Bernard Slabeck writes from the NW Caribbean,
“I’m on the Lagoon 38 Beyond Reason (Ha-Ha 2001)
with owner Jerry Lumbard. The diving here is blowing my mind.
We are one island west of Roatan, Honduras, an island called
Utila, surrounded by reefs. A small island, it’s only about 3
by 8 miles, so none of the dive sites are very far away. You
can get open water certified for under $100.00 U.S. I rented
a tank, BCD, and regulator (dive equipment) for the amazing amount
of $6.00 U.S. per day. That’s not a typo – six bucks! And then
two bucks for refills!
“The only town on the island is basically
one street that runs along the water’s edge around the only large
bay on the south side of the island. The street is lined with
dive shops, funky restaurants, funky hotels, little food stores,
a hardware store, and government offices (read: Post Office and
Port Captain). Of course there are also some bars! Coco Loco
seems to be the happening bar. It’s located on the water – more
like a dock with a bar on it. We tie our dinghy up there when
we go into town.
The bar at Coco Loco
The ‘dance floor’ at Coco Loco. Watch your step! Above Photos Bernard Slabeck
“We had heard that Utila is a great
place during the full moon, which was yesterday. A big part of
the full moon is that whale sharks hang out off the east end
of the island, and for some unknown reason they tend to really
show up around full moons. Fortunately Honduras has passed some
laws protecting the whale sharks. The boats that take people
out to see the sharks can only snorkel, not scuba dive. You’re
also not supposed to touch the whale sharks.
A whale shark Photo Courtesy Bernard Slabeck
“David Lee and his wife Linda, on
the Privilege 43 catamaran Expectation, organized with
a dive shop to go out and see these incredible beasts. Twelve
of us cruisers, with our snorkel gear, two video cameras and
a couple of still cameras, went out the other day, and let me
tell you, it was a humbling, amazing, once in a lifetime experience
for me! The Captain of the dive boat was a Utila native who has
grown up with these whale sharks.
“Here is the way it goes: We go out
to a sea mound area about a mile or so off the East Point of
the island and look for a boil of bonita. This is just what it
sounds like, hundreds of bonita jumping up and down and acting
like a forty-ft whale shark is chasing them. The whale sharks
come straight up, vertically, with their mouths open and actually
break the surface of the water. If I understand this correctly,
the sharks aren’t really interested in the bonita, but rather
the tiny fish the bonita are feeding on, or krill or something.
Anyway, we come motoring up to this fish boil and we got these
guys up on top of the superstructure of the boat spotting and
yelling to the captain, “Over there, no, over there, two
o’clock, ten o’clock!” Meanwhile, as far as I could tell
the captain was doing fine without the spotters. But everyone
was excited and we were all having a great time! They got all
of us hanging our finned feet over on the starboard side, poised
and ready as we chased to the action. Then as we coast up at
about one or two knots with the engine off, the captain yells,
‘Jump, jump, jump!!!’ We all jump on top of each other and stick
our faces in the water, and at first I see millions of splashing
bubbles and legs and arms and fins. Then all of a sudden, right
in front of me, in the clearing bubbles, is this forty-foot spotted
gray whale shark. He was big, and we were very, very small. Truly
a thing of beauty, sleek and graceful. He looked at all of us
flailing around and then he very gently moved his huge tail and
slowly faded into the depths. Then we did it six more times over
the course of the next couple of hours. We saw 30 to 40-ft whale
sharks – some of them could have been the same ones, it was hard
to tell.
“David and Linda managed to get some
pretty good video and stills of the whole event. They made a
bunch of copies of the video and sold them to us for ten bucks
each, which they donated to the Whale Shark Institute of Study,
on Utila. So when I find myself wondering if I really swam with
these great creatures, I can watch my very own video.”
New Fees to Cruise the Sea of Cortez Clarified
March 28 – La Paz, BCS
Mary Shroyer, who, with husband Mac, runs
the Marina de La Paz in the Baja town of the same name, explains
the new system, “You have known of the Protected Area near
Loreto, I am sure. Perhaps you had also heard that ALL the islands
of the Gulf have been incorporated into an ‘Area de Proteccion
de Flora y Fauna Islas del Golfo de California, Oficina Regional
en Baja California Sur’. A charge was established for the
‘use and enjoyment’ of the islands at 20 pesos (about
$2 U.S.) per person per day. While the regulations and fees were
primarily established to charge kayak groups and others who camp
overnight on the islands, the fee is to be charged
to anyone who steps ashore. While government authorization for
this fee was established on January 1, 2003, in the Mexican ‘Congressional
Record’ or Diario Oficial, it hasn’t been enforced until
now, because the group did not have even minimal enforcement
methods in place. Now they do: a minimal ability only, to date.
Administration of this fee will be by a system of wrist bands (brazaletes) which will be issued when one pays the
fee. For example: A boat pulls out of La Paz heading north, planning
to spend two days at La Partida, one at Isla San Francisco, one
at Isla San Jose, and later one at Isla Monserrat, before putting
in at Puerto Escondido. There are two people aboard, and they both plan
to go ashore each day they are on the trip. They would need to
purchase a total of 10 brazaletes, for 200 pesos, before
they leave La Paz.
