SailingKnitter

Chichen Itza

Road trip! While Jonesy stayed aboard the boat, I took a LONG one-day road trip with some other cruisers. It was one of those last minute what-the-heck decisions. Our ultimate goal was to tour Chichen Itza (rhymes with chicken pizza) Mayan ruins in the Mexican state of Yucatan.

The day started early with a ride on the 6:30am ferry from where we are anchored here in Isla Mujeres to the mainland city of Cancun. Upon arrival in Cancun, we were met by a tour group van, picked up a few more passengers at a resort and then headed into the "Hotel Zone" of Cancun. Whoa! Cancun is like the Las Vegas strip! Giant hotels line the road combined with all of the big dollar restaurant chains. But, from the road all we really got to see was the back yards of the hotels. On the beach front is where all the action takes place. These hotels are so big that it is really a hike to walk from one to another - guess they want their guests to stay put and just spend all their money at the hotel.

Chichen Itza

The van took us to a big over-priced tourist souvenir store to join up with the other folks going to the same destination. We had to wait about a half hour for our bus at this "aggregate and separate" facility. That was obviously planned by the tour company so that folks would shop while waiting. We boarded our bus and were off to Chichen Itza.

The scenery was...nil. After I made a great effort to get a window seat on the bus, I discovered that - seriously - there was nothing to see. The Yucatan

Chichen Itza Skull Platform

area is flat, flat, flat and the road is lined with what the guide called "savanna" but what I would call "scrub" that was just high enough that it blocked any long-distance viewing. But before we got to Chicken Pizza, we needed to be fed. Included in our $50 per person price, we were fed a Mexican buffet at a large facility. There were literally hundreds of tourists here. Again, we had to wait about a half hour for the buffet to open and, in the meantime, we could shop at the ridiculously priced tourist shop. I had to gasp when a tourist was told the price (no prices were marked) of a nylon string hammock - $95 US!!! These are usually priced at about $12 bucks for tourists and $8 or less for locals. She bought it.

Chichen Itza

Finally we boarded our bus again and continued to Chichen Itza. Admission was included in our tour fee and we were able to quickly get to touring the grounds. Even though there were hoards of tourists, the grounds are large enough to spread everyone about. Interestingly, I'd guess that most of the tourists were Mexican nationals or otherwise Spanish speakers as that's what most of the tour guides were speaking.

Also interesting was the fact that Mexico allows vendors to sell their wares INSIDE of the heritage parks (saw this at Pelenque too). These vendors line the walkways selling just about the same stuff. It's kinda distracting and annoying. But then, after I thought that this city probably had similar vendors doing the same thing in its heyday I relaxed and...went shopping.

I bought a batik cloth with a "Mayan" influenced design and a carved wooden mask. I got a chuckle out of the male vendors sitting by their goods - all with unfinished masks at various stages of carving in their hands. Nope. These guys aren't the carvers. But tourists like to think they are so it makes for good business.

Chichen Itza columns

What I noticed here in Chichen Itza was the unusually high number of gruesome skull carvings compared to other Mayan sites that I've toured. Our guide told us that there was a lot of sacrifice which went on at this site (mostly of enemy warriors historians think).

Even the vendors picked up on the skull thing and featured them on their wares. I thought of my son Brett who likes all the Mexican "Day of the Dead" stuff when I saw this serving platter. Very special. I can just see me serving cupcakes to the
knitting ladies from one of these beauties.

And speaking of KNITTING...I've been hard at work on several new designs mostly for socks and mittens (did you see that segue coming?) That means that I've spent many hours on the computer in Excel and Word charting and writing the knitting tech talk. Frankly, my eyes started to give out and my seat was sore from sitting for too long. But I got them done!

Usually I wait until a pattern is officially published before I put a photo on my blog but after all that icky talk about skulls I thought y'all would need a little break. So here are my brand new SNOWY KITTENS Toddler Mittens.

Somewhere in my travels on the Internet one day I saw a photo of some hand knit socks that were for sale in Russia that had these kittens on them. I loved the motif so much that I carefully charted it and squeezed it into a pair of little size 2-4 mittens for a small child. The sample pair here is knit with Knit Picks Palette fingering weight wool yarns.The pattern is being tested right now and will be released to the Holiday Mystery Gifts group for the month of June. After that it will be on Ravelry.com.

So Jonesy has been busy too with boat chores as usual. But this morning he had a bigger adventure! Today, as we were enjoying the local cruisers' net on the VHF radio,  a boat broke into the chat to ask for help. Seems they were sailing north from Providencia (an island owned by Colombia) up to Isla Mujeres here and had engine problems. They had been at sea for six days and were exhausted and needed a tow into a marina.

Iguana at a local marina

Many cruisers volunteered their dinghies and within an hour the boat (s/v Ducks in a Row) was safely tucked into a marina. Jonesy has had quite a bit of experience towing sailboats with our dinghy when we were the Host Vessel at the mooring field in West End, Roatan (Honduras). So he was the perfect guy to be out there to help. I think he's the perfect guy anyway - that's why I have him sail me around in our big boat!

