Return to Deans World: part 12

After being docked at anchor for days in Placencia, Belize we finally took off for parts unknown (to me anyway) to go exploring, snorkeling etc.

I was SO ready to go somewhere! Placencia is beautiful but besides trying to stay cool (the other day not considering the heat index it was 96 degrees!! Uugh!I mean why just sit on a boat and go nowhere!

Besides Dean seemed to be getting aggravated by my very existence. I don’t think it was my imagination.

Which certainly will not bring out the best in me

I have been terrified of snorkeling. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the whole inhaling the water into the wrong pipe and drowning idea.

We got out to an island that had mooring balls and easily hooked up to that (though I can proudly say that I have learned to lower and hoist the anchor, which yes, basically involves pushing the up or the down button with my foot but hey, at least I have learned something)!

Dean convinced me to try with just the mask. Maybe I have never had a good mask before but this one worked great and I was able to take a look at the life on the reef right next to us.

Then Dean was insisting I would enjoy it so much more if I didn’t have to keep coming up for air. I was super reluctant to even try but I did try just once and was so excited and surprised that I didn’t die!!

He was right about me being glad I tried the snorkel before I went to sleep so that I wouldn’t worry about it all night.

So the next day was the big day to really snorkel.

I decided I wanted to lean my head on this floaty thing while I looked down because I was afraid of turning my head too much the wrong way and then getting water in my snorkel and….you got it….dying!

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And then I also found that I was worried about touching or being touched by anything (I mean, I don’t know what could sting me or bite me or if I could damage anything by accidentally rubbing up against something, so I covered myself completely from the neck down.

And then (honestly it’s a wonder I go on any adventures at all!)….I didn’t know where to paddle around with these strange things on my feet (fins) or where I was supposed to go. I found myself panicking if I lifted my head up and could not see Dean or the boat. That movie Open Water (I think that is the title) would immediately come to mind, where the divers were left behind by their diving tour boat and were left at sea to be eaten by sharks.

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Of course I was only in about 3 -5 feet of water so I knew my fears were ridiculous (and I have taken survival swimming!) but Dean was patient and held on to the rope on my floaty thing and dragged me around with him to snorkel to keep my fears at bay. He was so patient! I was probably really annoying!

Why is this the first time in my 58 years of life that I have ever tried snorkeling when I grew up in Florida? Well, it must have something to do with the fact that almost every waking moment of my early life when I was not in school I was in church being told what a sinner I was!

I’ve decided to be a mermaid instead!

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p.s. I LOVED snorkeling!!!

Hacks for Motion Sickness that Work!*by someone who never stays still!

*Well, at least for me anyway. Each person is different!

As far as getting nauseous easily I think I must be one of the worst travelers/wanderers out there! The very first thing I do when I get on a plane is discretely check my seat pocket and my neighbors-just in case!

As I write this I am sitting on a sailboat, have been on rough-ish waters and have been fine-no problems whatsoever (still crossing my fingers!)

And I have to give major thanks to the crew of Norwegian Jade, particularly my cabin steward Floyd, for these best tips that work. On a 16 day repositioning cruise crossing the Atlantic we had some rough seas and I did not get sick!!!:

In order of importance:

*1. Eat green apple (granny smith). Apparently there is something in the pectin (so eat the skin too) that interacts with the acid in your stomach. To keep you from getting nauseous. I don’t need a lot of apple I just try to keep some (½ or ¼ apple ready to eat and in my tummy).

*2. Don’t have much liquid in your stomach. This makes sense to me. Then there is less to slosh around. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this myself.

*3. Eat salt. Eat saltines or I have Himalayan pink salt in a grinder that travels with me. I eat that.

*4. Eat normally (using some common sense of course). I do better if I keep something in my stomach.

Other things I do:

5. Eat ginger. You can swallow it whole. I like the pieces that are coated in sugar that are usually near the produce department (of course I do!)

6. Wear acupressure sea sickness bracelets. I think these help a lot.

7. Face it! Face forward not sideways or backwards. Don’t read, look down, or be on any devices.

8. Stay cool. Keep the temperature cooler rather than warmer. Wear layers.

9. Chew cumin seeds! Really!

It’s hard for me to say exactly which ones have always worked for me as I have not done just one but employ several methods at the same time. Mostly I rely on the first 3 but when I ran out of green apples recently (in the middle of the ocean in a sailboat) I focused more on ginger and cumin seeds!

I wish I had known these hacks when my daughters were little! It sure would have saved a lot of misery. I hope these hacks help you. And of course my disclaimer is I am not a doctor, just someone without access to regular medical care who has figured out how to McGyver herself together!

