More on Orlando and my trip back home to Belize...

Well I’m finally back from almost 3 weeks in Orlando, with a 3 day side trip to Hanceville AL and Atlanta GA and while I loved being in Orlando seeing my kids, visiting with cousins, old friends, old AT&T friends, and eating up a storm it was good to finally get back home to my own bed again. While I love to travel I’ve always longed, at some point in the trip, for my bed, my pillow, and some sense of normalcy to be restored to my life. I had my funny incident on the way up to Cancun for my flights to Orlando and some issues with the flight back to Cancun for that long bus ride back to Hopkins but toward the end I was just too tired to accept that I may have to spend another night in a hotel and another 6 hours on the chicken buses. I gave up and flew from Corozal to Dangriga on the puddle jumpers (man I love flying on them!) just so I COULD get back to my own bed. I found the extra cash (US$130) to turn the hotel and chicken buses into a three 15 minute flights and finished my travels on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Now here’s the part where you’re supposed to feel sorry for me. I was doing all this traveling with 2 carry-ons and 2 checked bags (until I got to the bus part that is. Then I had to drag it all.) I had a total of 185 pounds of luggage! You know me…I had a shopping list a mile long of things I needed down here, mainly fishing tackle, but also 6 burglar alarms, 20 paperbacks, a new laptop, other assorted other junk, and, of course, a couple of pounds of chocolate that I had to keep from melting. The flight from Orlando was delayed for an hour. We taxied most of the way out to the runway but were notified by the pilot that a cargo door may have popped open. Better on the ground than at 35,000 feet was my take on it. The layover in Miami was an hour longer than my itinerary said so that added another hour. We boarded the flight to Cancun and it started to rain. We got the notice that it was a big t-storm cell over and around the airport. Another hour lost. Finally we pushed away from the gate and then stopped. The captain apologized for this next delay. Air Force One had just landed and the airport was closed until the President was safely off airport property. Another hour lost. So now what should have been a 45 minute flight to Miami, a 1hr 30min layover, and a 90 minute flight to Cancun (3hr 45min) turned into over 6 hours. That plus clearing security in Orlando and Immigration and Customs in Cancun for another 3 hours made for a long day. At least I had the foresight to book a nice hotel in Cancun before I left. An interesting thing happened on the way to the hotel. I was treated to a double waterspout off-shore that lasted almost 30 minutes. Too cool! I hadn’t seen a waterspout since Vietnam 41 years ago and that was a double too. Anyway, I got some much needed sleep and was on the Mexican bus to Chetumal MX at 8am. Three pm though I had had it, even though the Mexican buses are really nice. Clearing Customs in Belize is always an adventure and this time I actually had to pay US$135 for the fishing tackle, 6 wireless burglar alarms, and my new laptop. I did manage to get 70 cigars (I was allowed 25) and a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey (not bought in a duty free store) passed them though. That would have been REALLY expensive because the duty on tobacco and liquor is 90%. Anyway, the bus schedule in Belize wasn’t in my favor so I would have had to spend a night in Belize City, after a 3 hour chicken bus ride, and faced 2 more chicken buses, and another 3 hours, on Wednesday to get home. Not going to happen! I hopped a cab at the bus depot and headed for Mayan Island Air in Corozal BZ and was on a plane 15 minutes later. I made Dangriga by 5pm and had an hour to wait for Conan to come get me. He and Tricia finally arrived and I treated them to dinner and hit the bank before heading to Hopkins. I was in my bed and dead to the world by 8:30pm, bags tossed inside my door for unpacking whenever I got up. So now things are back to normal. I had a 6 hour breakfast at Thong’s Café with Conan and Robert (where the heck did the time go???) catching up on all the village news and an hour long nap in a hammock in the afternoon. No fishing but that may come tomorrow with a trip out to the reef if the weather holds. I finally got all of my luggage unpacked by 9pm and finally I finally feel settled in and home.

As a side note I met up with quite a few old AT&T colleagues at Jax in Lake Mary FL that I hadn’t seen since I retired and moved to Lucent Technologies in early ’98. We all got together through a new page on Facebook created by Ralph DAlessandro. It was so nice to catch up with everyone again! I also got together with Joe and Alice, whom I hadn’t seen in over 15 years too. Another blessing! And, of course my visit with Cuzin Ed and Debbie and family and my good friend Janet as well. Always love visiting with all of them!

