Use the arrows to flip pages, and explore interactive features in the box below.
October 1992
Many years ago, the word around Roatan was that Sylvester Coleman must be a very, clever man….. how did he manage to capture the East Wind in his bread???
Sylvester Coleman is funny, friendly, talkative, and well-liked. Like many a Bay Islander, he spent several years at sea before settling down in Roatan.
His career as a baker began in 1970 at the Hotel Coral in Coxen Hole. After two years on land, a longing for the sea life took him to the United States where he unsuccessfully applied for papers. A deeply religious man, Coleman took this as a sign from God to say ashore.
A loan from a friend enabled him to purchase a “six hole” oven just big enough to bake a dozen loaves—and with it, he launched the first commercial bakery on Roatan.
Coleman’s Bakery used 100 pounds of flour a week to bake bread and hamburger buns for Sylvester’s close friend, Henry Warren, founder of the H.B. Warren supermarket in Coxen Hole.
They used propane ovens and without electricity, everything had to be handled manually. There were many hardships. One day, while making his round of deliveries, Mr. Coleman was seriously injured when his Jeep ran off the road. After a long, slow recovery, this tenacious and ever-smiling man returned to the bakery with renewed determination and spent 18 years making it into what it is today.
Midway Bakery (as it is now known) produces between five and six hundred loaves of bread a day. In addition to their specialty, Coconut Bread, they make white, whole wheat, and French bread. Two to three thousand hamburger and hot dog buns pop out of their ovens daily, as well as a large assortment of sweets. Coleman’s Bread is a household word in the Bay Islands, with deliveries throughout Roatan, and to Guanaja and Utila as well.
October 1992
Roatan Electric Company: First Private Utility in Honduras… Perhaps in Central America!
In August 22, 1992, Roatan Electric Company (RECO) became the first broad-based investor-owned utility company in Honduras, and perhaps, in all of Central America. As of this date, RECO has 1,425 shareholders, which, based on the number of investors, makes it the largest private corporation in Honduras. As a condition precedent to privatizing the Roatan Electric System, every customer of RECO must also be a shareholder of the company.
Roatan has been served since 1979 by Empresa Nacional de Energia Eléctrica (ENEE) which served only the communities of French Harbor, Coxen Hole, and Oak Ridge by purchasing electricity from local companies that had excess for sale. This could not satisfy the growing needs of the Island of Roatan, so in 1991, through a development loan from Holland, a new generator station was installed at Mt. Pleasant and new transmission and distribution facilities were constructed to serve most of the potential consumers on the island.
Before. completion of ENEE’s improvement project, the municipalities of Roatan and José Santos Guardiola, who share legal jurisdiction over the island of Roatan, requested ENEE to consider the future operation of the new Roatan Electric System to a locally owned private corporation, the rationale being that such a corporation would be in a better position to manage the system in the best interests of the electric consumers of Roatan and run the Company in an environmentally and financially sound manner.
Thus, with the encouragement of the President of Honduras and with the full financial support of the businesses and residents of Roatan, Roatan Electric Company was formed to take over the total assets of the Roatan Electric System from the ENEE. However, before the final transfer can take place, Congress must pass legislation enabling ENEE to sell its system to RECO, an effort expected to take as long as three months.
Meanwhile, RECO and ENEE have entered into an interim Operating Agreement, whereby RECO began operating the Roatan system on August 24. During this three-month (or less) period, RECO will operate the system in the same manner it would under its own ownership.
RECO’s immediate plans are to repair or replace every ENEE service and meter to assure every customer has an adequate and reliable source of electricity, and the company, a properly billable account.
October 1992
First “Catch and Release” Tournament Ever Held In Honduras
“Daddy, it’s a big one!” exclaimed 12-year-old Ryan Woods as one of his catches pulled him out of MISS TRICIA’S fighting chair. Captain D.V. Woods immediately yelled to his son to sit back down. “I can’t afford to lose my only son. Besides, that’s my best rod you’re holding!”
Don’t worry, Dad. Ryan finished with a tournament “Grand Slam” by catching a blue marlin, a white marlin, and a sailfish.
Seventeen sport fishing boats and 33 local dories confirmed both their love of the sport and their concern for the ocean environment when they participated in the first catch-and-release fishing tournament ever held in Honduras.
Promoted by Utila Lodge and sponsored by organizations and individuals throughout the Bay Islands and as far away as Ft. Lauderdale, the event was held under sunny skies and moderate seas over the weekend of August 21- 23.
Forty-four legitimate game fish catches were entered in the competition. Of 14 billfish caught, there were 8 blue marlin, 1 white marlin, and 5 sailfish. Twelve were released. Other catches included tuna, dolphin, wahoo, and kingfish.
The top award went to angler, Fred Bodden.
Release tournament rules require that all bill fish that are not potential records be revived and released back to the wild. A volunteer observer assigned to each boat verifies the catches and assures legitimacy. Although the release concept is new to Honduras tournament fishing, initial reservations soon gave way to the frenzy of competition. In the end, all agreed that catch-and-release sport fishing is an invaluable conservation measure that will guarantee continued enjoyment of the sport for future generations.
