Moved Again
I don’t know what the temperature has been but the sun is hot these days. It’s just intense and sometimes it’s hard to find a shady spot.
I didn’t know if I’d have a place to stay last night so I didn’t check out of the house I was renting. About 4:30 last night, the manager called and said the place was rented and I needed to move out as quickly as possible. Ben had taken the truck so I had no transportation. I waited another ½ hour for Ben but he never arrived. I told the owner of the resort my predicament and they provided a car for me to use.
Just as I arrived the power went off and I ended up packing in the dark. I used a little one cell pen light to help out. I just threw everything into suitcases until they were full. I came back to the resort and my boss had just arrived. I told him I needed a room and they found one for me. I think this is my 7th move in 3 weeks. This is not a lot of fun
I did a couple of dives in the morning but stayed out in the afternoon to do some cleanup of the dive shop. I think I’m making some progress in getting the place the way I want it. I’m still having issues with Ben on occasion. Today he told one of the crew he could dive when I had already told him he needed to stay around and help cleanup. I asked Ben to check with me before making decisions like that.
I also counted up the tips from last week and we did very well. Each of us got $200 so the crew was really excited. I just hope they don’t blow it all and come asking for loans in a couple of days.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Garifuna Dancers & Party
We had the Garifuna Dancers give a show on Thursday. The Garifuna were apparantly slaves that were dropped off on the island in the late 1700's. They have a museum on the island and are attempting to keep their culture alive. The group that came included a couple of hand drummers and 7 dancers. Several of the dancers were very large women but they could move. It was entertaining and everyone had a blast. They asked the customers to dance with them and I think all of them did. Madeline the cook urged them to get me to dance so I had to shake it a little. I'm sure I made a complete fool of myself.
On Friday we took the divers out for a couple of morning dives. We don't usually dive on Friday but since they missed so many because of the weather we made a special trip. They really thanked us and were very pleased.
Friday night the resort had a big party on the beach planned and the divers invited the dive staff. They guys were thrilled. Since they have over an hour walk home to change clothes I ran them to Oak Ridge and then picked them up later. We all had a few beers and I think a couple of the guys got boozed up pretty good. They didn't get in any trouble though and everyone had a great time.
We had a giant fire later on the beach and drank even more beer. Davinci lit a bunch of home made torches and put them all over one of the rock hillsides creating some great atmosphere. The divers loved the evening and so did the staff. It was certainly a welcome relief from the stress of the week.
On Friday we took the divers out for a couple of morning dives. We don't usually dive on Friday but since they missed so many because of the weather we made a special trip. They really thanked us and were very pleased.
Friday night the resort had a big party on the beach planned and the divers invited the dive staff. They guys were thrilled. Since they have over an hour walk home to change clothes I ran them to Oak Ridge and then picked them up later. We all had a few beers and I think a couple of the guys got boozed up pretty good. They didn't get in any trouble though and everyone had a great time.
We had a giant fire later on the beach and drank even more beer. Davinci lit a bunch of home made torches and put them all over one of the rock hillsides creating some great atmosphere. The divers loved the evening and so did the staff. It was certainly a welcome relief from the stress of the week.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Stopped by POLICE
First Time – Stopped by Police
I knew it would happen sooner or later. I got stopped at 9:30 PM on the dark dirt road leading from Paya Bay to Punta Blanca where I am staying. There were 6 officers and luckily one of them spoke English. They asked for my drivers’ license and registration and I had both. Then they asked for my passport which I didn’t have with me. I told them it was up the road about 1 mile but they didn’t buy that. They said they would confiscate my license and I’d get it back when I showed them my passport. I said I’d take it up with the American Embassy. They kept me standing there while they searched the car and my computer bag. I kept an eye on them to make sure they weren’t stealing anything.
After several minutes the English speaker talked to another guy that said he was his boss. I heard him say American Embassy and then his boss told him to give my license and registration back. At that point the guy got real friendly and started giving me advice to avoid further problems with other local police. He said I should get a Honduran License and keep a copy of my passport. He also said I should get permanent residence. I’ll do the first two but getting residence status is complex, time consuming and expensive.
Our days are very long and hard with 16 guests. We really don’t have the resources for this crowd so it has been a strain. We have to transport the guests, 40 scuba tanks, gas, water and all the gear about 40 minutes to the south side. It takes two trucks and a 13 passenger bus to make it happen.
Today the resort said the bus was a problem because they use it to pick up the owners grandkids and friends from school and we were making them late. I had to hire another bus but it only cost $20.
The lady that owns the dock that we use to get guest on board invited my to her house to discuss fees. Apparently the former manager wasn’t paying her enough so she was angry and wanted to set her own price. I told her I was new and would do whatever she felt was right. She asked for $7.50 a day which includes parking for 2 cars and two boats. I thought it was a bargain and agreed. We then had a nice conversation about her time in Roatan. Nice lady.
