Getting ready to go into San Pedro to check into Belize!!
Rowing back to the boat to take down the Q flag! The customs guy came out with the intention of going to the boat to check our declarations , but when he saw the dinghy and the size of our boat he said it was too early in the morning to get wet.
Mariachi guys hanging out by the bridge in San Pedro.
The cut in San Pedro, in the background is the property we camped on last time we were here.
Ginny holds back tears of joy as she enjoys a Belikin Beer on the streets of San Pedro.
Thurston anchored off in the lagoons on the West side of Ambergris Caye. The bottom is a crazy weedy muck. The first day we came back to the boat it had moved significantly. We thought the anchor dragged, but were later informed by a very friendly and very drunk fisherman that he moved it because he thought it was unsafe there. He tried to take it to the dock where the fishermen could watch it better, but someone yelled at him and told him he had to put it back.
The Western shore of San Pedro.
Very weird and cool houses abound!
On the way to Corozal we sailed by Sarteneja where they make these cool wooden sailboats.
Close up!
Such pretty boats! They use them for fishing instead of those obnoxious pongas which most people use.
Sailed to Corozal with almost no wind. Steve naps. Who's sailing the boat?!
Anchored in the park behind our friends Mae and Craig's house.
Brad tours us around Corozal in 90+ degree temperatures.
The courthouse in Corozal where we did our wedding paperwork.
Hangin' out with a monkey, as per usual.
Trying a little trick the monkey taught me.
Sarteneja
Steve feeds a horse from the nearby exploding mango tree.
Stopped on a wilderness beach on the way to Caye Caulker to harvest coconuts. It was covered in these guys!
Our haul!
No one was home.
Treated ourselves to this luxurious cabin the night of Tropical Storm Alex.
Steve naps in the A/C of his parent's room.
Steve turns his filthy shirt inside out and hopes his mom won't notice.
Here comes the bride...
Steve accordions the tune to “Here comes the Bride”
Wedding contact juggling!
George and Kristy sing for Act 4: Love
We're all grown up now.
Riding off after the wedding with a lot of noisy cans rattling behind us.
The wedding party.
The groom does open-mic.
Caye Caulker Water Taxi
She puts up with a lot just for a measly banana.
Mennonites like ruins too!
Creepy!
Steve sneaks aboard the water taxi to hug his parents goodbye.
Thurston celebrates too.
This is a pretty awesome picture of Steve and his siblings, Susan and Mike.
Taking the Fantastics for a sail.
Underwater Camera!
Dinner at the “Little Kitchen”
Nature's shoes. We don't bother with any other kind these days.
Steve gets help.
Steve serenades some local kids.
Leaving Thurston at the split by a sailboat from Seattle while we adventure into Belize City.
Aground! Steve rows out to set an anchor in one of many failed attempts to pull “Odessy” off the shoal. Belize City patiently awaits us in the foreground.
That tiny speck in the distance is our friend's sailboat. It was a half hour dinghy ride into the City.
Belize City, the promised land.
Awesome Sarteneja boats tied up in Belize City. One of the owners said we can tie up there too if we ever bring our boat. It's tempting, we both really like Belize City, despite its bad reputation.
BATFISH!!!!!!! Weirdest fish in the universe. Probably not even from this universe.
So weird!
The underwater camera has revolutionized our lives! Now we can bore everyone with billions of pictures of fish and seaweed.
Pulling up to Turneffe! 30 seconds later we were pulling off again, swarmed by biting doctor flies.
The growing mangrove of Turneffe Island. Thurston waits patiently by an abandoned fishing hut.
The light blue is the sandy edge of Turneffe. Right after that is the drop off.
Shine, one of many really nice guys we met on Turneffe. Under his house it is writhing with puppies!
Underwater pictures!
It's like being in an aquarium.
Bizarre things everywhere.
Steve climbs the lighthouse at dusk. This is the northern lighthouse of Turneffe. An island on which we were trapped due to bad weather for a couple days.
The meeting of the minds.
flaming fish!
Coral all around! Scary sailing, wonderful snorkling.
Mysterious monument we found on a very strange island covered in black, charred coral and tiny white fuzzy adorable stinging caterpillars.
