debandfredseeingtheworld: Sailing Day 1

Friday was the beginning of our 3 days and 2 nights sail trip. Karen, Lorne, Fred and I left Ambergris Caye with Captain Luis and Gorvani on Luis's sailboat called La Gaviota, which means The Seagull in Spanish. The sailboat is 48 feet long with 2 masts and this will be where we spend the next 3 days.
We headed to Hol Chan for our first snorkel. Gorvani helped us get our gear on and then he jumped in and led us around. WOW...what an amazing experience. Couldn't believe what we were able to see. We saw the green turtle, nurse sharks, green moray eels, stingrays, butterfly fish, sergeant majors, schoolmasters, trumpet fish, barracuda, angelfish, Queen triggers, snappers, groupers, horse-eye jack fish, parrot fish, black Margaret, blue and yellow tang, trunk fish, black hamlet, just to name some of them. Gorvani was great diving down and pointing things out to us.
Once we got back on the boat, Luis had a fresh pineapple cut up waiting for us. As we ate our pineapple Luis set sail for Shark Ray Alley, this took only about 15 minutes. We put our snorkel gear on and we were back in the water. Gorvani lead us through the channel seeing and getting very close and personal with the nurse sharks and the stingrays. Gorvani brought them to the surface for us to touch. Couldn't believe it. We saw a lot of sharks and rays along with many of the fish seen the first time.
We returned to the boat and relaxed in the sun while Gorvani went fishing for conch. Once we picked him up we began to sail passing by Twin Cayes, Caye Caulker, Chapel Caye (the golf Caye), to name a few, as we passed many cayes along our way.
Captain Luis prepared a fantastic meal for us. We had rice, grouper with onions and green peppers in a white sauce, plantain (best I've tasted), cucumbers, and tortilla chips. So very delicious.
The afternoon was great, we relaxed on the deck in the sun, Luis made sure we had enough to drink (he did make a good rum punch I must say). We also got to watch Luis clean the conch. He was a pro at it.
We passed a barge loaded with sugarcane heading for a ship waiting in the deeper water for the barge. By this time the sun was starting to set and we were able to catch some beautiful sunset pictures. We arrived at Water Caye where we would spend the night. Once the sails were down and the ankor dropped, Luis served us supper. Conch Chowder...another terrific meal. We had never tasted conch, but agree it was very good. Luis told us he loved to cook and we are tasting some if his great meals. After supper we went back out on the deck to sit and take in the sky filled with stars and the calm and quiet of the evening. What a gorgeous evening! How much better could life get?

Captain Luis