15 – 17 March Passage from Providencia to Guanaja, Honduras

Sometimes you have to make a quick decision to go. This was one of them.

Before arriving in Providencia we thought we'd stay for 7 to 10 days diving, diving, diving, but at that time we didn't know we'd be joined by 35 boats taking part in an OCC rally. We also thought the trade winds would be constant. During the winter months the route should be planned between northers which migrate eastwards from the Yucatan peninsula bringing strong north winds. Checking the weather on Wednesday evening for the next week we saw two days of forecast wind from the right direction and strength beginning Friday followed by an extended period no wind. To us it seemed leave Friday or stay much longer than planned. Time to go.

Trevally for dinner tonight

Hitching a ride through the night

Next morning, before our last day of diving, David popped in to town to drop off our passports with agent Mr Bush. We were able to collect passports and Zarpe (boat exit papers) at 5pm. The efficient and pleasant Mr Bush charged us $60 for his services.

At dawn on Friday we weighed anchor and left Providencia at the same time as three American yachts also bound for Guanaja. There's a belief among some sailors that it is bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday; obviously we don't subscribe to the same point of view. I

In the first twelve hours we flew on a close reach, covering a 100 miles of the 344nm total. During the first night wind strength lightened little by little and backed as we progressed north and west until, 12 miles from Guanaja as the sun came up we were drifting at 3 knots. Time to turn on the engine – the batteries needed charging anyway.

Looking at the trip mileage on the chart plotter when we were anchored it indicated we had travelled 260nm through the water. With our course over ground actual measuring 345nm I calculated we had had almost 90 free miles of current over 50 hours.

The region of the banks has been noted for suspicious boat activity and pirate attacks. We travelled 'dark', ie no lights, no radio communications, no AIS transponding but with receive on and hourly radar checking. We saw two of the American boats who were running deck lights at a distance of three miles, we also saw them on AIS and kept a safe distance apart during the night. On the first night a cargo ship passed us also going north and in the region of the Vivario cays an open fishing skiff with four men aboard. They waved and carried on fishing. Little did we know the pirates were waiting for us in Guanaja....