Stepping back in time

Now here’s a blast from the past – the Bandit blog is going back to 2007!  That’s the year we set out from Gibraltar on Bandit after buying her the year before.

Back in those days we weren’t very internet savvy and certainly didn’t have a blog up and running.  In fact that didn’t happen until our last year in the Med.  Given we’ve spent a fair bit of time at anchor in remote locations the past few months, it’s been a perfect time to get the blog up to date and, in the process, sort out our thousands of photos.  The blog is a great record for us and gives family and friends a chance to see what we’re up to.  If you feel inclined go to the blog list at the left hand side of the page and zoom on down to 2007.  We’ve already updated Majorca, Sardinia, Sicily and Greece and in the next few weeks you’ll see Turkey and more from Greece.

The beautiful Belize Cays

The Belize Reef – second largest in the world after Australia’s Great Barrier – stretches for some 200 miles along the Belize coast in the western Caribbean.  Numerous cays (islands, pronounced keys) are dotted along, inside and outside the reef with sandy white beaches, swaying palm trees and atmospheric barefoot beach bars.   After six weeks here we concluded it was one of the most underrated and undiscovered cruising grounds in the world.  Along with cruising buddies Balvenie, we were often the only boats in anchorages.   

So many cruisers/circumnavigators tend to head from the eastern Caribbean straight through to the Panama Canal which is the most direct and easiest route to the Pacific.  You do put yourself in the corner over this part of the Caribbean and we’ll no doubt have to wait for a good weather window to start heading east later in the season. 

Most cruisers here seem to be American or Canadian who leave their boats in the Rio Dulce for hurricane season and use this beautiful part of the world as their winter cruising ground while it snows back home.  There are a handful of French, German and English cruisers but we haven’t seen another Kiwi or Australian boat yet.  It really is a magical part of the world and so spectacularly deserted.

Take Glover’s Reef.  It is one of Belize’s three offshore reefs and consists of several lovely small sandy cays ringed by a huge reef.   There are several resorts on the main cay – all noticeably empty of guests.  The lagoon inside is milky turquoise and dotted with scattered coral heads.  It’s a protected marine reserve (as are many of the cays here) so the snorkelling was wonderful.

From the time we anchored off spectacular Nicholas Cay in the Sapodilla Cays when we first arrived in Belize in January we’ve been amazed to keep finding perfect anchorage after perfect anchorage.  It’s nothing at all like the crowded eastern Caribbean.  Over this side the people are friendlier, the winds are generally lighter, provisioning is way cheaper and you’re not sharing the anchorage with dozens of other boats. 

When it came to seafood we were spoilt for choice.  David caught a good sized lobster in shallow water off South Long Cocoa Cay, we hooked a mahimahi while sailing to Glover’s Reef and then two king mackerel a few days later.  As we anchored off one small cay near Dangriga a local chap (“they call me the mayor around here, but you can call me Harry”) paddled out with a bag of lobster tails to trade.  We produced a paperback (he was an avid reader), an old Cuisine magazine for his wife (a keen cook), three packets of biscuits and a 200ml bottle of rum and got four lobster tails.  The next night he returned with fresh lion fish and more lobster.  Paradise!

Okay…before you all begin to think about moving here I better point out that two things conspired against us in Belize – the weather and the reefs.   Our month there was dominated by 12 days of overcast or windy conditions during which we had to find shelter and stay put.  Much of Belize is uncharted which calls for eyeball navigation and when it’s cloudy, that’s impossible.   It doesn’t help that Bandit draws just over two metres which makes getting some places in Belize, such as the northern cays, impossible. 

We had a few sticky moments.  The water near the inshore reef was  cloudy making it hard to spot coral heads.  There was often no distinction between 3m, 6m or even 10m.  Near Tobacco Cay we came very close to hitting a sandbar that was uncharted in our guide book.  Luckily we were going very slowly and hit reverse quickly, but saw 2.1m on the depth gauge before we did.  The next day we saw a French yacht run hard aground on the spot.

                

Getting in and out through the narrow passes in the outer reef with a swell running was also heart in mouth stuff – as we found out heading out to Glover’s Reef. As I was taking photos of Balvenie, who was behind us, suddenly Bandit took a huge wet one as well! 

We did have some wonderful sailing inside the outer reef.  With trade winds blowing at a steady 15 knots and flat seas we could race along on a beam reach – magic.  But it was scary given the water was only 3m.