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

Orlando, Alabama, Orlando again and way too much food!

It’s been a while since I posted last so I figured I had better get to it since so much has happened since I left for Orlando on May 25th.

I arrived in Orlando and immediately started to fulfill my “must eat” list that I have every time I come back to the states. Chicago Dogs, chili cheese dogs, pizza, and the like were all devoured in the 1st couple of days. I also spent about $600 on fishing equipment and other odds and end needed back home in Belize. I bought every wire leader at 3 WalMart stores and lures and hooks at several fishing/sporting good stores. I hit the thrift stores and bought 25 books to add to my collection. Water shoes, flip flops, dry bags (for use in the boat) and other items are already packed in my 2 check in bags. As of this moment I still have a few more things to buy but I have to weigh my luggage 1st to insure that they are still under the 50lb weight limit. We’ll see. Carrie and I renewed acquaintances with my friends Joe and Alice, whom I hadn’t seen in close to 15 years. It was so nice to see them again and swap stories of our lives since we’d parted.

I also made plans to visit my Sister Diana in Floral City FL for 2 nights. One of the days there we spent kayaking the Rainbow River. We spent close to 6 hours exploring nature from a double kayak, eating lunch on the bank and swimming in the 72 degree water. It was a most enjoyable day!

One of my primary reasons for coming was to attend my daughter Carrie’s delayed (by almost 14 years) Catholic confirmation on Sunday May 29th. It was nice to see her finally complete her requirements for her next life. As you know she has made the decision to devote her life to God and is in the process of being accepted to the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration order which is a cloistered contemplative order and is hoping to be cloistered at the Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville AL. So the 2nd part of my trip was dedicated to driving her (she doesn’t drive) from Orlando to Hanceville, a 12 hour journey. Our trip to Alabama was uneventful and we arrived in Hanceville, which is in the middle of nowhere, around 10pm. Before checking into our hotel we drove to the Monastery to have a look. Of course the gate was closed and locked but the grounds were well lit so we had a great view of the church and several outbuildings. While we were standing at the gate looking in a car drove up and a young monk, Brother Juan, got out of the car and asked it we were ok. Of course we told him why we were there and of Carrie’s interview in the morning. He invited us to the 6am Divine Office, which was their morning prayer and chanting followed by a 7am mass being said by a brand new priest who had been ordained the day before. At the conclusion of the mass he personally blessed each of us and we were given one of his ordination cards. What a treat both services were and it was a great way to start our day. The mass and blessing ended at 8:30 which left us with a half hour to tour the church. In the lower church was a shrine to the Shroud of Turin, full size pictures of the cloth housed in France. You can actually see the blood stains of the wounds our Lord suffered during his torture which were horrific. They covered his entire body from head to toe. In the next room was the crypt where Nuns who had gone to their reward were interred. Carrie new of 2 of them, one who had just passed and the other is Mother Angelica’s mother who became a Nun late in life. At 9am we made our appearance at the information desk and were shown where to wait for her interview. Sister Isabella met with us and asked Carrie some very pointed questions as to why she was choosing a contemplative life instead of serving God as a Lay-person and having a family. Carrie’s answers, which I won’t go into, were very positive and told the Sister in no uncertain terms that she was being led to that type of life because it felt right and that having a family, a job, and serving God part time would not satisfy her desires. That brought a huge smile to the Sister. Sister also asked if Carrie had done any reading about cloistered life and Carrie mentioned that she was reading the biography of Mother Angelica. Sister then recommended she read about Saint Therese, whose story goes into great detail of the life Carrie would be living. We had told her how far we’d traveled for a 1 hour meeting and she was impressed that it meant so much to both of us to make the journey. She asked how long we planned to be in town and I told her that we would stay as long as was needed. It was another positive show of Carrie’s desire. She said that it may be up to 3 days before she would be able to see one of the Mothers and Carrie said that was fine. With that Sister said she would try to see how long we might be waiting. She returned with a huge smile on her face and said that she would have her 2nd interview at 10:45 that morning and showed us where the interview would take place, which was in the area just inside the cloister itself. I’m sure our answers as to how long we would stay had something to do with the immediate interview. So we walked over to the book store and bought one of the suggested books while we waited. At the appointed time we went to the meeting room, which is where the cloister Nuns meet with their families during family visits. The Nun is separated from her family by an ornate metal screen. They can touch hands but have no other physical contact. Anyway, Mother (I’m sorry but I’ve forgotten her name) came in and introduced herself and we to her and she asked, “What is in your heart?” To which Carrie told her in great detail. Mother asked her very pointed questions about her personal life from an infant to her 25th year. She was pleased with Carrie’s answers to some of the more important incidents. She was not the Nun who normally did these interviews and that the one who did was having her family visit day. She asked if Carrie had provided her contact information, to which Carrie replied yes, and she said that she would be contacted in the near future to start the intensive interview process, which will include a visit of several days, when Carrie will live with them in the Monastery and Live their daily spiritual and work life to see for herself if it is truly what she wants to do. So now we wait.

