Sailing in Belize
I've been away in Belize sailing with my brother, Gary. Had a great time. The weather was perfect. The snorkeling was great. The food was great. Gary has a 30 foot sailboat, Malaki. It sleeps 2, 4 in a pinch, draws 6 feet, carries a mainsail and a jib and has a diesel engine for tight spots and a dingy for getting to shore and snorkeling. I flew into Belize City on 3/11 about 5pm after changing planes in Houston. He was there to meet me and we took a taxi (with a real friendly driver named Daniel) to the dock closest to his boat. The dingy ride was a bit wet, as the winds were blowing about 25 knots, but we made it safely to the boat.
The next day we sailed down to Colson Cay, about 30 miles south and went snorkeling the next day. Not a lot of fish there, but we did see a big sinkhole (it's on the charts) that was interesting. The surrounding seabed is about 5-6 feet with lots of vegetation and the sinkhole, about the size of a football field, goes down to 10 to 15 feet and has vertical walls like somebody dug it with a bulldozer and a white sandy bottom.
Tuesday we sailed down to Southwater Cay for snorkeling as good as it gets, according to Gary. There were lots of different kinds of fish and I took a bunch of pictures with an underwater disposable camera ($15.00) which turned out fairly well. We went snorkeling again Wednesday at Southwater and then headed back north to some other cay whose name I don't remember where we went exploring in the dingy and saw some pelicans and did some boat repairs. I think that was the day Gary replaced the impeller on the engine water pump.
On Thursday, on our way back north, we anchored in 25 feet of water about a half mile from the reef and about 200 feet from a pile of coral about 3-4 feet below the surface. We rowed the dingy over to the coral and snorkeled all the way around it. Saw some fish and a barracuda about 4 feet long. That night at our anchorage we had three dolphins show up near the boat.
Friday we sailed back to Cucumber Beach Marina and had a great meal at the restaurant there. Saturday it was back on the plane to Denver.
The next day we sailed down to Colson Cay, about 30 miles south and went snorkeling the next day. Not a lot of fish there, but we did see a big sinkhole (it's on the charts) that was interesting. The surrounding seabed is about 5-6 feet with lots of vegetation and the sinkhole, about the size of a football field, goes down to 10 to 15 feet and has vertical walls like somebody dug it with a bulldozer and a white sandy bottom.
Tuesday we sailed down to Southwater Cay for snorkeling as good as it gets, according to Gary. There were lots of different kinds of fish and I took a bunch of pictures with an underwater disposable camera ($15.00) which turned out fairly well. We went snorkeling again Wednesday at Southwater and then headed back north to some other cay whose name I don't remember where we went exploring in the dingy and saw some pelicans and did some boat repairs. I think that was the day Gary replaced the impeller on the engine water pump.
On Thursday, on our way back north, we anchored in 25 feet of water about a half mile from the reef and about 200 feet from a pile of coral about 3-4 feet below the surface. We rowed the dingy over to the coral and snorkeled all the way around it. Saw some fish and a barracuda about 4 feet long. That night at our anchorage we had three dolphins show up near the boat.
Friday we sailed back to Cucumber Beach Marina and had a great meal at the restaurant there. Saturday it was back on the plane to Denver.
posted by David Aitken | 12:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home