Finally leaving for Europe

After a couple of days in Bermuda taking on some new veggies and doing some maintenance on the engine we are now off and leaving Bermuda heading for the Azores. A bit boring stop here since we were not allowed ashore but nice with some fresh food.

Weather outlook looks good right now let’s hope it will be true out there on the big blue as well. See you in 2 to 3 weeks hopefully.

You can follow us on this link where you also can send us messages. It is free to message and free for us to answer. share.garmin.com/svchibidarra

We are also included in the OCC fleet who crosses together and you can see t he whole fleet including us on this link: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/rally/occ-atlantic-fleet/

Key west

So after our slight mishap with our steering we anchored up just outside of Key West. Since we do not have any visas for the USA we were a bit worried how this would work out. Also the Keys were closed to all non residents until the 1^st of June. So we were not really allowed to be there. We called CBP who was gonna check us in and they told us to check in online and then visit the office in town. So we were lucky enough to find internet in the anchorage and tried to check in online and then headed in to town. But since the city were closed we were not really allowed to even use the dinghy dock for more then one hour for essential needs. But with some stretching that was not a problem.

We walked to the CBP office in town and a sign on the door said that it was closed and moved to the airport during the Corona pandemic. So after another call there and explaining what happened to us they said OK we understand no problem. Come to the airport and we will process you and charge you 585 dollar per person in a temporary visa fee. Ouch that was not fun to hear. So not feeling very happy we took a taxi to the airport and had to call them again and explain before the let us through the door. Once in the actual office we had to explain everything another 2 times. But when everyone working there understood that we had an emergency they were really nice to us making jokes and tending to our every need. It did take some time processing the paperwork so I sent an email to the guys at Ocean cruising club helping us with contacts before we arrived and immediately got an answer that he knew a guy who might be able to help and he had contacted him.

So after an hour in the office the 4 officers arrived with our paperwork and passports with a 6 months temporary visa. And with the very great new that the supervisor had waived the fee for us. You could imagine 3 very happy guys walking out of that office. So happy we forgot to ask if we should not have a cruising permit for the vessel as well. But nobody asked us about any papers so we were happy anyways.

Very relieved we decided to walk back to the boat with our newly found freedom. We had not been permitted to be out walking for a very long time now accept for getting food in Mexico. So this was a pure luxury. We could even go to a bar and have a beer on the way back so we had a couple and finally came back to the boat a bit exhausted after sailing and then messing around the whole day. We then realized our two neighboring friends had moved to another location. We stayed put though since we could reach the WIFI from were we where. So now we only needed to repair the boat and then we would be off in a couple of days or so….

The next day we started to look online what different options we had. Since we needed a steering cylinder and our old one was a European and old we could not find any direct replacement. We got recommended a guy called mark and I talked to his office and sent all the details and they were gonna come back with a quote as soon as possible. But after calling them after a day or so as soon as possible has still not occurred almost a month later. We gave him up after a couple of days and started looking at other options. West marine did not have anything in stock and could not order anything due to the corona crisis, because of course that matters. So after a lot of googling we found what we needed online and just needed to send for it instead. But by now it was memorial day weekend and nothing happened in the USA for 3 days.

For us this was a bit of a break as well. We could just wait so we took the opportunity to have some fun as well. We contacted a guy in town who happens to have the same boat as we have, it is not a common boat, for sale and asked if we could come and see it. He was very nice and said yes of course and he would love to see ours as well. So we spent the afternoon looking at each others boats and he brought his wife as well. They were the nicest couple ever and invited us to dinner with their neighbors during memorial day weekend. So this made it a really fun weekend for us even though just waiting for parts. At the dinner we also met their neighbor, Amy, who also were super nice. They also borrowed us bikes, let us use their washing machine and send stuff to their address if we needed to order anything. They also recommended another store in town who might have our cylinder. We also spent a few times with our friends From Isla mujeres with a potluck on Chibidarra and dinner out in town. They are all super nice the crews of Northern Sky, Minaki and Melakai.

