He starts to run again

Since we have been here in Mexico I have managed to get out the running shoes and have even put them on a few times but I don't think that this will be enough training to be completing a full Marathon in just over a months time, even if I started it right now.
In one short year I have managed to ascend to the dizzy heights of division one of the Sussex Men's Fitness League, only to come crashing down to the girl guides corn dolly making division. Amazing how that can happen.
On a positive note though some of my friends will be running the Brighton Marathon and my good friend Richard Sullivan, AKA Sully is running for a charity that it quite close to my heart.
Richard Sullivan is fundraising for Clive Packham Memorial Fund

Clean Shoes = Big Belly

This is me, also in the Caribbean and despite what some think, unlike my shoes, not on holiday.
There is a direct correlation between the cleanliness of ones training shoes and the size of your belly. For me the less I use my shoes the bigger it gets. My belly that is...
At least the sun is shining and the water is warm, the beer is cold and the food is so so good...

These are my new shoes. They are taking a holiday in the Caribbean!

I have an entry into this years Brighton Marathon and was secretly hoping that my work duties may call me away and I would have to say, 'Oh well, next year then.'
However this is not the case! My lovely new running shoes, purchased nearly a month ago have not yet been worn. I have the huge task of training for a 26 mile jog about Brighton and Hove in only two months time and my shoes have their feet up in the sunshine..

Hello

Looking at the pictures from my last posts I have fond memories and wonder where time has gone. From Indonesia to Philippines. From there I went home for a beautiful six weeks for summer in Sussex, making time to swim in the sea every day and then back to the Philippines, out to a small island called Yap another trip in bumpy seas to Guam and then I flew back in a hurry to England to see the birth of our baby son and 8 more wonderful weeks at home.
Recently I flew out to the Pacific coast of Mexico and we have sailed all the way down through the Panama Canal and up to Belize. That is six months in eight lines. I felt that the task of catching up with my Blog was so daunting that I have not bothered.

To a fashion I have caught up and there is no better starting point that here in Belize. I am on anchor watch, which is a pretty mundane task. It important to monitor the bridge while attached the sea bed by the anchor in case sudden changes in weather make us shift position or something happens. Most of the time there is nothing much to do. When there is something to do you have to do it quickly and realise the importance of all the other hours you sat and just looked out the window were actually important.

I am making use of this time to catch up here and make sure that it is boring enough that no one bothers to continue reading in the coming weeks.

more underwater pics

All good things come to an end

We managed to make the most of our time and stayed right up to the last minute of our permits in the area but as with all good things the end was in sight and a new course for the horizon was set.

Looking at our ETA at the next destination it was evident that we would be arriving late evening. This is not generally ideal as pilots charge overtime, line handlers etc and the customs and formalities can't be completed until the morning anyway. So I decided to anchor over night at a small group of islands on the way. What we found was incredible! A total utopian paradise. No humans no sign of them and such a remote and beautiful island. I had to wonder when the last people were actually there. Most of us took a chance to walk to a vantage point and to travel through the islands in one of our small boats.

Whale Sharks

Part 4

It was quickly decided that we should remain for the following day and I was there early the next morning helping to launch the boat and already wearing my swim shorts.

The fishermen live on static boats called Baggans and they lower nets to catch fish, hauling the nets every two hours. The tiny fish that escape the nets are like Whale shark chocolate. These fish are what is attracting the Whale sharks to the baggans. The fishermen believe that the sharks are good luck and they live in harmony with them.
Locals say that there are 4 types of fish. Fish that are good to eat, fish that are poisonous to eat, Fish that are dangerous and fish that are not dangerous but are not good to eat either. Luckily I think the Whale sharks come in the final category!

There are not words to describe the morning I spent in the company of these huge and beautiful creatures.

Part 3 Adrift

It was sunrise on the 27th June I was on the bridge, looking through the binoculars towards a couple of small islands, wondering how it was possible for places to get more and more beautiful as we travel around. The crimson sky was mirrored in the perfect calm of the sea. If our contacts friends, contact was to be believed we were in for a spectacular day!

Some times I wonder what is in my head. Why did I suddenly think that a local guy would be able to show me on a chart where we needed to go. The chap had never seen a chart in his life. As he stood shivering in our air-conditioned bridge, grinning at me and pointing to a place with his finger, I took out my dividers and measured the distance happily proclaiming that it was 10 miles. More grinning!

