We’re Learning

Dedicated fishermen

CRAZY!!!  The winds pounded us all night long.  Jezabelle was sick this morning after making it all day yesterday and the long night just past.  It’s been blowing twenty something gusting into the thirties.  I don’t know exactly how much because our anemometer died after the Derecho.  I didn’t get a lot of sleep… mostly I watched our track at on the iPad and dozed.  We might as well have been offshore. 

I spoke to Chris Parker again this morning and he keeps saying the wind is going to moderate.  We have our doubts but it only makes sense that if the wind is blowing from the north, we should be able to get closer to the mainland and find shelter with kinder seas. 

So we decided to go with Chris’s advice and leave Ile á Vache.  Our destination is 24 hours away.  The dinghy needed to be flipped over on the deck.  It was repaired yesterday and left upright but it can’t ride like that.  Figuring out how to flip it in this gale wind was fun.  We tied the front forward and raised the transom on a halyard.  Then with the wind as a hostile participant, we wrestled it around – almost losing Bruce overboard.  But we triumphed in the end and got it tied onto the foredeck properly. 

While all of this was going on, I glanced up and something caught my eye… Doux Doux.  He was struggling upwind in his little boat paddling frantically on one side and then the other with his meager stick.  Poor guy, what’s he thinking coming back here in this wind???  He eventually reached us and clung to the rails, breathing heavily.  It’s funny that with almost no common language we seem to do all right.  He handed up a bag and said (almost unintelligibly) Laundry.  They hadn’t brought all of our clothes back yesterday so he had to come out before we left this morning. 

It’s a good thing too as it was most of Bruce’s shorts that got left behind.  He had given his best shorts to Kiki to distribute to the boys.  We would have left here with only the shorts on Bruce’s butt!!! 

Our still-suspicious-American-hearts couldn’t help but think that they kept them on purpose but then felt bad juju when we paid them for not doing the laundry.  That or they tried them on and they were too big.  Haitians are skinny!  That rumor is no lie… So anyway we said our goodbyes and watched Doux Doux literally blow away…

Next up – another visit from Odelim and David.  They wanted to make sure we would tell people their names so that they could get work from other cruisers.  They were very sweet.  I think we’re going to keep in touch on Facebook!!

This shows our wobbly track leaving to the north

Well – with social hour done and the dinghy tied down, it was time to go.  I had a fair amount of anxiety about pounding across the Bay in 25 knots on the nose, but it had to be endured before it was to get better… and staying isn’t a good option.

If only I had known how much worse it would get.  Bruce had trouble getting the anchor onboard and fought with it for too long.  This involved some yelling, which had me frantically worrying that he had lost a leg.  I was literally straining my eyes expecting to see arterial blood spatters!

I couldn’t leave the helm because even at full throttle we were barely making 2-3 knots and the boat kept getting knocked sideways where we could not afford to be… Just at the point where I realized Bruce wasn’t bleeding, we got hailed on the VHF.  Bruce was still getting a douche as the bow rose and fell taking on water in the big waves.  But he did not seem to be in mortal peril… so it was OK for me to talk on the radio.

I answered and chatted a bit.  The guy wanted to know where we were from and apologized for not coming around to visit.  Having a normal conversation provided me with a lifeline to still the shaking in my knees.  The effort of keeping my voice from sounding shrill snapped me out of it.  I signed off after being invited to join the Ile à Vache Facebook group…

Bruce came back to the cockpit, soaking wet saying “Nothin’ to it”.

Danger over – we were still barely making way – less than 3 knots.  Gotta get some sail up...We raised the double-reefed main and sheeted it in tightly then fell off just enough to gain some speed and with speed… some control.

Things were starting to feel better.  We were past the point of wanting to turn back and now if we snagged a fish trap, at least we had mobility of a non-mechanical nature.  Very soon the waves became a bit more kindly.  The ride got better and even the cat relaxed.

We rolled out the jib and shook one reef out of the main.  Our speed increased.  We melted into the motion of the boat and life was good again. Funny how within minutes we go from doubting the wisdom of being here… to feeling on top-of-the-world… like accomplished Cruisers.  Well, we had survived the shit!!! That must count for something!

