Editor’s introduction: Passat II has shared a collection of SSB messages sent “home” from their past offshore adventures. Some of them are presented here, with more to come next month. Many thanks to Karina McQueen for curating.
Here’s a chance to travel vicariously through Barrie and Sandra’s updates as they pursued their cruising dreams. More stories from their travels can be found here.
Long Cay, Lighthouse Reef
Friday, April 16, 2010, 18:04
We did a day trip to Mayan ruins, including a 1.5 hour guided trip on the New River. I was the only one in our group that climbed to the top of the 33 meter temple. Many great pictures for the next blog posting.
We left the Cucumber Beach Marina on Wednesday and returned to English Cay. Yesterday we snorkeled the reef and enjoyed a lightning show.
Today we motored in no winds and mirror-like seas to Long Cay, Lighthouse Reef. This has been our hottest day so far this year, with air temperature topping 99 degrees Fahrenheit. We will be visiting a world class bird sanctuary and the famous “Blue Hole” for the next few days.
All is well with us and we hope with you.
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie & Sandra
Squall at Long Cay, Lighthouse Reef
Monday, April 19, 2010, 16:52
We are anchored in 15 ft, with 7 to 1 scope; the anchor is safely buried in sand. There is a cay (Island) 1/4 mile to the east, a reef 1/2 mile to the north, 18 miles of fetch to the west, and reefs to the south. This is about as protected as it gets out here.
Three vessels in the Anchorage, one dive boat on a mooring, and three sailboats at anchor.
No wind, dead calm.
The sun sets, and evening falls. Nature’s fireworks (lightning) starts at dusk, the full 180 degrees along the northern horizon. Imagine a battle. A battleship in the middle, guns lighting the sky every second. To the west, a land battery firing forked bolts. To the east support vessels firing every few seconds.
Off to bed. The air is heavy and humid. No wind. Dead calm.
23:30 hours. There is a blast of wind from the west, 20 kts plus. Oops, this is a lee shore anchorage!!! There is another blast of wind from the west building to a steady 30+ knots. Time to take down the shade tarps? Too late.
Lightning all round. Quick, put the computer in the oven, detach all electronics, remove fuses. Keep away from metal!
The waves are building. Do we put out more rode? Add a kellet? Not with that lightning!
Are we dragging? No. Anyone else dragging? No. So far so good.
Waves are now 4 feet and choppy. The anchor snubber comes off. We bang BANG, BAAAANG as the chain comes up short. Good grief.
Splat – is that a rain drop? Before the words are out, the skies open and the air fills with water.
Are we dragging? No. Anyone else dragging? No. So far so good.
00:30 hours. The rain stops. The wind drops to < 15 knots and clocks 90 degrees to come from the north.
Now we are broadside to the waves. Rock and roll. Dishes fly. Pots bang. There is a mad rush to re-secure everything.
A massive lightning bolt hits the island behind us. Eventually the storm passes. We rock to sleep.
Morning dawns. Two boats have already left and one leaves as we have coffee. Doug, the weather man on the NW Caribbean Net, predicts more of the same for the next two days.
We leave.
Wishing you fair winds and calm anchorages.
Barrie & Sandra
Lighthouse Reef “Blue Hole”
Monday, April 19, 2010, 16:55
One more thing struck off the “Bucket List”. I snorkeled the Blue Hole today. It is a great reef and hopefully some great pictures for the blog. Highlights were Drum Fish, Squirrelfish and a school of Parrot Fish. No sharks, but had mixed feelings about meeting them anyway.
We hitched a ride with the Belize Audubon Society Patrol Boat. The route from the Halfmoon Cay anchorage to the Blue Hole is shallow, with “numerous coral patches”, so we jumped at the ride offer.
The Society manages the two marine preserves, Halfmoon Cay and the Blue Hole. We toured Halfmoon Cay yesterday. It is a “Natural Monument” protecting the nesting grounds for the Red-footed Booby and Frigatebird. It is very nicely maintained, but not as impressive as the Blue-footed Booby nesting area on Isla Isabela, Mexico we visited in 2008. The snorkeling is great between the cay and the reef. I have a great picture of a white flat fish with spines along the edge and one long spine on its side (back). It was virtually invisible against the sand. The only way you can really see it is when it moves. It is not in our fish guidebook so if anyone can tell me what it is I would appreciate it.
