Trouble in paradise
Anne Marie came to sail with us for a couple of weeks and desperately wanted to do a passage which is just as well because we have to head back to Guatemala and that involves a 100 NM passage to the entrance to the River Dulce. Of course the weather that has been perfect for weeks decided to have a footstep now but we worked our way around that. There was a window to sail down to Utila, hang out for a day or two until a cold front passed through than a perfect sailing window for the passage. Cold front is a relative term and is often preceded by still, muggy and uncomfortably hot days then the wind goes north and clouds gather and the temperature drops to the level of a hot midsummer day in UK.
This week is Easter and that means a big holiday in Honduras. .Holidays bring mainlanders to the Island and the volume goes up so we’ve been treated to dance music - bass and drums at max volume until the early hours each night. This is not Island culture, not a tradition in fact the deeply religious locals probably hate it but money talks and the DJs play on.
But at last it was time to leave at first light tomorrow (Friday) which means clearing out of customs and immigration today. However the Port Captain, an officious little **** who speaks English but pretends he doesn’t decided the weather was too bad and refused to allow us to leave - he has that power because without our clearance documents we can’t enter Guatemala or anywhere else for that matter. So first off it is a but overcast and we’ve had a few drops of rain but winds have been max 20 kn all day- we call that a good sailing wind except it was from the wrong direction. Seas are moderate, about average for the English Channel on a good day. The dive boats are out on the reef and there’s people out on jet skis but he’s decided that a 50’ blue water sailboat with full safety equipment, a qualified yacht masters skipper and experienced crew can’t be trusted to leave.. The forecast is clear however that winds will drop to nothing over night, the skies will clear, seas flatten and there is a lovely 15kn breeze from. exactly the right quarter springing up from first light tomorrow. I showed him the forecast but he insisted we come to clear out tomorrow, turned his back and walked away. He doesn’t get out of bed until 10.00 am and no-one else has the authority to override him. We should be 30 miles away by then but instead we will be at his mercy whether he decides to be awkward which he most certainly will.
It is so frustrating, we will now lose the wind for a third of the journey and arrive at 2 - 3 am having been on the engine for 6 hours all because a petty official who has probably never been on a sailing boat wans to play the bigshot and show his authority. All in all I’ve decided Ive had enough of Utila and we won’t be back. If we come through the Islands next year we will sail by and clear in at Roatan.