Mariner 2013 Story Part Three

The Roatan Catamaran Trip

I asked Marla what there was to do in Roatan.  Marla said the waters in Roatan are stunning.  If you enjoy seeing fish weaving in and out of the coral, then the snorkeling and the scuba diving in Roatan is exquisite.

So I dutifully lugged all my expensive snorkel equipment along with me.  I need not have bothered.  Thanks to my own stupidity, I hurt myself and consequently never went anywhere near the water. 

Before I tell that story, let's have a quick look at Roatan.

About Rick's Stupidity Streak

It seems like on each trip I manage to do at least one unbelievably stupid thing.  2012 was the perfect example.  We went on 5 trips - I did something dumb each time.

1. On the 2012 Panama Cruise, I left my expensive Kindle on the airplane. Bye Bye $300

2. One day on the 2012 Dominica cruise, I forgot to put on sun tan lotion.  Ouch.

3. On the 2012 Titanic Cruise, I left my brand new jacket in the Disco.  Bye Bye $200

4. On the 2012 Russia cruise I lost my passport.  This mistake led to an ordeal of the highest magnitude.  If you have ever wondered what happens when you lose your passport, then you should read this story. (Passport Miseries)  Bye Bye $550

5. On the 2012 Magic Cruise, I brought a giant 40 by 30 inch wooden jigsaw puzzle box with me that was too big to go through the scanner.  I wanted to do puzzles on the trip.  If I figured if I brought this large container along, I wouldn't have to finish the puzzle in one try.  I could work a puzzle 30 minutes here and 20 minutes there.  It was a nice idea, but I never anticipated a giant piece of wood would be seen as a potential terrorist threat.   Since it wouldn't fit through the scanner, they confiscated it as a "security risk" and I never saw it again. I have no doubt it is being used as a litter box somewhere.
Bye Bye $60

How I Nearly Blinded Myself

I continued my streak of stupid moves on the 2013 Mariner trip.

One day I was in a hurry to meet Tracy and Ed for lunch after dance class, but first I had to take my contacts lens out.  For this story to make any sense, it helps to understand I am blind in my left eye.  Therefore I only wear one lens.

I wanted to put my glasses back on for comfort.  When I tried sliding my contact lens off my right eye, it disappeared into the side.  This had happened once before at home when I first got this new type of lens.  I had a miserable time getting it off my eye.  The lens just stayed glued on.  It took 10 minutes to get it out.  I groaned.  I had avoided wearing this lens since and now I remembered why.  The lens was stuck in there again.

The lens definitely did not feel like it had come off.  I was sure I felt it in my eye, but I couldn't see it anywhere.  However it wasn't in the sink or on the floor either, so it had to be in my eye.  I was so aggravated.  Why couldn't I see it??  I spent so much time digging around in my eye that I made my poor eye completely bloodshot.  But I never found the darn thing!  I looked in the sink and on the floor again.  Nope.  Not there.

At this point, my eye began to throb.  My eye ached from the swelling caused by all my poking around, so I had to give up. 

Now I began to panic. Had I hurt myself?  And how was I ever going to get this damn thing out of my eye?  

Wherever the lens was, it wasn't on my pupil, so I put my glasses on and went to lunch.  My eye felt very uncomfortable, but I tried to ignore the throbbing during the meal. 

After lunch I tried again... and made the eye even worse with more poking around. 

I cut my other eye out in a childhood knife accident when I was five.  So I couldn't believe I was doing all this digging around in the only eye I have!  I felt sick with worry.

This turned into an all-day ordeal.  The aggravating thing is that the lens was invisible.  At one point late that night, I had three different women - Marsha, Debra, Marla - staring into my eye trying to figure out where it was.

Trust me, having three women gaze into my eye wasn't nearly as romantic as it sounds. I wanted to get the thing out so bad. But all that rubbing was making things worse. It was starting to really hurt when I touched the sclera (the white part).  Finally gave up.  Time to surrender.  No more poking around.

That night I decided to see if I could sleep despite all that throbbing.  I would see how it felt in the morning.

Mercifully I was able to sleep.  Oddly enough, when I woke up the next morning, the swelling had gone down.  My eye was still completely bloodshot, but it didn't hurt like it had last night.  I noticed I didn't feel anything in there.  I was totally mystified. Did the lens dissolve or something?  Very unlikely. 

