Caribbean Journal

• Mar 18 - 19, 2005
• Mar 20, 2005
• Mar 21 - 23, 2005
• Mar 24, 2005
• Mar 25, 2005
• Mar 26, 2005

March 26, 2005

Of course, I missed a lot of the little things, and probably a lot of the big things, too. Some days were so busy that I hardly had any time to write, and a couple of days, I pretty much wrote a book. I met some wonderful guys, and reacquainted myself with the men from last year's cruise. In short, I had a remarkable time.

Observations: someday, I want a cruise that has a clothing optional beach at every stop, or at least a truly compelling reason to be there. St. Barths is worth visiting again for the beach and for Eddie's. It's exceedingly expensive, but we were helping the local economy. Anguilla was okay, but the beaches are not clothing optional. We couldn't land on Prickly Pear because the water was too rough. And of course, we bypassed Nevis and St. Kitts. I'm pretty sure that neither has a clothing optional beach. We did not go to Saba. St. Martin has Orient Beach, which is a beautiful clothing optional beach. It's long, wide, and full of beach umbrellas for rent.

I didn't crisp myself too much this trip. One day, I badly burned a patch on my back - it looks like I took a clothes iron to it. It's peeling, but doing okay. I've been careful to keep it SPFed. For several days, I sused SPF 30 instead of 50 (I went through a pound of sunscreen). It worked fine, and it's cheaper. I've gotten my red summer tan, and it should be pretty much gone before the summer solstice.

I'll have to ask Sal where he gets his tan. He lives in New Jersey, and not a tan line on the guy. He must lie out in the backyeard during winter snowstorms or something. Most of the guys on the cruise without lines hail from places like Florida, California, or Hawaii. One of the guys was from Oklahoma. He was (I would like to think...) always cruising me, but when I would follow up, he'd demur. Then he'd start cruising me again. Well, it was fun!

One of the older guys knew no social boundaries, wh;i;ch created some boundary issues for the rest of us. He was pretty egregious and tried to grab just about every penis, ass, or set of balls in sight. Twice I had to rescue other guys from him. He made one successful advance on me early on - I had asked him to put some sun tan lotion on me, and what a mistake. He quickly had his hand on my dick, stroking it. I did not appreciate it. Later on, he tried again, and I firmly removed his hand from my thigh, which appeared to solve my boundary issue with him. First off, I think we are all grown up enough to behave, and his behavior really set me off. Secondly, I wonder if I'll be like that as I grow older. God spare me that through this example. Will other men write in their journals about my creepy behavior?

Andy, Alex, Sal, and I had all been the objects of unwanted attention, often by the same guys. The guys use two different techniques. There's the submarine, where the hand floats in silently between the legs and grabs the dick, often while the submarine captain is talking to you about his grandchildren or baseball stats. The depth charge is where the guy is talking to you, both hands visibly above deck, and suddenly he lunges forward and grabs your dick or balls while wrapping an arm around your back. Many submariners and depth charges have incredible skill. You don't see the attack coming, and usually you're in some shock because the whole thing is so inappropriate.

Friday, Andy, Peter, Sal, and I (and maybe one or two other guys), had a puppy pile. We just kinda lay there in the sun all tanged up together, then we started talking about a dream cruise, about what we wanted, how long, the cost, etc. When we Alex mentioned the gay tax, like the one we're paying on this cruise, all the guys just chuckled. The upshot is, I'm tasked with pulling together a proposal. I talked with the captain and a couple of crew members while on board. Everybody is telling me it's a Windjammer cruise on the Yankee clipper. We've started talking with other guys, too, and are looking at 2006 or 7.

I'm back in the air on my way home. Sal is flying off to Puerto Ricko and Philadelphia. I'm heading to Atlanta, then on to BWI. Several guys from the cruise are on the flight, including Steve and Gordon, the couple from Denver, and one of the guys who was on the flight when I flew into St. Martin. During one of the captain's story times, the captain suggested that the restaurant at the airport was a good place to eat. So that's what Sal and I did. I also bought two bottles of rum in the airport. We checked into our flights early, then sat and talked until boarding time.

At this point, I get a little wistful. I really don't feel like leaving this place. I met some really neat guys, had some wonderful chats with Alex, chummed around a lot with Sal. Tim, Richard, and Peter will probably end up only as names in here, except for more than a week we were friends on an adventure. I hope we meet again soon.