The Smiling Sandy Bay’s Entertainment Duo

Both Walter and Dwin were born in Sandy Bay, a place where many island musicians have their roots. “My father was a music man. I watched them play and I just kept right on,” says Walter about Norman James, his saxophone-playing father. James speaks with a soft, cracked voice. Walter started playing music in his teens. He played the drums, then moved to playing the guitar and eventually lead guitar.

On 1970s Roatan there was no TV or internet, but sounds of musical instruments were all around. One of Walter’s brothers was a trumpet player, and the other played the guitar and banjo. After his brother passed away, their sons: Jimmy, Joseph and Jonny continued the family tradition on music.

As a young man, Walter ran away from the Honduran army and settled back on the island and begun performing. Saturdays were dance nights on the island back then. In the 1970s, he already played for tourists at AKR. “We had Allan Flowers; Polin Galindo wrote songs,” remembers the old times Walter.

In the 1970 and 80s, many island one-man bands or two-man groups entertained the entire Roatan population. There were many solo artists and bands playing all over the island, especially on Saturdays.

Dwin Osly Bodden was born in 1991 in what he believes is Roatan’s music center – Sandy Bay. “If you dig down deep you will find that 80% of musicians are from Sandy Bay.”

At 13-14 years of age he started at 13-14 years old with gospel music at the church of God, “My maternal grandfather, Robert Gorfry, played bass guitar,” recalls Dwin who now sings both gospel and secular music.

If you dig down deep you will find that 80% of musicians are from Sandy Bay.

The Happy Boys due have been together four years. They play at the regular tourist spots: La Placita, Sol y Mar, AKR for the tourists and charity events. Roatan music scene is heading for tourist entertainment route.

The Happy Boys also travel. They have been to Cayman Islands several times, they performed on Utila, Guanaja, and the Mosquito coast. “We play reggae, soca, country and western, Merengue, Cumbia, we are quite versatile,” says Dwin. They don’t write their own songs however. “We mostly follow music, not writing,” adds James.

Gilbert Reyes, an American suspected of killing three Roatan women: Maria Antonia Cruz, Nikendra McCoy and Dione Solórzano, is attempting to fight extradition from Dominican Republic to Honduras. Reyes was arrested on March 31 in Santo Domingo on an INTERPOL warrant related to the murders that took place in José Santos Guardiola. The three women went missing on January 7 and their bodies were found two days later in French Cay, inside a vehicle known to be driven by Bermudez earlier. Bermudez had left the island for US on a flight before the bodies were found.

BELCO in Crisis

The management of Bonacca Electric Company [BELCO] has been taken over by ENEE after Guanajans were left without power for two days on May 17. BELCO was set up in early 1990s as a co-op and was bought out by Desarrollos Energéticos [DESA] several years ago. ENEE is not set up to run a company like BELCO long term and likely BELCO will be placed for an auction sale just like RECO was in 2008. RECO is likely eyeing BELCO’s 8000 customers, located on the undervalued and les developed than Roatan Guanaja Island, for purchase.

Wildfires vs. Airports

Several of Honduras’ five international airports were closed in May due to low visibility caused to wildfires. As of May 20 there were 30 wildfires reported burning through the country on an area of half a million acres. Tegucigalpa international airport was closed for five days as air quality caused the authorities to declare a state of emergency in the capital.

Competition of Bringing in Maritime Passengers to Roatan is Heating Up

The daily maritime transport of several hundred passengers, sometimes as many as two to three thousand, between Roatan and the mainland is a multimillion-dollar business. Paya Magazine estimates that the annual gross revenue from moving such passengers is well over $10 million. The customer base for the island-to-mainland ferry market is plentiful as Roatan has well over 100,000 residents, Utila around 7,000, Guanaja about 14,000, and there are typically an additional 4,000 visitors staying in the archipelago at any given time.

On October 3, 2023, Dream Ferries inaugurated its Roatan to La Ceiba passenger ferry service. “The island has grown 10x [times] over the last ten years, but the ferry service hasn’t really improved,” said Kenny McNab, founder and CEO of Dream Ferries. A young, driven Roatan entrepreneur, McNab also owns several key island businesses, including a chain of BIP (Bay Island Petroleum) petrol stations, BIP Gas distributors and Dream Ferries.

The Roatan Dream catamaran that services the Roatan to La Ceiba route is the company’s newer, larger vessel. Measuring 140 feet and weighing 186 tons, it can seat 300 passengers and has a total capacity of 520. “We see the need for better connectivity between the islands,” says Kenny McNab. “Our next goal is to connect the islands.”

