Chapter 6

Begin Again:6.

Eventually, the Penny was in Panama. This is not to say it was all jokes and giggles. Sailing out if sight of land is fraught with dangers ... both two legged and finny. Whales are HUGE and, although the Penny is a big boat ... she is hollow ... whales are reasonably solid. Collisions between boats and whales are usually hard on the boat.

Two legged predators include pirates, drug runners and Central American Coast Guard personnel ... not necessarily in that order.

"We're going to take your boat," no matter who said it, depleted the radar guided Hellfire missiles aboard the Penny ... causing the necessity of breaking into the older but cheaper laser and infrared guided items.

If they were bad men the Coast Guard normally wouldn't radio the home base and tell the airwaves they were about to embark on a looting rampage ... so ... when the Coast Guard didn't return ... such is life. The ocean is dangerous indiscriminately.

"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."

--J.R.R Tolkien--

"Personally? I like the good days, the comfortable days, the days by the fire and hearth. Nights spent sleeping on the cold hard ground have no attraction for me. I like a warm body in a warm bed on cold winter nights."

--D.J. Austin III--

But since you insist:

Blue Whales, Fin Backs and all manner of other whales are not strangers to the Gulf and Caribbean and having one scratch an itch from stern to stem is as exciting as it gets.

The shove sideways past 40 degrees tilt and the long slow S.s.s.s.C.c.c.c.R.r.r.r.r.A.a.a.a.a.P.p.p.p.E.e.e is absolutely a feeling the crew would just as soon not experience a second time ... and of a certainty ... it was in the deep dark of the night when the behemoth decided to rid itself of a few barnacles.

In the morning, the evidence was plainly seen. Starboard side was devoid of weed and creature. Bow to stern was paint ... nearly like First Paint before the launch.

Then there were the sharks. The Middle sea is inhabited by the hammerhead species ... and they school. Although the Fed Alphasoup tries hard to hide it. There are ample missing small craft in the Gulf and Caribbean to more than justify continued piracy warnings. But continued warnings are hard on commerce and we can't have that. Money is the lifeblood of the rich and cutting back on commerce is like a main arterial bleed.

So, the United States downplays the piracy warnings until the relative of a Senator or Congressman is on vacation in the Caribbean and the boat/aircraft doesn't show at its designated port of call ... but does show up with tons of drugs in a place it shouldn't be. Then it's a biggie.

The Pretty Penny was officially in the Caribbean when she passed between an invisible line set by the farthest west lighthouse on the island of Cuba and the farthest east lighthouse on the Yucatan peninsula. Cancun is Caribbean.

The International Hydrographic Organization is pretty adamant that the Bahamas aren't Caribbean ... You can look it up. I'm just reporting what I read on Wikipedia. I recommend it. Please.

There are a trifle over a million square miles in the Sea and seven thousand islands that exist high tide ... although who knows how long they'll last what with climate change.

Oops ... politics ... sorry.

After a visit to Honduras it's a rhumb line to Panama ... or would be if it wasn't for the 300 mile limit of Nicaragua. We aren't on speaking terms with them ... Well, Nevis and St. Kitts are but we ... that's us ... aren't ... not really. We might hold Dual Citizenship but people disappear in Nicaragua ... and we'd rather not. And we still had a blip with Pirates ... Nicaraguan Coast Guard ... or so they claimed.

But the US Coast Guard said they weren't. Hellfire missiles are so much fun. They do a job on those EC120's with no national markings ... but armed like they were official ... even if they weren't.

English is the official language of the air and screaming at us in Spanish just doesn't work. If the pilot is official, he speaks English ... otherwise ... so sorry.

"No tickee ... no washee."

Connie fit right in. Blossoming ... from a bud to a full blown rose ... with thorns.

Treeman met us in Balboa, Panama. He left without Connie McDavid. Connie had changed. It was amazing to watch.

We might be a BIG sailboat ... but we're a small village. Connie ... nice girl ... knows what she wants to do...

I hope she tells somebody soon.