Parrot Tree Marina

So Mary flew home for a little break and I am staying at this marina in Roatan. It is in a beautiful development called Parrot Tree Plantation. There is a nice coffee house/restaurant, pool, and a beach area. It is in-expensive as far as marinas go...only about $20 per day which is a real deal considering the amenities present. Electricity is extra.
Mary will be back next Thursday and we will then continue our exploration of Roatan, probably going to Port Royal and then to Calabash Bight. In the meantime I am catching up on my reading

Jonesville, Roatan

After leaving Barbareta we sailed back to Roatan and went into Bodden Bight, home of Jonesville, Roatan and more importantly, the Hole in The Wall Bar which is pictured at right.It is accessible only by water and has become a cruiser favorite over the years. The food is good and Bob, the owner, is extremely hospitable. We anchored just off the restaurant and were able to use his wifi signal for internet access.

Jonesville is primarily a working village with shrimping being the main livelihood and it is the home of a sizeable fleet. The homes are built on stilts above the water along the shore.


We were able to take the dinghy east from here all the way to Calabash Bight and west to Caribbean Bight. The canals were mangrove lined with mangroves forming an overhead canopy for almost the entire length. The water was crystal clear and just beyond the canals ,to the south, is the fringing reef that borders the entire south coast of the island.




From here we will make our way the few miles west to Parrot Tree marina. Mary will fly out on the 9th to take a break and play with the grand-kids. She is also having some dental problems that need to be attended to.

Barbareta

Here are the pictures I wanted to post with the previous blog.Not sure what the problem is.
Enjoy

Barbareta

We left French Harbor and sailed about 20 miles to Barbareta, a small island just to the east of Roatan. We passed by Port Royal which was a hangout of the famous privateer Henry Morgan.Barbareta is surrounded by coral reefs and the snorkling is fantastic. There were just four boats in the anchorage, us( Antares) ,Upjinks, with John and Beth Talley aboard and Capraia with Breck and Sally Thomas aboard. Theses three have been together since leaving the Rio Dulce. Joining us from French Harbor was Windquest with Jim and Carol Defelice aboard.



The island is mainly jungle with tall hills and is rich in bird life. In the early mornings in the cockpit of our boat, with a cup of coffee in hand ,I could see many parrots flying to and fro. There were also many wading birds such as herons and egrets and black-necked stilts( a new one for me).There is a nice beach on the south side where we were anchored, with two reefs within swimming distance from the boat.

The island is privately owned and we were fortunate to meet the owner, Kelcy Warren, who gave us permission to explore ashore. He is an affable Texan who owns the power company in Roatan( and gas and oil pipelines in the states) There is a lot of development on this island which I hope does not destroy its pristine character. We were able to hike the entire island and Mary even made some friends with a local bovine inhabitant.

We spent three nights here. We sat out a norther with 30 knots of wind but the anchorage was secure and we had no problems. Our friends on Upjinks, Capraia and Windquest will go on to Guanaja. We will return to Roatan so Mary can fly home for her 2 1/2 week break from me and the boat, but mainly to see the grand-kids. I will have to hang out at Parrot Tree Marina(sad face) ( check out the website)....more later.

Utila, Roatan etc

Here are the pics that i wanted to post with the text below.

Here we are on Fantasy Island with the anchorage behind us.
















Approaching Utila

One big iguana

us at Gio's restauarant where we had gigantic King crabs for dinner.

Utila and Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras

Sorry, I am having trouble uploading images with the text.

After leaving Puerto Escondido, we sailed the 45 miles to Utila which is the westernmost of Honduras' Bay Islands. The three main islands, Utila, Roatan and Guanaja lie about 30 miles north of the mainland and run in a roughly southwest to northeast orientation.

Utila, is known as "party central" of the northwest caribbean. Lots of young people, backpackers and divers come here. Apparently this is one of the least-expensive places to come to become certified as a diver.It is a fun place with some nice restauarants and the cays southwest of here offer some great snorkliing and diving. After about three days we moved on to French Harbor, Roatan which is about 26 miles NW of Utila. ( We have come some 175 miles from our starting point in the Rio Dulce and it has taken a week.....such is the pace on a sailboat!)

Roatan is about 30 miles long and 2 -3 miles wide. It is quite hilly and green. There is a paved road that runs about 2/3 the length of the island along the hilly spine. It is surrounded by a barrier reef that provides spectacular snorkling and diving. The depth drops from 30 ft to 1000ft in about a hundred yards in many places.

We anchored in French Harbor which is a short dinghy ride away from access to Eldon's grocery store, ATM machines etc.It is also adjacent to Fantasy Island resort, which offers wifi access, beach ,pool etc.

The people of Roatan are a mixture of the Spanish and English influences that held sway here in the 17th and 18th centuries. Most people are bilingual but there are some mainly black ( the Garifuna people who came here from St Vincent 200 years ago) communities who only speak English. The English controlled the Bay Islands for much of their colonial life. This included a period of time in the mid to late 17th century when the English pirates ruled here. Henry Morgan had a hideout here at Port Royal.

From here we are going to the small island of Barbareta 16 miles east of here. More later.