Where was I? Ah, yes! Raggamuffin sailing trip. I decided to splurge because I heard that this 3 day sailing trip leaving from Caye Caulker going down to Placencia, Belize, was an absolutely amazing trip. I don´t know if I should ruin this entry by starting off with my opinion. Basically I thought it was a good trip. I had fun, and I got really comfortable with taking underwater pictures, but I don´t know if it was worth the price tag. At the same time I think I´m totally biased because we had such poor weather almost the entire time. I think if you´re going to pay the money for the trip check out the weather ahead of time, or else come prepared with your own internal sunshine.I wish I had been able to write about this experience sooner because now I´m having some trouble remembering what exactly we did each day. Basically, the whole trip was a variation of sailing, snorkeling, eating, sun bathing, and chatting.
In the evenings, for enterntainment, there were liberal amounts of rum punch going around. I wasn´t particularly keane on the stuff because I thought it tasted like citrus flavored molasses, but the rum by itself was great. The most famous rum of Belize is called 1 Barrel, and it is award winning stuff. If you can find it it´s definitely worth trying. Anyways, another great part of the trip is that the staff cooks dinner every night featuring whatever seafood they caught that day. Unfortunately, none of the macho men on the trip were able to catch any fish worth eating, so we were stuck eating fresh lobster and conch. 
Poor us! The coconut lobster conch creation we had for dinner the first night was especially inspiring. At night, to have a bit of a respite from the boat, we camped out in tents on various islands (cayes).
The first night we camped on Rendevouz Caye, which if you could see how small it was would make you laugh that someone actually owns it. Rendevouz Caye was basically a bit of sand, some palm trees, and a half finished dock. The second night we camped on Tabacco Caye which, in comparison to Redevous Caye, was a downright metropolis featuring a snack shop, bar, and year round inhabitants.
I should also take some time to mention the friendly and interesting crew. The captain, Miguel, was a tall pirate looking African-Nicaraguan, who had a goatee and several teeth oulined in gold. Miguel could tell a good story but you never wanted to sit too close because he has that habit of punching people in the arm for emphasis. The man does not know his own strength, and I have the bruised shoulder to prove it. The first mate, Reynolds, was by far the most normal of the crew members. He is Garifuna, which is (I think) a subculture that exists all along the Carribean coast of Central America. At night he enteratained us with some drum playing, which caused some of the local women to jiggle in ways I didn´t think were possible. Last but not least there was Kevin, whom I guess you could call the ship´s squab. 
He seemed to be taking all the orders and doing all the work. Kevin was also a very interesting person. He was always quick with his explanations for everything. Including when I asked what the 3 tear drops tattoed on his chest meant. He said each one was for a girl who had broken his heart. Considering his other tattoes feature skulls and guns I decided that it was best to accept this explanation. Not to worry! Kevin was super friendly and it would be hard to believe that they meant anything else.
In the evenings, for enterntainment, there were liberal amounts of rum punch going around. I wasn´t particularly keane on the stuff because I thought it tasted like citrus flavored molasses, but the rum by itself was great. The most famous rum of Belize is called 1 Barrel, and it is award winning stuff. If you can find it it´s definitely worth trying. Anyways, another great part of the trip is that the staff cooks dinner every night featuring whatever seafood they caught that day. Unfortunately, none of the macho men on the trip were able to catch any fish worth eating, so we were stuck eating fresh lobster and conch. 
Poor us! The coconut lobster conch creation we had for dinner the first night was especially inspiring. At night, to have a bit of a respite from the boat, we camped out in tents on various islands (cayes).
The first night we camped on Rendevouz Caye, which if you could see how small it was would make you laugh that someone actually owns it. Rendevouz Caye was basically a bit of sand, some palm trees, and a half finished dock. The second night we camped on Tabacco Caye which, in comparison to Redevous Caye, was a downright metropolis featuring a snack shop, bar, and year round inhabitants.
I should also take some time to mention the friendly and interesting crew. The captain, Miguel, was a tall pirate looking African-Nicaraguan, who had a goatee and several teeth oulined in gold. Miguel could tell a good story but you never wanted to sit too close because he has that habit of punching people in the arm for emphasis. The man does not know his own strength, and I have the bruised shoulder to prove it. The first mate, Reynolds, was by far the most normal of the crew members. He is Garifuna, which is (I think) a subculture that exists all along the Carribean coast of Central America. At night he enteratained us with some drum playing, which caused some of the local women to jiggle in ways I didn´t think were possible. Last but not least there was Kevin, whom I guess you could call the ship´s squab. 
He seemed to be taking all the orders and doing all the work. Kevin was also a very interesting person. He was always quick with his explanations for everything. Including when I asked what the 3 tear drops tattoed on his chest meant. He said each one was for a girl who had broken his heart. Considering his other tattoes feature skulls and guns I decided that it was best to accept this explanation. Not to worry! Kevin was super friendly and it would be hard to believe that they meant anything else.On day three, the trip ended as we pulled into port in Placencia under a torrential downpour. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but everyone was pretty much exhausted from the trip.
Next Time: San Iganacio
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