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Fall
2005
(see also our weekly
log at BoatUS)
We've
been off the boat for the summer and I have a new CD to prove
it! Miss Inclined is
my fifth album of original bluewater music. I like to think of
it as a bad girl's guide to good cruising. Or a musical home
for wayward sailors. Even the nautically afflicted deserve a
little hope.
Our
summer sojourn off the boat is the time when we escape from the
worst of hurricane season and reconnect with family and friends.
It's also my time to play at northern boating events: rendezvous,
regattas and festivals. I've enjoyed all of it but I'm
desperate for a little open water and an empty beach.
After
replenishing the cruising kitty playing at Canadian boating events
this summer and fall, we'll head south to the boatyard in Florida
(where we'll promptly empty the cruising kitty). After a
typical stint of boat maintenance projects, we'll head to the Bahamas
for the winter and spring.
See
you out there,
Eileen
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Playing in Isla Mujeres |
Fisherman's beach
Isla Mujeres |
Locking through
the Okeechobee Waterway |
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June
2005
(see also our weekly
log at BoatUS)
After sailing up from Belize, we spent a good chunk of the spring on
the hook in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. I played for the Regatta Del
Sol Al Sol that sails down from St. Petersburg annually. The
racing fleet had a memorable trip with too much wind from the wrong
direction. More than a few boats pulled in with the remnants of
their shredded headsails snapping in the wind. I have to say
they partied just as hard as they sailed.
Performance commitments and a family wedding back in North America
sent us out into the Yucatan Channel under marginal passage
conditions. Those conditions defied the forecast and worsened
while we were out there (so what's new?) so we ducked into an
anchorage on the northeast coast of Cuba to wait it out for a few
days. Back on passage, we thought David was revisiting "The
Old Man & The Sea" while hauling in what he claimed felt
like the biggest fish he'd ever hooked. It took him an hour to
land the creature and his blistered palms attested to his machismo
(David is a big Hemingway fan). Unfortunately, it ended up
being more of a case of "The Old Man & The
Seaweed". We had picked up a bale's worth of sargasso
grass on the line. At least the fish ended up being a
keeper. I wanted to photo-document the moment, but it was just
too cruel.
We sailed up to Fort Myers, Florida and then motored through the
Okeechobee Waterway. Alligators glided by - graceful and
silent. The airboats were anything but. It's hard to
understand how their passengers ever see any wildlife. Even at
a good distance, their roar is enough to drive all creatures into hiding.
The defining height of the Okeechobee Waterway is the 49 foot railway
bridge at Port Mayaca. That used to be the height of our mast,
before we permanently attached an 18 inch lightning diffuser to the
masthead. (If you're wondering, the diffuser is about as
effective as any other lucky charm - you have to belieeeeve!)
To make it under the bridge, we forked over $150 dollars to have a
bunch of 50 gallon plastic drums hoisted onto our sidedeck and pumped
full of brown canal water until we heeled over enough to slip under
the rusting span of the bridge. It's a low tech, efficient
process. We just wish the guy doing it would spring for a few
new drums. The rate of leakage made us wonder if we'd be
upright again before we made it through.
We're hauling the boat and storing it in Indiantown for the next few
months, ever hopeful that this hurricane season won't be a repeat of
the last one.
We'll fill the summer with visiting family, performing for northern
sailors, and recording my 5th CD, Miss Inclined. Please
check back to find out when the new CD will be available - I'm aiming
for the beginning of September.
See
you out there,
Eileen |
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Antigua |
Solola market |
Lighthouse Reef |
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May
2005
(see also our weekly
log at BoatUS)
We
snaked our way up the steep sided canyon of Guatemala's Rio Dulce at
the end of March. The scenery is spectacular, the marina berths
are cheap and the weather is very, very hot. We tied Little
Gidding up at Mario's Marina, stuffed a change of clothes into
our backpacks and caught a bus up to the Guatemalan highlands where
the nights are cool enough to bring out the fleece jackets.
Few
cruisers can resist the lure of inland travel in Guatemala.
It's colorful, culturally diverse and visually stunning. It's
also a great bargain. Antigua and Panajachel are the biggest
draws and for good reasons. Each is nestled within a ring of
volcanoes. We wandered through countless courtyards, ruined
churches and cobblestoned streets in colonial Antigua - I think it's
the most romantic city in Central America. Panajchel and it's
surrounding villages on Lake Atitlan offer a glimpse into native
culture as well as a chance to rub shoulders with twenty-something
backpackers. The bustling markets of the highlands are reason
enough to make the trip.
