FATTY GOODLANDER, ABOARD IT'S PERFECT

MAY 18, 2013

Fatty Goodlander an unexpected guest





It is 12 noon here aboard Its Perfect sailing our way towards St. Thomas. It has been 5 days since we weighed anchor in Ponce, Puerto Rico. After a one night stay in Puerto Patilla, we moved on to the Island of Culebra & an unexpected visitor. 

It was a long day of motoring against the wind & at 6:30pm we turned in to make our way between the reefs to anchor in Ensenada Honda. It was a beautiful anchorage enclosed on 3 sides with soft green, rolling hills & the town of Culebra. We picked a small area on the east side to drop the anchor between two boats in about 25ft of water.

SUNSET OVER CULEBRA

After a wonderful night on flat calm water, we were ready to drag out the ongoing list. My first chore was laundry followed by cleaning stainless, washing all the cockpit cushions & scrubbing the cockpit. Wow what a difference. Salt water sticks to everything & I found salt in all the corners & crevasses.

Rod stayed busy trying once more to start the engine on the dinghy. It is a good thing we have parts on the way, it has finally given up the fight. While we were at work the couple on the boat anchored beside us, had their own projects going on. It is a little easier to spend your day on lists when your neighbor's are working as hard as you are.

 

At about 5:30pm we had given up for the day & were in our hammocks for a much deserved rest. Our neighbor took this opportunity to jump in his dinghy & come for a visit. As he climbed into our cockpit Rod introduced us & our guest introduced himself as

FATTY GOODLANDER. 

How embarrassing we did not even recognize him.  There is no excuse, Rod & I have been avid fans for years & read all his articles.  Needless to say we were thrilled he decided to visit.  

 

Fatty & his wife Carolyn recently purchased Ganesh a Wauquiez 43 ft. ketch. They have spent the last few months taking it apart & putting it back together. Removal of the swim platform, a new engine, a new Monitor Windvane & more was undertaken. They are leaving this month for Panama & their 3^rd circumnavigation of the world. 
 





FATTY & ROD IN THE COCKPIT OF IT'S PERFECT

He is just as funny in person as in his articles, we spent more than an hour trading stories & as he left  he promised to bring Carolyn over on Friday for a chat. 

We spent Friday preparing It's Perfect to leave early on Saturday. Our company arrived just about sundown, perfect timing. Carolyn & Fatty have been together over 40 years.  They have always called a boat home. 

Their travels have inspired many cruisers & wanna be cruisers to cut the dock lines & go.  Reading his articles in Cruising World & other publications make the cruising life look more possible to the average sailor. 

We talked about the level of difficulty going around the world. Fatty said “ If you can get your boat from Ponce, Puerto Rico to Grenada, you can get from Grenada to Tonga. 

GANESH AT ANCHOR IN
CULEBRA
 

It's not that hard, it's just longer.” According to Fatty, sailing the South Pacific is just like a long walk in the park. They cannot wait to get back to the islands. Their plans have them spending Christmas this year in Thailand.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the infamous Fatty & his wife Carolyn. By the time we parted Tonga was looking better by minute.  mmm... you never know.