Checking in

Posted on December 17, 2015

I need to make a correction on my last blog post. The marina manager here, is not Aussie Tim, but actually Aussie Pete, and he is such a character! He loves having the creatures around and is always full of laughter and jokes.

The two things we really needed to accomplish, was to check in with the Roatan Port Master and also Immigration to get all our paperwork done, and the second thing was to do laundry. Aussie Pete made a call and arranged for a cab driver to pick Danny and I up at 9:30am so we could drive to Coxen Hole to get paperwork done, and the Creatures loaded all the laundry into the dinghy and drove across the bay to the laundry facility. Danny and I started our morning with a walk around the resort. It hasn’t changed at all since the last time I was here in 2009. Iguanas and watusas are all over the place and the water is crystal clear.

Watusas are a shy rodent related to Guinea pigs. They eat fallen fruit, leaves and roots, and sometimes hoard food in small, buried stores. When greens are scarce, they eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds and even shellfish on the seashore.

On the way into town, our cab driver, made a stop at the marine store so we could purchase a new bilge pump for our starboard bilge. When we entered the store, I felt like a kid in a candy store, because there was a huge section of the most beautiful lures in every color and size that I’ve ever seen. One of my goals is to make our own lures, and there were tons of lure making supplies. I’m definitely going to have to find a wholesale dealer to purchase supplies from, because I can tell this will be an expensive hobby. We did purchase a new lure which our cab driver highly recommended, and I am so excited to try it out.

Roads are narrow in Roatan, and locals drive like maniacs.

Whenever cruisers set foot in a new country, they have to show passports, crew lists, boat registration paperwork, cruising permits, and the zarpe (exit papers) from the previous country they were in. Some countries charge an arm and leg, and some not so much. Honduras is free, (unlike Colombia, which was quite expensive) but the immigration officer who tries to be intimidating, is very dishonest and tries to charge crazy amounts of money which he pockets. We were forewarned about this, so when he tried charging us $200 per crew member, we refused, and right before leaving his office when he said that all was complete, and that will be $100 please, we laughed and said, ‘nice joke, but heck no’, and went on our way without paying a cent. The port captain was far more pleasant, and after 3 hours all our paperwork was done. The day we leave Honduras, we’ll have to check out with the same people to obtain our zarpe. The creatures are excited to have stamps from 3 countries in their passports, in one week.

After returning home, Danny installed the new bilge pump and found where the leak was – the hot water heater was dripping, and he fixed that with his infinite McGuiver skills, after which we went to play with monkeys. The baby, which locals call ‘cheeky’, fell in love with Danny. Up until meeting him, he liked playing with the creatures too, but once he climbed onto Danny, when ever Emma came close he would pull her hair and want Danny for himself. It was adorable (to Emma’s dismay). They love eating grapes and almonds, which the creatures fed them.. Cheeky’s mom and dad were there too, and mama and I bonded right away. (Most likely because we have motherhood in common).

    

These monkey are known to steal things off people’s boats or just right off of the person. A man in the marina’s rolex watch was snatched up by them recently, as well as sat phones, tools, baseball caps, sunglasses etc. Danny wants to fly the drone around to attempt to find where they keep their stash. It could be financially beneficial for us!

Shortly before the marina braai (bbq), Danny and I grabbed our snorkel gear and climbed into the dinghy to explore, when Jude came on board from having just barely taking a shower, saw what we were doing, and joined us. We came across a green moray that was about 5ft long and his companion was perhaps a foot shorter. They were beautiful and were hiding inside a large metal contraption. The reef fish were in great abundance, and corals were healthy and overflowing.

I checked in with the dive shop to see if they had any scuba tanks for sale, because we want to add 5 more to the boat, but they didn’t have any. Somehow they found out that I am a scuba instructor, and told me that they really need my help next week to get a bunch of guests certified. Their instructors are ill right now. Unfortunately we will be leaving on Monday after checking out, and are headed to Mexico, otherwise I would most definitely have loved to help.

Our cab driver told us something interesting today. We noticed 4 huge cruise ships in town, and he said that the islanders appreciate and need the business, but the draw back is that the thousands of cruise ship people bring so much disease and sickness to the island. The dive shop instructors are just a few of the people who keep getting sick because of it.

Aussie Pete had arranged for everyone in the marina to bring their meat over to the Tiki hut at dinner time, and all grill and eat together. Everyone was in good spirits, and we all sat as one big family, chatting, listening to music, and enjoying each others company. Aussie Pete taught the creatures a new dance, and Mycah became especially skilled at it. Everyone did quite well. We also sat and chatted with Keith and Patty, the couple that owned the dive shop in Idaho Falls where I certified many years ago, who happen to be staying at the resort here for a couple weeks. It was a wonderful way to end the day. Once again the sunset was breathtaking as orange and blue rays reached heavenward before disappearing below the horizon.