So things started to look promising and we could ride around town on our borrowed bikes. When the weekend was over we went to the recommended store and they were much better and actually knew what they were talking about. They had the size bigger and smaller then we needed but after a while he could get the correct one by the next morning. To bad we did no start off here the first day, as Hanna might have suggested and I said ”it does not look open, we can maybe go there later”. Shame on me.

So we got the cylinder the next day and now we just needed to get the connections worked out. Not the easiest going from European the American. But after some silver soldering we made a couple of our own connections and the worked flawlessly. We also decided to change the hydraulic hoses that were old and I had bought new ones in Sweden and changed half of them already, so should be a quick fix. Who said something of a quick fix, stupid stupid. Of the hoses going to the outer helm of course had special connections on them so we could not use the new hoses straight away. Well we need to change them now anyway. The good thing the old connectors are reusable so we just needed some hose of the correct size and then we were good to go. Biking around to all places in town gave nothing. So we found a hose online that was the exact measurements and overnighted it to our newly found friend Amy.Since our friends had left for an RV trip by now. Now the problem was that it was weekend again and it arrived on Monday.

But as nice as people are to us here Amy invited us to a small pool party, hang around when we picked up our stuff. Very nice with good company and good food. We started to feel a bit spoiled here. The next day we just needed to fit everything together and then we could continue in the next weather window. But of course the hose we ordered was not the size it was posted online so our connectors did not work. So we had to decide what to do next. Order more parts online or make due with what we had. So the solution was to borrow two connectors for the indoor steering and disconnecting it, we have never really used it anyway and we can easily put it back in working condition when we get back to Sweden. With the borrowed connectors and some remodeling of the steering pedestal we could now use our new hoses from Sweden and everything was soon back together again. We tested and finished it the next day and nothing leaked and it seemed to work perfect.

So now we just needed to resupply some food buy some diesel and then we were off on Friday when there was an OK weather window to point for Bermuda.

Moving on from Key West

Well it’s been a while since we got stranded in Key West when our steering ram broke but now everything is fixed and it is time to leave once more. The hurricane season is upon us and we need to start getting to Bermuda. So tomorrow we will lift the anchor and sail north maybe stopping once more in Florida before sailing to Bermuda.

Our time here has been amazing and we spend it with so many amazing people, thank you all for mak8ng our time here and our misfortune an opportunity to get to know y’all ❤

For more stalking:

You can follow us on this link where you also can send us messages. It is free to message and free for us to answer. share.garmin.com/svchibidarra

We are also included in the OCC fleet who crosses together and you can see t he whole fleet including us on this link: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/rally/occ-atlantic-fleet/

A blasting start

At 1300 h GMT we left Isla Mujeres, Or? well we tried. Before the crossing we had made contact with a skilled sailor from Sweden. On board we call him Hasse and he sits at home in Sweden and does weather routing for us. The plan is that he basically going to safely radio control Chibidarra all the way across over the Atlantic. By communicating to us via satellite phone, he informs us about the weather situation and the best possible route for us to go. According to Hasses calculation we where to leave at 1300 h GMT to have the best possible sail through the straits of Florida to the Atlantic. But since Lisa on Minaki had left the previous day, and therefore left her role as morning net controller to our friend Maik we felt obligated to stay and listen on his debut. Definitely don’t regret that. He made an awesome job with spreading happiness to everyone around in the morning.

He even kept our mode up by highly appreciated jokes.

Closer to 1500 h GMT we picked up the anchor and blasted Adios Mexico on our speakers as we cruised through the anchorage. The first couple of hours sailing were almost perfect conditions for us and we made great progress. We were happy to finally be on our way again. But name the happiness that last forever, the wind soon decreased and we were back to our normal slow sailing again. With help from the current we managed to barley make up for the late start.

Swimming behind the boat at 0 kn through the water but 2 kn over ground

We struggled a bit to get into the watch routine again. But at least we are three people sharing on the responsibility and we agreed upon doing our usual three hours each. That way we manage to split the days up so the hours alternates between us and everyone gets both the best and the worst hour of the day.

Just an example of a bad time of the day.

