Central America

The Watermans have been to every Central American country. Helen’s favorite place is El Salvador. She explains that when they arrived, two strong young men welcomed them, asked them to forget the war and told them, “You’re welcome here.” Dean insists that he can’t choose a favorite place. “I travel to see something different. It is hard to say. Everywhere I have been the people are friendly and the scenery and attractions are good.” Both agree, however, that the best thing about traveling is visiting new places, learning about new cultures, and interacting with people. Dean says, “Everyone has lived a different life. Their life may seem boring to them, but interesting to me.” They insist that everyone is always so nice, but it’s quite likely that one reason for this is the generosity and friendliness of the Watermans themselves.

They have countless stories to share of their travels—tales of humpback whales and catching tuna in Costa Rica, of huge carnivals and of exploring the ruins of Panama City, which was raided by pirates. Helen’s eyes light up when she describes the tall, colorful, beautiful birds that wander around inside the President’s Palace in Panama.

They also visited the vast Mayan ruins in Guatemala. Helen suggests that a few days should be taken to explore the territory. She loves telling about the wonderful street markets in El Sulatin, where they chased a beautiful girl to take her picture. Dean says, “Gals carry and balance huge stuff on their heads.” Finally, the attractive girl stopped to turn around and everyone watched and clapped as he snapped a picture of her. Helen giggles as she tells me about a woman who walked down the street selling bras and panties for $1!

They’ll never forget Honduras! Dean tells about the time when Helen got lost in a national park in Honduras. Helen cuts in to say, “It was an island.” Dean says, “No it wasn’t. She thinks anything with water around it is an island.” They both laugh. Dean continues, saying that there were hundreds of steps and many trails, and Helen ventured down the wrong path. A nice young Honduran man led her back to where the boat was docked. The man would not take a reward of anything of value, such as money, but left with some water.

A man once filmed them with a video camera for a news channel on Spanish TV. Helen says, “Everyone backed up and let us have the floor.” Dean knew little Spanish, so he pumped his fist into the air and yelled, “PANAMA! PANAMA!” The crowd went crazy with cheers!

Their overall experience of Central and North America: “We made lots of good friends and had a great time with them. We met people, wonderful people, of all different stripes.”

La Cumbre

La Cumbre is an interesting boat. Dean says, “If you buy a boat, you want an original name.” In Spanish, La Cumbre means “The Summit.” Dean and Helen have never come across a boat with the same name. La Cumbre runs on a John Deere engine, which can be found in the tool room. Inside the tool room, 12 gallons of salt water an hour are converted into freshwater. Dean explains that everything comes together in the engine room. “If something in the engine room doesn’t work, you will have problems. On a boat, you can have dirty clothes, broken windows, anything but a bad engine.” La Cumbre has 8,700 hours on its engine. That’s a lot of traveling! The longest time that they have traveled without spotting land is 600 miles, which takes about five days. Do they ever wonder if they’re going in the wrong direction? Helen says, “Me? Yes, all the time!”

Her favorite place on the boat is the galley, where she bakes fresh bread every morning. For those people not familiar with the galley, it has appliances like a kitchen, only smaller. The boat is cozy, with an American flag flapping in the wind on the back. Dean stores his many maps on the boat, and pulls them out, wide-eyed, to point out his routes.

Helen says it took her about a year to adjust to life onboard, while Dean adjusted right away. He says, “You must have personal things on board, or otherwise it’s like camping. Camping out is fun, but eventually you’ll want to go home.” Helen has a sewing machine and sews often. Dean and Helen say the best thing about living on a boat is, “all the good people we meet from everywhere.” The worst thing? “When the weather goes bad, you ain’t leaving, so grin and bear it!” Helen says, “I miss flowers in my garden and my family, but I love boating and I love water. I had never been on a big boat before. It took me a while to learn that it’s safe and it’s O.K. if it tilts to one side—it will turn out alright.”

Dean has a word of warning to anyone who thinks they may want to live on a boat and travel: “The most important thing to think about before you decide to give up everything and live on a boat is whether or not you know yourself. Do you really want to do this, or do you just think it’s a cool thing to do? There’s a lot to learn about living on a boat. You have to be paying attention.”

After Louisiana?

So, what do the Watermans think of Louisiana? They explain that visiting here is fun because there are many waterways in the state, which means a lot of places to visit. Helen’s favorite things about Louisiana are the moss in all of the trees, the old houses and beautiful porches. She says, “There is good weather, hospitality, and everyone is friendly.” They thoroughly enjoyed their stay in Madisonville.

What’s next? The Watermans planned to go to Mobile after leaving Madisonville. Later, they will go up the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and stop in Chicago. From there, they’ll travel to Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and New York. Then it’s on to Vermont, Cape Cod, Maine, down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida, to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and, finally, to Columbia. This trip should take a year.

Whether they tell you about the Panama celebration they witnessed, with food, music, beer, bands, and confetti, or of the Kuna Indians in the San Blas Islands who wear brightly colored beads around their calves, Dean and Helen Waterman will always have a story to share about the many places they’ve been to in the past. Many more await them in the future. They travel for the love of people.

And yes, they do get seasick sometimes.