Bruce went down to shower off the salt water and changed into dry clothes.  While he was down below our speed went from a lovely 6.5 with occasional 7 knots to a dismal 4 knots and dropping.

More calm in the lee of the island

We had sailed out of the mêlée and into the shadow of the mountains.  It is hard to believe the difference that few minutes made.  I called Bruce on deck for a powwow about sail trim.  We had to go back out and find the wind.

For about half an hour we motored off course with sails hanging limp.  Where is it!?  It has to be here!!!  Strangely we began to get a little breeze coming TOWARDS the island instead of from the North.  A sea breeze I guess…

But it was enough to allow us to get back on course and keep wind in the sails…even if we did have to motorsail… again.

With large, well-spaced swells on the nose, we all settled into the shade and watched Haiti go by.  It seems endless and the mountains are a welcome change from the flat Bahamas.  It was just after noon and only 18 hours to go…

Soon we began to see whitecaps up ahead.  Wind driven waves appeared to port.  The boat – full main and jib formerly languishing – leapt forward to more than seven knots and a ferocious heel.

Here and gone.  They are camera-shy!

A dolphin torpedoed out of the blue depths and swam with us until I got the camera out… then he took off like a rocket from whence he had come.  I guess Haitian dolphins are camera shy too.

We got busy reefing the main again.  We had found the wind!

1:10 Have I mentioned that we had a toilet malfunction yesterday?  The piston that holds the internal plunger let go and we can’t flush it any more.  Fixing it has been put off for a couple of days until we can get to someplace calm.  Unfortunately we are dummies and left the thru-hull valves open.  We (read: Bruce) had removed the waste from the bowl and we thought we were good.  We have now learned otherwise…  The bowl filled again and the smell of sewage was wafting up from down below.  We’ve had to apologize to the cat for initially blaming the smell on her…  Guess we won’t be making THAT mistake again…

1:50 We just finished rolling in the jib to reef it and put both reefs back in the mainsail.  We were careening out of control – spray everywhere – wind beating me to death.  Now things are better with speeds still in the 7’s and a nice ride.  We are turning back toward land again looking for a happy medium.

3:17 Bruce is napping.  We had to reef more jib – more careening.  I don’t like careening.  It makes the boat feel very big and the sea feel even bigger.  And those things make me feel very small.  It’s just so nice when we can get everything trimmed right to give us an easy sail… and if it’s fast as well… even better!

Night fell.  We were far enough off the coast that there were no fish traps to contend with.  The seas were small with long gentle swells and hardly any wind driven chop.  When I went down to sleep we had full jib and a reefed mainsail.  When I awoke I found that Bruce had rolled the jib. 

The winds had all but shut down with the setting sun and the main was rigged with a preventer to the starboard rail keeping it from slamming in the waves.  I happily took my watch in these conditions.  Although it is annoying that the main couldn’t be kept full… it gave me purpose.   I cranked up the iTunes on the iPad and proceeded to hunt for the perfect heading that would keep the main quiet.  It made the time go much faster.

The moon was full and we had intermittent clouds.  I could see the mountains sliding silently by.  Dolphin came and went.  Time passed quickly through two more watches just like that one.

Dawn.  Finally!

Finally it was morning. Checking our position I realized that the Southern Coastal boarder between Haiti and the DR is the Pedernales River.  We have one of those in Texas!

We were looking for wind once more as the seas moderated further with only a swell now coming from forward of starboard.  We needed to turn south so we doused all sails and cranked up the engine.  We would end this on our last few gallons of Bahamian diesel. 

Our good girl.

Dramatic view of the mountains in the rising sun

Sunrise over Cabo Falso

We were closing in on the Dominican Republic… very soon we would be back in insurance-approved waters.  Luck don’t fail us now!  There were maybe a dozen Haitian fishermen out working the waters close to the border.  I wonder if the DR’s Coast Guard has to keep running them off. 

Haitians fishing the border

We altered course when I realized that we were headed for one of their long nets.  They smiled and raised their hands in a big wave.  We are no longer afraid of these gentle people, but we were runnin’ for the border and about to enter our third foreign country!  Hold your applause please until after the show!  Oh forget it… go on and applaud!

