Julia

Julia was planning on heading out to see Boquette.  The sand was running out of her trip clock. I managed to convince her to let me take her boating for a day.

I picked her up at Casa Verde.  She brought her backpack.  Sure, you can spend the night.  First stop was a friend's boat to drop off the backpack.  As the panga was there, the captain was in residence. I entered the salon and was astonished.  The boat was immaculately clean.  Usually there are a dozen ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, things scattered over all the counters, clothes strewn about, a sink full of dirty dishes, an aft deck that requires high stepping to get around.  But now, he is conducting tours on the boat.  I had no idea he had it in him.

As I was taking off he appeared at a window and called out to me.  We motored back and he told me he was going on a cruise and would be back at six.   No problem, I'll be gone past then.

As we made our way to Bahia Honda, the bay that separates my island, Solarte from Isla Bastimentos I functioned as a tour guide.  "There on the left is Old Bank.  It is a small community of primarily Afro-Caribbean people.  There is no road.  One central sidewalk..." "On the right is Hospital Point, where the hospital was located in the turn of the twentieth century.  It is now notorious as the domicile of a 72 year old pedophile.

Ian's Place

Down the bay we went.  She spotted a large house up on a hill.  "Is that a house or a hotel?" "It's a house, do you want to see it?"  I'd never seen it and he is my next door neighbor. My worker lives there with his brother who is keeping the place while the owner spends the summer in Montreal.

Clyde's

Everybody loves Clyde's place.  It is packed with ornamentals, exotic fruits and a very special character, Clyde.  The thunder started rocking, Julia was wet and cold, so she borrowed one of Clyde's sweatshirts and a rain jacket, sampled various fruits and tasted his homemade white pineapple ice cream.

When Clyde found out that Julia was from Austria, he told about some guy he knew from Austria who was a pool hustler.  Julia knew the guy.

When we left, Julia just said, "wow" which is the same thing Clyde said when she went down to pick some pineapples. Yeah, she's a cutie, alright.

Kirk's

"Damn, I'm cold. Want to go to a coffee shop?"  We dropped by a toolshed that serves as Kirk's house.  I had coffee, Julia had tea. We checked out the big boat that Kirk built by himself over the course of nine years.  Julia thought Kirk was awesome, as he indeed is.

Rana Azul

By now it was past noon. I hadn't eaten yet.  "Want to get some pizza?"  Across some open water, through Dolphin Bay to Tierra Oscura, "The Darklands".   Out in the middle of nowhere we rounded a point of trees to find a slew of boats. "I might know some people here."  

I knew them all. Julia was quite amused that 12 miles from nowhere there was a pizza joint, packed. When Josef came over with the menu, I mentioned to him that Julia was from Austria. They started talking in animated German.  Turns out that Josef grew up 10 kilometers from where Julia grew up.  She continued to be amused.  The pizza arrived and she declared it the best pizza she had ever had as she cut off tiny pieces and at them with a fork.  I, on the other hand, picked up slices and devoured them with gusto.

She had a glass of wine.  A German friend of mine, who was infatuated sat in my chair and chatted her up incessantly.  She had a mojito.  Finally, I paid the bill and got her a to go glass.  We have places to see.

Crawl Cay

"Want to see a whole bunch of fish?"  Ok, Crawl Cay is right on the way.  We docked.  Not a fish to be seen.  I bought a dollars worth of crackers for a buck and a quarter.  I started throwing them in the water and fish started appearing.   I advised her to get in and threw in a bunch more.  The water started to boil with fish.  A few minutes later it was time to head on.

Salt Creek

Off to Punta Vieja, on the Southeast corner of IslaBastimentos.  We docked the boat. Our destination?  Salt Creek, a community of Ngöbe that is relatively affluent as it is a tour destination.  They charge to enter ($2) and for guided walks to many destinations.

A baseball game was in progress with a large audience.  We then walked the length of the densely populated section, stopping when we got to a barbed wire fence with a mud trail.  Not really something to be negotiated in flip flops.  A elderly man came out and started talking with Julia in Spanish.  Now, her Spanish is pretty damn good.  She holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish and teaches it.  Strangely enough most of the conversation was him asking her how to say various things in English.  

I was thirsty and asked where I could get some coconut water.   The man pointed and described the place then decided to lead us there.  Upon arriving there was a tree with coconuts.  Younger coconut palms sprout coconuts within ready reach.  Unless you are under five feet tall as was the Indian and as is Julia.  I grabbed one and twisted it off.  She had never seen this done.  Smiling, smiling, always smiling the whole day long.  I paid one dollar per coconut and our guide produced a very long machete, over a meter and proceeded to hack away at the coconut, removing mass quantities of husk and finally exposing the core.  I took a swig.  I don't know why coconut water seems always cooler than the ambient temperature, but it was pretty refreshing.

