Guatemala cruise Day 1: San Pedro to Placencia, Belize

On Day 1, we departed from San Pedro on Ambergris Caye in northern Belize, and sailed down to Placencia in southern Belize

The twin engines roared into life promptly at 4:30 (also known as o-dark-thirty) for our scheduled 5 am departure from the TMM dock in San Pedro. We had one of the two aft (rearward) cabins, situated on the port side of s/v Hope, and our bed pretty much sat right over (or beside) one of the 55 hp diesels. An alarm clock unlike any other! Struggling out of our comfy berth in total darkness, our excitement over what was to come quickly overtook thoughts of sleep. There would be plenty of time to nap later.

Captains Simon and Clive guided Hope away from the TMM dock, and we were off on our adventure!

The Captains' plans were to refuel, then put down the anchor in Placencia. Simon and Clive would eat dinner and nap for awhile, then fire up the engines and we'd take off again at midnight and sail all night. Although they didn't need us to stay up with them, I knew that sleeping would be a challenge with the engine so close to our berth. I could already tell my body was going to get very confused by this schedule!


Pre-sunrise glow with the moon in view...beautiful


The crew slowly comes to life, with the help of a little caffeine. L to R: Me, Clive (at helm), Chunky, Bruce, Ruthie


And yes, I DID get a drop of spaghetti sauce on that white cami, of course. What was I thinking?

Click here to read the rest of the article and see LOTS AND LOTS OF EXCELLENT photos on the BeBelize Blog