Storms at Sea (The CoastWatcher: Caribbean West)
News from the Honduras Bay Islands and North Coast
14 July 2001
By Pierre Renaldo, The Coastwatcher©

The sky was totally crazy this morning, doing things to confuse me even more than I usually am early in the A.M. When I arrived at level three of my abode and looked west at the ironshore I was startled to see the sun rising from that direction. WEST!

I could not actually see the sun, but there was brilliant light, the clouds were tinged with red and pink and it looked just like a sunrise in the west. And I didn't have anything to drink the night before so I knew it was not the fuzz from too much partying.

What I was seeing was a phenomenon caused by reflected light. The eastern horizon was a blur of gray with a solid overcast covering the sky except for one place directly over the Ironshore Coast. And in that small break was a towering cumulus cloud (thunderhead) left over from the fireworks of earlier in the morning.

We did not have any kind of celebration on the 4th, but the flicks and bangs were just as awesome as a fireworks display. The sea was wild, the wind was up and the Cascade Coast was putting on a water show that has no rival. The geysers dancing along the cliff face were like underwater explosions occurring all along the coastline; the roar was deafening. The ballet of the Caribbean at its peak, and my favorite scene.

We have been having early morning storms with some regularity this summer. They make up out at sea and then travel to the nearest concentration of sleeping people and cut loose with a vengeance. Well, that's what it seems like to me. I am running around the house making sure all the windows are closed, in the dark, except for the flashes of lightning. Then I have to watch the spectacle and besides by that time I'm wide awake. So I put on the coffee and wait for daylight.

Roatan Taxis and Their New Paint Jobs

White. Most of them are white. Unlike the taxis in La Ceiba, there is no uniformity among our elite corps of taxis. In La Ceiba all of them are painted with the same trim color and it is in the same pattern on every taxi. Not so on Roatan. Our turkeys have to be individualists, to the last man. Except of course the ones who have not bothered with the trim color at all.

So far I have seen black, dark blue, light blue, aquamarine, turquoise, and some blends for which there is no name, just a lot of left over paint dumped into a can and stirred. The trim colors have been applied in random fashion, just like their driving. Some up high on the sides, some down low on the fenders, some here and there. All the spot-lights, and fog-lights and whip antennae and other adorning junk is still in place to give those guys special status.

And they still beep. Two hundred and fifty beeps a minute. If you are stopped at the side of the road, letting your grandmother get out of the car and into her wheelchair, there is a taxi behind you beeping his fool head off. He can see your poor old grandma, struggling to get out of the way, but he beeps on anyway.

"Carumba! Can't you see I'm in a hurry?" He has to be first to someplace.

They are never in a hurry when I am driving behind them. The driver has his arm out the window signaling for a left turn, but there is no place to turn left. Does he mean right? Is he just airing his hand? What is he going to do?
He stops in the middle of the road, on a hilltop, and blind curve. The only sensible thing there is to do, of course.

Now for something really exciting.

More New Road Work

There are now five new bridges under construction on the coastal road between Coxen Hole and Flowers Bay. It is becoming a reality, the improvements and paving of the coastal road from town all the way out to the intersection of the West Bay, West End Road. Some of the temporary crossings at the new bridge sites are quite challenging from a driver's point of view.

It is a much shorter to drive using the coastal road when traveling between Coxen Hole and any destination on the west end of the island. You will use less gas, and with the price over three bucks a gallon, that makes the news even better.

The drive up over the high ridge is gorgeous. Most of that is paved now, and that is another reality that many of us here never thought would happen. Driving here will actually be enjoyable, as long as you're not behind a taxi.

Just a reminder to those of you who subscribe to my monthly e-magazine. Due to some technical malfunction I get notices that your transmission was not sent due to invalid addresses. Some of them are received even though I have been advised they are not received by the addressee. If you believe you are a subscriber and you do not receive Roatan Insights during the first week of each month, please notify me at: elouis@globalnet.hn

And my thanks to those of you who have ordered the books. If you are thinking of coming to paradise some day you will find this to be required reading. Take a look at: http://www.eroatan.com/cgi-bin/pierre.cgi?books

That's all for this week

Ciao,
Pierre

By Pierre Renaldo, Mountain Coastal S.A,. General Contractors, Construction Management and Construction Consultants.