Where are we now?

You can pick a place, zoom in and out, and view where we anchored. We have even started adding our position (long and lat) to the anchorages, just click on the ‘pin’.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

Port of entry and good for stocking up.

Big open bay with no obstructions and leading lights at night. Lots of room to anchor in good sandy holding.

Open to swell from the south. Small fishing docks to tie dingy up.

Kevin, Yacht Services +689 40 920 750, VHF 72, ysnukuhiva@homail.com

Can do everything from preorder parts for you to filling your propane tanks.

Fruit and veggy market or you can preorder your requirements and they will bring it in from the farms.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

An anchorage we pulled into, but the swell was running too southerly for us to stay.

Friends stopped and said the church was lovely. but they had moved the museum up to the airport.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

Open to any swells from a southerly direction. Pick your weather window.

We pulled into the bay but a 2m swell was sweeping into the bay as a wind change was late arriving. We aborted the visit.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

The most southeasterly island and a great place to make landfall. Officially allowed to stop for 5 days here before checking into country. Must check in with village official Poe.

S10*27.879'

W138*40.109'

Make sure your anchor is well set and add extra scope as this deep valley can generate accellerated gusts.

Good small boat harbour for tying dingy, but may want a stern anchor when a surge is running.

Waterfall hike, meals in local homes and excellent wood and bone carvers.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

Port of Entry, and harbour for the town of Atuona. Very busy place. You need a stern anchor if you want to anchor behind the protective harbour wall. Otherwise anchor outside the harbour wall.

S09*48.237'

W139*01.874'

Outdoor showers, 30 minute walk into town. Good provisioning. Veggy vans come into town and you can order some things in advance from them.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

If you want a place to yourself.

S09*53.959'

W139*06.024'

Good beach and snorkelling. Not as much protection if a swell sets in.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

The best sandy achoring is in the middle of the bay and closer to shore.

S09*54,502'

W139*06.270'

Great beach and good snorkelling. Cigratella poisoning in fish here helps to preserve them.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

S09*57.981'

W139*07.202'

You have to find a sandy spot in this coral garden. Great for snorkelling and visits by dolphins.

Village has a small boat harbour that is good for tying up a dingy. Many excellent wood and bone carvers.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

S09*56.232'

W139*06.694'

9m of water, but went in shallower on secound visit at 6m. Find patches of sand amount the boulders. Make sure your anchore is well set as gusts can be ampilfied down into the valley.

We fendered our chain so we did not have to listen to it running over the rocks as the wind changed direction.

Free, but very slow and variable, on your boat. Great tattooist Felix.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

Anchor in 10m or deeper as the shallower water is full of boulders and hard coral.

Marquesas, French Polynesia

S09*45.911'

W139*08.423'

Centre of the bay in sand 6.5m depth

Bring a little gift with you for the family members managing the property. They will recipricate with loads of fruit.

Great hikes and a fresh water spring and pool. Bring soap, towel and a packed lunch.

Eastern Holandes Cays, Holandes Cays, San Blas Islands, Panama

We anchored off a small beach at the entrance of the channel to the 'Hot Tub' anchorage. N 09* 35.284' W 78* 41.504'

Great spot for easy access to snorkelling, but you want to move on if the winds die, as the noseams are visious this close to shore. Good snorkeling around the channel entrance and to the north. Also good snorkelling all along the reef south of the anchorage, known as Nap Garden. Look out for the big whale bone on the reef shelf.

Interested in whale bones? Kayak over to Ogoppiriadup cay and you will find a lovely beach and some whale bones on the north shore.

Western Holandes Cays, Holandes Cays, San Blas Islands,Panama

N 09* 35.434' W 78* 45.165' This is not the best anchoring spot! There is a sandy spot just east and just west of this spot that is much better. You need to drop your anchor on a sandy spot on the top of the ridge (3-4m) and the ridge drops off fast to 20m. Lots of scope.

WARNING: Most of this ridge is beautiful reef. Great from snorkelling right off your boat, but not good for anchoring. You have to find the sandy patches for anchoring or drop your anchor on the lower sections of the ridge with a lot of chain for the depth.

Beautiful beach for walking, great snorkelling especially in the channels to the west. There are anchor lines set up, with floats on them, for dingys. The current can be strong in these reef channels.

I am told good quality Molar are available on the island of Miriadiadup, just east of the anchorage.

Eastern Holandes Cays, Holandes Cays, San Blas Islands, Panama

N 09* 35.256' W 78* 40.876' and N 09* 35.284' W 78* 40.914'

Drop the hook in 3-5m of deep sand, but drops off quick to 15m, so lots of scope.

Lovely little cay all to your self with a nice beach and a deeper swimming side on the west. Good snorkelling in the channel to the east of the cay.

San Blas Islands, Panama

N 09* 32.921' W 78* 57.263' Good holding in sand.

Local village safe and very friendly. You are welcome to use any of the dingy docks. Stores on island to pick up groceries, beer and Phone Sim and credit. Weekly fruit and veggie boat (Monday?).

Nice calm protected anchorage even in strong winds. Beter than Porvenir! No protection if the winds turn westerly.

San Blas Islands, Panama

Port Captain, immigration and Kuna Officials. Check in/check out of Panama.

N 09* 33.382' W 78* 56.965' Officials on the west end of island. Dingy dock provided. Anchorage a bit rough and rolly in strong winds.

WARNING: Have good light (preferably morning light) to get around Sail Rock. This reef is hit every year by a lot of yachts. If you do not have good light, go anchor up at the cays south of Porvenir and dingy the half mile over instead.

Check in costs (02/2016)

$193 Cruising licence/year

$105 Immigration/person/year (They requested we check back in every 3 months, admin fee of $5/person)

$20 Kuna fee person/boat/year (2 people and a boat =$60) If anyone tries to collect anchoring fees from you just show them the receipt that you paid already for the year.

Anchorage on the south side of the cays.

San Blas Islands, Panama

N 09* 34.986' W 78* 52.879' Good holding in sand, but a bit deep here. Try to get in a bit shallower. We had boats infront of us.

Easy access anchorage after a long passage. No obstructions. The normal anchorage is inside the Cays, but we were warned it can get 'over crowded' in this popular anchorage and we were coming in after a hard 5 day passage.

Bay Islands or Honduras

N 16* 27.354' W 85* 52.173' Good holding in mangrove mud.

Good protection in all but a south westerly. In a south westerly you get a 'chop' building across the bay. You can get better protection moving in closer to the mangroves, but watch the shallows here and the bugs will strike as soon as the winds die down.

The main village is on the bays central island. Here you will find 'big' easy acess fuel docks (let you tie you dingy to them too). Free spring water is available at all fuel docks. Propane fills are available at the tiny cay just west of the main village. Groceries, banks, port captain and immigration all in the main village. Free to check in and out of Honduras here (2016).

Restaurants/bars in main village and in El Bight. Enquire on VHF channel 71 for recommendations from cruisers about specials deals. They can also organise excursions to the 'back side' of the island including the waterfall hike (see Michael's Point anchorage).

Guanaja, Bay Islands of Honduras

N 16* 28.621' W 85* 54.439' Good holding in sand and grass.

Better anchorage than Michael's Rock if the south easterly winds blow strong. WARNING: You may get gusts coming down the mountains at times.

Lovely beach with quarts and micca crystals giving it a golden glow. Good snorkelling on west side of Micheal's point. Hike to waterfall to the east. See Michael's point anchorage for details.

Guanaja, Bay Islands of Honduras

N 16*28.803' W 85* 54.239' Shallow sand and sea grass. Fair weather anchorage as sand not deep here.

Great beach walks and good snorkelling all along the west side of the point. Short walk east (10minutes) to 'Green Flash' bar and restaurant. A further walk east (5 minutes) you find the start of a hike inland to a waterfall.

Waterfall hike is 40 minutes one way. Reasonably marked with white crosses. Starts flat and easy to follow, then narrows and there is some scrabbling over moss covered wet boulders.

Roatan, Honduras

We were given these WPs and they worked great for us:

We did not see depths less than 2.5m.

WP1 (entrance) N 16' 20.944/W 86' 26.068

WP2 (northerly heading) N 16' 21.117'/W86' 26.989'

WP3 (approach to shallow section of the route) N 16' 21.169/ W 86' 26.972

WP4 (shallow section) N 16' 21.223/ W 86' 26.918

WP5 (shallow sand bars to starboard) N 16' 21.268/ W 86' 26.808

Recommended anchoring spot N16' 21.260/ W86' 26.636

We anchored closer to the beach, but in a small deep hole

N 16' 21.325/ W 86' 26.378 We had good holding here through two big blows

Two Marinas, Fantasy Island and Brooksy point. Both offer weekly shopping buses. Brooksy does propane and laundry, while Fantasy does a lot of social events for the anchored vessels. When a 'big blow' is coming Fantasy usually offers discounts if you want to tie up for a night or two.

Grocery, banks and hardware shores are only a short dingy and walk away. Drive your dingy back the way you came into the anchorage BUT turn right into the old section of French Harbour instead of exiting. On the north shore you will find the French Harbour Yacht Club. Closed but managed by Franando, he is happy for cruisers to tie thier dingies here and loves it if you bring him back a cold beer.

Walk through the scenic yacht club grounds and out the 'pedestrian' gate out front onto the main road. Taxis will constantly 'tot' at you, but everything is a short walk away. Turn right and the big grocery store is first, continue and you have the petrol station. Turn right into a load of restaurants or left to the bank. There is an ATM machine in the grocery store, but it empties faster than the bank. Continue left and there is a frozen seafood shop, Ace hardware and big mall with an 'over priced' chandlery and some cheap clothes stores. More hardware and chandlerys further along.

All stores accept the US dollars and some will sell you them back for the local currancy. We were looking for small denomination US bills for the San Blas Islands and found we could USUALLY get some off the cashiers at the grocery store. Smile nicely!

Best snorkeling is at through channels in the reef that surronds the anchorage. There is a nice 'through channel' on the other side of Fanasy Island Resort from the anchorage. Start at the red channel bouy and work your way east on the out side of the reef. Great diving all along the drop off wall of the outer reef. Fantasy Island Resort is happy to take you on organised dives.

The area is managed by Park Rangers.

There are mooring balls in the southen end of the bay, but they are no longer maintained and must be taken at the boat owners risk. Many are missing there floats now, but the pins are still easy to find in the shallow clear waters.

You are free to anchor in sand and grass in the middle of the bay.

The main town and dingy docks are in the north end of the bay. Check-in is in Coxin Hole. 25LPs/each for the bus or 45LPs/each for a taxi. No entry charges to check-in.

The bay is untenable in a strong north to westerly.

We found a half sunken mooring ball at N16'17.361, W86'35.943 in 3.4m of water. We tied back up lines on the stainless ring on the sea bottom.

Warning: If motoring around the mooring balls be careful not to get your prop caught in one of these half sunken mooring balls. Do tie a back up line to the moor base. Our neighbours mooring line broke in the night during a squall.

Guatemala

N15'39.027

W89'00.128

Guatemala

N15'46.156

W88'49.585

Guatemala

N15'46.450

W88'48.741

Guatemala

N15'49.299

W88'44.898

Anchor off the fuel barge 2.5m.

Only for checking in and out. Said to be unsafe as an over night anchorage.

Guatemala

N15"55.673

W88'36.094

Belize

N16'08.697

W88'15.375

Belize

N16'19.865

W88'09.259

Anchored just behind mooring balls, reef infront.

Cay and mooring balls privately owned and use comes with a fee.

Good snorkelling on reef.

Belize

N16'30.651 W88'21.876

N16'30.707 W88'21.831

Belize

N16'42.907

W87'51.219

Belize

N17'09.964

W87'54.771

3.5m

Great drift diving off the reef drop off here.