Until October, Galaxy Wave practically monopolized maritime passenger transportation to and from Roatan for three decades. The only brief period of competition took place 1998-1999, when a boat named The Nautica, owned by Ervin Dixon, competed with Galaxy on the Roatan to La Ceiba route.

Galaxy launched in May 1994 when their boat Tropical undertook its initial voyage between Roatan and La Ceiba. The captain of the boat was the company’s founder, John McNab, Kenny McNab’s older cousin. Today Galaxy is run by John McNab’s two children, Jennifer and Ron. Jennifer McNab serves as the company’s general manager. Ron McNab, who is also the current mayor of Roatan Municipality, serves as the operations manager.

Customer base for the island-to-mainland ferry market is plentiful.

Galaxy has been playing things very close to the chest when it comes to their next moves. Based in Dixon Cove, the company operates two catamarans that run twice daily to La Ceiba and on weekly schedule to Guanaja: the 2006-built 160-foot Galaxy Wave, with a passenger capacity of 450, and the 150-foot Tropical Wave, capable of seating 350. It seems a logical next step for Galaxy to introduce a bigger, faster, and more efficient boat for their Roatan to La Ceiba route. “Safeway has been serving our community and clients for 30 years, innovating and evolving right along,” said Jennifer McNab. “We plan to continue to do so while providing the best service we know how.”

In mid December 2023, Galaxy made a strategic shift, evolving from a maritime passenger company to encompassing both maritime and air travel. Galaxy acquired a substantial stake in CM [Cielo Maya] Airlines, an airline that boasts a fleet of six airplanes. CM Airlines serves eight destinations within Honduras and, in partnership with TAG [Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos], offers international flights to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Belize.

CM Airlines, with a hub in San Pedro Sula, now considers Roatan as its secondary hub. Following this acquisition, Dream Ferries faces competition not only from Galaxy Ferries but also CM Airlines for its Roatan, La Ceiba, and Utila routes.

The Galaxy Roatan to La Ceiba ticket is priced at $35, or around Lps. 860, subject to dollar fluctuation. Dream Ferries offers a competitive edge by pricing their tickets for the same route at Lps. 800 per passenger, and Lps. 720 if purchased online. “We have to compete with the airlines. It has to be cheaper for you to take the ferry than to fly,” says Kenny McNab.

The increased competition has greatly benefited Roatan residents. The options for travel to the mainland have doubled, and now there’s even the option to transport two cars to and from Roatan on the larger Utila ferry. “We saw an opportunity to come in with newer, more efficient boats, and with a different schedule,” said Kenny McNab. “There are a lot more options [now] for locals and for tourists.”

The Dream Ferries features newer catamarans with more efficient designs. The Roatan Dream and the 104-foot, 295-passenger Utila Dream are powered by two propellers, in contrast to Galaxy’s catamarans, which are driven by four motor jets. “I have been all over the world and I have seen what they are doing and what we are not doing,” says Kenny McNab. “Step up your game or cease to exist. (…) It’s good for us and it’s good for clients.”

Roatan passengers have certainly taken notice. “It’s super clean, and there is great attention from the staff,” said Paola Dolmo from Coxen Hole, commenting on her first voyage with Dream Ferries. “They even bring umbrellas to you so you don’t get wet getting out.”

Kenny McNab has made strategic land purchases for the Dream Ferries terminal, located directly adjacent to Galaxy terminal in Dixon Cove. He plans to build a hotel for business travelers right next to the terminal. Dixon Cove is on track to becoming a central hub for passenger travel, cargo, and business accommodations in the Bay Islands. In the future, passengers might be able to walk just a few yards from a Dream Ferry to the Galaxy facility to the east.

The design of the Dream Ferries terminal stands out for its minimal use of walls or barriers, embodying a different concept of how a ferry terminal should look and feel. Similar to their setup in Utila, passengers on Roatan can now purchase a Dream Ferry ticket and proceed directly to the boat. Dream Ferries opts not to spend time scanning for weapons or drugs, resulting in cost savings for the company and time savings for passengers. “It’s an open concept design, access is more free. If you want to come up to the ferry and take a photo, you can,” said Omar Martínez, manager of operations at Dream Ferries.

Kenny McNab launched the Dream Ferries project in 2013 with his friend Richard Watler. “He saw the need for improved service from Utila to La Ceiba,” said Kenny McNab. Watler, a Utila native who had lived in New Orleans for most of his life, was also a golf buddy of Kenny’s. “It took us six months to design and 18 months to build,” said Kenny McNab. The inaugural service started on October 29, 2015, with the route from Roatan to Utila via the Utila Dream ferry beginning in early 2016. The company launched its ferry service with a brand new 104 foot Utila Dream, capable of accommodating as many as 240 passengers. “It was a struggle at first. I remember days we had one or two passengers,” Kenny McNab recalled. Watler sold his share to Kenny McNab about a year after the launch of the Utila Dream ferries. “The competition was heated when we started,” Kenny McNab remarked.

