Honduras

Off we sail, with Jubilee, to Roatan, an island from Honduras, located 240 miles away from Providencia. Jubilee sails engine on to charge the batteries and they soon disappear ahead of us!! After one night and one day we manage to fish a king fish. An other time, a Marlin jumped and jumped again and finally escape without even giving us time enough to take a picture!

A school of 15 dolphins come along the boat to enjoy a little trip with us and disappear probably attracted by good fishes! Theses dolphins are bigger and longer than the one we saw arriving to Providencia and it is such a pleasure to observe them we forget soon about the time elapsed!

The wind get so strong we have to take some ris. We go so fast that if we keep on that way we would be arriving at night in Roatan, too risky with the entry right in the reef! Eole keeps reinforcing, as we are getting close to Guanaja and we really have to anchor protected from the wind. The night is very dark it is 4.20 am, the wind keeps blowing strong guts. At last we drop the anchor as we do not really see a damn thing and decide to have a little sleep. In the morning we found a lovely sandy beach before us and on the hidden coast of Guanaja. Jubilee arrived before the night anchored on the east coast and we are glad to talk to them on the radio. Our two boats decide to head to French Harbour, Roatan. Easy sail up to Roatan where it seems to be the same as Guanaja, in the evening and during the night the wind seems to reinforce, up to 25 knots or more, unusual

Here we are right in front of French Harbour where the reef lies until the path entry, better not miss it! Jubilee got a wrong waypoint from the guide and had to sail a mile too far and to turn back. Once inside the bay the wind is still strong but protected from the swell because of the reef. We drop our anchor close to a small island . Fantasy Island is at the end of the bay and has a marina where Jubilee find a nice dock.

The place is pretty. Many dive boats come in and out. It seems that the resorts around here are mainly for divers! But diving is not the only resource of the island. Fishing is! Huge fishing fleet are moored or anchored in French Harbour, waiting for the next shrimp fishing departure.

We enjoy a wall dive and it is pretty nice despite the visibility not as exceptionnal as in the Caymans islands, anyway the fishes are at the rendez-vous not afraid to be caught since it is a marine park and we remain underwater playing quite a while with huge groupers, probably wondering what kind of strange fishes we are.

Angel fishes - big grouper Bonaci

Since Jubilee is staying at the Marina we are allowed to visit them and we dinghy dock at the rear of their boat. Linda and Jude offer us a wonderful and welcome fresh shower on the dock followed with a nice and fresh drink aboard Jubilee. We even use the easy laundry service from the resort and drop two huge bags! One evening and as it is Jude and Linda's anniversary we even go altogether to the superb buffet restaurant of the fantasy island resort where we hardly stop eating, so delicious it was!

In the Resort park there are plenty animals as the agouti, some huge iguanas walking in the trees over your head, and some lovely kinkajou you can take out of their cage and play with. Strange to see they are so sleepy in the daytime and so active in the dark. But the worst inhabitant of the island is the bloody vicious sandfly! Watch your legs and arms! get dressed!.

A 1960 Ketch built in Norway, Farida join us in Fantasy Island where they also dock at the Resort marina. We first saw Farida as the boat was on the yard in Panama city. This lovely wooden sailing boat is often listed in Wooden Boats the american sailing magazine and never miss a wooden boat meeting in the US. Bought in California 10 years ago, Sue and Michael managed to put it back to sea and they are now heading to Saint Pierre et Miquelon before crossing the atlantic as their aim is to bring the boat to Risla in Norway where it was built, via Ireland to enjoy a few Guiness first.

Pierre and Geneviève also anchored in fantasy Island, close to Iritis, invite us to share a rhum aboard Inomacas, a pretty brise de mer in aluminium. They are sailing since 1981 and are on their way back to France, but no real schedule. They sail to Utila the next day and want to head to Rio Dulce in Guatemala to spend the whole hurricane season. Funny to realize that on the ocean the world is so small and as we talk about their trip we discover they know Zoreol I met in 1997, in Hawaii with Cousin Bertrand and again in Vanuatu while working there, and Mektoub met in Vanuatu as well and Titom the swiss team met in Panama and also Alfredo our italian friend met in the san blas! Such a good moment spent with them aboard Inomacas

It is time to keep on and to leave, after a last happy hour, Jubilee and Farida since we want to sail to the Cochinos at about 20 miles from Roatan. We have no tip onto Cochinos as our guide book is aboard Gitana and Gitana already in Guatemala probably

There is Cochinos grande and cochinos pequenos! Logical isn't it! The cochinos as hilly and green and looks totally different from the Roatan, which allow you to see them early and from far away. The wind start blowing the moment we get into cochinos grande and its pristine bay. Another sail boat, having a guide book, advise us not to anchor but take one of the many buoy around. This is a marine park and it is obviously forbiden to anchor. The bay is not very protected as the wind arriving over the hill then goes down and drop on the boat so we try another buoy farther away to avoid that Williwhaw.

