Day I
Rain! Did I mention it was raining? The flight from T.O had to detour via Belize. We made it – eventually. Two hours late. The girls must have either loved me or wanted their goods because they waited for me. After a quick tour and roadside pee, we ventured off to provision. It seemed that we needed just a little! Unfortunately, I felt a little under the weather, and we had to postpone the Lobster/Champagne dinner until later.
Day II
It was still raining! We played games – Mah Jong/Sequence/Dominoes. And we chatted. It was still raining. We took a quick tour of town – the rain had done it’s damage. Finally, we had a break in the afternoon. We took the chance, and went snorkelling. We saw blue tangs, squirrel fish, grouper, banded butterfly fish and all kinds of coral! Wonderful! Then I took off my fins – not even blisters as there was no skin left! Yikes!
Day III
It was still raining. We got a break, and Cheryl and I walked the beach to West Bay. We saw a rainbow, a rickety old metal bridge, an ant hill, and lots of garbage along the shore. Cheryl let us play Mah Jong in the afternoon, as my feet were too sore to snorkel.
Day IV
It was still raining. Cheryl cleaned the boat in her underwear! We got to play Mah Jong again – thanks Cheryl. The evening brought appetizers and drinks at Somerset 33. What a great group of cruisers.
Day V
Off to town with Niki Wiki to see the Botanical Gardens. What a hike. Good thing we had our guide Scout. The view was great from the top. Back down to see the medicinal plants. A quick trip to Anthony’s Key – dolphins, gift shop and back in the collectivo to town. Slippery Sues offered good burgers and company. Thanks girls!
Day VI
A lazy day. It rained again in the morning. Have I mentioned the rain? We really did not do much. Cheryl was off – out and about and Karen and I had a great chance to catch up.
Day VII
Last day. It rained again, and then the skies opened. The sun came out, and what a beautiful sight. Plus, it was Daytona 500, so a trip to town to see the race was required! The girls went for a snorkel, while I caught the last of the warm sun before heading home. What a great visit. Thanks Interlude IX.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Deb and Jim's Week
We arrived in Roatan on Saturday 3 Feb 2011 and finally realized after multiple trips that life really revolves around Trouble (the dingy).
Trouble needed help with the luggage including 2 dive bags, 1 camera bag, 1 clothes bag, and 2 computer back packs along with Cheryl and Deb so the dingy from Highland Light provided assistance. You will learn that people's names are secondary to boat names. Karen and Jim along with the fruit from the local market – a guy selling out of the back of his pickup arrived in Trouble. From there, Trouble was our center of entertainment. Interesting facts about Trouble:
• Trouble is a frequent participant in dingy roundups (not nearly as disgusting as it sounds). A roundup is when dingies from a variety of boats tie together to share snacks and conversation somewhere toward the end of the day. The whole thing in Roatan was supervised by a Hooligan named Nigel (I think he is an American).
• Cheryl and Karen must alternate driving and it creates interesting banter when someone drives out of turn.
• Each trip ends with “another safe trip” which, by the way, is a good thing.
• Trouble is really fast with two people aboard but she doesn’t plane out when you have 4 divers, 4 tanks, and all of their dive gear aboard.
• Diving is easy from Trouble. There are multiple methods of entry from the back roll, the back flip which usually only occurs when Karen falls out of the dingy, or toss your gear overboard and get ready in the water but Cheryl occasionally needs help with a mask that falls to the bottom. Finally, the giant stride is not recommended.
Deb’s been on Interlude 3 times and Jim the last two and we’re progressing as Cheryl and Karen have finally come to the conclusion that we will continue to show up, so they might as well enjoy it.
The first trip in Trinidad the boat was on dry dock so Deb had to climb a 30’ ladder to get on board and her only opportunity to get on the water was going from one side to the other of the marina, of course, in Trouble.
Last year in Belize the boat was (you guessed it) docked. When we had the opportunity to go on the water, again, it was in Trouble. There was not enough wind to sail. By this time, we are convinced is that Trouble tows Interlude from place to place as Trouble is the only boat we had seen actually moving.
This year we’re progressing as Trouble secured our mooring ball while Interlude, yes, that’s right, Interlude, was detached from the mooring ball and was allowed onto the open ocean for 3 hours. There was not enough wind to sail (apparently Interlude requires a hurricane to push the sails). Our trip was really just to charge the battery but we did learn there is an engine on board and, more importantly, the sail went up for 5 minutes so there really is a sail. Not the Main, of course, but we have it on reliable authority that the Main is rarely seen. We’ve also been told we will sail next time which we believe is just a ploy for them to avoid paying shipping on boat parts but the aft cabin head is now repaired and there is an extra water tank on board for a future leak.
We had a great trip. Karen and Cheryl are terrific hosts, doing dishes every day is not all bad, we learn more about the boat every trip and Roatan is a nice place to visit. Thanks again!
Trouble needed help with the luggage including 2 dive bags, 1 camera bag, 1 clothes bag, and 2 computer back packs along with Cheryl and Deb so the dingy from Highland Light provided assistance. You will learn that people's names are secondary to boat names. Karen and Jim along with the fruit from the local market – a guy selling out of the back of his pickup arrived in Trouble. From there, Trouble was our center of entertainment. Interesting facts about Trouble:
• Trouble is a frequent participant in dingy roundups (not nearly as disgusting as it sounds). A roundup is when dingies from a variety of boats tie together to share snacks and conversation somewhere toward the end of the day. The whole thing in Roatan was supervised by a Hooligan named Nigel (I think he is an American).
• Cheryl and Karen must alternate driving and it creates interesting banter when someone drives out of turn.
• Each trip ends with “another safe trip” which, by the way, is a good thing.
• Trouble is really fast with two people aboard but she doesn’t plane out when you have 4 divers, 4 tanks, and all of their dive gear aboard.
• Diving is easy from Trouble. There are multiple methods of entry from the back roll, the back flip which usually only occurs when Karen falls out of the dingy, or toss your gear overboard and get ready in the water but Cheryl occasionally needs help with a mask that falls to the bottom. Finally, the giant stride is not recommended.
Deb’s been on Interlude 3 times and Jim the last two and we’re progressing as Cheryl and Karen have finally come to the conclusion that we will continue to show up, so they might as well enjoy it.
The first trip in Trinidad the boat was on dry dock so Deb had to climb a 30’ ladder to get on board and her only opportunity to get on the water was going from one side to the other of the marina, of course, in Trouble.
Last year in Belize the boat was (you guessed it) docked. When we had the opportunity to go on the water, again, it was in Trouble. There was not enough wind to sail. By this time, we are convinced is that Trouble tows Interlude from place to place as Trouble is the only boat we had seen actually moving.
This year we’re progressing as Trouble secured our mooring ball while Interlude, yes, that’s right, Interlude, was detached from the mooring ball and was allowed onto the open ocean for 3 hours. There was not enough wind to sail (apparently Interlude requires a hurricane to push the sails). Our trip was really just to charge the battery but we did learn there is an engine on board and, more importantly, the sail went up for 5 minutes so there really is a sail. Not the Main, of course, but we have it on reliable authority that the Main is rarely seen. We’ve also been told we will sail next time which we believe is just a ploy for them to avoid paying shipping on boat parts but the aft cabin head is now repaired and there is an extra water tank on board for a future leak.
We had a great trip. Karen and Cheryl are terrific hosts, doing dishes every day is not all bad, we learn more about the boat every trip and Roatan is a nice place to visit. Thanks again!
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