The company responsible for building the two Dream Ferries catamarans is also a partner in the business. Midship Marine, based in New Orleans, operates a yard specializing in the design and construction of lightweight aluminum watercraft up to 225 feet long. Midship Marine has a track record of notable projects, including the construction of the 118-foot Utila Aggressor II and a ferry servicing the route between Puerto Juaréz, Mexico, and the islands of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel.

There is plenty of room for growth for ferry services in the Bay Islands. “The long term mainland [goal] is car passenger [ferries],” said Kenny McNab. “Roatan has a lot better roads now than before. (…) We are already moving cars on Roatan Dream.” The Roatan Dream catamaran can carry two cars, charging Lps. 9,000 per car, with the driver traveling for free. It’s an attractive option for tourists coming with a luxury vehicle to Roatan. According to Martínez the ferry moves around three vehicles a week.

Kenny McNab is exploring using Puerto Cortés port as a base for reaching Roatan. “The car passenger ferry would have to operate out of Puerto Cortés,” he said. “It would be a five hour run, compared to an hour and a half.” While Puerto Cortés is an extra 47 miles farther from Roatan than La Ceiba, its port ties in to a brand-new road network in Honduras and offers much better port facilities.

He plans to build a hotel for business travelers right next to the terminal.

The Roatan to Puerto Cortés route would circumvent the congestion and delays of travelling to La Ceiba, and makes travel to Roatan more feasible for visitors from San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, and even Guatemala. The La Ceiba port has faced challenges with inconsistent dredging of the port entrance, leading to issues with vessels scraping the bottom, needing to turn around, or even sinking. “If it wasn’t for that, we would have even bigger boats,” said Kenny McNab.

There are still additional passenger and car passenger ferry routes that could be developed. One such route is Roatan to La Mosquitia. With thousands of Misquito natives living on Roatan, a passenger service to the less accessible Gracias a Dios Department is in demand. Island Shipping, based in Brick Bay, is another player in maritime transport along Honduras’ north shore. It’s possible that this company could expand to passenger services on their already existing services between Roatan and Puerto Cortés, or even Puerto Lempira and Cauquira.

The names of certain individuals, female and male, tended to spread across all of the islands. While others were admired and known best only close to home. A small sampling of my own list, albeit Roatan-centric, would include Captain Myrl Hyde, Mister Cleveland Tennyson, Doctor Sturdy Woods, Miss Edith McNab, Miss America De La Cruz, Miss Francis Arch, and Captain James Ray McNab. Some of their names would have been more widely known, while not so with others. Of these, I had the privilege to know the first six personally, to varying degrees, whether meeting them first as a child or as an adult. I never met Captain Ray, who passed away in 1959 at the age of 42 from cirrhosis of the liver. I was told about him from an early age and to this day still talk about him.

James Ray McNab was born in French Harbour on 12 April 1917. He was known to everyone as Ray, a common practice being to call someone by their middle name. As I understand, his mother gave birth to twins. The other was still born while Ray’s right arm was crippled in some way. In each full-body photo I have seen of him, his right hand is placed deep in his pant pocket or is otherwise hidden from the camera. A black and white photo of he and his first wife, Nona, comes to mind. They are both young and smiling, he dressed in khakis and she in a summer dress, standing on the seaside in French Harbour with tall coconut trees rising behind. Ray is holding Nona tightly with his hidden right arm.

Ray lost Nona in April 1944 when she was 26 years old, in a boating accident off of Brick Bay. He was then 27 and became a single father of two young girls and a four-year-old boy named Scott. Some years later, after Ray had remarried, he hand crafted a sailboat for Scott that was outfitted with cloth sails. Once, the sailboat took a few quick strong gusts of wind down in the Wash, behind where the Buccaneer Inn was later built. It crossed the reef line, kept heading South and was soon out of Scott’s sight. The following day, a ‘Carib Craft’ arrived in French Harbour to sell fresh bread kind: bunches of green bananas and plantains, cassava, cocoas, breadfruit. The sailboat was placed in the bow of the massive, unpainted dory; the Carib fellows had happen on it somewhere between Roatan and Hog Islands. The Carib Craft itself had come out of one of the Garifuna towns to the East of La Ceiba.

