Another long week of boat work.  We now have a neighbor, Peter from Switzerland, on a Fountaine Pajot catamaran. I was waxing Alegria when he came over and told me they were moving his boat down from long term storage.  He and his wife were sailing the opposite way we were, having come from Colombia.  Peter just came back from an emergency trip to Switzerland because “all the things falling apart.”  I really wasn’t sure what he was talking about until he said “Don’t you know about how bad the stock market is and the economy?” 

Well….. yeah!  But that was kind of old, ongoing news and right now my mind was preoccupied with the complexities of waxing and whether I could find a cheap good quality pair of flip flops (we seem to be burning through our shoes!!). I looked at the news this morning, more of the same but nothing really new.  Lehman

Brothers had been managing Peter’s savings and lost a good chunk.  He was afraid he was going to have to leave retirement and go back to work.  I felt really bad for him.  Suddenly my flip flop dilemma seemed very lame.

The next evening, we were again scraping, waxing and talking to Peter when we noticed the Red Bull truck, the Amstel Bright beer truck, a boat getting ready to be put back into the water, and scantily clad women.  It could only mean one thing.  Party!!  The boat Pegasus, manned by two young men from the Netherlands planned to sail around the world in 2 years and report back on the condition of the ocean.  Or, as us jaded cruisers would say, get paid to drink and party as you sail around the world.  BRILLIANT!!!

They (the sponsors) threw a great party, free beer, free whisky punch, amazing food, and my personal favorite, free CHAMPAGNE in a GLASS!!!!  Such decadence!!  Peter, Dan, I and the kids joined two other boaters, Scott Free and another couple from North Carolina.  We sent Tessa to find our Brazilian friends, Sylvio and Lillian on Matajusi.  Lillian is beautiful and very nice while Sylvio is quite the character.  While he is

on this sabbatical, he writes a column for a Brazilian magazine.  Back in Brazil, he races cars.  What a life!  He had tried to get into NASCAR, but I’m not sure the good old boys from the South are ready for a Brazilian driver.   While waiting for Sylvio and Lillian to show up, Dan introduced me to the other North Carolinians.  He had

mentioned something about meeting them before and the husband’s take on what was happening in the US but I couldn’t remember what it was.  Within 5 minutes of talking I remembered. He asked me if I still had money in the bank (not the stock market) and when I said yes, he told me that was a big mistake.  The banks were going under, there would be rioting in the streets, people would be homeless. I said I didn’t believe that.  He said I was uninformed and even though we just came from the States, (Illinois and North Carolina, and I didn’t see any soccer moms beating their SUV’s into swords,) he was right because he had spent 8 HOURS A DAY reading the internet.  While I agree there is a strong case for print and TV news to be biased, everyone knows or should know, internet sites are ungoverned and should be taken with a HUGE grain of salt.  Back and forth we went, in a spirited, friendly way, but the bottom line was he was convinced this was the end of the world as we knew it.  In fact they bought a house in Colorado, in the middle of nowhere so the homeless couldn’t find

them.  Their kids think they’re crazy but in their words, “We can’t save everyone.”  I tried to tell him that this is probably what most people thought about the depression and see we came out of that alright.  He informed me that (his internet source) said unemployment was higher now than then and I didn’t have all the facts.  He was

probably right as I have been so busy LIVING my life, rather than reading the internet.  He was just so fear based, and when I told him that, he argued and said he absolutely wasn’t.  (Hmm!!) By this time, I was through my glass of champagne and was desperate to end the conversation so basically I said to him that even if what he said was true, there was nothing I could do about it and I wasn’t going to live my life in fear and he shouldn’t either. He had no reply.  Thankfully the conversation ended and I could find more champagne. 

 Tristan, who had been standing next to me the entire time, listening, said “Way to go Mom.”   I told him I wasn’t trying to talk disrespectful, but I just felt bad that this guy was so full of fear.  It was sad actually.  So while he and his wife went to do some more reading I’m sure, we enjoyed the rest of the party.  Talking to Peter later, he

said he’d heard some similar things that there might be rioting in the US over all the big bonus money paid by the banks, and bank failures.  Again I assured him that the Americans I knew were concerned, but I couldn’t see them burning torches and carrying pitchforks.  Really, I am amazed at this kind of rumor.  Maybe I am out of touch. What do you think?

