We are moving!

The Blog, that is! Given the formatting issues I've had in Blogger and the fact that they are terminating the feature that allows you to receive a good readable copy of the blog in an email, it only makes sense to use a more secure and sophisticated site.

The next time you want to check out Roatan Strine Way, use this URL:

https://roatanstrineway.wordpress.com/

The site has been launched and you should be able to see previous posts all the way back to Day #1. I realize there are some minor issues from the migration and I will deal with those over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for hanging in there with me. I hope the new location will be easier for everyone to access and read. We have so much to share with you.

As always, please let me know of any problems.

StrineBackYard@gmail.com

Cathy

Excursion.

Orlando can be seen on some early morning beach walks. We'll notice him first by the cage-type structure floating a little way offshore. Then we'll see him coming up out of the water with his snorkel.

One day not long ago we asked Orlando to tell us about his fishing. That conversation led to the typical #1 question: How long are you two in Roatan?

And then the routine discussion about our house-hunt once we explain that we've moved here permanently. Orlando said he wanted to show us some land and we agreed to meet up yesterday (Thursday). 

Just as I was getting ready to throw some bacon in the hot cast iron skillet perched on that tiny propane gas stove, Orlando was at our window. Ready to go. As agreed! 

After a quick kitchen clean-up, we piled in the truck and set off for an excursion we will never forget. Where we went are places you'd never venture into without a guide. But I believe we met the true essence of Roatan. 

Here is the story from Mike's perspective:

We met a fisherman on the beach during the morning walk. He spoke in the Island tongue, which was English - but with a dialect, I could capture 3-6 words of a sentence. Enough to piece it together, or ask him to repeat for capturing a few more words.

In our morning meeting on the beach, two or three times to date now, he asked where we were staying. We said we were looking for a property to buy and then build, or a home to buy. Had to have beach access, etc. 

He said he knew of a couple of places and would get in touch. 

Monday or Tuesday he came by the Lodge and found us. I told him not today, but maybe Thursday. 

Thursday morning he came by the Lodge and asked if we are ready to see the properties. 

I wasn’t “ready”, but Cathy stopped breakfast on the stove - secured the food so the dogs wouldn’t get into it. We got dressed then went out the door, leaving the fur babies at home. 

We went to our truck. Cathy sat in the back, Orlando sat in the front with me. 

Head West was the only direction given.

Wow - we went for 2-3 miles. “Turn here” as I passed the road to turn. Brakes! Reverse! Motorcycle and car coming up behind me - turn signal (they rarely see here), then we went where Orlando said to turn.

I had NO IDEA where we were going or what was to be found. I was SHOCKED to discover this was a neighborhood I would never have known about if it weren’t for Orlando.

If you study this photo - we drove on the ‘Main Road’ of Diamond Rock Road.

The turn-off is a grade down a dirt path to the North (towards the red and blue circles).

There is one spot where I tried the highlighter, which is an “Iron Shore” eruption. A Corral Reef outcropping, coming out of the earth. The Locals have filled the holes and cracks with dirt, so it doesn’t interfere with driving or walking over the area. The first stop was at a vacant lot where his family owns the area. His sisters’ family has a dory/dugout canoe under the home. The mode of transportation for lifes’ tasks.

There is a clearing that was recently leveled of long/tall grass. Likely with a machete or sickle.

A bit unclear, but I believe he was saying the lot can be built upon, like a (very) small home, but we can also build a dock around or through the mangroves, as long as we don’t disturb or upset the mangroves ~ that was great, to hear they understand the importance and conservation of them.

He took us to a second location, where the water emerged in front of us. It was on the edge of the Mangrove Forest.

Taking the planked walkway over the water, it was so peaceful. 

There were two hogs in pens along the walkway.

Then a little bend emerged a wooden structure/home and a protected boat tied to the plank-made pier. 

The structure was the “kitchen” cooking location for La Champa Restaurant.  The restaurant was on a palapa, over the water, in the lagoon. 

Amazing.    

What was more impressive was that the separate bathroom area/was like an outhouse of NE Ohio. It had running water, a flushable toilet, and it was plumbed with the kitchen to a septic system back on the land. 

The area was so peaceful, our ears were aching with the silence. 

After leaving this location, Orlando asked if we liked boating? Of course! He took us to another lot for sale in this area. 

