stunning scenery.
We were greeted on our way toward the anchorage by another couple on s/v Paradox, a catamaran that was headed the same way, who offered to lead us into the anchorage, a most welcome offer. We were psyched to see 2 other cats already anchored here and to find that we had come across a cruising catamaran neighborhood; all three couples are great friends and have sailed together in the area for years. In addition, they had all built their boats themselves (hands on) so there was lots of catamaran knowledge to be shared. Déjà vu is a cat with kickup rudders and a completely unique interior design (the pictures really don’t illustrate it well).We had been hearing of another “Dragonfly” catamaran for months and here she was – a 64 footer – so we quickly adopted the name “junior” for the radio. Paradox had been a charter cat that sunk while anchored in Belize during a hurricaine, which Tom and Stanna completely refit/rebuilt themselves. Our next few days were spent touring each others boats, discussing design decisions, performance characteristics, comparing features, walking over the hills to the north coast while getting to know one another, sharing computer files, learning about favorite cruising spots in Honduras, etc.
We have also met the local “gringos” and as usual find it fascinating to hear their histories. Ake and Elsa are a Swedish couple who spend part of the year in a fabulous house on the hill. We were quickly informed by the cruisers that Ake is a very successful inventor/entrepreneur, having invented the tetra pak container and other things. Rumor got out that Cindy was in the software profession and Ake asked if we might be able to resolve a problem he has connecting his laptop to his wireless. Well, all the cruisers in the anchorage were happily connecting to his wireless and we were in the mood for some inettellectual challenge so we gave it a try. After a determined effort we were able to resolve the problem much to his glee (he has had many friends attempt to resolve this problem) and he seemed duly impressed with our team effort, although frustrated by the lack of a systematic approach to resolving computer problems (as a professional engineer might). Good thing that our neighbor Marcia experienced the same issue last summer and that we had some memory of the fix!
We also met Mary and Doug, Canadians, who live in a second house on the property and are the caretakers for the property. They have sailed much of their lives and a when they decided to retire ashore in Guanaja (the next island east) they purchased property, developed a resort and four years later lost it all in a hurricane. Next we met Matt and Corrine, the owners of the Royal Playa dive resort who are from the states; they had built, grown and sold a touring company/resort in the mountains of Belize and have now built this very charming resort from the ground up and are growing it slowly. This week their family has been visiting from Ohio and Maine, one of whom is Tom Jennings - the inventor of the compound bow (for all you hunters and archery fans). We dove with their highly energetic dive master (another Tom) whose stories hint at a Special Forces type background and we ate a delicious meal of conch and shrimp with their family and friends for $12/person!
Later wWe were totally excited to come across Julie and Ed and their sleek round the world cruiser s/v Free Radical. We had met them in St. Martin last year and I always loved the look of their boat (which was anchored close to us in the lagoon for over a month). They are managing the Mango Creek fishing lodge in Port Royal, another lovely spot, and we welcomed the opportunity to walk the grounds, fill up some water jugs for free, see the hand carved woodwork by local artisians and hear about their travels.
The diving we have done in the past two weeks has been lovely. The wall is only minutes outside the anchorages and the visibility is stunning most days. We have not seen the same numbers of large fish or pelagic fish (turtles, rays, sharks) as we had in Belize, we have seen spectacular coral and lots of fish and creatures. All of our dives have been very inexpensive at $25/dive (including equipment) and we have been very spoiled diving alone with our own personal dive master. If you ever come to dive in Roatan, consider Kevin at K.P.’s Dive Roatan and Royal Playa Dive Resort.
Roatan has begun to attract some of the services that I look forward to: there is one “NY Bakery” serving up great breads and cookies. I was pleasantly surprised by the fabulous supermarket in French Harbor and happy that the prices are so much better than in Belize. Fresh fruits and veggies (including the long awaited return of the avocado) only arrive once/week and don’t stick around on the shelves for long so you gotta ask questions and try to get to the store at the right time. The specialty meat markets have lots of meat imported from the U.S. (as well as frozen white castle hamburgers) and the fish market has a large selection of locally caught frozen fish/shrimp at very reasonable prices. We also have been able to find water and fuel in multiple places, which was a total unknown up until arriving here. Although, we are still living off the water we harvested from all the rainy weeks in Belize! On the other hand, a powerful internet connection is hard to find so no more downloads of Grays Anatomy or Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip.
We did explore the Jonesville, or Bodden Bight, quite opposite of the mood of Port Royal. This is the home of “Hole in the Wall”, a local restaurant/bar that maintains a certain originality and is home to a real cast of characters. This area is a buzz with activity compared to the other spots in which we have anchored, skiffs zipping to and fro with materials or kids going to/from school, cayucos being paddled across the bay, music blaring until midnight from the bar situated in the middle of the bay, dogs barking, roosters crowing. But it was a very good stop for other reasons – Rick was able to try and then purchase some good used dive gear for a reasonable price from another cruiser and he is a happy diver now!
There you have it. We hate to say too much about Roatan, we selfishly want to keep it under the radar so it won’t lose its personality and faraway atmosphere, i.e. charter and cruiser crowds should stay in the E. Caribbean. But most cruisers these days expect current cruising guides, reliable charts, marinas w/ electricity and showers,, free water, t-shirt shops, West Marine stores, repair services and high speed internet. Most probably do not want to be on anchor watch while the wind howls all night, or to have to stay on the boat after dark to ensure it safety… so perhaps we have little to worry about!
