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April brings quarantine….
Our days were numbered, we had to re-up on the 5th, but on reaching Placencia the Dock Master advised us to do our extension as soon as possible. The reason being, Belize now had 3 cases of convid-19 and the Prime Minister was putting the entire country into a month long lock down. Apparently, the public in Belize City was not observing social distancing as requested, so everyone was to stay at home for a month. – We had 2 days to re-up and stock up and head out to quarantine in the cays.
It was a hectic time for us, however we managed to get fuel for the dinghy and Aeeshah, stock up on our dry goods, meats, produce, get a soda stream refill, get our months data, plus a wonderful fish take out from Ma G’s.
Doing a re-check
Going to Big Creek for our re-up was a half day event. We got the Hokey Pokey Ferry which was full, not a soul was observing anything like social distancing so we just had to all hope nobody was infected.
As usual we had to get a taxi to 1st immigration, we shared ours with a German couple. At immigration we washed hands and waited outside for the lady to take our passports and paperwork, all went well and we were given 60 more days.
From there we taxied to Customs where we found the door locked, then had a 45 minute wait, outside – after washing our hands. The fellow returned and promptly gave us -30days extension, they couldn’t do more.
Next door we visited the Port Captains where again we were given 30 days, had paperwork filled out and paid to stay. By then it was nearly 12:00 when our water taxi was leaving so speedily our taxi driver got us back to the Hokey Pokey. Later I found out we were more or less the last folks they re-checked as they too are going to be on minimum staffing for the month long lock down.
And then we were off….so we thought
Back in Placencia we managed to pick up the last few items we needed and so fully prepared we decided to head out before being “stuck” in Placencia Harbour. Off we headed deciding on Laughing Bird Cay where we read they had moorings. We figured we could use one for the night then move on in the morning.
We knew Laughing Bird is a sanctuary with no anchoring, but information did say they have moorings. Well, after an hour and a half of motoring we spied Laughing Bird, as we approached I noticed the moorings were but 1 and very close to the beach. Then we saw what we assumed was the caretaker come out of a hut and aggressively wave his arms telling us to get lost, go!!
Soooo, plan B was to try South Cocoa Long Cay, but the light to see the reefs was disappearing due to a large cloud and there were reefs along the way. We did make a valiant attempt at finding a path through the shallows, but after too much stressing we gave up and headed back to Placencia where we knew where to anchor safely for the night. We arrived back just before 7:00pm, and resolved to be up at dawn to “escape” to the cays again.
South Long Cocoa Cay
Up at 5:15 and out of the bay by 5:30 it was a lovely morning, off we set for South Long Cocoa Cay. We took the long route getting there which took us through the parks territory, which was probably not such a good idea. Arriving at the cay it took us a while to anchor up as the bottom was far from ideal. Finally anchored we spent an enjoyable afternoon snorkeling the nearby reef. The cay looked wonderful for exploring which we looked forward to doing the next day.
However the next morning during breakfast a parks boat arrived with 2 rangers aboard. They informed us that all cruising boats had to head back to Placencia and if we didn’t like it we could go, just leave……. They took photos of us and Aeeshah, not asking permission, just snapping them as if they were cops. Yes, they were quite belligerent, we tried to explain that we had been given permission to “shelter in place” that is go to a close anchorage and stay. However they were insistent we return to Placencia within the hour!
Return to Placencia
So, once again we returned to Placencia. There we found that another official looking boat was doing the rounds checking boats/cruisers documents. This boat had a customs, an immigration, and Port authority officer aboard to recheck papers. So, once again we were checked, and, yes, more photos taken. When asking about going back out, or getting any information we were told to listen to VHF16 for updates. This sounded suspect to us as we knew they normally did not have any VHFs. Off they went, they did find two boats in the harbour that had not checked in so they were yellow flagged.
Now this was the 3rd, April a Friday. Nobody was at the Port Authority booth on the dock all weekend, so really life in the anchorage continued as normal. Not really knowing if we were coming or going we decided to hang out in Placencia for a while.
Placencia is not a harbour that you would imagine as such. There’s just one small dock with a few colourful huts, – Port Authority being one, a lovely long beach and a few small, seaside resorts and restaurants. The “Harbour” is not for ships as it is shallow and so just us and other sailboats are anchored.
The fishermen have part of the beach where they clean their catch. At that time the seabirds – Pelicans, Frigate Birds and Laughing Gulls swoop and dive competing for the scraps the fishermen throw. In fact there is such a relationship between these wild birds and the fishermen that the men can throw the scraps and the birds catch them in mid swoop.
Ashore there is the village with small shops, veg and fruit stands, tiendas such as hardware stores. Of course now all but the grocery stores and fruit/veg stands are closed.
We were allowed to go ashore for necessities, groceries and laundry. When we do go we find the streets deserted, literally no cars, just no traffic, few people not even dogs walking about.