After
a few weeks in the Rio we poked our nose back out into the Bay of
Honduras. We intended to bypass Belize this time around as we
beelined north. The weather didn't think much of that idea,
forcing us to seek shelter for a week at Lighthouse Reef, one of the
three atolls off Belize that are a magnet for scuba divers. The
rest of the passage to Isla Mujeres, Mexico was swift and uneventful.
We'll
hang in Isla Mujeres for a few weeks. It's touristy here but
in a charming way. Great food and drink are everywhere.
The people watching is fun too - lots of half baked and half
naked tourist flesh. There's a strong sense of community among
the cruisers who hang out here. I'll be performing for them and
for the Regata Del Sol Al Sol when the fleet arrives from St.
Petersburg, Florida. I'm toodling away at new songs for the new
CD I'll be recording this summer - Miss Inclined.
See
you out there,
Eileen |
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Little Gidding in the Cochinos |
Playing at FHYC in Roatan
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St. Patrick's Day in Utila
(the margaritas are faintly green) |
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LINGERING IN
THE BAY ISLANDS |
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March
2005
(see also our weekly
log at BoatUS)
We
are still enjoying the Bay Islands of Honduras. There's
a lot to experience in a relatively small geographic area. It's
easy to see why many members of the small cruising community here
make this their semi-permanent cruising grounds. The three
major islands - Roatan, Guanaja and Utila - are each quite
distinctive and so are the smaller islands of the Cochinos and
Barbareta. There's a good shipyard in La Ceiba on the Honduran
mainland. Snowbird cruisers haul their boats there for
hurricane season. Others head into Guatemala's Rio Dulce for
interesting and affordable inland travel.
We
think the Bay Islands stand out among Caribbean cruising
destinations. They offer better winter weather than the Bahamas
because fewer cold fronts make it down this far (but they don't offer
the degree of remoteness you find in the Bahamian out islands).
The Bay Islands are generally less crowded and developed than the
Windward and Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean (but there's
less access to marine services and good wine as a result). In
1997 when we first cruised this area we had a sense that it was just
about to be flooded by the cruising community. Eight years
later we're surprised that that still hasn't happened. All
those glitzy photos of the Virgin Islands and St. Lucia seem to
seduce cruisers into beating their way east instead of heading
west. It must have something to do with the advertising budgets
of the charter companies!
The
area is not without it's downsides. It's buggier here; a walk
on the beach at sunset means seriously slathering up with bug
dope. Security issues are probably the biggest drawback.
Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central American and the
Bay Islands are the richest part of Honduras. Some people have,
lots don't. It makes the shiny outboard on the back of your
dinghy look pretty irresistable to the local bad boys. If it's
any comfort, security issues seem to be much more of a problem for
the land based gringos than for cruisers. Locking up your boat
and anything that looks good on deck is part of the cruising drill
here. Some folks prefer to stay in company with other boats.
Soon
we'll head into the Rio Dulce to play a little music and travel
inland for a couple of weeks. Then we'll start the trek
north. I'm playing at the Regatta Del Sol Al Sol in Isla
Mujeres at the beginning of May, so that's defining our cruising
schedule. I'm booked to go into the studio to record my fifth
album, Miss Inclined, in July. Please check back to see
what we're up to.
See
you out there,
Eileen |
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Diving: why most tourists visit the Bay Islands
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Cruisers jam at Hole In The Wall |
Islander's housing in Bodden Bight |
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THE
BAY ISLANDS
OF HONDURAS |
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January/February
2005
(see also our weekly
log at BoatUS)
We
are cruising the Bay Islands of Honduras right now. The
islands offer fabulous snorkelling and diving, easy air access for
visiting friends, secure anchorages, funky little bars and friendly locals.
The
biggest change we've noticed since we cruised these islands eight
years ago is the proliferation of substantial new houses dotting the
hillsides. The local islanders live at the water's edge,
usually in houses on stilts over the water - the easy answer to
ventilation, sanitation and transportation (the island still has few
roads). The big houses on the sloping hills mostly belong to
retired ex-pats who are looking beyond Florida and the more developed
eastern Caribbean for a place to spend their golden years in the
sun. In theory all this new development brings more money to
the islands and more jobs. Everybody wins. But ya gotta
wonder. The barrios look pretty much the same. It's not
obvious what "trickles down" here besides the seasonal
rainfall. And in the meantime, land ownership continues
to pass from Hondurans to foreigners. It's a pattern repeated
throughout the developing Caribbean.
We
fill our days here exploring by water and land, reading , writing,
and arranging tunes for the CD I'll record this summer back in North
America. We've reconnected with friends we last saw eight years
ago when we cruised these waters. Had a great time playing at
the Hole in the Wall in Bodden Bight with other cruisers.
We
hear the northern winter is a severe one this year, particularly for
our family and friends in Canada. Wherever you are, we hope you
are snug and warm!
See
you out there,
Eileen |
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