One of the Most Popular Dive Wrecks
off Roatan in a 200 foot Cargo Boat

El Águila ran aground near Utila, where it remained partially submerged for several years. Rocky Jones, an Utilian, salvaged the ship and towed it into the island’s harbor. A passing storm pushed the ship onto the reef, and Jones salvaged it again and sank it in the harbor so El Águila would not be vulnerable to future storms.

On nearby Roatan, dive industry professionals were searching for attractions for the island’s growing clientele of recreational scuba divers. In the late 1990s, the only dive wrecks accessible on the island’s north shore were two wooden-hulled vessels, which were quickly disintegrating. The AKR resort had been looking for a ship to convert into a wreck dive site, and El Águila proved to be the perfect opportunity.

About five weeks passed between the purchase of El Águila by AKR and the completion of a cleanup operation. Salvageable steel was removed from the boat, and many tons of now-hardened concrete were off loaded before the sinking operation.

Initially, all went as planned. “When we sank it, it started going down sideways but righted itself on the way down,” said Kevin Brewer, dive operations manager at Anthony’s Key Resort. El Águila sank to 110 feet in one piece.

This all changed in October 1998, when Hurricane Mitch battered the north shore of Roatan and strong currents broke the boat’s metal hull into three pieces, juxtaposed at 45-degree angles. “The wheelhouse fell over on its side, but the bow stayed upright,” said Brewer. With much of the salvageable metal removed, the hull was not able to withstand the unyielding currents created by the Category 5 hurricane.

For the diving community, this change was actually a service, making the wreck more attractive for divers. The three pieces created swim-through opportunities, and crannies became an ideal space for experienced divers ready to investigate the submerged wreck.

Today, El Águila rests at 105 to 110 feet in the middle of an eel garden. The boat’s dual-deck metal hull is now covered in sponges and coral, creating a thriving habitat for groupers, parrot fish, moray eels and snappers. El Águila has been a part of Roatan history for the past 28 years.

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.

Serrano Industrial New Store Location Opens Its Doors

Serrano Industrial is the oldest hardware store on the island and its humble roots date to a time when hard work made your reputation. If a cruise ship tears a hole in its hull the captain sends its people to buy supplies at Serrano’s. When an islander wants to fix a wooden porch, they go to Serrano’s. The iconic hardware store has been an island fixture for over three decades. Serrano is still the hardware store we all remember from our youth, but where most places that hardware store is gone, it is quite alive on the western edge of Coxen Hole.

There is a family feeling at the store and shopping here is like visiting part of the family you haven’t seen for a while. Over the years the customers got used to seeing the owners always available, accessible and sitting at a desk right at the store entrance. “They are small contractors, builders and older people,” says about her clients Jennie Serrano. Jennie is the store’s sales and purchasing director. Her mother Debra is the owner, GM and director. “She is the boss,” says about her mother Jennie.

You tell the Serrano’s your plans and they find tools for you to make them happen. The store has the reputation of having some of the best lumber on the island. “Mrs. Debra and her daughter are really quality people,” said Boby Rieman, a veteran building contractor. “You’d go there for excellent customer service.”

It all began when Ignacio Serrano came to Roatan from La Ceiba. Born in 1927, Mr. Ignacio or “Don Nacho or Nachio” was a builder who helped to construct Cay View Hotel for the Merren Family and build the first Baptist church in Coxen Hole.

According to Manuel Serrano, his father built the Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge No. 3 named after Agustín Disdier in La Ceiba. The lodge is one of the 10 Masonic Lodges on the Honduras mainland.

There was a quiet boom on Roatan those days. Coxen Hole was expanding and first roads were being paved. Honduran president José Azcona appointed Ignacio Serrano as Roatan’s customs office administrator, a post he worked at for two years.

Before he had a store, Ignacio Serrano had a block building business and begun manufacturing and selling cement parts for fencing, window bars, and cement blocks. This enterprise prompted him to eventually open a hardware store. “Construction was his passion, and he saw a business opportunity,” says Jennie about her father. “It was the time the island was starting to develop.” Soon Serrano Industrial store was selling lumber, rebar, blocks, PVC, nails and even car parts.

The enterprise started in a four by eight meter “bodega” where the manufactured building elements and other basic hardware were stored. It started with him, a helper and cash register girl. His wife Debra soon joined the staff. “My mother knew about construction business,” says Jennie.

The store has the reputation of having some of the best lumber on the island.

Roatan already had several hardware stores. There was the G&G Hardware owned by Marco Galindo, McLaughlin Lumber owned by Larry McLaughlin and Woods Hardware in French Harbour. According to Jennie, the stores didn’t compete, but complemented each other and cross referred customers and recommended supplies from other stores.