My workers are constantly asking for payday loans and its something we’ve always done. It is hard to keep track when they are asking for a few dollars all the time. They all got 100 dollar tips on Sunday and they were asking for money on Tuesday. I have no idea where they spend that much money as the standard of living is way below what they earn in pay and tips.
We had a great fire show tonight. There is a guy and gal that go around to the various resorts and put on this show. They do a great job and everyone loved it. It’s all done on a wood deck and the scatter the fire on it but of course it burns out in seconds. I’ll try to get a picture some time because its pretty cool.
I knew it would happen sooner or later. I got stopped at 9:30 PM on the dark dirt road leading from Paya Bay to Punta Blanca where I am staying. There were 6 officers and luckily one of them spoke English. They asked for my drivers’ license and registration and I had both. Then they asked for my passport which I didn’t have with me. I told them it was up the road about 1 mile but they didn’t buy that. They said they would confiscate my license and I’d get it back when I showed them my passport. I said I’d take it up with the American Embassy. They kept me standing there while they searched the car and my computer bag. I kept an eye on them to make sure they weren’t stealing anything.
After several minutes the English speaker talked to another guy that said he was his boss. I heard him say American Embassy and then his boss told him to give my license and registration back. At that point the guy got real friendly and started giving me advice to avoid further problems with other local police. He said I should get a Honduran License and keep a copy of my passport. He also said I should get permanent residence. I’ll do the first two but getting residence status is complex, time consuming and expensive.
Our days are very long and hard with 16 guests. We really don’t have the resources for this crowd so it has been a strain. We have to transport the guests, 40 scuba tanks, gas, water and all the gear about 40 minutes to the south side. It takes two trucks and a 13 passenger bus to make it happen.
Today the resort said the bus was a problem because they use it to pick up the owners grandkids and friends from school and we were making them late. I had to hire another bus but it only cost $20.
The lady that owns the dock that we use to get guest on board invited my to her house to discuss fees. Apparently the former manager wasn’t paying her enough so she was angry and wanted to set her own price. I told her I was new and would do whatever she felt was right. She asked for $7.50 a day which includes parking for 2 cars and two boats. I thought it was a bargain and agreed. We then had a nice conversation about her time in Roatan. Nice lady.
My workers are constantly asking for payday loans and its something we’ve always done. It is hard to keep track when they are asking for a few dollars all the time. They all got 100 dollar tips on Sunday and they were asking for money on Tuesday. I have no idea where they spend that much money as the standard of living is way below what they earn in pay and tips.
We had a great fire show tonight. There is a guy and gal that go around to the various resorts and put on this show. They do a great job and everyone loved it. It’s all done on a wood deck and the scatter the fire on it but of course it burns out in seconds. I’ll try to get a picture some time because its pretty cool.
Friday, February 16, 2007
MONKEY ATTACK
I have another one of those unbelievable stories today. I had a diver that wanted to go diving on the south side so I offered him a ride this morning. I dropped him off on the other side and he jump in a water taxi to complete his journey to the diving resort. I told him I'd be back at 1:00 pm. I arrived about 12:45 and patiently waited for over an hour and he never showed up. I called the resort and got a Spanish recording so I had no idea what was going on. No one around the taxi area spoke English so I was stuck. About 2:00 pm I finally got tired of waiting so I bargained for a water taxi of my own to go find the guy.
The taxi's are stacked one against the other. You have into and over the various canoes until you get to yours. It can be tricky and I don't much like it. There was a monkey on outside boat - the one I was taking. When I got onto the boat, the monkey went crazy and attacked me. I was screaming and monkey was howling and showing his teeth and claws. Both of us were swinging wildly with no actually touches I hope. The damn thing was on a rope but all locals were as afraid of it as me so no one helped out including a police officer. I finally managed to scramble back onto shore and made sure they understood I wasn't moving until the monkey left. One of them finally got end of the boat and pushed it to another area so I could board without the monkey. I was pretty darn shaken up and scared. The monkey was dirty and skinny and about 4 feet tall or better when standing on its legs with its arms stretched out. NEVER AGAIN.
I ran into the guy I was waiting for in the channel so I had the driver turn around. It was a good thing I showed up, the guy had no idea which dock to tell the driver to go too. We made it back without further incident.
I hear and see that a huge storm is headed this way. The timing couldn't be worse. With 16 divers coming in, I'm not sure I can even get them transported across the Island if we have to move. It's going to be an interesting week. The resort has asked me to go to the airport to help with bags and things since they have such a crown and don't have enough cars to carry all the luggage.
The Internet has been up and donw all day and it's pretty frustrating. I think it may be a problem at the resort. They has so many wires, routers, switches and other stuff running the so called network that I'm surprised it works at all. Apparantly it all gets messed up when the electric goes off which has been happening at least once each day. Fun, fun, fun.