The tender was launched and loaded with gear and the first lucky crew members, including myself, set off for the mornings adventure. We were hoping to see a pod of whale sharks. We head off in the direction of our guides waving hand, a nod and a giant grin confirmed to our driver that he was on the right course.

An hour later we had to change over fuel tanks! One half of our fuel had been consumed. The boat was slightly overloaded but even so, we had been traveling at, at least 15-20 miles an hour. If Oakmeads School, mathematics department had not failed me, one hour at 15-20 miles per hour, should mean that we have gone past our estimated 10 mile destination! With my best puzzled look and with a combination of sign language I asked how far to go. Waving my arms towards the front. Yes, he nodded, grinning! I was less than confident and we were now a very long way from the mother ship.



Lucky for us, the satellite phone that we take on such excursions was fully charged. It appeared as though we had exhausted our VHF radio range. It was time to call Thunderbird one to the scene. The phone connected with a beep and there was a confusing delay in the communication but I eventually explained our GPS position and heading and that the big boat should pick up the anchor and come to find us. It was not long after this call that the blurt blurt and sudden change of engine noise indicated that we had in fact, exhausted all fuel supplies and were now seven people adrift in a rubber boat, in one of the most remote areas that I have ever been. Was it was time to make friends with the vegetarians!?




Two long hours later our rescuers came over the horizon and within 3 hours, we were alongside topping up the tender with fuel and re examining the chart. We had traveled 35 miles!

My whale shark adventure was now off and I was feeling a bit disappointed, not to mention, sun burnt but a safe anchorage for the big boat needed to be found. A small team left again in the tender. With its lighter load and fewer crew, the boat took off at its normal 30 knots speed. It took me two and a half more hours to find a good anchorage and just as we had settled and I was drinking a cup of tea, the tender returned with some very excited crew, who had obviously found the whale sharks and had enjoyed and extended swim in their company. Still not completely happy with the anchorage, I was not able to leave in the second boat for the excursion and watched as the excited crew members sped away.

I had been up since 4 am and it was starting to feel like a long day. It was late in the afternoon when I finally boarded the tender for the 15 minute run to where the sharks were. I had been persuaded that I should try and get a swim before the days light went away.

I slipped into the water and was instantly lost for words and totally amazed. In the excitement of the day I had not really taken time to know what a whale shark was or what it might be like to swim with one. There were two there and for about 5 minutes I swam about watching them. Just Iike all good things it is better if you have to work hard for the pleasure. It wasn’t long before the two whales swam away and we returned to the boat.

As we approached, the ships horn sounded and there were some balloons tied up on the bow. It was a small birthday party and we drank some cocktails on the bow as the sun finally dipped below the horizon at the end of another fantastic day.

Part two

Someone who knew someone, who knew a guy in Holland, who had contacts with a local bloke, who told them, then they told us. This is just the way it happened. We were directed to one small wonderful place after the next. We moved on, feeling our way at night around the coast, anchoring by day. We found WW11 wrecks and dive sites that are hardly known, named or charted, all of them were immensely rich in colour and full of wild life. The remoteness of these sites is such that we would be among only a few fortunate people to have ever seen them. Some of them I am convinced that our team would have been the first.

On one day we had been advised of some wrecks that had been found by some local fishermen off of one of the small villages on the coast. Somehow a message got to them that we would be looking for them early one morning. I was totally surprised that we managed to find them but I guess they found us. We tend to stick out a bit around here.

We negotiated a price for their services which included an extra fee for their Chief. I just thought yeah yeah.. but it wasn’t so much and I was happy to pay them for their services. They were great! Happy dudes with ever present grins and a willingness to help us. After a little trial and error, they located the wrecks for us and we were able to dive and film. At the end of the day I gave them the cash as promised and our boat ran them ashore. First stop was at a beach along the way, one of them ran up into the trees to visit the local chief and to pay him his share of the fee! I felt a little ashamed at thinking that they were trying to make a few extra bucks from the shiny white boat but I was also really pleased at this simple honesty and sharing. This small thing had made my day.

As we set out into yet another amazing sun set, to another place that was suggested by someone, who know someone, who heard of something in or around the area. I was reflecting on the journey and wondered what was in store for us tomorrow, on my 42nd birthday.