Looking at Bahia de las Aguilas

Our chosen anchorage, Bahia de las Aguilas, was just ahead.  The charts we have don’t really show much detail, and what they do show not completely inaccurate.  We are in new territory now folks.  Gone are the dotted lines of our beloved Explorer Charts.  We’re on our own now. 

The Marina Guardia seem to operate out of this small resort

As we started to motor towards our anchorage, feeling our way and reading the water like we learned to do in the Bahamas… we heard someone on the VHF.  It was in Spanish and I didn’t really pay it any attention.  After two tries in Español, the speaker tried again to hail the “boat Americana”.  I figured that must be us.

I somehow figured out that they wanted us to change course and come into the next Bay to the north of ours, so we made a sharp left and found a spot to drop anchor in about 15 ft. of water over clear white sand.  We began getting the dinghy ready, pumping it with air because it had been repaired recently… when the Officials came out to us in their boat. 

It was all very civilized and quite fun for me.  Between us we couldn’t make a sentence in the other’s language, but somehow we got what we needed across.  I’ve got my Spanish for Cruisers phrase book and a little bit of Spanish learned from growing up in South Texas.  We told Senior Ferrera that we planned on staying here until Thursday and would then move to Isla Beata, weather dependent.  After that our plan was to continue around the cape and head for Baharona to officially clear into the DR.  He seemed OK with that. 

One of the most beautiful beaches in the DR

They left our boat and we pulled up the anchor to continue on to our anchorage.

That was on Sunday.  For the next three days we stayed on the boat.  We technically weren’t supposed to go ashore without clearing in first but we had forgotten to ask if it was OK.  So, not wanting to incur the wrath of our host country and being the by-the-books kind of girl I am… we followed the rules. 

Maybe if our dinghy was holding air a bit better and it wasn’t such a pain to get it up and down from the davits, we might have bent the rules a little bit…  But we had plenty to do on the boat. 

It was a mess and we spent some time cleaning.  Once the boat was looking better and I felt more “in-control-of-my-fate”… the high of arriving safely here from Haiti wore off, we kind of crashed.   We slept a lot.  We cooked.  We ate.  We read.  We studied our upcoming anchorages and routes.  Somehow the days disappeared.

Just sitting in the cockpit reading and gazing out at this stunning landscape is pretty darn nice.  Our minds are still processing our time in Haiti and we talked about that a lot. 

The beach runs a crescent from left to right.  The waters are a teal color instead of the aqua we’re used to from our time in the Bahamas.  We fell into a pattern… windy afternoons and evenings with the air flowing through the boat and cooling things off.  The water was flat this close to the beach.  There are no mountains between the east wind and us. 

In the evening we watched the sun fall uninterrupted into the Caribbean Sea.  I’m looking for the Green Flash and think I’ve seen it.  The wind shuts off with the setting sun and we settle into deeply restful nights.  I haven’t slept this good in recent memory. 

Morning comes gently with the water still and deep.  I can see the details of the bottom beneath our boat as if it was three feet deep… but it’s twenty.  The sun rises over the land and we decide what we want to tick off our list today.

Enjoying the still waters

The big project was fixing the aft head.  We took it apart, well, Bruce did.  I was making bread.  We don’t have access to a store and our fresh goods are gone.  So I produced my first perfect loaf of home made white bread while Bruce replaced a few parts from our store of toilet spares…

The piston had fouled the threads of the plunger that moves waste out of the bowl.  We did not have a spare for that, although we had just about every OTHER part of the toilet assembly on hand… so Bruce glued the piston into the plunger piece and we hope that holds until we can source a replacement.  It seems to be working for now…

Grilling that fish!

One day a couple of fishermen pulled up in their open boat and asked if we wanted to buy fish.  We DID!!!  The young man held up what looked like a nice sized snapper.  We would like two of those please.  No Español and no Englés… It was comical as they asked for $20 and we said no.  Back and forth we went. 

They didn’t have two of the Snapper… In fact, when they dumped out their buckets into the bottom of the boat, their catch looked like what we were used to seeing in a saltwater aquarium.  I’m sure we don’t eat any of THOSE!!! 