This island is so lush it contrasts so much with the turquoise blue sea and the navy blue of the deeper part. Here it is very deep and as soon as you swim of the sand it drops. Impossible here to anchor in shallow water, the buoys are in a minimum of 12 meters...

First night spend onto our mooring and we have to jump in as the boat has been turning more than 20 times around the buoy and the line is totally entangled. We pick up another buoy trying to find one the wind would have forget before dinghy up to cochinos pequenos. On cochinos pequenos there is a marine biology laboratory. Cochinos is uninhabited and surrounded with a reef. The water is transparent, palm trees are as tiny as in The Bahamas. The sun is shining and we keep on around the island as Eole is sleepy... but as soon as it awakes our return becomes a real nightmare. Swell and wind, waves covering the dinghy! We are happy the sea is warm which makes it a little less uncomfortable! !

Good catch, A tuna got trapped in our line as we sail to Utila. Located 18 miles away from the mainland Honduras, it is one of the smallest of the three of Bay Islands. Here it is totally flat. Most of the houses are built on stilts and are spread all along the unique street of the island. Utila has almost no car, just bikes, motorbikes and quads and of course boats. There are almost as many houses as dive center. Tourists arrive here with the ferry coming from la Ceiba to dive and probably only to dive! The atmosphere is cool and young, bed and breakfasts, restaurants and cibercafé at every corner. Here you may find a job but do not expect to be well paid. A dive cost 15 usd, 50 usd in Roatan and 40 usd in Great Cayman as well as in Saint-Martin. Cost of Life here is relatively correct as the the people here too young to be rich! Only Youth! Bars are opened late in the night, giving a taste of vacation to this little cosy island!

The bad part is the anchorage which is really not good and one night all the boats anchored have been dragging off and spent most of their time turning in the bay trying to reanchor some other places, under a rainy squall! Bottom is green turtle grass or coral! You have the choice and what choice! The next evening almost everyone had dropped two anchors, and ended at the bar to share their anecdotes!

At Utila you have almost as many dive center as cyber café! and the price is 22 limpera for 30 minutes against 49 limperas in Roatan. Difficult to understand. Probably a matter of customers... You are in the island of youth!

Every one seems to enjoy the diving and says it is gorgeous, so we take our gear out of the boat and have a dive. In Two minutes dinghy we are on the wall, ready. No wind today, calm sea but visibility still turbid at the bottom and clear at the surface. The wall is not too exceptional and less interesting and rich than in Roatan. Fishes tends to run away as you get close to them. Corals are pretty on the reef only, 4 meters deep only. We dive down at 27 meters ... the bottom and nothing there. Utila is very famous for their whale sharks but we haven't seen any! Forgot to send an invitation card probably! !

Back to Iritis for Jean-luc's birthday where we eat a "magret fourré au foie gras" sorry no translation for that wonderful, delicious, tasty dish, brought by René in a can of course! and the dessert is a "marquise au chocolat" made up by Jean-luc. Sorry no translation again! Have a little trip to france to find out! that will be easier than any translation and taste decription!

We leave Inomacas after an enjoyable dinner on their boar as well as company. We sail to Utila keys only 3 miles away from Utila. No wind to go so engine on! Dive boats on their way over pass us and stop along the wall. Dolphins greet us on the way .

Utila's little keys are covered with tiny palm tree as the big coconut trees have no more head and are dying from that illness specific to the caribbean island. Tiny sandy beaches covers this also tiny islands, it looks a minimalist world. Sailing around here is pretty tricky and remind us the shallow Bahamas. We try to pass where dive boats goes but no way the depth gauge says no... too shallow. So we take another entry way and there it is 20 meters deep!

We anchored in less than 3 meters deep but the anchorage is not too good, too much swell so we move to a more protected one the next morning before diving the west end wall. After all the dive boats left we enjoyed a 40 meters dive on a wall not too spectacular but fishes are there, and a very rich reef with large sea fans and nice corals!

Strange fish - trunk fish

After our dive we go ashore to Suck-Suck key and Pigeon Key where very wealthy fishermen live. Very quiet island with no car at all, not even a motorbike, just a few bikes, a small concrete alley is the only street of the island. All around the island the wooden boats are hanging under some stilts roof. The lovely houses are covered with green plants and flowers, it looks so unreal and it is so pleasing to look at. Little shuttle keeps going in between utila and the keys. From Utila one can take a ferry to the mainland.

fishing boat parking! - Suck-Suck Kay & Pigeon Kay