After two days and multiple small thunder squalls later it was time for a proper one to hit us. We were cruising around just fine when the sky shifted colour and became darker. We were a bit slow to react since the previous squalls basically only marginally increased the wind but contained tons of rain and thunder. This one on the other hand was different. The wind increased drastically and we reefed both main and genua. We turned on the engine to be able to reef the mizzen. With a reduced mizzen and engine we followed the sea to reduce the load. That is when the temperature alarm for the engine goes of and we need to shut it of. We are now surfing down the waves only sailing on the mizzen sail. But then all of a sudden Captain loses all steering and we manage to get the last of the mizzen sail down and becomes sitting ducks in the now less windy but still rainy squall.

After the rain had stopped we managed to install the emergency steering and started to further investigate the problem. turns out that our ball joint for the steering ram had failed and the rudder had been flapping around with out nothing stopping it from turning to much. since we had a spare ball joint onboard we collectively worked to replace the broken one for the spare. It maybe sounds like a quick and easy task to do for three engineers but bare in mind that everything rusts onboard a boat especially stuff that never gets used. After a couple of ours we manage to reinstall the steering ram. After a quick test we realise that the ball joint isn’t the only problem we got. the steering is very stiff and needs a lot of force to move the first 3/4 of the stroke. The last bit on the other hand is very easy and moves effortlessly. We quickly realise that the cylinder shaft is bent and we need a new one.

So where are we? with 60 Nm to Key West and 53 Nm to Havanna we chose to go to Key West USA. Since we never planned to visit the US we never bother with getting visas. Right now this was our main concern. We contacted the OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) fleet and asked for assistance contacting the US coast guard and border patrol. After getting a green light from US coast guard we slowly limped by engine towards Key West. The previous temperature alarm turned out to only be a pocket of air in the water cooling system, most probably caused by the ruff sea state.

To avoid meeting, and probably be boarded by the coast guard in the middle of the night we slowly motored between the thunder and lightnings. In the early morning we entered US waters something that we had been dreading to do especially during Covid-19. Turns out that the coast guard didn’t care at all about us and we safely (for this special occasion dressed in life jackets) could enter the harbour and anchor right beside our friends Northern Sky and Minaki.

Over and out Anders

Bittersweet decision to sail home

So After spending 2 months instead of 2 weeks in Isla Mujeres Mexico, we took the decision to wait no longer and start provisioning the boat, and to start looking for a weather window to leave for Sweden. It is sad not being able to go the route we had set our minds into But Countries are not opening up quickly and there is so much uncertainties right now because of the virus. Hurricane season is getting closer and so is the window of crossing the Atlantic. It is time.

20200510_184624 — Handstand before we had too deflate the Paddle Board

Provisioning for a crossing is hard work, especially when we don’t know our next stop. All the food shopping that needs to be done is though when you’re multiple people doing it, now only one can go to the store at a time and that limits the amount you can carry at a time. Even if we kind of knew what we wanted we are limited to the things that are available on the island. Their can good veggies selection wasn’t really great but we had to make do mostly with mushrooms, corn and bell peppers. But we got heaps of tortillas salsa and nachos of course 😉

The boat of course also needed some fix before we leave:

Repair the some chafing on the sails
Changing Alternator
Install the new batteries we had bought
Repair our water maker
Leaking windows and doghouse.
Changing worn lines
Maintenance on our Main furler
And more

So the to do list for the boat was done and most of the shopping done now we only needed some good weather. We aimed for one day and the whether shifted and it was NO BUENO. There was also a expected thunder storm coming our way and it was angry. While sitting in our cockpit the lightning struck a boat in front of us and the sound echoed throughout the anchorage. The whole experience felt very surreal and it made me feel very small. We heard on the morning net the day after about a boat that gotten hit, that their VHF radio had died along with some other electrical gear. We felt sad for them but also lucky we weren’t hit. BUT in the end that was not the case. While the storm was upon us we pulled the cords for the plotters and radar. But our wind sensor got hit along with the NMEA communication on the screens. That meant we were now without wind speed and direction on our screens. We could still rely on our wind arrow in our mizzen mast for direction but we have no way of knowing the speed any longer except for a small handheld ( not that reliable). So we will have to make do what we have.

