Day 11 Returning the boat

The wind was gusting at 30kts at 5:30 the next morning when we got up to clean. The plan was to leave Cay Caulker at 7:30 to get to San Pedro at 10:30 where we would meet TMM. We swept and scrubbed the deck and Ricky used the bucket to rinse the floors with seawater until he accidentally poured water through the hatch above Kim's bed and onto her backpack.

We had sweet rolls and steel cut oats for breakfast. In all, our provisioning went well. The only things left were mayonnaise, ketchup, a small bag of oats, and water.

During the night I heard a fish jump out of the water, hit the side of our boat and splash back. This morning a fisherman anchored his small skiff out behind the French catamaran and started fishing. He held the fishing line with his bare hands, pinwheeling his arms as he wound it around his elbows. He caught fish after fish as the gulls and frigate birds hovered overhead. I wish I had his skill.

We had some difficulty raising the sails in the high wind and the rattling jib shattered the plastic casing over one of the pulleys before it was pulled tight. The charter company told us to leave Cay Caulker at 7:30 to arrive on time but the trip only took an hour in the high wind. Halfway there, we lowered the main sail but the wind still pushed us hard.

A few times during this short trip we surprised what I think were baby marlins which sprang away at speeds over 30mph, skipping over the surface of the water like rockets. They couldn't have had much control at that speed. If one hit you it'd probably explode your head like a melon.

The instructions said to call in over the radio when we reached the water tower and we spent a lot of time discussing which building this could be. When we were close Simon and Aldo drove out in a dingy. The winds were still gusting at 30kts and the waves were high. They were soaked by the wind-driven spray by the time they reached our boat and Simon seemed really irritated by this, like it made him less of a professional.

He took the wheel and Aldo proceeded to tighten and tie ropes. Aldo was the youngest member of TMM and got a lot of crap from the older sailors. His method was to do everything as fast as possible even if it took several tries before he succeeded. When he tied up the loose runners he would gather the rope into a bundle and knot it over the safety line in a spasmodic flurry. If he'd gotten it right the rope would have been secured in under a second. It took him three or four tries to get it right. Later when he was tying the big lines to the dock, it took him 8 tries to loop it around the stanchion using his 2 second knot.

Simon had some difficulty driving us to the refueling dock in the high winds and we crashed into it as he swung us around. He said it was the first time he'd ever hit the dock.

The station attendants couldn't get the pumps to work and we waited for a half hour while someone rode his bike over to the other side of the island to open a valve. I didn't know fuel was part of the rental fee until Simon came on board and told us we had to pay the gas station attendant $90. I'm not sure what would have happened if Ricky didn't have the cash.

Gas was $6/gallon and we used 15 gallons over the course of the 10 day trip. I was surprised it was so little, considering the times we motored around islands or into the wind and the 30-60min of idling each morning and evening to charge the batteries.

Back at TMM, Aldo counted the bed sheets and towels about six times, whipping them around and stuffing them into a plastic bag. He also dove below the boat to check for damage.

"Did you run aground?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

I said, "Yes I'm sure we didn't run aground. We were careful and there were a few close calls but we never hit the bottom."

I don't know if he actually saw something or if he just wanted us to admit something.

Bojana had reserved a room at a hotel when we reached San Pedro and we asked the receptionist at TMM to call a taxi to take us there. While we waited, she helped us make reservations for our flight the next day and called about transportation into Guatemala for the others.

The taxi took us to the hotel and we dumped all our luggage on the front step while Bojana went up to check out the room and Ricky and Brian went off to buy beer. I sat out front in a deck chair guarding the luggage. The hotel had a little jungle of potted plants and a cage with a parakeet.

Bojana came back to tell us they only had one big room and she wasn't excited by it. She decided to walk down the beach with Kim to look for something better. We were just finishing our beers when she returned.

The second hotel was fancy, with 3 floors, air conditioning, and a kitchen in each room. The man behind the desk gave us keys, towels, and the tv remote.

He also gave us instructions for our stay and there were more rules tacked on the door and posted by the pool. It was interesting to think that the reason they had each rule was because of some incident in the past.

If someone says they're sick don't give them money for medicine.
Lock the front door and the third floor patio door.
Don't let people you just met into your room - including children.
No outside vendors (including children).
No guests in the pool.
If someone knocks on the door don't answer.
The government gives every homeless person a stipend so don't believe them if they tell you they're starving.
Make sure to lock the door when you're in your room.
Don't prop open your door if you're going to step away for a moment.
No prancing.

I cranked the air conditioning up and took my first shower in 11 days. Afterwards we went down to the grocery store and bought a bag of mixed nuts for the trip back.

Back at the hotel we met the others at the attached Jamaican restaurant. I had the jerk platter with jerk chicken, shrimp, pork, and goat with rice, pineapple, watermelon, cucumber, and plantains. Later we went out to buy papusas and brought them back to eat together.

The papusa place we'd visited a week before was closed and had a for sale sign tacked on front so we went to the vendor across the street. The woman shaping our papusas with her bare hands had to stop halfway through and replace the rusty, cobweb-covered propane tank on her cart.

The hotel had flyers advertising country music.

You are invited to Country Music Evening

Every Tuesday's With

Brent Butcher out of Dallas Texas

Starting at 5:30pm until 9:00pm At Jambel's at the (Sun Breeze Suites)

We played cards against humanity on the small balcony outside Ricky's room while Brent Butcher played below. He didn't draw much of a crowd and we couldn't see him from where we sat but we clapped after every song and he thanked us afterwards.