Belize Sailing Adventure – Part 2

If you missed part one of my Belize Sailing Adventure, check it out here.

We finally left Rendezvous late in the morning.  I’m not sure exactly what time because time just doesn’t matter when you are sailing around the Caribbean.  The wind never relented all day.  We ended up skipping both snorkel stops and “happy hour” started around 11am.  Once again the rum punch, and anything else that could be made with rum and juice, flowed freely.  The one shinning light that morning was the announcement that we would not be sleeping in tents that night.  The company had rented us cabanas with showers!

With the strong winds we were certain to be at full sail, so the crew started putting up the sails shortly after leaving Rendezvous Caye.  The jib sail went up first and then as the main sail was being hoisted it caught on something and tore.

Remember…this was supposed to be a sailing, snorkeling, camping trip.  We had so far only stopped once to snorkel, camping was over since cabanas were being rent, and now there would be no more sailing since repairs could not be made until the trip was completed.  Hmmm…

On the way to our next stop, we passed a small boat filled with four fisherman.  They seemed harmless, so as we passed everyone waved.  Then they turned around, ran over our fishing lines (which the captain quickly had us reel in).  As they caught up to us, they pulled along side and yelled something in Creole (aside from English, the main language spoken in Belize).  At first I thought they might be pirates since the captain seemed a bit nervous.  The only word I understood was “pot”.  Turned out they wanted to know if we had any marijuana on board that we would sell to them.  Our captain responded a resounding “we don’t have any drugs” and they eased off the gas as we continued onward.

Docking at Tobacco Caye was a challenge for the crew, but they were true professionals and got the boat tied up and anchored.  The wind was howling by then and we hadn’t seen sunshine all day.  One of the captains, who had been doing this trip for 12 years, said he had never seen wind this strong at Tobacco Caye.

The crew gave us basic information about Tobacco Caye, which has 20 residents living on the five acre island.  We were then sent on our way to “get to know” the island, while the captain secured our cabins.  My friend and I were lucky enough not to share with other travelers and got a cabana with one single and one double bed.  We, along with just about everyone else, immediately took showers.  On the island the only showers are COLD showers…no hot water.  It was refreshing, but I was sure glad when it was over.  Electricity also isn’t on all day.  We had a light in our bathroom, but even after the electricity came on our light in the main room didn’t work.  It didn’t matter…we had brought on flashlights.

The rest of our evening was consumed with hammock time before the crew called us to dinner.  That evening’s gourmet buffet consisted of spicy shrimp, potatoes, salad, barracuda and hog fish, and of course a full grilled lobster for each person.

I wasn’t the only person to call it an early night.  Not too long after dinner, most people headed for their cabanas for a restful night’s sleep (something many were deprived of the previous night).

But wait, it’s still not over…I’ll post more tomorrow…stay tuned.