Monday - Quita Sueno Bank

We dropped anchor at 1330, position N14deg,18min. W081deg,13min. We found a big US Coast Guard Cutter hanging out here...patrolling these waters. The ship wrecks are numerous--big ones visible as landmarks. But no land in sight. This area and the Nicaraguan Coast area have a spotted history of banditos and much drug running...that's why sailing in company of other boats is a safety factor. We had a great sail last night; still beating to windward but the seas were managable and we were able to keep up 6-7knots with full sail. We are in constant company with Willow-hopefully their fish catching skills will rub off on us! We always have minor repairs to tend to after a passage. This time a (fish) line for our Dutchman Reefing system broke, so we'll replace it here. And the rig needs tuning...we replaced all standing rigging before we left Florida and it's been doing it's breaking it stuff and stretching as expected. Last sail a reef line broke--we were using an old line. As the expression goes: repairing your boat in exotic places. Wish I could send pictures...it'll have to wait for internet access! So we're off to explore the bottom again...and then get a good rest. wish you could see the different colors of blue in this area of the ocean.

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Sunday 3-30

We're underway again. We left 0550 with Willow- destination Quito Sueno Banks, 160mi; ETA tomorrow around 12noon. We're on Central Time now. Beautiful day- winds 10-15 out of the east, so we're beating in good conditions, 2-3ft. seas; and hoping a northerly component shows up soon. We'll spend a few days at the Banks before going to Providencia. We did a dive with Willow while in the Hobbies. Nancy and Ginny are great fish hunters...they speared enough fish to share with the 3 other boats in the anchorage for dinner last night. We're still on that learning curve and getting used to scuba diving again! Nice to be in the company of pros though. They also have a compressor to refill the tanks. Giving thanks everyday for our experiences and many many blessings!

3-24 Monday, Hobbies

16deg,02minN; 83deg,06minW
We motorsailed to Cayos Cajones (Hobbies)with 8-10knts. of ENE winds; seas calm at 1-2ft; along with Willow. They've got much better luck catching fish...already a 3ft. mackerel this 15mi. trip. They brought the snapper and hog fish to our Easter dinner. I pressure cooked a whole chicken, opened a canned ham and added pineapple. Arenas brought a delicious chocolate cake -made from scratch- Helen Marie's crew brought a great rice dish; with the cornbread and various salads, we had quite a feast aboard Infini! 7yr. old Juan (who speaks 3 languages fluently) made my day. We got some sour dough starter -good stuff from San Francisco-so I guess I'll have to quit using the oven as a storage place and start firing it up!
YAY we broke out jink and caught our first fish--a 20" tuna that will be dinner tonight!

3-21 Friday Vivorillo

We're at N15deg.50.70" / W083deg.18.18"
We made our rough overnight trip to the Vivorillo's with Willow and Arenas. We left Guanaja 1 hour after Willow, and Arenas left 2 hours later, but we all anchored within 10 min. of each other. It's amazing to find a patch of calm water in the open sea created by walls of coral. We're in the lee of a 2 mile long natural breakwater of exposed or awash reefs interspersed with a chain of tiny islets. One of the cays is a natural bird sanctuary, the black man-of war frigate being the most prominent species. When I get internet again, I hope to update with pictures. Being here on a full moon was pretty cool...it really does light up the night. We'll stay here for Easter, and have a potluck dinner aboard Infini- with the now 3 other boats in the anchorage.

Michael's Rock , Guanaja 3-18

We followed our friends on Rotuma by dinghy through a cut in the island to the north side, where we found nice beaches and great places to snorkel. Michael's Rock has wonderful coral around it and a great abundance of fish. I saw the biggest puffer fish ever...hiding in his hole all puffed up for me. We had a great lunch at the Green Flash restaurant...being the only ones there, in paradise, was special. Like most places, this is family run; having no roads on the island, boats are a must.