Ray was a farmer who worked grounds “up in the bush”. There is a story of his finding someone he knew stealing a bunch of plantains from his ground. This friend had not been doing well and that day went home with the bunch of plantains as well as a half-sack of freshly dug cassava. He was also a preacher, who traveled on horseback along footpaths to preach to congregants in settlements on the North Side of Roatan that were too small to have full time preachers. He named his favorite horse “Trigger”. Through it all, Ray was a seaman. In the 1950s he Captained the Roatan-built wood hull the “Edith Mc”, a cargo boat perhaps 60 feet in length. A long-standing run of the Edith Mc would be French Harbour to Oak Ridge and Coxen Hole before heading over to La Ceiba. The return trip would visit the same island ports, concluding in French Harbour, its home port. On one of these return trips from La Ceiba, off of Utila on a Friday afternoon, the Edith Mc came across a man paddling a dory towards Roatan. Ray and the crew knew the man, who was from Utila. When within earshot of him, Ray yelled where he was headed. “Captain Ray”, the man hollered back, “I’m headed to Coxen Hole to listen to ‘Bye Bye Love”. Word was spreading that the Everly Brothers’ song had made its way to the juke box that was in the capital of the Bay Islands.

Mrs. Onyx spent the first eight years of her life in La Ceiba where she attended “Charles Elliot” open school. She was an out of wedlock child and receiving her father’s last name took some time.

When she was just a couple of years old she went to live with her grandmother, Flourene Hynds, in Lucy Point near Coconut Garden. Her grandmother was an active member in the island’s Methodist church. All-in-all in 1930s there were 12 Methodist churches scattered through Roatan. The Westley Methodist church in Coxen Hole was the islands biggest. Bethesda Methodist church in Flowers Bay was the island’s oldest church building. Reverend Fred Cooper from Utila was the minister there. Ebenezer Methodist church in Coconut Garden was the closest one for Mrs. Onyx to attend.

Mrs. Onyx remembers in late September of 1941 a “Nicaraguan” category four hurricane battered Flowers Bay especially hard. The entire roof of the Bethesda church was blown apart. Many people lost their homes, but a sense of community was strong and the houses and structures were rebuilt soon. “Within a week it was up,” says Mrs. Onyx, about the rebuilding of the church’s roof.

Life for her was full of diversions and activities. “We used to have fun, we had picnics, maypole, plat pole,” remembers Mrs. Onyx who graduated from sixth grade.
She married at thirty-two. Her husband was Ewans Stewart, a preacher and a sailor from Flowers Bay. So, in 1961, Mrs. Onyx moved to the “Tom” area of Flowers Bay. Her home was just fifty paces from Roatan’s oldest church structure, the Bethesda Methodist church.

Her husband worked as a shipmate on Egoral, a boat belonging to the Litrico family. She had made several trips to Belize and Utila, and one memorable trip to Guanaja.
She became a housewife looking after the house and the couple’s one child – Allan. Mrs. Onyx participated in Church as much as she could. She would sing gospel hymns. She recalls “Blessed Assurance,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” with particular fondness.

She would grow cassava, popo – or sweet potatoes, bananas and plantains. The family had a cow, a horse and some pigs. There would be plenty of fish for the taking. She would just drop a line outside of the channel in Flowers Bay and grunts, yellow tails and snappers would readily bite the hook.

I can still hear the animals when they holler.

Old age has brought challenges. Mrs. Onyx has been blind since her early 80-ties. She spends her days sitting on a tall wooden chair on her porch facing the sea. There she listens to the sound of the wind, to the sea, the breeze moving the leaves of sea grape trees and caressing her face. “I can still hear the animals when they holler,” says Mr. Onyx. “I am proud of so many things. I still can walk.”

Her son Allan had a stroke, and was disabled, he now lives in the same house as Mrs. Onyx. Her granddaughter Nelcian takes care of both of them. She cooks and sweeps the modest wooden, unpainted house. “Honor your father and your mother and your days be prolonged,” says Mrs. Onyx in her soft, silky voice explaining how she arrived at her old age.

How the First Cruise Ship Came to Roatan

The Methodist Church damaged and weakened by Hurricane Francelia and Hurricane Fifi once stood nearby. The church’s congregation moved to a new worship building up the hill and a few hundred feet away.

The first cruise ships began coming to the island in 1980s. This pioneer was the 500 foot long Ocean Spirit, and by far the biggest ship to visit Roatan to that date. She ended up visiting the island on regular basis.

