Our time in Utila this time around was rather bittersweet. For a few reasons:
1. The island had been having DIRE problems with their electrical power since Semana Santa! Apparently, the power company on the island made some major miscalculations on their power and fuel needs, and all hell broke loose. The island went days without any real power.
Luckily, many of the supermarkets and banks had generators, so some semblance of order existed. But trying to make a phone call, or get on the net, was an absolute disaster. As was getting around the island. Since there were no street lights or exterior lights, it was very difficult to avoid getting hit by oncoming motorbike, car and golf cart traffic. Several people got hurt from what I heard.
Most of the island’s water supply is powered by electric water pumps, so when the power was out, so was the water! This surely added insult to injury. The local tourism also suffered significantly, because nobody on vacation wants to stay on an island that has no essential services, even hippy-dippy backpackers.
It got so bad that Monica asked me to get her a pair of generators for Tranquila, and her new cafe she just opened on the island, the “Mondani” while I was in La Ceiba.
Lucky for us, Andiamo had all the amenities, and we were able to watch DVD’s, enjoy hot showers and all the associated comforts. I don’t think my island-dwelling friends liked it much when I gloated about this. =)
The power company did finally get their act together after a good three weeks of hell. Hope it stays that way.
2. The rash of boat break-ins continue at a pretty abominable rate. Since we were last here, at least two boats got robbed. While we were in Utila this last time, a boat owned by a former Gainesville, Florida cop named Jimbo (who I’d actually met in Gainesville when I lived there about 10 years ago!), got broken into and robbed. He lost about two grand worth of computer and other stuff. The most ironic part of this particular incident was that he got robbed while he sat with Sjelle and me at Tranquila over beers, while we were TALKING ABOUT THE BREAK-INS! In fact, Jimbo thought he was ok, because he’d been locking his boat up “like Fort Knox”. I responded to that by saying it really didn’t matter. If the thieves want in, they’ll bash their way in if they had to. Like they did on my boat. Alas, that’s exactly what they did.
These robberies (and the island’s inability to deal with them effectively) has unfortunately cast a dark pall on Utila among the boating community. The radio nets are buzzing with people advising other boaters to avoid Utila. It will definitely put a dent in their local economy. Last year at this time, the anchorage was PACKED with boats. When Sjelle and I left, there were only three boats anchored. I suspect that this trend will continue until the scumbags who are doing these breakins are caught and dealt with.
We went back to La Ceiba for a quick stop. Mainly, I had to get the last of the metalwork put on Andiamo. It was to have been done by the time we got there. The sail over was absolutely fantastic. The winds were blowing from the Northeast, and we had a hell of a time sailing in. We made it into La Ceiba in record time. Awesome!
Unfortunately, the metalwork was not at all what I wanted, so I had to reject it. But we still stayed in for a couple of days and took care of some shopping, and other stuff. Sjelle also wanted to start stocking up on her summer wardrobe since nice clothes cost far less here than in Denmark. So she went a little nuts. Women and their shopping, you know how it is =) .
We also caught a new movie at the cinema, “Firewall” with Harrison Ford. It was just ok action-wise. I know too much about computers I guess, and spent the whole movie just shaking my head, as in “nope, doesn’t work like that”. But hey, I’d rather pay 2 bucks to see a movie like this than the usual $9.00 you’d pay in LA.
Paul and Linda’s boat “Miramar” was still on the hard at the shipyard, getting their bottom done and some other work. They seemed to have fun going around Honduras on land, while waiting for their boat to get done. It’s basically what I did when I was stuck in La Ceiba for about 3 weeks last year. Sure I’ll see them out there or back in the Rio Dulce this summer.
Their cruising buddy, Jerry, a Californian, wasn’t having nearly as much luck. He needed to rebuild one of his boat’s engines, and had to order parts from the states. Alas, due to a paperwork snafu, his stuff got stuck in customs. Having been there with my mainsail I ordered from the states last year, I can surely relate to the frustration and the helplessness you feel when something like that happens. Hope he gets his stuff.