Following our stop at the Monastery We drove to Birmingham to tour the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), which was started by Mother Angelica in the early 80’s. That was pretty interesting. We were able to go into the studio where the shows are either broadcast live or are taped for later broadcast, the radio station, the production booths, and other areas all dedicated to bringing the word of God to the world. We also heard about their brush with the recent tornados and saw damaged apartments, homes and businesses in the surrounding area. We were finally on our way back home by 5pm. Earlier in the day I had hoped to make Orlando by late evening but not having but 3 hours of sleep the night before changes our plans. We spent the night in Atlanta and got on the road by 1pm and made it home by 11:30pm.

Now it was time for more of my “must eat” plans. On Tuesday it was lunch with my son Matt at 4 Rivers BBQ, which was excellent as always, and dinner with my son Rich at The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park. We ate like the name implies! We tried several menu items:

Lobster Tacos - cilantro, avocado, pickled jalapeño, cabbage slaw

Steak Tartare - house-made potato chips, truffle aioli, pickled ramps, roasted mushrooms, coddled egg yolk

House-made Charcuterie and Artisan Cheese – served with marinated olives and grain mustard
- toscano
- chicken liver mousse
- country ham
- lardo toast
- pepperoni
- robiola bosina cow and sheep’s milk
- bresaola
- reypenaer vsop 2 yr aged gouda
- brown sugar fennel

Rich’s dinner: Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Gnudi - oregon black morel mushrooms, zellwood corn, italian summer truffles

My dinner: Niman Ranch Lamb Leg - potato torta, eggplant caponata, charlie’s sunshine squash and vidalia onion purée

Rich’s dessert: Cheesecake - goat cheesecake, cherry compote, graham crust, cherry granite

Mine: Crisp - peach-blackberry crisp, almond streusel, toffee ice cream

Needless to say we left groaning and walking slowly back to the car… But we weren't finished yet! We went to a weekly "food truck" event in downtown Orlando. It consists of 8-10 gourmet food vendors. We meant only to look at what was being offered but Rich and I ended up sharing a Chimoo sandwich: Ribeye steak, chicken, coleslaw and sweet tater fries all on a soft hoggie roll. Now we're in pain!!! We may put off eating for the next couple of days.

Friday, June 10th is a get-to-gather with some 40+ friends that I worked with in AT&T in both NJ and FL before I retired in ’98. I’m really looking forward to that! So that’s where I’ll be at 6pm.

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

Roasted nuts, breasts, and Cancun..

Everything started out normally at 5:45 when I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock bidding me good morning and announcing that it was the start of my travel day. I can’t say that it went downhill from there but I should have known something unexpected was going to happen.

I got myself ready and walked out to the beach. The camping family wasn’t up yet and I had bus information for the next part of their trip. They were all safe and sound in their camping hammocks under the sea grape trees. Their plans are pretty fluid and included stops in Placencia and Punta Gorda (PG), both south of Hopkins and Kismet. They would be up soon enough, packing, and I’d pass my info to them. We did have plans to walk to the 7am Hopkins bus stop, just 3 lanes down from Kismet. They aren’t more than a footnote here though.

