17 March Bonacca Town, Guanaja

We arrived at Guanaja at 8.30am having had to motor only the last ten miles as the wind dropped to nothing.  The entrance through the reef is straight forward in good sunlight and our Navionic chart was accurate.  For clearance the authorities insist yachts anchor on the west side of the island which is Bonacca Town and then move to another anchorage once the process is complete.
Once upon a time the main town was on the big island, but twenty years ago hurricane Mitch came through and blew it away. After that the main town relocated to the small island of Bonacca.  So small there are no roads, no motor vehicles and every inch of the cay is built on with houses, some now on stilts hanging over the water. Fishing is the main industry. March is closed season for lobster hunting; all the trawlers we saw were tied to the docks.

Check in anchorage at Bonacca

Check in part 1- Immigration
Clearing in should be straight forward and there's no requirement in Honduras to employ an agent.  The first challenge is to get your dinghy tied up to the main ferry dock without being trampled in the stampede of boats 'boys'.  Today the winner for Jackster's service was Hondo, 63 years old, short grey rasta dreads and a strong New York accent.  He told us he had been a history teacher when he lived in NY.  He'd been born on Bonacca and how he wished Honduras was still governed by the British.  Hondo was pleasant and showed us the supermarket, the bank, the house he was born in and where to find Immigration.  I
t was a Sunday so we could see immigration.  Customs would be open next day.
The Immigration office is also the officer's house.  The officer greeted us in his Sunday casual stained football vest – dress down Sunday – and started chatting in Spanish.  While many/most of the islanders are of Caribbean origin and speak English, Creole and Spanish, officials are Spanish Hondurans and speak only Spanish.  Mr Dirty Vest had a little English and began our interview with references to 'amarillo fever'.

Fleet in harbour 

Bonacca town house

Built over the water

Hondo was hovering outside and came in to translate. We were told that a visitor coming from Colombia under 60 years of age has to have a yellow fever inoculation certificate.  (We learned later this new law came in to force on 1 November.) The irony is David has a certificate from twenty years ago, but he's over 60 and therefore exempt.  I'm under 60 and don't have a certificate.  It was explained I had three options;  leave Honduras now, take a flight to the mainland to be inoculated or pay a 'fine'.   I reflected, discussed with David, and opted to contribute to the Blackbeard retirement fund.  There was also a $10 processing fee each to pay. Other cruisers checking in that day were all over 60 and they were charged $5 each for processing; there must have been a sharp currency fluctuation that afternoon.
With our passports stamped, me inoculated against yellow fever and $40 lighter, it was time for Hondo to put his hand out.  For less than one hour he asked for $20. we laughed out loud, couldn't help it, but crossed his palm with a few dollars for his cheek and translation services.
Check in Part 2 – The Port Captain
Early next day, Monday, we jumped in the  dinghy back to the main dock.  Three other yachts were also seeking clearance with Port Captain today.  Arriving at the dock we noticed a kerfuffle was going on; Hondo, pirate 1, and his brother, pirate 2, both over sixty were arguing over which of them had first pick of the visitors. Arguing turned into shoving and pirate 2 found himself sprawled in a dinghy with the cruisers underneath.  He was mad now, writhed himself out of the boat and on to the dock to chase his brother.  Hondo ran away.  Pirate 2 returned to help his visitors tie up their dinghy, but just as he was bending over to grab at the painter Hondo returned and gave him a big push on the backside and this time he ended up in the water.  Pirate 2 was really mad now.  Climbing out of the water in to the dinghy and then on to the dock he found an iron bar and chased Hondo in to the town.
We were smiling and then we were grinning when word came that both had been arrested and thrown in jail for a day.
Following this incident David and one of the ladies stayed with the dinghies to ensure they didn't drift off.  They were joined by another character with an Elvis like hairstyle and mirror sunglasses. He thought he would step in to the breach as protector of the boats.
Meanwhile I'm with the Port Captain doing our clearance; we had to provide profile and stern photos of Jackster taken in the harbour and present our Zarpe from Providencia.  That part took fifteen minutes then there was a three hour wait while our clearance document was prepared.  Plenty of time to pick up some fresh vegetables and a local SIM card.
Finally we had our papers from the Port Captain and returned to Jackster but before we moved out of the anchorage we took the dinghy for a blast along a man made canal which links the south and north sides of the island.  It was once dredged to sufficient depth to take a yacht.  Today it is only deep enough for a small boat and takes minutes to cross from one side to the other.
Exploring completed we decided to move north inside the outer reef to anchor at Joah's Cay. We were motoring away when we noticed a local water taxi in hot pursuit.  It was the Elvis look-a-likey pirate coming to demand an outrageous fee for looking after our dinghy when we were at the port captain's this morning.  Obviously he had chosen not to hear 'No thank you' and 'No we do not want you to guard our dinghy'.
Bonacca – an island inhabited by pirates.