Our open sea cruising season is almost over for another year. Already the weather forecast warns of a low pressure area down in the southern Caribbean which means that the area is heating up for hurricanes. We're planning to hoist the anchor on Friday and sail south to Belize. From Belize we can do a quick dash into the safety of the Rio Dulce in Guatemala should an early hurricane form. But until then, we'll stay out at sea. Life is good.

Christmas Stocking Purse Ornament

Well, I've been having fun knitting up some holiday ornaments lately. I know I'm a little warped...I just love to create colorful little decorations and share the pattern with other knitters. So here's my Stocking Purse Ornament which is a new design for the Holiday Mystery Gifts Yahoo group this month.

This little hanging purse is only 3" wide and about 7" long and is knit with Knit Picks Palette fingering weight wool yarns. Add a ribbon to tie onto the tree or as a package tie. The purse frame was found at a dollar store as a ready-made purse. I simply removed the old (glued in and squeezed into the frame) fabric so that the knit ornament could be glued into the frame instead. I haven't decorated mine yet - but I'm planning to add (sew or glue) colorful seed beads to the Christmas Trees, and perhaps clear seed beads to the snowflakes on the foot.

This little guy is big enough to hold a gift card, or any other special gift. Anyway, the pattern is free only during the month of May to members of the group. After this month, the pattern will be for sale on Ravelry.com.

Jonesy on the seaside Malacon on Isla Mujeres

We moved the boat yesterday from our great spot in the anchorage in the harbor. We motored through a narrow channel and up into a well-protected lagoon here on Isla Mujeres. The weather forecast is for a storm from the north to sweep through here starting tonight which will bring high winds from the northwest. As the harbor anchorage is open to the sea to the northwest, that means the wind-driven waves will roar through the harbor. Not fun. Usually the winds are from the east where the island protects us from the waves. So, we hoisted the anchor and fled to safety.

A couple of nights ago we experienced the WORST thunderstorm we've ever seen!
The lightning was so fierce that even though it was night, the whole area was lit up like daytime! The light from the flashes was a solid light reflected by the storm clouds and the strikes so brilliant that I had to close my eyes. And it was right on top of us! The squall winds were clocked by another boat at 50 knots! The gusts blew us over first on the starboard side and then over on the port side. The rain was blowing sideways which means that it came right in the ports (windows) on the hull before we scampered to close them and crank down the handles. We were fine - didn't even drag the hook although several boats did and one ended up on the rocks (but he's OK).

Jonesy negotiates the dinghy dock - or what's left of it

Is there a good part of it? Yep, the silver lining is that we got a thorough freshwater wash down of the boat which was still crusted with salt crystals from our rough trip up to Mexico! But I do have to wonder if the little dock that we use to tie up our dinghy when we go to town is even still standing now. This picture was taken before the storm - what do you think? We'll let you know...

In the meantime, we'll hang out on the boat and for now, enjoy the much cooler air temperatures (78 degrees this morning) that the latest front has brought down from the north.

Mono-hull sailboats are tippy

YES. We made it north up to Isla Mujeres, Mexico which is offshore from Cancun. It was a long passage of 2-nights (38 hours) that was both heavenly and hellish at different times.

We managed to really sail! I mean  we actually turned off the engine and let the two sails do all of the work. We had a 2 knot gulfstream  current running north (the right direction) so we were hauling buns at 9 knots! Our tropical-sun-fried faces were wearing big grins as we experienced one of the best sails of our cruising life. Of course it also meant that this mono-hull sailboat was heeling hard (leaning) with the port side down. Everything that wasn't nailed, glued, or velco'd on the starboard side of the boat went crashing down to the floor. There it all slid around on the floor for a day or so until it was safe for us to be down below and clean it up. In the photo above that's all my gear from my knitting workplace playing on the floor. Oh, and yes, I did find some things that I had been missing after they popped out from their hiding places behind my knitting chair.

Stowaway Squid - in too much tropical sun

At the same time, both doors on our refrigerator/freezer unit (which is mounted on the starboard side of the galley) came flying open and our food went for rides back and forth across the galley floor. Both Jonesy and I, at various times, tried to capture the traveling food and get it back into the approriate section of the refrigerator without injuring ourselves in the process. Did you know that those cheap Glad and Rubbermade storage containers actually shatter into sharp bits if they hit the floor when frozen?

Our usual bungie cord closure system for the fridge was inadequate for the first time in many seasons of cruising. I managed to work out a "system"; put a folding beach chair backed by a pillow across the hallway to keep the lower door closed.

Yaneris Socks

Of course this meant that Jonesy had to step over this to use his head (toilet) up in the forward stateroom, but we (he) put up with this because the fast sailing was just way too much fun.