All is well with us and we hope with you.
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie & Sandra
The Gulf of Honduras, off Belize
Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 23:43
Well we finally made it off and on our way to Puerto Morelos, Mexico! The Rio Dulce was great, but it was time to move on. We spent our last days exploring the Castile San Felipe and anchoring out at Texan Bay Marina. …
The new VHF Radio, with AIS (Automated Information System) and Chart Plotter work great. The AIS is a great help as it gives us the name, call numbers, position, direction and speed of all vessels over 300 tons. The built-in computer calculates how close the vessel will come and at what time. The information is updated every few minutes and shows up on both the radio and the chart plotter.
One of the first vessels to show up was the cruise ship Norwegian Sun. I had met the Chief Officer when I was working at the All Bay Marine this summer. I called to say hi, but he was off watch until 06:00, so I left a message. It is truly a “small world after all”. Lord, I hate that tune and now it will be with me for the rest of my watch -()&*&*^.
All is well with us and we hope the same for you.
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie
Sandra reading in the cockpit. Photo courtesy of Lesley Quin
Tobacco Key, Belize
Saturday, December 4, 2010, 05:19
We are snug as bugs in a rug, anchored inside Tobacco Range, behind Tobacco Reef. The weather has been unsettled, with wave after wave of gusty winds, often with rain. We hope for improvement, starting tomorrow, that will allow us to continue north.
Yesterday I fixed the head (toilet), never a fun job. Also, checked all fluid levels in the engine and transmission. All good there. Today I hope to locate the reason that the engine alarms work only sporadically. Likely an electrical connection, always a challenge to find and correct. Sigh. Sandra keeps busy with her craft projects and cooking. One nice thing about inclement weather is that we eat well.
We are listening to “LOV” FM radio. Christmas carols, with a distinctive Caribbean accent and beat, interspersed by obituaries, decidedly local news and excited ads. One interesting ad is for building lots for $70,000 Belize ($35,000 US).
Today I was able to sign into the Pan Pacific Net on the SSB radio. The controller was a Canadian boater we met in Mazatlan, Mexico. He was located on the pacific coast of Guatemala and came in as clear as if he was next to us. It is rare to get good propagation to the west coast, so is worthy of note.
Wishing you all fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie
Off Ambergris Cay, Belize
Sunday, December 5, 2010, 17:51
We are underway again, north to Mexico. We started with a great sail, making 6 to 7 knots. Then our course shifted and we have been motor sailing, directly into the wind and waves for the past 12 hours. It is like running uphill into the wind. Not our preferred way to go. Speed down 40%, comfort down 90%. Someone remind me next year not to go north at this time of year.
Midday tomorrow we should be snug in Bahia de la Ascensión, Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula). Here we will wait out the next front coming south from the Gulf of Mexico. The water there is clear and I will get a chance to dive down and look at the bottom of the boat for the first time this season. Even with the cool weather (70s Fahrenheit) the water is still 78 Fahrenheit.
All is well with us and we hope with you.
Wishing you (and us) fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie
Bahia de la Ascensión, Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula)
Monday, December 6, 2010, 17:15
We arrived at the Bahia de la Ascensión after a two day passage, mostly motor sailing into the wind. We averaged about 3 knots versus our normal 5 knots, so arrived some 18 hours later than we had predicted.
After a friendly visit from the Mexican Marines we were able to get a good nap in and are now sitting out a weather front, bringing 20 knots of wind plus gusts, rain likely to follow. Glad we are at anchor.
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie
Outside Puerto Morelos, Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula)
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 00:56
We are “hove to” outside the port waiting for the sun to come up so we can go in. We motor sailed upwind and up-current going SW at 4 knots through the water and 1 knot NE over the ground. We had a super fast passage, averaging well over 5 knots, even making every effort to reduce speed. Finally at 04:15 I had to turn us around to stay in place until the sun rose to see our way into the marina.
With any luck we will be tied to the dock before 07:00.
All is well with us and we hope with you.
Wishing you fair winds and calm seas.
Barrie
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