The Roatan Story

Steps Forward on Shaky Ground

Lori Writes:

The original idea behind creating this website and posting these chapters was to keep our family informed of what we were doing;  To let them know we were alive and hadn’t been killed or kidnapped.  When Mark and I were in the planning stages of this move, I explained our plans to my parents.  My Dad said he was worried about our safety if we chose to live outside the United States but also was adamant about NOT providing ransom money.  I was not at all taken aback by his reaction.  I know my parents love me and they were going to miss me and that my Dad watched too many TV horror shows.  Bad things do happen, all over the world.  Lucky for me, I found an adventurous partner that was also cautious, knowledgeable, and really slightly anal and geeky (He is very good looking though).  To digress for a moment (I had a point at the beginning of this paragraph I swear I will get to), when I met Mark, neither of us had much.  He was smart and had a couple of real estate investments. In 2000, they were worth a great deal more than he paid for them. Unfortunately, he met me and I had kids and I didn’t care when the right time to sell was, I wanted my children, and his child, to have a stable home, that was the most important thing.  He was right though.  To make money, we should have sold out three years prior.  I made him hold out until it came down to the wire.  We had an Air Force base nearby that was claiming our neighborhood as an “Accident Zone”.  We caught wind of this news only slightly before the market fell.  In other words, we got out of our house for the best price before it all came crashing down.  Of course, Mark told me we could have made a larger profit if we had sold out much earlier.  First point that I have been wanting to make for a long time but wasn’t sure how to say it, is If you want to live here, or on a boat, or on a whim….We didn’t have much cash….I used to sit in my cubicle at work and read about people sailing the Caribbean, or around the world, and assume they must have great investments, an inheritance, or some sort of guaranteed income.  I may be totally wrong, so don’t hold me to this, but what I have learned is most people I meet came with minimal funds and a half baked plan just like we did.  I hear there are rich people here.  My Mom tells me she sees mansions on Roatan on HGTV.  She asks if I know the owners.  I actually am surprised that I don’t because this island is so small.  I don’t leave Calabash very often though.  And the main point I am trying to make is I am surprised we have so many other interested readers outside our circle of family and friends and I hope you will follow your dreams as Mark and I have.

Having said all that I now feel I must apologize for not writing in such a great while.  I have been surprised by the number of inquiries and admonishments we have received via email regarding the delay in posting a new chapter.  I confess that I have become so driven and single minded about completing the house that my priorities have become slightly skewed.  I would rather sand wood, clean bat poop, and carry heavy objects up the hill until I fall over, than sit lazily at the computer and type. But on Mark’s birthday we agreed to take the day off and relax.  He spent the morning up in his new office in the loft.  I heard voices on the radio nets, Morse code, and the sounds of his favorite video game while I sat downstairs and twiddled my thumbs.  We were planning to go out for lunch so I couldn’t start any major projects that would make me sweat.  So, I finally sat down to begin documenting the latest happenings around here.

Time is a strange animal. It feels like February was yesterday but also seems so long ago and we have accomplished a great deal since.  We have managed to get our “Turtlegrass Mini Marina” in operation, the major parts of our water catchment system and processing in place and therefore, our house to the point where we could move in and camp out.  Amazingly, this work was done in conjunction with the major cruising and tourist season here and we somehow managed to find time to go to many parties as well as entertain guests in our unfinished house.  The past few months also brought some unsettling events that have definitely kept life far from boring.

After the concrete work was completed that we discussed in our last chapter, Mark and I sat down to prioritize.  With our funds growing thin and as much as I hated to admit it, it seemed wise to get our marina going and put house construction on the back burner.  A barge with a large crane was due to come into the bight to drive pilings for Harman and his partners on their property and we decided to get in on the deal and have our marina pilings driven at the same time.  It is necessary to point out what a rare and major event it is to have a huge barge come into Calabash bight.  The fact that it even happened at all is a miracle.  We heard for two months previous to the actual showing that the crane was broken or the barge was broken or, or, or….It appeared likely not to happen until the day we saw the huge boat on the horizon and everyone in Calabash invested in the project rejoiced.  Because we had several cruising visitors anchored in the bight, Mark went out in our launch and advised people to move out of the way of the big monster.  Once the barge pulled in, I became husbandless for the duration of its stay.  Mark and his buddy, Mike, were drawn like magnets to the big toy. 

