On Vacation

Location: West End, Roatan, Honduras Position: 16 17.570 N 086 35.841 W Our friends, Shep & Deb, from Blacksburg were coming for a one day stop on a cruise ship so we thought West End would be a good place to entertain them. Here's a view of the beach and a resort from Rachel at anchor.

West End (surprisingly located at the west end of Roatan) is a small town that has one street which is just a dirt road. On one side is the Caribbean Sea and the other are a variety of bars, restaurants, little shops, street venders and dive operations.

Mark doing 'research' .

We got here a few days ahead of time so that we could check the place out. As we would only have a day together we wanted to make sure we showed them all the “best” stuff to make sure they’d have a really good time. Also, since Julie’s son Dan will be coming for a visit later this month, we had another valid reason for all our exhausting ‘research’. A tough job but someone has to do it!!

The main street in West End

See how close to the reef we are anchored

We sampled several bars, snorkeled inside and outside the reef to find the prettiest coral and fish, walked on the beach and up the hills. We had stocked up on rum, ice and lunch treats and were ready and excited about their visit.

On the morning of the scheduled visit we received a hail on our VHF radio – “We’re backing in to the cruise ship dock! We’ll be there soon.” So we went ashore to wait for them. Nothing. So we walked through town, keeping a close eye on all the cabs and vans that went by. Back to the dinghy and still nothing. So we walked through town and back again. Still nothing. Just as we were getting ready to walk through town yet a third time, we received a hail on our handheld VHF from some friends on another boat in the anchorage. Shep and Deb had been trying to hail us, but our handheld wasn’t strong enough to reach the cruise ship. Apparently the winds were too strong and the captain too inexperienced to make the final docking, so they were cancelling the day stop in Roatan and heading to Belize! How disappointing!!

See the cruise ship sailing away with our friends. Note the mountains on the mainland, 26 miles away, in the background

Now we had a big decision to make - what were we going to do with all this food and ice and rum? Easy, invite other cruisers over and have party! We all drank a toast to the missing Shep & Deb.

We stayed a few more days, just to complete our “research” and are now ready for Dan’s visit. Hopefully he won’t get turned away too. The last week has been like being on vacation. No boat jobs, no shopping, just fun and games and time with (and without :<) friends.

Chillin’