Upset that I had no idea if the lens was in or out, nevertheless I wasn't going to hurt myself any more.  I decided I could live with the discomfort. I was just going to leave the contact in there till we got home and consult my eye doctor.

Obviously that was the right move.  I never did find the lens. Maybe I washed it out when I stuck my eye underwater in the sink in an attempt to let the water dislodge it.  I still don't know where it got to.  What upsets is all the self-inflicted damage I caused.  I still cringe every time I think about the incident.

The Luggage Mishap

Normally I just do one stupid thing per trip, but I was especially stupid on this trip.  On Departure Day, I left a piece of luggage in the luggage pickup area.  My mistake was caused by my haste to get home Sunday morning.  The nice thing about a trip out of Galveston is that a person doesn't have to decide what to bring and what to leave home. Since I am going to give the porter $5 anyway, what's the difference between two bags and four bags?  So I took four bags and made a mental note of the number "4".

The problem began the night before when I packed my bags.  I wasn't paying attention.  I had brought an empty green tote bag along to put my dirty clothes in. Now for the trip home I had FIVE bags, not four. However in my hurry to get home the next morning, I made sure to pick up FOUR bags down in the luggage area.  I left one of the black suitcases behind.  It wasn't till we got to the car that I realized my mistake.

I rushed back.  However they wouldn't let me back in the luggage area. 9-11 rules. Instead they called inside for someone to go find the bag. 30 minutes later the bag finally appeared at the desk. I assumed we were done.  Wrong.

There was a lady specially assigned to handle these sorts of problems. This was the only thing she had to do.  As I stared in stunned disbelief, this woman opened my suitcase and proceeded to take EVERY SINGLE ITEM OUT OF THE BAG and spread it over the counter. You've got to be kidding!  Nope, that's what she did. I swear this woman inspected my toothpaste, my jigsaw puzzles, my snorkel gear, and my dance shoes as if they were possible weapons of mass destruction.  

Her actions made no sense to me.  Why would I smuggle something out this way?  If I wanted to do something illegal, I would never had left my bag behind in the first place.  The problem was this was her only job.  In a desperate attempt to look busy and seem important, this obviously bored woman spent 10 minutes looking for anything to extend the ritual.  Meanwhile I just stared in muted, helpless disbelief.  I shook my head in disgust.  Travel is hard enough as it is without people like her. 

The Notorious Catamaran Adventure For our day in Roatan, Marla organized a catamaran trip for the group.  This was my first visit to Honduras. Until we reached port in Roatan, I was not aware that Roatan is an island. I had always thought it was the name of a city on the mainland. Roatan reminded me a lot of Cozumel, another one of our stops. Cozumel is an island just off the coast of Mexico.  Both islands are about 30 miles long and both islands have a lush tropical forest.  Cozumel is 7 miles from mainland Mexico while Roatan is located some 40 miles off the coast of Honduras.  And, like Cozumel, the waters at Roatan are so deep the ship can dock right next to the shore.

The nice thing about being on an island is safety. With the ocean acting as a giant moat to discourage the bad guys, Cozumel is spared the violence that plagues the Mexican mainland.  Look at it this way - if a major crime is committed, you are stuck on an island.  Where are you going to hide?  So you try to escape on a motorboat... a helicopter spots you easily in the 25 minute ride to the mainland.

Same thing for Roatan.  Although Honduras itself is said to have a high crime rate, Roatan seemed very peaceful.  I attribute that to Roatan's island status.

So what brings people to Roatan?  Just as Cozumel features some wonderful snorkel locations, the Roatan Reef is the second largest reef in the world.  Both islands have become favorite dive destinations.

Marla arranged with Royal Caribbean for all of us to be together on the boat.  There were about 40 of us in all which meant 80% of our group participated.  The trip included a snorkel adventure, lunch, and a vague promise of a party on board the ship.

This is a Waldo-style Picture.  I think there is a guy in there somewhere, but it might take a while to spot him.  See if you can find him.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.  For much of this story, the pictures will do a better job explaining the day than all my prose.  I could write endless paragraphs about how happy we were on this balmy sunny day, but a few pictures will get the point across just fine.

As the boat headed out to the snorkel point a mile offshore, the group enjoyed their ride. 

It isn't actually that easy to write about "fun" and "happiness".  What am I supposed to say?

