HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!

Happy Birthday to --

Stephanie today - May 3rd

and

Lisa on May 9th.

Last evening a catamaran came in with a bunch of younger people on it and by younger I mean drunk college kids. For the rest of the night we heard WOOOOOOOOOOO WOOOOOOOOOO. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! F----- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Wow, and we wonder why people hate Americans! I mean this party could just have well been in a hotel room in Cleveland. More disturbing is this is a captained and crewed charter aboard a catamaran named "Joy". If you see this boat coming, RUN. They anchored by us about a week ago and their anchor drug. Some captain. I noticed that the 'Y' in Joy is missing from the port side and looks like they've collided with something. As the captain of a charter boat I would think you would somewhat dig the idea of 'respect'? You just don't behave like you're in Ft. Lauderdale when you're in the West Indies. Not cool. I was embarrassed for them. They weren't up all that late (no kidding. They were pretty bombed when they arrived at sundown) it was just so upsetting to hear that kind of bad American behavior. Good news is that this is the first time we've been around really bad behavior anywhere in the Caribbean.

I stopped by the boat this morning and asked the captain if they were staying another night (I had plans to move our anchorage) and he said no. I just left it at that. Re-education of these idiots would take a high voltage device!

Today is Good Shepard Sunday. How do I know? I went to church! Yes, heathen that I am I just thought I'd see what was happening in a small, little West Indian, Catholic church. St Mary's church was built in 1829! Typical West Indian construction. Simple. Stone walls with wooden beam and trusses holding up a tin roof. White and light blue pews and white walls and beams. About 25 members on the hard wooden pews. I was hoping someone would be playing the piano but no.

Service itself was pretty standard as I understand these things but I do enjoy the lilt and rhythm in the West Indian accent. The sermon was delivered by a priest with a great big baritone too! I paid attention even! But the hymns were really LONG and sloooooooow. So, while people got up for the communion I slipped out the side door. Unfortunately this was just after the collection plate went around. Catholics always get their money!

A friendly place though (a gentleman in back kept coming to me and helping me to find the right page in the Common Book of Prayers) with old ladies all dressed up in colorful dresses and HATS! My grandma always wore a hat to church.

Perhaps we will take in a Cricket game later and then some boat projects, swim and daily scraping of the bottom. It's fun to keep up with the bottom growth. Bottom paint doesn't keep all the stuff off but does make it easy to flick it off. If you let it go the underworld will win! We have little white dots where barnacles have sucked off the bottom paint and now near the bow where there is more light we get little 'beards' of green grass growing there. But my breath holding ability continues to increase and it's one of those lessons, like a lot of them for me, that was learned the hard way. Yes, pay a lot for your bottom paint. You have to. But then keep up with the little guys that will take root anyway. Paint will last longer as long as YOU don't scrape it off!