He traveled another offshoot road we had passed on the way in. After the muddy path/trail, what emerged was a compound, with a raised palapa, boats, piers, and parking. 

Apparently, this could be best described as a Marina - Roatan style. It was in the mangrove area. It had a manmade break wall to prevent any water surge or intrusion from wakes. There were a couple of makeshift piers set up and a shack/palapa with a sound system for a band or loudspeakers. 

The guy inside the compound met with Orlando as we wondered about the area.

 

Orlando had explained we were looking at some property and would need a place to shelter a boat.

The man was very kind and accommodating. 

Apparently, this is set up to enable someone like ourselves to “Lease” space - NOT to purchase - but to allow us to build our own Palapa, boat lift, or pier to dock a boat.

Interesting. 

The raised, second-floor palapa we were invited to walk up and the experience was amazing. The breezes, cleanliness, coolness in the May heat were incredible. 

There were no fans, windows, and the only ‘door’ was a bamboo framed contraption with wood logs nailed to it for sturdiness.

There were a number of boats, Pangas, in the grass, upon the land, available to buy. They only need the motor we’d desire. 

After this location, when we were leaving, Orlando had me stop along the road path where the property lot was for sale.

It was a decent little lot. About .10 of an acre, I would estimate. It is Old Roatan for sure. There was a Blue Crab going along the ground as we had disturbed him. 

After we finished viewing this landlocked lot, Orlando told me to drive out to the front. As we were going along, he said I can drop him off at the entrance here, and I would have to go East to get home. 

Apparently, he walked to the Lodge to meet with us? Monday AND Thursday? 

As I stopped and he was reaching for the door handle of the truck to exit, I slipped him a thank you $20 for taking the time to show us what he had available here. 

We will see him again soon, as he will likely be out on the water near Camp Bay Beach. Line fishing and I am sure, Lobstering when the season reopens in a couple of months. 

What an experience. 

 Do you have trouble reading this blog?

I've learned that some are having difficulty reading our stories due to the formatting.

That sure isn't fun and defeats our purpose of providing you information and entertainment here! I want to improve the read, so:

If the lines are touching each other or running together, or for any other reason you find this blog difficult to read in your email, please follow the blog link and see if it is better reading there:

CLICK HERE: Roatan Strine Way

Also, if you can screenshot or take a snippet of the offender and email it to me, I'll see what I can do to fix it. Here is what it looks like when I receive it in the email:

If that isn't the case for you and you can help by sending me a screenshot or snippet, please use my blog email address:

 strinebackyard@gmail.com

This might also be a good time to tell me about errors you have found or share suggestions to improve the blog and delivery.

Sent with love & hope for an easier read!

Cathy

Found it!

Mike discovered our trusty truck had a broken tailpipe. Of course, we went to Shorwen for a repair guy referral. Remember, there are no addresses here . . .

. . . There's a painter and a mechanic right next to where the big noah ark are before getting to punta gorda there is a guy there by the name of David he can do that for u.

Cool body shop. More modern than I expected. Mike said it reminds him of the 1960's body shops. Kind of like when he was growing up in his dad's shop. 

There was Dave, who speaks no English, and his son, Jonathan, who translated. There was another worker busy painting a car in a different area. A cute young kid brought out some dusty old chairs for us to sit on while we waited for the diagnosis. Nice people. 

Wow, right?

They want us to bring the truck back on Monday and leave it for two days. $450 USD.

Mike checked in with Shorwen who said that is "too much. way too much. you must negotiate it down."

Yesterday was the first trip down island we'd made without the dogs. We let Marba know we were leaving and asked her to call if their barking got crazy. I did check in with her at one point and she said everything was fine.

We decided to take advantage of our time alone by having lunch at Bella's Place. Her restaurant is unique in that it has a swimming pool for the guests to use. We sure wished we'd had our suits with us. The heat can be oppressive, especially when dealing with a $450 truck repair bill!

Remember how everything is done very slowly here? Nobody is in a hurry. No rush. Manana.

That's all fine and well unless you are overheated, overly hungry, and dealing with a $450 truck repair bill.

We stewed during that hour-long wait for food. But we also enjoyed the breathtaking views!

Ha! Here we are! Scraggly us. Six weeks into our adventure. We need haircuts and pedicures! But that's an adventure is for another day.

For now, there is that $450 repair bill to try to negotiate. Wish us luck!