Return to Deans World: part 11

So here I am after days on end of being out on the ocean:

……tanned, gorgeous, well rested….

And if you believe that then I have a pristine, comfortable boat I’d like to sell you! (And yes, this boat is up for sail! This is its’ last voyage with Captain Dean at the helm.)

In my imagination, before embarking on this, my maiden voyage at sea (too old to call it that ha ha) I pictured myself becoming bronzed, fit from my activity as a sailing crew member, and decorating this boat with my loveliness.

Kinda like this…

Instead, this is my reality.

Sorry Dean! I guess those type of decorations are not going to be found on this type of boat!

The sun and wind are so brutal and show no mercy. I have had to cover myself literally from head to toe and also with strong sunscreen I made on my face neck, hands etc. and I have been dousing myself with water constantly to keep cool enough. I hang my feet off the back and hope that I don’t look like some kind of bait for a huge fish. But no…so far so good.

And I love these Keens I bought (for a great price on 6pm.com). I think they are kind of cute (for this type of utilitarian shoe anyway ha ha) and comfortable. They are perfect for the water and climbing in and out of the boat and walking around on this slippery and hot deck.

But I did not count on the sunburn from the holes in my shoes and also in the small gap between my shoes and my jeggings. Ouch! (I had NO idea I would need to be SO covered up! Geesh!)

 

So I pretty much spend each day scanning for dolphins and/ or crocheting/hosing off/reapplying sunscreen.

At the end of each say day the fatigue from just existing in the sun and wind is so much that all I can think about is fixing something to eat (after Dean lights the stove of course) and getting to sleep as soon as possible because undoubtedly I will be waking up at the crack of God’s ass again!

One night I had Dean hang the hammock up and put my little camping mattress in it and enjoyed it so much that I fell asleep and slept so nice and cozy until I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night being rocked back and forth so strongly that I was about to be flipped right into the ocean. That would be a rude awakening! I haven’t tried sleeping on deck again since then!

So after taking the long leisurely way we finally make it to Placencia, Belize.

Time to get rested….

Now this is more like it!

Return to Deans World: part 10

How exciting! We are on the ocean! Dean says he is not a very experienced sailor. I don’t know anything at all so I figure I will try to stay out of the way, help if I can, and try not to get knocked into the water! And of course take pictures!

Here he is hoisting the sails!:

Looking a little confused here…

But it’s all good!

It’s an amazing feeling!

Video of sailing

And then just as I am hoping I will see some dolphins I see a black fin in the distance (that at first I thought was a shark but no!!) Here they come and spend a few minutes visiting before swimming away. It was so cool!

Video of dolphin visit

This song is in my head as I spend the rest of the afternoon scanning the ocean, willing them to come back but they do not.

Flipper theme song

We discuss where to anchor for the night.

I feel like we are too vulnerable.

About 5:30 am Dean gets up and moves the boat as we are really getting tossed around like rag dolls. I can do nothing but grin as he tells me I have the instincts of a sailor. I think that is the nicest thing he has ever said to me!

Return to Deans World: part 9

 

It has become quickly evident that there is no way I can recount every moment (from the excruciating to the exhilarating) of this foray into Deans watery world. It seems to require 3 days to write about only one. Also, the only thing consistent about internet access is its inconsistency, which leaves me really frustrated- a feeling I try to avoid.

So I will cover the highlights and get us up to today as quickly as possible.

We made it to Livingston where we had to have all kinds of paperwork done to be able to leave Guatemala. The boat has to be out of the country for 3 months.

While we were waiting a local showed us around and wanted to take our picture with this statue in the water showing behind us.

He didn’t seem to care about the statue when he had his picture taken with me! Ha ha

So then we went for lunch. Mine was ok, simple grilled fishy fish, rice and vegetables. Dean went for the soup suggested by our guide:

This soup looked like something that had been dredged up from the bottom of an old fishing boat and cooked together like a stew with all bones, skin, guts, eyeballs and a plantain thrown in for good measure. I wish I had gotten a picture of the little squid or octopus or baby something with lots of tentacles that Dean slurped up like it was spaghetti! Uugh! I was already suffering from borderline heat stroke so seeing that made me just want to hurl.

We had to wait until the next day for the next high tide to try to “cross the bar”,a rather big deal as this boat has over a 6 foot draft (how deep the bottom goes for all you landlubbers out there ha ha) and Dean was obviously concerned about us getting stuck on the sand bar.

Apparently he had good reason.

 

 

I’m telling you these pictures can hardly capture how these guys showed up and pulled us with ropes and tilted the boat almost completely on its side to get it unstuck (it was obvious they do this all day long!) It was super scary! Too bad I didn’t get video of it!