We finally settled on $7 for the one Snapper and the fishermen left complaining loudly in Spanish… something pinché something…  I was upset by it at first but remembered reading that they love the haggling and that sometimes it sounds very heated… it’s just a part of life.  They didn’t have to take the $7 and we probably paid twice what a local would have.  I did feel badly about taking the one good fish in their entire catch. 

After three days, we began to feel the stress of our forced inactivity.  Chris Parker said that we could round the dreaded Cabo Beata on Friday or Saturday…  I began to fret about it.  My sleep was interrupted by dreams of huge waves hitting us as we round the Cape.  Double that with visions of clearing in with hostile and corrupt officials and it left me wide awake at 2:30 am on the morning of our departure from Bahia de las Aguilas.  Maybe my sleep is all messed up anyway with the offshore passages and daily naps…

But I was ready to hit the road when the sun came up.  The iPad has told us that we’ve entered another time zone, actually it was a zone that didn’t recognize daylight savings time.  We are suddenly an hour ahead of what we were.  So now we have to listen to Chris Parker at 7:30 in the morning… I guess the sun doesn’t know what time it is so it’s the same thing… but we would be well on our way by then. 

At dawn we pulled up the anchor and raised the main.  I shut down the engine.  We had about a four-hour trip.  We didn’t’ need the engine.  The sailing was calm and serene between the anchorage and Cabo Falso.  As we approached the false cape and made our rounding, the winds increased and so did the seas.

The boat began to pound to weather lifting high on the waves and then crashing into the troughs with spray flying high.  Sometimes we would hit it just right to send gallons of seawater tumbling along our decks and I was really glad we had shut all of the hatches and ports. 

False Cape

Pretty big seas after we rounded Cabo Falso

Although it was slow-going and not really pleasant… it wasn’t scary or uncomfortable either… again, just something to be endured.  Our though was that it would get better as we crossed the open water and reached the lee of Isla Beata.  Well the seas did become less choppy and the ride more comfortable, but we didn’t really see much in the way of flat water until we were within a mile of our anchorage. 

Things smoothed out somewhat near the Island

There were two boats already anchored near the fishing village when we arrived, but they were far apart leaving plenty of room for isolation.  We dropped the sails and motored up to find a nice spot in about 15 feet with a sandy patch to drop the hook.  There were only small waves rolling off of the point to port and the winds were still fairly brisk. 

The Guardia Post.  Nobody came out to visit us.

We had no plans for going ashore.  There is only a small fishing village there… a shanty-town really.  We could see meager structures, some using what looked like a tent for a roof.  We were content to watch from our beautiful watery home as night fell and fires were lit onshore.  We imagined the fishermen cooking their catch and wondered how they survived there.  Did they bring in fresh water from the mainland?  How far did they have to go to get it?  Or did they just catch rainwater and survive on that???

The fishing village on Isla Beata

I knew that tomorrow would be a challenging day for us.  I don’t know how I slept a wink with all that was on my mind… rounding the Cape, clearing into the country… but I did. 

We have learned so much about navigating the waters around this mountainous island.  We know that there are forces that control the winds and waves independently of the weather forecast of prevailing winds and frontal passages.  We feel that we are gaining invaluable experience in figuring out where the wind and waves will be… and it’s FUN!

We’re learning that the comprehensive charting that Explorer Charts provide are not equaled in other parts of the Caribbean.  We miss the comfort of having all of that information at our fingertips… where the work is done for us.  Now we have to figure things out for ourselves in a more “real” experience.  And while that isn’t as easy as we’re used to… we are feeling a bigger sense of accomplishment after each successful passage whether it was long or short. 

And so as we continue to learn every hour of every day… leaving our comfort zone is beginning to feel more and more… comfortable.   In the morning we will travel to Baharona where we will officially clear into the Dominican Republic.  We can't wait to finally set foot on shore and begin to figure out how to survive in our next foreign Country.