Where will we live? 

Sometimes I just have to walk out to the end of this dock and take a deep breath. It settles my mind and brings calm back into my being.

This is our 40th day on Roatan and for some reason, I am feeling out of sorts. I really did not think we would have our permanent home only 960 hours in, so that can't be the reason for my anxiety.

So many wonderful things happen nearly every day. We are learning about the island and its people. One of the most profound pleasures for me is that I am finally figuring out how to just BE. That I don't have to be accomplishing something every minute of every day. I don't have to work to "get ahead" and there is no one to compete with.

Yesterday morning we met two new couples who are staying for a few days. All four people loved Rocco and Leo and it is such a thrill to watch our pets learn to nicely interact with new people every week. Some people are afraid and especially of big dogs, and we understand. So we keep both on leashes until we are sure everyone is comfortable with them running free. 

Today Will and Tina, our first island friends, are coming to Camp Bay for a birthday party. We get a little visit time with them around noon. Also, our internet guy, Kurt, and his family are spending some time at Camp Bay Beach so we look forward to seeing them later this afternoon.

I started some green beans and tomatoes in an egg carton last week. This morning I transplanted them to these grow bags.

They say it is difficult to grow vegetables in this (salty) climate, so we are just experimenting.

Friday we did all the regular "down island" errands: Banking, ACE Hardware (their fly traps work!), Eldon's for groceries - and then a special trip to a wood worker's shop to pick up our custom made desk and two chairs!

These are beautiful, beautiful pieces of furniture and our first purchases here! There is only one problem- I wonder if you can see it?

Yep, one leg is a little short! Three legs measure 28 1/2" and the fourth measures 28 3/8". Until it can be fixed, I found two porcelain coasters balance the desk perfectly. Island Life!

But where will we live?

I feel haunted by that thought right now. Remember Harper's Place? Mike and I both really REALLY wanted to live there. We thought we felt it call to us. All four acres and 93 steps. But it is out of our price range and we've had to let that dream go.

 

Lot #10 Camp Bay would be wonderful because we could walk right out onto this beach we love every single day! But the reality is that our home would sit behind a front-row property that could someday house a mansion. The winds would not reach our cottage any more than they do where we are presently staying. That means no natural A/C or bug repellant! Also, the land is relatively expensive and we likely would not have enough cash to finish building.

We were all set for a trip over to St. Helene to look at some property, but inclimate weather is expected so we had to postpone that (boat-access only) trip. And after more discussion, we might be rethinking such a remote location. 

From what we can figure, not all property for sale is listed in the Roatan MLS. Realtors have pocket listings and then lots of land is for sale by owners. Things can get quite complicated if you find a plot of land you like, owned by a local family. We've heard stories of purchases gone bad because not all of the family members could be located, or were not willing to sign off.

The one thing we have not yet done is hook up with a Realtor. I don't know why we haven't. It would make sense to give our wish list to a Realtor and see what they come up with. What calls to us is not complicated. We want to live a very simple life on the east end of Roatan, elevated for the winds and with beach access. 

Our lease here runs until October 13, so there is no rush. We will have one shot at this and we want it to be the right one.

Another option would be to find a place to rent that ticks all the boxes. We can easily live off our income, even with paying rent, and not touch the funds we have set aside for our home purchase. 

As I've been writing here this morning, and Mike and I have been discussing the subject matter, we agree on these things:

• Our eyes are wide open for opportunity
• We will not be rushed
• Giving up on our dream location is not an option

We don't have to know everything right this minute. Ever since we began this journey, paths have been laid in front of us as they were needed. Nothing has changed so why expect anything different? Let's sit back, enjoy the ride, and know that  - - 

Where will we live ? 

 PHOTOGRAPHS 

from the last five weeks

Kitesurfers all over the world come to Camp Bay Lodge to catch the wind. We've met some interesting people over the past five weeks. Made some new friends, too!

We made cookies and bread yesterday. Transitioning from Fahrenheit to Celcius is interesting, too! Mike estimated the indoor temperature to be about 92 degrees when we finished. 

Sneak peek at how we live. We outgrew our allotted 400 sq ft real quick!

Water Ballet?

           Leo after his daily rinse-off from the beach run. 

We had visitors.

Free-ranging Chickens

And the free-ranging beach bum

The days begin and end in breathtaking beauty.