Then the winds picked up and the seas got rough. Actually, the seas off of the coast of Cozumel had waves coming from all directions like a washing machine. We had to reef in the sails and power up the engine as we were "in irons" and couldn't make headway in the direction we needed to go to avoid running into land (never a good thing). Upon arrival in Isla Mujeres, we were able to go out on the aft deck and we found a squid up on deck - how had it gotten there? Probably was thrown up by a wave!

Since we've arrived we have quickly adjusted to the laid back yet full lifestyle here in Mexico! We love Isla Mujeres! The food is fabulous and I get to buy fresh, thin Mexican-style tortillas. Many of our old friends and some new ones are here so we have been social butterflies eating out in little cafes and riding the ferry over to Cancun for shopping. Every other day or so we take our dinghy to the white sand beach lined with palm trees, beach chairs, and open air restaurants to get in the warm water. It's lovely to be able to simply "bob" about in the sea. Plus strolling along in the wet sand gives our feet free and natural pedicures!

Vivian (s/v B and B), Terry and Jonesy

Toddler Mittens

Besides beach entertainment, I've been doing a lot of knitting of course. Above are another pair of socks from my Yaneris Socks pattern only this time I used twisted stitches for the cables instead of real 1x1 cable crosses. This made the knitting so much faster! But this method also makes a tighter sock. So I made them shorter so that they will fit about a pre-teen size kid at the orphanages in Kazakhstan.

Below are some toddler sized mittens which were requested from the baby house (orphanage).   I used a self-striping sock yarn combined with a solid green sock yarn for this pair. I love how fast a toddler mitten knits up! Mittens are fun (except for the final thumb knitting which is futzy).

Then I designed another pair of toddler mittens with kitty-cats on them. So far the palms are knit and all I have to do is add the thumbs (sigh).

Of course, there have been socks on the needles too. I finished up this pair of pre-teen sized socks (foot length 8") with some Regia self-striping yarn. I always need some brainless knitting going on.

The real work has been the research for my Level one TKGA

Regia sock yarn 20cm socks

Knitting Master program. Good grief! I've had to haul out all of my knitting reference books and document every technique I have to use in the swatches that get knitted. The actual knitting is a piece of cake...the finding of references and documenting them is time consuming!! It feels like I'm back in school ...s.h.u.d.d.e.r. Once I finish this Level 1 (and pass or do the resubmittals), I get to go on to Level 2 and finally Level 3 which I'm really looking forward to working. There's always something new to learn in knitting.

That said...check out Arenda Holladay's blog for excellent tutorials on knitting skills. Her videos on YouTube are very clear and her tips are priceless!

It's HAPPY TIME

BELIZE

Our new dinghy engine carburator finally flew in to the tiny island of Caye Caulker! We sure were getting a lot of exercise walking out to the airfield everyday in anticipation. But we know nothing happens fast in this part of the world so we weren't overly anxious. But it was a tremendous relief when we finally had that little 2 pound package in our hands. I say "our", but the truth is Jonesy coveted it and I never even touched the box.

Within an hour, Jonesy had the new carburator installed. He was that fast because it was the 9th time that he had taken that section of the engine apart in the last few weeks and he had really come down the learning curve on how to do it. Very soon after he was racing our power-loaded dinghy around the anchorage and zooming a circle around our friend's catamaran Blue Water Cat.

Captain Jimmy reported that Jonesy had a wide

Drinking IS FUN until you get the gout

grin on his face as he sped around on his victory lap. Our little dinghy now moves so fast over the water that Jonesy has to wear his ballcap backwards to prevent it from blowing off his head! Cool.

That inflatable little boat is our prmary mode of transportation and thus is very important to us. Without a well-functioning engine we are practically marooned on the big boat way out at anchor. The waters of Belize are very shallow (we saw extended 6 foot depths on our trip to Caye Caulker from Robinson Island!). This means that they get too shallow for our 5 1/2 foot keel anywhere near land. We have to anchor way, way, way off of the beach. So getting to shore is either a long swim (and then you're all salty-wet and risk getting run over by a speedboat), a long paddle (and inflatables don't paddle well because of the windage) or a short trip in with a good dinghy engine.

NIKI WIKI at anchor way, way offshore of Caye Caulker

You can see how far offshore we are in this photo. Can you even see us out there? We are that tiny dot on the horizon framed by this funky party boat.

So it was HAPPY TIME. We knew what we were supposed to do as the signs told us.."Drinking IS FUN". We could relax and enjoy our last few days in Belize knowing that we could continue with our plans to sail to Mexico.

We spent the next few days wandering the island with friends, shopping for provisions, and taking care of the business of offically checking out of the country of Belize.

Ferry in Belize Caye Caulker/San Pedro/Belize City

There are no Immigration, Customs, Port Authority, norTreasury officials on Caye Caulker so it meant that one of us needed to ride the shuttle ferry over to the town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. That someone was me (Terry). I'll take every opportunity to go-see-do something new.