October 1992
On the surface, it seemed like a fairly simple, straightforward assignment: 250 to 300 words about a dive site. A phone call from the editor, reminding me of deadlines, motivated me to take my mildewed, musty, dusty dive logs off the shelf.
After lots of page turning, a log entry, dated February 12, 1985, “set marker buoy Valley of Kings”. From that date on, the dive site appears regularly in my dive logs.
With the establishment of CoCoView Resort in late 1982, a program of methodically surveying the reefs for new dive sites and marking them with permanent moorings was instituted. By 1984, occupancy and the number of repeat guests were dramatically on the rise. These two factors, more than anything else, fueled the need for more dive sites.
To the west of the CoCoView Channel lay the two dive sites known as Forty Foot and Gold Chain Reef. But these are separated by a distance of 300 to 400 yards. In those days, nobody knew what lay in between.
The first inkling of what was there came quite by chance, when a mooring line broke, and an anchor was set to stop the boat. Returning to the boat, I got a glimpse of a huge, sand-filled valley cutting through the edge of the wall. This type of formation is very unusual in the area. My curiosity was aroused.
A series of exploratory drift dives between Forty Foot Point and Gold Chain Reef helped pinpoint the new site. The name? It came from my first fleeting glimpse of the huge, sand-filled valley and the giant barrel sponges perched on the edge of the wall overlooking it.
The actual mooring itself was dropped several weeks later, with the staff of Skin Diver Magazine present to document the event. The words ‘reef ecology’ were just beginning to be spoken. A few people knew how to spell them; most had to look into a dictionary to find out the meaning of ecology. Nobody had even thought up the word Ecotourism.
As for the site itself, it is well described topographically by Liz Wayne’s excellent dive site chart of the area.
The mooring is in 28 feet of water and is well inset from the wall. When diving there, in the prevailing east wind, get off the boat, submerge quickly, and go to the mooring block. Most of the time, there is a moderate to strong east-to-west current here. Divers who dally on the surface will find themselves halfway to Gold Chain Reef. The bottom in the vicinity of the mooring is a rather non-descript collection of gorgonians and small patch corals.
At the mooring block, take a hard right. There is usually just enough turbidity in the upper 40 feet of water to obscure the wall. However, about 10 yards out from the mooring, the edge of the wall is usually, faintly, discernible. Another good way to find the wall is to follow one of the smooth sand grooves in the reef out to the wall. As you proceed away from the mooring, the bottom gradually deepens to 35 to 40 feet. This is another indication you are headed in the right direction.
As you approach the wall, you will be able to see the sandy cut. As it gives way to fathoms of bottom, you will be treated to a deep, dark, blue vision of deep open ocean. If Lady Luck is diving with you, you may sight some large pelagic off in the distance. At the top of the wall, begin your descent. Keep the wall on your left shoulder. Watch your depth. The wall jogs out slightly to the southeast, forming a point, pinnacle-like structure. The top of the wall is in the 80 to 90 foot depth range. The view off this point is spectacular, with the wall dropping straight down into never-never land. Continuing on, the wall turns back to the east. Here it is covered with randomly strewn large barrel sponges.
On most days, as you swim east along the wall you can feel the current increase in strength. Looking at the soft corals, bending over and vibrating will give you an indication of their strength. About 90 to 100 yards, up the wall, it abruptly turns north.
Here current runs strong. On this corner, there is a spectacular collection of bryozoans, hydroids and soft corals. Even in the daytime, you can see their polyps extended as the animals feed. Large groupers are found here. Occasionally, you will see one gulp down a chromis, out of the huge schools hovering above the edge of the wall.
Make sure you stay far enough off the wall to prevent being pushed into the coral. As the wall turns once again east, you will come to the mouth of a long, narrow crevice. Please do not enter the crevice. It necks down rapidly, becoming very narrow. Simply ascend and glide over the top of the crevice to enjoy the view. This is also the turning point for most divers. At the end of the crevice, pick up the sandy groove. If you follow it, it will lead you back to the mooring. Spend some time in the vicinity of the mooring, decompressing.
From the mooring, you can go inshore, towards the surface fringing reef. Occasionally, you can still find a nurse shark or a resting turtle.
Look but don’t touch. Also be careful because there are strong surges here, especially on windy days.
Well, I hope you enjoy the dive.
Oh by the way, my log entry for Sunday, February 11, 1985 reads:
“Prince Albert sunk at 1524:47 local time. First divers on the wreck at 15:40.” But that’s another story for another day.
Doc Radawski came to Roatan in 1970 and spent five and a half years on an archeological expedition in Port Royal. He’s been operating Doc’s Dive Shop since 1976.
The view from this point is spectacular, with the wall dropping straight down into never-never land.
SAVE OUR REEFS
* Do not remove coral from the reef.
* Avoid touching live coral.
* Do not use a spear gun.
* Anchor only to mooring buoys or sand.
* Do not discard waste in the sea, especially non-biodegradable products.
They said Sylvester Coleman must be very clever—how else could he capture the East Wind in his bread?
