Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Providencia and Corn Island

We heard that Providencia was the laid back little sister of San Andres. After a 50 mile sail, we arrived into a very scenic anchorage that was the fortified site of many a pirates raid by Captain Morgan back in the day. There were fourteen sailboats in the anchorage and we were ready to explore! The town turned out to be about 2 square blocks and there was not much beach to speak of and what little there was had a few too many sand fleas for our taste. There was nice hiking for Brady and a great seafood lunch for me. We did manage two potlucks on the beach and met some wonderful cruisers. Snorkeling was so-so (we are getting a little picky). In our opinion, San Andres is the better option.


From here we left for the Corn Islands to meet up with Brady’s sister. It was downwind the entire 120 miles or so and Brady caught our first shark. We covered the distance in a bit over 24 hours and found ourselves in another picture perfect anchorage with no other boats. We thought that this was not a port of entry, but we had to clear in after the navy paid us a visit. Big Corn has an airstrip, cars, and not much else. We actually heard about this place several years before we left from a fireman who had honeymooned here. After picking up Brady’s sister Kara and her beau Ron (Thanks for coming guys, we had a wonderful time and in case I forgot to mention, thanks for the sunglasses...and Brady’s purse...and the kids stuff...and we miss you), we left for Little Corn in about 20 knots of wind. The swell was running large enough to make the trip a little interesting for our two new guests. This was before we were hit incredibly fast by a squall bring 35 knots of wind and rain. Ordinarily this is no big deal, but in this case we were only slightly offshore of the reef on Big Corn and we were quickly being pushed aground. Fortunately, we were able to tack away from danger with the help of both motors....we were in 12 feet of water. The squall disappeared as fast as it came and we were soon in the next perfect anchorage on Little Corn. This place is very unique from our perspective. The island is pretty small with no roads and motor vehicles of any kind are not allowed. This means that to get around you have to take one of many walking paths/hiking trails that run all over the island. There are two dive shops, a few stores and probably 40 gringos a day that come from Big Corn by panga. There are a handful of trendy cabanas for the tourists and an organic farm with tons of fresh produce. In our explorations we met 2 couples from Colorado who own property on the island and we have to take this moment to recommend Little Corn Beach and Bungalow. Scot and Christine (Hey guys!) from Fort Collins run this fantastic spot on the beach and would love your patronage, www.littlecornbb.com. We also met, Nick (Canada) and Gusuma (Thailand) with whom we made immediate friends. Gusuma had us over for traditional thai food, which was excellent. Apparently we all made enough of an impression on each other to warrant becoming neighbors. Brady and I always said that we would keep our eyes open for property that we felt could be our home someday. This place is affordable, has a great climate, nice people, good beach and just feels right. Sooo...we are currently under contract for 1/4 acre of beachfront and hope to build a house for all to come and visit. In the meantime, we shall sail on and continue living the dream (while planning another home construction).


At risk of sounding like I have been at sea for a little too long and am a little dinghy (haha) I am pretty sure I saw an alien spacecraft. Brady is really laughing hard right now, but also has no rational explanation for what we both saw. OK seriously, while sailing towards San Andres again, at around 5 AM, I saw a bright orangish white light that at first seemed like a masthead light or a light from a container ship. After checking to make sure we were not going to hit anything, I realized that the light was a bit high in the sky and did not appear to be moving. No, it was not a star, but please laugh at the picture. It was about five times the size of the biggest star I have ever seen and was the brightest object in the sky. It dimmed periodically and then got bright enough to leave a reflection on the ocean surface. It was Brady’s turn to watch and the exchange went something like this. Troy (very tired):”Hey honey, keep this course, let me know if you need anything and keep an eye on that alien spacecraft.” Brady (while laughing):”WHAT the *&%$?” She made several attempts at an explanation, which I had already done while waiting to be abducted by aliens, before I went to bed. I am pretty logical but am going with UFO for lack of better evidence.