As the US government squanders our money

Friday Sept 30 7:47am
I'm trying to keep my blood pressure down as I watch reports on Fox. Was reading about this almost unknown off balance sheet Federal Bank that obama is using to fund pet projects of his and his cronies. Billions being spent with no over-site by Congress. This next election will be our last chance to get our country back from George Soros and progressive radicals.....wake up America,,,,,ok.....off the soap box.
We are preparing the boat to go back out on the hook. Spent time in the engine room yesterday fixing a diesel leak. Wednesday, Norma took me shopping,,,,,,damn...5000 limps poorer.....but stocked up on heavy stuff that we (Joyce) would have to carry and haul back in the dink. Bought 3 gallons of oil to change gen-set and main engines.. .damn stuff was 25 bucks a gallon. All comes down from the US.
The front head motor died last week.... was able to find 1 on Ebay for about 50% off, will take about 3 weeks to get here... we missed today's cut off for the boat... damn...... 3 of us using the same head..... Mizzen is doing pretty good ...she is on the green ring .....next step is the seat alone. She is going to be one BIG cat....I will try and get the picture hog to fins some of her when we arrived a month ago and now.
Most of the boats here will be leaving at the end of the month, most moving to the Roatan Yacht Club. It's a dump over in Old French Harbor. Docks suck, power is $1 an KW hr, $.60 a gallon for water, but the rent is cheap.... $250 a month. As I sit here and type this we are using 2.32 or $ 2.32 an hour...that would be about $1670 a month....there might be some wiggle room but too rich for me. Doug on a 68 footer uses twice that. We now pay $90 a month for power.
So all good things must come to the end. But the diving is great.... getting into the dink is a bitch...but I feel improvement but oh so slow. I try and walk over to what we call the trailer park on the other side of the island. Denny and some older boats that party more than this side of the island. My gait is improving but have rubber legs when I get back. Once on thee hook I will have to go into the shrimp dock for my walks.....can walk to Eldon's , buy a cold beer and walk back...that works...enough for today....

Necessity...

Remember the old saying that "necessity, (who) is the mother of invention"?  Well, now that we are planning to go into French Harbor and be "on the hook" the clothes washer is fixed!  And, even Capt Paul has decided that we need to organize the boat and maybe even get rid of some of what we don't use!!  We have been diving every other day...giving Capt Paul a day to rest up.  Or maybe, that is...it gives me a day to rest up...yes, I do all the heavy lifting and get both of our tanks and equipment together and ready...when we are done...equipment rinsed and tanks to the FI Dive shop for filling.  A few pictures I have put up on Facebook...and are from a previous dive...He gets in the water and dives.  Really the most challenging and exhausting for him is getting OUT of the water into the dingy!  But it is also so good for him to go!  Yesterday we went out to Valley of the Kings and he seemed to gulp air!  It is a beautiful dive!  For whatever reason he just could not get comfortable...I'm wondering if (because he is a bit clastrophobic) it was because of the visability which is not the greatest all over the island...we have heard that even the vis at West End is bad!  Not sure that the two are related...but there is also so much garbage on the surface of the water...yes, I'm stating a fact...it is garbage...human type garbage...not sure where it came from...and no one is jumping up and saying "it's mine", but it's been around on the surface for almost a month...what doesn't make it to shore and the beaches, breaks up little by little and remains surrounding the island.  I remember the first time I ever saw that much garbage in the water...well, let's be honest...was in Baltimore Harbor...but the garbage there was being contained by a boom...and what made it past that boom was picked up by a skimmer boat.  That is all he did all day...skim the garbage up out of the harbor!  Seeing as Honduras and Guatemala always get U.S. "seconds"...perhaps when that skimmer boat gets too old and Baltimore buys a new one they can send it down here!  Because, while the first time I saw garbage in the water was in Baltimore...this is the most and the longest stream of garbage I have seen in all of our Carribean travels...off of Honduras...and now around Roatan. 

 I guess I got a little off topic there...but anyway...yes, it will be necessary for us to be real cruisers again...not Marina rats. And, as with any boat there is still plenty to do...but that is where Plato's saying comes in!  And, yes, I won't tell you that I won't miss it here at Fantasy Island...but I will be ready (I hope)...and, I am actually looking forward to it! 

Back on the Hook

Monday Sept 19 2011 ...1:50 PM

Fantasy Island Resort and Marina

Co Co View
Marina


The owner of Fantasy Island has been sprucing up the Resort since he took over last spring. He is from Spain. His priorities seem to be a little mixed up. There is 109 rooms ...all inclusive including booze. They have a dive operation with 5 dive boats which is extra. We hear the food sucks at best. The Marina is fair at best......only the docks where we are have decent power...the boats in the back cannot run their A/C due to undersize wiring, the water is not drinkable, until recently we tied our dock lines to trees. But the rates are great...$340 a month plus power and water. We have use of the pool and other amenities at the resort. When we came back in January, all the rooms have been redone with new a/c. The pool is now salt water, they have built new docks...but no power or water. During the cruising season there are 20-30 boats in the anchorage with lots of social functions here at the Marina. Seem this new guy must have met obama. He has decided as of Nov 1st to raise the rates. With power and water we pay about $470 total a month....the new rates will go to $1,120 a month. Our friends Jim and Norma, the dockmaster expects almost all the boats here now to leave. On top of this he is going to charge those at anchor that want to come ashore, $5 a day per person to come ashore to use the Resorts amenities, dump garbage or purchase water. Cruisers will not pay these prices.... So say goodbye to the nightly happy hours and the Saturday night potlucks.....damn
Joyce and I went diving off the Co Co View Wall yesterday (Co Co View Dive Resort is at the top of the above picture}. They have about 30 rooms and 4 boats which are always full. It's very rare that they have more than 1 boat out of here...usually 4-8 divers aboard. The beach at the resort had 2 people on it. Place is deserted. Was supposed to be full last weekend....was a holiday weekend ...but with Hondurans from the mainland....no divers. Now deserted again.....
So another piece of Paradise is screwed up by the greedy. We will go back out on the hook at the end of October.... will be a shock to the cruisers coming out of the Rio in November. Will miss Fox News and my A/C. More hours on the genset.....