Back to Peter.  I told him that maybe the reason he would have to “leave” retirement was that he still had something to offer.  Maybe there was some gift he still needed to share with the world.  His face brightened and he said he’d been thinking about writing a book.  His friends told him his sailing story should be published.  There you go.  Life isn’t done with you, I said.  It was gratifying to see him go from being down to upbeat.  Sometimes we can get so involved in the illusions of life’s drama, and the fear that comes from all around us, that we forget we are much more than our thoughts.  One person’s fear is another’s opportunity.  It’s all in how you look at it. 

We are still here in the VERY windy boatyard working on a few projects.  Things got a bit ugly the other day regarding the bathrooms.  The bathroom has 3 fairly nice/clean showers and 3 fairly nice bathrooms.  When we first got back here from our trip to the States, one of the toilets was not working, leaving only two.  Not quite enough for everyone, but doable.  A few days after our return, only one was working.  What had happened to the other two was the flushing part was broken.  Ok.  We are down to one.  Not so good.  This goes on for a week at least.  Now you know what happens.  Tristan goes to use the toilet and it doesn’t flush.  He said it didn’t work when he got in there.  Now there’s no bathroom, and of course I need to use it.  The shuttle bus is about to come to take us to the supermarket and the grocery store doesn’t have a bathroom and I’m fed up.  I head into the office and in less than polite terms tell them the last remaining toilet does not work and they need to do something. Though I am speaking (rather firmly) to the women at the front desk, I know Geis the manager is listening.   The ladies converse among themselves (in the local dialect which I can’t for the life of me understand) then tell me that one is still working of which I again inform them that, no, it’s not, and now we have no toilets and they have had plenty of time to fix them and they need to call a plumber NOW!  (Phew!)

About an hour later we return from the supermarket.  I send the kids to check on the situation and guess what?  Two toilets are fixed.  Amazing! Later there is a knock on our boat and it’s Geis, the boatyard manager.  He tells Dan the toilet is fixed, but basically it’s Tristan’s fault because he uses too much toilet paper.          OK          Now.     My dear son, as many of our friends will attest to, does seem to have a knack of  occasionally clogging up a toilet.   But how would Geis know this?  Well.  According to Geis, in his own words, “Your son uses a lot of toilet paper.  I know. I was in the stall next to him.” 

Ok.  Despite the fact that something about this seems morally wrong and really creepy (possibly even illegal)the other two stalls have been broke for over a week.  When was he spying on my son in the bathroom?  And Tristan certainly didn’t have anything to do with the other two being broke so why weren’t they fixed?  Anyway, by this time, all three bathrooms were magically fixed and we decided to let it go.

Remember we said we had an issue with Sea Hawk paints about the paint coming off our bottom shortly after it was painted?  We had been after them ever since Grenada (August) to do something about it.  Emails had gone back and forth and nothing was getting done.  Finally,  Dan talked to the CEO of Sea Hawk paints and he agreed to pay for the paint and primer to get it fixed.  Way to go Sea Hawk  paints!  Thanks for stepping up to the plate and honoring your product!  So the next few days, we will be painting the boat.

The week started out rough, but ended on a good note.  Between Dan and I, we can be sure that when it comes to our boat and crew, we have our bottoms covered!!!

  Parked a little too close to shore

  Yes. Yes they were.

  “And Jesus so loved the world he began an anti-litter campaign”

  I think we finally have everything stowed and the freezer is now working, though the verdict is still out on the refrigerator.  Dan has been polishing the sides of the boat and it looks great.  We are still waiting to hear from Sea Hawk paints as to what they are going to do about the bottom paint peeling off.  The bottom was done in Nanny Cay BVI in May and by July we had noticed some blistering.  We contacted them and they were supposed to take a look at it in Grenada and never did.  Then we had to leave for Venezuela and they promised us an answer here and we are still waiting.  Life on the hard isn’t too bad though.  Four days a week a free shuttle will take you to a grocery store.  The grocery stores are nice, with a good prices and a good selection of fruits and vegetables and a big selection of fresh herbs.  The yard is clean and fortunately the facilities are good.  We lucked out being right outside the office.  If we were any closer to the restrooms we would be inside them!!!  That helps on those late night bathroom runs with the kids!!

In the meantime, we are getting reacquainted with living on the boat again.  It was funny, the first time I walked back into the boat it felt small.   Well, not really small.  The word that really comes to mind is miniaturized.  It was weird!  But the feeling soon passed, and we are back to normal. 

We don’t miss the cold, but for those of you feeling hot, I included some pictures from Chicago.  It will cool you off!

      Adler Planetarium in Chicago

     Ice storm right after we arrived!!!

           FRIENDS

  Tessa got the courage to pierce her ears!