A strange meteorological event happened this morning. There was quiet. The banshee winds left and were replaced by a sudden stillness that left one listening and waiting for something else to happen. We felt becalmed. As if our torturing inquisitor left the room and what remained was a soundless padded cell. Even the birds were momentarily silenced. The trees were dead still and the oceans dimpled but flat. The sea skys were a silver grey and the rising sun a diffused light. This was not going to be good as the heat and humidity crept upwards with no sign of a breeze. What a serving of nature we have, intolerable gale force winds the night before and dead calm in the morning. It has twisted me around and around. Give me a soft Hawaiian breeze laden with plumeria, gardenias and tuberose. This Roatan is a different Atlasntic bird.
It has been two days now of this becalmed situation interspersed with sessions of rain that tend to cool things down a little until they stop then the humidity soars. We've had a couple of power outages in the night which turns all the overhead fans off and skin sticks to all the bedding and our faces to the pillows. And surprise, as in Costa Rica we have a dog here that barks at the same time each morning before Jo is ready to get up. Usually I am already awake so it's just irritating. Dog owners with no control over their barking dogs should be submitted to all sorts of heinious torture.
Today, the trades should return hopefully more moderately. This morning it is quite nice on the deck. However when we went to start the little rental the air conditioning crapped out. There is no way to drive around Roatan in this heat and humidity without AC. It is a primary failing of small 4 cylinder engines with small small compressors. So if you want to be sure your AC doesn't go out on you in the tropics you are better off with a large V8 with its also large compressor. Of course the larger rental car will cost you a lot more. In trying to save money we used these local rent a car agencies who don't seem to have offices but instead meet you in the airport parking lots in the heat and wind and try to conduct business on the hood of your rental. Of course the deposits are hefty and the cars must all be pre paid and they all speak little English. Why is it in the US all phone operators ask you to press one if you would like to converse in Spanish. Down here good luck.
As an example of incompetence. The property manager, an Italian, who has a beautiful home here in Turtle Crossing does not know the difference between a hot water heater and an on demand water heater. This unit has a 2 1/2 gallon hot water tank. Try showering the salt and sand and sweat off with 2 1/2 gallons of water. It runs out in 2 minutes while your head is still in a foamy shampoo helmet. He insisted there are many other on demand heaters of different sizes in this complex. He brought over a local plumber to look at it who obviously did not know anything and could only deduce the tank needs another part to make hot water! Christ it makes hot water, only 2 1/2 friggin gallons of it! "There was a family of 5, and the owners were here several times and they never complained." Funny that's not what the neighbors told us the last family who were here said to them. And would the owners themselves complain about their own ignorance? You know this all my fault really. JoAnn made all the reservations and I just went along with everything she did. I should have participated more and asked the "pesky" questions that car rental agents and vacation rental agents don't want to hear. So I take full blame for the misery they have wrought and tell you it will be different next time. For one thing, no more Central America. Well, Machu Pichu might be nice, then there is Eastern and Southern Argentina. But that's South America and they are different right? But really, enough of this third world stuff. Next I hope it will be an apartment overlooking one of the canals of Venice or the Plazas of renaissance Florence. If I don't get a dose of culture and art and intellectual stimulation I think I will go bonkers. My brains have been beach baked enough.
Seriously I am tempted to stick with the Western Coasts of North America from Big Sur to the SanJuans to Ketchikan. Lots of opportunities of exploration there. And let's not forget our Airstream trip, its hard to beat even the minumum of North American standards. In this we are indeed fortunate.
In the mean time there is nothing definite or positive about weather they can find another rental car for us or if they will send someone to come out to look at the car. Nothing definitive, nothing absolute, no commitments, just swaying in the tropical Central American breeze, maybe si, maybe no.
Man`ana, man`ana
Antonio
That is why I want to build a boat. Once started, it will be so!
I am obviously not hitting the right countries at the right time or with the right frame of mind. I miss the comforts of our house in Washington and the dryness of the moisture. Here the moisture is plaster you wear. I am hoping this is the last third world country I visit.