3-17 Happy St. Patty's Day Guanaja, Honduras

It looks like the wind should lay down to 8-12 knts. Thurs. eve, so early Friday we plan to leave for the Hobbies and Vivarillos to do some diving and exploring. These are reefs off the Nicaraguan coast. Then we'll continue our trip to the Columbian islands of Providencia and San Andres. A Valiant 40, 'Willow' with Nancy & Jenny aboard from San Franciso will probably be leaving then too. Last evening we had them, and the crew from 'Linus', (a Swiss couple), and 'Rotuma', the Brits Derrick & Beryl, aboard to share a pot of chili and celebrate Beryl's birthday.
I've taken inventory of our provisions and put them on a spread sheet; so now the trick is to mark off the items we use to keep it up to date! It may be a few weeks or more before we see any kind of store or tienda. Hopefully we'll have better catching fish!
The weather has been great-no rain, winds 15-20, increasing at night. It keeps the noseeums away, thank goodness, but makes for a wet dinghy ride. The autopilot has been unreliable...we keep trying to get it right, and have our fingers crossed that Otto will cooperate on these next legs. Thank goodness there's no big stretches between here and Panama. Only one or two nighters. We'll send emails to this blog as we go!!

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3-13 Thursday Guanaja, Honduras

Alan left today...he found a free ride (private plane)to Roatan...so he'll enjoy West End until his plane leaves Sunday for the states. He's good company, and welcome anytime aboard Infini. We moved back to El Bight today. We'll dinghy to town in the morning to check out of Honduras, (it's also vegetable day-the one day a week the supply boat comes to the island)and wait for a good weather window to head for the Vivarillos, about 150mi. ESE. It was nice to have 4 other boats we know join us in the anchorage yesterday at Josh's Cay. Sundowners at Graham's Place to catch up a bit. So for now we're organizing and relaxing...reading a lot of books! And enjoying 'Lonely' the dolphins company--she hangs around if she sees you on deck--very social until you try to get in the water with her, then she disappears!

3-10 Monday

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JEN & SEAN!!

Birthdays and important events come & go....just so you know I'm always thinking of you all as we 'take one day at a time' and have a whole lot to be thankful for! The cold front has passed--a whole lot of rain and high winds--we'd have a great 3 day window now to 'get around the corner'---but alas we're going to have some good times here with Alan. We filled up with diesel today and motored over to Josh's Cay...back to good snorkeling water.

3-7 Friday

While in Port Royal,it was great to see our friends Joe & Helen, who had arrived from Tarpon Springs aboard DeJaVu. Their friends Tom & Stanna are caretaking 'Casa Gusto', which is next to the Mango Creek Resort. I've never seen so many humingbirds upclose at one time---and big ones too! Tom & Stanna had house sat for the Bundy's years ago when they had sailed the west coast of Florida...we found out they know quite a few of our sailing club friends back in Gulf Harbors!
We've motor sailed to Guanaja; passing Barbaretta and the Pigeon Cays where we'd like to explore, but we decided to make our easting while the weather is somewhat cooperative. We're in Sandy Bay, El Bight, (N16.27, W085.52) where 6 other boats are hunkered down for the norther coming through this weekend. We took the dinghy to town, and got absolutely soaked coming back in the steep waves--waves crashing totally over the boat...the wind was howling. We laughed! The water was warm, the skies were blue...it's only water. We had a wonderful dinner at the Manatee, a German Restaurant - the one and ONLY place to go here. I enjoyed the visit from the black hawk that comes for a handout. A great place to meet other cruisers.

3-3 Monday Port Royal, Roatan

Cousin Alan arrived from WA. state with his bags full of goodies for us! Mark & Michael met him at the airport...while I made dinner for 5 of us. Time to say goodbye to Mark & Lori; they were a big help while in Calabash! We motored around to the next cove; Port Royal. Our friends Joe & Helen had arrived from Tarpon Springs on DeJaVu a few days earlier...it was nice to see them again! Some friends of theirs are caretaking a house here-(Casa Gusta). Tom & Stanna brought all of us out on their SeaCat to snorkel the 'blue hole'. It was nice to be back in the water again--we didn't snorkel while in Calabash. What a view from Casa Gusto; the hummingbirds are very prolific!