The past couple of weeks since being in the Rio have been more on the unproductive side. The time has been more or less evenly split between La Ceiba and Utila.
There have, however, been a couple of jaunts around the islands. The first one was a sail to Cayos Cochinos with Lucia, Cristina, and another eight La Ceiba pals in tow for a weekend. Though winds were light, we were able to sail over from Ceiba. The trip threatened to be cut short because of incoming coldfront. I watched it pretty closely, and it didn’t look like the worst of it would pass until well after Monday. So we opted to stick out the whole weekend.
Though the ride back to Ceiba on Monday morning was a wet and rainy one, we made it in well before the nasty weather hit. And boy was it bad. Three days of NON-STOP rain, serious northerly and westerly winds, and lots of general havoc. I was glad to be tucked into La Ceiba during all that. Then, last week, from Utila, we went on a day sail to the Cays Monica and several other Utila-based friends for the day. The sail over was pretty fierce, reaching in 20+ knot gusts, but fun. We spent the afternoon hanging out at one of the cays, called Bell Cay, until just before sunset, when we ventured back. I had trouble with my main furling again, so we had to motor back into the heavy winds and seas. Unfortunately, a couple of the passengers didn’t handle it very well. I won’t name any names. =)
Since then, I’ve been biding my time in Ceiba and Utila. A myspace friend, Jackey, flew into Ceiba last week. I offered to give her a ride to Utila from Ceiba on Andiamo provided I was there. I did manage to get there on the day she flew in. I had to buy bottom paint and primer in Ceiba as well to prepare for my upcoming haul-out/bottom painting job which will happen in Puerto Cortes sometime this week. After some scrambling around town, we managed to find Jackey. The next day, we set off for Utila. After a nice motorsail, we made it into the harbor. Just in time to deliver Moni her Whopper with Cheese she made me deliver to her from Ceiba (don’t ask).
I was originally planning on heading to Puerto Cortes right away this week. But Moni talked me into staying in Utila for the rest of the week on account of my birthday coming up on the 21st. Since I’d had a memorable birthday here two years ago, I figured I’d stick around and have it among friends. Besides, Moni promised me another pinata. So I’ll head to Puerto Cortes just after recuperating from those festivities.
In the meantime, I got another trip planned for Cayos Cochinos with some Canadians itching to go there. So I won’t just be sitting around.
Can’t believe it’s been three years already since getting on Andiamo. Ay Caramba!