Our last few days in Roatan were pleasant ones. We motored out of French Harbour over to Jonesville Bight, about four miles eastward. Nikolai, the owner of the yacht club, drew me a little map showing how to enter the harbor and get close to a popular cruiser hangout called “Hole in the Wall” in Jonesville Bight.
Unfortunately, his map was a little wrong on one part, and we ended up running aground because of it. It got pretty shallow, and for awhile it looked like we were stuck good. But alas, we managed to get freed up after a little effort. We ended up anchoring in the main basin, since I didn’t feel like running aground again. That was fine, and there was a bit more breeze there.
After setting the hook, we ventured over to Hole in the Wall. This is an interesting little place. It’s run by an expat named Bob. It’s barely a shack with a little dock extending from it. Despite its simple setting, it has a neat personality. There are a couple of old salts that have made Jonesville their home, and they tend to spend quite a bit of time there. Apparently, people travel from far and wide to visit this little place. It’s gained a rep with the divers as well as the cruisers’ set. Essentially, it’s a cool place to say that you’ve been to, but not much else.
So we hung out in Jonesville for a couple of nights. There was a heck of a front passing, and the winds were howling from the west, which is really unusual. There was no point in trying to head out in that craziness. Jonesville had a lot of personality, and wasn’t slammed with the real estate craziness and gringo commercialism that has really affected most of Roatan. It was a nice break from all that.
Unfortunately, time was running out. We had to start making our way back to Rio Dulce soon. We came up with the idea of taking a bus over to Coxen Hole to check out from there rather than having to do it in Utila or La Ceiba. So that’s what we did. We had to take a hell of a hike up a dirt road from Jonesville bight. Going through this very odd, and rather creepy place called “Friendships, the Village”. It consisted of several spartan looking houses, buildings, and sheds spread over several acres of hillside land. It was quite dilapidated in a strange state of disrepair. It looked like it was abandoned, but just not quite. We did see one guy along the way who we asked for directions, and he did so rather politely.
As we ventured through the place up the dirt road, I told Sjelle that I got the vibe that the place was some kind of creepy, clandestine religious cult compound. Most of the structures had olive green tarps over them, almost as if they were trying to camouflage the place from being seen from the air. There were containers everywhere that had who knows what in them. There were strange smells and stacks of stuff everywhere along the road. By the time we got past its main gate, and on to the main dirt road leading up to the highway, I was rather quite sure that it was some of cult compound.
We hitched a ride over to French Harbor in no time at all. Making it to Coxens Hole with plenty of time to do our check out thing with the port captain and immigration, and get some lunch. We saw some Garifuna ladies grilling some nice chicken on a streetside grill, and for about 2 bucks each, we each wolfed down a plate with fixins. There was a US navy destroyer anchored off the island, so there was quite a bit of local hustle and bustle going on because of that. Didn’t want to stick around too long with all that going on. We managed to get a bus back over to close to Jonesville. And down that dirt road and through the religious cult compound, we went again.
When we got to Hole in the Wall, there was a big happy hour potluck going on with most of the boaters present. It looks like they had some good food, but it was mostly gone. Which was fine, because we were still pretty stuffed with chicken. I asked Bob, the owner about that place up the hill from them that we had to walk through. He confirmed that it was a “religious group”, and they apparently got money from the Roatan government by handling all the island’s toxic waste. But apparently, most of what they really do is quite hush-hush, and he generally said that the people there are rather creepy.
Just out of curiosity, I did a google search on them, and alas they had a website. Their website basically touts them as a religious-based non-profit organization that provides lots of different kinds of aid to the poor of Honduras. Bob responded to that with “Yeah, right”. Seems like he knew alot more than he let on.
Well religious cult mysteries notwithstanding, we had to blast. So the next morning, we pulled anchor, and started sailing towards Utila. I wanted to give the genoa a trial run after its repair, and it seemed to work well. The winds were in our favor, so this meant we’d have a nice brisk trip to Utila.
