What can I say about Belize……

We arrived on December 7^th spending x-mas and New Years here in between exploring some of the cays to the east.   The north cold fronts that come this time of year make it a bit challenging to find good anchorages that have N/NE/E protection.  The snorkeling is good if you go to the cays closer to the reef but then you can only be there during settled weather.  So we decided to take a week to explore the northern cays which have more protection and better snorkeling.  But to get there you have to cross shallow waters strewn with coral heads with bad water clarity and limited GPS way points for navigation — so it makes it exciting and one needs to enter during good sunlight.  I can see why some cruisers keep coming back after they have taken the time to navigate and obtain tracks to use the following season.

Susie on M/V Cabaret is a great organizer for us cruisers finding events/gatherings for us to attend. So we went to the “Mistletoe Ball” which her husband got assaulted by the owner as wanted to take Susie chair.  Go figure! Then there was the x-mas eve potluck/music jam on Cabaret, x-mas day dinner at Canadian owners Pickled Parrot and New Years dinner with lots of bands to listen to.  Regardless we chose to go to bed around 10pm (cruisers midnight) in hopes to hear the fireworks going off. Didn’t happen.

Placencia is a nice quiet village with a mixture of locals, x-pats and Europeans that have built on the many miles of coastal beach.  They speak mostly English as still associated with the UK but Mayan Ketchi, a mixture of Spanish from Guatemala/Mexico and Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonites also occupy this TINY country.  This town is fed by 1 road which houses all the Chinese super markets, various veggie/fruit stands, hardware stores, restaurants and famous Tuttie Fruittie Italian gelato rich/creamy ice cream parlor that has MANY varieties that change on a daily basis. The anchorage is starting to fill up as there haven’t been a lot of sailors coming to Belize due to inconsistent immigration, customs, port captain fees.  So it has a different type of cruisers that come here. It appears to be more sailors that have paying guests on their boat or others that have been coming here for years without a lot of need for us newbies.

Placencia also won the Guinness World record for the longest sidewalk connecting the neighborhood along the water front with side walkways to the main road.  It still exists but with more retail shops and guest houses.  Most of the locals are very friendly and proper by calling you Miss Rose or Babie/Sweetie.

We and Big Fun checked in without incident expect questioning why Immigration was charging us $25 US as other recent boats that came before us hadn’t paid this fee.  Plus after a few weeks others coming after us didn’t pay either.  So since this country is trying to clean up its act of officials putting excess money in their pockets, we sent an email to Immigration headquarters asking for clarification on fees charged in Big Creek. We didn’t hear back from Immigration so didn’t pursue any further.  A month later our friends on S/V Big Fun decided to check out and head for Roatan while we were exploring northern cays.  Unfortunately we found out that Immigration was rude/uncooperative to them due to this email.  So I guess these Immigration works got their butt slapped and wanted to take it out on someone.  This made us slightly concerned as within a week we needed to obtain an extension on our visa.

I (Rose) decided that not only was it cheaper/easier to get to Immigration/customs in the next village over called Dangriga but also I could avoid the possible confrontation at Big Creek.  So I took the 6am bus with Cordelia’s daughter that was visiting which took 1.5 hours to reach Dangriga.  At 8:30 am I walked into customs and then 2 doors down into Immigration with no hassles or extra fees.  After walking around and visiting the market, I took the 11am Ritchie bus back to Placencia.  Dangriga is a Garifuna village.   They are slaves brought over from So. Africa to St. Vincent and spread throughout the Caribbean.  They have kept some of their traditions with using their drumming/dance as a method to make money in the touristic areas.

I was excited when I learned that my sister Dorothea and niece Madeline would come to visit us in Belize Jan 4-12^th.  This also created the reason to explore close cays to find beautiful beaches, snorkeling and yet anchorage protection for sleeping comfort.  Of course we provided our lists of provisions we couldn’t live without and ordered parts via internet for them to bring.  They dodged a “bullet” as a STRONG cold front had just finished when they arrived but still evident by the cold winds.  Unfortunately Madeline got sick traveling on the small plane from Belize City to Placencia.  When I arrived on the village small boat dock to pick them up.  I was greeted by Dorothea indicating that my wild/crazy Garifuna local friend “Miss Brenda” was taking care of Madeline (Mads) nausea/tummy ache by feeding her barbeque chicken, rice/beans and lemon/ginger drink.  So we decided to walk around the beach to help her get her land legs before heading out to Sojourn. It worked !!!!! and we had our wheels again….

The wind warmed up after a day, so we sailed east to Little Water Cay to snorkel and stay the night.  It was fine but wind picked up so had a bit of chop rocking the boat around.  Then after waiting for a storm with cloudy skies to pass we motored 2 nm to Queen Cays for a LOVELY day of snorkeling and beach discovery.  During this we had dolphins playing with our bow so that was cool for them to experience.  I was quite impressed with how quickly Mads/Dorothea adapted to snorkeling. We asked the ranger that came to obtain the $10 US/person park fee if weather was supposed to be settled.  He said yes so we decided to stay tied to their mooring ball vs head to another anchorage.

