Belize Cays to Roatan, Honduras - Quarantine?
Chris, Larry and I depart Placencia for New Haven, Belize (22NM) - a lagoon perfectly situated to protect us from the upcoming weather. The winds are forecast to blow pretty hard and there is no use in trying to make the run to our check out point in Punta Gorda until the weather calms. Three days later we are still at anchor in the lagoon and hoping to leave our unintended ‘socially isolating/self quarantine’ location. On day four we are able to move over to Mangrove Cay about a 9NM away where we can at least connect to the internet to track the weather. The next day the weather has calmed enough to make it to our immigration exit point of Punta Gorda, Belize. We anchor in front of this quaint looking town, put the tender in and run over to immigration and customs to check out of Belize. Back to the boat, tender in place, we make anchor at Lime Cay, Belize (40NM) by 4:00 PM that evening. A very rocky night on the hook allows for little rest before we lift anchor the following morning at 4:00 AM. The passage to Roatan, Honduras is quite nice with only a few rain showers and swells of two to four feet but well spaced. The captain and crew are more than happy to see our escort into Barefoot Cay Marina, Roatan, Honduras (103NM). This little marina is located on a tiny island and has a tricky entrance through a coral reef. Once secure we celebrate another first for the Independence, 14 consecutive days at anchor, the last 5 of which had virtually no landfall. We enjoy a couple beers on the back deck of the boat and then have an amazing local lobster tail dinner at the marina restaurant. The following morning we meet Josh, our immigration agent, who takes us to Coxen Hole to clear immigration and have our biometrics (fingerprints & facial imaging) entered into the system. We learn from Josh that Roatan has an 8 billion dollar a year cruise ship industry, which is about to be suspended, due to the COVID-19 situation. We also start to hear stirrings of border shut downs (Guatemala & El Salvador are completely shut) and possible issues that might affect our transit. With these thoughts in mind Chris decides to make his exit the following day, but in the meantime, we rent a car and tour the north end of the island and see the local sites.
On our way out of Placencia, Belize Larry looks through the binoculars to see if any cruise ship passengers are abandoning ship.
Enough said…courtesy of the Panama Posse post
Sunrise at New Haven’s lagoon. According to our Freya Rauscher’s Belize Cruising Guide this was where “Hard Luck” Charlie Carlson cleared 100 acres years ago. He grew pineapple, cashew, mango and rice. Evidently, he even had some kind of railway connection to his land as there are still old box cars visible. This area is also within the Port of Honduras Marine Reserve. On our second day at anchor we are approached by a ponga with five men from the Belize coast guard collecting park fees. We hand over our payment swiftly as the M16 rifles they had on board were quite intimidating.
Finishing off the last of the Belikin, Belize beer at anchor in New Haven. While in our isolation Chris read about five books, we all used the exercise bike daily, Larry waxed the boat and finished David McCullough’s “The Path Between the Seas”. Not an easy undertaking, as that book had over 600 pages of small print!
Sunrise at Mangrove Cay
Moonset at Mangrove Cay
Chris is now an expert at dropping and hoisting the Rocna 55 anchor
When you have the coffee mug that says ‘Captain’, doesn’t that make you the Captain?
Our approach to Punta Gorda, Belize, where we will anchor and go on land via the tender to get our exit visas
Bye, bye Belize
Our last Belize Cay is Lime Cay. We anchor and overnight at this spot before leaving Belize
Sunrise over the Gulf of Honduras
Gathering clouds before the squall
Exploring Punta Gorda on Roatan’s north side with a local ‘Salva Vida’ and a pretty view
The view from Kristi’s Overlook bar and restaurant looking back over the south side of the island
We sample the local Roatan Brewery’s IPA and Lager at Kristi’s Overlook
A charming home in French Harbor
Meeting new friends in French Harbor. It was great to meet and take a walk around town with Kimo
Michael and Larry comparing muscle mass. Photo by Chris Adams
Thank you Michael & Kimo for a fun afternoon in French Harbor. Photo by Chris Adams
No shortage of TP at Eldon’s supermarket. Also, no hoarding, no big lines - just nice people hoping things will return to normal soon. Photo by Larry
Not a normal pineapple…but it sure tasted good
The little palapa at Barefoot Cay Marina where you can get in the water and snorkel in the shallow bay
Not a bad place to have enjoy a cold one
The snorkel map
A very pretty place…not sure how long we will be here. We were told a day ago that we may not be able to exit Roatan for 30 days (with our boat). A day later we heard that there is a 7 day travel ban and on Monday we were told there is now a 14 day quarantine - no entry, no exit. So the situation is fluid and we really have no idea what is in store for us right now. There are no reports of COVID-19 on Roatan but protective measures are being put in place. Cruise ship entry has been stopped for now, Schools have temporarily closed and the customary hug and kiss are being replaced with waves and smiles. We are fine and will ride this out and hope that we can keep somewhat on schedule for crossing around Nicaragua and entry to Panama. More to come in a ‘Captain’s Post’ in a couple days…
Photo & title sent to me by Jill Williams Gilmore while enjoying the BVI’s
In case you are wondering where Roatan, Honduras is located…we are the blue dot on the map off the coast of mainland Honduras. Map courtesy of Google Maps