Jamaica to Roatan, Honduras

We decided to move up to Montego Bay from Port Antonio by doing a short overnighter….Sam the Skull decided to try out their “new” spinnaker…although it was a touch windy to start they cruised with that sail until dark touching on speeds of 10k while surfing down waves..what a ride, mon!!

The anchorage at MoBay sounded better in the book than it was in reality, a lot of sunken boats in the harbor and just under the surface, Sam the Skull actually went right over one and just about got stuck, they were lucky to be able to back off. We anchored here for a couple of days and took advantage of the yacht club…which was getting ready to receive the Pineapple Cup, a Race from Miami to MoBay.

We eventually moved around the corner to Bouge Lagoon a lovely secure anchorage which could be used as a hurricane hole if needed.

Bob Lives!! That is what the sign says anyways!! We figured that no trip to Jamaica could be complete without a visit to the Reggee star’s home in St. Annes Parrish. Since our boats were securely anchored in Bouge Lagoon and the weather was supposed to be settled, we went for it!! The trip up to Nine Mile, as the homestead/mausolium is called was about a 3 hour drive from Montego Bay. We stopped at a scenic overlook, which looked down into Runaway Bay.


The drive up once we got off the main highway was on a pretty narrow road that went straight up the mountain, wouldn’t want to be on a tour bus passing another tour bus here!! We actually hired a route taxi which we split with our friends on Sam the Skull - the cost was $50.00 per couple for round trip as the driver had agreed to wait for us. We had heard that the facility was still owned by Bob’s family and that you may even get a chance to chat with his aunt or an uncle…the day we went there was a tour from a cruise ship and if any relatives were around they probably went and hid, like we wanted to!! This definitely gave it a feel of a tourist attraction as they wanted to move you in and out as quick as possible to the gift shop at the end, we would have preferred the more laid back atmosphere that the guide book suggested. The good thing was we got to “tag” along with their group and did not have to “hire” our own “Rasta Guide”.

No trip to Nine Mile can be complete without a stop in Bob’s “Garden”…!!

As you can see from the following pictures it has become pretty commercial but it was interesting that such a muscian could come out of this tiny town in the mountains and become probably the most recognizable Regee Icon in the world.

After a “grueling” day touring Bob’s grounds it was time to have a refreshment at the Houseboat bar and grill where we could check on the boats, all was well!!













The weather was right to make a move to the Bay of Islands in Honduras, so provisions were purchased and haircuts were had!! It was to be a downwind run of roughly 505 miles to Roatan and we expected that the first day out we would be having 18-20k behind us with gradually moderating conditions.

We had all of that and more as the waves were incredibly large and breaking over the side, we took a couple and soaked the cockpit!! Sometime after midnight we were running the engine because there was no wind and the seas had finally laid down. The wind stayed light the next day and we decided to try out our “Big White” otherwise known as our Drifter, the sail worked beautifully and enabled us to continue to sail without having to run the engine…by midnight we were taking it down as the wind had filled in and once again we were romping along with 18-20k!!















Dave did catch a nice Dorado on the handline, sorry no pictures. The wind held until late into the 3rd day when once again it was time to run the motor, oh well we needed to charge anyways!! The forecast was for decreasing winds of about 10k….you know what happens when you take the word of the forecasters… instead of a nice mellow night for our last night out we had building winds which finally topped out at a steady 30k and of course with the winds came the seas and it wasn’t long before we were surfing down 7-8’ seas once again with just a bit of sail rolled out!! Once again I was glad to be going with the wind and seas and not beating our way east!!

As soon as the sun cleared the horizon we had our first look at Roatan in the daylight along with the beautiful water that surrounds her. We headed in the cut between the reefs for the anchorage in French Cay. After weaving our way around the shoals that abound in the anchorage the tired crew was able to drop the hook and as it was Sunday we couldn’t clear customs we got some much needed shuteye!!

The following day we took a taxi to Coxen Hole where were able to clear immigration but customs had to wait until the following day as he was out of the office, once the official paperwork was done it was time to let the admiral put her feet on terra firma, the first time in a month!!One of her walking areas is on Fantasy Island.

Where she must share the land with Iguanas, Monkeys and some kind of Rodant (which we hear they serve it grilled in Belize).

We must share the anchorage with a seaplane that makes a death defying landing over the masts and between the anchored boats 2 or 3 times a day!! We just happen to be anchored in his flight path!!

What can I say…so far we really, really like Roatan . The people here are very laid back and are very friendly. Spanish is the main language but almost all speak English. We enjoy practicing our Spanish and have once again taken out our books to refresh our vocab!! We are looking forward to visiting a few more harbors here before moving onto Utilla and/or Cayo Cochinos. Hope to have some great photos soon!!