The ferry was very comfortable. These are fully-enclosed speed boats which they pack folks into like sardines in a tin can. The ride only takes about 45 minutes dock to dock as we zoom along first the shoreline of Caye Cualker, and then the shoreline of the southern end of Ambergris Caye.  The winds were still blowing pretty hard. The forecast was for the winds to lie down overnight so we were going to take this weather-window opportunity to sail north. The whole trip takes place behind the big barrier reef so there are no big ocean swells to rock the boat, just stiff and smaller wind waves.

SAN PEDRO TOWN, BELIZE, AMBERGRIS CAYE

SAN PEDRO TOWN, BELIZE is like Caye Caulker on steroids. There are beautiful hotels which sit on the white sand and palm tree lined beach fronts and many restaurants and small cafes. I'll bet one could even find live music here at night which is a rarity on smaller Caye Caulker. The primary means of transportation are gasoline powered golf carts which tourists can also rent.

My cha-cha dance to check out of Belize went smooth until the very last part when I was in the Immigration office for the final offical exit stamping of our passports. Suddenly the office was

Ambergris Caye, San Pedro Town

deserted except for only one offical of the three that were working just minutes before (it wasn't even lunchtime yet) and me - no other customers. A local woman came in carrying a box of costume jewelry and waltzed behind the counter chatting with the official and obviously they were friends. The female official held our passports in one hand and her stamp in the other and then announced that I would have to pay her $40Belize. What? Why? I had already paid my fees directly to the Treasury office in the next building and had the receipts. Also, right above this woman's head was a big sign which said that NO PAYMENTS were to be made in this office.

I removed a $50B from my wallet, still questioning the new fee and asked if I should go back to the Treasury office. "No" she said, I was to pay it directly to her. She turned to the jewelry lady who whipped out and handed me my $10B change. What's that all about? So I guessed that I had just paid our second bribe to an official in our 7 years of cruising to 9 different countries. I hope she enjoys her new jewelry. I got our passports stamped, a little peeved (that's a lot of yarn money), but glad to be able to legally continue our travels.

"Better Not Litter" sign on Caye Caulker, Belize

We had 24-hours to get out of the country and start our long passage up to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. We'd be on the boat for 3 days so we took our final opportunity to walk on the dirt. This would also be our last shot at getting some internet service for about a week until we got settled in Mexico.

Yep, the road crosses the runway of the Caye Caulker airfield

We snagged our final scoop of ice cream, our last meal of "Stew Chicken" served with coconut rice and red beans and cole slaw, and the last of the bright white coral dust from the roads. Then it was time to get on the boat and wait for the winds to calm down.

Amazingly they did exactly that  and almost to the hour that it was forecasted. So we hoisted the anchor and worked our way through the shallow waters towards Amergris Caye, and then out thru the narrow San Pedro cut in the reef.

Next blog post soon (I promise): Knitting and Isla Mujeres Mexico!!

Caye Caulker, Belize Airport

We're kinda stuck here in paradise waiting for our new carburator for the dinghy engine. Really...so what? It just means we'll spend less time up in Isla Mujeres, Mexico...or maybe not. We really don't have a schedule and no guests have committed to come aboard so we can just hang here until our limit of 90 days in Belize has been reached or we decide to go elsewhere.

Here's Jonesy standing at the Caye Caulker, Belize "airport" waiting for his part to arrive. Maybe tomorrow they say. After all it was Easter week last week and everyone is sleeping off the big partying that's been going on today. We know from tracking data that the part has been through the FedEx hub in Memphis and is now in Florida so it'll get here soon.

So we've been happily tromping about the island checking everything out. Other than that, we've simply been living on the boat reading, knitting, and watching movies and TV shows in the evening.

"Middle Street" Caye Caulker and Jonesy

This past weekend we didn't even have to play our own music - it was blasting from the beach party out to our boat! Actually, some of it was pretty good stuff. Of course, like other places we've anchored in over the years, there were plenty of jet-skis blasting about making a racket and causing waves. That's just part of life on a sailboat during Easter Week anyplace warm.

KNITTING CONTENT

Finally it is April 1st and I can share TWO new knitting patterns of mine that are released today. First up are Carol's Garden Socks . These socks were inspired by my friend Carol's beautiful and abundant organic garden in Oregon. I had fun adding the chickens to the

Carol's Garden Socks

design - that's because they are a big part of the ambiance of her place even though she only has 4 egg-laying hens. Their portable coop is rolled across the lawns to give them access to fresh earth and keep them safe from predators.

Anyway, these socks start with tiny scallops on the  1x1 ribbed cuff, then the knitter can choose whatever colors they want for the different motifs. The pattern will be available for free only during the months of April and May 2013. After that, it will be on Ravelry for purchase.

Then, on the Holiday Mystery Gifts Yahoo group they are releasing the Snowflake Biscornu Ornament. This little 3 1/2" diameter stuffed ornament is knit in stranded color work like the socks in two pieces from the outside to the centers. Then the two pieces are joined with a 3-needle bind off. The center is pulled in with a button. Just another fun little project for the
Advent Calendar of Ornaments project.