While Coxen Hole was a quaint sleepy town, in the 1980s the dive industry had already discovered Roatan. Ocean Quest International, the world’s largest diving operation at the time, was eying Guanaja and Roatan, both known for their pristine coral and tall dive walls. The company wanted Ocean Spirit, their live aboard flag ship, to make regular stops in the Bay Islands on a week-long dive cruise from Florida.

One of the people who helped in creating a welcome environment for international divers was Alejandro Monterroso. In the 1980s Alejandro lived on Roatan and had his own dive shop in Coxen Hole, next to Key View Hotel. It was called South Shore Divers. “This was the Waldorf Astoria of Roatan,” remembers the seaside hotel Alejandro.

Alejandro remembers that one day a man named Laurence August knocked on the door of his dive shop. August was an executive for Ocean Quest, an international company that operated Ocean Spirit and was looking to come to Roatan and Coxen Hole in particular.

On September 5, 1989, Ocean Spirit visited the island.

Mr. Allan Hyde was chosen to be the port agent for Ocean Spirit. An appropriate spot was chosen in Coxen Hole and a roughly 12” by 12” square cement bollard was poured that helped to secure a rope that tied the ship to land. This would prevent Ocean Spirit from spinning as she discharged her dive boats from her stern.

On September 5, 1989, Ocean Spirit, the biggest ship that has visited the island until then, came to anchor off Coxen Hole. At 20,000 tons Ocean Spirit was the easily the biggest dive ship in the world. The vessel was over 110 feet high and had ten deck levels.

The dive and excursion cruise ship accommodated 360 passengers, 198 crew and 32 diving staff. Ocean Spirit even had its own decompression chamber and carried 10 dive boats that could be launched with a special high speed overhead crane.

Roatan along with Guanaja were placed on a regular schedule for visits by Ocean Spirit based in Southern Florida. Every week the boat would leave New Orleans, head for stops in Guanaja, Roatan, then for Belize, and Cozumel before returning.

These were different times. Back then Honduras was a military dictatorship and as there was a CIA sponsored civil war going on in Nicaragua, nearby Roatan was a place to take a break from the action for American GI and CIA company men.

Eventually, in 1990s Honduras’ Empresa Nacional Portuaria built a cruise ship port near the site. In 2008 Royal Caribbean took over the management of the port from Empresa Nacional Portuaria. In 2018, ITM Group, a Mexican conglomerate that operates cruise ships all over eastern Caribbean: Costa Maya in Mexico, Taino Bay in Dominican, took over operation of Port of Roatan.

In 2020 a second birth was added so two cruise ships could disembark their passengers at the same time.
Sheltered from wind and currents, and with ample enough room to maneuver Coxen Hole became one of the safest terminals for cruise ships in the Caribbean. Many cruise ship boat captains consider Port of Roatan as one of the easiest to enter and leave ports in the Caribbean.

Historic Tragedy near Guanaja’s Shores

By Elke Jackson-McNab 
A pioneer in the floral industry on Roatan, Elke loves refurbishing, decorating, antiques, beautiful new and vintage things. Elke is very devoted to her family and her Christian life. She remembers vividly her interaction with the captain and crew of the Fantome in 1997, when this beautiful vessel first arrived to the islands.

The Fantome, originally named “The Flying Cloud” was considered one the world’s most luxurious yachts when she was completed in 1927. By 1998 this four-mast, 282-foot, steel-hulled staysail schooner was owned by Windjammer Barefoot Cruise based in Miami, Florida.

The yacht was built by the Italian navy and purchased before its completion by the Duke of Westminster. A few years later “The Flying Cloud” was sold to Nelson Warden, who died two years later and his wife let the yacht her go. “The Flying Cloud” was then acquired in auction by Arthur Guinness, who renamed her “Fantome” which in French means ghost.

In 1956[U1] it is said that Aristotle Onassis “the Greek Tycoon,” purchased her as a wedding gift for Princess Grace of Monaco. Onassis did not receive an invitation to the wedding, so he just left the yacht to rust at a port in Kiel, Germany. In 1969 Captain Michael Burke Sr., owner of Windjammer Barefoot Cruise, bought her from Onassis. She was half sunken and rusting. When he first saw the Fantome, he was a bit disappointed, she was a wreck, but he could see her potential. He then refurbished the schooner at a cost of $6 million US, and she became flagship of his tall ship barefoot cruise line[U2].

Windjammer Cruises was a different kind of cruise. It was a very relaxed, go barefoot cruise. No special dress code was required and sometimes it was a you did not need any clothes at all.