Video reaction to getting stuck

Now out to sea!

Return to Deans World: part 8

Excited, nervous…these are my feelings as we get ready to go…

And my thoughts are just all over the place……

What will it be like? Will I love it? Will I hate it? Will I end up hating Dean’s guts? Will he get on my last nerve? (Notice that it does not occur to me that he could feel that way about me! Ha ha) Will I see pretty fish and cool stuff?

Will I be seasick for days on end? Will I get sunburned? What about heatstroke? Will I see dolphins? Better yet-could I get lucky enough to swim with some? Will I get eaten by a shark? Or worse, only have a chunk bitten out of me and I will survive it?

Will I feel claustrophobic and feel like I’m stuck for an eternity on this floating man cave? Will I see pretty fish? Will I be able to figure out how to snorkel without inhaling water and accidentally drowning myself?? (despite having taken survival swimming)

Does Dean know what he is doing? Or will I be calling him Captain Ron?

And we are off!

Leaving the dock in the Rio Dulce

Good thing Dean remembered to bring the dingy (He almost forgot it!)!

 

We have to pass under the bridge famous for being the highest bridge in Central America! It’s also known for those who piss off the local Mafia. They end up dead and tossed off said bridge! (Only locals meet this demise. They want dollars that the Gringos bring with them!)

No problem! See the guy up there waving?! Buses and cars stop up here so people can take pictures off this famous bridge!

So we are on our way! This is exciting!

And after a little while of touring down the Rio Dulce it starts feeling a little too rocky rocky for me!

So I calm down, sit down, and concentrate on enjoying the view. (My goal is to not have to take any of the motion sickness medicine I have with me on this trip though I am super inclined to it!)

This family is fishing.

Here is a nice place for sale!

A local in their handmade kayuka.

As the water passes by so do the thoughts and questions in my head…….

………..I talk to the locals whenever I can. I don’t care to live my life as a tourist, merely observing and taking pictures. I want to learn about how Others experience the Human Condition. I’m sure if I was here for any length of time I would integrate however I could, get my hands on a baritone and join in playing the Bandas music I can hear every night! Ha ha Music is the best international language and has certainly opened a lot of doors for me!

Each person I have talked to has described their lives as tranquillo and seems genuinely happy.

It certainly gives me pause as I reflect on life in the U.S. where so many I know struggle to try to be happy (whatever it means to them). These people don’t need to declare their happiness with memes on fakebook, learn to downsize and live with less, join a tiny house movement, schedule in family time, join a gym to get enough exercise, decide to live off the grid etc. etc. etc. This is how they already live!

What if we (the self proclaimed greatest country in the world) could learn something from this and other so called “developing” countries?! What if we could just be happy? Full stop. No trying. No effort. What if it’s a decision you make to be happy and then just Be it and follow that decision with actions that support it???…….Or am I just talking crazy talk?
………We did not go very far before anchoring for the night!

I was so excited that I blew up my little camping mattress and slept on deck! (well, for most of the night anyway!) A successful first day I’d say!
Scary night in guatemala

Return to Deans World: part 7

So much has happened but I have to start where I left off, before the beginning of the sea voyage right? So let me back up just a little bit…..

I haven’t even posted about Frontera, the little town on the Rio Dulce that we would go to by boat.

This colorful town is quite overwhelming and assaults all of the senses-the sights, the sounds of people yelling, street preachers, traffic etc, the smells of street vendors, fish markets, urine etc. and the sweltering heat which intensifies everything! This is a cattle truck that passes through regularly taking the poor beasts to their final destination. There are no side walks so literally have traffic right on top of you! Armed security guards holding rifles are seen often.  I felt safe there though (maybe that is why ha ha) and most crimes seem to be crimes of opportunity (theft, picket pocket etc).

Say buh bye to these chickens too!

Here is a little bit of street action:

Frontera street scene

And here is a picture of me with Rosa back at Captain Johns, who was always around working while I was crocheting and Dean was either taking a siesta or pretending to work.

Rosa and Stinky

Here is the pool that is always cold and helped me survive despite the heat

This is the outside shower and bathroom and lots of trees-it really is a jungle here!But adios because now we are ready to leave!

Untying the lines!

Oh no! Buh bye gang plank!!!

I ain’t scared! (such a lie! ha ha)

Let’s go!!!

