So it’s that time of year again when everything gets inverted, when what is dry turns wet, when what is sunny becomes cloudy, when even the flow of the sea switches in the opposite direction. Rainy season. Time to break out the ponchos, the rain slickers and fill the cisterns. Time to get wet without going diving. Time for everything green to soak up as much moisture as possible. Time for those living off the main road to try and remember why they didn’t get a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Time for the ocean to disappear in a haze of clouds, sky and sea all blending together into one gray sheen.
It’s a time of contradictions, perfect for the island of Roatan. We’ve had what they call a norther storm coming through for the past two days, dropping a huge amount of rain on the island. Winds have been gusting, currents are all over the map so the municipality is fining dive boats for going out. Power has been intermittent at best, with some going without juice for more than a day. Internet has also been incredibly spotty. Cell service the same.
Which is a bit of a recipe for cabin fever, I mean this is a SCUBA diving, outdoorsy type of island, only here on Roatan we plan ahead, especially with anything weather related. We’ve known this system was coming for days. If anything we’re over prepared.
We’ve got a stash of movies and television shows downloaded on our computers so we can watch stuff. We’ve got literally thousands of e-books, more than either of us could read in a lifetime. We’ve got enough food to last weeks. We’ve got thousands of words to write for blogs, articles, books, and marketing materials.
And when all else fails, we’ve got the doggos. They might hate the rain a whole lot more than us but they’re a constant source of surprise and delight. Sure, they make life infinitely more complicated, especially when we’re out cruising looking for a place to take them for a walk at night in a strange place, but it wouldn’t be the same without them. Everything would be so ... easy, so simple and quotidian.
Thankfully, all but the smallest of the leaks on City Dogs have been fixed and the one remaining persistent drip isn’t going to sink us unless the rain hits our boat at a certain angle for a month straight. Which knowing Roatan, it probably will, but we’ve made sure the dock lines are extra secure, and we just hope the power doesn’t stay off for too long because we’ve got so much food in the freezer that we can’t afford to lose.
We’ll see the sun again in another week or two if we’re lucky. And hopefully this rainy season turns out to be a whole lot less intense than the “worst rainy season ever” that turned the island into one big wet ball of mud last year. I’m guardedly optimistic, expecting the worst but hoping for the best, thinking that at the very least, we’ll be prepared for the rain this time with plenty of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones episodes to watch. And plenty of blankets for the wet doggos.