In the spring of 1997 Mr. Allan Hyde, and Michael D. Burke Jr in Miami, made arrangements for Roatan to be one of the destinations of the Fantome. Mr. Allan offered me the job to assist him with the arrivals of this vessel. I knew very little about what I was supposed to do. I was fresh out of nothing: I never used my college degree much and knew no one with any experience in cruise ship arrivals. I had my sail up to where ever the wind blew, so I went for it.

Fantome that was the first cruise ship to dock there.

Captain Paul and another representative from Windjammer in Miami come to the island in early April 1997. We toured them around so they could see the beauty of the island. There were not that many options for tourist back then, but they seem pleased with what we had to offer. Roatan did have some of the most beautiful beaches, and diving spots.

I remember the excitement I felt the day the Fantome arrived to Roatan. It was the summer of 1997 and the cruise port dock in Coxen Hole was almost completed. In fact it was the Fantome that was the first cruise ship to dock there.

We arrived early that morning: Mr. Allan, his son Shawn, Nadeen, the customs agents, and I. We soon saw her sailing in, slowly on horizon. The Fantome was a beautiful ship, she was majestic, something you thought you would only see in a movie.

Everything was well kept, polished, even though she was 70 years old, Fantome still preserved her original beauty. Captain Guyan March was always very friendly. He was a handsome blonde British born man, who had started very early at sea. At 32 he was considered Windjammer’s “golden boy.”

The Fantome only came to Roatan a few times. I remember the last time I went to receive, and entered this ship. We waited in the lobby to be attended, an in a few minutes the deck was covered with nude men.  They just stood around talking to each other; some with drinks in their hands, laughing, and chatting as if they were all wearing tuxedos. I had never, ever felt so out of place in my entire life. I acted as if it all was perfectly normal to me, and did my job.

As I met with Captain Guyan, he explained to us that it was a nude cruise for gay men, and asked if there were any nude beaches on the island. Later that afternoon we returned to the vessel with paperwork, and found the passengers jumping off the ship into the sea, having a merry good time. And again, yes they were all nude.

The deck was covered with nude men.

I don’t really know much more about the Fantome and her crew after this. They change route, and moved to Omoa, Cortes where she was home-ported. The yacht sailed to Belize, Hog Islands and Utila. Passengers would fly to San Pedro Sula, and then they were shuttled to Omoa to meet the ship. I never quite understood why they left Roatan.

According to what’s documented the Fantome left Omoa, Cortes, with Captain March, and his crew on October 25, 1998 headed for Belize to drop off the 97 passengers, and all non-essential crew. Fantome was left with 31 crew, one being a Honduran “Jesús Hernández,” who could not get off in Belize because he did not have the correct paperwork.

October 27, 1998, was a historic day in my life. Mitch, a category five hurricane, and one of the most devastating storms, blew with a relentless intensity. The island of Guanaja was left looking as if a fire had destroyed all the trees on its once green and beautiful hills.

Entire communities were devastated in Guanaja. Yet God wrapped his arms around the island and saved the islanders lives. October 27 was also my husband’s Birthday; he turned 32, the same age as Captain Guyan. Sadly, it was the last day for the Fantome, and her crew.

Guanaja was left looking as if a fire had destroyed all the trees. 

I was devastated to learn about the Fantome’s demise. Windjammer headquarters in Miami had been in touch with Capt. March all day via satellite phone trying to direct the boat to safety. Fantome was trying to find shelter on the lee side of the Bay Islands.

Shawn Hyde, Mr. Allan’s son, recalled an early conversation between the agent in Belize, his father, and the captain regarding what they would do in the event of a hurricane. The Captain answered “head out to sea.” Someone then said: “Well that’ll be the last you’ll see of her.”

Captain March found himself in a very difficult position, inside the small bridge room where he, and first mate Crispín were in had only one window about two by three feet. He described to headquarters that they were facing over 100 miles an hour winds, and up to 30-40-foot seas, the ship was being battered from all directions, the Fantome was taking 40 degree rolls. I cannot even begin to imagine the horror they faced in those last hours.

At 4:30 pm October 27 1998, the satellite phone went dead, and headquarters lost communication with the Fantome. Capt Guyan March, and his crew members lost at sea in a merciless deadly storm. Fantome rests at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, likely somewhere south of Guanaja. Yet what exactly what happened we will never know.

“Well that’ll be the last you’ll see of her.”

A couple days later, on November 2, two life rafts, seven life jackets, a life ring, and part of a wooden staircase were discovered by a helicopter dispatched by British destroyer the HMS Sheffield near Guanaja.

Even so many years later there are families, and friends who remember that dreadful day and Miss Captain March, his crew, and the Fantome.