Mike and Mark playing with big toys

I couldn’t complain as they were making a few bucks helping to drive pilings for Harman and company.  During his absence, I was left in charge of Spanish speaking workers who were blocking in our two tank rooms.  These guys were putting entry doors in the wrong place, cutting up the lumber set aside for our house, and throwing trash all over the yard.  I did my best to supervise and communicate with them and am happy to report that our doors are in the correct place and we were reimbursed for the used lumber. 

Workers using our lumber to build concrete forms, ARGH!

Then the day arrived when the barge came to drive our pilings.  Given that from the beginning it was unlikely the barge would even show, “cautious Mark” waited until the last minute to have our posts delivered.  They did arrive in time and the crane proceeded to drive forty foot poles down in the muck, thirty feet deep.  At one point in the operation, one of the workers, David, was electrocuted and thought dead.  I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see him revived after several minutes of unconsciousness.  Also, on the last post driven for us, a hydraulic pressure line gave way and after leaving Calabash bight, the barge was taking the crane back down island for repair as it was unable to do any further work. The final excitement was watching Mark and Mike trim the posts with a chainsaw and hoping they didn’t get wiped out by a falling post top.  When it was finished, I told Mark we should be thankful that the project went so well.  David didn’t die and the crane broke after our posts were driven.  Sometimes things work out.

Watching the crane operator maneuver a new piling and hoping he doesn’t hit our boat

Mark unties the cap

David ties off old pole that needs to be removed

Old post getting yanked out

Mark and Mike trimming post tops

The next huge expense that Mark grumbled about but I pushed for was having all our power lines moved from one side of the property to the other.  I hadn’t mentioned this before, but once the shell of our house was constructed, I realized that when I looked out the back windows, I saw big ugly aerial power lines blocking my view of the gorgeous trees and water.  I convinced Mark that with the mini marina and our plan to put individual power meters at each boat slip on the dock, it made perfect sense to have our main power moved. He groaned but agreed.   For him, this meant several attempts to contact an engineer at the power company and finally get them out to our property.  The day the workers finally came to move poles and lines, I ran around the yard driving stakes at each precious plant I had in the ground and did my best to express their importance to a group of Spanish speaking men with shovels and pick axes.  To run the new pole line, they did cut down several trees and this was painful to watch.  But overall, they did a decent job.  Subsequently, Mark was able to hook up the individual power meters.  He built what he called “power centers”.  Each one contains two meters and the wiring for specific light fixtures Mark had seen in an electrical store in Coxen Hole. 

Mark installs a power center

Several days after installing the power centers on the dock, we went down island to run a zillion errands that included a stop to purchase the lights.  It was quite frustrating to find they were all sold out of the particular fixture that Mark had designed his power centers for.  After an extensive search, we did find and buy lights (for twice the price) that would work.  After this aggravating experience we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at one of our favorite spots, The Island Saloon.  We walked in the restaurant and I burst out laughing.  Since our last visit, they had put in at least twenty new light fixtures throughout the place.  Our light fixtures!  I was tempted to unscrew a couple from the wall to steal and told Mark then we could return the expensive ones.  I was joking, of course (mostly).  In the end, we mounted the fancy fixtures on the power centers and our marina was in business.  We have four slips.  Our boat immediately occupied one and soon after we had two more boats come in for storage while the owners went stateside for the summer. 

Mini marina business is good!

Sign I painted for the “Turtlegrass Mini Marina”

After only being open for business for one month, I like to say our marina is 75% full.  I ignore Mark’s argument that it is only 50% full since we could always move our boat out on our mooring if we had the demand of paying customers.  Regardless, I think we both agree, this idea has been financially successful so far and I am thrilled we were able to accomplish it.