Snowflake Biscornu Ornament

The current knitting projects are socks (duh). I'm working another pair of my Yaneris pattern this time in a plain kettle-dyed yarn to show the pattern stitch better. Also, there's a pair of grey ribbed socks that are my mindless knitting for when we are watching our movie or TV shows for the evening.

Snowflake Biscornu side view

Jonesy has once again tackled the problem of our weak transmission signal on our sideband radio. He dug under our bunk again and this time he found some serious corrosion on our 3" wide thin copper grounding strips. The damage was so extensive that he had to cut a slice out of one band and splice it to the bad one. The good news is that the next day when he joined the 8am Northwest Caribbean Cruiser's Net he was heard! So we're on the right track. Now, replacement copper bands have been added to the boat part purchasing list (which has never been empty).

The Homemade Ice Cream shack, Caye Caulker Belize

Oh! We found the homemade ice cream stand here on Caye Caulker! Yummy. Jonesy had Rocky Road with the marshmallows being those pastel fruit flavored ones. Plain white marshmallows are a rarity down in this part of the world and usually all we can find are those fruity ones too. I had Blueberry Cheesecake because it's been way too long since I tasted a blueberry (up at Carol's house in Oregon).

Tomorrow is another day and we may just receive our carburetor. Or we may have to simply sign and pay duties then get the dang part later. We've been warned by other cruisers that that's sometimes how it works.  Speaking of

Jonesy manages the sunset in Caye Caulker, Belize

the workings of Belize. We had a visit from the Port Authority on Easter Sunday on our boat. They were going around to all of the boats and checking their paperwork. On Easter Sunday? Yep. Of course we were current with our documents. But we told him that we'd have to renew our cruising permit a few more days because of the part situation. He had the paperwork to do that right then and there for us! That saved me a trip on the ferry to San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye to do the renewal. Sure, I love to ride the ferry, but it does cost money. So we're all legal now to stay in the country until April 12th if we need to stay that long. Only cost another $150 Belize dollars ($75 US) for the privilege. Worth every penny to enjoy these sunsets and the good life here in Belize.

Caye Caulker, Belize

Last night the storm winds from the North suddenly abated and today is beautiful here on Caye Caulker, Belize where we are now enjoying the easterly trade breezes. Just as suddenly, most of the boats in the anchorage took this chance to continue their travels - North for most folks and left with shouted good-byes. But also the charter catamarans needed to go-see-do more before their week aboard was over. We are almost alone now out in the anchorage.

We had a thrill yesterday evening. A catamaran came close to our boat on their way up to the shallows to anchor and when they spotted Jonesy they called out to him. "We love your blog - we've been reading it for years" hollered a man on the catamaran! What a hoot! I got goose-shivers! Unfortunately, they were one of the boats that sailed off this morning so we didn't get a chance to chat. We are still giggling and smiling about it today.

So, the beach photo above was taken just 2 hours ago while I was out scoping sites to take photos of my newly finished pair of socks. Even though it is Easter Week, there aren't a lot of people about. We do see groups of college aged young and healthy folks wandering around with sunburnt skin but not nearly as many as we expected. We wish our sons could have come down to play on the boat.

Eggplant Parmigiana Socks

See? I've been busy. I finished these Eggplant Parmigiana Socks by Nicole Rodgers for her recent KnitAlong.

To be able to post this blog, and do anything that involves the internet, we have to come ashore. Actually we love coming ashore here! Caye Caulker is a quaint little island with flat crushed coral streets that make walking fun. Most residents and tourists walk everywhere, some ride  bikes, and a few drive golf carts. The streets are spotless and are even raked every day! What a change from other places we've been!

We have already researched the different little grocery stores (interestingly all owned by Chinese people). Prices are eye-popping! After a few days you just get used to it. Even so, when Vivian (my new friend that I miss already) and I saw a baggie of sugar marked "11b" we were outraged. 11 dollars Belizean is $5.50US. Heck they grow sugarcane in Belize! Vivian, we were wrong...the marking is 1 lb for one pound of sugar and costs 55cents Belizean!

We found a lovely lady to wash our laundry. We don't like to (hand) wash on the boat as it releases detergents into the fragile reef environment - oh, and it roughs up my hands which negatively impacts my knitting and makes me hot, sweaty and crabby.

We've found a couple of friendly restaurants and bars who encourage us to bring our laptops and use the wifi if we buy something. So we buy our lunch and enjoy the breezes.

Here we are at Bambooze Restaurant and Bar on the beach. We sat on swings at the bar as that is where there was a power outlet for Jonesy's battery challenged laptop. Sorry for the awful quality of the photo. There is just so much difference between the inside shade and the bright tropical sun.
No, neither of us fell off of our swings. Really. We both can eat, keyboard, and swing all at the same time.

