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January, 2008
After spending over two weeks in the Hobbies and over a month away from civilization which includes grocery stores, internet access, land, etc., we reluctantly decided it was time to travel. The strong cold front had passed and light winds (10-15 knots) were predicted for a while, so it was a good opportunity to sail. However, we felt there was no need to rush back, so we decided to ease ourselves back into civilization slowly by making the long trip to Cayos Caratasca (an island about 12 miles west of the Hobbies). It also gave Rankin another opportunity to spear fish and we couldn't pass that up. (NOTE: For cruisers in the area, Cayos Caratasca can be a rolly anchorage.)
The weather held as predicted with light winds and we thought it would make a nice sail to Guanaja possible even a spinnaker sail so at 8 am on Thursday, January 10, 2008 we eased our way around the coral in Cayos Caratasca and sailed to Guanaja. It was one of the best sails we can remember. We sailed almost the entire 28 hour trip using our spinnaker with our speed ranging from 7.5 knots down to less than 3 knots. For about two hours, the wind dropped to below 5 knots which forced us to motor, but the rest of the trip was spinnaker sailing ... excellent. During this trip, a fishing boat captain (whom we didn't know) brought his vessel very close to us which at first was a bit worrisome. Then they gave us a big, friendly greeting and we realized that they probably just wanted a closer look at our spinnaker which is a very large brightly colored (red, white and blue) sail. We weren't exactly ready to end our wonderful sail, but around noon on Friday, January 11th we arrived at Josh's Cay in Guanaja. One of the first things we noticed as we entered the pass was a house which looked as though it were built upon a rock ... a huge rock but none the less a rock. Well, we were close ... it's a dive resort built on a rock.
We took note of the rock resort and then made our way to Josh's Cay. We had heard that Josh's Cay was nice from our friends, so we decided that would be our first stop. I have to admit at first, we were a bit sad to be "back in the thick of things" so to speak, however, Guanaja is such a lovely island and the people so very friendly that we asked ourselves ... what took us so long to get here. Believe it or not, Josh's Cay is the perfect Caribbean island. You know that little Caribbean island you daydream about while you're at work ... that's Josh's Cay. They provided us with a safe mooring ball for free (be sure to tie up so your line doesn't chaff through in the middle of the night ... not that we would know this from experience or anything), wireless internet access for free and the restaurant has good food at a decent price. We loved it. We went ashore, met Reggy the cook, had cocktails and enjoyed some lively conversation with some cruisers and others at the restaurant/bar. Everyone was extremely nice and it was a delightful first experience in Honduras. Unfortunately, we only had a short time in Guanaja, because we had a previous commitment in La Ceiba. Though it was short, we had a wonderful and pleasant experience in Guanaja snorkeling, exploring, speaking with the people even checking into Immigration was a delightful experience. After a couple of days at Josh's Cay, we dropped our hook near the main city where immigration and the port captain are located. We visited the port captain first who was friendly and really got a kick out of us when we asked for directions to the immigration. After we walked around a bit, we understood why the port captain was laughing and found us so entertaining. It took about a minute or two to reach Immigration, and there's really only one main street ... a GPS is not required. As we entered the Immigration office, we were serenaded with lovely singing accompanied by a acoustic guitar. It was the Immigration Officer and his friend picking a few tunes. The friendly officer turned the guitar over to his friend who played while we were checked into Honduras. It was the nicest immigration experience we've had since we've been cruising. I wish I had brought our camera, but who would have ever thought you'd want to take a picture at immigration. We left immigration and checked back with the port captain enjoying a little chuckle over our previous question. It was lunch time and we had heard many good things about a nice German restaurant located in Guanaja called the Manatee. After questioning a few people and a 10 minute dinghy ride, we arrived at the Manatee Bar and Restaurant. We were greeted by two large dogs and a very nice man named Claus (the owner) who said they were closed that day, the dogs don't bite and invited us in for a drink. So we sat and enjoyed two German beers and spent about an hour and a half talking with Claus and learning about his experiences on Guanaja.
We were relaxed and a little tired when we left the Manatee. Upon returning to the boat, we decided to take a nap and leave that evening for La Ceiba about a 10 hour sail. Good weather was predicted and it would allow us to have a nice easy sail into La Ceiba without any concerns about making it into the Lagoon Marina before night fall. We would just arrive in the morning and our biggest concern was not going too fast. If you wish to continue the adventure, take a look at What's Happening to get the latest scoop. |
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