Roatan Honduras

[John Rowse]

I understand that there are still several traditional boatbuilders on this island. Does nayone have any knowledge about this.

[FG]

try Michael Gray at uncommonadv.com

He runs a kayak/snorkeling/rainforest tour from there. He is a Michigan guide in the summer. Been going there for several yaers and knows a lot of people.

[Dave Hadfield]

I was there in 1982 for a week's diving -- which was superb. The place was quite primitive then. Our resort had no telephones or air conditioning and all meals were served at a communal table. We slept in huts built out over the water where the trade winds could blow right through. It was great. This was before the US dive clubs had discovered the place in any number, before the Contra war nearby....

The only boat I saw being built was a large sailboat being put together, slowly, by a black-sheep scion of the Annhauser Busch beer family.

But I didn't really see too much of the island. I was more interested in the reefs, which below 25ft were untouched and wonderful.

[Mrleft8]

I have a very good friend who went there a few years back, and said that there was great diving, and a derelict boat building industry. Apparently it's also a great spot to sign on with a pirate or smuggling boat.

[DavidF]

Many of my formative moments were spent in the Bay Islands (Roatan and others) back in the 70s. I don't recall any builders but we used a lot of skiffs and sportfishers. I was last there in the mid-80s on an islet near Utila. Still very much unspoiled at that time. You could still see evidence of the pirate communities. Long ago pirates used to cool their heels in this corner of the Caribbean. So today you see a lot of kids with orange hair speaking a bizarre pigeon that resembles a Scottish brogue. If you go, have a beer at the Bucket of Blood and drop a quarter in the jukebox. This part of the world is so awesome that I have named my boat "The Bucket of Blood."

[guillemot]

I was there in 1998 on the schooner Westward. While on shore, I hailed a cab and asked to see the interior of the island. We ended up at a cabinet-maker's shop at the end of a long dirt road. Turns out he was the taxi driver's uncle.

Most of what they were making was fairly crude, but they had some beautiful lumber!! I ended up buying two planks of "Rosita" from him without knowing what it was. 33 BF of this beautiful quartersawn lumber. I strapped it to the deck of the ship and managed to get it back to Maine.

A furniture builder friend identified it in the genus Juglans - a tropcial walnut. Now another luthier friend is building me a guitar out of part of it. I reccomend a cab ride when you're there. There's no telling what you'll find!! Have fun!!

Cheers,
Jeff