41 Hours Later - Cayos Cajones

We had a very short weather window on Monday afternoon and Tuesday, so we took advantage of it and made the dash to our next destination. That meant on Monday morning, we had to get the last of supplies (read: beer) and clear out of Honduras officially. What a great country - it cost us $6 to clear in and less than a buck to clear out (we were required to make a copy of a document). So with that done - we pulled anchor and headed 160 miles due east. That's always a problem when the trades blow from the east 90% of the time. But seas were predicted to be relatively flat three to five feet; winds just north of east (good because we were heading just south of east) 10-15 knots.

The first 8-10 hours was pretty rocky - seas were more like 5 to 7 feet and the winds were right on the nose about 15-20 knots. As the first night wore on and we got into deeper water, the swells seemed to get a bit further apart making the ride more comfortable. Unfortunately we were a motor boat not a sail boat though the mainsail gave us about a knot extra push and helped stabilize the boat. All day Tuesday was sunny and the only bad thing - NO FISH bit on either line. We tried a variety of lures. Our buddy boat managed to get a 3 foot mahi - on a handmade lure. Going slower than us. Go figure. Hopefully we'll get to partake in the fresh critter.

Tuesday night we kept our eyes on a few squalls and lightning. Radar is handy for those big squalls at night when you can't see them. We had a few rain showers and did a little squall avoidance through the night (trying to steer around them). We ended up "catching" a good collection of smelly flying fish aboard that we saw in daylight (but smelled well before that!) Michael didn't want them for breakfast though.

Early Today (Wednesday morning) we approached the Cajos Cajones - also referred to as "The Hobbies." Maybe you need some big cajones to want to anchor out here. Who knows! It's a series of reefs sort of in the middle of nowhere. There are a few islands with some fishing huts on them and a few too small for anything but a palm tree or two. We are anchored behind a reef which keeps the seas down - but there is no wind protection. Good for no bugs and cool breezes and keeping the wind generator rotating. But if it gets squally as predicted - it could get pretty wild. But we are stuck good in deep sand with a lot of chain out in 15 feet of water. It is really pretty and hearing the waves crash on the reefs is a great sound.

This area is supposed to have incredible fishing, snorkeling and spearing opportunities and we hope to take full advantage. My goal is to eat fish or lobsters everyday we are here. We'll get into the water after much needed sleep. After two nights of three hours on and three hours off - and trying to sleep crashing on waves - it's not exactly restful.

But now it is all calm, sunny, breezy, and, very pleasant. Nap time and then a swim!

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