From French Cay Harbour, we sailed to Port Royal, which we love for its beauty and serenity. Again, our friend Sparky had prepared an introduction for us, this time to Eric Anderson, who has lived there for many, many years and is something of a founding father of the more modern aspects of the island. Eric was very welcoming, and we enjoyed hearing some history of the island, and tales of his family settling there. We stayed in the harbour several times, including using it as a staging point for heading to the island of Guanaja.

On our second round of visits to Port Royal, we became acquainted with Terry and Patrice, who have the Mango Creek Lodge. It is famous for its expertise in diving and bone fishing. They have a lovely home, part of which is for guests, and also cabanas and a restaurant for guests. We had a couple of evenings of playing Mexican Train at their restaurant, complete with drinks and snacks, and enjoyed watching Patrice's ministrations to two baby parrots who had been snatched from their nest by poachers. Being there was a really lovely way to spend time with friends.

On one of our trips to Port Royal, we took a friend from Oakridge with us. Her name is Miss Sandy Byrd, and she is a delightful southern gal from New Orleans who has lived on Roatan for over 30 years. It was quite a treat for her to visit Port Royal again as she hadn’t been that way in some years, and this gave her a chance to catch up with old friends both at Mango Creek Lodge. and at Royal Playa Resort. It also gave us an opportunity to meet them as new friends. On this visit to Port Royal, we anchored up near Lime Cay, both for the proximity to the resort and to keep with the few other boats in the area. There was a nasty drug war going on not too far away, and we had been advised to not be out alone, nor too close to shore. It was not that the perpetrators would be a problem as they were very big time, and had no interest either in us or in creating any incidents that might draw national attention. However, there were still a couple of the locals who had been involved (directly or indirectly - evidently several innocents were caught up in the mess) who might need a nice dinghy and perhaps some cash to make their escape. It didn’t seem a good idea to risk making ourselves a target for them. Terry took Sandy home in his power yacht on one of his trips to Oak Ridge to pick up lodge guests and supplies. We had planned to take her in our dinghy, and the trip to Oak Ridge would have been fine. But, the dinghy trip back to the boat in Port Royal would have been very difficult because of the increasing easterly winds. On this occasion, when we left Port Royal, we went to Sandy’s marina for several days to help her with projects, and for further visiting.

On yet another trip to Port Royal, we set off from French Cay Harbour around 0930 after some debate about leaving the safe anchorage and good mooring. The North West Caribbean Single-Side Band (SSB) Net weather forecasters had predicted squalls for the next few days. Kitty was somewhat opposed to leaving as, when at anchor, which we would be elsewhere, we keep a fairly stringent anchor watch during the night, and she is generally the anchor watch person. Seems she doesn’t get much sleep. But, our sense of adventure, and general restlessness prevailed, and we set off again to Port Royal. We did get caught in a refreshing squall, but the wind helped move us on our way, and the seas rose only to 5-6 feet, so it was a pleasant experience (except for the wet cat). We arrived in Port Royal around lunchtime, and got the hook down on the first try.

Fisherman Warren came by to ask for a donation to help him get his father to the mainland for much needed surgery. Of course, we obliged. Warren is a nice local friend who has provided us with fresh fish, lobster, and shrimp, as well as tips and warnings about the safest places to anchor when away from French Cay Harbour. Warren plies the coastline between French Cay Harbour and his home, Helena, a distance of about 15 miles. We usually saw his smiling face (and request for just a little bit of gasoline, please, to get home) in most any harbour in which we anchored. We were hoping for the best for his father, and looking forward to more shrimp coming in time to provide a feast for Stacy and Tina, and Dale and Karen, when they arrived for their holiday on Roatan, in early June.

Friends Mike and Barbara of ASTARTE also stopped by to visit. Seems as if we missed quite a show and party over at Mango Creek Lodge the night before we arrived, but we did make it in time for the Mexican Train dominoes event, which was fun.

Port Royal was a good place to make water, charge the batteries, run the refrigerator, and attend to computer tasks. Often Casa Gusto, a local dive operation, allowed us to sign up for their free WiFi service, and we also had intermittent service with the Tigo broadband card. Then there was reading, and preparing delicious dinners (lobster, mushroom-rice, and stir-fried veggies anyone?) After dinner, we would read in the cockpit, then turn out the lights and look at the magnificent stars. When sleep was upon us, we turned in for the night. This was pretty much the scenario in most of our anchorages.

It was here that we all enjoyed reading our copies Roatan Odyssey by a local author Anne Jennings Brown. The setting is Port Royal, and it is both a novel and the journal of an English lady who lived there in the 60s and 70s. It was great fun to read it while “on location”, so to speak.

The Roatan Map shows Port Royal Harbor, and the Port Royal Harbor map shows more detail. You can see the entrance into Lime Cay Bight, and the two entrances into Port Royal.