The sun burning beach thing is vastly overated. To be warm and dry sounds better. I understand the moisturizing effect is good for those skins that benefit from plumping up. I guess I just don't need that.
I am a snowbird. Give me a dry heat!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Turtle Crossing, West Bay, Roatan
AAfter a fitful nights sleep I awoke as usual at 3:AM to read and await dawn. These damnable winds no small part in my fitful rest. The tree tips are shredded from their violent thrashing to and fro in these awful trades. From our perch on the hillside we are only 200 feet back and 50 feet above the ocean. In this constant wind the waves roll and hollow at a turbulent swell while the crests spume off in caps of white. It is a roiling immensity, a "horizontal violence" from horizon to horizon, from the curvature of the earth to the east to the pale blue shadows of Honduras across and away to the South. An immense caldron of constant motion. Like the winds.
In this elemental intensity, windblown, I have stepped outside on the deck to stare and marvel and anger at this unmindful and uncaring imminence. I am pitifully insignificant by the scale but giant in my outrage of impotence.
Merely 50 feet below me, along the shore the closely spaced roofs of houses almost buried amongst the palm fronds seem to jut out into this sea. In futile bravado they seem to shoulder forward, as waves kill themselves upon the rocks in thunderous walls of liquid lace and drench the seward walls unseen from my vantage. It is all too much. As I watch the roofs appear to roll and surge into the oncoming waves I feel the wooden deck beneath my feet go along for the ride, vibrations amplified by the winds forcing my stance. I understand the tempestuous manners of the sea sailing captains of old needing to pace the decks in the fury of such uncontrolable force.
Finally the heavens begin to lighten as the sun prepares its rise from the eastern sea. Will this event bring a momentary abatement to the wind and the waves ? Of course not. Hope can be blind. But there's always one more song.
A strange respite. This morning I put on my earphones to listen to some iTunes while I read, usually I can not mix the two and need silence to read. But for awhile I did not hear the wind and it was a brief relief.
Today we drove over the ridge and down the west side to the beaches and eateries. Much calmer.
The waters were almost still and of that pearlescent jade blue associated with clear sandy benches beneath the waters. It was not too crowded today as the cruise ships were not in today to disgorge their tens of thousands. So we enjoyed ourselves. However, JoAnn for the twentieth year in a row neglected her sun tan lotion and proceeded to burn herself again despite my yearly admonitions of every tact. This time it was to not use lotion in order to save the reefs from all the bodies oiled up. So she chose the reefs over the real potential of skin cancer after all those years or burns. We make our choices. So now she again suffers lobster red and radiating solar burn and heat.
This evening we checked out a restaurant, Smugglers, down the road and discovered a beautiful isolated cove fronting the place just as that sunburn sun sank. Unfortunately the cove outshown their menu so we motored west again back to Infinity Beach Resort and were surprised by the huge burger we shared, dripping with sauteed onions and mushrooms and a hand packed patty. Always a surprise somewhere. Sometimes its as plebeian as a hamburger. Back home to the wind.
In this elemental intensity, windblown, I have stepped outside on the deck to stare and marvel and anger at this unmindful and uncaring imminence. I am pitifully insignificant by the scale but giant in my outrage of impotence.
Merely 50 feet below me, along the shore the closely spaced roofs of houses almost buried amongst the palm fronds seem to jut out into this sea. In futile bravado they seem to shoulder forward, as waves kill themselves upon the rocks in thunderous walls of liquid lace and drench the seward walls unseen from my vantage. It is all too much. As I watch the roofs appear to roll and surge into the oncoming waves I feel the wooden deck beneath my feet go along for the ride, vibrations amplified by the winds forcing my stance. I understand the tempestuous manners of the sea sailing captains of old needing to pace the decks in the fury of such uncontrolable force.
Finally the heavens begin to lighten as the sun prepares its rise from the eastern sea. Will this event bring a momentary abatement to the wind and the waves ? Of course not. Hope can be blind. But there's always one more song.
