Sailing Vessel "Indio" - Cayo Largo, Cuba
We arrived in Georgetown, CI after 32 hours in the sea. Nice and hospitable port authority and pretty friendly place in general. It was strange to be in a developed country after two months in Cuba. I felt a guilty familiarity and sense of relief when I walked into a sparkling clean, wheel chair accessible public washroom with automated hand driers and with plenty of toilet paper available to use.
Pirate ship on a silver sea
What an experience that was, but I must say that It really hit home for me when I found the Thai Restaurant of Georgetown, called "Thai Restaurant", I went in there with my heart open and speaking the little Thai I remember (from my Thailand days 10 years ago), and minutes after I walked in I was invited to sit down and they were feeding my all this free delicious Thai food that I could not refuse (for those who know me :-). So keeping with my polite attitude I kept eating all the food they gave me. Plus They gave me and my sailing family free internet for a few hours. The following day, I came by again to find another delicious free meal and internet, thank you Miss Yen Dee and staff for your generosity.
We left Georgetown the next day after fuelling up. This leg was when the adventure really began. By 11pm the night the engine dies on us (problem with the oil pump), I was doing the night shift and the wind was decent, so we decided I would sail the boat slowly till we figure what to do. At 5am, there was no wind to be found so we went to sleep and simply drifted in the middle of the Caribbean Sea till the morning (let me detail that this was no quite sleep, due to the waves the boat vigorously rocked from side to side and everything - pots, pans, etc - made it very loud ambient). Melanie bravely took the helm and sailed a mare 2 knots (mile per hour) for the entire day. Later on that afternoon, Patrick was able to repair the engine and we were back on track.
The following day, 48 hours in at sea, we arrived at Swan Island, Honduras. This place was know to have a striving little community some time ago, but it for what ever reason everyone left, and to protect it, Honduras sends an army plane with a troop of 8 soldiers a cook and food every 2 month or so. These men make sure the island is safe from invators.
Swan Island - "El ultimo Paraiso del Caribe"
We get there and with the intention to stay a day and 2 nights, however (this is the punch line) on the morning of departure, on a routine engine check we discover that the transmission was contaminated with sea water (for those of you that don't know, this is a BAD COMBO). There was not enough fluid to clean and replenish the tank and according to the army, we could be stuck there for weeks - this was a bad situation to be in. Lucky the head of the troop also imformed that the plane was due to come by any day and the there would be space for more passangers. The idea that one or more of us could go on the plane back to La Ceiba, on a mission to get the necessities (parts, transmission fluid, food, water), and find a way back out there with fisher man or something. This was indeed a mission, and I was voted to do it.
Another day goes by, no plane, no oil, low on food and water... we decided that if this plane was to arrive, Patrick would be the only to stay on board to conserve the food, Paciphaée, Melanie and I would depart as soon as the plane arrived. However to our great relief, a fishing boat - Driftwood - came by and were able to help us with enough oil to clean and replenish the transmition plus gave us lots of tuna fish. We set sail the following morning and had a safe and quite ride all the way to Coxen Hole, Roatan, Honduras...
Enjoy the photos and videos on my flickr page (click here)
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