After waiting and moving our departure, for over a week the amount of boats planning to leave increased first it was two then five and in total when the weather window seemed stable and long it was seven, us included.

So before leaving we went over to Michelle and Steve on their boat Pili Aloha and to have Pasta dinner. We had a nice time and played some games, we will miss them terribly. During the night we also invited ourselves for a pizza gathering. Garry on Northern sky and Lisa and Ken on Minaki were also leaving the same day as we planed. We ended up staying an extra day and ended up being the last boat in the group of seven to leave. But we were going further then most.

So as we stayed an extra day we could attend Monica’s B-day on Maverick on our last night in Isla. Maik had invited us for Pizza on Sv Seefalke, so he would bring the pizza to Maverick and we did not have to bring anything. It was a lovely evening to end our really lovely time in Mexico

The last thing we needed to do was posing our satellite phone info so people can track us on the ocean and to emailed Bermuda saying that we will most likely stop there even if they do not really want us to. We said our good bye and set sails… Next stop Bermuda

Adiós Mexico

Leaving Isla Mujeres

So we are finally leaving Isla Mujeres and Mexico behind heading slowly home towards Sweden. We are aiming for a quick provisioning stop in Bermuda and then maybe the Azores.

You can follow us on this link where you also can send us messages. It is free to message and free for us to answer. share.garmin.com/svchibidarra

We are also included in the OCC fleet who crosses together and you can see t he whole fleet including us on this link: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/rally/occ-atlantic-fleet/

//Chibidarra

Mexico – Finally stuck from Corona

So we are finally officially stuck in Mexico since all the borders of the countries we intended to travel to has closed. We wanted to leave for Cuba and Bahamas on Tuesday the 24^th of March but are now stuck here for a while till we know how the worlds is gonna react further on.

Mexico and Isla Mujeres is a pretty good place to be stuck. It is fairly cheap with food and after you are checked in we can stay for a long time for free at least. The only problem is that if you stay more then 10 days in mexico you will have to temporarily import your boat in to Mexico which sounds okay but can be quite a mess. The check in process here is the worst so far in any country but it was mostly waiting for people and standing in line so not to bad. When we started out with the T.I.P. it got worse. You have to travel in to Cancun on the ferry to visit a office there and they want all sorts of different papers on the boat. So far so good we thought. We made copies of everything we knew about and happily presented them to to girl at the desk. We even brought Michelle from Pili Aloha to help with the translation since she speaks Spanish. So we did not have all that we needed from our check in with the port captain. Somehow the forgot to give us some papers. And she was not to happy about our boat registration either. So we got instructed that if we go make another copy and write a letter and sign it that this were in fact our registration on the boat she could accept it.

So we were of to a nearby hotel where we made our first copies an hour earlier but this time we needed a computer as well to write the letter. But the manager was really helpful and let us use an extra computer they had in a storage room. So far so good. Another Swedish boat were also in Cancun this day trying to Finish their TIP and they also got a complaint on their registration even though he had the original one from the government. But he had to get another one where the engine number was on as well. It worked out fine for him and he got his tip and could enjoy himself in Cancun for the day. This was however a bit unlucky for us. Because the lady behind the desk now had seen how a Swedish registration could look like she forced us to get the same paper and come back another day. She also showed us which papers we were missing from our check in. So we just had to get back to Isla Mujeres and try another day. But at least we got some epoxy from the Chandlery. Lucky us, we thought.

So back on Isla Mujeres we went to the port captain and said that we never got all the papers in the check in but of course that was not to popular but after some nice arguing, or maybe more like pleeing, we got 2 copies that we did not have but we were still missing stuff. We then went home and ordered another registration from the Swedish cruising association and payed some more fees to them as well. We then booked a new appointment for the next week in Cancun. When the new week arrived after some well earned rest after quite a wet Friday Isla Iujeres and Mexico started to catch up with the rest of the world on Corona restrictions. I got a fever on monday quite bad for maybe 24 hours and then pretty much okay. So for respect of everyone we decided to self isolate so i called and changed my appointment with the tip and we started hanging out on the boat with only ourselves and some boat work as company. When we were feeling better Isla Mujeres were in full lock down and it got harder and harder to get in to Cancun as well so we newer made a new appointment and never got the tip. Hopefully they will let it slide when we check out.