A strange respite. This morning I put on my earphones to listen to some iTunes while I read, usually I can not mix the two and need silence to read. But for awhile I did not hear the wind and it was a brief relief.
Today we drove over the ridge and down the west side to the beaches and eateries. Much calmer.
The waters were almost still and of that pearlescent jade blue associated with clear sandy benches beneath the waters. It was not too crowded today as the cruise ships were not in today to disgorge their tens of thousands. So we enjoyed ourselves. However, JoAnn for the twentieth year in a row neglected her sun tan lotion and proceeded to burn herself again despite my yearly admonitions of every tact. This time it was to not use lotion in order to save the reefs from all the bodies oiled up. So she chose the reefs over the real potential of skin cancer after all those years or burns. We make our choices. So now she again suffers lobster red and radiating solar burn and heat.
This evening we checked out a restaurant, Smugglers, down the road and discovered a beautiful isolated cove fronting the place just as that sunburn sun sank. Unfortunately the cove outshown their menu so we motored west again back to Infinity Beach Resort and were surprised by the huge burger we shared, dripping with sauteed onions and mushrooms and a hand packed patty. Always a surprise somewhere. Sometimes its as plebeian as a hamburger. Back home to the wind.
First Night Roatan
Turtle Crossing, a group of perhaps a dozen, identical chalet style homes spread about the hillside facing the ocean to the S.E. The trade winds come from the E.S.E. unhampered and unhindered by any land mass, constant, steady and with house quaking vibration and heavily salt laden. All accompanied by howls and rattling vegetation. How does one shower that salt off with a house that only has a 2 1/2 gallon hot water heater? What am I doing here!
Apparently it is calmer on the West side of the island. Always two sides to every deal, right? This deserves a note about the web site VRBO, Vacation Rentals By Owner. VRBO gets a cut from every owner from the rental income. Thus it is not in their best interest to post any negative reviews or disclosures. They are a huge company and like any corporate structure their secrets are deep and hidden. Several times we have been burnt, twice on this trip, by non disclosures.
There have been a few times when our expectations have been exceeded. Count those on one hand. It has led me to entertain the notion of no more tropical clime trips and to stay home to build wooden boats in my shop. Which will bring with it the craftsmanship, the artistry and the engineering. What could be better.
Do not use VRBO unless you are willing to ask and they are willing to answer straight questions such as: Is the home screened for insects and mosquitos, Is the plumbing in good shape, Is there any corrosion with the plumbing, Is there good flow with the faucets, If gas fired do the stove burners work with enough gas pressure or is the flame yellow instead of blue (sign of low or improper gas pressure which will soot up all the pots and pans, Is the place quiet, Are there any barking dogs or children on the premises, Does the wind howl and blow constantly and with a vengence, is there good and strong internet, Is there telivision and dvd service, is there a radio, Is the house next to the parking lot or a long ways away up a steep hill, how many steps will luggage and groceries have to be lugged?
Now these may seem like picky questions but if you have saved your hard earned money for a vacation of peace, quiet, serenity and maybe healing or are elderly or infirm these things matter.
It may sound as if you are looking for isolation from the world well you should have the option to have it if you wish. This is particularly true if you are staying more than a week where in a week you can just "gut it out." If you are staying for a month or so these intrusions can easily drive you crazy. Especially the absentee owner's loud barking (right outside your windows) dogs. Barking most of the night and all times of the morning from midnight untill dawn will steal your sanity. Again, we were locked in for a month!
Then there's the howling trade winds of Roatan's East side, also constant, 24 hours a day, another receipe for maddness.
Must "buyer beware" govern all aspects of our lives?
We shall see if I can take it here on Roatan for more than a week. These things don't bother JoAnn as much so she might tough it out for the whole month. I don't think I can. The problem is they have our money and our deposits, VRBO, and will make no refunds. Don't you hate being screwed by the white handed money corporaes? They will not even print honest complaints or reviews on their web sites. Thus the scams self perpetuate. I guess there is just no end to the vast pool of suckerss such as ourselves. Ask those pesky questions.