It can be maddening how slowly things progress here and it seems to pay off to have several projects in the works at once.  So while the marina was coming along, Mark had also begun work on our water system.  During March and into April, it was still raining regularly but we were fast approaching the dry season and our two 2500 gallon water tanks were empty.  They were now blocked in and sitting in the dark tank rooms where the lack of light would keep down the growth of algae.  As Mark is feeling his age more and more he decided it wise to hire a couple of young guys to dangle out under the eaves of our house (that sit thirty feet in the air) to hang gutters.  Mark installed the downspouts and ran pipe to one of the huge tanks.  Shortly after this was all in place, we had a brief but hard rain during the night.  The following morning, I was astounded to find we had collected 400 gallons of water. The area of our roof is large but I hadn’t realized it would catch that quantity in such a short time period.  What was more amazing, but also disappointing, we found the pipe leading to the rain water tank and one of the downspouts had come apart and fallen to the ground.  Mark concluded that the angle of the pipe was too slight and the weight of the water caused it to fail.  After a couple hours of work, he had the problem corrected and I am pleased to report that all our water pipes have remained in place since.  As I said, we have two 2500 gallon tanks under the house.  Only one is plumbed to catch the rain water.  Once we collected (with only a few rain showers) 2000 gallons, Mark got the RO machine going and began processing the rain water and filling the second large tank with drinking water.  Mark should really go into greater detail about this system as I am unable to describe it.  All I can tell you is I walk into the RO tank room and see pumps, pressure tanks, pipes, and valves running every which way.  We have the ability to run water up the hill, down the hill, and from tank to tank.  I told Mark he needs to tag the valves and teach a class on how to operate everything. More importantly, I can say that whatever he’s got going on down there is making the best water I have ever tasted.

Which valve does what?

Again, as we waited for the power company to come out to move our lines and Mark made almost daily trips into Oak Ridge for plumbing fittings, we also set a date to unload my container.  We hired workers with two boats in addition to our Panga to carry the huge load across the water, up the hill, and into our house.  I awoke that morning excited and apprehensive.  I was finally going to see all the household items I had packed in Tampa so long ago.  I also worried the movers might damage my precious belongings.  Because of this, I thought it prudent to work right alongside the guys and keep a watchful eye on them. Mark and I arrived at the Oak Ridge lot and he proceeded to unlock and open the container.  He obviously was unaware that I was standing behind him as he bent and picked up a cargo strap with heavy metal hooks off the container floor and turned to toss it on the ground out of the way.  Instead, he whacked me in the shin bone with it.  I was still crying when the workers showed up and had a lump on my leg for two months.  I told Mark that crippling me was not a good start to moving day!  Luckily, that was the worst of it.  Although, running a close second, it took three trips in the three boats and we had a hard rain hit us as we carried the final load from Oak Ridge to Calabash bight.  Everything and everyone was drenched but I dried stuff as the guys carried it in the house and nothing was hurt by getting wet.  By the evening, I had a mountain of boxes and furniture piled in the center of the future guest bedroom. 

Pile of stuff I haven’t seen in two years.

Since the container was now empty, Mark fired up his motorcycle and drove it off the shack porch and down the stairway to the dock which was terrifying to watch.  The workers loaded it into a boat and it is now locked up in the container or “garage” in Oak Ridge. I’m glad he didn’t crash driving down the stairs and even more thrilled to have the big bike gone from the front porch of the Turtle shack.

Mark’s bike getting ready to head into Oak Ridge

At first, the only items placed in a somewhat permanent location were the major appliances and the huge pile of “everything else” remained in the guest room.  We ran an extension cord from a solar outlet and cranked up the refrigerator.  The range and dryer are both gas and knowing it would be some time before they were operational, I put two boards across the stovetop to create a makeshift kitchen counter. The urge to arrange furniture and unpack boxes was overwhelming. I repeatedly told myself it would be crazy to put things out when we had no interior walls and the construction (especially the drywall work) would make such a mess.  We were still sleeping, cooking, and mainly living on the sailboat at this point.  But, my son, Alex, and his girlfriend, Carrie, were coming to visit.  I used this as an excuse to put out a few pieces of furniture in the house to make the accommodations comfortable and also packed the fridge full of munchies.  I was keyed up about their visit even though they would have to camp out and hike down the hill to the shack to use the bathroom.  They are young college kids though and I knew they would handle it just fine.  To make travel less expensive, they were flying stand-by.  My son called me at 2:30 am our time the day they were supposed to arrive to inform me that Carrie could not get a flight so they were not coming.  After hanging up the phone, I burst into tears.  My emotional state woke Mark and after explaining the situation to him, he insisted I buy a ticket for myself immediately. So, the day the kids were to come to Roatan, I found myself on a plane to Tampa instead.  Although greatly disappointed that Alex and Carrie didn’t make it to Roatan (they now have tickets for the Christmas holidays this year), I was able to spend time with not only them, but my entire family which was wonderful. 

