J and B YACHT ULTRA CARIBBEAN SAILING AND OTHER TRAVEL ADVENTURES: 2014-06-01

ROATAN, HONDURAS: TAKE TWO

SECOND TIME IN ROATAN

AND IT IS A BLAST ONCE AGAIN!

DIVING, PALAPAS, SEWING, LIONFISH PARTY, SURVIVING, BARE BUTT BLOODY MARY BREAKFASTS, AND AMAZING PARTIES WITH FABULOUS FRIENDS!

HELLO EVERYONE FROM ULTRA! We hope that this email finds everyone healthy and happy. This BLOG brings to you all of the fun and adventures we had during our second sail to Roatan. What a great place. Words cannot express how much we love it here! Some of the friends we had met last time we were here in the summer, and then we met lots of new friends, too. We hosted many fun ULTRA events once again at Fantasy Island Marina. Movie nights, Christmas and New Years' Parties, Lionfish Party, Themed Parties, and more. Together with Fantasy Island Marina we hosted one of the most fun parties of all. Bare Butt Bloody Mary Breakfast tacos and pancakes. Bill cooked up the pancakes on the BBQ and JoAnne cooked up the scrambled eggs on the ULTRA stove. It was a blast. Pancakes were supplied by Dockmaster Jerry for donations from to the Marina and the Tex Mex Breakfast Tacos were $2 each. What a fun time! Some people had never had breakfast tacos before, and loved them!

During our stay, out washing machine we had bought used 5 years ago finally died, so Bill insisted that we get a new one to replace it. The mother board for the old Splendid costs $50 less than getting an entire new washing machine. So we did, Santa brought us a new washing machine. Delivered to us in the back of a pickup truck with our salesperson riding on a mattress with the washing machine on top of it. We were in the front seat with JoAnne in the middle with the gear shift between her knees. It sounds decadent to have a washing machine aboard, but if you have space, then it is a great tool to have aboard. The washing machine will cost about $350-$400 USD, and if you do not have one, and you pay for someone to do your laundry ashore you will pay for the cost of your machine within no time! It is very expensive to have laundry done in the islands. We still use 5 gallon buckets to do small loads of laundry, but the washing machine is great!

We had a great time getting our fix on diving and snorkeling. We have been diving all over the world, and this place has some of the most amazing diving on earth.

After Roatan, we headed to Guanaja. Unfortunately, the engine died along the way, so we were rolling around out there and we were about 5 miles from the coast. We called Ocean Star on the radio to tell them that we had engine trouble and they said they would be there in about 2 hours time to tow us in. The problem with Guanaja is there is a jaggedy reef and shallows at the entrance, so having an engine is extremely useful. Bill opened the engine hatch to vent out the heat. However, the engine was 200+ degrees, so it will take a long time to cool down. We laid bath towels all over the top of the screaming hot engine, so he could get down inside to see what was going on. He discovered that it was the fuel lift pump and replaced it. Before he went into the engine room, we set the sails again and were going a little over 2 knots. The sea was rolly, but not to much wind. We cranked up the engine and it worked. YEA! We were on our way once again. The importance of entering a reef is to enter it with really good light so you can see all of the shallow spots. We hustled to get in so we had good visibility.

We look forward to sharing our next blog with you that is filled with our adventures in the islands of Colombia.

Please check out our article we wrote about Roatan, in the May 2014 issue of Caribbean Compass. Click on or copy and paste the link below in your browser:
http://www.caribbeancompass.com/online/may14compass_online.pdf

and you can see our article on pages 31,32, and 33. ENJOY!

We hope you enjoy this blog!
Cheers,
J & B & Sailor Kitty : )
S/V ULTRA

HIGHLIGHTS OF ROATAN:

ULTRA LIONFISH PARTY:

B & J SERVING UP YUMMY LIONFISH!
YES, AND YOU KNOW ONE OF OUR WEAKNESSES
IS WEARING FUN COSTUMES! : )

ULTRA BON VOYAGE PARTY: MAGGY, STEVE AND FANTASY ISLAND HOSTED A FANTASTIC BON VOYAGE PARTY FOR ULTRA:

JOANNE, BILL, STEVE AND MAGGIE

EVERYONE IN THE MARINA AND ANCHORAGE SIGNED THE CANVAS BOARD AND THE GIFT OF TONS OF WINE AND FRUITS WAS INCREDIBLE! SOOOOO THOUGHTFUL!

