Roatan

French Cay Roatan

Seeing the sperm whales on the way over from Utila was a real highlight for us, and to have them so close as well. It really was one of those special moments that are so hard to describe, other than, you had to be there.

As we passed Coxen Hole, the capital of Roatan, it was hard to miss the 4 cruise ships at anchor and on the dock. Tourism is the main industry in Roatan and visitors don’t just come in by ship, not far away is the international airport.

Our target destination was French Cay, roughly about a third of the way along the south side of the island. We had been given waypoints for the entrance and these proved very useful. Even though we could see breaking waves over the shallower parts of the reef, having just over a 2m draft is always a little stressful, especially when you can see the seabed so clearly as we could on the day we arrived. Having the sun high and slightly behind you, along with polarised lenses on your sunglasses really helps. After a little hesitation crossing what should have been a really shallow patch according to our electronic chart, but in reality was quite deep, we anchored in 5 metres of water and took in our surroundings. With the prevailing winds from the east, we nestled between Big French Cay to our starboard and Fantasy Island off our bow. A last log entry for the day and a check to see that the chart plotter had recorded our track, then time for lunch having opened all the hatches as it was really hot.

Managed to get up early one morning to see a lovely sunrise...

and later on, take a picture at dusk. It really is a serene anchorage.

It was interesting to see the pattern made by our electronics anchor watch app as we swung around in the wind.

One other thing we noticed was the transportation of horses on the resort ferry, not a sight you see every day!

Going Ashore

The next day we decided to go ashore to try and find the local supermarket and the hardware store. We are still on the lookout for American style propane bottles, as it is becoming increasingly difficult to fill our European Camping Gaz bottles.
Friends David and Soy on Easy Rider, had given us directions to get ashore. This involved taking the rib to the next inlet, and it was interesting passing the houses at the waters edge. It took about 10 mins the first time. We looked out for a small single storey blue painted house in the corner. Near to the house was the jetty we could tie up to. It turned out to be next to the former Roatan Yacht Club, which is now abandoned and the jungle is slowly reclaiming the land and premises. It is customary to pay the owner of the blue house a small fee for using the dock. This worked out to about US $2. 

Getting to the supermarket entails walking up a dirt track past scrapped police cars, and then a short walk to the supermarket. Looking back down the path we came up, you could clearly see the boundary of the reef in the distance.

After many months of shopping in Fronteras in the Rio Dulce, the supermarket was slightly overwhelming in choice, not cheap, but not expensive either, and it did not take long to fill up a trolley.

We always bring our own reusable shopping bags with us and without resorting to a taxi, got them back to the rib. 
Sadly, we could not source the gas bottles at Ace Hardware, so the search will continue in Mexico.

We wanted to do some sightseeing, but chores had to come first. We had found a launderette, but it was very expensive, so we located our big bucket and did a hand wash. 

It was whilst running the watermaker that we noticed a small leak coming from a hose fitting, and also one from an end cap. It probably would have been prudent to keep an end cap in stock, but we had not expected to change one so soon as they had been replaced when we changed the membranes a couple of years ago. A quick email to Jim MacDonald of Mactra Shop in the U.K. confirmed he could get them, so we will order at least two when we next go back. In the meantime we ended up removing the watermaker and taking it to Parker Hose and Fittings. The guys at the store could not be more helpful, and soon after the weekend we were back up and running.

The next item on the agenda was the DuoGen. The conical nose cone had broken, and this was the second one we had replaced in short succession. A few emails back and forth to Eclectic Energy in the U.K. and we had replacements on order, and some instructions to cure the wobble, which it was felt led to the premature wear of the nose cone.
The first thing we had to do was remove the tower, and check to see if the inner tower ring was in-situ. As suspected, it was not. We managed to get it out, and as instructed bonded it back in place. Next we took out a bolt holding the drive shaft connector, and discovered this was well worn to the point of breaking. Once that was replaced, we put it all back together. With the wind and solar, we hardly need to use our diesel genset. That may change on longer passages when we need to run the second fridge as well.
We are very grateful as always to Eclectic Energy for such great service.

Many thanks also to Dov and Rebecca of Blue Compass, who kindly picked up the replacement autopilot control head for us, and brought it here to Roatan from Belize. As far as we can tell all looks good. Not too sure what to do with the old one, maybe someone can make use of it for spares? 

Fantasy Island

With some chores out of the way we cold relax a little. The first place we visited was the nearby resort of Fantasy Island. It was a glorious day and looks to be a great place to spend a vacation.