Lori, Amyrah, Mary, George, Lynn, Cory, Alex, Leslie, Robert & David

From this experience I also learned that a few tears can turn my husband into a very generous man and maybe I could use that to my advantage in the future?  Haha….Just kidding dear.

Then, Mark threw his back out while framing out an interior wall.  Actually, he was putting up a huge 2 x 12 support for the upper loft.  I tried to help but he was mainly on his own and so ended up hurting himself.  For me, this was yet another excuse to set up house.  I put our bed together which he laid in for several days.  He couldn’t just stare out the window all this time so I had to get out the TV and the cabinet for it to go in.  And, if I was doing all that, why not put the large area rug in place and the bedroom dresser and nightstands too?  Running up and down the hill between boat and house, carrying plates of cooked food up and dirty dishes down wore me out quickly.  I solved this by unpacking our fancy barbecue grill with side burner and rotisserie to cook on and utilized a bucket as a temporary sink.  Of course this meant I also had to unpack dishes, glasses, coffee mugs, pots and pans.  Rummaging through boxes, it felt like Christmas in April and I was having a fabulous time discovering all the stuff I forgot I owned.  Anyway, back to the house construction.  The reason Mark started the wall framing on the lower floor under the loft is because we thought the next important step was to get him completely moved out of the Turtle shack.  Eliminating the motorcycle from the porch was a great improvement but the place was still what I would call a “man cave”.  Inside, he had his computer and radios set up on a plastic table.  The floor was littered with file folders, boxes of tools, unidentifiable pieces of junk, and an outboard engine leaned on the kitchen wall.  By concentrating on completing the loft of the house first, which is where his office is located, and doing some rearranging and organizing of the tank rooms, we could clean out the shack and ready it for renting.  We have two prospective renters already.  One is due the end of August and one the first of the year.  Working towards this, we sold the little dorm fridge and replaced it with a full sized one for the shack instead.  Also, and this is another event that made me cry, but tears of joy this time, we purchased a washing machine to replace the motorcycle on the porch.  After a year and a half of doing laundry in buckets, I have arrived in the 21^st century.  Only the fact that we must conserve water kept me from immediately laundering everything we own.  Still, doing the wash has become a joy now.  I imagine when Mark hooks up the machines at the house and I use my dryer for the first time, my eyes will well up again.

Once Mark recuperated from his back injury, he continued with the wall framing but also plumbed up the toilet (and septic system) in the master bathroom.  On Mother’s Day, we flushed for the first time.  So, on that day I decided I could move off the boat and into the house.  Soon after, he plumbed the bathroom pedestal sink so my bucket now has a mop in it and I switched to washing dishes in the bathroom. 

Master bathroom with temporary fabric privacy wall

To shower in complete privacy I still use the sailboat.  More often than not though, I go for the thrill of bathing at our outside shower situated at the top of our concrete steps, outside one of the tank rooms. After dinner when the sun has set, it seems private enough.    

Mark is brave enough to shower during the daylight but not me!

A few weeks back we installed spot lights that illuminate our steps from the dock to the house.  I throw a door mat over the topmost light and shower in near darkness. In the midst of one of my outside showers recently, our puppy, Lamb Chop, snatched the door mat off the light and ran away with it.  I hope if the neighbors caught a glimpse of me it wasn’t too frightening.  Anyway, by the first week of July, the loft of the house was completed.

My family picture gallery

Mark’s office space and closet

 The shack had freshly varnished floors (This undertaking only involved one day of sanding but several days of cleaning the two years of man filth that had accumulated.) , and the furniture and décor was all in place. 