After a couple days’ stay in La Ceiba, we headed back out. The plan was to go to Utila and deliver one of the generators to Monica. The other one I bought her had been delivered by ferry the day before because they urgently needed it.
When we got there, I noticed a boat, “Dances with Wind”, that belonged to a buddy of mine, Doug, a contractor from Colorado, was in the harbor. Within a few minutes after we anchored, he stopped by on his dink. He had a girlfriend visiting from the states, Hillary. We all chatted for a bit, and made a date to go snorkeling that weekend. So we stayed an extra day to do that. We also got out for the night a couple of times, which was a nice change from the mellow pace we had been keeping the past few weeks.
So we headed out towards Roatan a few days ago. The plan was to sail over to French Harbor, hang out there for the night, and then head further up the island to Jonesville. Sjelle and I were told by a couple of other boaters that there were a couple of masts for sale there. So we thought we’d go by there and check them out to see if any of them were good for Sjelle’s boat. Then we would sail over to Trujillo on the mainland, and then if there was any time, check out Guanaja for our last few days out. We have to get back to Rio Dulce before the 20th to give us enough time to get Andiamo settled in to its new dock for the summer. Sjelle also needed to tie up some loose ends before flying out of Guatemala City a couple days later.
The winds started really kicking up by the time we were off Roatan’s south shore. It was blowing well over 25 knots in gusts. The current was also going against us, which slowed us down quite a bit. But we were still making good headway toward French Harbor, and would get there well before sunset at the current speed we were keeping.
That was until the shackle on the genoa broke off! I guess the load was too much for it, and it cracked off the top part of the furling drum. The genoa started flopping around from the head down. Before long, it tore at the luff tape (this is the strip of sail fabric that secures the sail’s leading edge to the forestay). Within a few seconds, the genoa came down as it separated from the luff tape, leaving it behind on the forestay foil. CRAP! It was almost at the sail “unzipped” from the luff tape. At least the luff tape stayed intact, and the break was clean, so it would be easy to get it restitched.
This is now the second sail “incident” that has occurred while sailing off Roatan. The last time being last year in April when my main blew to smithereens after getting caught in a crazy squall off Roatan’s south shore. Coincidence? We may never know.
But nevermind that right now, I had to pull the genoa out of the water and get it back on the boat. Once we did that, we proceeded to motor towards French Harbor. But by this time, the winds got even worse, and the boat was tossing around a bit too much for my taste.
I decided it would be better to go into Dixon Cove for the night since it was closer. So we changed course, and headed into there. I knew this anchorage because I was here last year with Lotte and Pauline (after blowing my main that is), and remembered really liking it. After a little bit of effort to get a good grab with the anchor, we settled in for the night.
We got the genoa somewhat folded up on the deck. The next morning, we made way for French Harbor. I vaguely remembered hearing about a guy there that did sail repairs. So getting there was the first order of the day. It was only a couple of miles up from Dixon Cove, so the ride didn’t last more than a half hour or so. After securing the boat at anchor, we dinghied in to the French Harbor Yacht Club. We asked around
the dock and found out that the guy who did sail repairs was actually in Brick Bay. So I grabbed a cab and headed over there. This was also where Swedish Ann worked, so maybe I would be able to find out her whereabouts. We knew she was heading back to Sweden soon, but not exactly when.
Once I got to Brick Bay, a couple of boaters then told me that the sail guy just went back to the states to take a new job. Damn! But one lady knew of a local guy who can do basic sail repairs. She gave me info on how to find him, and I grabbed another cab up the road to where he was. Luckily, I found him, and talked to him about what I needed done on the sail. He said he can do it, no problem. So I told him I’d bring him the sail the next day. I also found out about then that Ann, my swedish dive instructor friend, already left for Sweden. So we just missed her. Hate it when that happens.
