PLACENCIA, BELIZE. MID FEBRUARY 2024
The big job of re fibreglassing is complete, time for R&R. Placencia has an annual Art Festival, the boardwalk is chock ablock with glorious artworks, food stalls and live music. I wish we could take some artwork home, but our 1826 cottage doesn’t have wall space or height, however the colours & vibrancy of many canvasses provide inspiration.
Even a humble light switch at Omar Fish restaurant & small art gallery has artistic flair!
We still continue the boat work, painting the anchor, teak oiling toe & coach roof rails, general cleaning, and discussions over a few beers at Yoli’s bar with Lucie & Michel s/v Moyak of weather predictions & when best to leave for Caye Caulker, our next leg Northwards.
The last time we were here we had the pleasure of visiting on board the Polish training ship, the Frederick Chopin. She is here once again and really adds some class to our bay full of yachts and catamarans.
No invitation was extended this time, perhaps they’d had enough of cruiser riff raff eating all the canapes!
The art festival is also an opportunity for local charities to raise funds. I was rather taken aback during our time ashore to find Terry in the firm grip of a Placencia Policewoman! She informed me that Terry’s fedora was from Guatemala, therefore illegally imported and she had no choice but to arrest him and we pay a fine for his release. Wait,what?! Oh hang on….her big smile gave the game away and certainly Terry looked rather pleased with himself at this “arrest” , though I did offer to pay a fine for her to keep him for a while! She was selling raffle tickets for the Women’s Refuge. Terry was released and we happily bought tickets, putting her name on each one. I wonder if she won?
A decision was made. On the 17th February we and Moyak would sail to Caye Caulker in legs. First leg would be Blue Ground Caye, 20nm away.
We had a cracking motorsail, in the company of dolphins, eyeballed our way through the shallow coral headed channel, dropped anchor in the calm bay & had a swim, bliss!
The following morning was a shock! The Northerly front had made it’s very unwelcome arrival early. Buggeration.
Winds rapidly began to build…16-17-straight to 24+ knots. Sisu was anchored close by the mangrove reef. Perfectly sheltered in the calm, in these accelerating conditions if our anchor suddenly drags we could potentially be on the reef. We weighed up options. . There followed a succession of radio calls between us and Moyak. Do we ride it out? Do we re anchor nearer them? Do we make a break for Sapodilla lagoon 20nm away? Though we are sailing together, each boat must make their own decisions at any time. Moyak suddenly began to drag, it’s heart stopping watching any boat drag, especially in these tight places with areas of shallows. Lucie & Michel had control and with their experience they safely re anchored in the lee of the mangroves on the other side of the little caye. We decided to leave and head for the safety of Sapodilla. The narrow exit channel was already churning with breaking waves. If we wait, we may not see the channel at all and risk running aground. Terry quickly got on deck, raising the swim steps and prepping the anchor for leaving. I got the engine ready, engine water on, fire up and stand at the wheel ready for Terry’s instructions as he hauled anchor. The wind was now howling, we could see the heavy swell beyond the caye. Increasingly choppy sharp waves pushed by the wind were driving us backwards towards the treacherous reef roughly 30 metres away, and then it began to rain, just to add to the fun…bloody hell….Terry had to holler his instructions….I strained to hear, catching them,acting on them and shouting them back in confirmation. Put a bit of power on. Hard to port! Neutral! Keep her steady! More power! Whilst he dealt with raising the anchor, I also had to keep Sisu steady and off the reef, so I bellowed back my individual decisions on what we had to do, so he was aware too. It’s fair to say, in these situations we work at our best, we will scrap & fall out over stupid mundane things whilst living 24/7 together but here, keeping tight control of the weather driven chaos we were in, we focussed on each other, our safety and that of Sisu. There’s sometimes a sense of shouting at Neptune and his weather gods “oh know you bloody don’t, you’re not going to bloody win!” The adrenaline fires through you and nothing else is in your mind but us and Sisu. Having said that, it doesn’t mean we enjoy it! Finally, after much bucking and pawing from Sisu, the anchor was up. We took her through the channel, a bum squeaky few minutes…we left Moyak sheltering. We would keep contact, updating them as to conditions out here.
Due to being unable to replace our gypsy till we reach Florida, we still had a lot of our anchor chain flaked on deck, which Terry had to pull into the anchor locker. We were riding the 2-3 metre uneven swells, motoring up and out of occasional side on waves. I took the helm whilst Terry worked his way along deck to the bow. Now it was up to me to keep her steady, prevent her being hit side on or rearing up by the confused seas. A challenge! But actually, we had plenty of deeper water and sea room, and it didn’t matter how long it took to cover the 20nmiles. All that mattered was Terry and the bow could be kept stable. This realisation brings relief and freedom to enjoy (bizarrely enough) to roll with the sea and let Terry do his job. Once he was safely back in the cockpit, we radioed Moyak, letting them know conditions. They decided to also leave and soon we were both safely in the lee and sedate waves of Sapodilla lagoon entrance. It was only late afternoon!
once the anchor was set, we broke out the rum and had a hefty slug in our coffee!
We certainly appreciated the sunset and a peaceful night…
Sapodilla Marina was hit by a hurricane a couple of years ago, today only the torn and twisted base of large palapa still remains. Fortunately the office, tiny shop, hot showers, washing machine and tumble dryer are still in operation. Over a couple of days we and Moyak catch up with laundry, enjoy proper showers, a bit of provisioning, including our good timing of arriving when the weekly veg & fruit van called, plus being allowed to use the swimming pool a short dinghy ride away.
Soon we would move on yet again, this time towards Caye Caulker, via Robinson’s Cay and Drowned Cay. We just needed a good window….
sisu journey 