Return to Deans World:part 6

So the plan is to leave this afternoon…

We are not really going to go very far today…just a little down the river to Monkey Bay so we can see the howler monkeys in the morning before continuing on…

In case you missed the video of when we saw them before, here it is:

Howler Monkey Hunt

Dean seems a little preoccupied so I am trying to leave him alone even more than usual (excited? nervous? questioning his choice of a sailing partner perhaps? and I use the term partner very loosely! The word partner would imply that I do something besides medicate myself by any means possible and crochet something I will look hideous in! ) And of course I always feel a great deal of tension/anxiety before I travel anywhere so I understand.

Here he is now:

I have no idea exactly what he is doing as he dives under the boat and comes back up.  But I don’t see any duct tape or a big wad of chewing gum in his hands to plug any holes with so maybe it’s nothing serious.

I intended to write a lot yesterday but instead have been continuing to work on my outfit (I know what’s really important! ha ha) It’s not quite finished.

To be useful though I have also made:

1. homemade sunscreen (with non nano zinc oxide powder),I should have added beeswax so it is not such a big melty mess here in the tropics.
2. homemade skin lotion,
3. homemade bug repellent (which can also double as a body spray as it smells great with citronella and peppermint)It seems to work. and
4. homemade veggie disinfectant (well and for general cleaning as well) with vinegar

Last nights’ Naked and Afraid was about Belize!  I think Dean did this on purpose! This adventure will not include venturing into the jungle for days on end (I hope!) so hopefully all will be well!!

I do want to share a few pics and info about the little town Frontera where we boat in to buy supplies. Except for yesterday! The boat Casa Guatemala makes the rounds twice a week to all of the marinas selling just about anything a gringo (a) could want!:

HOLD THE PHONE! No,  I am not panicking or yelling or anything but I had abandoned this draft as Dean had started the engine (because obviously we are leaving and besides wanting to participate we will also lose our internet, right?)

So, he pulls out his check list (this makes me nervous anyway…I mean, you don’t need to look at an actual checklist before you start a car,right?!! Why doesn’t he just know what to do??)

First item on the checklist:

1. Check for No water in Bilge

fail: water in bilge!

I have no idea what this means so I pour a little glass of red wine (don’t worry…I have real coping skills. Next I am going to crochet!)

Okay so now he has to take panels up off the floor or as I would say:

He has opened the front doors to:

1.the home of “the creature, no doubt with a long tail and fur that ate a hole in our bread and has so far eluded capture” and

2.also his neighbors, whom Dean calls “outliers” but I know the meaning of outlier and have seen way more than one. These are “inliers“….lying up in this boat!

He has opened up Pandora’s box!

While I am contemplating whether or not to shove the new delicious loaf of bread down the hole to keep him from coming up (Hey, we know for sure he likes it!) and wondering if I should be holding a can of raidor exiting the boat, Dean says calmly “Well, don’t worry. Water is not coming in from the river. The boat is not going to sink.

What??!! I’m so clueless to Deans Water World that this thought did not even occur to me! and I tell him so. I am nervous and I don’t even know enough to know what I should be nervous about!

So we are not leaving tonight.

I hand him my little juice glass. He picks up the wine box and  as he open his mouth to tell me we have no more red wine, I state simply “We have white.”

UUgh! Electricity just went out!

And then…(you know thought this was the ending. So did I!)

…And then you remember to get over yourself…

And you climb up on deck and feel the wind in your hair ,and  watch yet another gorgeous sunset as it changes second by second that is somehow different from every other gorgeous sunset you have watched since you have been here and you cannot quite capture it no matter how many pictures you take…..

….and you watch the birds fly home to their island to go to bed….sometimes in a group…but always in a hurry….and you listen to the peacocks cry on the other side of the river….and you see a bat swooping…..and all you can do is watch and listen in wonder and be glad that you are right here, right now, not worrying about nonsense that you can do nothing about , but choosing instead to be here, feeling the perfect rhythm of the World.

 

Return to Deans World: page 5

I have decided to go ahead and set sail and make the trip to Belize with Dean (you knew I would right?!) If I left I would miss out on this adventure!

Dean says we will be ready to go in 2 days on Wednesday.  I look around me at this boat and have a hard time imagining this is possible.

Here we are going to town for supplies:

As far as the bread stealing varmint-still not caught! The trap has come up empty! Dean has been trying to tell me that it has left the boat after the one visit-yeah ok. I believe that one!

As far as Stinky the borrowed cat-useless! He is no mouser and is only good for talking me (loudly) out of food and slobbering all over me.

The “outlier” cockroach?  Well, I think Dean means “inlier”- as in one of many lying around in the boat-uugh!

But what do you do? You have to pick your battles, right?  I cannot change anything here, I can only change myself. Luckily I have a strategy.

Dean works on tasks to get the boat ready….

