Guanaja: Boarded, dinghy/motor stolen!

Friday, May 17, 2002

016-26.400 N
085-53.400 W

What an emotionally turbulent set of days it's been. On Monday, 5/13, we did an overnight 155 nm passage from the Vivarios to Guanaja, Honduras. We had a great sail, with 20+ kts of wind from behind. We averaged 7.5 kts on the 20 hour trip and pulled in at around 11 AM and anchored off of the Settlement. Passion Too was 8-10 miles behind.

While we were in the Vivarios we befriended 2 lobster divers who had been stuck on the cay for weeks waiting for a supply boat to pick them up and bring them back. Since the lobster, conch and shrimp seasons are closed, there are very few boats that stop there. So, we took pity on them and we each brought 1 diver back. It was amazing to learn about their diving practices. They only use a tank strapped to their back & a regulator. No BC, pressure gauge, or dive computer. Before noon they do 6-7 dives to 75 feet, stop for lunch, and then go out and do another 6+ dives at depths over 100'! This causes a huge buildup of nitrogen in their blood which can cause the bends. I met an EMT who trained at the decompression chamber, and they had done a study estimating that over a 10 year period there were 30,000 cases of the bends, causing 10,000 permanent injuries and 5,000 deaths. Oh, and the divers insist on smoking dope before diving...

Guanaja is a large island, about 11x2 miles. However, the vast majority of its 12,000 people live on a cay that can't be more than 1/2 of a mile across. This is known as "The Settlement" and is Manhattan without the high-rises! When the land ran out they stated building houses on stilts over the water. There are canals running through the Settlement on which narrow boats move product. No cars, just winding sidewalks which can be very confusing. As this used to be a British colony, you find that English is widely spoken, which helps greatly. Clearing in was a breeze and didn't cost anything.

After lunch & exploring the town for several hours we headed back to the boats to relax, have some dinner, and to get some much needed sleep as overnight passages wear you down. I pulled the dinghy up onto the davits with motor attached and locked the dinghy to the rail. After a sound, heavy sleep, I awoke at 6 AM and looked out to see that the dinghy was missing! Someone had gotten onto the boat, lowered the dinghy, and cut the lines with a VERY sharp knife. They were able to unscrew the eyebolt which had the cable which locked the boat was attached. Needless to say, this wasn't good!

At about 06:30 I flagged down a passing boat & went into shore. The police station was locked (clearly no crime happens at night). At around 7 I found the door unlocked so I wandered in & found a policeman (who lives there) wandering around in his underwear. He didn't speak English so I found someone who could translate. So there I am at 7:15, sitting in a dark, stifling office, giving a report to an officer who's sitting in his underwear and a pair of flip-flops. What's even better is that the outboard cowling had been painted blue to make it undesirable to steal, and I had seen such a motor through my binoculars, but I was told that we could check it out after 08:30 when the office opened! This didn't give me a lot of confidence in the police, although I later found out that the jail was full of people over-hunting iguanas...

After filing the report I was lucky to run into Mac Giovani, who is the probono head of the department of tourism and ecological enforcement. He had a nice dinghy and drove me all around the island and out to the cays looking for my dinghy. It wasn't to be found. He then took me to see the chief of police and the port captain, who got things rolling. During this I learned that there was a great chance that the dinghy had left for the coast on some dories which are used to ferry fruit from the mainland. The other major problem is that the fishing season has been closed for about 2+ months and people are running out of money. The theft rate increases massively during this period.

Luck began to change later that afternoon when Mike, an ex-patriot from Houston, swung by in his boat. He had heard about our problems on the VHF and was checking to see what he could do to help. He knew of a dinghy that had been found at sea and took us to see it. It had a few leaks that needed to be patched, but in many ways was a better dinghy. $200 later I had a replacement dinghy. This was a great deal, as a new one would run at last $2000. Mike is also the Yamaha dealer & had a new 15 HP outboard in stock, so I was golden! Mike also runs a small boat building shop on a cay which was right behind BlueJacket, and had us pull into hid dock where there were 24 hour people and 3 dogs to guard the boat.

That evening he invited us over to his house, which is on the other side of the island, accessible only by boat. This is actually a 120 acre compound of 3 houses owned by Americans. And what a compound it is! Beautiful gardens, lots of Hummingbirds, and a spectacular view of the setting sun. The president of Honduras comes and uses this as a hide-away. It's good to know people in high places...Mikes wife, Linda, made a delicious a dinner of lobster & steak.

 

Yesterday I patched the dinghy and put the new 15 HP outboard on it (with a bright blue cowling). There still appears to be a leak or two, but for all intents and purposes, it's good to go.

Oh, during this Passion Too decided to leave. They didn't feel "comfortable" here and their daughter, Kim, wants to see Belize, so they headed off to Roatan without really checking on our status. Considering that we were without a dinghy and we had waited for weeks in Colon, Portobelo, and San Andres for them to complete repairs and to mesh with their kids schedules, it just amazes me that they just abandoned us. The true nature of people really shows through.

On the other hand complete strangers heard about our problems via the SSB radio nets and were off searching for dinghies and motors. Journey, a boat that we had traveled with for a while, even offered to meet us in Roatan and let us use a spare dinghy that they had. In some ways this turned into a good learning experience.

Log ID: 234