A special update because we have a boat!!!

Conan finally bought the “Lil Nauti Lady”, a 19-1/2 deep “V” hulled boat with a 6-1/2 beam, on Tuesday May 3rd. He was having ATM trouble with his bank in the U.S. so I temporarily loaned him $13,500, knowing full well he’s good for it, so he could close the deal with the seller. He’s now completed 2 of his 3 missions in life. 1) An oxygen compressor for his dive tanks, 2) the boat, and as yet not even started, 3) purchasing a Mennonite home to be delivered to a small piece of property here on Kismet. Well 2 out of 3 ain’t bad! But his home purchase will be made soon enough. Anyway we towed the boat to Kismet Tuesday afternoon and couldn’t restart the engine. A Kismet friend named Earl showed up to help Tricia on Wednesday and, low and behold, he has the same type 85hp Yamaha engine. He and Conan did a little maintenance on it and had it running in no time. But it was too late to drag it to the marina to put it in the water. Thursday dawned and by noon we had it at the Sittee River marina. The boat launch was blocked by a 30 foot part barge. You know the kind, a double pontoon flat decked boat with an awning and a railing all around. This one had a bathroom too. Anywho, the owner showed up in a few minutes with his trailer, his wife, and a couple grandkids. He was pulling it out of the water to have it worked on and to sell. Anyone have US$30K laying around. Well getting it onto the trailer was another matter. The first attempt had the barge falling off the port (left for you land lubbers) side of the trailer. I called for him to stop pulling forward and he did and got out to see what happened. The trailer wasn’t in too good a shape anyway and the wood rails were hand wired on and splitting so the barge never was really on the trailer in the rear and the wire rope on the hand winch wire rope was broken. Patrick was there with his boat so we got him to pull the stern (I know, another nautical term, it means the back of the boat) around to try and line it up with the trailer. Easier said than done! It took 3 more tried to finally get it straight on the trailer and out of the water. Because the hand winch was broken so the barge was 4 feet back from where it should have been. This caused the trailer to drag on the ground. Not a good thing, especially with the condition of the road he was going to drive. Plus a new development. One of the trailer tires on the starboard side (right side) was flat. The marina had an air compressor so that was quickly fixed, along with the 2 tires on the port side (remember that’s the right side) that went flat a well while it was sitting on the ramp. We tried everything to get the bow (front) of the barge closer to the deck of the trailer because of the Well the barge had to move 4 feet further onto the trailer or no tow. Conan and I stood on the bow deck to add some weight while our friend Ron used a belt come-a-long to try and lower the bow onto the trailer. No luck. The only alternative was to try and get the barge 4 feet forward. So back in the water to try to float it up to the front. Again, no luck. Ron found the broken wire rope and tied it to the short piece still attached to the winch. The hook was also broken off so Ron attached it to the barge using a vice grip plier. So back into the water one more time to use the buoyancy to help move the boat forward while Ron cranked. I used a water bottle to keep the loose end of the wire rope from fouling the crank gear. That worked and the barge was finally on the trailer and ready to tow. The guy offered us BX$50 to buy cokes bit Conan asked him if he’d sell him 2 boat bumpers instead. The guy gave him the bumpers and still forces BX$10 on us for hydration. I forgot to tell you that it was 100 degrees and VERY sunny and the whole operation took about 2 hours so the drinks were a welcome relief. My shoulders got pretty burnt too because I was wearing a muscle tee. We had no problem getting Conan’s boat in the water and underway. Our first run was to Kismet to see if anyone wanted to come for a ride. I went ashore for a regular tee so my shoulders wouldn’t burn more. Tricia was waiting for a beer delivery so only had time for a short ride. We motored about, getting completely, and refreshingly, soaked because of the waves. Conan played with power settings and engine tilt to make sure everything was working properly and to get a feel for the boat. After dropping Tricia off we headed back to Sittee River to troll a bit (we didn’t catch anything) and tour the river northwest where we’d never been. Really pretty scenery and some really nice docked boats. Too soon we had to head back to the marina to drive Conan’s van and trailer and Ron’s pick up back to Kismet to meet Conan and beach the boat. That was another adventure! We weren’t sure what it was going to be like beaching the boat and them moving it up under the palapa cover. The shore line is made up of a 20-25 degree slope followed by about a 45 degree slope. Tricia did have two 6” pieces of PVC pipe to use as rollers but it still took 6 of us (5 pushing and Ron winching) to get it above the high tide mark but not under the palapa. Hopefully gravity will help us get it back into the water but we’ll have to come up with a better way to beach it. Our think tank (Conan and I) decided we need to put a heavy post into the sand under the palapa, buy a 12 volt winch and mount it on the post, and get 2 more PVC rollers and a couple of planks. That should do it we think. Time will tell… But at least we have a diving/fishing boat and the reef is only 30 minutes away any time we want to go. AND, no more having to put up with incompetent boat skippers. Now we’ll be our own incompetent, but at least more competent than they, skippers. We will at least learn how to be good boat drivers. Well, Conan does have some experience at it having done it for a few years. He’ll have to teach me the intricacies of maneuvering into and out of the docks without crashing into them. And while he’s diving I can do a little trolling near by. I guess though that I’ll have to get myself dive certified at some point. But my take on that is that it interferes with my fishing, and I don’t like things that interfere with my fishing! We’ll see though…