So now we were in full on lockdown on Isla Mujeres, actually the lockdown was harder on Isla Mujeres since the municipality tried to implement tougher rules earlier on then the rest of Mexico. So we settled in for at least a month of Corona lockdown. Pretty much the only thing we are allowed to do is go shopping in town. Not even at the good supermarket and only one person from each boat at a time. So we spent the days chilling out doing some boatwork, trying to make more and more strange food stuff. For example we now make sourdough bread, made our own schiracha sauce, fermented a lot of veggies and even built a drying box for curating our own meat.

Even though now we are technically not allowed to meet with other cruisers of course we had some smaller get together´s with some other cruisers. We had a few really nice dinners and cigar smoking nights with Maik from Seefalke a very nice German guy. And we have had several nice game nights with Pili Aloha who also have helped us a lot with everything you could think of. From receiving packages to translating into spanish.

We have not been the most effective when it comes to boatwork but we got some stuff done. Anders and me tried to finish our Kiteboard but the epoxy we got in Cancun did not cure properly. It took over a week for it to be hard enough so that project got put on hold for the time being.

After being stuck on the island for over a month Boats started to get fairly dry since there still is no alcohol sales on the island. Shaula a Italian boat in the anchorage were leaving soon and they managed to source 3 cases of beer from Cancun when they where provisioning for their departure. But on their way back to the boat the unimaginable happened. Their Dinghy de-laminated and the beers went down to the bottom of the sea. They where more concentrated on saving the outboard and themselves than the beer, strange people. They were leaving soon and was unable to retrieve the sunken treasure. Long story short after several attempts by a lot of different boats Chibidarra and Maik on Seefalke made a late attempt and lucky as we were we successfully managed to retrieve to whole treasure. But in some strange way only 31 of the 72 to beers made to the next day. Strange how those things work out. You can read the whole story on Maik’s website, https://sailingistruth.com/2020/04/27/island-of-tears-and-treasure/

Mexico and the start of a Pandemic

On our third attempt we managed to check out of Honduras. the next morning we departed towards Mexico. The route along the coast is know to have a lot of current we estimated to progressively pick up more speed the closer to our destination we got. with that in mind we attempted to arrive early Monday morning to be able to anchor and make the check in during the morning.

The sail started out on the easy and slow side. With the wind slightly against us we sailed under full sail. That is when we caught the first fish of the trip. A decent size Mahi-Mahi that was dressed and put in the fridge. The very next day at lunch time our luck struck again. This time the fish was pulled up and went straight in to the kitchen to become a extremely fresh lunch.

After a couple of days we intercepted the current. Our speed started to increase. When we approach Isla Mujeres we measured 9 knots over ground at a wind speed of 9 knots. The only problem with this high speed, were that we arrived six hours earlier than we previously planned. we anchored on the leeward side off the island just after midnight (red anchor). At the time we thought we anchored in front of a nice beach. In the morning we realised the the beach only contained one grain of sand (being a solid rock edge of the peninsular that is).

During the morning we relocated in to the main anchorage on the inside of the peninsular. We decided to attempt to check in to Mexico. At the dinghy dock we got accompanied by Maik on Zeefalke ( https://sailingistruth.com/ ) who also had arrived during the weekend. On one hand this attempt went really fast on the other hand we didn’t accomplish anything. We’d accidentally arrived to Mexico during a public holiday and we had to wait for another day to start the check in progress. during the mean time we were free to explore the island. We saw streets packed with people and fully stocked stores.

