The day before I moved Annah Foster, I snapped some last pictures at Fantasy Island. It has been a great home for the last year and half - a place where I found refuge after 18 days at sea, and met a lot of wonderful people - employees, guests from North America and Latin America, and cruisers. The beach was great and the bar a lot of fun. I certainly miss it as I sit and write this in January, having been at the Roatan Yacht Club now for over 2 months. But as I wrote, the owner raised the rents, and with water and electricity, my monthly bill would have been about $920, and that is outrageously expensive.
I bought a new (used) computer the other day - it is one of the (to me) new styles - upright and with no tower, touch screen, all self-contained and with it a new and different provider's cell modem stick, it will live in my salon for now, on the dining table. I am learning slowly how to use it - it is touch screen - and even watched a dvd the other night although the sound is not loud enough for me. Anyway, with this new puter, the prospect of dealing with the dead and dieing laptops can be pushed into the back of my mind (to a place called procrastination) , and I can proceed with some long overdue postings.
Here is the car parked by my old dock. The car NOW sports a white roof, but that is a story for another time -
From the Fantasy bridge, my dock - today, only 2 boats live there.
This is one of the iguanas I fed almost daily - he was the very aggressive one who often got a knock on the head with the bread bag, when he got too close, while eyeballing my toes -
A beautiful day -
Buddy Skip offered to ride along the day we moved AF, and here he is at the helm -
Bye Fantasy -
This is the entry to the parking lot of the yacht club. The gate closes at 10 so I have often had to exit the car and untie the rope, to let my self back in late at night, and on Sundays. SOMETIMES, the guard will jog over and at least close it behind me, but I have noticed lately, with no real manager present - again, another story - I do it all for myself. There is a separate entry with a locked gate to a road to the dock, which I have a key to, and can drive in and out whenever I want - makes it great for sneaking girls in and out when the need arises! Ha!
The outside section of the dining room - Kadie makes really good pizza.
Lorain tends bar here - sorry, not in this picture - but lots of rum and cokes and even a few beers have been enjoyed there -
And we have the use of the small pool but if you notice, the tree overhangs it and keeps the water frigid, I hear. Will wait until a really hot day to use it, or for a cooperative chica for a midnight swim, uh, anytime.
Ah, now, here is the rest of the story - To get to the dock and sea level, you first descend these steps and begin a long and scenic walk.
And these steps as well -
Currently the walkway is perfumed with quava fruits that have fallen - a cloyingly sweetness in the air - I picked one up from the ground and brought it to the boat, where I placed it on my table and the boat smelled so sweet for a week - better than a bouquet of flowers.
There are also banana or platain trees along the way, as well as a couple lime trees, so I pick a few up once in a while when I am going to have a gin and tonic, or a rum and coke.
Ah - and more stairs. I have asked them to place a chair or bench half way, as it would be nice, sometimes, for this old man to have a place to stop for a breather, and of course, a smoke, when walking FROM the dock.
Down to sea level now - and this is the flat where we can park our cars. It is, unfortunately, quite wet and often muddy, and the guys who work here seem to have no understanding of how to dig some drainage ditches, to clear the swamp.
The dock. The building on the right houses our 2 rest rooms and a shower room, which we all share - the water is free there, whereas we have to pay to fill our boats up, so even I am showering on shore.
And Annah Foster, resting in her new slip. Good electricity, sweet water and I think, even cable TV. We are full up now with 8 boats here. The Canadian who parked behind me at Fantasy moved his here a few weeks ago, and then returned home. A Quebeqer - oops, spelled THAT wrong, I know - sorry AM - lives next to me for now, while doing some work on his steel hulled boat. Friend Douglas has Lynn B III on the other side of me, and then Jerry and Annie next, and outside is a nice Canadian, from Czech Repulic - an older man - 72 - who built his boat himself. On my bow is Skip and Sachyo and now, Jean-Marie, from Belgium but who lives in the Czeck Republic.
So, is nice to finally get the pics up, and there are more waiting. Is so much nicer to sit here at home and do this work, than in a busy cafe and on a laptop that won't cap half the letters and will not read my SD card.
Love to all - Happy New Year!
