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Published: April 4th 2011
When we got back to Roatan we were pleased to find out that our boat was still floating. For the first few days in Barefoot Cay we just hung out. I did some school work and swam. One day we went out snorkeling but the water was really murky. On the 3rd day we were there some friends we met in Copan met up with us to stay on the boat. Wendy, Dave and Shaea, their 2 and a half year old daughter, had traveled all through Central America by land. They wanted to go with us by boat to Belize and even Mexico, but when Shaea got sea sick on the ferry to Roatan we decided that was not such a good idea. After they arrived at the marina, we sailed with them to the other side of the island for a couple days. While we were in the marina Dave, one of our friends who came over to the boat, showed me these really cool apps on the I-touch; which I really liked. When we were at the other side of the island, the west end, my dad and I went on a dive. My dad went in these
canals and the reef enclosed him and I went above him with a different dive master because I can't go below 40 feet. Until I am 12. That day we saw a turtle and 3 different kinds of groupers and 2 spotted eagle rays. The next day the family that was staying with us left. After that we left to go to Long Cay island in Belize and it was about 83 miles to get there. On the way in I had to look out for reefs so the keel wouldn't hit the bottom. When we got all settled my dad found a dead squid on our deck and he thought it had jumped up on the bow when we were doing the 12 hour cruise. After we found the squid we went to the Lighthouse Atoll. (An atoll is formed by coral growing around the edges of steep limestone plateaus. They would suddenly rise up. If you looked at it from the air and if the water was really clear it would look like an upside down cup with the bottom knocked out of it.) We saw some small fish; but we all so saw 2 turtles! Later that
day my dad used the squid on the fishing pole and it got the first bite, but my dad wasn't able to reel in the fish in time! The next day we went to talk to another boat in the anchorage. They told us that we could go on shore and look at another island and that we might be able to dingy over to it. On the walk around the island we found that it was almost uninhabited. They had to use generators to make electricity. When we got there it was too rolly to go to the other island so we decided to snorkel at a different spot. My dad brought a spear gun to try to catch some fish but with no luck. Then my dad went out fishing again but with no luck and he kept saying he was in a never ending slump in fishing. Then the next day we left for an even longer cruise of 130 miles and our average speed was 6 knots. It was super rolly. I slept most of the time and my dad kept saying we were going to stop at another place that was before the final destination
but we couldn't find one. On that cruise we came within a mile of the 3rd biggest cruise ship in the world. I could see all the life rafts and all the gadgets that cruise ships carry. It took 25 hours to get to a place 20 miles shorter than were we wanted to go. We anchored out of the site of land that day because it was less rolly there. The next day we went to another anchorage. On the way we had bad winds but we were going 6 knots. The next day we moved again and for some reason when I was listening to an audio book I felt the urge to throw up which I did and that was the first time I had thrown up on a boat. Then I took a Benadryl and slept the rest of the journey. While I was sleeping my dad caught a small fish and he was thinking about throwing it back but he thought he should break his slump and keep it. It was a mahi mahi and made a good dinner. When I got up we were at the entrance to a harbor and it was really
shallow. There was a 4 foot swell which made it even shallower for a second then deeper. While we were coming in the swell was going down so we went down with it and hit the bottom. For a second we stopped but then we moved on (we later learned that we had to hit the channel perfectly). When we tied up to the dock we had to do a medtie. That is when you put your stern on two lines and connect them to the dock then put your bow on a mooring ball and to get on the dock you had to walk up a ladder on the dock to get to the walkway (which my mom didn't like all that much). Then we went to the marina office and on the way there we passed what the place called the world's largest natural aquarium. (I don't think it was). And the dolphins were doing tricks like jumping in the air and people riding on the dolphins back. When we got to the marina office we checked into the marina and then went back to our boat. The next couple days we didn't do much but we gave
our laundry to a guy and he said we would get it back that night (we didn't get it back until 3 days after that; which delayed our departure). The next day we went to a beach and swam a bit and then we walked out to the place where we hit bottom and we made sure that we would remember that spot so we wouldn't do it again. The next day we went to town and got groceries and checked town out. We walked on the beach in town and the sand never got hot because it was made from white limestone. Then we went back to the marina and just played a few games of Rummikub and relaxed. We were going to leave the next day but since our laundry guy didn't show up we decided to wait until the he got there so we didn't lose all our laundry. After that we didn't do much until the next day. The next day we got ready to leave because our laundry guy finally showed up. When we got to the infamous channel, the same one we hit bottom on when we came in, but this time we lined
