Sailing on the Rum Punch II

Two weeks ago our friends Tom and Debbie asked if we wanted to go sailing for the day, we said sure.   They said to meet them down at the Amigo's Del Mar pier at 9am the next day.   That is where we all went aboard the Rum Punch II.  Our boat Captain was George Eiley and his firstmate was Tony.   We were to head north toward Tranquility Bay Resort and then stop at Mexico Rocks to go snorkeling.   We had never been to Mexico Rocks before, so we were excited to be going.

                                                        Everyone is ready to sail.

It took a while to reach Tranquility Bay, so that gave us lots of time to chat with George.  George said he has been taking people out on the Rum Punch II for 30 years.  The Rum Punch was built by hand in Sarteneja village in 1974 and took over two years to build.   She is a solid boat made from mahogany wood.   George took possession of the wooden boat in 1985 and named her the Rum Punch II (her original name was Rum Punch).   Although  her aqua and red paint is peeling some and her sail has faded and been mended, cruising the Caribbean is a breeze.

                                                               Tony and George 

The Rum Punch II

Our first stop was Tranquility Bay Resort.   Located within the Bacalar Chico National Park, Tranquility is a small resort 13 miles north of San Pedro town.  Tranquility was beautiful with 10 colorful wooden cabanas on a perfectly private white sand beach.   It is starting the slow season in Belize, so we were the only ones there for lunch at the restaurant that day.

Pulling into Tranquility Bay Resort.

Checking out the restaurant at Tranquility Bay.

Loved the seashell napkin holder.   You can purchase for $30BZ.

I loved this light too.

Lots of flags from different countries and tropical paintings on the walls.

Bill was checking out the reef.  It gets really close the further north you go.

The food was great, I had the fish tacos.

Bill had the chicken burrito with french fries.

The waves were really coming over the reef .

After lunch, we stopped to snorkel at Mexico Rocks.  Lots of beautiful fish, sharks and turtles were everywhere.

There were not too many boats out at Mexico Rocks.

Tony was feeding the birds, so they started coming near our boat.

We used our new GoPro camera underwater for the first time and got some nice pictures.  

After an hour of snorkeling, we came aboard for some freshly made ceviche, fruit and rum punch drinks which we quickly gobbled up!   Sorry it was so good I only got the after picture.

We ran out of plastic cups, so we had to make Justin a cup out of a water bottle.

Who knew that snorkeling made you so hungry.

Then it was time to start heading back toward San Pedro.  I highly recommend spending a day on the Rum Punch II with George and Tony.  You can contact George Eiley at 610-3240.  I can't wait to go again.

Tom chilling out on the way back to San Pedro.

Bill wants to know when are we going again.