Haiti Lite – Ile à Vache

The next morning we woke after sleeping like the dead.  The calm waters, the first we’d had in over a week were heavenly… but wait.  The boat was bouncing again.  The wind had come up and from the only direction that would bring waves into this anchorage… the north.  The Norther’ that had made it so important for us to arrive here sooner than later had found us.  Having no wi-fi to get my weather apps to work was inconvenient. 

Fishing boats slid silently past us on their way to "the office"

We got up and got busy finding cleaning rags and supplies so that we would be ready when the army came.  I made toast and eggs from the food we bought yesterday and we were just finishing up when we heard a bump on the hull… it was starting.

They began asking for water early on.  Probably the cleanest water they see!

Suddenly there were boys everywhere.  Their boats were tied off the stern and they were here and ready to work.  I got out my list and started looking for their names.  Several had skipped school to come and work. 

I was not really happy about that. Those kids were on our list for coming after school but they showed up in the morning instead.  Well it was too late now.  How would we handle all of this???  Some of these kids spoke only Creole and a few words of English. 

My foreman... Justin

I quickly saw a way… Justin, one of the older boys spoke good English.  I asked him if I could make him my manager.  That wasn’t one of his words… but we worked it out and he understood.  He listened to what we needed done and our wishes that each boy would have a part… We agreed at $5 per hour each, and then we set a limit of two hours work.  We would only pay for two hours. 

This is one hard-working kid!

I made a list of the names of each boy and checked it against my list from yesterday.  There were only a couple of names missing.  Good boys must have gone to school.  I told Justin that only the people on the list would be paid.  We had a deal.

Everybody got to work

He fired off orders in rapid Creole.  The boys listened to him and set to work when directed.  I think this is going to work!!! 

Bruce handed out rags and scrubbers and brushes and directed the work like he wanted it done.  He showed the boys how the stainless polish was to be done and kept watch.  I brought up buckets of boat soap and dinghy cleaner and a mix to clean the sun shades. 

I also brought up some water, Coolaid and cups for the boys.  They drank quickly and got back to work.  It was a frenzied time.  We were everywhere, answering questions, keeping an eye on things… Two hours is a long time with ten boys on the boat. 

Sadly he let out a tiny whimper when I flipped the shades over for him to do the other side...

Polishing stainless

They did an excellent job scrubbing the dinghy

We hadn't even mentioned the dirty fenders...

Looking busy...Employees are the same the world over!

I began to notice that a different boy was cleaning the same area that another one had already cleaned…  I had to re-direct them and finally consulted Justin again to let him know where they needed to be cleaning so everything would get done.  Two Hours… that’s all! 

I almost laughed as I would walk from foredeck to aft and see the boys catch my eye and quickly start rubbing on a spot…  I guess it’s the same the world over… when the boss walks by… everybody look busy!!!  The work was slowing down a little bit so we needed to make sure all the jobs got covered.

We're used to seeing dinghies trailing from our stern...THIS!

Several times I noticed that one of the smaller boys was sent to bail water out of the boats off the stern.  Can’t let them sink! 

Moving the dinghy into the water

Kiki arrived and we set a group to clean the dinghy.  Kiki was hired to patch the leaks but the dinghy needed to be cleaned first.  When that was done, the boys put the dinghy back into the water so Bruce could air it up.  They needed it to clean the hull-sides. 

Two or three in the dinghy made short work of washing the hull and I was amazed that everything was pretty much done at the end of the two hours.  We hoisted the dinghy back onto the foredeck and then adjourned to the cockpit.

My heart was singing as I looked at the circle of faces sitting in my cockpit.  I passed up drink and cookies to their reaching hands.  But there was also the nervous hope in their eyes that breaks my heart.  It’s time to hand out the cash and they couldn’t wait to set eyes, and hands upon it.

Justin wanted us to give him the money that he would divi up ashore… No way.  I wanted each boy to leave here with his earnings in his pocket. 

It isn’t that I didn’t trust Justin… well, maybe it is.  A vision came to mind of (I don’t remember the name of the story) the English boys in old times, sent out onto the streets of London to pickpocket and steal… then bring their loot back to the head man.  Surely this wasn’t the case here, but what if it was.  I wanted these boys to have their money.

Drinks and cookies for all!