The plan was to make a one-day stop there, take care of a few things, and then head onward to Rio Dulce. On our last day in Jonesville, I got an email from a french canadian friend of mine from Utila, Annie-Claude, who had come aboard Andiamo for a trip to Cayos Cochinos when Lisa and I first arrived in Utila for the season. They had caught a ride with Fred and Nancy of “Isle”, to Rio Dulce only a couple of days earlier.
Unfortunately, they experienced some mechanical and rigging problems and bad weather on top of it all. The were stuck off Punta Sal waiting for the weather to clear, and eventually decided to head back to Utila. In doing so, their engine started overheating, and a bit of pandemonium ensued. Things got pretty bad to the point that they put out a distress call.
By the time we got to Utila, their situation had gone from bad to worse. And they were asking for assistance in getting towed into Utila. The engine was still overheating, and they were not able to sail because of a broken shroud. Four days had passed since they left Utila for Rio Dulce. I could imagine that things were getting strained on that boat.
There were efforts which I were involved in to contact the port captain on the island and La Ceiba. The idea was to see if we can get the Honduran navy to go and get them and tow them into Puerto Cortes or La Ceiba. I’ve seen them tow disabled boats into La Ceiba before. But it was carnival time in La Ceiba, and that meant forget trying to get any kind of assistance at that time. There was also an effort to get a local guy who owned a speed boat to head out to their position and get them. They were about 20 miles west of the Utila Cays. One guy that was contacted said he would go, but after more than an hour, he decided that he didn’t have enough fuel.
Jimbo, of “Tania Jane” was getting pretty anxious by this time, and another cruiser in the harbor was willing to go and get them. But their boat would have taken hours to get to them and daylight was running out. About the time that they were fixing to head out, they got a radio call from “Isle” that they managed to repair the problem with the engine, and now had full engine power again. Needless to say, alot of people were relieved. They asked on the radio if I can wait for Annie and her boyfriend Misael to arrive before we left for Rio Dulce. The weather was still a bit dicey, so we told them that we wouldn’t be leaving until the following evening anyway. The timing worked out ok for everybody, and Annie and Mis ended up onboard Andiamo for the trip to Rio Dulce. So last friday evening, we left Utila, and headed out westward.
The sailing was excellent from the moment we exited Utila’s harbor. And that’s how it would stay for the next 12-14 hours before the wind died. That night, Annie and Mis cooked up a fantastic chicken curry dinner with pasta. Most of the night proved to be steady with wind, and we made excellent time. By 5 am the next morning, the wind died for good, and on went the motor. We motored the rest of the route to Livingston. Check in was kind of “winged” by the officials on account of the power being out. But they did still make sure that they each got their little payoff. While Guatemala’s officials are among the friendliest you’ll encounter, it’s kinda disconcerting to see them putting their hands out for five to ten bucks each, which you can be sure went straight into their pockets. But this is the reality of how things work in Central America. No point in getting too upset about it or making waves.
So back up the river we went, spectacular as usual. Annie and Mis enjoyed their first trip up the river immensely. Thankfully, the weather was clear and sunny the whole way. We got to Frontreras’ anchorage in time for sunset. We had a plan to go ashore for dinner and drinks, but that was ruined by a freshwater problem that I ended up getting mired in up to my armpits. The fresh water pressure pump was acting erratically, and in doing so, sucking up alot of unnecessary battery power. I had a spare, so I figured, let’s just change it.
Well, that turned out to be a huge mistake, and ended up costing me several hours of work. Sjelle and Mis went ashore and got pizza, so at least we ate. I ended up putting the old pump back on, and made a few tweaks to the supply lines. Whatever I did, it fixed the problem, and we had fresh water again. Which was good, because by that time, I was covered in sweat and grime, and badly needed a shower.
The next morning, we brought Annie and Mis ashore so they can catch a bus to Flores after breakfast. From there, they were going to head up to Mexico, where Mis was going to look into doing dive instruction at Playa del Carmen or Isla Mujeres. We only had a couple of days to spare before we had to get to the city so Sjelle can catch her flight. She was going to fly back to Denmark by way of London, and Barcelona.
