The Tritons Walk The Plank...

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Ahoy, Ahoy,

Triton's Holiday Decorations

It has been quite a while since we've posted here, but until recently there hadn't been much in the way of cruising developments to speak of.  When we last left our heroes, they were safely ensconced in the quiet comforts of the San Francisco Bay, AnnMarie had started her own tax and business services company and Robb had gone to work for a Silicon Valley start-up.  Since then we've contented ourselves with day-sails on the bay with friends, weekend trips up the delta, crazy antics with the ten thousand maniacs in our tribe, and insanely over-decorating our boat during the holidays.

And how quickly five years speeds by!  During that time we've made quite a number of improvements to Triton in preparation for casting off sometime in what we'd hoped would be the fall of 2013, heading first to Mexico, and then for parts beyond.  We blinked and suddenly the summer was ending and our time to leave upon us.  

Mawwage

Of course, that didn't stop us from trying to cram what would have been a year of planning and activity (for any two normal adults) into three months of insanity, including attending one last TTITD in August (during which Robb proposed to AnnMarie), and also getting married (and throwing an enormous bon voyage party) in October.

Now the marriage bit may seem a bit surprising, given that we have lived on a boat together for the last 18 years in non-monogamous and/or polyfidelous relationships of some sort, but seeing how we were headed off to places where "domestic partnership" doesn't necessarily convey the same rights, we thought it might be convenient, if not down-right prudent, to be husband and wife.

But cruisers are notoriously efficient people when it comes to maximizing their fun, so we decided to combine our wedding with our bon voyage party.  What better reason to see all our friends together at one time, especially when the weather was so nice.  The problem was that we had only three weeks to pull it all off, and we had already spent our entire cruising budget on boat parts.

So many good friends!

That was the moment we realized just how amazing, talented, and resourceful our friends are.  Over twenty folks pitched in and put together an incredible party.  Our friends organized everything from the food & drink to handling the invitations, to organizing and running the event.  Even more astonishingly, they created a truly wonderful wedding for two undeserving wharf-rats.   That is quite a feat in modern times, and we will always be indebted to everyone who helped.  We are definitely not worthy.

Just some of the amazing people
who made it all possible

The ceremony took place on Angel Island (pretty much the center of the San Francisco Bay), but with a nautical theme.  We encouraged folks to come dressed as whatever sea monster, privateer, ship-wrecked voyager, or famous sailor took their fancy, and they did!

Here Comes The Bride!

It was a gorgeous day, we had over one hundred friends show up, many of them in costume.  Picture every character from "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Gilligan's Island", "Mutiny on the Bounty", and "Creatures from the Black Lagoon" attending a family reunion and you'll start to get an idea.  I can only imagine what the unsuspecting tourists riding the Angel Island Ferry thought that day.

The wedding started with AnnMarie playing "Here Comes the Bride" on saxophone.  Her sister Judi was the Mermaid of Honor, and accompanied her on cymbals.

The ceremony itself was performed by our dear friends Erik & Qat- they sailed with us from the BVIs to Trinidad back when we'd first bought our boat.  We'd performed their wedding ceremony a few years back, so turn about is fair play.

Our vows were a bit different than most.  Rather than anger the sea gods (who get annoyed by anyone who does what they say they are going to do) we included a few that we knew we would probably break.

And just before we were pronounced "husband & wife" (or "captain & admiral"), a gang plank was produced, and in true pirate fashion, we were made to walk to the end of it, kiss each other, and jump off, symbolizing what we aren't sure, but it seemed a fitting way to end the ceremony and begin our new adventures together.

In retrospect, the event went off with only a smidgeon of delays, mostly because we thought that AnnMarie could bake all the wedding cakes herself.  As a general rule of thumb, one should not expect the bride to do pastry work on the day of her wedding.

The Blushing Bride

Besides that, it was a fabulous day.  Both of us had a great time, and as best we can tell, so did everyone else.   We sailed back to Emery Cove around sunset, jumped in our car and drove over to San Francisco where Michael (the best man) and Kathleen hosted an after-party.  There was an amazing sculpture of the sea god Triton, done entirely in chocolate, by our good friend (and extremely talented sculptor) John.

But the best part was that we got to see so many good friends.   We've learned that the true measure of any individual is the company they keep, and by that standard we count ourselves very fortunate indeed.  We have incredible friends, and it was a delight to spend such a glorious day with them.

About to walk the plank

Our honeymoon consisted of snuggling on Triton that night, and then spending the next two days not doing any boat work at all.   I'm sure a few weeks in Hawaii would have been just as nice, but we have never been happier.

But now we need to get ready for the Baja-Haha cruiser's rally.   We have only a few weeks to go, and are way behind schedule.  We're planning on meeting Mike & Melissa in San Diego, then sailing down to Cabo San Lucas, stopping only at Mac Bay and Turtle Bay along the way.

Wish us luck!


Robb & AnnMarie

PS.  The "Litany" mentioned in the wedding vows video was originally passed down to us from Cory & Leslie, who got it from another happy couple.  It is a powerful incantation that, when uttered (usually at the point in the fight when you realize that the other person may be right), magically restores marital harmony.   Reciting it allows both parties to save face, and will end almost any intractable argument immediately.  It goes like this:

• I'm sorry
• You were right.
• I was wrong.
• I should have listened to you.
• I'll try harder next time.
• I love you.

We firmly believe that this small amount of prose is almost single-handedly responsible for our long and happy relationship.   We would encourage everyone to memorize it, and say it often.  You don't actually need to mean it when you say it, but it helps.