We gave them one’s, five’s and tens.  The disappointment on the faces of the recipients of the ten-dollar bills was priceless.  They asked for smaller bills and Justin barked at them, but I said it was OK, we had one’s for them.  Their smiles were exquisite. 

As suddenly as they appeared, they now disappeared.  The pack of boats tied to our stern scattered.  Only Justin and Kiki remained.  We gave Justin his extra share for managing and our many thanks.  He left and Bruce went to the dinghy with Kiki to get started on the patches.

I retired below to try to get things cleaned up again.  I have no idea where all of this energy was coming from, but I needed it.  We would be leaving in the morning and couldn’t have stuff scattered everywhere like this. 

I couldn’t really see what was going on with the dinghy.  I didn’t see any container for mixing the two-part glue and questioned it.  Kiki told me he knew what he was doing and Bruce just let him continue on.  I knew that the small vial that activated the glue was still in the bag… and that the glue wasn’t going to hold without it.  I just let it go.  Maybe Kiki does know what he’s doing…

Finally he was done with the patching and Felix came to get him in the bigger boat with the outboard.  They would come back and get us at 4:30 for dinner ashore at Justin’s hotel.  I really was very tired and wished we hadn’t agreed to it.  The winds had continually built as the day progressed and the boat was bounding hard in the rolling waves.  I knew it would be a wet ride both ways…  But oh well… I really did want to go ashore and take a little walk through the town.

The two lobster brought to us by Odelim were much bigger!

We had about 2 ½ hours until they would come for us.  I made a big pan of bread pudding out of the fresh eggs and day-old bread we had got from the boys.  It turned out delicious!  I prepared a plate to take ashore as our gift to our host’s and we got dressed to go. 

Paddling furiously against the wind and waves!

As we were dressing, we heard shouts from across the waves.  We popped our heads out of the hatch and saw that Doux Doux was paddling furiously in our direction.  It seemed impossible that his little boat would ever make it with the big waves and wind against him.

There was a young boy holding our laundry bags in the boat.  He clutched them and did his best to keep them dry.  Finally when Doux Doux could reach our gunwales, he lunged one last time and took hold.  His relief was palpable as was mine for him.  I felt so badly that he had such a hard time bringing our laundry back. 

Somehow with no words between us, we realized that the clothes were not washed.  “Madame say soap bah!!”  She hadn’t liked our home-made laundry soap and so did not do the laundry.  I didn’t really care as I had begun to wonder if their water would be clean enough for my taste anyway…   He said no when we asked him how much we owed… We gave him the money anyway.  With no words his face thanked us as he let go of our boat and blew back to shore.

See our boat bounding in the background?

Time was closing in so I put on a long skirt and clean shirt… Bruce just went as he was.  Promptly at 4:30 Felix and Kiki arrived to fetch us.  Getting into their little boat as it bounced at our side was quite an accomplishment… especially with the plate of bread pudding I had brought as a gift to our hosts.  So was keeping seated as we buzzed over the waves powered by their sickly outboard motor. 

We were whisked off to the World Treasure Hotel for dinner-for-two!

They made us feel very special, like Royalty, as they brought the boat to shore and parked the bow close enough for me to take a helping hand in stepping over.  I was able to stay dry as I hopped onto a rock, then terra firms.  

My legs didn’t feel much inclined to hold me as the ground stopped moving…  The world tilted but soon I felt things settle down as the boys took the boat back out and anchored it in the shallows.

We gazed out to the anchorage and couldn’t believe we had made that distance almost dry.  We watched the boats heave up and down in crashing waves.  The wind was still blowing here but at least we were still for a while. 

Walking on the hotel grounds

We turned our eyes to take in our surroundings here on shore.  The “hotel” was a cinderblock building with new construction extending one side.  There was a rickety table and chairs arranged between the building and the shore where there was some shelter from the winds.

Ferocious winds!

The view from the hotel

It must be perfect with prevailing easterlies...