Good friends, and Kismet family members since last year, Matt and Angie will arrive on Friday, bringing their eldest daughter with them. It will be great to see them again and I can’t wait to fish with Matt again. He and I still hold the record for most fish caught in a single trip. I asked him to bring me some fishing tackle (wire leaders and swivel snaps mostly) and a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream and a bottle of Irish Whiskey. You can’t buy Irish Whiskey anywhere in Belize. I promised a shot or 2 to our friend Oliver, an Irish born boy, and he’s all excited. He and his partner Denise own Driftwood Bar and Pizza shack a couple properties south of Kismet. I’ll have to stop there Saturday night…

The local Cinco de Mayo celebration was held at Driftwood on 5/5 (when else would it be held you ask?) and a finer Mexican feast was never cooked up. I had the Barito Pollo with Denise’s fresh mango salsa. It was so good I had to have 2!!! So much for losing weight! I had met Denise in the market a few days before and she was telling me that she forgot the CdM was coming up but was now planning a celebration and, knowing I had over 600 movies, asked if I had Nacho Libre (Jack Black) or ¡Three Amigos! (Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short). Nope but I’ll see if I can download them. Well I found and downloaded both but had no blank DVDs to put them on. So we ended up watching a non-Mexican themed movie. I told her I’d get them to her on DVDs whenever I got a couple. We had a great time anyway.

And that's today's story from the Fatboy in Belize! Keep happy and healthy and practice peace. I do!

The lagoon has closed

I’ve been fishing on the reef twice (4/12 & 4/14) since I posted last, and twice in one week, and I just can’t get enough of it! There’s just something about being out there in a boat seeing the different colors of the water and all that sun. I could stay out there forever. And I had a pretty good day of fishing on the 14th too! Trolling I lost a nice cuda and standing in Bread&Butter Caye I lost 2 more. Bottom fishing in 100 feet of water netted me an 8 pound black grouper (that fed 5 of us and gave me 3 more dinners worth), 5 grunts (I threw 1 back), a permit, and a spotted hind grunt. I was the only one that fished today. On the 12th I caught a cuda that fed 6 while my fishing buddy of the day, Kelly, caught a number of spotted hind groupers and yellowtail snappers. On both trips our boat captain Patrick showed his complete lack of customer focus, as he has several times in the past, and today (4/14) I vowed to never fish with him again and that’s a promise I will keep. (Conan lets buy that boat so we don’t have to rely on the poorly trained fishing guides in Hopkins ever again!) On the 13th Kelly and I caught a catfish each and her traveling companion, Karl, caught a dogtooth snapper in the lagoon. Conan was the recipient of our catch and ate them later in the week.

Jeff and his son Zak, from the San Francisco area, are on a couple month driving tour of Central America and came to stay with us for about a week and a half. They left on Tuesday 4/26. Jeff is a photographer and wants to photograph the Mayan ruins at Carocol on a moonless night. He’s been quoted different price rates for the opportunity and so far has been unable to come to an agreement with the Ministry of Archeology. The rates range anywhere from free to US$800 for the night, depending on who you talk to, and when. They seem to be doing a rather splendid job of jerking him around. He began emailing for permission several months before he came and still no agreement. My take on it is that they will drag their heels until the very last minute hoping that he’ll cough up the US$800 because his trip will be about over. We’ll see how it ends. Click on "Jeff" to take a look at his website to see some of his work.

Zak has been going to the lagoon with me every morning and night but for the longest time he watched Arthur and I catch fish while he went home empty handed. His Dad even bought him a nice rod and spinning reel from Uncle Harry’s Hardware but to no avail…until the evening of Friday 4/22. That night he finally caught 2 small dogtooth snappers to bust his Belize fishing cherry and put an end to what I’m sure he thought was a jinx on him and his fishing rod. A couple days after Zac got his rod Conan, Arthur, and I went to Uncle Harry’s and we were like kids in a candy store Harry had gotten in a shipment of rods and reels and Conan and I were looking to replace the ones we’d had stolen and Arthur wanted to buy a rod to fish with (he’s been borrowing one of mine). So we tried this rod and that reel and that reel and this rod until we found a set that made us happy. I got a nice Shakespeare set up that I will use exclusively in the lagoon and save my Penn for trolling the reef.I also stocked up on weights as we’d lost quite a few of mine over the past week. The lagoon was hungry for fishing tackle so it ate well, while my tackle box got lighter. Harry, the good guy that he is, let is choose BZ$10 worth of lures for free too so we hemmed and hawed over what to pick. We were there a good hour and hated to leave. Before we did Harry’s wife brought down a bag of smoked barracuda that they’d just made using orange (tree) wood for smoke and a soy sauce marinade. Boy was that ever delicious! He said he’d smoke anything we brought in for ½ of whatever it is. I might just do that soon!