it up perfectly in the middle. The water only got to 2.9 feet under the keel which was good; so we didn't hit bottom that time. We were headed to Isla Cozumel to check into Mexico. We were going to stay there 2 days. On the cruise over it was really rolly so I slept most of the time and the wind and waves were slaping against our hull. When we finally got there we pumped up the dingy and went to check out town. The next day we decided to go diving and we got to the dive store at 2:00 and the boat left at 2:15 so we had to rush when we set up our gear so we would be ready when we got to the dive site. When we arrived at the dive spot the dive master jumped into the water to check the current because the current was usually very strong. When our dive master came up he said the current was too strong for us to dive there so we went to two other sites and did the same thing. At the third site it was ok and we went down and started looking
for fish and cool coral formations. I always like to stay close tot he dive master because they usually know were all the fish and stuff like that is and what it's called. He showed me crabs, rays that camouflaged themselves in the sand, and all sorts of cool stuff. The dive took about an hour (that was my longest dive and the first time I got below 1000 PSI). The next day we left for a 20 mile cruise to a marina/hotel on that cruise we were going 10 knots which was the fastest we think Samantha had ever gone. When we got there we checked into the marina and went to the hotel pool. It looked really cool because there was a cliff and you could jump of it into the pool and a slide. I didn't go on them that day because it was to crowded. The next day we just went to the pool and I jumped because it wasn't that crowded and I also did my school work. Other than that, we just relaxed. The next day we went into town and checked it out. When we got back to the boat we went to
the pool and swam. The next day we left fairly early to go to Isla Mujeres where we were going to keep the boat for a bit. When we got there we stayed in the anchorage the first night because the marina was closed. The next day we pulled into the marina and parked. The parking was very interesting first off because I had to try to lasso a post with a line connected to a boat hook. When I was all ready to do that our boat hit the muddy bottom (thankfully it was low tide, so we were going to be able to get out). Eventually when my dad got us out of the sand I was able to lasso the posts. When we were all settled we got a ferry to Cancun for a road trip. Next we caught a collectivo to the bus station and then the bus took us to the town of Valladoids. When we got there I picked a hotel from our Mexico guide book and then we got settled into a room and relaxed. When it was near dinner time we went to what the book called the best restaurant in town.
The meal was very good; I had a pork chop with french fries. The next day we went to Cenote Zaci and Samula (a cenote is an under ground lake often with under ground river connecting them to the ocean). At Cenote Zaci we weren't allowed to swim in it we just looked at it. Then after that one we went to Samula. In that one we swam in it and there was a rope going across that we could balance on in the water which was fun. We were so lucky because we got there before 11:00 and we had the place to ourselves but when we were leaving a ton of people showed up. At around 2:00 we got on a bus to go to Chitzen Itza. When we got there we looked for a hotel and it was burning hot that day so we looked for one with a pool which we found. Right after we settled in I jumped into the pool. Later that night we went to a sound and light show at the foot of the Mayan pyramid in Chichen Itza which was awesome. On the way back we had to jump in the
back of someones truck because there was no more taxis coming that way. The next day we got up to go the ruins. My mom and dad asked me to be the guide because I had been to Mayan ruins before and my mom had not (it was my history lesson that day). The Mayan pyramid was the Mayan calendar because there were 365 steps in total and the four stair cases divided the pyramid into 18 section the amount of months in a year on the Mayan calendar. The ball court at the ruins was the largest in all of Mexico. After that we left for Tulum. When we got there we rested for a bit and got a hotel. The next day we went to the Grand Cenote. This cenote was different from all the other cenotes because you swam through all the caverns and caves. Sometimes you had to use the stalactite as monkey bars to move through a cavern so you didn't kick anything. Which would hurt your tows. (Stalactites are like a bunch of icicles hanging from your roof but these are rock.) After that we got on a bus for the ferry station and
when we got there we took the ferry to Isla Mujeres. Stay tuned for Isla Mujeres and the trip to Florida.
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Stephanie
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Your Grand Adventure
I sit here in Tahoe reading about your grand adventures, Andrew. Snow outside here, and clear, beautiful water in your pics. I smile on the contrast, as well as on all that you are experiencing. Keep enjoying, and may you not feel the urge to throw up on the boat on the next leg of your journey. :-)