Arch's Iguana Sanctuary

We also visited the nearby Arch's Iguana Sanctuary. The iguana sanctuary is owned and run by local French Cay resident Sherman Arch, who became concerned about the survival of iguanas on Roatan in the 1980's. Many of the islanders enjoy eating rather than looking at iguanas, and poaching is a real problem. Sherman tried feeding one of the iguanas on his property out of curiosity one day, and was amazed the next day when a different iguana turned up for food. Soon word spread on the iguana grapevine that Arch's place was a great place not to be eaten, and he soon had more iguanas on his property than he could count. In 1991, he opened up his property to the public to educate locals and tourists alike about the importance of protecting the species. Today it is estimated there are over 3,000 iguanas roaming freely in the sanctuary. Visitors get the chance to get up-close and personal with the iguanas and feed them banana leaves. Lynne also got to hold a juvenile iguana which was about 7 months old. Some of the iguanas in the sanctuary are over 20 years old.

In 2009, Sherman Arch joined forces with friends, family and local businesses in French Cay to take his conservation efforts one step further, and created Lobster City in the shallow waters around the reef in the Cay. His aim was to protect the Caribbean Spiny Lobster and the local conch population from illegal poaching. The short YouTube clip below details the fantastic work Sherman and his family are doing.























 

Daniel's Monkey and Sloth Hangout

French Cay is also home to Daniel's Monkey and Sloth Hangout. Daniel is a relative of Sherman Arch, and all the animals at the sanctuary are rescue animals. There are Cappuchin monkeys in one enclosure, and visitors are allowed inside to interact with the monkeys and feed them. The monkeys frequently escape whilst visitors are entering and leaving the enclosure. However, they don't go far as they know they are safe in the sanctuary and there is a constant supply of food. They usually just hang out in the surrounding trees, and return to the enclosure when they are ready. Two had escaped the enclosure the day before we arrived but were sitting on top of the enclosure watching us as we entered. As the monkeys are cheeky and inquisitive in nature, visitors are requested not to wear glasses, hats, jewellery or have any loose items in their pockets as the monkeys are likely to grab them and run off. When we stepped inside the monkey enclosure they made a beeline for Steve. We were told this was because he was the tallest person there, and the monkeys like to sit up high. At one point, he had two on his shoulders grooming his head! As well as the monkeys, the sanctuary also has Macaws. Once again we were allowed into the enclosure and got a chance to feed them out of our hands. The birds are very large and intimidating at first, but if you relax, so do they. The thing that surprised Lynne was how hot their feet were!

The highlight of our visit and the big draw to the sanctuary, is the 3-toed sloths. There are several living at the sanctuary and they spend their time literally just 'hanging out' in the trees. Olivia is the star attraction that guests get the chance to hold. If you are lucky, you might also get the chance to feed her a hibiscus flower. When we got our turn at cuddling Olivia, she was sleepy, but is it possible to cuddle a cuter creature? As sloths sleep 18 hours a day, the sanctuary closes every day at 2pm to ensure the animals get enough respite from visitors.

We had been given the name of a local taxi driver, who for $50 would take us on a tour of the island. It was a toss up to go with this, or hire a car. In the end we went with the taxi tour. It made sense to us for a local to show us around, and hopefully learn some more about the island.

Our first stop was West End, and then on to West Bay beach. It was quiet when we arrived, so presumably the cruise ship passengers were still in transit. Looking at the amount of bars and restaurants, it probably gets lively of an evening.

Touring Around

Travelling on the roads is a slow affair, not because of the density of traffic, but in some places it is impossible to travel more than a 100 metres or so without trying to avoid a pothole. the roads are pretty dreadful. The holes are filled in with dirt, but presumably this washes out when it rains.

From West Bay we paused briefly in the car at Coxen Hole, the capital. Most of the streets are narrow with one-way traffic, so it was nice to have someone else driving. We passed the cruise ship terminal and airport, and stopped off at a fuel station to top up some diesel and petrol cans we had brought with us, and also a gas bottle. After that, we asked to go to Cals Cantina for lunch. We had heard good things, not least about the magnificent view, and are pleased to report the food was good too. We invited our driver to join us, a pleasant enough fellow, but he either had a cold, or was just getting rid of one, as every few minutes he seemed to try and bring up something in his throat, most off putting.

Once back in the car, the fuel light binged on. We really wanted to go further east, but our driver said there was nothing to see. We don't know if that was true, or if he just didn't want to buy more fuel, but as the throat grunting continued, we opted to head to the pickup point and back to the boat.
Next time we will hire a car!

It will soon be time to leave Roatan. We have enjoyed a relaxing time here, and the location of French Cay has been brilliant for the nearby supermarket, hardware store, the mall, the snorkeling and so much more. One of the nicest anchorages we have been in for a very long time.

Our plan now is to complete our Bay Island experience by heading east to Guanaja. We won't stay long though, as we have to think about heading up to Mexico to meet the family.