The guests booked a fishing/snorkeling trip on Saturday 4/23, and it started off on the wrong foot with Johnny Bosco (stupid sc*mb*g from our trip on 4/5). Tricia gave him BZ$100 to buy gas for the boat before he came to Kismet to pick everyone up so they didn’t have to stop on the way. Well he showed at 9am and at 9:30 I found out that he hadn’t bought the gas and needed to stop at the marina. So he and Tricia got into a shouting match about how he doesn’t listen and how his customer service sucks because now they wouldn’t reach the reef until around 11, 1-1/2 hours later than planned. I decided not to go after he and I had a few words. I didn’t like the high waves and didn’t want to go anway, and you know me and my fishing so you know the wind and surf had to be bad. Conan and his girlfriend Adela, Jeff and Zac, Arthur, and Tricia and Elvis were already going so I would have made 9 with Bosco, a totally overweight boat that was made a little safer by keeping my tonnage on shore. So off they went. On the way to getting gas the hose popped out of the gas can and Bosco, while NOT steering, made a major project out of trying to get the hose back into the can. They finally stopped off the beach 2 blocks from the marina and Bosco and Tricia walked up to the marina for gas. This will illustrate the lack of common sense and foresight of Bosco. He didn’t being a gas tank or even a jerry can for the gas. He expected the marina to have gallon bottles there to put the gas in! Granted you can go to Home Alone’s (another Hopkins person’s nickname) and buy gas by the gallon in old bleach bottles. But now you are talking about the marina…not a chance! So back to the boat to get the gallon bottles that he had 2 cycle engine oil (to mix with the gas for the boat engine) and used them. Not sure what he did with the extra oil though. Out to the reef they went and were soaked and sore from the pounding they took from the waves. Closer to the reef the wave action subsided and they did have a good time snorkeling. Bosco, Elvis, Arthur, and Tricia went bottom fishing while the others snorkeled and spear fished. Conan got a bagful and he let Zac try his hand at it and he got 1 or 2 as well. Tricia said Bosco and Elvis were pulling in small fish 2 at a time while Arthur caught 2 fish all day. You’d think the nitwit, wanting to please his customers, would have helped get Arthur on the fish or made sure that his pole was rigger correctly. Nope! He just fished on. Another reason I won’t fish with the guy ever again. He and another boat driver I fished with we more interested in how much fish they we catching than in making sure the paying customers were happy. And the other boat driver argues with me about sharing HIS bait with me. Now one of the things that comes with the fishing excursion is fishing tackle and bait. I always bring my own tackle because mine is in good shape, where theirs just barely has line on it. But I do expect to be provided live bait for trolling. He did finally give me some and was thoroughly pissed when I caught more than he did. Anyway…I’ll stop complaining now. It’s just a sore point with me that these guys are supposed to provide a service for tourist that will leave them with fond memories and fail miserably. CONAN BUY THAT BOAT YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT!!!

We had another photographer guest here at Kismet. His name is Martin and he hails from London. From what I’ve seen he’s pretty darn good at it. Take a look at his website (click on Martin) and see what you think.

Fishing in the lagoon has come to a stand still for the moment. The mouth of the lagoon closed completely on May 1st because it’s the dry season and that’s what it’s supposed to do. The locals say it’s nature’s way of recharging it. We’ll see. Conan and I took a walk up to fish on the 2nd and caught absolutely nothing. Nary a bite even except for the crabs. Peter came to try throwing net and came up empty handed as well. Over the next few days Conan and I will canoe around and try some of the deeper spots to see if we can find anything to bring home. We’ll also take the canoe up into the big lagoon (a 2 mile paddle to get to it) to see if the stories of big tarpon and snook are true. Keep your fingers crossed!

The nation got some good news yesterday for a change. Osama Bin Laden is dead thanks to Seal Team 6. Maybe that will give a bit of closure to those who lost family and friends on 9/11 and allow the country to begin healing. But there’s still a long way to go in the fight against terrorism. There’s plenty more where he came from…

And, so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Belize… And, as always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace. I am!!!