A few weeks ago, another boater back in La Ceiba told me about a guy in French Harbor who was a wiz at refrigeration problems. I’d been having nothing but trouble with my engine-driven fridge all year, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and get this done while I was here as well. I found him easily at the seafood coop across the street from the yacht club. He came over the next day, and checked it out. After a couple of hours of tinkering, and a recharge, my fridge was working again! Woo-hoo! All for a mere cost of $40 dollars and the cost of the freon. It’s times like these that I LOVE Central America.
Sjelle had been having a hell of a time getting her plane tickets sorted out for her trip back. She had a ticket already for her Miami to London leg, but she needed to get a ticket from London to Barcelona, and then onward to Copenhagen. Mitzy, my new friend back in Guatemala City, hooked us both up with cheap tickets to Miami. But she still had to book a couple more legs of her trip back to copenhagen with a planned stop in Barcelona where she was meeting up with some friends there for a few days. So she’s been clamoring online trying to get that all done. Time is running out for her, as she heads out in a little more than a week. Hopefully she’ll be done before we leave French Harbor, so she can rest easy the rest of her time here.
She’s also still looking for a mast for her boat. So acting on a couple of tips, we took a bus ride out to Jonesville, which was further out eastward on Roatan. A long bus ride, a long walk down a dirt/gravel road, and a few hitched rides later, we were in Jonesville. It was a picturesque, relaxed little community on a bay. Several shrimp boats called it home, and the locals there went way back, you can tell. They were alot like the locals on Utila. After asking several of the locals if they knew anything about the masts we’d heard were for sale, the trail ran cold. We had to head back to pick up the sail, which was supposed to be done by 5pm. So we started trying to hitch a ride back to French Harbor. We were picked up by a very nice local guy named Gerson, who just happened to be going by French Harbor. So our ride back was in air-conditioned comfort. To boot, Gerson, told us that the masts we were looking for were probably at Jonesville Bight, which was not quite in Jonesville town. That made sense after we heard him say it. So now we know where we need to go to see the masts. Sometimes, you just get lucky that way.
So we did get the sail back yesterday. Even though the repair wasn’t exactly in adherence to ABYC standards, it was pretty well done, considering what the guy had to work with. It should hold fine for the next few months, considering I’ll probably do a little bit of sailing during the summer, if any. I’m sure I’ll have Luigi give it a once over when he gets back to Guatemala this fall. Besides, I seriously need to update Andiamo’s sail inventory anyway. I definitely need to get a spare or new main. I have a fabulous gennaker that I need to get the hardware for it installed so I can put it into action. I also need to get a larger genoa, and a fairly sleek jib for some inevitable offshore stuff I’m planning on doing next season. So that will be on the list of projects for the summer.
We got the sail back up on the boat today, but not without some trials and tribulations. When the shackle broke, the top part of the furling mechanism was stuck on the top of the forestay. It didn’t want to come down on its own, and there was no way to pull it down since there was nothing attached to it that can pull it down (the sail does this when it’s attached).
So, one of us was going to have to go up the mast to bring it down manually. sjelle volunteered, she likes to go up masts, I guess. So we rigged her up on the bosun’s chair and with the help of my anchor windlass, up she went. She couldn’t get it loose though. It was jammed pretty good. So down she came, and up I went. I, on the other hand, do NOT like going up masts, but will do it when necessary. Once I got up there, I saw the problem, and decided some surgery was in order. I had to take apart some things to get the furling drum freed up. So after Sjelle sent me up a couple more tools, I got it freed up. Operation successful! After I came down, we got the genoa back up, and all was good again on Andiamo, for the time being at least.
So we’ll probably spend the night here at the yacht club, and then tomorrow it’s off to Jonesville bight. Like I said, we only have a few more days before Andiamo heads back to Rio Dulce, and Sjelle heads off to Denmark, so gotta make it count.