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Leaving Guanaja:
Sailboat hits reef….
So leaving Guanaja we had a relatively good sail across to French Harbour/Cay on Roatan. Upon the way we were told that just the previous night at around midnight a sailboat had hit the reef.… its name was Fred Again. This was one of the boats that had been in Guanaja with us. They had arrived late afternoon and had been invited to join the group of us cruisers going to Mia Cassa Too for dinner.
John had gone down the path from Mia Cassa Too to show them the way up to the restaurant. The story the captain told that night was that the four with him were friends of his daughter who were helping him to sail up from Panama to Belize where he would need to be by the 11th February to meet up his daughter. At the time we thought it was a bit odd as the 11th was only a few days away. Our friend who has much experience in the Bay Islands offered the captain, Robert, information about the area, which he just shrugged off.
The next morning was a wet one with several showers. We saw the crew on Fred Again standing in the rain and washing, rinsing clothes and other items by which time it was close to noon. John took the dingy over to them to tell them where the office was located for immigration etc, to bid them farewell and ask what their plans were. They said they were checking in and then headed to Roatan. He really didn’t think they meant that day.
As said, we left Guanaja early the following morning and as we approached French Cay we heard over the net that Fred Again had sent off the evening previously and sailed right up on the reef off of French Cay and Fantasy Island Resort. We could then see on our AIS that they hit close to midnight doing 4.5 knots. We both couldn’t figure how that could happen as they were a good 1/2 mile from the entrance, plus nobody would attempt the entrance at night, so we speculated that maybe someone fell asleep at the helm? We saw Fred Again as we anchored in the anchorage, sure enough it was high and dry, it had obviously been driven up onto the reef. That afternoon they were busy salvaging their gear off Fred Again, but:
We watched as evening approached local boats anchored a short distance from Fred Again, we saw as dusk fell they crossed and climbed aboard using flashlights and proceeded to break in and steal from the boat. At the same time these locals were all over the protected reef probably also taking lobsters. And no we did not get involved…..
Cayos Conchinos
We left a few days later fully stocked for a week or so in Cayos Conchinos – Pig Isles. These cayos are all totally protected by the parks.
There are about a dozen cays that make up the chain, some quite small and only really sand spits. There is a research station there that is linked to the Smithsonian Institute and National Geographic on the island referred to as “small pig”. We enjoyed a lovely sail over and to our delight found that nobody else was there. We picked up one of the 4 mooring buoys, and just after we did the guard and parks arrived to take our parks fee. It is actually cheaper to pay for a month than by the day and I am glad we did, plus asked for a receipt. We had a lovely swim and enjoyed the sunset.
The next day was stunning! Hardly a cloud in the sky, sunny but with a lovely breeze, the perfect day to explore. We started out by circling the main island in our dinghy. In the bay where we were there was also a few homes, obviously owned by wealthier folks and staffed by a few locals we could see. There was also a small dive resort, that appeared to have few if any guests.
We circled the isle clockwise past absolutely beautiful bays, beaches and over stunning shallow reef. On the far side of the island we saw the small local village where the locals are allowed to catch enough fish to sustain themselves, but none to sell. The island really is exquisite, we noted a few bays we intended to return to to snorkel.
That afternoon we returned to the bay around the corner where we had seen a few dive buoys. There we tied the dinghy and went snorkeling.
It was a wonderful snorkel, the corals plentiful, the fish numerous with schools of all different species, even fry in the shallows being chased and herded by garfish. The day was just perfect!
The day finished with a perfect sunset, life was good….
The next morning I was awakened by messages to call home…..my Dad had died just hours earlier. He was 94 so it was not unexpected. We up anchored, set off and had a rough, horrible passage back to French Harbour. My daughter in law, Katie, kindly arranged my travel for the next day. 
In the early morning we used our hired car and got to the airport for my flight to Belize on Tropic Air. (We actually arrived before the airport opened) This was just one of the small prop planes, seating about 12 at a squeeze there were 5 of us aboard. The flight was great as I could see the reefs and then the jungle below. I then flew out of Belize to Miami where I connected to Bermuda arriving just after 11:00pm.
Bermuda was stressful to say the least, but in just over a week I was able to leave.
Meanwhile in French Harbour John had a really rough time too. He had high winds every night, blowing up to 46 knots one night, he was up late most nights on anchor watch. However it passed without any major incidents.
Once I returned we resumed our life aboard…….