We said our goodbye's but he insisted on walking with us on our way out.  Then he collected four dollars for the entrance fee.  The station had been unattended on our way in.  I know not how he knew we had not paid.  There were no tourists in evidence as we had arrived late in the day.

On our way out we ran across a fisherman who had scores of small red snapper and a good sized mackeral.  We bought the mackeral for three dollars.  Onward!

Cruising

On the way out, I tilted up the outboard and directed Julia to watch for coral heads.  This is an

excellent place to mess up an outboard.   Finally we got to deep water and Julia took the helm. The seas, the open Caribbean were amazingly calm, with ripples no more than a few inches.   I pointed to the southern end of Isla Popa.  We drove by a massive hotel and then found a few houses erected in the water hundreds of yards from shore.  Good views, good breezes, no insects, why not?  

Then we came across multiple structures in a cluster, three falling down and one so covered with lush growth it was impossible to ascertain the condition of the building.  Tiny islands, no more than 10 meters across jutted up 5 to 15 meters. We finally rounded the point and headed west.  Holy shit the sun is low.  I can't navigate these mangroves in the darkness.  The little skiff doesn't even have a compass.  Ever smiling Julia took us home under my direction.

Dinner

I just wanted to go out and buy dinner.  Julia wanted to cook the mackeral.  Whatever pleases you girl.  I fileted the fish and threw the scraps off the dock where they were rapidly consumed by a couple of rays. She heated some oil in a pan added salt and pepper. To the oil?  Hmmm. I'll shut up.  Then she happened across a bag of peanuts and raisins and when the fish were near done sprinkled them over the top.  A few minutes later dinner was served.  It was delicious, but not nearly enough for me.

Julia had a couple of friends from Austria in town. We went to Careening Cay to look for them and slipped a note in their door.

Off to a sushi bar to fill up, buy some groceries for breakfast and head home.  You want to call them? We can go down to La Buga and Skype them from my phone.  Her friends were there.   Huh.

C'mon girl, time to go home.

A bright green meteor arcing a quarter of the northern sky draws the closing curtain on an epic day with a wonderful person.


Clydes Kirk's Rana Azul Around Popa Julia Salt Creek The Trip

Groundskeeping

Ok, I am done with writing every detail everything I do everyday.  This used to function as my diary.  I use evernote for that now.

What am I up to?  Groundskeeping.

My nearest neighbor to the west is in the process of opening up a resort, Bocas Style.  He started, suspended operations and moved back to Canada.

A giant wooden vessel floats in the harbor of the place.  Indians sleep in it.  In the primary house Silvestre lives with his wife.  His brother, who shall go by the name of Phillipe, his assigned name, as his real name is completely beyond the reach of white people.

Phillipe wanted a few days work.  Sure, I'll give you three.  Well, the guy worked his ass off.  He will clean the house or do any field work I ask.  He is unbelievable.  He never stops working.  He has a wife and two kids and no source of income.  All right, let's keep you busy.  My two hectare were cleared of overgrown grass in a couple of days.  I had him cut down some bushes that obstructed views of palm trees that were rapidly growing, planted by my last gardener, who has secured a job as a caretaker at a lovely house across the bay. When he watched my house things didn't go so well.

In any event, for the price of what I spend on cigarettes I can have this guy eagerly improve this place.  After all the usual grounds were cleared I directed him to just continue to the west a couple of hundred yards to the second palm.

I was going to take a girl boating, but I couldn't get hold of her.  I didn't feel like going to that nearly vacant town to find there was nobody to ask.  So, I grabbed a machete and decided to clear a trail along the shoreline.  I've given up on those fancy $200 hiking boots.  They just can't compare to $9 rubber boots.

Fifty yards deep in what was previously a dense collection of vines, saplings and branches I had made a trail to the next hill.  My phone rang.  Down the trail, up a hill, down a hill, up a hundred stairs.
A friend of mine called, he had some items that he had picked up for me in David.  Well, fuck, I knew that, you told me two days ago that you had it and were heading home.  I guess Clyde wants a little company,

I summoned Philipe and we headed over.  Just a few minutes on calm water.  I circled twice in the bay so that he could see me and know who was coming.   With his very bad knees I didn't want him to walk all the way over to investigate who was pulling up at his dock.  It's usually me, with one or two sweet young things, but you never know.

