Still in Paradise

I know we were supposed to be on our way to Ecuador by now, but things do not always follow the original path they set out on. It is just too beautiful here. We are having a fabulous time. We fish and gather wild mangoes, dive off the boat and swim in clear water, and watch the wild life go by.

There is currently another boat here with us. This boat has a guy from Newfoundland and a woman from Sweden sailing her, and this boat has no inboard engine, so they sail everywhere rather than motoring, which makes them our heroes. They have been around here for years, and showed us where to find the mangoes. Yesterday they taught us how to dig a pit and smoke fish. I caught a trigger fish yesterday while trolling on the dinghy on the way to the smoking. We didn't smoke that fish, it is in the fridge waiting to be a late lunch or early dinner. Earlier this week there was a third boat here, with a couple from Australia on board. We visited with them, and since he is a total fisherman, he brought us several nice fish, part of which we have already eaten and part of which are frozen for another day. I am eager to do more fishing of our own, now that I have finally caught one, I feel I may be on a roll.

Yesterday on the way back from the smoking party our dinghy engine quit working. It has been acting badly for awhile now, so I really wasn't surprised, just annoyed. Truthfully, I nagged Mike before we left Panama City about having someone look at it before we left, but he ignored me. (I am trying hard not to say I Told You So. It is taking a lot of effort to be "the big person" here, but I am doing it.) So he messed with it last night, and got nowhere. This morning, it miraculously started up like nothing ever happened. I think maybe it somehow got flooded real bad, because when Mike was pulling the motor cord trying to get the engine to turn over, I noticed that fuel was spraying out the back side of the engine every time he pulled on the cord. Today it did not do that. I am really happy the engine is working again, but I hate it when things go this way because whatever the problem is, it is still out there just waiting to resurface at an even more inopportune time. This time we were close enough to row the dinghy back to the boat, but had we had choppy seas or a contrary current, life would have sucked. But I did actually enjoy rowing the dinghy, I have always liked rowing boats since I was a little kid at Camp Manitou. I lie rowing better than paddling, even though I really like canoe trips. It would be good exercise for me, and I suggested to Mike that we row or paddle instead of putting the engine on when conditions permit.

I have been enjoying being net controller on the SSB radio. I feel like I am contributing something to the cruising community. I am currently sharing the job with two other women, and will continue to do so until we get to Ecuador, where I am still planning to go, just not for a couple more weeks. But who knows, we could decide to leave tomorrow. Not until we visit one of the little villages here and get a few provisions - we are low on beer and produce. Because of the fishing, we still have plenty of frozen meat. We also need eggs, because today I managed to accidentally smash four of the six remaining ones. Don't even wonder how I did it - it is too stupid for words. But it was a good lesson - were we en route to Ecuador, it would have meant no eggs for the duration of the trip. I have to be more careful. Mike was referring to the remaining eggs as the luckiest eggs in the world because they survived the carnage.

So today I am planning to visit with the neighbors, do some swimming, maybe fish a little, read some, and clean up a bit. Real busy day, huh. I baked scones for breakfast. Tomorrow I have to bake some bread, we are out of the stuff we bought when we left Panama City. It is the neighbor's birthday, so maybe I will bake a chocolate cake and send it home with them. Whatever happens, it is just another day in Paradise.

"That capability at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide . . . I know the capacity is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency [NSA] and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision." (Sen. Frank Church, 1975)

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