Belize and the Keys

April 2006

Drew and Zach arrived in Belize City early April with their girlfriends, Mackenzie and River, for ten days. We managed to visit Cay Caulker, Turneffe Atoll, and many of the various islands. Plenty of diving, snorkeling, and reading. There was a time when doing our circumnavigation that it was necessary to be always moving with three very active sons. How times have changed--I was not prepared for them wanting to just relax and enjoy the sun and water, and read.

After they left we were off to Isla Mujeres in Mexico--our first time in Mexico where great tacos are a dollar and the Mexicans are very friendly. Isla Mujeres, overshadowed by Cancun and its high rise hotels and many cruise ships, is like an oasis in the desert. Cancun is perhaps one of the least interesting places we have been, but it does provide a staging ground to go inland to the many Mayan ruins. We enjoyed getting back to using our "terrific" Spanish after a month in Belize and its brand of English.

The two day sail to Key West was a challenging one with some very strange currents. The Yucatan Current reached five knots driving us northward and then we had almost 12 hours of adverse currents just north of Cuba and finally the beginning of the Gulf Stream.

Not a place to be in with easterlies which is about all it blows.

But Key West was worth the effort. Although the anchorage is marginal with lots of currents, we had a very good time--it is definitely a friendly place for the free spirit--nice to see all the old hippies my age that have settled into driving taxi cabs to make ends meet--I can think of a lot of worse ways to live.

Where to now?