“Forget about taking your dog ashore
for a run – dogs are NOT allowed ashore at all. People under
6 and over 60 are exempt from the fee, as well as ‘residents’,
which includes foreign holders of FM 2 and 3 showing a local
address. The fees are to be paid in La Paz (or Loreto), and although
they should be dated, they will not be, in the hope that an honor
system will work. They are trying to be reasonable with
boaters, understanding that weather and other factors don’t allow
cruisers to travel a specific route and date, as commercially
run trips do. The fees can be paid at the Regional Office
in La Paz (that is, one does not have to run off to the
bank to pay, and come back to pick up the brazaletes). They
will also probably be available from the kayak companies, the
tour operators, and maybe here at the marina, at least for our
clients (we are NOT anxious to get into the middle of this!).
“For the time being, if a patrol shows
up and the persons ashore don’t have brazaletes, the patrol
crew will have brazaletes and receipts to sell them and
not issue fines.”
Sea of Cortez Race Week Rescheduled
March 28 – La Paz, BCS
A long-standing, much anticipated Mexico
cruisers’ event has some new competition in town. Tomas Daly, Jefe de Web for Club Cruceros de La Paz, explains the
situation: “For many years Club Cruceros has organized an
annual Race Week at Caleta Partida. However, this year an interesting
problem cropped up which has necessitated a complete change in
both the event and the schedule.
“Paradise Found, a local La Paz bar,
planned a similar event for the same week as Club Cruceros’ Race
Week. Paradise Found advertised their event [called Island Madness]
on their Web site and in their bar [and this week, on ‘Lectronic
Latitude]. While Club Cruceros would be at Caleta Partida, Paradise
Found would be at Enseñada Grande which is located on
Isla Partida around the corner from Caleta Partida.
“Paradise Found applied for a permit
from the Mexican government to hold their event at Enseñada
Grande, however the government declined that location, but permitted
them for Caleta Partida. Clarke Waters, the owner of Paradise
Found, contacted Race Week Chairman Marta Sutton after he found
out that the government had moved his event to Caleta Partida.
During a cordial meeting, it was agreed that both events could
be held at Caleta Partida at the same time, as there is lots
of beach space there.
“According to a flyer posted on the
Club bulletin board by Marta Sutton, a few days later Clarke
informed Club Cruceros that since the permit was in his name,
Club Cruceros would not be welcome at Caleta Partida. The flyer
goes on to say that, ‘A meeting was then held with the governmental
agency, that issues the permits, who attempted to arbitrate the
problem to the satisfaction of all. Clarke was offered Enseñada
Grande, but he complained that all his publicity was out for
Caleta Partida. The arbitrator then suggested we share the cove.
Club Cruceros agreed, but Clarke said there would be no room
for the Club as he needs the whole beach to provide for the activities
he has planned.’
“In light of this, Club Cruceros has
decided to change the dates for Race Week to April 13 to 19,
and the event will be held in La Paz rather than out at the island.
The new tentative schedule is: Opening Day celebration beginning
at 4 pm on the beach behind the Racing Club next to Vista Coral.
This will feature dinghy races. There will be a major race on
Wednesday, April 16, from Roca Lobo out to Isla Ballena, around
Ballena, and back to Roca Lobo. During the week there will be
daily activities on the beach, such as a Chili Cookoff, kids’
activities, volleyball, and other beach games. Final information
about this event will be posted on the Club bulletin board and
announced on the 8 am radio net.”
Some scenes from last year’s Race
Week:
Opening Day music
Chili Cookoff
Silly Beach Games at sunset Photos Courtesy Club Cruceros de La Paz
The Club Cruceros event raises money to
support many needy children in and around La Paz. For complete
details on this revamped 20th edition of Race Week, see www.clubcruceros.org.
For more information on the new Paradise Found event, see www.paradisefoundyachtclub.com.
Pacific SAIL EXPO Update
March 28 – Oakland
The West Coast sailing community is gearing
up for Pacific SAIL EXPO, coming to Jack London Square in Oakland
from April 23 to April 27. The event draws showgoers not only
from the San Francisco Bay Area, but from along the entire West
Coast and from states west of the Mississippi. This year, just
over 300 companies coming are from Asia, Europe, and 30 U.S.
states to exhibit their yachts, services and products.
Among the yachts to be displayed at the
docks are several new designs making debuts at the show, including
the Catalina 387,Corsair 36, Grand Soleil 43, Swan 82, Tartan
4400, Tom 28. For details, see www.sailamerica.com.
Also see the Pre-Show Planner, a full-color glossy insert in
the April issue of Latitude
38, to be distributed starting Tuesday.
YOTREPS
March 28 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace
Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.
Looking for current as well as recent wind
and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena
and the Mexican border? Here’s the place – which has further
links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Southwest.shtml.
Pacific Winds and Pressure
The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily
map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.
