Cayos Cochinos

We enjoyed a few days at El Bight (should be El Bite) Guanaja, The "no-see-ums" were bad on land and even on the boat when the wind died. But it was good to relax and enjoy the close encounter with the dolphin that calls the anchorage home. He just cruises by the boat and hangs out for hours on end. We did accomplish a few projects and got the haul-out in La Ceiba all set-up after many, many phone calls with the yard. We'll get the boat hauled on Tuesday. Because there is no good place to anchor in La Ceiba, we decided we would go to Cayos Cochinos (27 miles from La Ceiba) and anchor for a few days before going to the yard. We could make the run to the mainland on Tuesday morning and get hauled out that afternoon. At least that's the plan. We'll see what's reality.

The trip from Guanaja to Cayos Cochinos is 45 miles so we started bright and early on Sunday morning. Cayos Cochinos (means pig keys) is part of the marine park and you must use a mooring buoy – there are about 6-8 of them so we were hoping there would be one when we arrived. It was a motor sail – we needed to get there in daylight. We sailed when the winds picked up. We, yet again, got skunked fishing though we were trying aggressively.

We arrived safely around 1600 and there was a mooring ball available so we grabbed it (first try) and settled in for the night. The winds gust off the high hills – but it was pleasant.

The Cayos Cochinos are quite beautiful – there are two larger islands – Cochino Grande and Cochino Pequeno along with lots of smaller, low lying cays. The large island that we are tied behind is more than 400 feet and very green with tropical vegetation and some rugged headlands. There is a small red and white light (not exactly a lighthouse) at the top of one the hills. The "pequeno" is behind us as we sit at anchor, and it too has some height. We're sitting in this lovely spot between the two hills and see the smaller, sandy beached cays to the south. The water is very clear. We hope the mooring is a good one as it is too deep to dive and check. It's more than 60 feet down.

We're only here a few days so not sure we'll do much exploring on this visit. We have to get the boat ready for hauling. But perhaps we'll return after the haul out as it's the closest spot to stop.

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