Belize Islands

The last 3 weeks we have been island hopping 120nm down the coast stopping in lots of different spots. The first 2 weeks we had plenty of wind and a fair amount of rain so most of the times we were hidden in the mangroves. The fishing has been mixed, not a lot of big fish around at all but still manage to always get a feed which is great and most of the time we can find lobsters so we have been eating pretty well for sure. Anchored at the Colson Cays for a few days and there were a lot of Blue Holes, just a big hole that has dropped right down with massive cracks running sometimes for 50m with lobsters wedged inside it was pretty cool.

We met a nice French family on Syrah and have hung out and fished a lot with which has been fun. Placencia was the last town we stopped in, well actually only the second town we had been to and was nice enough for a couple of days to have a look around and meet a few cruisers who like to hang there. There's not many yachts at all in this part of the world which is surprising although with the high fees, prices and not that many nice beaches maybe it's not all surprises. Maybe when the weather is better next month and you can hang out at the reef it would be perfect but December and January are probably not the best but it was still well worth it to finally eat fresh fish again!! Now we have just arrived in Guatemala and it's bloody amazing, completely different to be in the jungle😀

Belize!

We arrived in San Pedro After a pretty rough 5 day passage, the wind just didn't give in..Sunday night 50nm out from SP we dropped all sail to slow down and were still doing 4-5kts, bloody windy. The charts just show the barrier reef and no channel into San Pedro so luckily we had a 27year old guide book :) with the wind and swell right up and no sleep it wasn't really ideal to say the least and after going up and down to first find the channel and then radioing up for local knowledge and after getting no reply and seeing the yellow buoy it was time to commit or bash 30nm south, we committed. We literally surfed a bloody big wave in, with Julie up on the bow with complete horror on her face and I'd say mine was no better, only option to give it stick and surf and was happy we had the double ender stern but it was still by far the scariest situation we've had in Sunflower. Once you get to the yellow buoy it's a dog leg to starboard and then you're inside the shelter of the reef and all is well and was time to crack open the champagne !!
San Pedro is Belize's most touristy town but still isn't too crazy, just a few charter boats but no other cruising boats to be seen. We waited until Tuesday to check in as we found out Monday was a public holiday and didn't want to pay overtime fees as it's already expensive at $150us. Once the wind died down it's bloody beautiful crystal clear water in the sandy anchorage. We spent 3 days doing our things and having a few coldies in the local establishments but it's not cheap, almost the same as the US so it was time to head south and catch some fish

Trucking Along

We got our 30kts yesterday alright, right up the bum and Sunflower was moving out screaming down the coast of Cuba in the shipping lanes with her 2 headsails set. We arrived at Cabo San Antonio the SW Cape at 1600 perfect timing really as with the currents there and all that wind was quite messy and in went 3 reefs in the main with staysail and a tiny bit of Genoa and we were screaming on a broad reach south. Just before midnight enough was enough crossing through a shipping channel with the waves on our beam touching 9 knots quite regularly it was time to slow down, the cabin was a mess from stuff being thrown around everywhere by the odd wave that smacked the side like a freight train so with the 3 reefs and just the staysail we were a lot more comfortable doing 5.5-6knts with no stress
It's been a wild ride but today it has eased off a bit but with some rain around and even managed to have a shower so things are smelling a lot better aboard the fine ship Sunflower with 200nm to get to Belize...Happy days

Back on the road again!!

I landed back in Key Largo on the 19th of December after doing 6 weeks work back in Aus which was great, a well needed top up anyway. We wanted to get going ASAP so the rush was on and we had 100 things to do and after my first day back we had the bottom clean, headsail up, filled with diesel and beers and we were pretty much good to go. Our good friends Dale and Sandy who's Dock we were alongside were staying at there apartment in Palm Beach so we went to say our farewells to them and stopped in a couple of shops in Miami and Fort Lauderdale on the way. We have committed to a full refit in Guatemala so we had to collect the 1000's of $ worth of paints and epoxies for the job and also find Julie her birthday present, a new stand up paddle board!! We had a great night out in Palm beach in a classic American bar with Dale and Sandy which was really great fun and on the way home picking up all the gear which pretty well filled the big Lexus four wheel drive!! We got it all back
to our dock laid it out, boxes and boxes of paint and all the rest of the gear including the new addition to the Sunflower Dinghy family......a fold up dinghy that sails. She's a beauty although I haven't had the time to even test her out yet!! We were also waiting for a new SIM card for the iridium that was delayed in the mail so we decided to have it redirected to Key West and then we stop in Marathon for Xmas with some sailing friends which turned out to be a really fun day. Boxing Day we sailed to Key west and hung out for a couple of days still waiting for the package and toying with the idea of staying there for New Years. It's apparently a mental place to be but the weather forecast looked reasonable for the passage to Belize and not so good for hanging around so we decided to go and will spend New Years at sea but be in tropical paradise hopefully a few Days After!!
Tonight we will be of the NW coast of Cuba and we have a Norther coming, first one for the year. Apparently bringing cold winds 25-30knts but all behind us so should push us along nicely and should last less than a day. Last night we had good sailing with the 2 headsails out and then the wind died and we are motoring and will for most of the day looking at the forecast but then should have wind for the rest of the trip with any luck.