Much of the supplies sold at the Serrano Industrial store in 1980s and 1990s came from Puerto Cortés. Libby Bodden, Jennie Serrano’s grandfather, captained the 70 foot La Juanita on her passage from Puerto Cortés. “Now they privatized the port at Puerto Cortés and the docking fees became prohibitively expensive. They charge by the hour, maybe 5,000 Lps, do dock there,” says Frank Pineda, manager at Serrano Industrial.

When in 1998 Category 5 Hurricane Mitch headed towards the Bay Islands thousands of anxious people tried to prepare for the storm’s impact and secure their homes. “We saw how desperate the people were and we had to turn them away,” remembers the powerful Hurricane Jennie. “We sold out. We had not one nail left to sell when Mitch hit,” remembers Jennie.

The company has been quietly helping nonprofits and sports teams on the island from its inception. “Whoever knocks at our door looking for help and with a good cause, we help,” says Jennie Serrano.

Serrano’s helped to build some of the island’s biggest developments in the 1990s: AKR, Coco View, Las Palmas and Palmetto Bay Plantation. In 1998 a first delivery truck was purchased by the company. In 2000, with the passing of Mr. Ignacio, his wife and children stepped in to help with running of the store.

There were some hard times along the last three decades. “I don’t know how we survived,” remembers the long period when Coxen Hole streets were turn up in order to place sewer pipes in. The project caused major disruption to main street Coxen Hole businesses. “It’s a huge thing for us as a business and as a family,”

Despite and maybe because of mainland competition the store has kept up with the changing times. “You can order by phone, via WhatsApp, via Email or in person,” says Jennie about the stores faithful clients who have been supporting the store for decades.

In 2004 the Serrano Industrial purchased a plot of land owned by Church of God’s Pastor Isau Brooks, west of Petro Sun gas station in Coxen Hole. In 2014 the design process begun and by November 2018 they broke ground for the new 1,200 meter square new store.

Jennie Serrano studied business at San Pedro Sula University and came back to help out in 1990s. “This is what you did back then: you were either accountant or a secretary,” says Jennie. When Alessandra Serrano, Jennie’s daughter begun working at the store in 2020 the hardware store has become a place where three generations of the family help out.

On July 7, the new Serrano Industrial store officially opened its doors to the public. The new location has a plant nursery, much larger power tools, home and electrical departments and a coffee shop. “We want to show our culture. For the building to have softer, more ‘islandy’ look. We wanted to give it an identity,” says Jennie. Serrano Industrial has 45 employees and six delivery trucks. The plan is for the original 500 square meter store in Coxen Hole to remain open for at least a year.

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.

A Project That Could Have Changed Roatan, and Maybe Still Will

The bight was originally named after Colonel William Dalrymple, an English military official who fought the Spanish at the Battle of San Fernando de Omoa in 1779. While Spain was doing its share in battling the English in the American Revolutionary War, the pudgy Darlymple had a bight named after him on Roatan.

In the 19th & 20th centuries, islanders discovered that keeping their boats in the bight would keep their boats barnacle free. “There are underwater springs feeding the bight and that limits the growth of the barnacles,” says Erick Anderson, a longtime East End resident of the island. “That is why they call it Never-stain.”

Capt. Lem McNab of Oak Ridge had property around Neverstain used as a cattle ranch from the 1930s until he sold it in 1960s. The new owner was Grant Hoag, of the JC Penney fortune, who in turn sold it to Erick Anderson in 1991. Anderson reforested the pasture land and PMAIB, an environmental entity on Roatan, funded the effort providing 10,000 young teak, mahogany and cedar trees. “We had horse and motorcycle trails on the property,” said Anderson. “We would find British had chards and pottery; even Paya artifacts.”

Islanders discovered that harboring their boats in the bight would keep their boats barnacle free.

The Neverstain Bight attracted interest from investors in the mid 1990s. A nine-hole golf course was envisioned there, but remained in the planning stages. “So many people come to this island with dreams and now no one even remembers about them,” said Romeo Silvestri, ex-Bay Islands Congressman.

Having a big development on Roatan was going to be a game-changer for the island. Back then it was Guanaja which was the playground of the American rich and famous. Jet-setters like John Kennedy Jr. and Tom Sellack played tennis there and got away from the meddling crowds. Roatan was the bigger island and Hurricane Mitch brought all the attention there.