The next morning Pili Aloha that we met on Roatan arrived. Since Michelle speaks Spanish we planned to wait for them to anchor and get ready, before we asked them to join us for the check in. But since COVID-19 is all around the rumours said that we had to hurry up before they closed their borders. Turned out this was just a rumour. Steve and Michelle on Pili Aloha had been to Mexico before and explained that it was going to be a long procedure to check in. They didn’t waste any time to join us in our mission to check in. In the Eastern Caribbean we usually just handed over our passports to Captain. He then went to customs and immigration and that were usually the only thing we needed to do. One could say that it was a bit more cruiser-friendly over there. We spent the majority of the day in different offices waiting for different stamps, payments and paperwork. But we also had a coughing doctor checking our temperatures. But it turned out that the port captain was in a meeting during the afternoon, and couldn’t stamp our papers until tomorrow morning. we saw that as an success and had some champagne at Pili Aloha. We agreed to meet them later for beers at Skulls Landing which with a fast internet and cheap drinks is the main cruisers nest on this island.

Since we didn’t planned to stay for more then a week in Mexico we tried to make the most of our time. Between our anchor spot and Skulls Landing we found something that we hadn’t seen in quite a while, a Swedish vessel. We stopped by and introduced ourselves and told them that what we were up to. They decided to join us and later convinced us to continue our night out in town.
The next day it was time for picking up the papers at the Port Captain and start our grocery shopping. since we heard that Cuba didn’t have the best supply and that Bahamas is expensive we started to stock up as much as we possible could here in Mexico. It was at this point the COVID-19 outbreak started to get real. We started to see photos of empty shelves back in Europe but in our little world in Mexico everything was like normal. Well a bit more Corona merch than you usually would see but life was still normal.
Steve and Michelle from Pili Aloha wanted to show us the island. We therefore rented a big golf cart and took a trip around the entire Island.We started out by making our way to the south side of the island.

On the south most end of the island we started to notice some changes due to COVID-19 here as well. the government had started to close down tourist attractions. Since the walking trail at south end counts as one they simply had closed it with a note asking people to not visit.

We stopped on our way back north and asked for directions for the underwater museum. We realised that it wasn’t accessible from the shore. We did however notice that the tourist attractions were getting cheaper. Apparently they’ve seen a drop in tourism on the Island.

We stopped for lunch at nice beach club with good food and nice pool facilities we even tried out the sea for awhile. One could easily say that we spoiled our selves this day.

On our way back we took advantage of the golf cart and continued our shopping. and by now we started to see some signs in the store saying we weren’t allowed to buy more than a serten amount of some articles. We mostly bought heavy stuff like beer and cans. Before we returned the car we did an extra shopping round. This time also stocking up with beer and other heavy stuff.

Later that afternoon they announced on the radio that they were about to stop selling alcohol in stores. So naturally we had to go and stock up. We noticed that others also started to do this. Because they were all out of our favourite beer brand.

Well you have to kind of read between the lines.

By now we kind of realised that this COVID-19 shenanigans were going to affect us here as well. Both Cuba and Bahamas had started to close their borders and we felt obligated to sit back and wait for the situation to be less hectic.

One of the main tourist streets that used to be packed with people

So here we are stuck in Mexico for now.

Over and out Anders

Utila.. stop before go

So after we were denied checking out of Honduras in Roatan we decided to sail east to the next bay island Utila. To at least get a little bit less nautical miles to Mexico and to check out from there on Monday. We were expecting perfect weather conditions according to windfinder. But sadly there where no wind and we motored pretty much all the way.

On our way there we caught a tuna and I started to make some sushi just as we arrived in the anchorage and the boys when to the bar to get a Wi-Fi password and a new weather report. It was still ok to go to Mexico.

So on Monday morning at 9.00 we were ready standing outside the immigations office ready to leave. We knocked on the immigration office door but there where no one there. So we asked the port captain and he said that he should be in after 10. So we decided to go for a walk and explore the island a little. A little after 10 we were back at the office still no one there, we meet a local he said that the guy that works there is not very reliable and comes and goes a little like he pleases. He also told us that the woman he replaced just left yesterday and that it could take days before the guy showes up. After standing there a while a police officer comes by and says that the immigration guy been there and that we have missed him but that he would be back after 12. So we went back to the boat and waited. At around 1 we were once again outside the office. We waited for half an hour before deeming it a lost cause to check out and thereby staying until the the next weather window.