Another mystery of that island.
Apparently Ginny isn't the only one who likes to make art out of beach garbage! This is the former Cockroach Caye. The new owner renamed it and this is part of their seawall. This was the worst place for biting flies in the history of the universe.
As you can imagine we do a lot of this.
Thurston waits for us!
Coming back to the boat.
We love wrecks, as long as they don't belong to us. This was Long Caye in the south end of Lighthouse Reef and all plotted out for development. The lots are mostly just sections of swampy mangrove with numbers nailed into the trees. Charming.
La Guadalupana, a boat of men seeking lobster. We anchored by these guys one night and they were super cool. We later ran into them in Belize City. A good place to have allies!
La Guadalupana carried 10 men for 15 days out in the atoll. They all sleep aboard and in the day take out their little canoes (dories) and swim around looking for lobsters in the reef.
Steve pulls up anchor. Our second attempt at sleeping in the lee of a wreck turned out much better than the first time.
Sandbore Caye,the fishermen's hangout and home of the Lighthouse Reef lighthouse.
Snorkler on the horizon
American Crocodile!
Sam on the southern most caye in Turneffe. We met a boastful young man who claimed to own this island. Sam said it was a lie, but treated us as guests anyway. A really cool guy and great cook!
Look what Ginny's wreck-intuition found!
I couldn't be more excited!
Steve explores mystery wreck-pieces on the sea floor.
Steve photographs Ginny and one of the oldest buildings in Belize City, while another would-be “best friend” walks away dejected.
There is beauty in Belize City!
Thurston among the fishing boats. Note Hugs on the right which we had to inflate to get to shore. She would deflate half way during the day. An inconvenience, but probably what prevented her from being stolen.
Hanging out with the Captain along the Venice-like canals of Belize City...
Hanging out with crabs on the islands is so much nicer than with demon boys in the City.
Cemetary shortcuts!
Random Iguana.
Chillin' on the boat in Stann Creek, Dangriga.
Mangrove Madness!
Rowing over shallow coral. Good thing we only draw 10 inches!
Full moon anchored by Channel Caye.
Making tortillas during a slow, hot and boring sail.
Rainbow-halo.
Putting up a new sail kindly donated by a fellow seapearl enthusiast. This one has more sail area and has solved our lee-helm problem.
Hermit crab antics.
Hermit crabs raveging the termite mounds.
Cool guard dogs we met at Colson Cayes. We gave them bread and they let us put up our tent.
An uncharted island on the reef, someone has built this bizarre semblance of a shelter and it's stocked with fresh veggies.
One of the Tom Owens Cayes. An excellent camping spot in lui of a suitable anchorage.
A stern protected our tent from the North.
When we rowed away from the East Tom Owens Caye we met the caretaker for the West who showed us around. The Western island has wild art turned buildings/dorms/cabanas.
Steve relaxes on West Tom Owens Caye with our new friend while we wait for the wind to come up and rescue us from rowing.
Seal Caye, the end of the Great Barrier Reef
Seal Caye is one part of a ring of coral which makes a shallow lagoon. We were able to pull in, just barely, by walking the boat in to avoid the coral. The coral around the island was dense, healthy and had beautiful drop offs. The only downside was there was a lot of garbage floating on the water.
The chicken of the sea.
Steve grazes over the thick coral patches.
A school of little blue fish.
These guys are extra cool.
Steve accidently touched one of these and it burned him.
Tiny bits of plastic and styrofoam floating over our heads.
Steve dives down over a drop off. He can make it about 40' down, but the drop off is well over 100.
Another drop off!
A spotted Eagle Ray makes it just out of range as the camera gives up. So long underwater-picture-taking!
Punta Gorda, Belize.
If it weren't for this little creek we couldn't have stayed in Punta Gorda as there are no protected anchorages.
A cool tree in Punta Gorda.
A pre-Battle-of-St.George's-Caye-Day parade.
Neat PG Clock tower. Of course, the clock doesn't work, but the paintings are pretty cool.
Punta Gorda market.
Thanks for the Belikins Mom!
That sign was made just for us.
Saying so long to Belize as we begin our row to Guatemala.
