Part 35: It's a better day today

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</div> <script type="text/javascript"> if (typeof lycos_ad !== "undefined" && "slider" in lycos_ad) { document.write(lycos_ad['slider']); } </script>  <div id="FooterAd" style="background:#DFDCCF; border-top:1px solid #393939; clear:both; display:none; width:100%!important; position:relative; z-index:999999!important; height:90px!important"> <div class="adCenterClass" style="display:block!important; overflow:hidden; width:916px;"> <div id="footerAd_container" style="display:block!important; float:left; width:728px"> <iframe id="lycosFooterAdiFrame" style="border:0; display:block; float:left; height:96px; overflow:hidden; padding:0; width:750px"></iframe> </div> </div> </div> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09c8e8e3.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="09e95810.gif" border=0 width="149" height="129" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09d00c82eoxkoh.jpg"> <div> <B>The Cruising Adventures of Joan & Ben Schuetz aboard  </b></div> <div> <B>Francesca</b><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Lucida Handwriting" ><B> </b></FONT></div> <div>  |     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Cruising Adventures of Joan Ben Sch"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 1: Caribbean Bound"><U>      Part 1:  Caribbean Bound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 2: Southern ICW"><U>      Part 2: Southern ICW</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 2A: Preparing to cross the s"><U>      Part 2A:  Preparing to cross the stream</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 3: Cuban Delights"><U>      Part 3: Cuban Delights</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 4: Great Hospitality, Awful B"><U>      Part 4: Great Hospitality, Awful Beaurocracy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 4a: Interesting weather"><U>      Part 4a: Interesting weather</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 5: Lo siento (Im sorry) no lo"><U>      Part 5: Lo siento (I'm sorry) no lobsters</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 6: If you make plans, dont te"><U>      Part 6: If you make plans, don't tell anyone</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 7: At the western tip of Cuba"><U>      Part 7: At the western tip of Cuba</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 8: War Stories"><U>      Part 8:  War Stories</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 9: Hanging out at Isla Mujer"><U>      Part 9:  Hanging out at Isla Mujeres, Mexico</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 10: Isla Mujeres to Puerto Av"><U>      Part 10: Isla Mujeres to Puerto Aventuras</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 11: Bahia Ascension y Bahia d"><U>      Part 11: Bahia Ascension y Bahia del Espiritos Santos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 12: Oooh, the weather is so e"><U>      Part 12: Oooh, the weather is so exciting. . . .</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 13: The illegal aliens beat "><U>      Part 13:  The illegal aliens beat it over the border</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 14: San Pedro and Caye Caulke"><U>      Part 14: San Pedro and Caye Caulker, Belize</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 15: Bluefield Range (Belize)"><U>      Part 15: Bluefield Range (Belize)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 15A: Waiting for good weather"><U>      Part 15A: Waiting for good weather at Bluefield Range</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 16: Rio Dulce Bound"><U>      Part 16: Rio Dulce Bound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 17: On the Rio"><U>      Part 17:  On the Rio</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 18: A Spectacular Couple of D"><U>      Part 18: A Spectacular Couple of Days</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 19: On to Lago Izabal"><U>      Part 19:  On to Lago Izabal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 20: More on Lago Izabal"><U>      Part 20: More on Lago Izabal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 21: Rainbow on a full moon"><U>      Part 21: Rainbow on a full moon</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 22: At the dock "><U>      Part 22: At the dock         </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 23: It gets better better "><U>      Part 23:  It gets better & better & . . . .