West End, Utila, Belize and up the Rio Dulce to Catamaran

PHOTO ALBUM:–>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/N4EmnANQBnwu5cJr5

West End

And then it was back to West End where we picked up a mooring amongst many other cruising boats. We had dropped in to await calmer weather, lower seas to cross to Utila and to get to Eldens to stock up – mainly on cat food.

We found several boats that we knew in the West End, notably First Light, who were getting ready to cross to Cuba. We decided to rent a car as we had a number of places to visit, the dentist for my crown, the opticians for my new glasses, ACE for boat necessities and of course Eldens. So off we went one day, stopping at each to get what was needed. I was very happy with my new glasses from: The Optical Center at the Mega Plaza, my crown again is perfect, from Dr. Grant at: Roatan Dental Center and we are fully stocked with foods and cat food not obtainable in Rio Dulce. Roatan is excellent for services and supplies!

We also snorkeled while in the West End and again it was excellent. John wanted to dive but I had been feeling unwell and did not feel up to a dive….

Utila

Then it was off to Utila. We had a fast but lumpy sail across to Utila. This was our last Honduran Bay islands stop. We had intended to spend more time exploring, but now time was short. We checked out with the authorities, had a walk around and then went exploring by dinghy.

When checking out I had acquired a map of Utila. It showed a few canals, one of which went right across the island. So off we set, along the anchorage to Marschall Lake, where we crossed this inland bay and finally found a canal, aptly named “Canal”.

This turned out to be the longest and in places the narrowest canal we had ever explored. The beginning was quite normal, average width, with mangroves on both side. As we proceeded the canal got so narrow we were squeezing the dinghy ahead with the mangroves catching and scraping the sides. There was no room to turn around nor change our minds, we were committed by circumstance to continuing.

Finally after quite a ways the canal widened a bit but became shallower so we really needed to stay dead centre. After coming so far we decided to finish the canal. The end came out at Rocky Bay, we managed to just about make it over the bar at the entrance, did a short look about of the bay and then set off back along the canal homewards.

The reason being, it was later in the afternoon and we didn’t want to be stuck in the canal at night. As it turned out it took us 1 hour 20 minutes to get there and 45 minutes to get back, practice makes perfect.

It was just such a crazy canal, I can’t imagine how they had managed to dig it out.

On to Belize

The following day was our day of departure, but as we had several hours beforehand we set off to explore the waterway that lay under the bridge at Upper Lagoon and according to the map leading to a small lake/pond. Again we were really surprised by what we found.

Firstly there was a wooden bridge and short walkway leading into the mangroves to a few homes. After going under the bridge we ventured around several bends and found that in areas the sides had been cleared and there were homes on stilts in the mud sitting along side the mangrove canal.

They were obviously only accessible by boat as there were only wooden walkways over the mud to the canal. The canal went further and finally reached the Big Bight Pond, which was huge. There were two big areas of the pond where there were just mangroves still waters and water birds. Utila seemed full of surprises.

Off to Belize we sailed at 15:00, a short overnight sail. It was an easy crossing, arriving off shore at 7:00ish we crossed the reef at Ranguna and proceeded to Placencia arriving mid morning. There we dropped anchor, I tidied up while John slept for a few hours, he was exhausted.

2 nights were spent in Belize, basically biding time till we could head to Cabo Tres Puntas to get ready to cross the bar. During our day in Belize we had a walk around Placencia to stretch out legs, bought a few items and indulged in wifi from Yolli’s. Belize is still as lovely as ever.

Cabo Tres Puntas and across the bar to Livingstone

At Cabo Tres Puntas we spent the first night in the large sheltered bay of Bahia la Grasiosa. A norther was due and we have found from past experience that winds can be threatening at times in Cabo Tres Puntas, twice there we had strong reverse winds in the middle of the night. The large lagoon like anchorage was really lovely. Absolutely huge in size we found there were even a large pop of dolphins playing and fishing in the lagoon. The night of the norther proved to be no threat at all in this bay, but the next day was overcast and mostly rainy.

We moved to CaboTres Puntas to be in place for our crossing early the next morning. The evening was quiet, 5 other boats were there with us awaiting the morning crossing.

The morning dawned a rainy, misty day, not the weather we preferred for crossing, but off we went. As it turned out we hardly had a problem crossing, the lowest depth shown was 0.01 under the keel and we could feel the drag, but we crossed!

Livingstone is always an experience. We give our agent Raul our documents and then have over an hour till he is ready, so we wander around. After checking in with Raul we quickly headed up river, it was noon and we wanted to be at Catamaran for the evening.

The rain persisted off and on so we had our first rainy up river trip. There were dozens and dozens of pelicans and laughing gulls at the mouth of the river.

The river is always beautiful and magnificent. We arrived by 4:30 at Catamaran and were helped in by friends.

Since arriving we have enjoyed catching up with friends and have managed to get the boat ready for our departure. Chico is very happy to be back at his land home!