The taxi's are stacked one against the other. You have into and over the various canoes until you get to yours. It can be tricky and I don't much like it. There was a monkey on outside boat - the one I was taking. When I got onto the boat, the monkey went crazy and attacked me. I was screaming and monkey was howling and showing his teeth and claws. Both of us were swinging wildly with no actually touches I hope. The damn thing was on a rope but all locals were as afraid of it as me so no one helped out including a police officer. I finally managed to scramble back onto shore and made sure they understood I wasn't moving until the monkey left. One of them finally got end of the boat and pushed it to another area so I could board without the monkey. I was pretty darn shaken up and scared. The monkey was dirty and skinny and about 4 feet tall or better when standing on its legs with its arms stretched out. NEVER AGAIN.
I ran into the guy I was waiting for in the channel so I had the driver turn around. It was a good thing I showed up, the guy had no idea which dock to tell the driver to go too. We made it back without further incident.
I hear and see that a huge storm is headed this way. The timing couldn't be worse. With 16 divers coming in, I'm not sure I can even get them transported across the Island if we have to move. It's going to be an interesting week. The resort has asked me to go to the airport to help with bags and things since they have such a crown and don't have enough cars to carry all the luggage.
The Internet has been up and donw all day and it's pretty frustrating. I think it may be a problem at the resort. They has so many wires, routers, switches and other stuff running the so called network that I'm surprised it works at all. Apparantly it all gets messed up when the electric goes off which has been happening at least once each day. Fun, fun, fun.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
First Week Successful
While its only Thursday, this marks the end of diving for our week. We had no significant problems.
Our boat radio is broken but a new one is on the way. Our motor tilt still doesn't work but I stopped by Fantasy Island today and talked to the mechanic. He said he will stop by tomorrow or Saturday. We really hope he does. Right now we have to tilt the motor by touching some live wires to certain hot spots on the motor and that creates a spark which isn't very good considering there is gas all around.
It was very warm again today and I had to go to town just to get some money for payroll. I'm not sure I paid everyone the correct amount so I've got a letter off to my boss to clarify how it works. Henry our Dive Master hasn't made it the last two days. He said he's sick and when I passed him on the road he said he was going to the clinic but he also said he went a couple nights ago.
We had a couple people dive and snorkel this week and the said the snorkeling is pretty good. I think they must have gone out 5 or 6 times so it must be good. They spent a lot of time on the secluded beach also and just loved their time away from the snowy winter in Denver.
I'm taking one diver to another resort tomorrow so he can get in a couple more dives. All the other guests are just booking various tours around the Island. I can of course provide that service to all of you when you visit.
I stopped by a little settlement called Punta Blaca today that is only about 3 miles down the dirt road. Its a good 15 minutes however. Anyway, there is a great house I can rent and I may do that next week instead of attempting to share a room with someone here. I'm waiting to find out how much they want for the place before I decide.
Our boat radio is broken but a new one is on the way. Our motor tilt still doesn't work but I stopped by Fantasy Island today and talked to the mechanic. He said he will stop by tomorrow or Saturday. We really hope he does. Right now we have to tilt the motor by touching some live wires to certain hot spots on the motor and that creates a spark which isn't very good considering there is gas all around.
It was very warm again today and I had to go to town just to get some money for payroll. I'm not sure I paid everyone the correct amount so I've got a letter off to my boss to clarify how it works. Henry our Dive Master hasn't made it the last two days. He said he's sick and when I passed him on the road he said he was going to the clinic but he also said he went a couple nights ago.
We had a couple people dive and snorkel this week and the said the snorkeling is pretty good. I think they must have gone out 5 or 6 times so it must be good. They spent a lot of time on the secluded beach also and just loved their time away from the snowy winter in Denver.
I'm taking one diver to another resort tomorrow so he can get in a couple more dives. All the other guests are just booking various tours around the Island. I can of course provide that service to all of you when you visit.
I stopped by a little settlement called Punta Blaca today that is only about 3 miles down the dirt road. Its a good 15 minutes however. Anyway, there is a great house I can rent and I may do that next week instead of attempting to share a room with someone here. I'm waiting to find out how much they want for the place before I decide.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
IT WAS HOT
Today was the hottest day since I've been here. I have no idea what the temp was but it was hot in the sun. There was almost no breeze so that made it feel warmer.
I had to go into French Harbor again today. I needed some lumber, some gas, some silicone and a few other items. It was a 3 hours journey. It takes about 30 minutes to the paved road from here. The dirt road is actually in pretty good condition in many places but in other it is very slow going. One spot has a huge rock in the middle of the road that would hit the bottom of the truck so you have to go on either side. One place has a mud hole that looks pretty deep. It hasn't dried out since I've been here. Yet another place has worn down on one side to the point that some cars have slid off the road into the raven. Many places have large pieces of gravel all over the road making it extremely bumpy. You can't be in a hurry.