Tricia had the kitchen open so I went up to see what was going on. The table was set for breakfast and the pot of coffee was sitting on the table. She regally swept in and we exchanged morning pleasantries As always she was a whirling dervish of energy, cleaning, moving things, etc. In seconds she had the coffee pot turned on it’s side, draining into one of the empty breakfast plates. Back on it base in seconds and the area cleaned in seconds.

Robert moseyed in, yep he’s a mossier, Matt next, and then Conan, who’s been acting rather oddly lately, was almost right behind him. The past couple of days has seem Conan waking up much earlier than he has almost since he arrive in late November. It could be that he wants his baby back into the water and underway, it may be something else. No matter. He did say he was going to be up to see me off, and he was. Again, pleasantries all around. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the camper girls walking toward the kitchen steps so I met her half way. Her sister came from the direction of the shower too so I told them the info on the bus and about going to Placencia by boat from Independence, the town on the way to PG. I also asked if they were feeling better after having spent the previous day trying for news of family and friends back in tornado revenged Joplin, MO. (Thankfully they learned everyone was fine.) and they said a good night’s sleep is what they needed and got. So, off to my final packing. Six-thirty came and I said my goodbyes to goodbyes to everyone, got plenty of hugs, and headed for the parking lot to start walking to the bus stop. Robert offered us a ride and we were saved from a much longer walk because of it. He got us to the stop just as the bus was backing out into the street. If we’d have walked we’d have missed it and had to walk the much longer distance to the middle of the village. I mentioned that it was hot already at 7am so we would have been sweat drenched by the time we got there, having dragged all of out luggage. The ride through Hopkins and out to the 2 junctions was normal. The campers got off at the Hopkins Road junction and we waved a final goodbye. I got off at the Southern Hwy and Hummingbird Highways for my trip west and north. The bus came. I got on, and that was the start of my adventure.

I boarded the chicken bus to Belize City and it was standing room only. The buses used for intra-Belize travel are Bluebird school buses. They hold about 50 kids and haven’t been modified for larger adults so foot and knee space is at a premium. There were probably 20 people standing in the aisle. Since I was the last on from the 6 Mile junction I chose to stay right near the door. The buses are not air conditioned and at 8am it was already near 90. The windows and front entry door are always left open to allow for the 55mph airflow to make the heat more tolerable. I chose to sit on the plastic engine cover right next to the driver and toll taker, who stands in the door. At least I had a seat of sorts. Now here’s where things get interesting! The plastic engine cover was pretty slippery so I was holding onto anything I could hook my fingers on. And to make matters worse it got hot. After about 45 minutes my butt and boy parts had been slow roasted. I started formulating a plan to boycott Planters Peanut because now I know what happens when they slow roast their nuts. I don’t ever want to hear of a nut having to be put through that because it burns (if you get my drift)! But I endured it and was pleasantly rewarded for my tribulation. After passing through the Mayan Mountains the driver came up on a stalled truck rather suddenly and had to slam on the brakes. I was rewarded, although it was a rescue attempt, by a dark haired American girl who was thrown forward onto me, and I grabbed her to keep her from slamming into the windshield, straddling my thighs with her hers, which landed her left breast right smack into my face. Well actually both of them were there but I had a better feel for the left one at first. Her continued slid actually dragged both of them across my face until she finally came to rest. I was a bit surprised but being a guy…I was in heaven. I haven’t been that friendly with a woman in some time! It took her a bit to get herself half way off of me and she started apologizing. I certainly didn’t need an apology, and barely heard it anyway because I was staring at a very nice set of…well, you know what! And I certainly needed/wanted more of what just happened. I told her not to worry about it, that it was the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time. She chuckled and then…her headlights came on! She noticed it right away and man did she turn red! That did it for me! I was way past heaven now and she was still straddling me. She finally was able to stand up but gave me a kiss on the lips and a thank you for keeping her from getting hurt. The God’s are kind to the Fatboy every once in a while… At that point I found out that the conductor, who was standing in the open door, was slammed forward into the door and ejected out of the bus. Lucky for him the ground he landed on was soft and all he got was a few scrapes and bruises. Me, I got face breasted so I was the lucky of us. Anyway, her name is Callie and she is from NJ and was headed for San Ignacio for a week. We talked for the rest of the ride and she apologized again and I said that I was happy for “the way she ended up”. More laughs. The bus makes a stop in Belmopan and because it’s against the law for the bus to have passengers standing they stopped 2 blocks short of the terminal and asked everyone who was getting out in Belmopan to get off and walk in. Luckily no one was burdened with a lot of luggage. The bus pulled in, added more passengers, then headed for Belize City.