BEFORE – Man Cave

AFTER – Inhabitable

BEFORE – Disastrous and Filthy

AFTER – Organized and Clean

I’d still like to have interior walls in the shack one day but surprisingly, many homes on Roatan are left unfinished so what we have is not out of the ordinary.  And, Mark still needs to build a false wall and pantry space over the inverter and solar equipment but as it is, I think the accommodations are quite nice.  Mark was also able to build the roof over our back porch.  Unfortunately in the process, he fell and very likely cracked a rib.  He is in a great deal of pain but recovering in his new office space in the loft.

Roof that broke Mark

As I mentioned, we also had quite a busy season in Calabash bight.  It was a new and awesome experience to have old friends from the previous year come back to visit.  We were thrilled when Jim and Rosie on La Bella showed up and also felt the same when we saw Helen Louise come in with Chuck and Pam aboard.  One day with little warning, Memory Rose came in the bight. I hadn’t seen Ron and Dorothy in over ten years. They have the Pilot House design of the CSY and I have to say, it is the most beautifully restored CSY sailboat I have ever seen. 

Jim and Rosie have sailed around Roatan numerous times

Ron and Dorothy on S/V Memory Rose from St. Petersburg, Florida

We also had a surprise visit from Jack on Kitty Hawk.  He has the same CSY walkover design as ours.  We met him and his family in the Dry Tortugas seven years ago and it was wonderful to see them again after so long.  He may be back the end of July to take our one empty slip in the mini marina for a few months.

Samuel, Nicole, and Jack

Bill and Susie on Skol also dropped anchor in Calabash.  They like Roatan so much they purchased a home here and I am sure we will see them often.  We also made several new friends of cruisers passing through and look forward to seeing some of them again next year.  Last of all, it was fun and somewhat unexpected to meet some people who said they knew all about us from reading our website.  Chuck and Barbara, like Bill and Susie, have also purchased a home right around the corner from us.  When I was introduced to Barbara, her first remark was, “You don’t have calluses on your knees!”  I liked her instantly.  I also went on to explain to her that another reader of our story had brought me some “knee scrub”.  Steve and Heather are frequent vacationers here and had contacted Mark and I after finding us online.  They ended up renting a house for several days in Calabash bight.  We were in the midst of driving the pilings for our mini marina but at least found the time to get together for happy hour with them.  Heather gave me something to get rid of the unsightly damage to my poor kneecaps.  I am also still finding uses for the tube of plastic glue this thoughtful couple brought down for me.

Impromptu Party at the Turtle Shack with Mike, Dorothy, Mark, Susie, and Bill (Ron and Gail are hiding from the camera)

Happy Hour at our House with Mike, Kathleen, George, Gail, Bob, Trudy, Kelly, Alex, John & Beth

Steve and Heather with Calabash in the background

Another significant happening (that is becoming much too common for my liking) is the recent earthquakes. Lately, we have had several but the 7.1 that occurred at 2:30 am on May 28^th was the biggest and scariest. I awoke from a dead sleep and said, "What the hell?” Mark replied, “I don’t know but we’re getting out”.  As he rounded the bed, I leapt out and grabbed onto the back of his shirt and stumbled behind him through the darkness.  As we made our way through the crashing of household items and the terrible noise, my first thought was that our house was falling down.  I was certain the roof would crush us before we made it out the back door.  Once we were on the porch the realization hit, and I said, “Oh, earthquake!”  It only lasted about thirty seconds but seemed much longer. I sat on our back steps for several minutes recovering from the shock. The power was out and Calabash bight was pitch black. Our dogs were nowhere to be found. We could hear the sounds of distressed neighbor children and the voices of parents who I assumed were trying to console them.  Mark went around with a flashlight and checked the house and foundation. We were relieved to find everything intact.  He told me he was proud of his construction and was a little upset with me when I confessed that I had thought the place was coming apart.  In a sarcastic tone, he thanked me for my undying faith in his building abilities. Since then, we have experienced many smaller quakes.  In mid June we actually heard one coming before we felt the brief shake. The last occurrence was less than a week ago. I am definitely not thrilled with the frequency of these events.

Here are a few random tidbits of life in Roatan:

The camera at the driver’s license office takes two pictures simultaneously.  So if you go, there must be at least one other person applying at the same time or they won’t issue your license because it would waste film.