Kiki bringing our food from the kitchen

The old flowered tablecloth was held at the corners but continued to flutter, almost lifting the plates.  This would be our spot for dinner.  Felix took us on a short tour to see the hotel room.  Inside were two full-sized beds, neatly made… and a tiled bathroom with open shower, sink and toilet.  That’s it.  No other furniture.  The wooden table and chairs outside on the grass between the porch and the beach would be the place to spend your time in prevailing winds.  Today it was scoured by the wind.  The view was still good.  Felix skirted the question when I asked him how many guests he’d had…

We walked the short distance back to our table to see Kiki bringing food to our table.  He ceremoniously carried each dish and laid them out on the table as if they were lavishly laden platters instead of the simple dishes for two.  Our repast tonight would consist of fried plantains, a spicy cabbage/tomato/pepper salad, three pan fried chicken legs and two fried fish, with a huge pile of white rice and a thin sauce with onion and carrots swimming around the bottom of the bowl. 

Everything was perfectly seasoned and uniquely flavored.  The salad was the most surprising as after teetering on the edge at the initial taste, it grew on me and I ate more of that than anything else… forgetting momentarily the warnings I had read to eat nothing that wasn’t cooked or that I hadn’t peeled myself…  Everything tasted so good and we had forgotten lunch again, so were ravenous. 

Fishermen returning home from work

The boys left us alone at our table to soak in the sights that surrounded us.  How is it that the two of us have come to be eating at this small table in a windswept anchorage in Haiti?  How? 

As the sun prepared to drop behind the mountain, we talked about our day and how perhaps we had been swindled a little bit… but at least we gave the boys some work for their money.  We had given away a few things as well… Bruce cleaned out his drawers and if he hadn’t worn a piece in the past couple of months, he placed it in the bag to be given to the boys.  We wished that we had brought the used sails that are sitting in our attic back in Texas.  These people could have used them.  We were almost ready to let go of our doubts and fears about being here alone and were even making plans to return!

While we were eating I had unwanted thoughts enter my head.  The food that we were eating may have been meant for someone else.  I wondered if this much was served to the children we had seen playing at the fence earlier.  I felt badly about not finishing every bite, but then maybe someone else would.

Felix

After we finished eating, the boys came back.  They had been hovering outside the kitchen giving us our peace.  We asked if we could take a walk along the waterfront to see the town and they offered to take us.  Felix’s wife came out of the kitchen as we stepped up and was introduced as Beatrix. 

She beamed as she accepted our many thanks and complements on the meal we had just finished.  I asked her if she liked the bread pudding we brought and if she had shared it with the children.  She assured me that they had all had a piece…

I have to mention the kitchen.  It is an outbuilding made of sticks woven horizontally through vertical sticks stuck into the ground.  We weren’t invited inside and I didn’t want to pry, but I did catch a glimpse inside and it was very neat and looked clean.  It was sort of what you might find at a long-term camp site. 

We followed Felix along the path at the water’s edge, all the while talking about life here and back home.  Felix and Kiki greeted others as we continued on and stopped here and there to meet their family members.  We came upon several boats in various stages of repair… Felix said it was OK to take pictures of the boats and of some of the buildings, but he explained that the people didn’t like their picture taken unless they gave permission. 

It was so hard not to just go wild with the camera and I know that I could have brought home some truly wonderful glimpses into the lives of these very poor but seemingly happy people.  One old man was sitting on the step of a simple home with three large baskets at his feet.  I’m not sure what he was doing but his weathered face and the color of the baskets were the same.  He wore only a cloth around his groin.  National Geographic came to life for us today. 

There were several buildings that Felix pointed out to be bars.  They weren’t very busy but had women hanging around ready to take our order should we wish to have a drink.  We passed and continued on.  The path was well worn and lined with seaweed and some flotsam and jetsam.  There was some trash around the outskirts of the village as well but the part where people lived was very clean. 

There was mostly dirt but some bits of grass.  Large trees giving cool shade covered the entire area.  The mountain also shaded our walk making it very nice.  

The community center built by the government

There was a community center and a deserted playground, courtesy of some charitable organization or the government…  Most of the homes and the church were very plain, some painted and others not. 

