The month of May in the Caribbean brings a bit of a crossroads for cruising boats. Hurricane season is just around the corner and a decision needs to be made where to travel from June through November. The tropical waves start making their way across the Atlantic bringing nasty weather and some will spin up into named storms each year.
Above or below certain latitudes (36*N & 13*N) are considered safe havens that have rare experiences for hurricanes.
There are a few exceptions in the middle latitudes, including the Rio Dulce where you travel over 20 miles inland for protection.
For those that stay in the "zone", hurricane holes can be used for protection, yet we and the majority of cruisers decide to just get out of there.
This time of year in the crossroads of the Bay Islands, Honduras, we ran into boats heading either out of or into the Rio Dulce for the season. We saw a few familiar faces in Utila.
Greg & Willena (Kajun Diva) and Lloyd & Val (Puddle Jumper) were all in Mario's marina with us last season and we saw them on the day they took off for a tour of the island in a cute 4-wheeler.
We'd met Patrick & Sandy (YachtCruz) in the boatyard at RAM Marina when we were all on the hard, so good times for all floating again over a happy, happy hour with them one evening.
I got a picture with Chief Polio ~ a 6' wooden indian that was one of the reasons they bought their spacious Irwin 52 ketch!
Steve and Margaret on Lion's Paw and Jerry and Susan on Vida Dulce pulled into West End, Roatan the day after we'd arrived. We were hoping to cross paths with both of them as they were on their way into the Rio Dulce... assuming we'd get out of the boatyard someday.
It was a great reunion! We've known Steve & Marg since Grenada and sailed with them and Kaya through Venezuela to the ABC's and Colombia in 2010. It's always comforting to see familiar friends who haven't changed a bit... and who still tolerate us despite the fact that we haven't changed either!
Steve had a nasty knee injury (luckily that was healing well), while Marg bought a few trinkets from the local boys... Michele (over)-provisioned at the grocery store and Mark complained about where it would go... the usual stories, haha.
Jerry and Susan arrived bearing gifts! We'd met them on Vida Dulce while in the San Blas in 2012.
They caught three blackfin tuna on a single rig on the way over, so each of the three boats got their own tuna (thanks!). Sashimi for dinner!
We all had happy hour on Reach to celebrate the reunion under yet another beautiful sunset sky in West End.
The next few days we were all tourists, exploring the area together, taking a beach walk, driving into Coxen Hole for some shopping on a collectivo bus or dining out in one of the many restaurants in West End.
Utila and Roatan are both laid back places containing an abundance of dive shops and supporting businesses.
The best part about the anchorages in the Bay Islands is that they are all surrounded by lovely barrier reefs. It didn't take long to get right at home back in the water and make sure my underwater camera was still working (it does). Unfortunately for Mark, the waters are a park system so no hunting, but he got us some yummy dinners in his imagination.
Now Reach is at a crossroad. We are not going back up the river as many people are doing right now. This year we are sticking to the sea and will head south again, eventually below the 13* latitude zone and stopping in as many new places as we can along the way.