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Another Wasted Day

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To Whom It May Concern,

Well, Its almost 5:30 and I've accomplished almost nothing today. This is partly because of the rains we got last night, which made the already bad roads much worse, but also because I couldn't sleep last night. Maybe I was just bored, tired of feeling sick, hot, humid, run down, frustrated and missed being home, but I couldn't get to sleep. I decided to draw a picture of my view from the bunk. I ended up drawing a picture of myself drawing a picture of my view from the bunk. My knees are actually a bit fatter, but who'll know?

This is not exactly the most exciting thing to be looking at, but it is pretty much what I've been seeing for too long. Anyway, it gave me something to do, and took my mind off of things, but didn't make it any easier to nod off.

I didn't fall asleep until sunrise this morning. Then Ron & Diane woke me up around 8:00am. It had been our hope to take the rental car into Chinandega (the nearest main town) to buy supplies, batteries, diesel, solar panels, etc., and if possible, upgrade the vehicle to a four wheel drive truck. We got about 600 yards out of the marina compound before we ran into a patch of road that was impassible. There were foot high ruts in a muddy mess that had filled in with water, and several locals standing around it wondering what they might do to try to get their own vehicles through.

The day before there had been a wedding on the marina grounds, and it was impossible for the wedding guests to be driven within a mile of the marina. The trucks and buses would take them as close as they could get, then each guest had to scramble along side the roads and walk through muddy fields to get to the reception. Imagine asking your aunt Sally and Uncle Ernie to do that for your wedding-- at least getting "towels" would be a reasonable wedding gift.

Heavy rain is the Nicaraguan equivalent to our snow days. It makes the mud and stone ruts they call roads unusable, brings commerce to a halt, and traps people in their homes. Since many of the locals live a "hand to mouth" existence, this can mean not having any food on hand, or in mouth, the next day. Today was like getting five more inches of snow after a two day long major blizzard. It was so bad that the school bus couldn't make it in or out, which meant that neither the teachers nor the children could get to class. I did not see a single unhappy child. They were all running up and down the road, playing various forms of tag and "kick the can" (although down here it is called "kick the mud clump"), and giggling about the funny looking Americans. What surprises me most about them is how the children have all adapted to the environment, and can scamper and rough house in the roads or fields, but still not get dirty. Everything within a foot of the ground is covered in mud right now, yet every single one of these kids is wearing a pristine white shirt and neat blue slacks or a dress, and I'm yet to see a single child with dirt on them. Left alone at that age, my younger brother and I would end up mud wrestling within ten minutes, and the only bit of us not caked in clay would have been under our eyelids.

Since we couldn't get out to town, we stopped at one of the local "cafes". It is an open sided brick hut and unless you already knew it was a central point in "town", you'd assume it was just another shack, among many other shacks, but they serve breakfast and lunch, coffee and sodas, and the owner's husband spoke English. We sat and talked with him over weak coffee with too much sugar in it for a few hours and caught up on the local gossip. Apparently there have been a few murders in the neighborhood lately. One gentleman was found floating in the water after having gone drinking ad fishing with another friend. The friend turned up elsewhere claiming he hadn't ever seen the dead man, but other witnesses saw them both getting into a canoe together earlier that day. When the police arrested him he was down at the beach, with all his worldly possessions in a knapsack, waiting for a boat to take him to Honduras. He is awaiting trial now. In a separate incident, a well known hoodlum has been seen attacking and robbing people a little further up the road. The cafe owner explained that the police would be here tomorrow, armed with AK-47's, to "shoot to kill and ask questions later". They take law enforcement quite seriously down here.

What is odd, though, is the very, very peaceful nature of the general population. These are not angry people. They do not bicker or fight amongst themselves. They live in tough conditions-- what we would have called a hard scrabble existence, with almost no work available, and, for the most part, get along well with each other. Although the children can be typically rambunctious, and the young men behave like young men everywhere, the adult men and women here are typically quite shy and retiring. Whenever you engage them, they seem somehow surprised that you would bother. I've met many of the folks who work at the hotel and marina, and am yet to come across anyone who is anything but calm, reserved, quiet and dignified. It is rumored that once the main road is completed they will begin on the road into the marina. If so, then this area will change dramatically, and most probably for the better. There are a lot of folks who would love to come here, but right now the roads make that impossible. Having a paved road will change all that instantly, and probably mean a lot more work and much better working conditions for the folks who live around here.

After our coffee we wondered back to the boat and I tried to take a quick nap. A few minutes later, Ron banged on my boat and asked if the bride from the earlier wedding party and her friend could come aboard to take some pictures on my boat. She was a quite beautiful young lady, and they both giggled a lot while Ron snapped pictures of them sitting on the bowsprit and then posing in front of the mast. I was asked to be in one of the photos, but I'm not quite sure why. I wonder what they will make of these pictures twenty or thirty years from now, when their grand children are looking through them. "Hey mom, whose this fat white guy with you and aunt Consuella?"

Well, the power is back on, so I should probably get back to work. It gets dark pretty fast around here, and for the most part it is very quiet. There is a beautiful swimming pool just at the water's edge, right next to the docks, that no one seems to use at night. I've been sneaking over there every evening and taking a dip. I'll sit in the water and watch the thunderstorms roll in across the jungle tops, and hear the fish splashing around in the estuary, and it is about as peaceful and serene a moment as you can imagine. I wish that you all could be here with us.

Cheers for now,

Robb

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