My 3-year-old niece was bragging to her fellow daycare inmates about her upcoming trip to the Cayman Islands for the Holidays. It sounds pretty, it evokes images of white sand beaches and piñas coladas. There are the sting rays and picturesque boating and diving activities. My mother tells me tales of the Cayman of old and how they would import pineapples from us here in the Bay islands. Their fresh produce was scarce and there was nothing there.

So how did they come so far so fast and why we in the Bay Islands, while we have much more to offer, we just have gone backwards. Maybe the answer lies in the fact that they are miles away from the country to which they are tied to. Or perhaps it’s that a developed nation such as the United Kingdom recognizes the jewel that Cayman Islands are.

I’m unsure of the answer. The truth is that the Caymans have left us in the dust. Having no hills, no water sources beyond a few wells and desalination facilities, no agriculture. Their biggest island is smaller than Guanaja, yet they have managed to have global appeal.

The Cayman Islands citizens are well cared for and their government works for them. I had forgotten the date of my last visit when I arrived at immigration in Cayman over the Christmas break. Their entry system was quick and suggested I had been there last in 2017 on a business trip.

They handle this information at the touch of a button, while we can’t even stop criminals with warrants for their arrest from coming across on the ferry, or the plane from the mainland.

Cayman Islands require stating who you are visiting or name the hotel where you are staying with a reservation. Now that is an immigration control that works.

While we belong to Honduras, we cannot stop the mainlanders from coming over or ask them where they will be staying or what is the purpose of their visit. I know I’m harping about the same issues over and over.

The Colombian government owns two small islands off the coast of Nicaragua: San Andres and Providencia. The Colombian government is aware these islands have limited natural resources and limited jobs, so they do the logical thing and restrict access to them. You may visit San Andres to vacation at any time, or enter with a job offer or as an investor. This is logical, not like our mass influx of people who have no place to stay and no job to come to.

We don’t have the infrastructure necessary to even begin to compete with Caymans. They have branched themselves into medical tourism now with their Health City. Here on Roatan, we can’t even get our hospital built. In brief words: the government has no interest in developing our Islands.

Why should they care if we represent less than 2% of the country’s population? Voting wise we are insignificant. I’m told we also represent very little for them tax wise. They would have us believe that the taxes brought in by the cruise ship passengers, airline passengers, ferry passengers, real estate sale tax, capital gains tax, and security tax don’t represent a significant contribution to the country’s economy. Well, I for one don’t think that is true. I want some transparency and accountability with these numbers. I want transparency.

I want to know what the actual amount of taxes is paid by Bay Islands to Tegucigalpa’s coffers. If we don’t, who has this information and why can’t we access it?

Bottom line is we have an albatross tied to our neck. The stench of corruption and mismanagement of funds reaches across the small stretch of sea that separates us from the continent. If we represent so little to Tegucigalpa both financially and democratically why not release us? I think we could manage just fine.

The sad part of Hurricane Mitch was the aftermath few want to talk about. There were bodies that washed up on beaches and in the mangroves. These remains were given a Christian burial but never identified. There was the daunting search for survivors. There was the lack of clean drinking water, there were no medical supplies, and no electricity. Nothing was clean or dry. Roofs had been ripped from above you.

To top things off a special hybrid breed of mosquitos appeared. More ferocious than any you’ve ever seen before, happily sucking away your blood. All that as you are sick, you are tired, and your soul is weary.

Then there are the heartwarming parts. That was the time when neighbors banded together to help each other. There were stories of the inhabitants of the small community of Mangrove Bight on the North Side of the island of Guanaja. Their homes were on stilts over the sea and with a massive storm surge their homes get swept away. The people tied themselves together with rope and wandered to higher ground. They ended up spending 72 hours lying flat on an old abandoned airstrip praying for Mitch to finally move on.

The Hurricane finally did move on. On the mainland of Honduras there were exceedingly more casualties, than in Guanaja, which took the full brunt of a category 5 hurricane for three days and nights. As many as 7,000 Hondurans lost their lives on the mainland due to flooding and moving debris.

The humanitarian aid that came in was overwhelming and not surprisingly, from foreigners. The unsung heroes of that tragedy on Guanaja are the crew members of the HMS Sheffield, a type 22 Frigate that was in service of the British Royal Navy at the time and was monitoring the hurricane as it was supposedly headed to Belize

You are sick, you are tired and your soul is weary.

