Maggie returned from her week in the States the day before Easter. The flood hit New England during Maggie's week home, with water so deep she couldn't leave her driveway. This is mild compared to some areas. Old Mystic got hammered with a river down main street.
It turned out that
French Harbour was pretty quiet during Semana Santa. Bob enjoyed
some pot lucks, snorkeling, and happy hours with our friends in the
anchorage. We thought we would leave French Harbour soon after Maggie's
return, but weather kept us there a few more days. Finally, on Friday
April 9, we were able to head East to Michael Rock, Guanaja after more
than seven weeks on the mooring. The day started out
with a picture-perfect sail, but the wind increased steadily and shifted,
on our nose. After a bumpy ride and with a relieved Rosie, we anchored in
Michael Rock next to Seahorse. What fun to be in the same harbor
with Anne and John, our friends from Mystic. For the last eight seasons,
they have been cruising in the Eastern Caribbean and then Panama, and this
year made the move to the Northwest Caribbean. We made a day of hiking up the
waterfall with Mark and Julie from Rachel, and Anne and John. It
was a hot, sticky day and the fresh water from the fall was cool and
wonderful.
We planned to stop at the
Green Flash for lunch, and saw Bob and Bonnie on Spray entering
the harbor, another longtime friend from Connecticut joining us.
Anne was the first one in the restaurant, and was immediately bitten by a
dog, leaving a deep gouge and blood dripping from her leg. We all
quickly left that place. Fortunately, Bonnie is a nurse and treated the
injury and gave Anne the proper medications. The next day we
were all able to enjoy lunch together and get internet at a different
restaurant, the Guanaja Island Club. Here is Shennecossett Yacht Club, Honduras - with Bob and Bonnie
from Spray and John and Anne from Seahorse. Michael Rock is such a pretty place, and it felt good to be
back; our log states "a beautiful day in a beautiful place." After a nice snorkel on Tuesday, we were relaxing in the cockpit before
heading to Seahorse for happy hour, and Bob noticed a huge lump
on his elbow, it was bright red and the size of a golf ball. Nurse
Bonnie touched it and advised a visit to a doctor soon. Bob was also
experiencing pain in his foot and wondered if there was any connection.
First thing on Wednesday, we went back to French Harbour, and to our
mooring! How odd to see only 10 boats in the harbour after spending so
many weeks here with no less than 25. We called Dr Dina Gomez, who came to the marina that evening to see
Bob. She diagnosed spider bites - one on his elbow and two on his foot. We
piled into her truck and went to her clinic about 5 miles away. After
giving Bob two shots with heavy doses of antibiotics and four
different medications to take for several days, she returned us to the
marina. What service - that was more than a house call, at a total
cost of $74.00! He seemed to be getting better each day. We did happy hour at Fantasy
Island, ran errands in town, and swam near the boat to cool off during
some pretty hot days. We wanted to meet up with Tashmoo and
Rachel in West End, but, wouldn't you know it, the wind was
coming from the west. So we had a lovely sail east to Port Royal - on
a day with light breeze and flat seas, with SOG ranging from
2.5-6 kts. Seahorse joined us at Mango Creek, Port Royal. Anne had been
reading Roatan Odyssey, and wanted to hike to the remains of
the author's residence. Armed with machetes and wearing long pants and sneakers, off
we went. We saw some beautiful views, with Bob leading the way
hacking through the trees, brush and cutgrass. We didn't find the house,
and Bob and Maggie went back to the boat, while Anne and John rounded the
corner and found it just a few feet away. Our bodies were not used to
wearing long pants and shoes; we were hot and uncomfortable. On Thursday, April 22,
we went back to French Harbour for another visit to the doctor;
wearing shoes created more of a problem for Bob. Blood work determined
that the excruciating pain he was experiencing was gout brought on by
the venom from the spider. He got more medication and orders to rest.
Fantasy Island Marina has a new dockmaster who coordinated pizza
nights, pot luck BBQs, happy hours. This is quite the social place!
Check out this link for some fun pictures. Anne had her birthday on Sunday, and was an opportunity for Maggie to
bake another cake, which we all devoured as dessert before dinner!
We were back on our mooring and feeling pretty comfortable! This really
felt like our winter home. We had a few brutally hot days with
absolutely no wind, and the coming forecast for several days of strong
southeasterlies. So on Wednesday, April 28, we left the mooring - for
the last time - and went to West End. Saying goodbye to
Tashmoo was hard; we don't know when we'll see them again.
We need to start heading toward Rio Dulce, and they have several more
weeks to play in the blue water. The day was flat calm and the entrance to the West End Harbor so clear
we could see the fish swimming and the colorful coral as we went through
the cut. But was it hot! We snorkeled and then went to check into the
Marine Park, which just started to charge for moorings. We paid $40 for a
week and will have good protection from the SE 20-30 kt winds. The four of
us went to Sundowners to celebrate our move from French Harbour.
We'll have a few more days to enjoy beautiful West End before
we start our trip back to Rio Dulce. Bob is off to scuba dive with
Anne and John. Maggie is doing laundry and relaxing on her day off,
and Rosie is ... well, doing what she does most ... snoozing.
Life is good.
