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.