Belize 2010_21

Its going to be about 98 degrees and calm today, perfect for snorkeling and fishing. We drove the boat down to Ak'Bol (a few "blocks" south on the beach) for breakfast. We had couple of friends join us at our feet, trying to find as much shade as possible. I had only ever eaten lunch there, the breakfast was just as delicious. Kirsten (one of the owners) was so pleased with us including Ak'Bol in the article we wrote for The Kiteboarder Magazine that she comped our whole meal. Thanks again Kirsten!

Karlene suggested we get the tube to pull behind the boat today so we went back to the condo to get that and fill up all our waters. Dad wanted to fill the gas tank up before we headed out for the day so it was into town for gas and a few errands. The gas station was so busy, boats coming in and out pretty fast for such a small area to maneuver in. We tied up and the gas attendant gave us the nozzle. It wasn't working so he said to hit it against something. No luck. He tried, no luck. We walked the boat down to the next nozzle. That one didn't work either, I was starting to think they were out of gas! Moved down one more and finally got something. It was taking for ever because there was no pressure. It felt like a half an hour had gone by while we were filling up and the nozzle next to us I think I counted three boats had come and gone! Matt was counting the gallons for dad and dad decided that was enough. He went to get the nozzle out and noticed that the gas was spilling out. The non existent pressure in the nozzle didn't turn it off when it was full. He spent about an hour hand bailing it out from the back of the boat, near the engine.

During this time madre' had sent Karlene to get some potatoes and meet us south at BC's. Madre' and I started to wonder what she was thinking, "did they leave me", "did I go to the wrong dock"? While we were helping dad as much as we could I was people watching. There was a small tour boat that had filled up and the "captain/tour guild" was walking back to his boat and customers after grabbing a couple of beers. He was about two steps away and the boat came untied and started to drift away. The customers on the boat hadn't noticed until it was too late. The tour guild was telling them just put the boat in reverse, well the woman that was trying to do it couldn't get it in gear so this man jumped behind the wheel and put it in reverse. No harm done, pretty damn funny though.

After dad hand bailed about 15 gallons (mostly sea water) out from the back he had to jump in the water. The gas attendants went to the store and bought some soap for dad and Matt so they washed themselves and the boat off. They apologized and said they were getting the pump fixed. Finally we were off, it was like sitting in a sauna with the lovely aroma of gas everywhere as soon as we got going it was like someone turned on the air conditioning and it blew all the stank away.

We got to the dock outside of BC's, there is a bar on the dock that Karlene waved from and gets up from her seat as the same time a man did. Apparently she just happened to run into Gino and they had a beer, so much for us worry about her she was just fine. Matt walked to Sharky's to get some more bait and hooks, Madre' walked to the bank and I walked to the post office. We all met back at the bar on the the dock. Madre' was taking forever and I thought that she might have said "meet back here on the beach" where we split up. It ended up being the line out the door and the bank was so incredibly slow that made her take so long. We all had a coke before we took off and Gino had come back to get some food because the place he walked to was closed. We invited him to come but he needed to eat before his gig at 4pm.

It was about 2pm when we finally got going after all our mishaps. We anchored just north of the cut by our place around some coral. As soon as the engine was off I jumped in to cool off. I put some snorkel stuff on to find the fish. The water was really murky and the current was strong. I couldn't see many fish at all and after they had cast a few times with no bites we packed up and moved south to our ball. There was a boat tied to the buoy so we anchored just south of them. I pumped up the tube and sat in it until someone was done with their pole. We all caught a few small ones and I caught one keeper. We called it a day just before sunset. It was tubing time! Karlene went first and had a riot, then I went and had a riot. We forget how much simple fun tubing is.

It was Karlene's last Friday night so all the kids got ready to go out. While we were getting ready the whole north side of the island had a power cut. Madre' said it was probably from all the air conditioners going today. We could still hear music coming from the big resorts that had their own generators. Karlene and I got ready by headlamp light and it was into town for papusas. We rode our bikes up and down the beach for live music. We came across The Bikini Bar and thought it looked like fun. The waitress looked like a hooker and the guys on stage were all local reggae singers that sounded awful! The waitress got us three chairs on the beach and a drink. Matt was not impressed while all Karlene and I could do was laugh. This place was the lowest of the low but made for a good laugh. After we had finished our drink we moved on to Fido's. This place was packed, could barely find a seat. The music was good but we were all tired and decided to call it a night.