We've ordered a replacement carburetor for the 15hp Yamaha outboard engine. We've been fighting an expanding problem with how the motor runs. The carburator has been taken apart 8 times now by not only Jonesy but two other hired mechanics. Finaly they tried simply to put a known good carburetor on our balky motor and it worked! Of course, there is not a single spare carburetor to be found in Belize, so we ordered one from the states and it is now on it's way FedEx down to us here. Our address here? Simply: c/o Tropic Air, Middle Street, Caye Caulker, Belize City. Tropic air operates little Cessna Caravan airplanes between spots

Niki Wiki at anchor on the lee side of Caye Caulker, Belize

throughout Belize for passengers and cargo. Sure, we're paying a fortune for shipping but that's part of the cruising budget. We need reliable transportation.

Now here's something wierd. After spending time in Belize, our ears have gotten tuned into Caribbean music including reggae. Sure, we've liked some of this before, but now we CHOOSE to listen to the "Joint" station on our Sirus radio. See? Even old cruisers can gain new appreciations for different cultural expressions. Who would have thunk?

Life is good.

Oil Barges in Robinson Caye

Cruising isn't just about loafing under coconut palms on sparkling white sand beaches. Those times are the crown jewels of our treasure sack of cruising experiences. Nature often presents speed bumps in our otherwise smooth sailing and gives us the "opportunity" to experience alternative adventures.

We, and the professional weather gurus, thought that the late winter storms from the north were done terrorizing us for another year. Nope. We have again had to hole-up in a safe place to wait out another one of these "norther" brutes. Sailboats all throughout Belize, Mexico, and the Bay Islands of Honduras scrambled a couple of days ago to relocate to anchorages which give better protection from north and northwest winds and waves. Not just the 25 to 30 knot winds, but also the high seas and rain that accompany them. It's no fun riding a boat which is rocking, rolling and bucking like a hobby-horse on worn out springs. Things break, including humans in these conditions. It's not just uncomfortable, but there is the risk of pulling the anchor off the bottom and taking a walkabout (dragging) to someplace you don't want to be, like on the reef.

Entertainment: A tugboat moves the barges during the strong winds

Because our goal is to cruise the coastal islands of Belize while heading north to Mexico we decided it was time to tear ourselves away from the comforts of beautiful Placencia. Thus, we sailed northward to a group of cays named Blue Ground Range a few days ahead of the forecasted storm. These small almost-not-islands are simply mangrove mounds in the sea between the mainland and the world's second largest barrier reef.

We had a lovely night as the only sailboat under the stars in calm water. There we traded bottles of rum, tequila and vodka for over 5 pounds of fresh-caught and filleted snapper with the fellows from the fish camp on one of the cays. That's my most successful fishing this year! I use Liquor Lures.

The weather forecast on the sideband radio network put the storm out a couple of more days so we had time to sail north up to another group of isolated cays. Robinson cays are, again, mostly mangrove mounds but they offer more protection from the incoming storm. So, above is a photo of our view as were were tucked safely away with a couple of oil barges ("lighters") until the blow dissipates. Yep. We were here alone to wait out the storm with scenic oil barges and scrubby mangrove cays as the view, but not for long.

A tugboat arrived and asked us to move for a a few minutes so they could swing both barges out and go to work. Of course we happily complied (who wants a barge bashing into them driven by the wind?). So we hoisted the anchor and took a little motor trip in the narrow channels within the mangroves. It was an interesting little tour including going aground in the mud once, and having to spin this 50-foot boat around in a narrow, and shallow area and not hit the other sailboat which had anchored there for one night. Let's just say there were some tense moments, and we were very relieved to anchor again in our spot after the tug and barges left.

Alone among the mangroves - See? No waves!

"We might be stuck out in the middle of nowhere, but we're well equipped." Jonesy said during our stay, and he was right. Our galley had been fully stocked with food, we had solar power, a functioning wind generator (whooo hooo!) and our reverse osmosis water maker. We had shopped for fresh produce before we left Placencia, and the fridge was packed. Produce doesn't last long in Central America because it is picked much riper than in the states, is not refrigerated, and the ambient storage temperatures are higher.

DAK canned ham - ugly, but tasty

We did tap into our shelf-stable storage just for some variety. OK, I just gotta say these DAK canned hams are not what they used to be years ago. They are now more like coarse SPAM with scary bits of fat and pink-ham-slime. But it tasted yummy crumbled (as it couldn't be sliced), fried and mixed in eggs.

New VHF radio

For entertainment, we listened to Sirius radio for music, BBC, and NPR. We have a locker full of paperback books, a stash of movies on a Terabyte drive, and there are always boat maintenance and repairs to entertain us, and knitting. Check out this photo of our brand new VHF radio that Jonesy installed! Our old, (old as in ancient) radio died suddenly in mid-conversation while in Placencia. Miraculously, we found a new radio in town of the same brand and it fit exactly in the same slot in the binnacle. Of course, now the new radio makes our other equipment appear sea-weary.

