Hummers, Turkey Day, and House Cleaning

Once again, I have loaded the photos in reverse order, so sorry. Here is the story in reverse then....
Miss Carol returned yesterday to wash down the walls, wood work, and ceiling in the salon, and then oiled all of the wood so it is bright and shiny for Rosemary's visit. I pick her up at the airport at 4pm, and still have so much to do - including baking her a birthday cake to be served at today's pot luck. I also have to make some dish to bring along. Thanksgiving Day was great. I counted 28 heads at one point but have no idea how many really attended. All the folks on boats tried to outdo each other and brought their favorite turkey day dishes.

The marina donated 2 giant Butterball turkeys.

And Dr. Lou donated a huge ham, which we gobbled up in sandwiches the next day at lunch, along with all the other leftovers. That's Lou getting it ready to slice.

And here he is cooking it at one of the grills here.

Finally took the camera up with me to snap some pics of my hummers coming in for a feed. It seems I have a pair and one extra male feeding here. And then there are the bats drinking all night long.

I snapped these at dusk so the light is not so bright to show the beautiful colors in the feathers.

So that's a quick look at life the last few days here. Hope to post something every day while Rosemary is visiting. In fact may turn the blog over to her so she can give you her impressions of my life, and Roatan.

A Pause in this "hectic life......"

(To my new friends from other countries: Thursday is the American Thanksgiving - a day set aside to remember the first European settlers in the US, who, with the help of the native Indians, celebrated their first year in that New World. What I write here is not meant to anger or confound, nor is it written to insult your cultures, but is meant to remind my fellow citizens of what we have there; how fortunate we are - reminding each of us to appreciate in some small way that which many in the world can not.)

To all of my friends who follow my life here, I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving. If you live in some other country, then take this opportunity to give thanks for what YOU have.

Each of us, in some tiny way, whether up or down today, is so blessed with riches and joys that, until you travel a bit, are impossible to appreciate. Yes, in other countries there are wonderful families, and friends - cultures that have survived and grown for thousands of years - there are daily reasons for laughter and reasons for joy - natural beauty to enjoy and incredible lives, lived. But until you travel, even the tiny bit that I have, you will never know the millions and millions of reasons to give thanks - whether to God, or god, or whatever higher power you give thanks to -(I have no doubt Who mine is, and truthfully, don't give a damn whom you choose to worship) that you were born in America.

The USA is not perfect, and our standard of living, at this time, may not be the highest in the world, but we are up there at the top of the list. And know this: our impoverished are not poor. Our poor are rich. The standards by which we measure our lives and culture are at so much a higher level - more sophisticated (sorry if that sounds snobbish, but is true) and each of us has more depth of opportunity and a more broad perspective of choices, than so much of the rest of the world.
On Thursday, give thanks- for what you are; what you have; for your families; your friends.

And then.....give thanks that you were born in the USA, because our resources and our opportunities are so much more plentiful than much of the rest of the world's.

Then, please remember to bow your heads and give thanks for the hundreds of thousands who have served - who gave their lives, their time, their treasure, to begin our country, to keep our country whole, to keep foreign marauders away from our shores, or to serve only to defend the principles of our foundation.

I have no depth of vocabulary to find words adequate to express my most sincere gratitude - to God, to strangers, friends, and family, for what I have enjoyed and now cherish so much. I am so blessed to have lived that old life, and to be living this new one.

Happy, happy Thanksgiving! God Bless America.

Rubber Duck Race at Fantasy Island Marina

Jerry, the dock master here at Fantasy Island Marina is always coming up with ideas to make life either better or more fun, or both, for those of us living on boats. The lastest is rubber duck races; the first of which was held on Sunday afternoon. With the help of a nice couple on a boat here, who owned most of the ducks,Jerry counts his winnings - picked the 2nd place winner. He is a good guy, so helpful, and always working to make life better for we cruisers.

Pretty simple. Line up a lot of numbered and named rubber ducks on the beach. Place bets on the ones you choose. Put them into a bucket and ride them out 50 ft from the beach and sit and wait. First 3 to stick on the beach are the 3 winners. I got lucky and split first place with another cruiser. We split the 50%. I also chose the last duck to come in, and won another 50 Limperas. Donated it all to Jerry's cruiser's fund, to pay for coolers and supplies for the Saturday evening Pot Luck dinners.
The "Paddock" lined up for inspection prior to making the wagers.

Anne held the money........And won 3rd Place!That little pink dot to the left of the lady in yellow, who organized and ran the race, is one of my choices, and the winner, Pink Martini.

Yeah, it's just another excuse to drink rum, laugh, and socialize with the other folks on boats.

Sunday Morning

Back on the boat full time now, after wonderful whirlwind romance with a beautiful woman (I just love those Aussies!) We agreed to part company, but stay friends, and as I told her many times, she made a pretty good life, a whole lot better. Was a great experience for me and I enjoyed every minute of it, from early morning walks on the beach with her dog, to dragging my old, tired butt up to dance, as non-stop as I am capable, to quiet evenings alone at her home. She helped me beef up the lines on AF just before the last huricane, as well as returning me to check her the next day, a choice I should have not made, as my responsibility was to be on the boat, but I was greedy for her company.