</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 24: Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Ch"><U>      Part 24: Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 25: Panajacel and Chichi"><U>      Part 25: Panajacel and Chichi</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 26: Heide heads home"><U>      Part 26: Heide heads home</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 27: Leaving river city for a "><U>      Part 27: Leaving river city for a while</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 28: Back to Belize"><U>      Part 28: Back to Belize</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 29: Time out for paradise"><U>      Part 29: Time out for paradise</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 30: Natures way"><U>      Part 30: Natures way</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 31: Best of the best"><U>      Part 31: Best of the best</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 32: Jacks Cay No Glovers Ree"><U>      Part 32: Jack's Cay No - Glover's Reef Si</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 33: A few days of ambling"><U>      Part 33:  A few days of ambling</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 34: Treasures of a Lifetime"><U>      Part 34: Treasures of a Lifetime</U></A>   |         Part 35:  It's a better day today   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 36: The loss of a friend"><U>      Part 36:  The loss of a friend</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 37: Rite of passage"><U>      Part 37:  Rite of passage</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 38: The last bit of open wat"><U>      Part 38:  The last bit of open water</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 39: 1000 miles and counting"><U>      Part 39: 1000 miles and counting</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 40: Shoes, me?"><U>     Part 40:  Shoes-, me?</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>      Part 35:  It's a better day today</b></div> <div> Sunday , 4 June 2000 </div> <bR> <div> We had been checking the weather daily and from the looks of things there were two, maybe three tropical waves headed our way.  The forecasts, however, didn't indicate any serious winds.  Boy what newbies we are.   I guess we must have thought a tropical wave was a scantily clad young lady on the beach waving.  Or maybe that a tropical wave was a fruit drink.</div> <bR> <div> After leaving Sapodillo Lagoon, on Friday morning we bucked wind and chop all the way to Caye Caulker, arriving around 5:00 PM.  The Caye Caulker anchorage area is notorious for its bad holding.  The bottom is a grass covering of a soupy soft substrate.  We put out two anchors and I dived both of them to check their set.  Both  anchors were buried out of sight.  Sounds pretty good, huh.  NOT!</div> <bR> <div> The tropical wave started to really get nasty about midnight.  At 3:00 AM the wind was gusting to 38 knots with driving rain and the first anchor let go.  That anchor, the Danforth, came up with a hundred pounds or so of grass and gook on it.  OK, so we still had one out.   Around 3:30 AM the second anchor pulled free and we were adrift.  Fortunately, there wasn't anyone or any land behind us to hit.  Joan and I tried for the next two hours, in high winds and rain, to reset an anchor.  No such luck.  So, using the spot light to avoid lobster pots, we moved away from the island about a mile to some hard bottom where we easily regained a solid anchorage.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday the wind and rain continued unabated.  A local boater (Mo, on “My Time”) provides his take on the weather at 7:00 AM each day on HF radio.  He said that Monday there would be a 36 hour window for boats that needed to make a move.  (That's us.)  But, after that, another tropical wave that would make landfall and the weather was going to be- you know.  So today, Sunday, we moved to San Pedro so that first thing in the morning we can check out of Belize. Our plans are to head directly for the Chinchorro Banks, an Atoll about 20 miles off the Mexican coast and about 65 miles from here.  On HF radio today we also talked to a boat (“Darka”) on the Banks who said that they were just fine through the last tropical wave and that there was a good solid anchorage there.</div> <bR> <div> Now for the really serious stuff.  We have been trying to keep up with the progress of Capt. Norm who left Isla Mujeres, Mex. on Monday.  But, with all of the bad weather, few boats had been moving and so no one had any information about the Quetzal's progress.   We got an email from Maria Saturday afternoon asking us and others for our prayers.  Joan and I had knots in our stomach through the night.  But this morning we were able to contact the boat, Ten-Ten, at Livingston, Guat. who confirmed that Norm had pulled into the harbor late yesterday.  Short of a hurricane, he had been out in some of the worst weather and seas that these parts had to offer.  And he had been all alone sailing 24 hours a day for almost a week.   Yup, today has been a good day for lots of people.</div> <bR> <div> In a few minutes, we are going to dinghy in to San Pedro to do some shopping, let Maggie stretch her legs, and maybe get a beer.</div> <bR> <div> More.</div> <bR> <div> Joan, Ben & Maggie</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>