I got out at the Belize City bus stop and into a cab for the Caye Caulker Water Taxi where I was going to buy my ADO (Mexican) bus ticket to Cancun. Now I’d seen on their website that the bus left from there but that was old info. Now you take the chicken bus to Chetumal MX and get on the 1st class bus from there. So I buys me ticket and gets back into the cab. I told the driver what happened and he offered to drive me across the border into Mexico for $75 Belize ($37.50 US) and said he’d make it in under 2 hours. SOLD!!! Off we went. After that the trip turned normal. We crossed the border. I had absolutely no trouble with either crossing. I got on a local shuttle for at the border that took me to the ADO terminal for 10 Pesos (about 90 cents). Thirty minutes later I was on the air conditioned 1st class bus and headed north. With the 1 hour time advance in MX we arrived at around 9pm in downtown Cancun. The only bad thing about that ride was that I left my computer mouse in the seat and the bus pulled right out and headed somewhere else. (I’m using a mouse the hotel clerk lent me.) I told a taxi driver I wanted a cheap but nice hotel near the airport so I am safely in bed in a really nice Comfort Inn (with full breakfast and free airport shuttle) for US$60. I asked the desk clerk about something to eat and she pointed me toward the 7-11 and a Burger King because everything else was closed. I made the Burger King by 5 minutes. Any later and I’d have been dining on chips or something.

So that’s the 1st part of my travel tale. Hopefully the rest of my trip will be quiet. By the way, Matt and Angie left today too and are probably safely home in Chattanooga TN by now. They were flying out of Dangriga to Belize International and then Delta to Atlanta and Chattanooga. They had a great time while they were at Kismet and promised to come back again.

Good news...and bad news...

The good news:

Matt and Angie came back to us on Friday 5/6. They were here last November and enjoyed it so much they just had to return as soon as possible. (And we love that!) This time they brought their eldest daughter Shanee, a pretty little blonde to try the place out as well. She was an immediate hit with me because almost the 1st words out of her mouth were that she wanted to go fishing. A girl after my own heart! We didn’t make the nightly lagoon run but the next morning around 9am Matt, Shanee, and I grabbed fishing poles and Angie came along to sightsee. We didn’t catch anything but it was a nice way to start off their trip. Shanee, well Matt too, is excited about getting out to the reef for the big ones and we’ll do that as soon as Conan and I get the boat ship shape. On the way back to Kismet Shanee looked out over the sea and said she was impressed by the number of people out in the water and how far out they were. I guess she must need glasses because it was 2 large flocks of pelicans sitting in the water waiting for their breakfast to swim by. We had a good laugh over it. They did the zipline excursion yesterday and loved it. Matt taught repelling in the Army so he’s cool with it but Shanee was scares stiff. But she jumped off on each of the 6 different zipline and ended up loving the whole thing. Angie loved it too. They couldn’t stop talking about how much they enjoyed it. A couple of us here keep threatening to do that and the cave tubing too but for some reason we never get around to it. One day… Shanee left us today to return to her hubby and 3 year old daughter but she swears she’ll return. Matt and Angie would like to get the entire family down to enjoy Belize because they are hoping to retire here in 5 years or so.

I was like a kid in a candy store the 1st 2 days Matt and Angie arrived. I’d asked Matt to head to the store and resupply me with weights, swivel snaps, and wire leaders because I was about out. He did better than that, adding in some hooks and a couple lures too. I’m fully resupplied now. Another request I had was for a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream for my coffee and a bottle if Irish sipping whiskey. I got those the next day! He brought a bottle of Jameson, one of my very favorites. I shared shots with Conan and Chris (more on him later) in the kitchen and brought the bottle over to the Driftwood to share a bit with my Irish friend Oliver. He was in heaven too because you can’t get Irish whiskey here in Belize and I’m always teasing him about his joint being a pretty bad Irish pub because I can’t get any there. Bad me I wasn’t able to share a shot or 2 with Matt (it’s one of his favorites whiskeys too) and Angie until Monday night because they are always on the run. He wouldn’t take money for any of it but I’ll make up for it in other ways. It’s also just nice to see the 2 of them again. He and I still hold the total fish caught on a reef trip and I’m hoping we can better our total and keep he and I number 1.

