The Turneffe islands are within an atoll. OK, now how many of you can give me a definition of what an atoll is? I must admit that while I had a basic idea, I couldn't give a textbook definition, so I looked it up on my handy Britannica CD. So, an atoll is a coral reef enclosing a lagoon. Many times these coral reefs rise from great depths, as is the case here. The waters surrounding this atoll are 1000-2000 feet deep and the coral rises almost vertically to the surface! If you were navigating at night you could run into the reef with no warning.
This atoll is about 30 miles long on a NNE/SSW orientation and 10 miles wide at its widest point. There are tons of islands within the reef, but most of the interior isn't navigable with a keel boat due to depths of 3-5 feet. You could probably do it with a cat, but there are lots of coral heads to look out for. The map only shows about 7 anchorages, but I'm sure that you could find lots of wonderful places to drop a hook. We're currently anchored on the SW tip of the islands near Big Bogel Cay.
The most amazing thing happened yesterday. I found out that the big white triangular pieces of canvas attached to the boat have other uses than roll stabilization or sun shades! Yes, we got to sail! Wow, this was the first time since we left Guatemala that the winds allowed sailing. We left South Water Cay at about 9:30 and sailed N on flat seas inside the reef on a beam reach at 8+ kts. It was glorious! At Tobacco Cay we went through the cut, which was an exciting with 5 foot seas crashing on the reef on both sides and a good swell/chop breaking over the bow. From there we turned NNE and headed towards the Turneffe islands. The wind switched too and we were close hauled all the way. We only made 5 kts, but it was a very pleasant sail. We pulled into the Turneffe islands at around 2:00.
There's a whole contingent of boats anchored around here, many of whom we had previously met. A lot of the people here are divers, so I'm looking forward to having lots of dive partners. The diving here is supposed to be spectacular. Can't wait to report back to you. I'm off to get my camera ready!
-- Geoff & Sue
BlueJacket
Log ID: 316
To receive these logs via e-mail, please subscribe to the mailing list or you can follow us on FaceBook by clicking: