Easy Breezy Customs
[09:42] [Friday, March 09, 2007]
We left Livingston yesterday afternoon with mixed feelings about our departure plan. Raul, our customs officer, printed "Big Creek" on our zarpe as our port of entry to Belize. He said the general consensus seemed to be this was an easier place to check in than Punta Gorda.
This gave us two options: continue to Punta Gorda anyway, anchor overnight and check-in in the morning, taking the chance customs would board us and take away various prohibited produce "imports;" or sail all the way to Placencia through the night across the Gulf of Honduras and check in "where everyone goes." Big Creek is situated a short motor inland along a trading ship channel, opposite Placencia Lagoon from our favorite town.
I cannot think of any other reason sailors choose to enter Belize at Big Creek. Being inland, the village offers ample protection on all sides to vessels at anchor, and its super-casual atmosphere (so we hear) attracts anyone -- haha, everyone -- who just wants to get the paper pushing done with and continue their merry way.
But Punta Gorda is way closer to Livingston. We're talkin' 3½ versus 10 hours out, and this makes it an ideal port of entry if you're departing Guatemala at the end of the week and want to avoid Belize's weekend entry fees. Granted, the town is open to the gulf, but customs, quarantine and immigration all share the same building -- right on the pier!
We provided all the necessary info, signed all our paperwork and had our passports stamped within half an hour.
Even if a vessel arrived too late in the day to cover a lot of ground fleeing rough water, the Moho Cayes are just about an hour northeast of PG, offering a safe anchorage in east winds that make the town look a little scary on the chart.
In steady weather, we had no problems anchoring right off PG. We rolled a bit in an easterly breeze last night, but with our nose straight into the wind at anchor, this was not an issue. Our customs/immigration officers all worked in uniform -- no shorts or tennies here, as in San Pedro -- but were just as friendly and casual as you would expect in Belize.
We're headed out to finish crossing the Gulf of Honduras and land in Placencia this evening. Brady's set up a rod to troll a fishing line on the way. The water ripples in a light wind, sparkling bluish-green under clear blue skies.
If we're lucky, the wind will pick up enough to unfurl our sails ... And we'll be eating fish tonight.