CAYOS COCHINOS, HONDURAS

THE BEAUTIFUL HIKE UP TO THE LIGHTHOUSE WITH OUR FUN GUIDE, ROBERTO

PINK BOA CONSTRICTOR ANYONE!

BILL LOVES FAUSTO'S SHIRT! : )
WE DID EXPLAIN TO FAUSTO THE TRUE MEANING OF THE SHIRT MESSAGE THAT IT WAS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS AND A CHARITY. : )

NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY

WE HAD A HUGE LOBSTER PARTY TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR AT FANTASY ISLAND MARINA

BILL SURPRISED EVERYONE AND DRESSED UP AS ELVIS

ULTRA BARE BUTTS BLOODY MARY AND BREAKFAST TACO/PANCAKE PARTY:

COUNTLESS FUN FANTASY ISLAND MUSIC NIGHTS:

ISLAS DE CAYOS COCHINOS NATIONAL PARK, HONDURAS:

ROBERTO HOLDS ONE THE LOCALLY FAMOUS PINK BOA CONSTRICTORS

NOW IT IS JOANNE'S TURN TO HOLD IT

THE WHERE A WONDERFUL GARIFUNA VILLAGE IS LOCATED. IT IS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE:

OUR WONDERFUL FRIEND, FAUSTO

FLOR AND JUDITH'S LEGENDARY WEDDING RECEPTION:

Judith, Vivian, Virginie, and Alice

EXCELLENT DJS NICOLAS AND OSCAR, VIRGINIE

JOANNE, VIRGINIE, OSCAR, JUDITH AND FLOR

EXCELLENT DIVING AND SNORKELING:

BUILDING THE FANTASY ISLAND MARINA TIKI PALAPA:

SPLITTING THE GIGANTIC PALM FRONDS

THE PALAPA BUILDING TEAM,
JOANNE, BILL, JOHN, DIANNE, ANNIE

BILL MAKING THE TIKI MEN

OUR WONDERFUL ANIMAL FRIENDS OF FANTASY ISLAND:

THE IGUANAS VISITED DAILY FOR THEIR FAVORITE TREAT OF
BANANA AND PAPAYA PEELS!

THE FRIENDLY MONKEYS LOVE NUTS AND FRUITS

ULTRA MOVIE NIGHTS:

CHRISTMAS PARTY AT BROOKSY POINT

DECORATING FOR THE FANTASY ISLAND MARINA CHRISTMAS PARTY

CHRISTMAS DAY BEACH PARTY

THE NEW WASHING MACHINE ARRIVES:

THE OLD WASHING MACHINE

THE NEW WASHING MACHINE THAT SANTA BROUGHT!

MAGGIE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!

AUSTRALIAN DAY CELELBRATION:

GINA TEACHES MAGGY AND JOANNE HOW TO MAKE BAGS OUT OF OLD SAIL MATERIAL WE FOUND IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND SOME YEARS AGO:

THE SURVIVOR COSTUME PARTY TO RECOGNIZE THE GENTLEMAN THAT HAD BEEN STRANDED AT SEA FOR ALMOST A YEAR!

BILL AND JOANNE DRESSED AS SURVIVORS! : )

CAYOS COCHINOS, HONDURAS

ARTS AND CRAFTS ABOARD ULTRA: Maggie and Joanne took a short taxi ride to a great location that had Calabash Trees all over the place. They are trees full of wonderul giant gourds. Unfortunately, we were on a 3 mile road that no taxi would ever come down, so we hiked it down the road with these heavy monster gourds, and we felt as if our arms were 2 ft. longer at the end. In Roatan, they are not using them as much as in the Eastern Caribbean. We scraped them out, carved them with the Dremel tool, and they are now ready to paint on a rainy day in the San Blas.