Chris came back through Kismet on his way back to the sates and his job, on Saturday 5/7. It was a grand surprise because we didn’t know when to expect him. Conan and I were sitting in the kitchen yakking when he walked up and yelled to us. He’d grown his hair out and shaved (said it was for the ladies he met on his C.A. travels) so it took a second to realize who he was. So he got quickly back into the swing of Kismet life. Sad part is he only stayed until Wednesday 5/11 when he had to head to Belize City for his flight. Hopefully he’ll return next year!

Tuesday May 10th was our 1st reef diving/snorkeling/fishing trip out to the keys. Matt, Angie, Shanee, Conan, and I were the crew. They all snorkeled and I fished. I didn’t catch anything and I won’t tell you about the big cuda I lost after it jumped twice (ok I guess I just did) but Dwayne’s (owner of Bread&Butter Caye) 2 workman caught a nice cuda and a small jack. My compatriots had a great time with Conan and Dwayne’s Hawaiian sling spearing fish. We were given the 2 fish, actually we were given a much bigger cuda for taking them out and I gifted them each a lure, so we ate well that night and even fed 5 other guests. So, all in all, it was a great day!

And now the bad news:

Well it happened again! I was showing a flick up in the kitchen on Mother’s Day and while we were fully committed to watching “Paul” (which was pretty funny by the way) someone stole my newest rod/reel and Matt’s brand new rod/reel that he brought from the states from outside my trailer. We knew of 2 locals who passed through the property that night and promptly went to one of them and he was ruled out immediately. The other one, we have no idea where he lives. So it’s time to set up a sting and salt the area and wait in ambush with hard sticks and machetes. Conan and I were told by 2 separate cops that it’s legal to stab a thief in the butt or leg to “slow him down and make it easier to catch and identify (because of the wound) the thief. We hope to catch someone red handed and make an example of him by giving him a permanent limp that will remind other potential thieves that we’re tired of it and ain’t gonna take it anymore! News updates as they happen! Anyway, Matt and I visited Uncle Harry’s and replaced out missing gear. As I walked in I ask Harry if it was alright that I called in a Dangriga cop. He asked why and I told him about out latest misfortune. I said, “Who knew we had new fishing tackle and who would benefit most from it going missing?” We had a good chuckle over that and picked out our stuff.

We’ve had a heck of a time getting the boat out of the water and up on the beach. It took 6 of us and a big come-a-long strap the 1st time and 5 guys and a come-a-long the 2nd , and we didn’t succeed that time. We have two 6” PVC rollers and a couple of boards too nit we just can’t figure our how to get it up the double slope of the shore line in front of Kismet. We bought a heavy duty hand winch, an 8X8 railroad tie, and a bag of cement trying to make it easier but each idea fails. We’ve sunk the darn thing at least 5 times now. The post is now cemented into the sand under the palapa and today (Monday 5/10) and mounted the winch on Wednesday. When we attempted to pull the boat out we found that, even with the post cemented 2 feet into the sand, it wasn’t stable enough to pull the boat. The boat did move a few feet until the post started pulling forward, at which time we stopped. So we bailed as much water out of it as we could, all the while waves were refilling it, and finally were able to get it floated. So we pulled it out about 100 feet into waist deep water, set the anchor, and hooked up the battery to get the bilge pump working. No luck! There was just too much sand in the pump hole. Someone, and I won’t mention any names to protect all of us because we’ve all had some pretty strange ideas, determined that we should face the bow (front of the boat) toward the beach. VERY WRONG MOVE!!! Several large waves poured over the transom (the wall at the back of the boat that the engine is connected to) and down she went. So we swam off heavy hearted and took a much needed break, We’d been at this more or less from 2am on, trying to use high and low tide to solve some of our problems. We figured that high tide would help us get the boat up the slope. We thought that waiting until low tide we could get most of the water out and it would be easier to pull it up. Twice we’ve used Robert’s (another long term resident) 2 wheel drive pickup truck to winch it up the darn slope. We’ve now beached it half way up the slope but it isn’t high enough and high tide refills the boat with water and floating seaweed. We are all pretty sore from all the work we’ve done to save the boat. Matt is a weight-lifter kind of guy and even he’s suffering. I guess it’s because we aren’t used to working in moving water, being pounded by big waves, pushing/pulling the boat with shifting sand around our feet, and bailing like madmen for extended periods of time. It uses different muscles that we don’t normally use in those ways. So, nothing has worked and we’re all very frustrated but we have to keep trying because we want to save the boat. Today is another day and we’ll start all over again. And another thing…we’re getting rashes in delicate places from spending so much time in the water. I guess it’s time to pray to the patron saints of lost causes, boaters, the sea gods and goddesses, and anyone else we can think of to save us poor miserable boat people. We just can’t win…