We took a bag full of pineapple pups.  They are new plants that grow out of the roots of the parent plant.  Yes you can grow pineapples from the cutoff tops, but pups were intending to grow.  We took a couple of score, some seeds from breadfruit and some cuttings from flowers. I got my goods and we headed out.

I dropped off Phillipe with our new acquisitions and went off to buy a shovel. I never got my shovel back from the guy I lent it to.  Such is Bocas.  Returning by an alternate route I popped by to see my old friend Kirk.  Last time I saw him I brought over a hot Brazilian girl in hot pants and rubber boots.  This time I was alone.

Nothing, I having for you nor am I asking for anything, just thought I'd drop by.

Then we planted everything.  The End.

Except, the girl just called.  Boating tomorrow.

Shit Needs to be Tended to

Well at least my computer has a charge.

I discovered there is a lot of good stuff on youtube today, it's not all music.  I watched "Pablo Escobar, King of Coke." Just as it ended, my batteries ran low and my electricity went out.  Not much sun lately I haven't had a full charge in days.  My generator went out a few days ago.  I could probably fix it myself but its easier to take it town and let somebody else do it.  The number of trips I would have to make if I attempted myself looking for parts is more than I want to deal with.

I believe I got my new lower unit for my panga delivered, I have to put that on.  And I have to go to Dolphin and carry down a thousand pound generator a long way down a hill along with a shitload of wire and a refrigerator.  I give up on that place, I can't find any reliable help and it needs too much work.

So what do I have here a weeks worth of work? Well, It's Bocas, I am not booking another flight on the expectation that it will completed.  I have booked two that I missed.

A woman waiting impatiently for me in Key West, thinks she's ready to sail.  Last I heard she didn't have a battery in her EPIRB, which is a mandatory device that signals the Coast Guard and broadcast your location.  Boat's sink.  Shit happens.  Any through hull fitting, drive shafts, exhaust, toilets is a potential problem.  Yeah and we need an SSB radio.  VHF is only good for 10 to 15 miles depending on your wattage and antenna. And an engine out?  What is  your rush for me to get there? We each have things to tend to.

Typing in the dark, no lights on, the computer draws a lot of insects. Now I have no watar, the pressure tank is out and the pump, of course, needs electricity.

A woman is coming over to clean my house tomorrow, I guess I will have to send her right back. Hard to do without water and I don't expect the batteries will be charged until noon, that's if it doesn't rain. That would disappoint her, I can get five gallon buckets filled with gravity from my water tanks.

Got to run around town and try to collect some debts. One will be easy, as soon as I ask him to he will paypal the money.  The thieving Indian worker at the finca is a lost cause.  The detective I lent $2,000 to, I sent him an email and told him I have a copy of every email and phone message about the loan and I have the deposit slips for the money I deposited in his account.  The woman who built a resort in Loma Partida with a generator she was going to pay me for in February of last year?  That's a writeoff. You're welcome, glad be of service.  I even picked up and drove it to the most remote island here for you.  Well, I got some otoy soup for my contributions.

Why can't I sleep? I didn't sleep at all last night and now its three in the morning.  This lack of sleep is showing.

So tomorrow its off to town to buy three tanks of propane, 30 pounds of dog food, 30 pounds of groceries and haul them all up a hundred stairs.

After I bail my boat out probably.

Well, I've found a family of four ready to move into my house, try to keep things going, take care of the dogs.  They are Indians that live next door on a giant wooden boat a marine architectural nightmare.  The thing is enormous and really top heavy.  I have no idea how many other Indians are living boat and working at the resort but I suspect its a lot.  So if you want to take care of the grounds and the cleaning which always be done.  Dead bugs on window sills in rails.  The guys are from Kuzapin. I have a great feeling about this.

Its funny, in some areas, like Dolphin Bay they all seem to be lazy thieves. So boats, outboards, generators, house wiring, batteries, gas tanks, this stuff gets stolen all time.

In Solarte, not productive, but honest.My gardener, an awesome guy got a full time job. I asked if there were any other good workers there and he told me no.  A guy down the way was building a compound and my gardener was the only person he hired out of a community of hundreds.

In Bluefields, they are amazing.  I had a couple of those guys clean my house.  I had a coffee cup on the table with some change and a few dollars.  I left.  When I came back there was $25 in the cup.  I don't why I leave money, just bills that fall out of my pockets. Bluefields is near Playa Verde where I left my wallet on my boat with $500 in it and went to bed.  The next morning I was patting pockets, what the hell.  An Indian on the shore so me and pointed at my boat.  Yup there it was, unmolested.

Well I am thirsty I guess I go drain water from a tank. Enough of this, It's three let me go try to get some sleep.