In 2006 Delmer Urbizo, a young Honduran developer from San Pedro Sula managed to attract a commitment from Westin Hotels that begun promoting the Roatan Westin opening on its website. The master plan called for 30-40 hillside homes, two-story condos, and “Cabo San Lucas style” hotel buildings build on a lagoon connected to Neverstain. “You create a hotel, amenities, gym and you create a community behind it,” said Rafael Fieshter, a builder who was contracted for the project. According to Fieshner the 350 Acre property was sold for $8.5 million paid by Banco Centro Americano. With a development budget of $52 million, this was going to be the biggest construction project on Roatan to date: a Westin hotel with 40 200-400 square meters homes, and condos. The project was going to take seven to ten years to complete. On paper, it surpassed the cost of Carnival Cruise Ship Terminal in Dixon Cove. Unlike other projects, Oceano and Nikki Beach, that started at the same time there was no paved road, nor underground electric infrastructure in place.

As the buildings began going up the trouble began. In 2009 Honduras had a coup and the global financial crisis soured the mood amongst many developers. Ultimately, the project was under-financed and the bank delayed dispensation of payments. Even Urbizo hesitated to put more of his own money into the project to keep things going. “In a huge project like that when you slow down payrolls, you create a wave of not being able to go forward,” said Fieshter, who in 2007 moved his entire family to the island to do the project. “Everybody got burned.” The 980 tons of San Pedro Sula rebar brought in for the project on a shrimp boat flooded the island and collapsed rebar prices. “It was rusty and cheap,” says Fieshter. Over the years scavengers took all the rebar and disassembled other parts of the project. “I’ve seen people take out cement blocks to use for construction,” said Autie McVicker who is developing a property just west of Neverstain Bight. “Ruins. It brings bad feelings,” said Fieshter about his last visit to the site five years ago. The development of this big project away from West Bay and on the east of the island would likely have repercussions on how the entire island would grow. “Once the Westin would be build West Bay would have been developed by smaller developments. It would have brought more money. It would have propelled more airlines to move here,” said Fieshter.

Part of the property has been purchased by mainland investor Jusuf Andani and now a portion of the property, 144 acres, is being sold by Banco Davivienda for $14 million. The last remaining unspoiled bight on Roatan once again has a price tag.

Benjamin Franklin warned that “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither.” The two extremes of security are anarchy and prison and not many of us would consider living in either of these extremes.

For many of us living on Roatan, working toward and preserving one’s sense of autonomy is very important. The pirates, sailors, immigrants, desperados, divers, and ex-company men that came here were often searching for that sense of freedom. This is why I like living in Honduras and on Roatan in particular. You can be free and live in conditions that provide basic security, basic infrastructure, basic healthcare and basic order. Orwell wrote that freedom “is the ability to say that two plus two is four. All else will follow.” I think Roatan offers a unique place to state that basic math.

Living on such an island teaches you many things though perhaps the most important is self- reliance. I don’t mean self-reliance as in an individual going it alone, I mean self-reliance in the sense of a community relying on itself. We can’t rely on things going right all the time, or on the government doing its job, nor on Roatan skies unleashing only average rainfalls. Life on the island teaches us to be resourceful, to anticipate crises and to be prepared for them. When hurricane Mitch hit, many islanders were prepared and had plenty of food to share. Island life teaches you to work with others as Roatan is not a place to be alone, or count on government organizations to step in when things get complicated. Here you have to work with your neighbors, friends, sometimes even with individuals you dislike in order to solve issues at hand.

Life on the island teaches to be resourceful, to anticipate crisis

Roatan also teaches you humility. Living in a big city teaches you that consequences of casual individual interactions have little impact on the future, as it is very unlikely you will see that person ever again. Not so on Roatan. Here we constantly run into the same people and relationships do matter.

Living here teaches you to appreciate life. We are surrounded by often rugged coastline, and seas that offer up deluges and occasional hurricanes. We are plagued by power outages, ill-maintained infrastructure, and never-ending traffic accidents that remind us how very fragile life can be.

Island life teaches you that answers to many questions should and will not come from the tax funded, say-it-all and know-nothing government. The solutions to island problems will come from members of community itself. Here, dozens of functions normally fulfilled by government agencies are fulfilled by good-willed volunteers and donors feeling strongly about an issue.

In many places: Nicaragua, Europe, and the US, the public forum, fueled by rampant social media use, is becoming what philosopher Hobbs described as “war of all against all” – an ever increasing compartmentalization of groups and individuals into opposing fractions with differing points of view on things of increasingly less significant, but given increasing exposure. This has produced a reaction from the opposite side: a surge in of authoritarian state and increasingly authoritarian regional state blocks: the Chinese state telling you if you can have a child, the European Union telling you what you can post on social media, the US telling you precisely what to do and how to act in an airport.

While visiting these places is nice, on Roatan two plus two is still four.