The Endless Estrogen Chronicles Part 2

Ranguana Caye, the quintessential Caribbean island

All Aboard

Waking in the tropics is heavenly! Walking out onto the cool sand, paddling in the warm water in the still of the morning...you can't beat it! Add a cup of coffee and this, for me, is paradise.

But this was the big day; we board the boat and the rest of the crew arrives. The plan was to load up at the hotel, head to the boat and provision at the local stores. But Maria, our hotel driver had other plans! Fortunately, Paradise Resort has a golf cart to take us and all our baggage to the van so we avoided dragging our bags up the gravel path! Once in the van, Maria suggested we stop at the vegetable stand on our way to the boat, all on her time. This was one of the many kind and thoughtful instances we encountered on this trip. She took us right to the vege stand, where Betsy and Lu Ann, our designated cook, stocked up. The arrays of papaya and coconuts and yes, granadillas was a sight to behold! Packed into boxes, we headed for the marina to unload. We planned to take a taxi to the grocery store but once again, Maria said she would drop us there. So we piled back into the van and off we went. At the grocery store, she talked to the store owner, asking to have him deliver us and the groceries back to the boat.

Belize29

Although that didn't happen, for various reasons, mainly that there were too many of us and too many groceries to fit in the truck, we managed to cruise the grocery aisles, finding just about everything we needed. Remembering that we are in Belize and on Belizean time, we hung around the front of the store, sipping our Belikin beers, and waiting for the taxi the store owner grudgingly called for us. We heard later that the Asian store owners are not the most popular people in the community and their unwillingness to help was not unexpected. We did not let their attitude affect us!

Back to Moorings base, all our gear had been transported to the boat. No schlepping for us!

The boat, a Moorings 4800 catamaran, was amazing! And huge! Stepping on board was like stepping into a fair-sized condo, only better! With four big cabins, four heads and a small v-berth and head up forward, there was ample room for all of us. The aft undercover seating and table was where we all spent a lot of time, plus the forward seating and trampoline strung between the amas provided lots of seating and lounging areas. The steering station has all the necessary, latest nav devices, too.

Designating who was to occupy which cabin involved who wakes early, who are the party animals, who snores, etc. These details all noted on a questionnaire Betsy had sent out early in the planning process. My roomie was Pam, my friend from Washington, but it ended up I slept out on deck, my favorite place! But I was always ready to pop back inside if it rained!

And Then There Were Nine

Dinner at Laru Beya

Our remaining four crew, Pam, Claire, Laura and Katie showed up in the early evening. After getting everything stowed, we made our way across the road to the only restaurant within walking distance. The Laru Beya is a beautiful resort with a good restaurant where we celebrated our first night together.

The next morning, bright and early and after a quick Betsy briefing, Diego our go-to person at the Moorings base, took us out of the slip and we were off on the Big Adventure, making our way down the very shallow channel and out to the deep water. Although the boat is big, Betsy is a pro and because the setup and navigation systems are very similar to the Moorings 4400 she recently sailed on, she soon got a handle on it. We did a bit of maneuvering out in the open water to get the feel of the boat and then it was off to our first anchorage - Ranguana Caye.

Ranguana is a tiny two-acre caye but it is the quintessential Caribbean island. Beach bar, sandy beach, palm trees and turquoise sea. Pulling into the anchorage, we had hoped to find a vacant mooring buoy but they were all taken so this became our first anchoring experience! Third time was a charm. Our avid swimmers were overboard almost instantly, snorkeling over the anchor and Betsy got the thumbs up - anchor in sand and holding well. Shortly after that, we got a message that the French boat with the closest mooring was vacating it and letting us have it because "we were damaging the coral!" We later found that the reason he gave it up was that he didn't want to pay the nightly fee! What a wanker!

The paddle boards and kayak were deployed and the crew dispersed. I went snorkeling with my new prescription goggles and camera which I discovered is going to take some getting used to! But nothing was going to stop the bliss I felt as I cruised the reef, enjoying every second of it. Being so fair skinned and white from living in the gray Washington climate, I was very careful to use lots of sunscreen and wear coverups as the sun in Belize is ferocious. By the end of the trip, I was very proud of myself for developing a light tan and no burns!