"As the boat headed out to sea, members of our group sat next to one another.  Everyone seemed to be in a very good mood. As the sun appeared out of the clouds, there was a canopy to provide shade.  This kept the heat down.  People were busily engaged in happy comments about how smooth the waters were and how nice the temperature was.   As the snorkelers helped each other apply sun tan lotion, they discussed previous snorkeling experiences.  The joy of each individual was apparent by their wide smiles and relaxed postures.  Laughter and teasing filled the air as people chatted pleasantries during the ride..."

yada yada yada

You know what?  I'll just post some pictures and let you figure the rest out for yourself.

The boat came to a stop about a mile off shore. At this point 30 people dived off the ship for a snorkel adventure. Apparently the fish were plentiful. Ed Akin said that he and Tracy found a huge school of fish and followed them for quite a while.  

I don't have much else to say about the snorkeling because I stayed behind on the boat. Since I had scratched my eye the day before, I decided not to complicate things.  

There were about ten of us that stayed on the boat. I can only speak for myself, but I think the "Left Behinds" didn't mind staying on board one bit.  While the others swam, we stayed high and dry.  I noticed that we were all totally comfortable.

Speaking for myself, I had a great time on board. There was an ocean breeze that was absolutely blissful. And the view of the lush green island was perfect. Plus I liked the covered area where moon worshippers like me could sit and chill.

I received a very pleasant surprise. While we waited for the snorkelers to return, Bosely, one of the crew members, took a liking to us.  Maybe it was because we had several pretty girls who smiled at him and made polite inquiries.

All I know is that as I was sitting there minding my own business, Bosely asked me if I wanted a beer.  A big smile crossed my face.  Oh my.  What did I do to deserve this? 

The next thing I knew, Bosely was plying me with a steady supply of the local beer. I didn't even have to ask. The moment I appeared to finish a can, another one magically appeared. I didn't have to move, I didn't have to say anything, poof, there it was!  This was sheer luxury!

Naturally the quality of my conversation improved dramatically.  As the beer took me to a very pleasant place, I began a series of wonderful long conversations.  First I spoke with Roberta (in blue) about the antics of the proverbial 'What the Hell Gang'.

Then I had a delightful chat with Velma.  Velma is my second wife, a small joke we share.  As you can see in the picture, Velma enjoys having me as her honorary husband. 

Velma and I talked about our adventures on the Russian Cruise last summer. There is something about traveling to the far ends of the earth together that builds a deep friendship. Velma was going through a tough stretch at the time and - with Marla's permission of course - I asked Velma to be my second wife for the trip.  I assume you all understand that I have a boy scout side to me.  I enjoy the role.  Nor is it a hindrance.  Quite the contrary... Velma is a very interesting lady. 

Velma and I love to talk about history.  Last August, she and I spent much of our Russia Cruise discussing Catherine the Great, one of Velma's favorite historic figures.

Today Velma and I began to talk about Winston Churchill.  Hey, why not?  After all, what else do people talk about in the middle of nowhere? 

Once I discovered that Velma is currently reading a series of books about Churchill, I was full of questions.  Churchill is one of my heroes.  Churchill is the man widely credited with saving England from Nazi destruction. Apparently I am not alone in my admiration.  In a 2002 poll, the citizens of the United Kingdom named Churchill as the greatest Briton of all time.

Churchill is the President of my "What have you done for us lately?" club.  After saving Britain from Nazi tyranny, naturally you would think Churchill would be allowed to continue to serve in office as the Prime Minister. Wrong.

Immediately after the conclusion of World War II, Churchill was voted out of office. That completely blows my mind. So every time I see Velma, I pump her for more information to see if she can explain how on earth that could ever happen.

So now you know what people talk about on Catamaran adventures.  By the way, I imagine you guys think having two wives is the cat's meow.  Maybe you should think again.

During the Russian trip, to my dismay, now that she was my wife, Velma immediately started fussing at me too. Good grief, now I am being told what to do in stereo!  When I complained, Velma said that God gave men two ears so they could listen to more than one woman at a time. I quietly wondered to myself if having two wives was better than one, but we can leave that debate for another time.

While Velma and I exchanged memories of our wonderful trip, Bosely made sure to keep the beer coming.  I was becoming delightfully calm.  Little did I know that Bosely's kind offerings were just a hint of things to come.

The man in orange is Ed Rumsey.  Ed is completely blind. He lost his sight to glaucoma when he was in his twenties.  

I admire Ed a lot.  Ed is a person who refuses to give into his immense handicap.  Obviously there are many things Ed cannot do, but with a little help there are a lot of things he can do.  Thanks to the immense kindness of people in our group - in particular Frances, Bill, and Joan - Ed was able to do all sorts of things on this trip including dance.  