Unfortunately, the wind picked up out of the unprotected east direction which again brought larger waves creating Sojourn to hobby horse.  This in itself wouldn’t be an issue except that evening I had decided to tie the dinghy with motor still on (usually we put it on the big boat during the evening for safety) to the back of the boat to reduce the noise.  I had decided to put ear plugs in so didn’t notice the waves getting larger.  I was startled awake around 12:30pm by a large bang so checked the anchor finding it had fallen off its platform.  I then decided to go check the rubber dinghy finding the front tubes deflated.  The dinghy had gotten sucked under the self steering post creating the hole.  I was very concerned and asked Tom/Dorothea for help.  The beautiful full moon helped us see while placing the outboard on the rail and hoisting the dinghy on deck.  Once on deck, I had felt around for the hole to determine its size and location.  It was a lot larger than I expected (2” rip 1 way and 1” the other) but fortunately the seams were not parted.  Madeline commented the next day that she was impressed as we were very calm and directed in getting these tasks done.  All Tom/I could think of was what are we going to do if we can’t patch this hole as Placencia/Belize is NOT an area to buy or ship marine items to….   The reason for this extra motion was because we were on a mooring vs anchored creating some stability by our heavy anchor and chain.

Tom decided that he would sleep in the other satee next to Mads/Dorothea with the GPS anchor alarm on just in case the mooring broke loose.  We didn’t need another adventure having Sojourn go drifting to the reef during the evening.  We took a melatonin and tried to get some sleep.  I was a bit concerned that this could be very scary for Mads/Dorothea as I didn’t take time to explain that this probably wouldn’t happen but we needed to be cautious.

We woke up around 5:30am Sunday and decided to head back to Placencia.  We were supposed to pick up our rental car that evening but I knew that I needed a day/night to try and fix the dinghy.  So while we were sailing back I called Susie via VHF to see if she would call the car rental to change the pick up day.  Plus we had heard that there maybe a S/SW wind coming so via the SSB net we asked another sailor if they would email another friend to see if we could tie up to his slip if needed.  Its amazing what how one can get so many things done when needed…  We had a great sail back but with rain so at times I was left in the cockpit monitoring our steering while the rest were staying dry.  Tom was somewhat pessimistic that I couldn’t repair it as it was close to 2 main seams and another patch.

Once we got anchored back in Placencia another sailor offered Dorothea/Mads a ride to shore for their ice cream enjoyment. We started the repair with internal/external patches using 5200.  It was a challenge with crabby words exchanged but in the end it WORKED. Another lesson learned….

The following day we rented a car to drive 3 hours to San Ignacio and the Xunantunich ruins.  It was a pretty drive through Belize’s forests, villages and Mennonite farms. We stopped at the market for some local food then drove the additional 8 miles to get to a car ferry across the Mopan river and drive another 2 miles to get to the ruins with our guide.

Xunantunich means “Stone Woman” in the Maya language.  Most of the structures date from the Maya Classic Era, about 200 to 900 AD. There is evidence that some structures were damaged by an earthquake while they were occupied; this earthquake may have been a reason for the site’s bandonment.  It is located on the border of Guatemala and provides beautiful vistas of the countryside. The core of Xunantunich occupies about one square mile, consisting of a series of six plazas surrounded by more than 26 temples and palaces. The El Castillo pyramid is 130 feet tall. The first modern explorations of the site were conducted by UCLA in 1894. Several projects of archeological excavations have been conducted at the site from the 1930s through the 1990s.

It’s true that the so-called Mayan long-count calendar—which spans roughly 5,125 years starting in 3114 B.C.—reaches the end of a cycle on December 21, 2012.  That day brings to a close the 13th Bak’tun, an almost 400-year period in the Maya long-count calendar. But rather than moving to the next Bak’tun, the calendar will reset at the end of the 13th cycle, akin to the way a 1960s automobile would click over at mile 99,999.9 and reset to zero.  There are various scholars that speculate the end of the world – that “God will descend” but not the Mayan’s.  They think this is a time for human’s to live in harmony and refocus their life – its just and end of an old cycle and beginning of new.  If you want to read more go to www.ngm.com (search for Mayan).

The rest of their holiday was spent biking, swimming, laughing, walking the beach and relaxing.  The weather was mostly warm, sunny with a full moon.  We even saw 2 sunsets over the water with “green flash” except for Mads brain wouldn’t let it happen. Boo Hoo!  Unfortunately, Mads obtained a rash similar to swimmers itch so took benedryl to minimize the itchy discomfort and sprayed alcohol to dry it out.  She wasn’t inclined to go swimming after that for fear to make it worse.  It was great to share our life with them and I was impressed with how they adapted.   Check out the photos link as well.

We feel blessed to have friends/family that want to experience this journey we are on in person or via communication.

Keep us posted as to your lives and dreams.  Our Love