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

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!!!

Fishing, guests, chickens, and life in general.

I’ve had an odd question from several of you so I figure I better answer. The question is what do I wear every day? Well I’ve made it easy on myself. I wear a bathing suit and muscle tee and nothing on my feet. At night I wear a pair of cotton athletic shorts. On days when I go into Dangriga or Belmopan I take may take a pair of flip flops but wear them less than ½ the trips. I’ve been to the U.S. Embassy in bathing suit and barefoot twice and no one has said a word. It’s too hot to wear much more than I do and I never know when I’ll end up in the water so I’m always prepared. My pockets are always empty too because of that and I have to remember to take money with me when I leave the property. I’ve been caught short in the grocery stores more than once with no cash because I forgot to load my pockets. Most times I don’t even have ID on me. You don’t have to carry your passport here so mine is always locked away with my wallet. I did wear a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt (I even wore underwear!) for Luke & Jen’s beach wedding. Other than that my normal clothes are put away until I leave for the states because I DON”T NEED THEM!!! I like to live as simply as possible because I’m retired and I want to do as little work, and laundry, as possible. Anyway, its “no shirt, no shoes, no problem” most everywhere in Belize.

We had 2 more guests this week that we didn’t want to leave. Mark is from Douglasville GA who is a retired merchant seaman formerly of the Military Sealift Command and a former monk trainee (he never took his final vows. His friend James lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and they’ve known each other for 35 years. Mark has joined the ranks of the Hopkins Fishing Club on Facebook and is a fly fisherman. He ventured out to the lagoon with me at 4:30am one morning to try his hand and caught a needlefish, actually foul hooked it in the stomach. But we recorded it as a catch none the less. I foul hooked a tiny snapper too just to make him feel better. On our reef trip he caught 2 more fish…by the mouth. Mark is looking to make his retirement home here in Belize and I hope it’s here in Hopkins. We can never have too many fishing buddies!!! Plus he’s a trained chef and we’ve been putting his skills to the test and he’s passed admirably. Coconut curried barracuda, stuffed peppers (my request) and several other entrees and veggie dishes have delighted out palettes! We’re going to steal his passport so he can’t leave! They did stay 9 days and I think thoroughly enjoyed it. But we were talking about all the people that had passed though Kismet that we didn’t want to leave but decided that, had they not left, we wouldn’t have met the next bunch we wanted to stay because Kismet would have been full up. So we decided its good they leave but that they come back again very soon, when there is a room available for them again.