So, now I am preparing AF for visitors. First, Rosemary, a life long friend and neighbor from back in Rosslyn Farms, now living in Colorado, and then my niece, Denise, and her husband, Erik, are making a long trek to see me here for 3 days. I am excited about both of course. Rosemary has decided to live crazy and risk celebrating her XXth birthday here with me on AF. Will spend a week here, and I am so excited to have an old friend to share a bit of my life here with. Hope she is up to the 'roughing it' life. Denise and Erik are the real nuts, I think. Although the trip will require 7 days of travel, because of the airline they have points with, they will only spend 3 days here visiting. They are up for a real adventure, I am sure. After a day of flying to San Pedro Suela, on the mainland, where they will spend the night. Then depart on a 2 hour bus ride to LaCeiba on the coast and a 2 hour ferry ride to Roatan. Then, I think the same for the return trip.
I hired a lady to clean here so the boat is as fresh as possible for my visitors, and after 2 days of hard work, she has the aft cabin and head and tunnel all clean and the teak oiled and shiny. I have to move some things around now, so she can return and wipe down the salon and galley, and oil the wood. Was interrupted by having to cook for the cruiser's pot luck yesterday and later today, will join the fun with rubber ducky races. Jerry, the dock master loves to organize things for the cruisers and does a great job. Recently, he got one of the local grocery stores to pay for a large van to pick us up and take us shopping for 2 hours, every Saturday morning. Saves the taxi fare, and you can even take your fuel jugs and get them filled next door at the Petro-Sun gas station. He also got the management here at Fantasy Island to devote a room in the hotel just for cruisers to use for a hot shower.

I have hung a hummingbird feeder on the boat and noticed the other night that a bat is stopping to feed on it every night. Flies within 18 inches of my head, for a quick hover and lick at the plastic flower. I will post pictures when I have taken some, but so far have not had the camera ready when the hummers come. They are fearless and come within inches of my head when they are feeding, and yesterday, while cooking, one came down into the salon for a look-see.

Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention one other important thing. 2 weeks ago, I received word from my old friend Shelby's mom, that she was coming to Roatan on a cruise, and asked me so kindly, if she could bring me anything. Shelby and I worked together at Verizon and in fact were at technical school together before that, but in different classes. I have never met his family but are friends on Facebook with all of them. So when the appointed day came, after setting up a meeting place and time at West Bay, the nicest beach area here, I taxied down and, just as I was about to run into the water for a quick dip, bumped into Melanie and her boyfriend, Roger, coming down the beach to meet me. They joined me for lunch and we had a very nice visit. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. When the time came to snap a few pictures, I found that I had left my memory card in the laptop, so I am waiting for Melanie to email me some pictures to post as she is my first, real visitor from 'home'.

So that is what is going on here in Roatan. Thanksgiving approaches and I am the designated deviled eggs provider - my buddy Skip is making the sweet potatoes - and I have a lot of work to do before my visitors. Pictures will be coming I hope in the next post, when I receive some from Melanie and have the camera when the hummers come to feed.

Asleep At The Switch

My first anniversary since departure passed without my noticing. I thought the date was important, but I let it slip by without a thought. So, having missed it, but wanting to write something about it, I reviewed some emails this morning which I had sent out the day of my departure from Norfolk, Va, and the days following. Perhaps none reading this care, but it is a significant omission for me. One year away from the States, so far.

First, I want to say that in this past year, after suffering through a very traumatic first week or so at sea, and a second tropical storm at sea, that I look back in only a positive way, and don't regret the decision to depart one tiny bit. It was a good decision and I am proud of doing it. (In fact, I only wish that I could have done this earlier in life.)

In the outgoing emails that I found, I announce on the morning of Nov 6th, that I will be departing about 1 or 2 that afternoon. The next email was sent after departure about 5 hours later, with an accompanying latitude and longitude. I might pause to explain that, with a laptop and software and a single side band radio, and a few hundred dollars a year fee, I can send and receive very brief emails - more like text messages. I sent them to my friend Paul- my mentor - my friend Bart in NC, Wes, a friend from the marina in Baltimore, Mike, the broker who had sold me Annah Foster, and my family. I could receive email from them as well, and Paul followed along with daily and sometimes several times a day with replies, advice, and jokes. I remember that departure morning pretty well. Best of my recollections was the look of the Atlantic that day - grey, white caps, windy. I procrastinated untieing the dock lines from that last American marina, and, although I knew I would depart, found several excuses to linger and hesitate. I was excited on the outside, but surely petrified inside.

My emails for the first few days make jokes about how poorly I stowed the boat, with stuff all over the floor, and how I lost a dolphin I had hooked from the deck when a wave washed it overboard after I had removed the hook from its mouth. It was one of 2 I caught, and was angry at myself for catching and killing such a beautiful animal, and then losing it to the sea before I could eat it. When the seas started to get rough, I even wrote that I was having my nails done that afternoon, and friend Wes joked with me asking if I had gotten the pizza he had ordered for me for delivery.