There are places of sublime beuty, moments of memories to hold to tightly in this world. Its a drag to be pessimistic about the human race but how frustrating and impossible it seems when one tries to be accommodating and trust that your trust will be returned only to find our fellow man excercises ulterior motives to your negative end. To give of yourself expecting nothing in return is altruistic and pure but to give and have more than you thought fair and then some taken almost everytime is misplaced martyrdom or sainthood. Beware the money lenders and takers.
The world is just as viscious as it is beautiful. Sad to say, sad to say.......How best to survive, to live daily with grace and happiness.....?
All right, enough of this downer. "They" have taken from me yet again even in my late years of "experience" but tomorrow is a new sunrise and somewhere I will find refuge from these howling winds. Somewhere in the now.
Down to a bare main save for the storm jib on it's third reef,
Tony
Apparently it is calmer on the West side of the island. Always two sides to every deal, right? This deserves a note about the web site VRBO, Vacation Rentals By Owner. VRBO gets a cut from every owner from the rental income. Thus it is not in their best interest to post any negative reviews or disclosures. They are a huge company and like any corporate structure their secrets are deep and hidden. Several times we have been burnt, twice on this trip, by non disclosures.
There have been a few times when our expectations have been exceeded. Count those on one hand. It has led me to entertain the notion of no more tropical clime trips and to stay home to build wooden boats in my shop. Which will bring with it the craftsmanship, the artistry and the engineering. What could be better.
Do not use VRBO unless you are willing to ask and they are willing to answer straight questions such as: Is the home screened for insects and mosquitos, Is the plumbing in good shape, Is there any corrosion with the plumbing, Is there good flow with the faucets, If gas fired do the stove burners work with enough gas pressure or is the flame yellow instead of blue (sign of low or improper gas pressure which will soot up all the pots and pans, Is the place quiet, Are there any barking dogs or children on the premises, Does the wind howl and blow constantly and with a vengence, is there good and strong internet, Is there telivision and dvd service, is there a radio, Is the house next to the parking lot or a long ways away up a steep hill, how many steps will luggage and groceries have to be lugged?
Now these may seem like picky questions but if you have saved your hard earned money for a vacation of peace, quiet, serenity and maybe healing or are elderly or infirm these things matter.
It may sound as if you are looking for isolation from the world well you should have the option to have it if you wish. This is particularly true if you are staying more than a week where in a week you can just "gut it out." If you are staying for a month or so these intrusions can easily drive you crazy. Especially the absentee owner's loud barking (right outside your windows) dogs. Barking most of the night and all times of the morning from midnight untill dawn will steal your sanity. Again, we were locked in for a month!
Then there's the howling trade winds of Roatan's East side, also constant, 24 hours a day, another receipe for maddness.
Must "buyer beware" govern all aspects of our lives?
We shall see if I can take it here on Roatan for more than a week. These things don't bother JoAnn as much so she might tough it out for the whole month. I don't think I can. The problem is they have our money and our deposits, VRBO, and will make no refunds. Don't you hate being screwed by the white handed money corporaes? They will not even print honest complaints or reviews on their web sites. Thus the scams self perpetuate. I guess there is just no end to the vast pool of suckerss such as ourselves. Ask those pesky questions.
There are places of sublime beuty, moments of memories to hold to tightly in this world. Its a drag to be pessimistic about the human race but how frustrating and impossible it seems when one tries to be accommodating and trust that your trust will be returned only to find our fellow man excercises ulterior motives to your negative end. To give of yourself expecting nothing in return is altruistic and pure but to give and have more than you thought fair and then some taken almost everytime is misplaced martyrdom or sainthood. Beware the money lenders and takers.
The world is just as viscious as it is beautiful. Sad to say, sad to say.......How best to survive, to live daily with grace and happiness.....?
All right, enough of this downer. "They" have taken from me yet again even in my late years of "experience" but tomorrow is a new sunrise and somewhere I will find refuge from these howling winds. Somewhere in the now.
Down to a bare main save for the storm jib on it's third reef,
Tony
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