Next....

Spencer and I did go diving to Calvin's Crack and Caribe Point! We went on the Fantasy Island Resort boat. Truly Spencer can no longer be called a newbie...he has become so relaxed and confident under the water...this picture was Spencer going down into  the "crack".

He has great buoyancy control...and he indeed should be looking toward what could be the next underwater level for him.

I'm trying to get better with the new camera lens...
it does have it's limitations...not all the pictures turn out...but the ones that do...I really enjoy! 

Spencer left Saturday...and that afternoon Capt Paul jumped into the water (after making sure the dingy ladder was out) and we made sure that he could climb back into the dingy from the water.  Of course first he retrieved his cane which he had lost under the boat Friday night when he mis-stepped and went for a late night swim.  Thanks to Jim, I was alerted (I was in the shower) and came top-side to put the ladder over the side so that he could end his late night swim.  Anyway, back to the dingy ladder...success...so Sunday we made a date for diving!  The trades picked up...15 knots or so Saturday afternoon...so rather than go to his favorite dive site we went to Coco View Wall.

It is somewhat protected from the breakers that can get quite big with the trade winds.  And, here he is...enjoying his first dive in YEARS! 

  Still having issues with the new blog format...turns the pictures sideways and won't allow me to fix it...grrrrr...but anyway...We went to 89 feet or so...turned around when he got to 1500 psi...and on the way back I FINALLY found the yellow Seahorse! 

 I was so excited...it had become a joke at the dive shop...I can find the Green Moray's (or they find me)...but had never until today found a Seahorse without one of the divemaster's pointing it out.

     Capt Paul really enjoyed his dive...and we are looking forward to the next dive "date" Tuesday!  Oh, yeah!!  NEXT dive...I've got my dive buddy back!!    

Best Intentions...

We are back in Roatan!  I did have the best intenions of blogging before I left the Seattle area...and now, a week later...well let's move on.  We've had two HUGE thunderstorms roll through so far.  One during the middle of the night that came with a large gust of wind that had the lines groaning and the boat heeling (we are med-moored in the Marina...for those that do not know that term - it means that we are stern to the dock with the bow secured to lines going to underwater screws).  Now, I don't mind heeling when we are sailing...but when we are sitting still that is another story!  This morning, so far anyway, there is only heavy rain and the thunder and lightening.  I never did like thunder and lightening.   It is hot and humid here...Capt Paul has the a/c's going...and Spencer (a family friends son down for a couple of weeks before college begins again) and I have been diving. 

He is a newbie...and I have had fun yacking and yacking about safety and how and why I do things when I'm going out on Hugo with a dive buddy!  He has been a wonderful listener and has even taken to my little underwater camera!  When I'm not diving with him...he is off with the Fantasy Island boats getting even more underwater time!  I'll admit that visibility is not the best...but we are breathing underwater!  We took a short taxi trip to the West End yesterday to arrange him going to the West End this weekend, diving with a shop I know and staying at a nice little place!  While he is there I will see if Capt Paul can get back into Hugo from the water and if he is able to...we will have him breathing under the water soon too!

I want to get back to the "best intentions" idea too...just as a point of fact...we almost did not get out of the United States from the Atlanta airport.  Capt Paul was going to blog on it...but he hasn't, so I will.  Delta told us that Immigration would not allow us out of the country unless we had a return flight in 90 days.  That is the longest Honduras will allow a tourist visa.  This is the first time in our travels that this has happened to us.  Not sure how many of you will see the irony in this?  Now, United States Immigration...who cannot keep illegals from crossing the border INTO the United States is trying to mandate how a U.S. citizen LEAVES the U.S.?  Yes, we explained we lived on a boat...showed her our passports that proved we were law-abiding U.S. citizens...that we had never overstayed our 90 days in any country that we have visited in the past...and we were still held up until the proper "authorities" told us that we could leave (had Capt Paul not been handicapped and been able to go to the front of every line we would have missed the flight)...but they warned us, that we may not be admitted into Honduras when we arrive.  Suffice to say we never had a problem once here in Honduras and we are (obviously) back on the boat.  I'm holding to my thoughts that the U.S. Immigration is working on best intentions...but truly...I would like a smaller less intrusive U.S. government that has it's priorities more in line with the Constitution!! 

Well, darn...the wind is picking up...the rain has stopped...the dock lines are groaning and the boat has begun to heel just a little...maybe time for me to get off my soap box.  Oh...and Mizzen is just fine...travelled well and is now trying to catch a fly that came in when I stuck my head out to look at the rain.