And this one… I blurred out the parts no one needs to see! You’re welcome!

You may wonder why I am not helping on the boat. Well,I have a good reason. I tried and found that concentrating on a task with lots of boat rocking (due to high boat traffic) made me nauseous.

As you may have figured out by now I have not much utility on a boat.

In other words, I’m pretty useless.

Dean suggested I learn to tie some knots before I came but I was so busy with children and grandchildren that I didn’t even do that!   I am hoping to redeem myself somewhat  by at least bringing some entertainment value.

Meanwhile, we both have different styles (naturally) of coping with my obvious stress.

How I cope:

1. I went to the pharmacy and bought diazepam (woo hoo!no prescription needed!) and copious amounts of wine. I am only a situational user (abuser) and this situation definitely calls for it!
2. I thought “When the going gets tough,the tough get crocheting!” and fortunately, at the last minute before I left for Guatemala I shoved balls of yarn in the outside pockets of my suitcases (already had my other tools packed)

Since my way of taking care of this boat would likely involve a match and lighter fluid I have decided instead to try and pretty it up. I spent the whole weekend creating artistic pieces, hoping to bring some chic to the shabby, but I don’t think it has added much.

See it? There in the front?

Here’s a close up. It’s somewhat disappointing- all of that work and little to show for it. Dean is polite and hung it up for me,  reacting with much more enthusiasm than he did to the nose and ear hair trimmer I brought him and less enthusiasm to the solar dragonfly lights I also brought (that are awesome!)

How Dean copes:

1. Stays busy or takes a siesta (either way he is busy) and mostly he ignores me and hopes to God I don’t come over and say something to him. haha
2. Each evening he shows me another episode of Naked and Afraid. I think he figures that it will make this adventure seem tame in comparison and make me appreciate that at least I am not naked as well. (He doesn’t realize that if I was, he would be the one who is afraid).

We watch the stupid show, placing bets as to who will fail, and always wonder:

Why they do not cover themselves with mud as a shield against insects?

I am also noticing that even in a starvation situation the men easily lose twice the weight that the women do (no fair!), and they’re babies! I also think that if I was there I would cut myself a crochet hook and could crochet myself shoes, clothes and a shelter!

Now to continue on with my next project….I’m making myself a bikini! And hey! I do believe it’s wine (whine)thirty!

 

 

Return to Deans World: page 4

…Ok to remind you of what I found yesterday:

Yes..it is  a very large hole in the bread bag with an equally large chunk of bread missing! So naturally, as soon as Dean woke up from his siesta, I alerted him to the crisis at hand, to which he responded in true Dean fashion “It’s unfortunate you had to see that.” After an uncomfortable amount of silence had passed with me staring at him he asked “So what do you want to do?” Me?! really? You are the engineer! What are you going to do about it?

Minutes later we we were speeding along in the little boat to town, him-none too happy about it, me- hoping I will sleep tonight.

We went to a feed store where the guy who worked there eagerly showed me a video on his phone of a trap that he was hoping to sell us,that had captured a rat, and the video showed the action of the door being opened and a cat jumping in and slaying the captured rodent.  UUgh!I wish I hadn’t seen that either! It had not occurred to me until that moment that it could be anything but a mouse.

Here is the trap: Sorry it’s blurry.The whole subject causes me great discomfort. And I tried to explain this to Dean. Feelings are feelings. I have done a lot of things.I’m not afraid of snakes, spiders, I’ve worked through my fear of heights,I don’t know anyone who lives more in the moment than I do…but these creatures  with fur and tails whose names I can barely write let alone speak out loud-no…can’t deal with them.

And then shortly after we got this a nearby cat showed up. His name is Stinky apparently. Dean says he has never come on the boat before and I took this as a very good sign!  Cats know you don’t get something for nothing. Unlike dogs they understand the implicit contractual obligation to provide a service for you if you feed them. So,here ya go Stinky! I hope you are a good mouser!

So this was last night…How has it turned out?

Well…the catch and release mouse trap was knocked over..bait still there-no mouse (God please that it is nothing bigger!) My suspicion is that Dean was over thinking when he  attached the bait. This may be in part because of what fellow boaters told us. They said the mice (or larger creatures whose name begins with an r)only eat local cheese and we didn’t have any! (C’mon really ? Does this make any sense? )

So tonight- a less elaborate bait- a simple cheddar cheese that we have on hand…fingers crossed..

And Stinky? Well, he showed up again…suckered me out of a meal and left. Clearly he does not have the work ethic of his fellow Guatemalans!

Did I mention that a huge roach showed up at lunchtime? Dean said it was an Outlier…UUgh!