That evening, we went ashore for dinner at Billy's on the Beach. What a pleasure to sit out on the benches, toes in the sand, enjoying a tropical rum drink and eating fresh snapper and grouper, caught fresh that day.

It just felt like life couldn't get any better!

Stay tuned...

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

This Time Tomorrow - Belize!

As I look around the living room at the piles of stuff we are taking, reality is setting in, knowing that this time tomorrow we will be in Belize!

But first:

• All junk removed from devices? ✅
• All devices fully charged? ✅
• Extra batteries? ✅
• Extra SD cards? ✅
• All cords and cables for devices? ✅

I look at all the stuff and realize that all I really need is my bathing suit, a pareu, sandals, sunscreen and a valid credit card and passport, plus the electronics which all fit in my backpack! But no! Multiple pareus, prescription snorkeling mask, new snorkel, multiple bottles of sun screen and bug spray, mini-tripods, Britta water pitcher, etc. etc. etc.

We will head out of here around 5pm, pick up Jane, and get to LAX in plenty of time to drop the car at the hotel we will stay at when we return (free parking!) and shuttle to the airport for our flight at 12:40 am! It's a direct 4:45 hour flight so I just hope I get some sleep as I am useless without getting my 8 hours! From Belize City, we get a puddle jumper to Placentia, a 30 minute flight.

We will go to the Paradise Resort first where we spend our first night, drop our stuff, then either go to the Moorings base or grocery shopping, depending on our boat familiarization and chart briefing. We board the boat on Sunday and will spend the night at the dock.

A couple of the girls will already be in Placentia, when we arrive and the rest show up the following day. We plan to head out relatively early Monday morning.

Apparently, we will be able to get wifi at some of the cayes, so will try to post here on the blog and also Instagram and Facebook. If you would like to follow along, please subscibe to receive the latest posts and follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Another Granny Travels

Granny Susu has been having senior moments and hasn't posted for a while!

That doesn't mean I haven't been busy! In fact, I met with a granny who is more adventurous than me, by far. Jeanne Socrates is a 70-year old granny from England, who just finished her third - yes, her third - single handed, around the world non-stop, unassisted sailboat voyage! It took 259 days to go from Victoria all the way south and wind back at the starting point on July 8.

Jeanne is an amazing lady - she is fit, very positive and down to earth about the whole thing. She said, when I asked her about fixing things that go wrong or break on the boat, "It helps to be logical." She endured knock downs, storms, broken computers, wind vanes and a multitude of other breakages, being becalmed and the frustration of drifting off the coast of Vancouver Island, within spitting distance of the finish as the wind died. She hails from England, but her boat is her home. When I got there, she had been in port for several days but the boat was chaotic! A huge box with her new radar array was taking up most of the main salon, there was stuff everywhere and I thought she would be anxious to get on land for a while - but she wasn't! She has one picture taped up on the bulkhead - her three grandchildren who will have great stories to tell about their grandma!

But she was short on hugs, which don't translate well over the radio! She got a lot on her arrival and as people kept showing up on the dock to congratulate her. She kept a blog going, which you can read here.

Jeanne only started sailing in her late 40s when she and her now-passed-on husband took early retirement to go cruising, something she recommends everyone should do.

"Life is precious," she said. "Make the most of it."

They had several years of sailing together before cancer took him and now part of her mission is to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care, which according to their description, "provides high quality nursing, totally free, to give people with terminal cancer and other illnesses the choice of dying at home, supported by their families. It runs nine Marie Curie Hospices across the UK offering free specialist care for patients and support for families. The charity conducts palliative care research to find better ways of caring for terminally ill people and also funds scientists who investigate the causes and treatments of cancer."

Jeanne appreciates any support you can give.

The article I am writing will be in a future issue of Sailing Magazine - not sure which, but I will post it here when it is published.