She's Gone...

It actually, as far as selling a boat goes (I think) as fast, smooth, and easy, as I've every seen.  No survey, no sea trial.  And, now she's gone.  She motored out of French Harbor yesterday afternoon on her way to Panama.  I'm talking about s/v Mi Lady.  Many people talk of how their boats take on a life of their own and as the new owner, captain and crew boarded her, she seemed to pull at her dock lines waiting for the new adventure.  I'm not 100% sure but it seemed that I might have been the only one choked up...with tears...but I was successful hiding them behind my camera, taking pictures.  
Jim and Norma have owned Mi Lady for over eight years and have had her for sale for about three years.  There is the old saying that "the two happiest days of a boat owners life...the day they buy the boat...and, the day they sell the boat".  Jim and Paul toasted with a beer as we all watched her.  Then we spoke of all the great times they had had aboard her, the memories they will take with them, and, yes, the pictures that Norma has taken of their travels.

It seems for a lot of us "cruisers", for our time aboard, we become our boats, our identity is tied directly to the boat...for Jim and Norma...they WERE Mi Lady for over eight years.  There are many reasons for that...when speaking on the VHF radio (boaters version of a telephone) they were not Jim and Norma...they were Mi Lady; they, like most of us, have been in unexpected weather where Mi Lady kept them safe.  Mi Lady was their home.  Now, Jim and Norma will begin a new chapter together.  
So I'm reflecting a lot this morning on them and their lives because Paul has the Lady H for sale.  I'm watching Jim and Norma and their transitioning.  I'm excited for them as it seems everything has fallen into place once one major decision was made a couple of months ago.   I remember mentioning to Norma weeks ago when the sale wasn't yet a "done deal", that God was waiting until they had made "that" decision before letting their life change and move on.  I was feeling that this was the time for them and the sale.  I hope, when the time comes, I can be as ready.  In the mean time...we hold our memories of our times with them.  We will miss Mi Lady...she has begun a new chapter...she's gone...  
  

CONGRESS

No matter what your political party, I think we are all pretty sick of Congress's shenanigans. Maybe if they were brought down a peg, they might feel more like taking better care of the American people instead of themselves and their next election chances. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971... Before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide byall laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

peter shelly petershellypcb@yahoo.com Show details

What did you do on 11,11,11,11,11,11?

11,11,11. 10:11:11

So I'm an hour early....

Been a busy week, Jim and Norma have sold their boat...have moved onto Perfect One, the owners are back in Canada till January, then Jim and Norma will fly home...going to get very lonely around here. We might have to re think our plans after they leave.

The word on the rate increase and changes here at Fantasy Island is a hot topic up the Rio. The 300 or so cruisers that would usually stop here will just keep on going. Many have blamed Jim for these changes.... I can say for sure he fought hard to keep things cruiser friendy.....but it's not his island. It was fun while it lasted. Another part of Paridise ruined by greed. Jim and I were talking the other night, we should have done this 20 yrs ago. I have been chartering down here since 1980. I have watched as each one of my special places have been ruined. The islanders seem to think we cruisers are rich. By their standards, my disability check would make me wealthy, but they don't realize after boat repairs, insurance, food, fuel, rum and beer...there isn't anything left at the end of the month. In fact, my yearly insurance bill has been coming out of what few bucks I have left in the market. Yes, I have a bigger and nicer boat than the average cruiser, and my costs are higher, but we all live from month to month. The answer to "How much does it cost to go cruising? Everything you have..... Skip and Sachio do it on a 26 footer... Jim and Norma...a 44 footer... One has to budget for those big ticket items like sails, bottom painting, engine repairs. There is always something broken, I'm waiting for next weeks container...(it's 11.11.11.11. having a cold beer) .new head pump, fuel filter for the genset and a heater element for the water heater. Lori, Joyce's friend will be down in Dec for a week....already have her loaded up with stuff. We (Joyce) are starting to go through the boat to see what we keep and what stays on the boat when (if) she sells. Jim and Norma took off their clothes, food, booze and some personal items....the rest stays....sounds like a plan.

Joyce found out yesterday that her tenant at the Lake is moving out. Just what she needed....more stress. For some time both the Lake and Farm tenants have been spotty with their rent payments. There has been no interest in her Condo in Z. So this news just adds to the $$$$$ stress.

We were able to get 2 dives in this week. No stress on Joyce under water.......just extra work as the gear is over my weight limit. Tuesdays dive was for me the most comfortable dive ever. Thursdays, we did Coco View wall....left hip killed me, had to peddle back on 1 flipper..... I am getting stronger, can walk better , faster, and further. It's just so damn slow. Although the rainy season is supposed to be over....have had rain the last 2 days...waiting for it to stop so we can go for a walk. So all for now......

Weather the Weather...

Years ago when I made the Travel with Finny outline one of the books down in the series was (is) going to be titled "Weather the Weather".  Yes, I've finally been working on them...the first two in the first series are completed!  It is pretty much because of being stuck recently in what I have called the "dungeon".  Norma (s/v mi Lady) calls it her cave...I termed it a dungeon...interesting contrast for another day's blog?  Anyway, you would think that being from Seattle...known for it's rain...rain...and more rain...that I would almost be an expert on rain.  But, no.  The rain here falls very differently, and differently depending on if it is part of a Tropical Storm or just a squall...and what kind of squall.  One of the things Capt Paul and I noticed was that when Rina passed over Roatan, the south side of the island was fairly protected while the north side received stronger winds.  During the squalls of the previous week, that at times were right over us, we would get over 30 knots of wind and it seemed rain drops the size of golf balls (okay...that may be a bit over stated, but you get the idea...and the white spots in the picture ARE rain drops!).  We've been getting off of the boat only a little...and one reason is to pump Hugo out.  For years I used the manual pump...about a year ago (I'm thinking due to a little belly-aching on my part) Capt Paul finally had one of the local guys here put a little electric pump in what is suppose to be the air chamber of Hugo that fills up with water.  Since Herbie is an electric start...it works like a charm to just hook the wires up to the battery and wait....yes, wait...when the water is all pumped out I have to unhook the wires from the battery so the pump doesn't continue to run and burn itself up or drain the battery...so, yes, a lot of times, and lately, I get all wet, but, at least I feel like I've done something for the day!!


There was one day last week where the skies parted for a couple of days...and I did go out on the FI dive boat...three dives...I needed that!  There was only one other couple on the boat...a couple from California.  They were GREAT fun to dive with!  I'm not going to guess-ta-mate their age....I'm not really good at that...BUT, we can all add...and here are the facts.  They both learned to scuba dive six years ago, when she was 61 and he was 64...they vacation a lot...are avid scuba divers on every vacation they take!  He did three dives every day (except one day when Rina was at her worst) and she did two dives every day!  I was so impressed by this couple!!


So, anyway, I guess it's time to start working on the third book in the first series...I need the first series (four books) to be completed to really pursue publishing.  And, I'll get Hugo pumped out!  So, weather the weather...at least I am accomplishing something?