It turned out Ed was not immune to the Rum Punch. As I watched him join the Freestyle dancing just like everyone else, I cannot begin to say how much I admired him for his courage for coming on this trip.  I might add that Ed seemed to enjoy dancing in the Conga Line as well.

Since I only have one eye myself, naturally I was curious about his predicament. From the start of the trip, I noticed all the things that we take for granted that were a huge challenge for Ed. Watching him struggle reminded me why I have always been very protective of my one good eye.

Then thanks to my bizarre contact lens struggle the night before the catamaran adventure, I got very much in touch with the fear of being completely blind. That helped me appreciate Ed's daily courage even more.

Let's Get the Party Started!!

Once the snorkel group returned, it was time to serve lunch.  It was about this time the crew broke out the Rum Punch.

In the past I have been on several adventures like this. Typically they water things down considerably. Not this time.  That Rum Punch was lethal. From what I heard and from what I saw with my own eyes, that Punch threw people for a loop.  Judging from the sudden increase in noise and all goofy wide smiles, I have to believe that Punch was seriously effective. 

As for me, I stuck to the beer.  That's probably the only thing that saved me.  I am not saying I was sober, but I was definitely one of the calmer ones aboard.

The moment they began serving lunch, our hosts also began to play non-stop dance music.  Playing party music with this bunch is like throwing a match on dry wood.  Once that punch hit home, it was bacchanalia time. Soon everyone was dancing up a storm.  I might add that included the crew.  From what I saw, they consumed their own rum mixture quite liberally.

Pretty soon we had people like Cindy, aka Circe the Wild One, dancing Freestyle like she was a kid again. And the crew members joined right in. They danced as hard as the group did.

One of the things the crew did to get the energy going was initiate a Limbo Contest. 

Here's a picture of Joan doing the Limbo.

Then we cleared the deck so we could watch Tim and Eileen dancing the Hustle.

They received much attention and much applause for their impressive efforts.

The Freestyle dancing, the Limbo, and the Hustle were just the warm-up acts.

Once the Rum Punch took full effect, things began to break loose.

Pretty soon we had a Conga line snaking throughout the boat.

In my relaxed bliss state, I didn't feel like joining.  I was happy just sitting there feeling no pain.

So instead I decided it would be fun to take pictures as those lovely undulating banana-curved bodies paraded past.

Speaking of bananas, here we have Frana Banana accompanied by the Creature From the Spudstock Zone as they passed by.  They were just two of many spirited Conga Snakers. 

Life is good.

Here are pictures of some of the other participants.  I won't name them, but if they don't like their pictures, they can always pay me blackmail money to remove the photo.

These pictures help tell the story, but they don't really capture the complete craziness of the moment. As the Conga Line got wilder, some of those girls started to really move their bodies.

The group was definitely "feeling it".  However, during the frenzy, I noticed two parents who looked very uncomfortable. I learned that they were Mormons.  Not only did they avoid the beer, they looked at our wild dancing with abject horror. I think they were unhappy because their two teenage daughters clearly wanted to join the fun.   

I searched the background of every single picture I took, but out of 60 pictures, this is the only snapshot I could find. 

The parents looked miserable.  Unfortunately there was no place to hide their sensitive, virtuous daughters from our debauchery.

Meanwhile those two girls had the saddest expressions. I believe the daughters wanted to join the Conga line in the worst way, but their parents would simply not allow it.  

Try to imagine the stress our dancing heathens caused that poor beleaguered family.

It was "Footloose" on the Catamaran.

Meanwhile everyone was making one BFF after another. I met a couple from Saint Louis. The man turned out to be another Rick.

I discovered Rick from Saint Louis was a big Cardinals fan.  So we talked about Albert Pujols, the slugger who got away to Anaheim via free agency. The St. Louis people really miss him.

Albert Pujols used to destroy the Astros.  We talked about how the time Pujols completely shattered the confidence of Houston Astros relief pitcher Brad Lidge when he hit a monster homerun to win an important playoff game.

Then I noticed Rick wore a marathon tee-shirt.  So I introduced Rick to Andy Bach from our group. Andy is a fellow marathoner.

As Rick and Andy struck up an animated conversation, Andy's friend Mary came up and began to ooh and aah about Andy's well-muscled calves and thighs.  Mary bent down to stroke them.