On the 12th, I described my day of calm and that night, the wind beginning to make the halyards bang on the masts, late that night. Late in the morning of the 13th, I write that I have lost my steering. The rest of the emails for the next few days show tension, rough seas (as I could not type to save my life and the spelling is terrible), fear, calm, acceptance, and pride. On the 14th, I write that I am going to try to get to Bermuda, and that was the last of my emails on that system, since I used my Hotmail account to send out the word that I had made it safely to Bermuda. I had tossed with no rudder for about 36 hours, followed by 24 hours sitting on the stern with the emergency tiller. I left the stern 4 times in those hours, and still recall the cramped hands and bruised ribs from holding and leaning into the tiller to steer.

Since that un-auspicious beginning, followed by 6 weeks in Bermuda, a 10 day sail to St Martin, 6 months there, and an 18 day sail here to Roatan, with a few bumps along the way, I have had a ball. Met some wonderful people. Have seen some really cool things. There have been a few big hangovers. A few lonely days and nights. Parties. Quiet days reading, and watching my rear end get bigger. Fearful moments at sea. Several big winds at anchor, at sea, and here, tied to the dock in Honduras.

Several milestones for me personally were coming up to that one year anniversary - I had not slept on land for a year, or had not driven a car for a year, but things in my life changed and I did not make it the full 12 months. No big deal at all. In fact was doing much nicer stuff that ended the runs. But the one year since departure should have been prominent in my mind. I should have iced down this old bottle of Asti I brought along and celebrated but was pleasantly distracted by a beautiful woman, and don't regret forgetting and letting it slip by.

So, a few days tardy, I mentally hoist a glass to myself, my life, my choice, my parents, to good friends- met and waiting to be met, and the future.

Life IS good!

Roatan Halloween

Yeah. 3rd World Country. And Halloween? In Roatan's West End, the bars were full of partiers. A friend took me out for the night, and I must say, what struck me most was how many party supplies and costume stuff are available. And the locals who spend their money to be able to dress up and party (I went as an old, fat American tourist!) Was a great night.

At the Twisted Toucan, the manager, Ryan, friend Jane, and owner danced hard all night long.

Cobwebs, pumpkins and even a couple of scary spiders decorated the place for several days. The owner told me she would close the next day and have a private party for her kids and any friends who wanted to come.

Folks wandered from bar to bar, returning where the music or crowd was best, all night long.

Michael Jackson - alive and living in Roatan - and dancing with a female Dracula.

At Foster's, one of the owners is - ready for this? - a Pittsburgher and, of course, Steeler fan (and Pirates and Pens fan, too!)

Does the Steeler wig look familiar to any of you back home?

Had a great night. Wrote to my family back home, asking if they could imagine me dancing to techno, heavy metal, and the like? Kinda hard to imagine? Had a GREAT night, and we shut the place down.

Happy Halloween, late.

Hurricane Richard

Sorry for the lenght of time since last posting, but have been very busy, and most of the time, away from Annah Foster. For the first time in almost a year, I have been sleeping on land in a real bed, and getting to take nice long hot showers, having met a friend who lets me sleep there.

Richard came to Roatan, and as he passed over, moved up from Cat 1 to Cat 2, affecting the western part of the island more than over in French Harbor, where Fantasy Island is. She sits in almost the most sheltered spot around Fantasy, and I didn't worry too much through the night. With help from a friend, I took out my main anchor 90 degrees from the bow, and then rigged something of a bridle and ran it to the stern cleat. Before doing that, we ran dock lines to mangroves and trees on shore, so the anchor pulled her out, away from the dock. The present docks are in very bad shape and a major concern is their breaking up and then damaging the boat, as the lumber washes in the waves.

I actually spent the night of the storm with a friend up in the hills above West End, and filmed the storm through a window early - about 6am - from the veranda, as well as snapping some pics on the trip back out to Fantasy the next day. See below. The damage was mostly on the West End of the island although a friend at Fantasy, who's boat is in one of the most vulnerable locations, bumped the dock several times after his fenders blew up onto his deck. He said it was so rough that he couldn't come out into the cockpit, to flip them back over the stern, as he was med-moored (backed up tied to the dock with a bowline out on a mooring ball or anchor line.).

The next day, we returned to Fantasy to survey the damages and a couple days later, returned again to retrieve the anchor and re-tie the boat to the dock. Is so much easier to do things with a helper along, and I am not sure I could have hauled in the anchor by myself. Sure made it easier.

Most of the damage here was mud slides, fallen trees, and the power was off for a day. We heard metal roofing tearing off a house below in the middle of the night, but they were replacing it the next day, as, surprisingly, the locals were cleaning up the debris and clearing the fallen trees from the roads. It was much to do about nothing, really, but, of course could have been devasting.