Belize gets affected by cold fronts that develop over the US.  The worst such norther we saw brought 30 knots of wind with it.  We hid out behind Robinson Cay near Belize City but the system blew through overnight and we woke to clear skies and gentle breezes.

Time to head to Lighthouse Reef which had been the focus of our entire trip here.  Having seen Jacques Cousteau’s documentary about the Blue Hole we decided we couldn’t miss it…but, thanks to weather and that damned shallow ground we did.  The wind just didn’t play ball and given the anchorage was only a tad over 2m and we’d had a scary time in Turneffe Reef the night before with just 40cm under the keel, we decided to head to Mexico instead.

Unfortunately, not being familiar with local weather patterns in this area meant we were often running for cover from systems that didn’t eventuate or getting caught in winds that were not forecast. Oh well…that’s all behind us now and next stop is margaritas in Mexico.

Procrastinating in Placencia

 

The picturesque seaside town of Placencia, in southern Belize, was meant to be a brief stopover for Bandit; a place to clear in with immigration, re provision, check internet and wait for a weather system to blow through.   Along with Amanda and Mark on Balvenie, we’d headed here after three days in the glorious Sapodilla Cays. 

Belize gets frequent “northers” blowing down from the United States in December and January.  As the reefs and cays offer little protection for yachts, it’s essential to head for a safe anchorage such as Placencia to sit out these winds.

             

But our few days in Placencia turned into four, five and then six but oddly enough it wasn’t the wind keeping us there it was the cloud cover.  The wind never really came to anything but for days on end we had overcast skies which meant we couldn’t move very far.  The coast of Belize is strewn with coral reefs – much of it uncharted – so eyeball navigation is essential and that’s impossible with cloud cover.

 So procrastinate we did, ears pinned to the morning weather report hoping for a break….but it continued to be bleak.  Just as well Placencia was a gorgeous spot to wait.  With its bright colours, vibrant atmosphere, reggae music and spicy food, it felt thoroughly Caribbean even though it’s essentially a central American country.

Life in Placencia is simple.  Townsfolk live in tiny houses, many appear homebuilt and most sit on stilts, theoretically for air flow and to keep bugs at bay but I reckon it’s for the magnificent sea views.  The beautiful beach stretches for miles and is coarse golden sand – the kind that doesn’t get in your lunch or stick to your skin – perfect.

Placencia was spotlessly clean – the beach was regularly raked and we never saw any rubbish in the town.  This was an absolute pleasure after months of being in central America where everyone drops litter at random.   Sometimes you feel like you are living in a rubbish tip.

We found a fantastic coffee shop – sitting on stilts in a funny old wooden building - and wasted a few hours there drinking great flat whites, catching up on email and internet news and filling in time.

We tried to eat out at Omar’s Creole Grub, reputed to be the best (and cheapest) in town for fresh seafood, and highly rated by those in the know.  Come Friday night we dressed up and headed out with Balvenie only to find Omar’s was closed.  That’s how it works in the Caribbean!  Oh well, maybe Omar didn’t catch any lobster.  We found another creole restaurant and feasted on prawns and chicken.

Another night we had a true creole feast thanks to my namesake Brenda who runs a great seaside shack on the waterfront.  Every day she’d ask with a huge smile “when you gunna eat here?”.  We eventually relented and for NZ$7 she dished us up a huge plate of plantain, breadfruit, turkey, gumbo, rice and a few things we couldn’t identify (and decided not to ask).  As it was her birthday she threw in rum, fresh fruit and cake.

Placencia certainly had its charm but by day seven we’d had enough.  We had detailed GPS coordinates for nearby Lark Cay so headed off and gingerly picked our way there dodging reefs and shoal ground. 

It was a safe anchorage and it was wonderful to see dolphins feeding right beside Bandit and a manatee surfacing nearby in the mangroves.  But the overcast weather continued so after two days we headed back to Placencia for another dose of internet and good coffee and to procrastinate a little longer.  The forecast is for sunshine by the weekend so with any luck, we’ll be able to continue our exploration of the Belize Barrier Reef which is the second largest in the world.

Unique Utila

 

The Honduras Bay Island of Utila will be memorable for two things – freediving and the wind.  Freediving is diving without scuba gear – something that had always intrigued David. 