When I saw Mary begin rub Andy's legs and coo with delight, I had to turn my back.  The smile on her face was more than I could take.

while Andy and Rick talked Marathon and Mary gave Andy the rubdown, I went over to talk to Rick's wife Michelle.

I was curious about Michelle because she had come on board in a wheel chair. Michelle has suffered from multiple sclerosis for over 30 years.

Her husband Rick had told me of all the brave things Michelle did to defy her illness. For example, today Michelle had gone in the water to snorkel. The woman could barely walk without crutches, but with help she was able to snorkel. Amazing!

In this picture, you can see Michelle as she attempts to dance.  Notice the crew member had to hold her up. So what?  Give the woman some credit... she's trying!!

Many people - Michelle and Ed are perfect examples - do everything they can to cope with physical ailments.  They definitely have my support.  I can't say enough about their constant courage. 

Meanwhile, our friend Mary Mary Quite Contrary was completely out of control. 

Once Mary started rubbing Andy's legs, this girl definitely needed to jump back in the water.

Talk about over-heated!!

Here we have Mary pinning poor Mike Dorman's arms back so the girls could all come over and smooch him. 

Doesn't look like Mike is struggling too hard.

After Mary was done attacking Mike, next she started in on Christina.

Christina was bragging about all the weight she had lost getting ready for the trip.

The next thing Christina knew, Mary had her showing off.

Christina was more than happy to strut her stuff.

Suddenly Christina realized her candid conversation was being observed.  Christina didn't mind a bit.  She turned her head, gave me a big smile and sucked in her tummy a little more.

Mary was thrilled to discover she had gotten Christina in trouble.  Mary began laughing her head off.

As for me, I was taken aback.  The Christina I used to know would have died with embarrassment.  But not this Christina.

I suspect the Rum Punch helped bolster her confidence.

Christina brazenly came over and stuck out her tongue at me.  She said she didn't care that I had taken such a silly picture of her.  So there, Rick, what do you think about that??

Meanwhile Mary was unable to resist getting in on the act. 

Mary got up and came over too.  Acting as Christina's best friend, Mary gave Christina modeling instructions.  Mary suggested how to smile and pose for the camera.

In addition, Mary used her hands to suggest certain angles for Christina to get the best shots.

Christina responded well to the encouragement.

You can judge the results for yourself.

After a review of the pictures, I am sure the reader agrees everything was getting completely out of hand. 

You know, I completely believe that people should be allowed to let loose once in a while without cameras around.  What happens on the catamaran should stay on the catamaran.

No paparazzi allowed! 

But that's not the world we live in.  Today there are certain consequences to having outrageous fun.  Post-rum punch headaches and embarrassing photographs are the price people have pay to enjoy themselves.

That said, it's time for our contest for the day's goofiest grins!!

Some of these smiles are pretty nice.  And others, well, hmm, just keep in mind that any photo can be removed for a price.

As should be obvious by now, most of us got pretty drunk. A few people even reached the level know as "extremely drunk".

Here's a good anecdote. Two days after the Catamaran trip, when we were in Cozumel I ran into a guy named James at Cozumel's Margaritaville drinking hole. He recognized me because he and his wife had been on the boat with us. James said he met Nina from our group. James added that Nina was kind of tipsy. James said a couple times when the boat rocked, Nina had slumped up against him for support and whispered, "Please hold on to me, I think I am going to fall overboard!"

Our party was the stuff of legend. James, the same guy at Margaritaville who said he singlehandedly saved Nina's life, told me another story. James said he had a buddy who was complaining what a lame trip he had taken that morning. When James realized his buddy had taken the identical trip on the same boat, James countered with his story about the greatest trip he had ever been on in his life.

The buddy didn't believe a word he said.  He assumed that James was pulling his leg with a tall tale about what a great time we had. James laughed and swore he was telling the truth.  But his buddy still refused to believe him even after his wife promised him James was telling the truth.

One of the reasons we all got so smashed is that the party lasted a lot longer than it was supposed to.  Only a few people realized that our boat was having trouble getting started. 

As for me, I had no idea there was a problem.  It wasn't till Marla told me later that night that I remembered it sure seemed like the trip was lasting longer than usual. Since I didn't have a watch, I had no concept just how bad it was. But now that Marla brought it up, I remembered that Tim had pointed out that we were running very late.

When they finally got the boat moving again, it had little power. The boat was barely able to limp back to the beach putt putt putt. I think any boat with oars could have beaten us back to shore. Fortunately because we were on a ship-sponsored tour, the ship was obligated to wait for us. Therefore I could not have cared less.  So we're late, big deal.