Next, Jonesy tackled our weak transmission signal on our SSB (Short Wave Radio). He climbed up the back stay, then dove down into the bilge under the rear bunk to clean corrosion off of the antenna connectors. They are clean now, but we still aren't getting our signal out very far.

The temperatures during the cold front attack hovered down in the low 70's with overcast skies that occasionally spit drops, rather than rain enthusiastically. Jonesy wore his warm wool hand knit socks, and my monster-sweater-in-progress lived on my lap for days.

I finished the bottom ribbing, then cut off the cuffs and reknit them looser and longer in plain rib. Finally, I have picked up and knit the two sides of the zipper placket, and am now working the neck edge. After so many years in my UFO stack, this sweater is going to be done. Zippers are wildly inexpensive in Mexico and we'll be there in a couple of weeks.

Manatee viewing site - note how close we were to the mangroves!

We enjoyed watching the flotilla of giant cruise ships either passing by the cays, or anchoring out. We saw three out at one time! At night, their lights are so beautiful and we can imagine all the activity onboard as we sit alone in the quiet of the mangroves.

We watched a manatee loiter about off of the stern of the boat, and our favorite topic of discussion was what we would eat for the next meal. Such is the rhythm of life at anchor in a group of remote cays off of the coast of Belize.

Corrosion on copper connector for the SSB

This morning we got up early and sailed up to Caye Caulker. We had to sail over really, really shallow waters (like only 6 feet deep) and watch our depth sounder. But we made it here safely at about noon. First order of business was to chat with some of our cruising friends to get the local knowledge of where to dump our (week-old) garbage and use a wifi. Obviously, we found a restaurant with wifi so I can post this blog and we're now enjoying our shrimp kabobs (me) and cheeseburger (Jonesy).

All's well...

View of Placencia, Belize from Niki Wiki

Finally…at the tail end of February, we pulled away from the magnetic pull of the Rio Dulce and escaped across the speed bump (sand bar) and out into the open sea. We took the slow, long way out here to the little town of Placencia, Belize.

First we motored down river to spend a couple of nights in a relatively safe cove, Texan Bay (aka Burnt Key) to let all of our off-shore systems run and get a last minute check. Jonesy rode the water taxi down to the port town of Livingston and did the paperwork cha-cha to check both us and the boat out of Guatemala. In Latin America we are always required to also have a piece of paper called a "Zarpe" which is permission to leave one country and travel by sea to another. Of course if all costs money. I stayed on the Niki Wiki in Texan Bay and knit (and made sure that nothing burst, leaked, growled, went dark, etc. and to guard the boat from locally known thieves).

When it was time for the high tide, we safely crossed over the sand bar and simply headed out to "Tres Puntas", a large peninsula in Guatemala and dropped the anchor for the night. As we passed Livingston we were surprised at the large number of pelicans hanging out! We have never been in this area this late in the year so we figure these seabirds had migrated into the area. Also while passing Livingston, I turned on my computer and managed to get a wifi signal so I could send a quick message out to our friends telling them that we'd be a few days later to Placencia than we had told them earlier. That was our first access to internet in 3 days and was to be our last for another week.

 Our plan was, and still is, to travel during daylight hours. Overnight sailing is exhausting so if we can break up our passages into day-hops we will do so and love it. The islands of Belize will allow us to do that this year. We enjoyed our first night at sea anchored in Tres Puntas, gently rocking. An immature Ibis stood stock still along the beach under the cover of the mangroves. What a treat!

Latvian Style Gift Card Pouch Ornament

 Early the next morning we hoisted the anchor and motor-sailed to Belize. Our first stop was the small harbor of New Haven which offered excellent protection from the forecasted storm coming down from the north. Other than two other sailboats that came and went, we were alone for our 3 night stay. There were no people on the shores, and we only saw one open fishing boat motor across the mouth of the bay. The strong winds came in as expected so we simply stayed on the boat and entertained ourselves. I knit until my hands were stiff and Jonesy made a few little repairs just for fun. Now, remember, I also need to prepare all of our meals onboard so there was a LOT of cooking going on. I even baked a gluten-free cornbread and pressure-cooked a butternut squash and made a squash dessert like pumpkin pie.

The winds from the storm were quite nippy (in the 60's) so it was a great time to get the galley oven going while I had plenty of wind flying through the boat. The storm passed through quickly so soon it was calm enough to enjoy a day sail up to Placencia.

So here we are! First order of business was to head to shore and dance another paperwork cha-cha. We walked through town (getting our land legs) and hopped aboard the Hokey Pokey water taxi to Mango Creek. Even though the sign clearly stated "No Loafers" they still let us ride.

I guess we clean up real nice when we try. Along with two other couples we hired a taxi to take us the couple of miles to the Immigration Office, Customs, and the Port Authority (Captain).