The HMS Sheffield ended up coming to the aid of Guanaja. It’s crew quickly and efficiently removed the debris from the airport landing strip. They also loaned and then donated generators for the health clinics. The British sailors established the water supply from the reservoir. In short, they saved their bacon. I had the pleasure of flying over to Guanaja a week after the storm with the then British ambassador to Honduras. I thanked him profusely for the efforts being made by the crew of that HMS Sheffield on behalf of the people affected. We landed on a desolated island with not even a green blade of grass visible. They were trees snapped in half by the high winds. Even their bark was stripped bare from the trunks by the sand and salt. I had never seen anything like it before or since.

The Honduran government received a pardon of more than 60% of the national debt after the devastation left by Hurricane Mitch. You would think we would be far ahead 20 years after this extremely generous gesture, but alas we are not. We live in a third world country and at last check Honduras’ official debt for 2018 was over nine billion dollars.

You may ask if Guanaja received any government funds to help rebuild, any of the pardon of debt or incentives to rebuild the crippled economy post hurricane. Let’s put it this way: none of the major businesses that operated prior to that hurricane are in business now. That includes the hotels that operated for decades on Guanaja prior to Mitch: Posada del Sol and Bayman Bay Club. These were premier dive resorts that boasted celebrity visitors in the 1980s and 1990s. My heart brakes for the forgotten island of Guanaja.

As we live in the path of these ever-increasing massive hurricanes, we must all be prepared for a possible disaster. This is also an opportunity to discover the resilience of the human spirit.

The Bahamas have my best wishes for a speedy recovery and my condolences for the lives lost. There are so many examples of neighbors helping neighbors and foreign governments lending a hand. A catastrophe like this is also an opportunity for rebuilding and strengthening.

The ships were manned by 140 men under the command of Admiral Christopher Columbus. It was Columbus’ fourth voyage to the Americas and he was accompanied by his 13-year-old son, Fernando. Columbus’ second in command was his younger brother, Bartholomew.

They had made the fastest to date crossing of the Atlantic from Spain to the Caribbean, having left Cadiz on May 7, and arriving in Martinique on June 15.

Having been refused entry to any port in Hispaniola, Columbus meandered along the coast of Jamaica before heading south into uncharted territory, taking three weeks to reach an island which was then known to the Indians as Caguamara. Columbus immediately claimed the Caguamara and the neighboring Roatan in the name of Spain and renamed it “La Isla de Pinos.”

Guanaja was named after predominant pine trees that would become an important source of pine tar. The Spanish used to caulk their boats with pine tat at such a rate that within 100 years the entire island would be deforested completely. The island would not be known as Guanaja until 1657.

At 51, Columbus was continuously looking for a new trading route to India and China. He incorrectly thought that he had entered the Straits of Molucca, off the coast of Indonesia without the use of latitude in his calculations. He was 16,000 miles off course but charted a new route for Central America.

Although he had gained much prestige, wealth and fame for his previous voyages of discovery to the New World, his star was on the wane after his despotic governorship of Hispaniola ended amidst charges of corruption, abuse of power, mass torture and murder. Stripped of his powers, he had been shipped in chains back to Cadiz, where he spent a year in jail. He was now a much-changed person, he had written a biblical themed book called “The book of prophesies,” and had taken up the name “Christbearer.” Columbus wandered the deck of his ship dressed in a priest’s cassock.

Maya had voyaged down from the Yucatan peninsula to trade with their Paya cousins

Upon his release from jail, his chief benefactress, Spain’s Queen Isabel, decided to give him one more chance to open a trading route to China. As a condition however, on this voyage he was not allowed to settle, colonize or do any trade with newly discovered lands. To assure that Columbus complied, he was accompanied by a royal administrator and overseer, who monitored all of his actions.

After spending two weeks on the island and learning from the local “caique”, or chief, that a large ocean did indeed exist on the other side of the nearby mainland. On the 35-mile voyage to what he named Honduras, he encountered a large canoe, larger than his own ships, manned by 35 Maya Indians.

The Maya had voyaged down from the Yucatan peninsula to trade with their Paya cousins. Among the items Columbus’ men found in the canoe, was were cacao beans — European’s first encounter with chocolate.

Today the most expensive chocolate in the world is made in Belgium, and is called Guanaja chocolate.

Columbus arrived in what is now known as the Bay of Trujillo on August 15, and on that date, the first ever Catholic mass on the American continent was held at “Punta Caxinas”, present day named “Puerto Castilla.” Columbus was stricken with syphilis and tropical fever and remained on his flagship for the duration of the time he spent in Honduras.

Having collected captives to use as guides and translators, the Spanish explorers departed the Trujillo bay on August 30. They sailed west down the coast to look for the elusive passage to the Pacific. In the end Columbus never found the passage to India and it took him two years to return to Spain. He died there at the age of 54.