Belize

N17'12.346

W87'36.186

Good holding off the beach.

Mooring balls all along the reef drop off for diving.

Good snorkelling on the shallow reefs before the drop off.

Mexico

N18'45.287

W87'18.443

Anchored up beside a mooring ball.

There is a naval base on the Cay so you are not allowed ashore.

They will probably visit you and check your paperwork. They were not too worried that we had checked out of Mexico already.

Mexico

N19'24.740

W87'27.861

Q.R., Mexico

N21'14.814

W86'44.773

The bouyage was lit and easy to follow in the dark.

Watch out for the sandbar in the centre of the harbours entrance.

We were warned that the holding can be bad in the harbour, shallow sand over coral, but our anchor held very well.

Cuba

N21'58.517

W83'37.630

Very rolly anchorage.

We tried anchoring up behind the reef here, but it is not large or shallow enough to block the swell that sweeps in from the south.

We used a ketch anchor in the end to turn the boat.

Cuba

N21'35.472

W83'10.075

4.5m

Sand and holding better as you back off the beach.

Best swimming in the sandy coves between the granite boulders.

Cuba

N21'32.913

W82'27.551

2.9m

Coral heads right infront

Lots of giant lobster

Cuba

N21'32.985

W82'21.359

2.5m

The land of the giant lobsters

Cuba

N21'36.407

W81'53.817

Cuba

N21'36.893

W81'34.648

Cuba

N21'38.079

W81'10.613

5m sandy bottom right close up to the cliff

Cienfuegos, Cuba

N22'07.596

W80'27.324

Cuba

N21'35.956

W79'46.413

Right off the dock but you have to go around a small reef close to the surface

Cuba

N21'27.933

W79'34.533

Cuba

N21'86.759

W79'27.141

Cuba

N21'04.654

W78'57.484

Cuba

N21'06.019

W78'44.103

Cuba

N20'37.409

W78'15.153

Cuba

N20'34.268

W77'53.963

Cuba

N20'31.196

W77'37.477

Cuba

N20'21.297

W77'13.122

Cuba

N20'02.901

W77'35.625

Cuba

N19'55.652

W77'41.486

Cuba

N19'50.353

W77'44.100

2.7m

Cuba

N19'54.050

W77'16.578

Cuba

N19'54.834

W77'11.188

4.3m

Cuba

N19'58.985

W75'52.303

The Bahamas

N22'14.873

W75'45.179

The Bahamas

N22'14.573

W75'45.273

The Bahamas

N22'21.746

W75'48.928

The Bahamas

N22'20.900

W75'47.979

The Bahamas

N22'20.311

W75'46.844

The Bahamas

N22"21.256

W75'48.807

The Bahamas

Bahamas

The Bahamas

USA

The Bahamas

Bahamas

The Bahamas

Bahamas

The Bahamas

Bahamas

The Bahamas

Conception National Park, The Bahamas

The Bahamas

Bahamas

The Bahamas

Puerto Rico

Sint Maartin/Saint Martin

Antigua and Barbuda

Guadeloupe

Dominica

Grenada

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

The Canary Islands, Spain

This was our launch point for the Atlantic crossing

The Canary Islands, Spain

We spent Christmas and New Years in this lovely small town harbour. It was a good place to get the boat ready for the Atlantic crossing

Las Palmas, Spain

The Canary Islands, Spain

A great anchorage and isolated beach

Portugal

An amazing island to visit, but expensive!

Portugal

A great anchorage with good links to all the major sites in the area including the capitol Libon.

Portugal

A great city to visit, although I would recommend the new marina right inside the river. Next time.

Spain

A great city to visit and immerse yourself in Spanish culture

Spain

We made landfall here after a 4 day crossing of the Bay of Biscay

France

We crossed over to France and waited again for a weather window to head to Spain

Cornwall, UK

We waited here for good weather to cross the Bay of Biscay

The City of Brighton and Hove, UK

This is where we lived aboard for 10 years fixing up the boat and saving for this epic adventure