Merry Xmas to all ourFriends and Family!!!

Key Largo

Has been a while since the last update and a bits gone on, just been a bit slack after the excitement of Matthew!! Sunflower was fine after Matthew passed anyway, others that where left there in the water were not so lucky. About a half a dozen yachts ended up smashed against the wall at the Green Cove Springs Marina after their moorings dragged. Apparently 70kts was all that was recorded there but it is no surprise they dragged as nothing seems to be properly maintained around the place there but it was a real shame to see a beautiful little Hans Christian that had just finished a big refit including full respray with its side all chewed up and pretty buckled. Anyway we were very happy to get back into the water without any incident but it wasn't without worry that's for sure, it is one dodgey boatyard.

So we went downstream 20 miles to Jacksonville and got a free berth in the city centre that turned out not to be so free after receiving $100 fine but that's another story. We decided when we were lifted we would commit to doing a refit in Guatemala early next year and do a proper job on Sunflower so Jacksonville was an easy place to stop and stock up with loads of tin foods ect. From there it was another 300nm south to Fort Lauderdale which took 2 nights and we copped a fair beating with the wind on the nose and weather a fair bit worse than they forecast but we got there without too much trouble and enjoyed the beer even more than usual. Fort Lauderdale is a full on joint, there's some serious money floating around that's for sure. We managed to find a free anchorage after being told to move on from the first place but ended up in a great spot with easy access to everything. Our main purpose for the visit is to buy paint, loads of it. From the epoxy barrier coat to the Coppercoat antifoul type stuff and then all the whites and yellows for everything else, it's a lot cheaper here than Guatamala apparently. After a couple of days of catching buses back and fourth to get the perfect shade of yellow mixed I then got an email.....work. Most people dread it but I was absolutely stoked, we can actually afford the paint now!! 

Friends of ours on "Imagine" had a friend named Dale join them in Cape Town for the crossing to Brazil where we met him. He is a super nice guy and after getting to know him over those few months he said if we ever end up in the States in the "Keys" to give him a call and we were just on our way to say hello when I got this email and he said we could park up on his jetty in Key Largo which was so VERY nice of him and that is where Julie and Sunflower is now. I had a week there before I had to fly out and it was great to catch up with him and meet his wife Sandy and have a look around the place and meet some of their friends and neighbours, what a spot! Certainly the most luxurious mooring Sunflower has ever had in our hands anyway, thank you so much Dale and Sandy😀

Now I've been back at work in Aus nearly 3 weeks now and I'm not sure when I will finish but it is all going well so either way I'm not too worried but with any luck we will be in Belize for maybe Xmas or New Years, who knows???

Hurricane Matthew

We'd been watching this storm track across the Caribbean and then it turns north and it's like wow this could be pretty big. Monday we start thinking we really have to start making a move so first thing Tuesday morning we leave our anchorage just north of St Augustine and plan to go to Green Cove Springs. GCS is 20nm inland from St Augustine up the St Johns river but to get there it is just over 60 miles as you have to go north up to Jacksonville first and then back down. With a dirty bottom and prop and the current in the river against us it was a little slow and then we get to Jacksonville and the city bridge opens at certain times and unfortunately we missed it by 5 minutes and had to wait 4 hours until 8pm. In the pissing rain we were very happy to have the new Simrad radar. The river is fairly well marked with not much traffic especially on a night like that and we made it safely to GCS arriving at 1am. I booked a spot to haul out on the way so at 6am we were up dropping the headsail and then in to confirm the haul and after waiting for 2 boats we were out early afternoon yesterday and very happy. Well as happy as can be, the yard is fairly disorganised with a lot of scruffy boats and junk around but it's the best we could do under the circumstances. The problem with leaving Sunflower in the water and setting lots of anchors isn't just dragging but all the stuff that may flow down the river when it floods like trees, boats, docks and whatever else that floats. There are creeks running off the river which would be great but they all have bridges blocking the entrances so that scraps that idea.

