Sailing a 38 ft catamaran in Belize. Actually we didn't have much wind and motored most of the time, but it was fun anyway.
This is Ranguana Cay, next to Ranguana Pass right on the barrier reef that encloses the entire sailing area. You can see some of the shallow water extending way from the cay in the middle picture. The
entire area is full of reefs and sand bars, some of which are not obviously associated with anything you can see except from the color of the water. The water depth can go from 100 ft to 15 ft in a few
boat lengths. I guess these are pinnacle reefs. The picture on the right above shows waves breaking on the barrier reef.
Not many restaurants around here. This is more normal, making dinner as the sun sets. Actually, this is Ranguana Cay also -- we spent
two nights there because of mechanical difficulties. We were actually fairly unhappy with the charter company for several reasons, including
the provisioning and condition of the boat. Nonetheless, we basically had a good time and it was a really useful break for us.
Peeling shrimp for dinner.
Back at Placentia harbor the last night. This is the big harbor where the charter started, but it's a nice place even if it's fairly busy.
We anchored almost outside the harbor with the big dogs. The sailing vessel is the Harvey Gamage, one of those school of the ocean things for young people. The Helios is apparently a luxury charter yacht.
This guy came in under full sail just as the sun was almost gone. That takes a lot of experience and self confidence in these waters. We were not willing to sail after about 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon
because it gets too hard to see the shallow water.