When he discovered that Lisa, our fantastic yoga instructor, also taught freediving he needed no encouragement - he was in, fins and all.  First day he dived to 12m and the second to 20m…holding his breath for an astonishing two minutes.   Not bad for a first timer… and on old timer!

Freediving simply means diving without bottled air, as David says – “Just a breathing procedure lasting about two minutes a big breath and down you go.”  There is some necessary breathing techniques and safety stuff to learn first of course.  He had some trouble getting deeper than 12 metres because he could not equalise his ear pressure.  “However once I figured that going feet first worked I was able to plummet like a stone to 20m!  (66 ft).  Rest assured this will be a personal best as I have no intention of having a go at the record of 101m, but the experience was great and the adrenaline rush must have got rid of my shingles!,” he says.

But back to the wind.  We left the neighbouring Honduras Bay Island of Roatan with strong winds forecast, but didn’t feel we were in a secure enough anchorage to sit them out there.   It was a brisk sail across to Utila, with a messy swell, but as we arrived the winds lightened and the anchorage was beautifully sheltered- not for long!

Utila is a hangout for backpackers – as opposed to Roatan which is full of expatriate Americans, wealthy tourists, cruise ship passengers (about 10 ships visit a week) and washed up yachties.  It didn’t rate that highly with us but was a good place to wait for David’s shingles to improve.  Utila, with its laid back atmosphere, quaint shops, dozens of dive centres and hundreds of young people was far more our scene.

We’ve found throughout our travels that we really enjoy young people – they are so energising, interesting and inspiring.  And of course backpacker haunts are always cheaper than high end resorts!

                    

Utila may not have the multi million dollar resorts that Roatan does but what it lacks in flash hotels it makes up for in cheap and cheerful atmospheric cafes, bars and restaurants….some are downright weird (see pix above!).   There are more tattoos, dreadlocks, piercings and alternative clothes on show here than elsewhere in the Caribbean too.

But (once again) back to the wind.  The one thing people never tell you about in the Caribbean is the wind.  Before we sailed to Greece well meaning people warned us about the Meltemi but noone ever mentioned the Caribbean trade winds and, to be honest, since arriving in the Caribbean December 2011…it’s done nothing but blow.   Give us a good Greek Meltemi any day of the week!

So there we were stuck in Utila with winds of up to 35 knots blowing day and night.  Then there was the odd torrential rainstorm just to keep us on our toes and fill our water tanks - we collected 300 litres in one downpour!  We also managed to get totally saturated in the process as we’d been in town for a meal when the deluge began.

The wind was very frustrating and meant we couldn’t get down to the picturesque cays at the bottom of the islands or do any snorkelling – it was just too windy and rough.  Luckily Utila had enough to keep us occupied – internet, free Spanish lessons and of course, David’s freediving course.  We both also did the sunset yoga classes with Lisa on a dock over the sea – fantastic location and amazing classes.

We were relieved when the wind eventually eased and there was a window for an overnight sail to the Sapodilla Cays in Belize.  We left in company with Kiwi mates Mark and Amanda on Balvenie.  It’s always nice to sail in convoy in these waters which are generally safe but there has been the odd incident of piracy including one last year.

As we gingerly picked our way through the coral reefs at the bottom of Utila we caught a tuna – first fish of the season!   Dawn brought us to beautiful Nicolas Cay – which we visited last season.  It remains one of our favourite and most memorable anchorages in the Caribbean with its crystal clear water, fantastic snorkelling and gorgeous white sandy beaches.  Within minutes of anchoring the caretaker paddled out saying he remembered us from our last visit and did we have the cigarettes we had promised him!!  We did and handed them over along with a couple of cold beers!

We stayed for a couple of days enjoying the remoteness and tranquillity and some fantastic snorkelling.  Highlight was watching two beautiful spotted eagle rays feeding. An interesting experience was having a small reef shark swim right up to us – so close that David had to punch it in the nose…just to let it know who was boss.  It was our third shark sighting in as many days.  Most of the sharks here are harmless nurse sharks…but seeing them still is a bit spooky.  There is a “norther” forecast – a cold front heading down from the US with strong winds – so we’re now tucked up in Placencia on the Belize mainland for a few days to sit it out.  Looking forward to exploring the rest of the beautiful Belize Cays and the famous Blue Hole.