Fair Winds for Guanaja

Alas, it was time for Andrew to leave us. We packed him into a cab and sent him back to the airport, knowing he had only a few short days before his big job interview. Were it not for his monumental career opportunity, we surely would have shanghaied him and kept him as crew for the rest of the voyage, in the grand and timeless tradition of the sea. Do you lose vacation days if you miss work due to impressment?

"We have very much enjoyed your company, and we are not ready for you to leave yet."

Andrew's regrettable departure coincided with the end of the Gloriamaris charter, and so we finally would have vast amounts of uninterrupted time with The Parents! Their friend Trudy from the St Croix sailing club came in on the heels of the charter, and the 5 of us sat down to outline our trip for the coming week.

Guanaja had been tops on our list of places to visit since the moment we began researching for this trip.  We may even have relentlessly pestered friends to visit us there. The point is, pristine reefs, deserted beaches, and an island that is 75% national park were calling to us.

We checked our charts, got our weather forecasts, and set sail in company with the Gloriamaris.

Only 37 nautical miles and 7.5 hours of gorgeous motoring later, and we were there!

A long channel which runs parallel to a extensive sand bar was our introduction to Guanaja. We had ample time to take in the sights of our long-anticipated paradise. As we approached the anchorage, a low band of cloud shrouded the bay and the hillside, rolling back with the winds that pushed us closer. As if lifting a curtain, the whole hillside suddenly shone out in the brightest verdant green, and a vivid rainbow sprang forth, spanning the entire bay. We could not have asked for a more stunning welcome!

Rainbow not visible in photo

Our first sight of Manati

We settled into El Bight anchorage, our new home for Northers and other nasty weather. I dove in to check how the anchor was set, and learned three things about El Bight: the water visibility is about 3 feet, the bottom is a gorgeous thick sludge that swallows anchors and never lets them go, and the bay is full of tiny invisible jellyfish. I learned about the jellyfish by getting several down the back of my swim trunks within the first few minutes. Upon returning to the boat, I was pleased to know that El Bight was a perfect anchorage and I would never need to dive in to check the anchor again. 

Leap at anchor. The jellyfish are still there, waiting.

We had read great things about the sailing and snorkeling on the north shore of Guanaja, and so resolved to check it out for ourselves. The weather forecast for the next few days was gorgeous, so we piled onto the Gloriamaris and sped north for a day trip.

Northeast Bight is apparently not a popular cruising destination. We entered near the point on the far east side of the reef. Within minutes of setting the anchor, several locals came out in their launchas to ask if we were okay and if we needed any help. Upon learning we were there purely by choice, they were somewhat baffled, and adjured us to follow our route precisely when we left. Apparently, few cruisers end up in Northeast Bight without hitting the reef on their way in. 

We snorkeled around a large coral head for a while, Captain Dad scared a huge stingray, and all was well. We climbed back on board and precisely followed our track back out of the bight. A resort off Guanaja's east coast called Graham's Place had intrigued us for quite a while. We may even have relentlessly pushed our friends to visit us there. In any event, Graham's Place was directly on our route back to the overnight anchorage. And lo and behold, we would arrive there just in time for happy hour.

Selfie Sticks are hard

We had a great time at happy hour, and even met Graham himself. He told us a story about the horrors of sargasso weed, and how a patch covering the whole horizon had drifted in on his birthday the year before. At the time, we thought of it as nothing more than a vaguely sad story of a one-time natural disaster. In hindsight, we realize it was an omen. Never the less, we capped a wonderful day by arriving back in El Bight just in time for sunset.

We had several beautiful days ahead of us according to the weather forecast, and so we decided to spend a couple nights on the north shore, away from the hustle and bustle of the other 3 boats in El Bight. We therefore decided to head into Bonacca to search for provisions. 

So much of the main island is national park, and as a result some 8,000 people live on this tiny cay out in the harbor. Apparently this little island has the same population density as Hong Kong, and that certainly seemed to be the case. All transportation happens by boat or by foot. Guanaja has very few roads or cars, and none whatsoever on Bonacca. 

By visiting only 8 different stores, and walking down the main street only 5 times, we managed to collect almost everything we needed for provisioning! We loaded everything onto Gloriamaris and went to collect Leap.  It would theoretically only take a few hours to reach Michael Rock anchorage, and we were eager for some solitude. 

Our keen-eyed readers may notice the long slant out to sea on the north shore. We were sailing, but not by choice. While cleaning the decks, we slowed down to get a few buckets of water. When we pushed the throttle back up, the engine revved but the boat didn't move. Bear in mind, we were about 1/2 mile from the north shore reefs with the swell pushing us in and not much breeze to speak of. At this moment, we knew the impervious horrors of a leeward shore.

We shut down the engine, and I jumped in to take a look at the prop. We hadn't picked up any fishing lines or nets, so the problem wasn't outside the hull. As a test, we put the boat in both forward and reverse, and John was able to freely spin the prop with the transmission in gear. Not good. We let out the jib and began sailing away from the reef. Several panicked radio calls later, and The Gloriamaris was on her way over to troubleshoot.

Captain Dad came aboard and listened to the full tale of disaster. He pulled off the engine compartment, took one look, and began fishing in the bilge. Within minutes he had found two large bolts. We were somewhat suspicious that this particular disaster may have happened before...

The bolts connect the transmission plate to the propellor shaft. There was nothing wrong with the transmission itself, the connecting bolts had simply spun loose.  Bryna and Captain Dad found another bolt and tightened all three down, and we were on our way once more. We soon learned that spitting bolts out of the transmission had happened before, and was just another of Leap's amusing little quirks.  We filed this under "Things it Would Have Been Useful to Know Yesterday" and continued to Michael Rock Channel.

We anchored on the far south side of the bay, just off Michael Rock beach.  A few houses and piers lined the shore to the east, and the bay was perfectly serene. We celebrated our new anchorage in fine style, and settled in for the night. 

The next morning, we walked up and down Michael Rock beach to get a feel for the land. We didn't find any shells, nor did we get a spectacular view from the top of Michael Rock, as it is covered in low trees and I didn't feel the need to climb one. Still, for isolated Caribbean beach walks it was hard to beat. 

The Parents unfortunately needed to get Trudy back to Roatan to depart after an all-too-brief week with us. We, however, were not done with the north shore of Guanaja. The Gloriamaris steamed back through the channel and made quick work of the passage. We moved Leap around to anchor on the south side of Michael Rock, and settled in for a few days of total Caribbean bliss.

Next time: Dead in the water (The Very Real Fear of battery drain)