When I tried to get all the way around Utila by bike, I ran into lagoons that ran with wide channels into the ocean. When I went on foot, I swam the channel to bypass the lagoon, but got devoured by mosquitoes on the other side. Still, there was plenty to see and I didn’t get hung up on the idea of getting all the way around.
Then, on our last day, having sailed on one of her world-famous sunset cruises, we chartered Lisa and her racing catamaran for the day. We agreed to go to the Cays and back, but I had hopes that we would get the chance to go all the way around. Up at dawn that morning, I could hear my grandfather’s voice:
“Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning…”
And after our break in the water, we took a vote to brave the north side of the island for the trip back. Ordinarily this isn’t a good idea, since our catamaran is made for racing, with no ballast to keep it from turning over–and the north side is typically rough. But we felt pretty hardy after zipping out to the Cays, so we applied sunscreen and took off again, getting into the wind pretty quickly and making good time…
…until about 4pm, when we totally lost the wind and got just a little too close to the reef for comfort. After another hour of careful and constant adjustment, we were clear of the reef but the sun was almost down and still no sign of the wind. We hailed a fishing boat that was headed out for the evening, and prevailed on the crew to give us a tow the remaining eighth of the way around the island. Phil said goodbye to the skipper at the rudder with an American-style thank-you (about a hundred bucks) and a handshake, and we came in at dark, with a trailing horde of mosquitoes to welcome us. The beers and barbecue at RJs were the best tasting meal of the week.
