January 18, 2020
Moving back to Cochino Grande on the 7th provided the opportunity for us to be a bit more social than we had for the previous ten days.
A couple of days later, while we were sitting in the cockpit, we got to witness the craziest rainbow we’ve ever seen. It appeared to originate just outside the bay and came down less than a hundred meters away from us, making a tight arc just over S/V Agape V, which sat on the mooring next to us. The rainbow looked unbelievable.
It was the same sailboat we had watched arrive moments before returning from Cochino Pequeno after the storm. We learned over the next ten days, while we were neighbours, that Paul was single-handing after purchasing the boat in Rio Dulce. It was his first boat and he had no prior experience… sounded familiar.
As of January 9th, we were quite ecstatic that our expenses were yet to exceed US$100 for the year. There was the $93 park fee we had paid on the first day of 2020, and that was it.
But we also hadn’t been ashore anywhere other than a tiny island with nothing more than sand, coconut trees, and some rubbish.
One day, while taking the dinghy out and about for some exploring, we were waved at by somebody on the same beach that the person who warned us about the navigation marker we mistook for a mooring ball the day we had arrived had been on.
We met Roger and Tin (pronounced Teen), two American ex-pats who ran Eagle Bay Resort located there. Over the course of the next week, we spent a number of days getting to know these really cool guys while drinking lots of beer and using the WiFi at their bar.
Kris even got the opportunity to take them on a refresher dive, allowing her to wipe nearly six years of dust off her instructor credentials… woohoo!
And we finally were able to see one of the rare pink boas, as one frequently hung out on a tree on the resort property.
Our stay at Cayos Cochinos was now nearing three weeks. Much longer than we had originally anticipated.
Well, it’s paid for. Why not? Beautiful and relaxing… what more could you want?
Still, a window for forward progress seemed to beckon to us. A sideways move to Roatan for some provisions, followed by an immediate jump to Guanaja.
It looked as though Panama may be emerging as the victor in our constant struggle with the never-ending question… where next?
We picked a tentative day, more likely to be better than the days that were less likely to be better, based upon all of the still ambiguous forecasts we were seeing for this area. Maybe throwing chicken bones in the sand would be the more definitive source of guidance here.
As we spent our last day undertaking some final preparations, we were visited by Fausto, who lives in Chachauate, a Garifuna fishing village on nearby Lower Monitor Cay. While Domino’s Pizza is not an option here, fresh coconuts delivered to your boat always are.
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