2/26/2008 Still At Sea Getting To Devils Island About Noon

From: Sherman Rootberg
Date: Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Subject: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Still At Sea Getting To Devils Island About Noon

Bobbi said I could try to continue writing by going down to the computer club and type there. I did give it a try but I don’t think it is going to work.

I wasn’t there ten minutes and they threw me out and said I couldn’t come back unless I abide by their rules. It seems you must remain fully dressed while there. I have found that I type much better while in my underwear. They say I can’t do that anymore so I guess this may be it.

Last year they couldn’t stop at Devil’s Island because of bad weather. I know it is always rough here. That’s how they kept prisoners here.

We were there about eight years ago when we last did the Amazon. It is still French and is even on its own time. We were in a ship about half the size then and it was still hard to find a spot were we could drop anchor. Actually, no one goes on Devil’s Island. We go on Isle Royal. That is where the prison was. Devils Island is where prisoners were sent after they did their time in the prison. Only a small row boat could land there and then only once or twice a month.

When we were there last, it was a bright sunny day. The old brick prison was mostly fallen down or caved in. Only a very small portion was saved for display. Still, what was left still standing was very interesting. I remembered it as a nice walk on a dirt path. Maybe forty five minutes is all it took to walk around the prison. There is a small museum with a story from the French that claims the book Papillion is totally untrue. It is very hot and jungle covered but we could see Devil’s Island very clearly.

It has been raining hard most of the night and this morning. Even if we can land and send tenders, I am not about to walk around in wet mud.

The weather was beautiful. The calmest I have ever seen, in this part of the Atlantic, in the many time I have passed here. We did go ashore in a tender, walked around a little, and quit.

As I said, we had been here before and it was about 95 degrees in the shade and there was not much of that. I was not about to climb stairs and go up hills after already walking about two blocks. So we went back, took very much need showers, and I am trying to figure how to send pictures on the ships computers. They have all kinds of stuff to make that almost impossible but here goes a try.