At the grocery stores we have to wash our hands outside before we enter. We have started to wear surgical gloves and masks, plus we have sanitizing gel. Only a few folks are allowed in the shop at a time, plus we have to avoid being anywhere closer than 6 feet near from each other. – much the same as everywhere else nowadays.
So in Placencia we stayed.We cleaned the boat, did odd jobs, John got on with a few engine room fixes. I tried to do yoga, but found it difficult on a moving boat, plus it was very hot. Time passed and still no word from the authorities. We visited with friends Rene and Michael who are caring for a friends empty resort, life just ticked along.
John befriended the fellow in the Port Authority booth, when he finally turned up, and managed to get permission for us to go out to Ranguana Cay for a few days. But, we are not to tell the other cruisers on the boats around us….hummm not sure how that works, as most folks spend a good part of each day watching each other. Anyway a few days break would be nice, even if not fair to all the others.
So Easter passed, nobody was about, the village was empty, all was deserted. We did get news on the VHF and Internet of other cruisers in the outlying cays. They were laying low, surviving out there. It sort of struck me that we had more liberty than they did, as we could get supplies, have laundry done and walk on land.
After 10 days we decided to head out to Ranguana for a few days of snorkeling. 
The Port Authority officer had not been on duty for 4 days and Mr T at the public dock didn’t think he was going to be fussed to return. So with that information, plus our handy permission to leave text we hauled the anchor and headed to Ranguana.
We were delighted to again be accompanied by dolphins along the way. They were playfully racing Aeeshah and dancing in the bow spray.
We also caught fish! First time this season, 2 Spanish Mackerel and a large Cobia. The Cobia we let go and the others we kept for Chico. Once there we picked up one of the mooring balls.
We could see 3 men in kayaks a few women sitting in the shallows and a few kids. This seemed strange as every resort and tourist place plus beaches were supposed to be shut…. One of the men approached, his name was Sylvester, he wanted the fee for the mooring ball plus asked if we had any thing to smoke, which was a negative. We checked that we could go ashore – fee covers mooring ball and landing on island plus wifi usage, he said yes.
The rest of the day we spent snorkeling the outside reef. It was lovely after so long not being near any reef to snorkel. The seas were quite rough and there was quite a strong current running, but we covered the entire outside reef. I saw some very nice stag horn corals, a large tarpon, and many other reef fish.
After our rinse off we headed for shore, where we were greeted by Sylvester, who informed us that one of the men did not want us to leave the area of where our dinghy was resting. I just went and sat on a swing by the water and did my wifi catch up. We figured afterwards that they had women and kids illegally there, as I had seen them creeping along under the palm trees, sort of sheepishly trying to disappear from view. Anyway, we were annoyed as we had paid and quite frankly they were rude. Back at the boat we decided to not go ashore again.
The next day we had a couple of wonderful snorkels at the inside reef. The seas were calm and ever so clear. The corals were beautiful, just so many fish too and the rays were almost tame. I also saw Flamingo Tongues, a Guinea Chick lobster, a Porcupine fish just to mention a few of the special sights.
This was about when we noticed a haze developing from the land and sure enough by the morning there was quite a thick haze. Yes, it was the beginning of the burning season. The time of year when the indigenous folks burn the grounds for planting, such a destructive farming method. And here we are now at the end of the month and the fires still burn. The haze makes each sunset and sunrise a hazy red glow.
Blue ground Range
We headed off to a second anchorage, catching 2 large Spanish Macheral. However, one had teeth marks in it and the other was missing it’s lower tail area. Otherwise perfect eating fish for the 3 of us.
Our new anchorage was Blue Ground Range, a sheltered anchorage amount some mangrove cays. Here we could get a very nice breeze, but be sheltered from the seas and also be able to explore the surrounding cays.
We stayed in Blue Ground Range for 6 nights. During the day we would do boat work, chores or pursue hobbies/crafts. For John this was polishing the stainless, maintenance, and such. Myself, after cleaning, baking cooking and the regular mundane I started a Christmas Stocking making project.
My daughter in law had asked me if I would make stockings for Lily and Evie as I had made for my son Gavin, many moons ago. I had quickly picked up some bits and pieces when traveling back to Guatemala months earlier, now was the time to proceed. Basically I started by designing, then creating stencils, cutting materials and sewing of the new Christmas stockings. Sounds odd, but the task is strangely therapeutic during these terrible, smoky, pandemic days.
We rode the dinghy each day around the mangrove cays exploring the surrounding territory.
The water crystal clear turquoise we saw fishing camps where the reclusive fishermen live, an osprey and its nest and then some unusual abandoned structures. It was a very quiet time, hardly a soul about, just the birds.
The osprey and its nest was the highlight of the bird watching, but we also saw all types of sea birds, herons and egrets too.
Back to Placencia we sailed to restock on some essentials. The smoke from the fires continued, the haze was thick, the dirty residue left on everything unimaginable. However this too will end soon.