The upshot, however, was while two guys worked furiously to get the engine started again, the other crewmen covered for him by pumping us with more booze.  And that did the trick. Our party went from a campfire to a bonfire. They had created the biggest party at sea I have ever seen in all my years.

Believe me, we had way more fun than we paid for. I might add we rewarded the five guides well at the end of the day. The tips came fast and furious for those guys. Their generosity and friendship were much appreciated.

The energy continued on our bus trip back to the ship thanks to Cindy Hudson, aka Circe the Wild One.  Cindy absolutely loves karaoke.  So she led our bus in a spirited singalong on the way back to the boat.

Cindy got the singing started with "The Eyes of Texas". Her follow-up song was "Deep in the Heart of Texas".  Cindy's call to Texas Patriotism worked like a charm.  We all sang with gusto.  I have no doubt that our singing was obnoxious to the non-Texans, but we were far too boisterous to control.

As for me, I hate to sing. I cannot sing a lick. I can't even stand listening to my own voice. Nor can I remember the words to many songs. But the enthusiasm was infectious. Pretty soon, there I was belting out the "Eyes of Texas" for the entire world to hear.  Who cares?  They say you should dance like no one is watching. Well, there I was singing like no one could hear me. With all the howling, this was one situation where no one could tell whether I could actually sing or not. Now that my voice was drowned out, I sang to my heart's content.

On the way back, I even contributed a song.

Forty years ago, in the summer of 1971 I was a camp counselor out in Durango, Colorado.  One day I taught my boys the words to the "Last Kiss" to use as our campfire song. This song is supposed to be a tear jerker about a guy who loses his girl friend in a fatal car crash. However, the song is so ridiculous it is actually very funny in a sick sort of way.

So how did I learn the words?  Those were the days before the Internet.  But the camp had a turntable and the record too. I must have played that song 20 times on the turntable trying to figure out the lyrics. I guess the words stuck. To my utter shock, when I offered to sing the song on the bus, those words were still sitting there in the back of my brain!

"O where O where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me!!

She's gone to heaven
So I got to be good
So I can see my baby
When I leave this ole world"

Pretty soon the whole bus was laughing riotously to what was supposed to be a sad song about a terrible tragedy. That should tell you something right there.

Now Joan kicked in with "Love Potion #9".  Joan was laughing her butt off as she belted out the words. 

"I told her that I was a flop with chicks
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said "What you need is Love Potion #9!"

The Joan I knew before the trip has always been a highly poised, graceful lady who is never out of control. Never. Today on the bus I was stunned to see Joan chomping at the bit to get in the next song. Wow! Joanie is letting her hair down! I smiled. Gosh was she grinning. I liked this new side of Joan.

Soon enough other people began contributing songs accompanied by hysterical laughter.  Cindy's singalong left me grinning from ear to ear.  This singing was way much more fun than I could have ever imagined.

I have other fond memories from that day. For example, I remember teasing Ed that all the girls were taking their tops off.  I started to do a play by play of "Girls Gone Wild" on the catamaran.  Of course I was drunk, but I was having fun.

To my dismay, Ed didn't believe a word of it.  He said, "I may be blind and drunk, Rick, but I'm not stupid."

To my complete embarrassment, at that exact moment Marla showed up to take my picture.  Ed asked if Marla had taken her top off too.  OMG, if Marla heard the things I was saying, I was a dead man.  I hurriedly begged Ed to shut up or I would never hear the end of it from Marla... and probably from Velma too.

The only regret I have from the day is failing to get a picture when we got back to the ship 30 minutes late.

As we arrived, there were about 300 people high on the ship's deck way above.  They began cheering wildly as we returned to the ship.  They were waving their arms and calling out to us.

Apparently we were minor celebrities for holding up the entire ship. Or maybe they were jeering at us. In my condition, who knows?  However, if they didn't like us, I couldn't tell. It looked like they didn't care that we were late. They were having fun.

All I knew is that this giant crowd was definitely waving and laughing from the top of the ship. Gee, I wish I had taken the picture.  Maybe someone else in the group got a shot and will share it.

Our catamaran adventure was a good trip.

No, actually, it was better than that. It was a great trip, probably the best group adventure we have ever had in all the many years of our cruise trips.

It felt good to see people having so much fun.  

Our Last Story: Cozumel