So what to do on Utila, it’s famous for its diving on the second largest barrier reef. So the whole island is filled with dive places hostels and dive shops. We were so surprised about being almost old incomparasing to the travellers usually we are the youngest when traveling among cruisers.

We decided not to dive but to snorkel instead not in the mood to pull out all the gear and having done some dives in Roatan. We also took a day walking around the south part of the island finding a bat cave on the way. We also tried to find this smuggler plane from Colombia that had crashed there in 2009, but we didn’t find it and when we got internet again we read that it had been removed.

We ended up staying on utila for 12 days and it rained so much. When we first got there we had like four sunny days but the rest was crap. So we ended up not doing so much exploring. We tried the nightlife a couple of times and meet some really cool people both locals and backpackers. One local introduced us to the utila song. it’s hilarious and the fact that we had trouble leaving. I put the YouTube link below.

The utila song

The local that introduced us to the song had been on vacation and ended up staying. He had now lived there for 7 years…. Amazing 🙂

The backpackers we meet introduced us to baleladas it’s a stuffed tortilla and it is super cheap. We played like 40 limpiar for one of the more expensive once which is like less than 2 dollars and they were yummy too. So we went back to get more another night.

We knew that the weather usually change in 5 to 7 days intervals around this time of year so when we had stayed a week we saw that we had a good weather window once more ahead. So the plan was to leave on Friday morning, on Wednesday night a familiar boat enters the bay it’s Jack and Susie from Roatan. So we went over to their boat after they had anchored and spent some time talking and catching up with gossip. They were planning to go to Rio dulce Guatemala also on Friday. They didnt want to take thier dingy down fo one day so we offered our services and took them around on our dingy along with Pat and Dave whom they sailed with. It was really nice to see some familiar faces. They also told us that we would probably run into Michelle and Steve in Isla mujeres Mexico.

So on Friday we waved them once again farewell as they left west while we went up North… next stop Mexico.

Roatan – once again

So we were once again back in Roatan after a nice couple of weeks hanging out in Guanaja. We came back with the plan to just visit our friends in french harbor for a couple of days and stocking up on food before continuing on towards Utila, the last of the Bay Islands. So we arrived on Thursday and met up with everyone at the palapa bar for a couple of days and then waited for some nice weather to go sailing. But with no good weather window for quite some time we got stuck in Roatan for more then a week extra instead. But it is nice here and we spent the days building our new kitesurfing board. It is finally starting to look like a proper board now and we are just missing some epoxy to be able to finish it. But we have to wait until Mexico for that. W managed to do some boatwork and also celebrated Steve’s, from the vessel Pili Aloha, birthday. And Hanna got to cuddle with a monkey as well.

So during our time in Roatan we were still unaffected and pretty much unaware of the Corona crisis spreading in the world. As time was flying we decided to sail straight to Mexico and skip Utila since we were running out of time and were supposed to pick up a crew member in Cuba later on.

We found a nice weather window and booked a taxi to go check out on Saturday morning so we could leave on Sunday or early Monday morning. But things did not really work out as planned. A bit hangover we got to the taxi and Felix drove us to the immigration office. The immigration officer looked a bit confused and starting to make phone calls. We waited for a while not understanding what the problem was since we do not speak that much Spanish. But after he hangs up the phone he just states ”you cant leave, nobody is allowed to leave the island because of the weather”. So we tried a little bit but it was not his decision, he called the port captain and he decides those things. Damn not a good day today. But at least we can go shopping so we told Felix the cabdriver to go to Ace hardware instead. Not really understanding why we where not going to the Port Captain as we should, Felix does not speak English. So arriving at the hardware store our luck continues, closed on saturdays, damn it. But at least the supermarket was open and we could buy some food. Not the most fun day we had in a while.

So back in the anchorage we had 2 options wait until Monday and check out then and hope the weather window is long enough, or sail over to utila and check out there early Monday morning and be off. We did not want to pay more taxi rides in Roatan so we decided to sail to Utila on Sunday and just check out an leave from there, and that is a story for another time.

//Andreas