There are actually a few things along the road. There is a soccer field, two churches, a school, 3 island restaurants (locals), the clinic and a large gravel pit operation. There are a few turn off dirt roads also to Punta Blanca, Punta Gorda and Camp Bay as well as the Jelly Farm. I've not been to any of these places yet. Some of my staff walks all the way from Oak Ridge which is at least an hour walk. They usually find someone that gives them a lift at least part way.
Over time I'll have lots more to say about the culture and people. Right now I'm still learning but believe me for a small island there are lots of cultural problems and differences. To me it's a serious problem but you just have to deal with it and learn to accept it even if you don't think it's right.
I'm sorry there haven't been any pictures yet but I just don't have time.
I had to go into French Harbor again today. I needed some lumber, some gas, some silicone and a few other items. It was a 3 hours journey. It takes about 30 minutes to the paved road from here. The dirt road is actually in pretty good condition in many places but in other it is very slow going. One spot has a huge rock in the middle of the road that would hit the bottom of the truck so you have to go on either side. One place has a mud hole that looks pretty deep. It hasn't dried out since I've been here. Yet another place has worn down on one side to the point that some cars have slid off the road into the raven. Many places have large pieces of gravel all over the road making it extremely bumpy. You can't be in a hurry.
There are actually a few things along the road. There is a soccer field, two churches, a school, 3 island restaurants (locals), the clinic and a large gravel pit operation. There are a few turn off dirt roads also to Punta Blanca, Punta Gorda and Camp Bay as well as the Jelly Farm. I've not been to any of these places yet. Some of my staff walks all the way from Oak Ridge which is at least an hour walk. They usually find someone that gives them a lift at least part way.
Over time I'll have lots more to say about the culture and people. Right now I'm still learning but believe me for a small island there are lots of cultural problems and differences. To me it's a serious problem but you just have to deal with it and learn to accept it even if you don't think it's right.
I'm sorry there haven't been any pictures yet but I just don't have time.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
So far so good
Things seem to be going okay so far. I am finally getting caught up and feel like I have some idea how to run things. We have 10 guests this week and everything is running smoothly. I spent some time today cleaing up one part of the dive shop. I threw out a bunch of stuff that was broken, rusted or just junk.
I've spent nearly all the money that was given to me so I'll have to start making trips to the bank to get more cash as its needed. I'm going to start dealing in Lempira's exclusively as its too confusing working with 2 currencies.
Tomorrow I'll make a trip for gas and a little lumber to build a rack to hang some of our equipment. Space will be at a premium next week. I counted the divers and it appears we have 16 people. It will realy tax our resources.
I'm still being feed by the resort and loving every meal. I've had lobster, shrimp, fish of every sort and many excellent desserts. I think I'm doing enough walking and stair climbing to keep the weight off. The dive shop is probably 300 yards away and there are a fair number of step around the resort.
I'm in room 14 now and its building on the lower lever near the beach. I'm on the second floor with another great view of the ocean from my deck. It was hot today so I sat outside a bit for one of my calls to Gerri. She's really been helping me out with some Excel spreadsheets.
Gerri mentioned all the bad weather in the Northeast and today she mentioned Indianapolis so I hope Ben, Brandi and the kids are making the best of the situation.
Some of the guest have commented about the tremendous skies around here and suggested I learn some of the stars. I told them I was waiting for Mike (my brother) to come down and give me some lessons.
Its only 9:00 pm but I'm beat and heading to bed. More adventures await.
I've spent nearly all the money that was given to me so I'll have to start making trips to the bank to get more cash as its needed. I'm going to start dealing in Lempira's exclusively as its too confusing working with 2 currencies.
Tomorrow I'll make a trip for gas and a little lumber to build a rack to hang some of our equipment. Space will be at a premium next week. I counted the divers and it appears we have 16 people. It will realy tax our resources.
I'm still being feed by the resort and loving every meal. I've had lobster, shrimp, fish of every sort and many excellent desserts. I think I'm doing enough walking and stair climbing to keep the weight off. The dive shop is probably 300 yards away and there are a fair number of step around the resort.
I'm in room 14 now and its building on the lower lever near the beach. I'm on the second floor with another great view of the ocean from my deck. It was hot today so I sat outside a bit for one of my calls to Gerri. She's really been helping me out with some Excel spreadsheets.
Gerri mentioned all the bad weather in the Northeast and today she mentioned Indianapolis so I hope Ben, Brandi and the kids are making the best of the situation.
Some of the guest have commented about the tremendous skies around here and suggested I learn some of the stars. I told them I was waiting for Mike (my brother) to come down and give me some lessons.
Its only 9:00 pm but I'm beat and heading to bed. More adventures await.
Monday, February 12, 2007
ON MY OWN
Justin, the previous manager, has left the island. Joe, my boss, has left the island. Its just Ben, the crew and myself.