Jonesy waiting in the Immigration office in Big Creek, Belize

Here's Jonesy with holding our precious blue binder which carries all of our boat documentation in line at Immigration. Next stop was the nice new building which houses both Customs and the port Authority. Unexpectedly, all the officials we dealt with were quite friendly! So after parting with $145US for the privilege to stay and operate our boat for 30 days in Belize, (plus $25US for the taxi and $12US for the water taxi) we were free to….go shopping! Not only were our stores of fresh fruits and veggies getting low, but we knew from our land-travel trip to Placencia last year that Belize imported goodies from the USA. We also knew that the prices would be high, but still it was shocking to actually see them! Whoa! Good thing that we had stocked up on shelf stable staples while in Guatemala. We can also fish for food so I got out my gear and had already dragged a lure during our trips. No luck. Some friends gave me some advice for fishing up in the other atolls in Belize and loaned me some lures so there's still hope.

New home of the Port Captain and Customs in Big Creek, Belize

Pixie and Ellen Shopping

We have another count-down to launch of our cruising season - T-minus 6 days and counting! The mis-directed emergency repair engine part finally made it into Jonesy's hands and was installed within hours of arriving. All other systems are "Go". We actually had a nice high-tide to get out earlier but a big storm was hurtling towards us with seas of 10ft, winds up to 35knots and rain. Nope. That's not our style so we have sat tight and squeezed in an extra week of socializing.

Of course that also meant that I needed to continue grocery shopping. One of the fun benefits of living "on the river" is the weekly visit by Esperanza. When the business that she worked for decided not to provide this meat and dairy products delivery service anymore, she put together her own shop in town and continued the personal delivery. This young Guatemalan gal is quite the entrepreneur isn't she? She's extended the offerings to include fresh fruits and vegetables which we all adore. So every Tuesday we hang around the docks in the marina here so we can be first in line to make our selections.

And because we had some extra time, Jonesy also managed to squeeze in some not-so-critical repairs to the boat. We had lost our wind indicator (vane) which sits way up high on top of our mast. How? Friggin' Frigate birds. These "magnificent" big sea birds love to sit up on top of the mast. But their weight has caused the delicate wind indicator to bend. Several times we have paid folks to go up the mast and make repairs. This last time the dang thing just broke right off and disappeared into the sea. Sure, we have electronic wind speed and direction indicators, but simply looking up is a lot easier to quickly grasp the wind direction.

Man up Mast - Niki Wiki gets a Wind Indicator

For at least a year, Jonesy has had the word "Windex" on our whiteboard shopping and to-order-do list. I kept asking him why he needed window cleaner when we had a squirt bottle full onboard.  Davis Windex is the brand name of the wind indicator. So now we have ours ordered, recieved and installed. Finally, we can stop having this silly conversation...for awhile. Maybe longer, because our new model has an anti-bird spike on the top of it. Jonesy hired a brave soul who did the mast-climbing while Jonesy and I manned the halyard and safety line. Yes, there is a man at the top of our mast in this photo.

Being here in Guatemala during the month of February is new for us as we are usually out in the Caribbean somewhere by this time. One of the things that I've enjoyed being here during late winter is seeing plants blooming that I've never seen do so before. The other day I noticed the big cashew nut tree in the back gardens area of the marina. By the time we come back in June there are cashew fruits on the tree. But now here are the tiny thick-skinned red and green blossoms! They have a funky sweet smell that is not very pleasant almost like marigolds.

Another pleasure has been being able to spend some time with my friend Teresa and her Read Smocking Machine! Teresa used to make smocked dresses for her daughter many years ago (said kid is now 30-years old) and she has hung onto this precious machine. We set it up and smocked a length of fabric for me to embroider. This will be the yoke of a sundress for my 1-year old niece Ella. The machine saves a bunch of time! Without it I would have to carefully space and hand sew the 8 lines of gathers. Now I can just dive into the embroider which is the fun stuff!

KNITTING CONTENT
Of course there has been a lot of knitting going on too. Mostly I've been doing mindless knitting of socks for the teenagers in the orphanages of Kazakhstan. But there's also been brain-bashing charting and writing of complicated instructions of new designs for other hand knitters.

Beautiful young women in Kazakhstan with handknit socks

The very best knitting related experience for me was the posting of photos taken by the director of the Motherless Child Foundation when she was delivering the warm knitted clothing in December. What did I see? Lots of photos of kids holding up a pair of my handknit socks that they had selected from the stash as their own. One of the older girls who was modeling for her "graduation" portrait was actually wearing a pair of my socks!! But the most squeeeeees came when I came across this photo of FIVE girls who had each selected a pair of socks knit my me! Aren't theese girls adorable! This just makes me want to knit more, more, more!

Jonesy's Perkins Punk Necklace

And speaking of adorable. Here's Jonesy wearing his new "Perkins Punk" style manly-man cruiser necklace (our engine is a Perkins diesel, not steam). We figured that these little phenolic resin auxillary driver dampers cost as much as a piece of nice jewelry! So, he might as well wear the spare part we bought on a nice 35cent chain instead of hiding it away in the spares locker! All in good fun.

Off we go! (we hope)