Guest Post by Husband, Mike Strine

Sunday: An odd set of feelings this morning.

Mike with Leo and Rocco, earlier in the morning

At 4:40 AM the dogs alerted to a strange noise outside the door. Looking out, I saw two girls who were Kitesurfing this past week, with their belongings and gear packed up. Soon afterward, a white Taxi pulled into the property to pick them up. Off they went. Will we ever see them again?

These are the first visitors we saw leave from the Camp Bay Lodge and Kitesurfing operation in Camp Bay, Roatan.

Later in the morning, we were returning from our morning walk along the beach with the dogs, which were both off-leash and running free. Cathy was startled to see a man walk out from the Cantina toward the beach. Our dogs both ran past the man without giving him more than a notice. We then saw it was Kyle, who had made friends with Rocco and Leo earlier in the week.

Kyle is flying back to New York today, after a weeklong stay at the Lodge and Kitesurfing to his heart and body's content.

I realized yesterday near dinner time when the guests were celebrating their conquest of Kitesurfing and the good times and bad of the past week; Cathy & I – Rocco, Leo, and Gizmo - will see this every week for the next six months during our stay here at Camp Bay Lodge.

Six months, 26 weeks, 10 rental units – I had to get the Calculator out to figure we could meet 1,560 people/couples/families and more during our tenancy here.

Between Cathy and I, we claimed the roles of Matriarch and Patriarch of the Lodge while the guests relax, learn, and experience their dreams and goals of Kitesurfing and relaxing.

Yesterday was the second Saturday of our stay, and we experienced an abundance of people coming in to enjoy the beautiful beach here. My presumption is Camp Bay Beach was full, so the next best place was the Lodge for safe and fun family times.

The quaint parking lot was filled to capacity, though there were only ours and two other guest rides here. The driveway to the Lodge was choked with cars along the narrow one-lane path, then the yard had a pickup and a large SUV pulled up into it. The neighbors' construction site was filled with three more cars, and an adjacent cleared lot for contractors' vehicles was filled with another four.

Amazing.

Celebration & family times.

I am learning another way to deal with repairs, needs, installations, and more.

When we were packing for our forever trip to Roatan, we had three shipments of 'stuff' coming down here. Two have made it, and the third is the largest by far. In this last shipment, I have my tools, some supplies, and the knowledge I have gained over 60 years of trial and error. I feel compelled to help people in their time of need or trouble.

My first experience with this was when I heard a truck turning over, with a weak battery but not firing up. As I went towards the noise, I saw a guy working on a truck that had been parked so long the tires were flat. The sides of the truck were covered in splashed mud from the heavy rains of a month ago or so. The hood was open and the guy was bent over the engine, using a wrench to arc the solenoid to engage the starter. Hum – over my 60 years of flashbacks, I rarely have seen this sort of action work. And usually, it was because someone had forgotten to put the key in the ignition in the 'run' position so the engine would engage, actuate the fuel pump, and deliver the nectar of gas to the injectors. After the third or fourth attempt and with smoke rolling up from the area of the solenoid, I turned around and went back to the Cantina. "He's got this. He's got to learn his way. Nothing of dire need here." Oh boy…

Then there was the Internet Installer yesterday.
Since we are in such a remote area, the method of operation here is a Radio wave Tech for Internet delivery.

There is an antenna up on the roof of the Yoga Pergola,  on top of the Cantina area. The installer started off the day with 'no English'. The staff here at CBL was great helping to interpret as the event went on. I asked if he was going to install a second antenna? The CBL interpreter said, 'No, using the same antenna for both systems.' Since they were separate receivers, each would get their total share of service. 

As he went up on the roof of the Yoga structure, atop the kitchen structure, with an extension ladder he had separated (from extendable to two pieces), he propped one section up on the Yoga structure roof and began to ascend. Cathy was watching and, at one point, turned to me with a look of fear and terror – telling me to get up there and help the guy! He had used half of the ladder that didn't have the rubber feet. It was the steel caps of the fiberglass ladder resting on the epoxy-coated concrete surface.
*Remember 60-years of experience? Been there, done that, but only once.

The ladder had slid out from under him when he was at the top. He was able to put his elbow out, catching himself by his armpit against the asphalt shingles, so he didn't fall to the concrete. He was able to get reassembled before I made it up the outside steps to the rooftop structure. But I held his ladder as he had wedged it into the wood railing structure by one leg/foot. He came down after removing the pole-mounted antenna, saying 'it's okay' and going about his tasks.

He then began talking to the staffer about running the cable from the roofline, through to trees, to our eve structure, since the unit we are in is not attached to the Cantina or Yoga retreat.

I asked about running it along the ground, under or beside the boardwalk, because the trees blowing in this moderate wind, which the cable was going to run through, were swaying enough to dislodge or knock out the service line? She translated it as he was shaking his head No, then showed the cable is not 'ground-contact rated and would rot over time.

I asked the staffer to contact the owner to ensure he was okay with this guy anchoring the cable into the eve of the building as he was getting set to do. (A big nail, with the cable tied off with wire). She said he'd likely say it was okay since it's only temporary for us. And we'd be taking it with us when we move.

The installer began working away but did not bring the ladder over to the other building. One time when I walked out, I saw him nailing the cable along the boardwalk – yes, to the side, off the ground. When I saw the staffer, I shrugged with a puzzled look. She said since you are only temporary and taking it with us, this would work better. *experience?

Also, when he was in our unit, testing the reading from the antenna, he was getting a familiar FAILED chirp from his laptop. He did some other things, then after a while, he was at it again and got the familiar SUCCESS tone emitting from the laptop speakers. Shortly after that, I went outside and saw there was a second receiver on the antenna mast.

What a weekend! So many new lessons were learned. And it really did leave me with an odd set of feelings!