So then the fun begins stripping the boat of pretty much EVERYTHING, solar panels, sails, kayak, dodger you name it and all in the pooring rain. Sunflower looks like a bomb has gone off inside with everything on the cabin floor but we got it done and now we are in a cheap hotel room close by and the waiting game is on.. it will start getting windy in the early hours of tomorrow morning and then the peak will be that evening and there is not much else we can do besides sit back eating noodles and drinking beers watching the TV!! Ive given up watching the forecast as it changes every time but at the moment the eye is going to pass over ST Augustine heading straight up the coast so hopefully the 20nm inland we are will do us good but who knows it could all change once again for the better with any luck. Anyway we have done all we possibly can and now it's just a case of crossing our fingers and toes and hope sunflower will be alright:) and to be honest the scariest moment so far has been the lift to the hotel from a lady recommended from the marina. In Australia we would say she's a 50 year old bogan who's had a hard life. She was drunk as anything and trying to make small talk and telling us about previous accidents she's had and how her brakes don't work and she kept asking me if my name was Kaden (?) and after three times she gave up, luckily we made the 5 minute journey without a scratch!!

Hurricane Matthew tearing up the coast

Road Trippin'

After saying good bye to Al and Beth we went over to Virginia and stayed in another state park and camped right in their lake. Was a great couple of days just hanging out barbecuing, walking and getting scared in the car while Julie practices how to drive again! (She did alright;)

From there it was across to New Bern in North Carolina to see our cruising friends we met in Maldives Stuart and Sheila. Beautiful old town they live in, it's about 30nm up a sort of river system from the coast with a massive boating community, nice place. They live right on the water and at times have alligators on their front lawn!! We didn't see any but they're there, pretty amazing as they are 600nm north of the bottom of Florida and it freezes there in winter!? Brown bears are also a common sight and plenty of deer eating their roses on the front porch. It was a great few days meeting their friends and helping launch a friends boat and getting that going, driving down to Beaufort and checking out the Maritime Museum and having a look at all the boats around the place including theirs which is now for sale if anyone wants a great Stevens 47?? We also went one night to a music talent show (Julie thought we were going to a bar) at the local school which was a bit of a laugh and one of their friends was playing there who was really good. It was pretty interesting to see the small town out and about and it felt like it looks in the American movies from the presenter to the cheerleaders it was all there. 

Card games with a few beers also got pretty serious and now we have brought them back to Sunflower and that has been distracting us from a few jobs also!! It was really good to see you guys so thank so much for a great few days.

From there a few hours drive to another spot to camp for the night in South Carolina and then home to Sunflower the next day, it was a great trip. Very interesting to see the countryside, a lot different than what I expected I just couldn't get over the greenness of the forests to the mountains it was all real pretty and completely different to the mainly dry west coast of Australia!! It's a big old country also with a lot of history that everyone is super proud of and wants to share which is real nice. And then there's the churches, I couldn't believe how many. There will be a tiny town and it will have at least 5+ churches one for each religion and race and a lot I have never heard of, I didn't realise how religious the US is. Then there's the cars, you are nobody in the country unless you have a V8 truck with a 6ltr engine, they're a dime a dozen burning fuel like crazy around the place with nothing in the back. We did 2400 miles and it cost us just $150 in fuel for our 2ltre car so fuel is unbelievably cheap. Yes it's a very diverse country from what we have seen from Miami to Ohio it has something for everyone!!

Now we are back we are all stocked up with nowhere to go!! Just waiting for the Hurricane season to end. Well we are actually anchored in the nicest little spot a few miles north of St Augustine all by ourselves in a very quiet little part of the ICW. It's great, just a short dingy ride in and a walk and we're at the beach which is real nice. We have been ticking a few jobs of the list and making some plans, the latest is refitting in Guatamala?? Maybe be there by the end of the year, who knows??!

Stuart and Sheila 

Our campsite in Virginia

Bears around

Fremantle Sailing Clubs old travel lift in North Carolina!!

Hot Beef rolls heated while driving on the engine👌