Frank left us on Wednesday 4/5 to head home for Norway so we had to get in one more reef fishing adventure before he left. Our crew consisted of Frank, Mark, James, Conan, Tricia, Elvis, and me. Patrick, our regular guide, wasn’t available so Tricia hired Johnny Bosco (his nickname is “Johnny Bosco scumbag who can fish”). Tricia assured us he caught fish when no one else could catch them so we hired him. Well we added another adjective to his nickname today and (please I don’t mean to offend anyone) “STUPID”. I thought we’d been with the worst boat captains in the past but Johnny was a new low. We had dropped Conan (to spearfish), Mark (to fly fish), and James (to snorkel) at Bread&Butter Caye and headed off to find bait and then troll. Well we never found any bait (strike 1 for our new guide) and as we wrapped up our search Johnny gunned the engine and turned left (strike 2 and 3 because he did it 2ce that day). I was standing on one of the seats casting a lure at the time. The abrupt start and turn threw me over the seat, crashing in to Tricia who was sitting in the next seat up and my momentum crushed her against the side of the boat and pounded her right side ribs against the boat railing. WELLL I let him have it! He apologized but he certainly didn’t understand what could have happened had I not been able to soften the blow of my 225lbs crashing into Tricia. Anyway… Frank and I trolled with some of my new lures. I caught 3 small barracuda in different spots, all of them while we were looking for bait. We did get several hits while trolling but landed none. We bottom fished in about 100 feet of water for a couple hours and filed our cooler with Grunts, Jimmy Hine grouper, Rockfish (also a grouper) and a few other types. We had a lot of fun fishing though and the others enjoyed their adventures. Mark caught a couple of small snappers that sounded like keepers but he threw them back. At least he caught something though. When we got back to Kismet we were sitting in the kitchen with cold drinks and Mark told me that I taught him something. That turned out to be that he needed to buy spinning gear like mine because of the windy conditions, which made fly fishing hard to do. I told him he needed both because it’s been unusually windy the past few days and he’ll really enjoy his fly fishing when they calm down. We did manage to go back out on Tuesday 4/12 with Patrick though. Our group consisted of Karl (Sweden) and his red-headed traveling companion Kelly (Australia), Conan, and me. Tricia was a bit under the weather so she stayed home. I got a small cuda trolling while the others snorkeled and dove off Bread& Butter. Conan was able to rent 2 tanks but had immediate O-ring problems so spent most of his time snorkeling. He speared a few small fish of various kinds. After a few hours of trolling, and losing bait to small fish, we picked everyone else up for some bottom fishing. Kelly is the only one who caught fish, a small grouper and a small snapper. We did catch enough for dinner though. Karl, Kelly and I hit the lagoon on Wednesday night (4/13) and we each caught a fish, Karl’s first in Belize. He caught a dogtooth snapper and Kelly and I each caught a catfish. It’s a free dinner for Conan. We have another reef trip scheduled for Thursday 4/14 with 2 new guests from San Francisco, a father and son team.

I mentioned that Frank left on 4/5. More on that now. Tricia decided she was going to take a few days holiday and travel with him. Since Frank was flying out of Cancun for Oslo they decided to spend a few days in Playa Del Carmen. Tricia was in need of more REAL tequila, at a reasonable price, as well as a few other things and it’s a great place to rest and shop. It was a 14 hour bus ride from Hopkins to Playa (something I’ll find out 1st hand when I head back to Orlando in late May) but they made it safely and immediately headed for the tequila store. From her mouth to our ear it was a rather drunken day or 2 and not much shopping was actually accomplished. They are well though, had some beach time, and generally rested before they parted ways. Frank nearly missed his flight because he’d forgotten about the 1 hour time difference between Belize and Mexico. He hit the ticket counter 40 minutes prior to his flight and the flight was already closed out. An agent took pity on him and rushed him through security and he made his flight. Tricia did come home with a new glass monkey (she collects monkeys) that made the 2 day return intact. It’s sitting in a place of honor in the kitchen.

Conan made a down payment on a scuba tank compressor and 4 tanks that he hope will be ready for pick up in the next week or so. The owner is going to have it looked at and run because it’s been a long time since it was used. Hopefully everything will be fine. Now it’s time for him to settle on a boat. He has one in mind that he’s trying to contact the owner to haggle a price. We’ve looked at it twice and talked to the son and now it’s time to get busy. He’s hoping to have it all before Matt and Angie (Kismet friends from last year) get her in May 7th. If he’s successful we’ll use Conan’s boat. Keep your fingers crossed!

Tricia’s 9 chickens are all alive and doing well. They are getting big and even climbing the stairs to the porch and flying off. Bad thing is that they leave chicken poop all over the place and it’s like trying to get chewing gum off the bottoms of your feet if you aren’t careful where you step.

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