So after checking out Sjelle’s boat at Luigi’s, and getting Andiamo settled at her dock back at Mario’s, we caught an early morning bus to Guatemala City. It had been storming ragingly all the previous night, and I was a bit nervous that we’d get majorly rained on, on the way into town. There were storm clouds all around us, and lightning, (which I don’t like). But luckily, we stayed dry all the way in.
Sjelle would fly out that afternoon, and I was going to spend the night to see if I can get my laptop checked out while I was in town. My dvd burner had been acting up for sometime now, and the dealer from which I bought it had a service center in the city. So I checked into my hotel, and off we went to the airport to get Sjelle airborne.
Saying goodbye to Sjelle was tough, because we had spent an awful lot of time with each other over the past several months and gone through quite a lot. Looks like it was tough for her too. It has been something having her on Andiamo the past few months, definitely kept things interesting. Even if it was a result of some really bad circumstances. I’m gonna miss her, but we’ll meet again later this fall I’m sure, or maybe even sooner. So it’s cool.
I met up with my Guatemala City pal Mitzy later that day, and we went to the computer store where she bought my laptop (she bought it for me and delivered it to me in Utila after I had my previous ones stolen). They directed us to the service center, but it was getting late in the day, so it would have to wait until the next morning.
We went to TGI Friday’s, since it was convenient, and I was starving. During that late lunch, we came up with the idea of going to see the “Da Vinci Code” at the theater that evening. Unlike the rest of the civilized world, I had not read the book. I had read another one of Dan Brown’s books, called “Digital Fortress”, and it was ok. Even though it was rather implausible (again, I know too much about computers, I guess). I figured at the very least it would be good pulp entertainment. Apparently, there’s quite a bit of controversy over the movie, which spurred my curiosity a bit, I admit. Oh, and let’s not forget that Mietsie and I were in Paris last year during the filming of the movie, so of course I had to go see it.
So that’s what we did. And the verdict is…. slightly thumbs down for me. The story was a bit too convoluted for my taste, and there were what I thought were wide open holes in the plot. From what I’ve been told, the ending is quite different than in the book, and I found it to be utterly ridiculous. And all the arguments being made in the movie about the history of Christ and Mary Magdalene had been made way before the book came out, so what gives? It’s controversal now because it’s in a bestselling book and a movie? Please.
Tom Hanks also gave me the impression that he didn’t really want to be there. Most of the acting was, to put it lightly, flat. Oh well, at least I only paid 4 dollars for it here rather than 10 bucks in the states. =)
So the next morning, we made the trip to the computer service center. The guy there seemed to be pretty knowledgeable, and told us that he should be able to fix the problem by that afternoon. So that was encouraging. Mitzy’s workday was a bit slow, so we went and had a nice lunch at a Chapin (that’s what Guatemalans call themselves) place. The food and the place were both fantastic. The weather was bad, so we just hung out at the restaurant and had coffee for a couple hours and talked about the movie. She liked it, so there was quite a bit of debate going on. But good, intelligent debate, which I always enjoy.
We made it back to the computer place, and the guy said he had fixed the problem by reinstalling some software. YAY! So all’s good with my laptop again, and my DVD burning antics will be back in full swing once I get back to Andiamo.
We met up with Maria, another one of the “Guatemala City Gang” as I affectionately call them. She joined us for yet more coffee, and we spent a good couple of hours hanging out with her. She’d just gone through a breakup so she was a bit sad. Do I know how that goes. But she’ll be ok. We made a plan to head over to Antigua a couple of days before I’m due to fly out to the states in June and hang out with the rest of the gang, so that should be good fun.
Mitzy was kind enough to get me to the bus station in a nick of time today. Had some trouble checking out of the hotel, because they wanted US dollars, and I only had Quetzales. They wanted to charge me an ungodly exchange rate, so I had to run down to the bank to change it into dollars, and then run back to the hotel to pay. My bus left at 11:30, and thanks to some creative driving by Mitzy, I just made it.
So now I’m back on Andiamo, it’s a little quieter these days with Sjelle not here, but I’m sure that the cats and I will manage just fine. There’s a good couple weeks’ worth of projects and general housecleaning to be done before I head up to the states for a little visit.
Plenty to keep me busy until then, that’s for sure.
