Until the past few days I have not seen a single boat from the US, and very few British boats. I did make some friends along the way, and
some of them knew enough English to communicate so that we could
communicate. I am continually humbled, even a little humiliated that
they can speak english and I know none of their language. I will
sometimes say that a particular person does not know enough english for
us to communicate, as if it is their fault. That embarrasses me
personally. Back at Marina San Miguel, with the golf resorts and
kiteboarding, most of the time there were no native english speakers on
any of the boats. A few days after I got there there was a French boat
tied a few boats away. I met the man on board, and he knew enough
english to communicate basic facts but we could not really communicate
comfortably. In spite of that we became friends. We took several
"trips" to the other end of the island together, and did some boat
maintenance. It was really an interesting experience for me to be upside
down in the bilge of his boat aligning the engine, and asking for a
wrench. I tried "spanner", "gripper, turner, he would hand me something
like another nut or a screwdriver, meanwhile I am holding the engine in
place with one hand wanting to tighten the nut with the other. And lordy
it was hot. Both of us were drooling sweat.
This experience is notable because, apparently he is a world class
underwater archeologist. He is singlehanding now on the way to the
Caribbean, where he has twenty-two ship wreck sites he wants to
investigate. I just wish I knew enough french to be able to be friends.
Look at his website. Maybe you will be impressed, like I am.
http://archeosousmarine.com/
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II
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