February 16, 2012 Ambergris

Thursday morning, February 16, 2012

Wow, even though we made it to Ambergris and anchored out, the night was a bit rolling but way better than the night before in Sapodilla.  The morning is beautiful, the wind is blowing 16 knots right now in protection a bit too hard for a good sail but we are going to wait until about 10 or 11 and stick out noses out to see what it’s like out in the open.  If it is too bad, we will turn around and come back and wait until tomorrow.  If it is good, we may just bypass Big Sand Cay and head straight for Luperon.  I am not crazy about those overnight trips...especially in the high winds.

A few things I forgot to mention in the past few posts...Glow worms.  We did see them and no, they are not like Phosphorescence in the water.  They are actually worms.  A few nights after the full moon in the ebbing tide in the Turks and Caicos Islands about an hour after sunset, for about 15 minutes the marine worm Odontosyllis enopla goes through a mating ritual.  (got that time line right?)   This is all dictated by the lunar and solar patterns a few nights each month.  The female Glow Worm releases an egg mass and as it spirals to the surface emitting a pulsating green luminescence, the male, also glowing,  does a zig zag dance until he encounters the eggs and then darts around the inside of the egg mass which causes an even brighter glow.  This one night stand is a fatal attraction fo rthe male who then sinks to the bottom of the sea and dies.  Sad but true.  We did have the opportunity to see it from the boat the night after I looked it up in the internet.  We have not seen one since.  I am not sure if this is the only place it happens but we did see it in Sapodilla Bay, so I can safely say it happens there.  It’s a pretty incredible phenomenon to see.   It was impossible to take pictures of it since it happened under water and it was dark.  One for the memory bank.

Another thing I thought worth mentioning.  Yesterday, while Fred was trying to pinpoint the unsinkable Casa Mare’s leak source from below in the bow area, the GPS started acting weird.  I thought maybe I was on the wrong page so I put it through the pages again, getting back to the original page we leave on the screen.  It was still there.  Let me see if I can explain this.  We were heading our course, straight on the rum line to Ambergrist.  At the bottom of the rum line it shows us, as the arrow pointing into the intended path.  “But” the arrow started pointing backwards as if I were going SSW (assuming straight up was north).  I ran the GPS through it’s cycle again, still no change.  I never even thought about the GPS breaking, I was thinking ‘I think we are in the Bermuda Triangle and I have heard of these things happening.  This could be exactly what happens when people get lost out here or at worse disappear.’  I finally called Fred, not at all willing to travel into another dimension I have heard people talk about.  I never believed in those things anyway but I was sure something was happening that was not of the norm.  I watched Fred’s face as he studied the GPS.  He ran it through the same cycle I did, still the same.  The auto pilot was still working, but the GPS was wanting us to turn around.  I kept quiet, below watching him from the cabin companionway,  letting him come to his own conclusion.  He studied the horizons in front of us and behind.  “Switch the Auto Pilot off then back on again”.  I reached above the charting table and did so and waited.  “Turn it off and wait 5 seconds and then turn it back on” he said in a puzzling voice.  I did.  I saw a sigh of relief on his face.  “OK, it’s working now”.    ‘Probably just a glitch’ I though.  (Just saying)  Neither of us talked about it any more.  I took the helm and we went back to his search for the leak.  I just thought that worth mentioning.

And finally, I read about another phenomenon that happens here at Ambergris Cay.  “Sometimes” when the conditions are right there is something that happens called the Emerald Lights.  Not much was explained about it but it has something to do with the way the sun hits the water and the glare from the water reflects up to the clouds casting a bright emerald green color in that particular area.  It didn’t say the time of day, the weather, the area or the time of year.  Don’t you just cringe when they get you all interested in these things then leave you hanging?  This will teach me to read up on things before we completely lose internet for more research.  Unfortunately I didn’t read up on Ambergrist because it was just an overnight stop and we were not allowed on the island so what was there to know?  There is always something interesting about a place, even if we don’t stop.  I just happen to be pretty curious about things anyway so this should teach me a lesson.  But...for those of you who are coming this way, look it up before you get here.  You may find more information.  It’s on my to do list as well as just who owns this island and what all are all those buildings on it for if the island is uninhabited.  Time to get busy and make something for dinner tonight as Fred thinks this will be a good sail overnight.  We are actually thinking about staying in Luperon for awhile and getting some things done on the boat that would be cheaper than in the US.  I am game.  I have read Luperon is a pretty neat place to be.  Fred may put her on the hard and have some bottom work done.  I love working on the boat.  This is a may or may not option.  In the meantime Jim, we may have you send us a few things, like a single side band receiver.  We will be contacting you once we get to Luperon.  If anyone has good sources in Luperon for boat work, let us know.  We welcome any suggestions or recommendations.  We have 4 months left give or take.  I am grateful God has brought us through this trip safely and is leading us to Luperon.  I love my Lord!