The belief is held by many that duppies (ghosts) exist here, especially out in Port Royal.  A sane gringo friend purchased a furnished home out that way that included a sterling silverware set.  When she moved in the house and rearranged the kitchen drawers, she moved the silverware to another location.  It reappeared in the original drawer.  Thinking it was an oversight on her part, she moved the silver again.  But it mysteriously made its way back again.  After several attempts, she has now left the silverware in the original drawer.  The only explanation she has come up with is she has a duppy.  My skin prickled with goose bumps as she relayed this story to me.

Another gringo couple was partying at a local bar one night and when it came time to leave, they found their dinghy covered in a huge quantity of blood.  They learned later that as they danced and whooped it up, a knife fight took place in the boat.  Apparently, it was a skirmish between opposing local gang members. I’m not anxious to visit this establishment.

Some neighbor boys found several kilos of cocaine washed up on a nearby bar.  They sold it immediately and now have new trucks, boats, big gold jewelry, and worst of all, loud guns.  Gunfire is now heard often from across the bight disrupting the usual peace and quiet.  I hope they run out of money soon and cannot afford to buy any more ammunition.

Mark has refrained from writing anything for this chapter but I did ask him to at least give a brief synopsis of what has been going on with the Honduran government since he follows the news and I do not.  Here is what he has to say:

Politically Correct

If you remember, I was amazed that the Honduran president joined ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas) in August of last year.  I was also stunned when the Senate ratified the ALBA after the fact.  As you may already know we now have two presidents, or maybe one, or maybe none at this point.  What happened is simple.  Mel Zelaya, the duly elected president of Honduras, was doing all sorts of things without prior approval of his cabinet, senate, or anyone else other than himself for the most part.  I don’t want to bore you with all he did, but most recently he wanted to include a fourth ballot box that would allow changes (no one knows what changes) in the constitution.  This was found to be illegal but he continued anyway, forcing his way as usual.

At this point the Honduran people had enough and on Sunday June 28^th the military detained Mel Zelaya and deported him to Costa Rica.  Then the Senate appointed an interim president, Roberto Micheletti.  Actually, the senate did what they could.  There is no impeachment provision in the Honduran constitution so they removed him from office, physically!  I think this is where they went wrong.  Instead of arresting and jailing him to await trial, they deported him.  The reasoning behind the deportation was the hope that it would minimize riots from his staunch supporters.  Now realizing that the world viewed it as a military coup instead of what actually happened…..well it gets complicated and I am sure far from over at this time.  Given what has transpired to date, I feel a sense of pride in the Honduran people for standing up and fighting for democracy.  This shows me that they are not inclined to let democracy go silently into the night.  Stay tuned, who knows what will happen next but I am sure it won’t be boring by any means!

Lori Again:

We are thankful there has been no bloodshed and very little violence connected with the recent political events.  Also, throughout the turmoil we have been concerned about it on a personal level.  If the government were to change radically, our residency status might be affected.  So, between the shaking ground and the shaky government, life has felt a wee bit unstable around here. 

Overall, life has been good.  The house construction is coming along and I feel like I am in a mansion compared to the previous year and a half of living on the sailboat. The cruisers and tourists are mostly gone but we get together with neighbors and friends regularly.

Hosting a party to celebrate our island friends’ 40^th anniversary-Leslie, Karen, Mark, Lori, Alana and Brad

Out for dinner with neighbors, Alex and Kelly

 I try to take comfort in the fact that Mark says the little earthquakes are “adjustments” that will hopefully help prevent a big one.  As far as the Honduran government, we are taking a wait and see attitude and there have been no noticeable changes to life on the island.  I did nickname Maggie “Zelaya” and Lamb Chop “Micheletti”.  We have allowed Maggie to become our inside dog as she is the best behaved in the house.  However, we recently had Lamb Chop spayed and since she swims several times a day it was necessary to keep her inside while she heals.  Maggie, aka Zelaya, was ousted and the poor girl stares at us through the screen door with a confused look on her face.  Ziggy seems bewildered as well. He loves being our outside guard dog but I think he misses Lamb Chop.  We don’t know what will happen with the Honduran leadership but I do reassure Maggie that she will be reinstated and I tell Ziggy that Lamb Chop will be back out to play and swim soon. 

Ziggy and Lamb Chop are great pals