Saturday night the new guests arrived. There were suppose to be 8 divers but we ended up with 10. We are trying to figure out how this happened and make sure the resort lets us know exactly who is coming each week.
We had our first little Saturday night meeting with the divers to explain how things work and what they should expect for the week. One group seemed to be disappointed in the number of dives we do and acted like they hadn't read any of their previous emails or the web sites. We got there expectations corrected.
Our first day of diving on Sunday went very well and everyone had a good time. I stayed back and tried to get organized but frankly I didn't really do that good a job. I also had to move again and I moved where I was told but they asked me to move again just after I had unpacked. It was pretty frustrating but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. Anyway, I'm not unpacked for this week and ready to go. I'll have to move again on Saturday and then again the following Saturday. This part is not fun and its really hard to run an office when you move every week.
I had a scare Sunday afternoon when we couldn't get the boat started. They kept messing with it and finally got it going. The afternoon dive went well and everyone enjoyed the dive site even though visibility was down a bit.
I had to run into French Harbor, about 15 miles and a 45 minute trip to get gas for the boat for tomorrow. I bought 45 gallons at a cost of $160. It ain't cheap. The trip back too well over an hour as I ran into a huge crowd at the local soccer field about 2 miles from the resort. Its on the 1 lane dirt road and cars were parked on both sides of the road. Getting threw on the way to town wasn't a big deal but coming back cars were leaving and hundreds of people were milling around so it took forever to get threw.
The boat mechanic showed up about 5pm to put in a new wire harness and some new coils. I hope the coils improve the performance because the harness didn't solve our problem with the tilt mechanism on the motor. We took apart another harness and it was so corroded a couple of pins just fell out of it. We ended up cutting the ends of the connectors off and hard wiring the entire assembly. That still didn't fix the problem so the guy tried a few more things. We now think we have a bad solenoid. He left about 8:30 and will come back later in the week with some used parts to see if he can fix the problem.
Its Monday morning and I've got to get going. Ben is teaching a class this morning and then we are going to town to do the shopping we didn't get done over the weekend.
Saturday night the new guests arrived. There were suppose to be 8 divers but we ended up with 10. We are trying to figure out how this happened and make sure the resort lets us know exactly who is coming each week.
We had our first little Saturday night meeting with the divers to explain how things work and what they should expect for the week. One group seemed to be disappointed in the number of dives we do and acted like they hadn't read any of their previous emails or the web sites. We got there expectations corrected.
Our first day of diving on Sunday went very well and everyone had a good time. I stayed back and tried to get organized but frankly I didn't really do that good a job. I also had to move again and I moved where I was told but they asked me to move again just after I had unpacked. It was pretty frustrating but I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. Anyway, I'm not unpacked for this week and ready to go. I'll have to move again on Saturday and then again the following Saturday. This part is not fun and its really hard to run an office when you move every week.
I had a scare Sunday afternoon when we couldn't get the boat started. They kept messing with it and finally got it going. The afternoon dive went well and everyone enjoyed the dive site even though visibility was down a bit.
I had to run into French Harbor, about 15 miles and a 45 minute trip to get gas for the boat for tomorrow. I bought 45 gallons at a cost of $160. It ain't cheap. The trip back too well over an hour as I ran into a huge crowd at the local soccer field about 2 miles from the resort. Its on the 1 lane dirt road and cars were parked on both sides of the road. Getting threw on the way to town wasn't a big deal but coming back cars were leaving and hundreds of people were milling around so it took forever to get threw.
The boat mechanic showed up about 5pm to put in a new wire harness and some new coils. I hope the coils improve the performance because the harness didn't solve our problem with the tilt mechanism on the motor. We took apart another harness and it was so corroded a couple of pins just fell out of it. We ended up cutting the ends of the connectors off and hard wiring the entire assembly. That still didn't fix the problem so the guy tried a few more things. We now think we have a bad solenoid. He left about 8:30 and will come back later in the week with some used parts to see if he can fix the problem.
Its Monday morning and I've got to get going. Ben is teaching a class this morning and then we are going to town to do the shopping we didn't get done over the weekend.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Full Day
Last night we went out to eat at a place called THE VIEW. It was dark so I'm not sure how good the view it but everyone said is was really great. I tried to get a fillet well done but they suggested some other steak so I tried it and it was pretty darn good. The place is pretty expensive for Roatan but still now bad. I had a killer dessert, the steak and a couple beers for about $15 so I guess that's pretty good.
Today is Thursday and I had my first full day. We went down to the shop at 7:00 am to fill tanks. We loaded the truck and got everything ready to go back over to the south side by 7:45 so Ben and I went up and had some pancakes. I drove across the island for the first time so I could learn the road and feel the bumps. Our resort is about 4 miles down the dirt road and that little bit takes about 15 minutes or more. You drive on which ever side of the road has the least holes or rocks. It's really hard on the truck.
