Placentia,Belize

After the rigors of my surgery and the time in a mari na it felt great to have the boat underway again. Sailing in the trades behind a reef is a s good as it can get. Great boat speed and calm waters.

Placencia was a town we had heard a lot of positive reports so decided to go south about 70 miles and hang there for awhile. It exceeded my expectations. The anchorage was quite good and protected from all points except south so the stay was comfortable. The water under the boat was clear and clean and we easily made 20 gallons per hour with the watermaker.

The village was touristy but not in an oppressive sense. Most of the local businesses welcomed yatistas with happy hour and food specials. Needless to stay there were quite a few boats making this village their base to explore Southern Belize. The islands in this area are arguably some of the nicest in Belize.

 The anchorage at Placentia Cay

 Anchorage

 The Beach. Check out the Trades

 View the other way

De  Thatch Restaurant

 Cruisers Pot Luck

 Le Chat Beaute

Recovering at Cucumber Beach

One of the Cays we escaped to between office visits

Pam in the beach

 My lounge chairs



The hernia operation went well but the recovery has been slow and with a few complications. Excess fluid building between the muscle fascia and skin has caused clotted blood to be a problem. Have weathered the storm and am now doing well. The last three weeks have been in a marina, mostly. Spent more time in the marina than all others combined! Other than the flies and mozzies it has been easy getting around on and off the boat.The marina staff is first rate and there is an artificial beach I can sit at during recovery.

Stuck in Belize City

While in Cuba I noticed a nagging ache in my left side. Even went to a doctor in Mexico to get checked out and was determined to be a muscle strain/tear. Well, it continued to deteriorate. I went to the Belizean Health Partners and they determined I had a hernia. I opted for surgery as it was appearing to get worse daily. Had the operation a week ago Friday and am just moving about. So we have been stuck at the Cucumber Beach Marina in Belize City waiting for me to convalesce.

Spent yesterday at the Great House Inn in downtown and toured the old city. The bright spot in this country is to be found out on the reefs. While Belize City is ok, it is   not what I would call a destination. It is a great jumping off point to the reefs and the Mayan Temples.


I did amble about town and they have an interesting bridge spanning the Haulover Creek that dissects the downtown.It is an old swing bridge dating from early 1900s. They open it twice a day by hand! They undo the pins from the roadway then put handles in the center and four men walk around a capstan bar and open then close the bridge.

 Haulover Creek with the fishing fleet at anchor

 THe swing bridge over the creek

 Different view of the fishing fleet

 The Bridge

Cay Caulker, Belize

Finally moved from Ambergris Cay. Have been at Cay Caulker for three days and very different from Ambergris. The motto here is Go Slo. Sand streets and lots of back packers. I find it a comfortable place to stay for a short while. We are anchored  to the West of the Cay in flat water. The trades are blowing so lots of free air con.

I normally do not hire boats to go diving or snorkeling, but as you cannot take a private vessel to the Hoh Chan Reserve we went with a local company. Sure glad I did as the reserve was the best snorkeling I can remember. The only downside is the lcd screen on my Olympus camera stopped working after taking some underwater videos. I was just bragging the durability the other day. Supposed to be good to 10 meters …oh well.

 The snorkeling here is as good as I have seen.

Main Street

Lazy Lizard at the North end of town. Great place to sit and watch the back packers sun bake.

 More fish at the Hoh Chan Reserve

The plan is to head for the Turneffe Atoll tomorrow but we will see how  the weather is shaping up.

Ambergris Cay, Belize

Finally left Isla and heading for Belize. The weather has not been cooperating. Plan was to sail to Cozumel, an island off the Yucatan, but the current was an adverse 5 knots so we were struggling with about 3.5-4 over ground. Checked the charts and Peurto Moralos was about 10 miles due West so we made the move. Nice anchorage well within a fringing reef.

We left the next day for Cozumel and arrived  about 1300. Needed to stop here so we could clear out of Mexico and get our Zarpe. Cozumel had four cruise ships there when we pulled in and more on the way! Next morning we traveled around town looking for some electrical parts. The switch for  the propane solenoid on the fritz. The waterfront is a mad house with diamond shops and other cruise ship stores of no real interest to a cruiser. We wandered the back blocks and found a great local shop with cold beer and great tacos. After four hours doing the paperwork dance we were cleared out of Mexico.

We sailed early the next day and arrived at the Chinchorro Bank about 1400. Chinchorro is the only atoll in Mexico and a natural reserve. The Navy came out and boarded us during sun downers. They were just making sure our paper work was in order and we were not smuggling, I guess.

 Storming in the anchorage. We had 20-30 knots for three days

 Finally the sun!

 San Pedro from the boat

 Downtown San Pedro. Golf carts are the common means of travel

 Le Chat Beaute at anchor.

Off early the next day, 0200, we used our entrance track through the reef and followed it out. San Pedro Cut through the reef in Belize sounded tricky in the guide book so wanted a high sun entry. Calm day so mostly a motor sail. When we arrived at the waypoint it was not evident where the edges of the reef were. Normally with the trades blowing , waves break on the reef and the opening is easy to spot. NOT TODAY! After a few moments another cruiser anchored inside gave us some additional info and we motored into anchor into 6 feet of crystalline water.

Isla update

Isla Mujeres turned out to be a longer stop than anticipated. My first reaction on going ashore to check into the country was feeling over whelmed because it was full on tourist. Happy to report after a day or two the place grows on you. The people are good natured and relaxed even though they are hustling to make a buck. As always , the paperwork to get into Mexico took most of a day to complete.




The refrigeration(110) went haywire on the way from Cuba so that was a problem I needed to sort. Sure glad I installed a Sea Frost 12v unit before I left Florida as a back up. It worked flawlessy on the refrigerator side. The freezer had no back up and it contained pork , chicken, beef and 8 lobster tails. Big eat was underway I can assure you.



I monkeyed with the refrigeration system for four days before finally giving in and calling in Virgillio. A true master at refrigeration. I had received gauges and help from other cruisers but was not able to bring the box down. Virgillio hooked up his gauges and five minutes later declared the compressor had a broken piston. He came out the next day with a danfoss exactly like the one that failed and I was up and running in four hours. Total cost including compressor and labor and materials was less than $360. An excellent deal. If in need of help He can be contacted by Marina Paraiso in Isla Mujeres.

 On the trip over to Cancun, musicos play for tips(propaina)

The reef is healthy in Isla Mujeres just behind the boat

Isla Mujeres snorkel