Pride shows

We could see people off the path going about their business.  Kids played everywhere.  Some of the little ones were barely dressed… One tiny boy wore only a shirt that barely hid his little privates… another walked by with a bucket on his head… yes.  A bucket on his head, just like in the magazines!!!  He wore a pair of underwear with a shirt tucked in. 

The playground

Homes in the background

We stopped to look at a rickety old rotted boat that was being repaired.  Three girls and a little boy ran up smiling shyly at us.  I knelt down to ask the boy his name while the girls watched to see how this developed.  The boy told me his name so quietly I couldn’t make it out.  He was so sweet. 

I stood up and the kids ran off giggling.  I asked Felix about life here.  He said that people who wanted TV had it.  There is programing from nearby Les Cayes with network shows.  I asked him if they got The Bachelor and he laughingly said that they did. 

Looks like a write-off to me but they were working to repair this old boat

Fishing nets made with floats using discarded shoe parts. The building in the background is a church.

He seemed very proud of his people and wished that more could go to school.  He said that the boat boys who could come out and work for us were the only ones who got our money.  The others, maybe those who needed it more, didn’t have any way of getting it from us.  Kiki had told us earlier that Michael Bean was his boss.  Maybe when we get to Wi-Fi we can look up ways to donate that will insure that the donated items get to where they are most needed.  It’s heartbreaking to see so much need and not have a way to help them all. 

Kiki's boat.  I am not a rich man

But what we didn’t see… were frowns.  The people all seemed to be happy and laughing as they greeted one another and went about their lives.  Several times while on the boat we heard laughter from the shore.  It makes me glad. 

We stopped into Sammy’s Place and saw an artist at work.  The workspace was dark but clean.  There were several canvas paintings in progress and had there been one finished we would have bought it.  They told us that the artist would work through the night to finish one for us if we wanted, but we declined. 

The strangest thing was a gift shop. Who would be shopping at a gift shop here??? It was not like any other gift shop you’ve ever seen, it was a rustic building with things hanging outside on display.  I recognized the guy who came to our boat to sell us a Haitian courtesy flag (made of a bandana). 

I would have gone over for a look but on old man came out and mumbled something to us taking my hands and staring into my face.  I had no idea what he said… maybe some Voodoo curse.  His hands were cold and dry.  Very unsettling.  

Felix said something to him in Creole and he left me alone… Kiki said the guy was just drunk…

We turned back headed for the hotel.  It was beginning to darken and we wanted to be back at the boat before night.  The waves were still crashing as we stood on the shore saying our goodbyes and paying our tab.  Bruce tipped well and it was wonderful to see the look on Beatrix’s face as Felix handed her the money then sprinted back out to bring the boat to shore for boarding.

There was a dugout boat beached there, Kiki said it was his boat.  Bruce asked him what the name meant.  He smiled and put his hand on his chest and said “It means: I am not a rich man”. 

I was handed into the boat again clutching my plate, now empty of bread pudding.  Bruce boarded and the boys too… They pushed us off from the shallows and started up the engine.  It took a few tries. 

Getting back onto our boat in the heaving surf was a challenge but with help, Felix literally put his shoulder to my rump and when the wave lifted the small boat, he gave a push that launched me onto our deck!  Awesome!!!

We were only a little damp from the ride and were so happy that we had made the trip ashore.  So many times we miss the best parts of Cruising by being to lazy to go ashore.  In the morning we would leave this place.  We were glad we had come.

It gave us a lot to think about and even if it isn’t like the rest of Haiti as Kiki said… it sure isn’t like any other place we’ve been.  I guess it’s kind of like Haiti Lite.  It was the perfect "first experience" in a foreign country and probably the closest we will get to any country as poor as this.

All of our fears and reservations were gone.  Yes, we had probably been taken advantage of a teensy bit by some of the boys... but it wasn't anything that we would not have given freely.  Our minds are full of this experience and we will be mentally processing it for some time to come.  It's difficult to wrap your mind around the fact that this place is in existence such a short distance from the thriving United States.  And the people here are just that... people.  They have hopes and dreams and maybe some are desperate for things that we take so much for granted.  But who could blame them?

We must leave tomorrow but in both our minds, plans to return are being made.

Fishing boats at anchor tossing in the surf