I didn't dive because of my ear but the rest of the group dove Calvin's Crack, Church Wall and Reef House Wall. We usually don't dive 3 times on the other side but we took lunch and it worked out okay. We had a problem early on when one of the customers tank, BCD and regulator fell onto the floor and got damaged. It was our fault as someone didn't fasten the tank down. The lady was pretty upset but we did get her a working system and she got to dive even if she wasn't thrilled with us. We are going to try and get the parts to fix her system tomorrow.
We ate lunch in the lagoon behind Reef House (another resort) at some ones dock. I walked over to Reef House and said hello to Larry the owner. Gerri and I stayed there in November of 2005. The place hasn't changed much. Its not nearly as nice as Paya Bay but it does cost less. They are doing a booming business compared to us and we can't figure out why. I guess its the price and advertising.
Tonight we are having fresh caught wahoo. I saw them bring the fish in to sell this morning. It was about 4 feet long and weighed about 40 pounds. Nice fish.
Today is Thursday and I had my first full day. We went down to the shop at 7:00 am to fill tanks. We loaded the truck and got everything ready to go back over to the south side by 7:45 so Ben and I went up and had some pancakes. I drove across the island for the first time so I could learn the road and feel the bumps. Our resort is about 4 miles down the dirt road and that little bit takes about 15 minutes or more. You drive on which ever side of the road has the least holes or rocks. It's really hard on the truck.
I didn't dive because of my ear but the rest of the group dove Calvin's Crack, Church Wall and Reef House Wall. We usually don't dive 3 times on the other side but we took lunch and it worked out okay. We had a problem early on when one of the customers tank, BCD and regulator fell onto the floor and got damaged. It was our fault as someone didn't fasten the tank down. The lady was pretty upset but we did get her a working system and she got to dive even if she wasn't thrilled with us. We are going to try and get the parts to fix her system tomorrow.
We ate lunch in the lagoon behind Reef House (another resort) at some ones dock. I walked over to Reef House and said hello to Larry the owner. Gerri and I stayed there in November of 2005. The place hasn't changed much. Its not nearly as nice as Paya Bay but it does cost less. They are doing a booming business compared to us and we can't figure out why. I guess its the price and advertising.
Tonight we are having fresh caught wahoo. I saw them bring the fish in to sell this morning. It was about 4 feet long and weighed about 40 pounds. Nice fish.
South Side
The water has been choppy with a but of surge so we decided to move the boat around to the South Side of the Island. We loaded all the gear into the boat and headed East. There is a small and beautiful channel at the end of the Island that separates Helane (spelling) another island from Roatan. The channel is probably less than a mile long and is extremely quiet and scenic. It's a natural mangrove channel teaming with life. We had the passengers on board and they enjoyed the trip.
The seas were very flat on the south side so we were able to make a couple of dives without a problem. The guest seem to enjoy the south side more than the north side but because of the weather they haven't really gotten a good taste of the north side. Our second dive was at reef house wall. Gerri and I stayed at reef house in November of 2005. It still looks pretty run down and I was surprised the owners hadn't made more improvements.
I almost forgot that Tuesday night I had a near disaster. I went to be about 9:30 and woke up about 11:00 covered in blood. I had surgery on my ear about a week before coming down and the scab softened up in the salt water and apparantly peeled off. I'm sure there was at least 2 to 4 ounces of blood and I was a bit scared. I finally got it under control however.
I went on the boat ride in the morning but didn't go diving. We left the boat there and a couple of vehicles picked us up. They dropped me off at the local clinic to see the doctor. The doctor has quit so I saw the nurse practitioner and she said it looked good and she cleaned up the mess from the night before. She told me to stay out of the water for a week and stop taking my 81mg aspirin which of course I should have know.
This is Thursday morning and we are headed back to the south side again in cars. We will try to do 3 dives today so we are packing a lunch. I'm up early so we can fill some scuba tanks. Gotta go.
The seas were very flat on the south side so we were able to make a couple of dives without a problem. The guest seem to enjoy the south side more than the north side but because of the weather they haven't really gotten a good taste of the north side. Our second dive was at reef house wall. Gerri and I stayed at reef house in November of 2005. It still looks pretty run down and I was surprised the owners hadn't made more improvements.
I almost forgot that Tuesday night I had a near disaster. I went to be about 9:30 and woke up about 11:00 covered in blood. I had surgery on my ear about a week before coming down and the scab softened up in the salt water and apparantly peeled off. I'm sure there was at least 2 to 4 ounces of blood and I was a bit scared. I finally got it under control however.
I went on the boat ride in the morning but didn't go diving. We left the boat there and a couple of vehicles picked us up. They dropped me off at the local clinic to see the doctor. The doctor has quit so I saw the nurse practitioner and she said it looked good and she cleaned up the mess from the night before. She told me to stay out of the water for a week and stop taking my 81mg aspirin which of course I should have know.
