Jim Lee to the rescue! Wow and how!

December 10, 2008 –January 2, 2009 French Harbor, Roatan, Honduras

Finishing our chores in La Ceiba, we set out for a motor sail to French Harbor to meet up with Pearl S. Buck who had left two days before us. The trip began quietly enough and ended up with us bucking a headwind in the mid-20 knot range. We got the anchor down near Fantasy Island Resort and settled in for a very comfortable several weeks. The snorkeling is fantastic on the reef that surrounds Roatan. The shopping is pretty good, the food is pretty good, propane, laundry and other needs are easily satisfied and the local people are very friendly. This is a popular cruisers stop for good reason. We spent Christmas with about 30 boaters at an excellent potluck dinner at a pavilion at the Coco View Resort. New Years Eve was aboard S/V SoCal SoGood with Rich and Pat and Bryan and Dorothy.

January 2 –January 12, 2009 – West End, Roatan Honduras
We sailed to the Western tip of Roatan and found a mooring ball in the harbor in quaint, funky West End. This locale is where the divers and vacationers hang out and we were lucky enough to be there too, yet far enough away from the music to be able to sleep soundly at night. During the daytime we were able to swim from our boats with snorkel gear and explore the fabulous reef and then find a wonderful meal ashore in the evenings. We found West End to be charming. The post we made regarding trying to replace/repair things in foreign countries with parts shipped and customs duty paid from the US brought a response from our friend Jim Lee from S/V Stardust. We wrote that he was delivering a Lambada motor-glider to a customer in Costa Rica and would we like him to deliver anything if he stopped in Roatan along the way? Would I, would I? You bet!

Kathy Lee (and no doubt, Rachel) did banking for small denomination US bills, shopping for vitamins, fuses and other sundry and gift items and took deliveries from eBay, Defender and WestMarine purchases. They generously packed some items for S/V Pearl S. Buck and S/V Jacana as well. On the 10th Bryan, Barb and I took a cab to the airport to meet Jim. He called us on the VHF radio and we saw the wee aircraft land and tie down, but it took almost an hour before Jim emerged from the arrival door after checking in with immigration and customs. Jim told the guard at the door that we would like to see the plane so the guard pointed us in the direction of the departure gate where a second guard directed us to the airport administrative office where we were told it would be “impossible.” It was Saturday and they were too busy to let us go out to the plane. Jim took our camera himself and took a few photos for us. We had held the taxicab at first and suggested that the driver could leave, but he knew he had a fare back to West End and stuck with us. We took all our booty back to the boats and still had time to go snorkeling from the boat to the reef. Jim remarked that it was much better than the snorkeling trip that he had paid for in Cozumel the day before. We had a nice Thai dinner ashore at Tong’s during which Bryan, Dorothy and Viva Bob got to meet Jim. Bryan and Jim had a lot to discuss, since Bryan is an experienced glider and airplane pilot and skydiver as well.

The visit came to an end all too soon at 7AM the next morning when we delivered Jim to the beach for the cab ride back to the airport. He did pay us a short, final farewell as he flew over the mooring field as he departed Roatan for the final leg to Costa Rica. It was a great visit and we thank him for his friendship and the personal delivery service.