This is Thursday morning and we are headed back to the south side again in cars. We will try to do 3 dives today so we are packing a lunch. I'm up early so we can fill some scuba tanks. Gotta go.
Monday, February 05, 2007
1st Paya Bay Dive
PAYA BAY DIVING
Today is Monday afternoon and I went on my first dives in the Paya Bay area. The dives were typical of this side of Roatan consisting of slopes and spur and groove formations. Our most interesting find was a toad fish and we did see several lobster and a big crab.
The wind picked up considerably when we surfaced from our first dive so we headed to a local dock for our surface interval. Apparently someone is developing the area and they already have a beautiful long pier with a huge deck area above the end of the pier.
This property is the home of a farm that makes specialty Jellies. I didn’t make the trip up to the farm yet but a few people did and they said it was terrific. They have tropical flavors as you might imagine including pineapple, guava and some banana combo that I might like.
We actually picked up a diver at this pier also. He is starting up some sort of kite boarding operation. I’ve seen these things several times and I doubt I’ll try it. It’s going to be interesting to see if people will come this far down the Island to try it. It’s almost an hour from most other resorts.
We did a second dive and then came back for lunch. We discussed the continuing winds and decided to cancel the afternoon dives. This gave me the entire afternoon off. Ben and I went down to the dive shop and talked about our plans and did some measuring of our current boat ladder. Joe (the owner) is going to get a quote on getting a new aluminum lone built. The current one is wood and works pretty well but it’s heavy to handle.
I’m hoping to make a trip to town with Joe and Justin this afternoon only to see some of the stores where they shop for supplies. We need to purchase a few things right now for the large group we having coming in two weeks.
The Internet is down again so I’m preparing this on Word for later uploading.
Today is Monday afternoon and I went on my first dives in the Paya Bay area. The dives were typical of this side of Roatan consisting of slopes and spur and groove formations. Our most interesting find was a toad fish and we did see several lobster and a big crab.
The wind picked up considerably when we surfaced from our first dive so we headed to a local dock for our surface interval. Apparently someone is developing the area and they already have a beautiful long pier with a huge deck area above the end of the pier.
This property is the home of a farm that makes specialty Jellies. I didn’t make the trip up to the farm yet but a few people did and they said it was terrific. They have tropical flavors as you might imagine including pineapple, guava and some banana combo that I might like.
We actually picked up a diver at this pier also. He is starting up some sort of kite boarding operation. I’ve seen these things several times and I doubt I’ll try it. It’s going to be interesting to see if people will come this far down the Island to try it. It’s almost an hour from most other resorts.
We did a second dive and then came back for lunch. We discussed the continuing winds and decided to cancel the afternoon dives. This gave me the entire afternoon off. Ben and I went down to the dive shop and talked about our plans and did some measuring of our current boat ladder. Joe (the owner) is going to get a quote on getting a new aluminum lone built. The current one is wood and works pretty well but it’s heavy to handle.
I’m hoping to make a trip to town with Joe and Justin this afternoon only to see some of the stores where they shop for supplies. We need to purchase a few things right now for the large group we having coming in two weeks.
The Internet is down again so I’m preparing this on Word for later uploading.
Super Bowl - Roatan Style
Super Bowl – Roatan Style
I think I can safely say this was one Super Bowl I’ll not soon forget. Ben, Joe, Justin, Gretchen and two guests went to one of the local bars to see the Super Bowl. We did not have access here at the resort. The guests were Canadian and didn’t really follow football except during the playoffs and Super Bowl. They were excited to go along with us and experience a little local culture. Ben is English and had never seen an American football game and didn’t really like it much.
Actually the bar is owned by and American from Chicago and he was certainly an enthusiastic host. I’m would guess there were 40 people there with almost all being Americans living on the Island.
About 3 minutes into the game, the DIRECT TV box went down and we lost all signals. The owner was furious and beside himself but he shouted out for anyone with a box to go home and get one. Luckily one of the patrons did have a box and we were back in business about 15 minutes later. Then the power on the entire island went out and we lost everything including the lights. We sat with a single flashlight lighting the place for about 15 minutes until they could get a generator running and get things plugged into a very long extension cord. With this arrangement they got the projection TV running again and plugged in a couple of portable lights. We watch most of the game that way and the food, most pizza and wings, was prepared on gas equipment via flashlights. It was hilarious. About midway through the fourth quarter the electric did come back on and we were able to watch the colts outplay the bears for the rest of the night.
Earlier in the day we had several meetings to discuss how things work. We also met our staff. Jimmy and David and boat captains and Henry is out dive master. We learned a lot about the crazy pay system and Honduran labor laws. It the craziest system you’ve ever seen. If you work someone for 5 days in a row, you have to pay them for 6. If they quit you still have to pay them bonuses and vacation pay. If you fire them after carefully documenting and having them sign a document indicated they did something wrong at least 3 times, you then have to pay them severance pay, vacation pay and a bonus.
The entire staff is very new and has only been here a couple of weeks. Henry is not even sure he is staying. He used to be in charge several years ago and he’s just checking us out to see if he can work with us. Jimmy doesn’t know the narrow channels to get beyond the reef structure so we have a more experience captain (John) helping train him. He gets paid in some special way for helping out. We have a boat we rent from yet another guy when we have too many divers that only lets John drive his boat. John doesn’t think he’s staying around after Justin leaves at the end of the week so we are still scrambling a bit to get everying covered after Justin leaves. We have 12 divers the week of the 10th and 16 the week of the 17th and our boat only holds 10. Wow, this is a hands full right off the bat but Ben and I will work with Justin and Joe to make sure we get it done.
I’m really beat and heading to bed. No Internet connection tonight so I’ll post later.
I think I can safely say this was one Super Bowl I’ll not soon forget. Ben, Joe, Justin, Gretchen and two guests went to one of the local bars to see the Super Bowl. We did not have access here at the resort. The guests were Canadian and didn’t really follow football except during the playoffs and Super Bowl. They were excited to go along with us and experience a little local culture. Ben is English and had never seen an American football game and didn’t really like it much.
Actually the bar is owned by and American from Chicago and he was certainly an enthusiastic host. I’m would guess there were 40 people there with almost all being Americans living on the Island.
About 3 minutes into the game, the DIRECT TV box went down and we lost all signals. The owner was furious and beside himself but he shouted out for anyone with a box to go home and get one. Luckily one of the patrons did have a box and we were back in business about 15 minutes later. Then the power on the entire island went out and we lost everything including the lights. We sat with a single flashlight lighting the place for about 15 minutes until they could get a generator running and get things plugged into a very long extension cord. With this arrangement they got the projection TV running again and plugged in a couple of portable lights. We watch most of the game that way and the food, most pizza and wings, was prepared on gas equipment via flashlights. It was hilarious. About midway through the fourth quarter the electric did come back on and we were able to watch the colts outplay the bears for the rest of the night.
Earlier in the day we had several meetings to discuss how things work. We also met our staff. Jimmy and David and boat captains and Henry is out dive master. We learned a lot about the crazy pay system and Honduran labor laws. It the craziest system you’ve ever seen. If you work someone for 5 days in a row, you have to pay them for 6. If they quit you still have to pay them bonuses and vacation pay. If you fire them after carefully documenting and having them sign a document indicated they did something wrong at least 3 times, you then have to pay them severance pay, vacation pay and a bonus.
The entire staff is very new and has only been here a couple of weeks. Henry is not even sure he is staying. He used to be in charge several years ago and he’s just checking us out to see if he can work with us. Jimmy doesn’t know the narrow channels to get beyond the reef structure so we have a more experience captain (John) helping train him. He gets paid in some special way for helping out. We have a boat we rent from yet another guy when we have too many divers that only lets John drive his boat. John doesn’t think he’s staying around after Justin leaves at the end of the week so we are still scrambling a bit to get everying covered after Justin leaves. We have 12 divers the week of the 10th and 16 the week of the 17th and our boat only holds 10. Wow, this is a hands full right off the bat but Ben and I will work with Justin and Joe to make sure we get it done.
I’m really beat and heading to bed. No Internet connection tonight so I’ll post later.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
I'M AT PAYA BAY
I hope you've had a chance to look at the Paya Bay web site. I'm here and its even better in person. I've only been here about 24 hours but things are going very well so far. I've met most of the resort staff and owners as well as all of my dive staff. Ben and I are the two instructors and we are getting along very well.
I am temporarily staying in one of the cliffside rooms and the view is unbelievable. The ocean is just below the deck and the waves are soothing all night long.
We haven'te worked out all the Internet connections yet so access is spotty at the moment. I've been able to talk with Gerri twice one using the laptop at Ben's apartment and today using my Ipaq PDA. At this moment I'm using the resort's Internet connection and its painfully slow and apparantly a bit unreliable.
The have a couple of Dish TV connections down here but DISH thinks they don't get any network channels. Because of this we are getting a group together tonight and going to a local bar to watch the super bowl.
I'm sure I'll have lots more to say but I just wanted everyone to know I'm here and things seem to be going well.
I am temporarily staying in one of the cliffside rooms and the view is unbelievable. The ocean is just below the deck and the waves are soothing all night long.
We haven'te worked out all the Internet connections yet so access is spotty at the moment. I've been able to talk with Gerri twice one using the laptop at Ben's apartment and today using my Ipaq PDA. At this moment I'm using the resort's Internet connection and its painfully slow and apparantly a bit unreliable.
The have a couple of Dish TV connections down here but DISH thinks they don't get any network channels. Because of this we are getting a group together tonight and going to a local bar to watch the super bowl.
I'm sure I'll have lots more to say but I just wanted everyone to know I'm here and things seem to be going well.
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