#far tortuga

[theunread]

Peter Mattheissen out here using the space bar one single tiny extra time to make you notice the Deep Onomatopoeia in your language.

[manymasquesofthefox]

Vemon: goddom commonists! (spits) one thing I ain't gone to stand for and dat is a commonist! (voice rises) why, dese goddom godless sonofabitches, dey come in dere to a democracy and commonize ever'thing dat way! I heard dat myself, right on de radio (spits) SHIT! (triumphant pause) Y'hear me? I tellin you, I don't go for dat shit, no mon! (fierce) I tellin you right here and now--if I wad de President of de United States of America, I'd give de order to bomb out every last one of dem goddom Cubans--

?: Vemon?

Vemon: make de world safe for deomocracy, goddom it! And God! Y'hear me! God!

?: Vemon? You ever see a commonist? What de hell you know about it anyway, ceptin what dey give out on de Yankee radio?

Vemon: and safe for freedom! Dass right, freedom! and de forces of freedom! [...]

?: Free mon! Listen to dat idiot! He ain't even free to drink hisself to death without workin like a donkey first to pay his rum! Ain't had a shillin in his life dat some politican yellin about progress didn't steal off'm, but he free, okay! [...] Squawkin out everything dey tell you on de Yankee radio like some kind of a goddom parrot!

[manymasquesofthefox]

de Yankees gone find out we all commonists, and dey gone take over, mon

far tortuga

[manymasquesofthefox]

the front matter includes a oneline from the new york review of books “an adventure story.. worth comparing to the best of Conrad or Stevenson” idunno much about those fucks but Secret Sharer was at least comprehensively sea deep i really can’t tell if i hated this book before starting a negativity binge at about 1am and just was too polite to tell meself that, or if I only hate it now, or if I don’t hate it, but I’m on a negativity binge

[manymasquesofthefox]

this page says “horizon” and is only a brokenly drawn line it isn’t poetic now it’s just weird

[campaignoutsider]

Correction o' the Day (At Play in the Fields of the Times Edition)

Correction o’ the Day (At Play in the Fields of the Times Edition)

The prolific author Peter Matthiessen died last week and the obituaries came fast and, in some cases, loose.

From Wednesday’s New York Times Corrections:

FRONT PAGE

An obituary in some editions on Sunday and in early editions on Monday about the author Peter Matthiessen misstated the setting of Mr. Matthiessen’s novel “At Play in the Fields of the Lord.” It is set in Peru, not Brazil. The…

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[snorkelblog]

Hello Testudo!I enjoy reading about all your snorkeling adventures on the GC forum. Lots of good advise too. My family of six adults who love to snorkel will be staying at the villa 'Far Tortuga' in July and heard the snorkeling off their dock is some of the best on the island. Is that true and have you ever snorkeled in that general area? Also when you get to the reef from there, can you snorkel on the back side of the reef or is it a deep dropoff ? What about the current beyond the reef itself? I am very curious as to what we will be seeing and the depth of the water in the sound itself going out to the reef. Thanks for your insight! Jim D.

Hey Jim,

You picked a great house for a snorkel base on North Side.  I love the set-up of Far Tortuga, plus the name kind of hits home.  

The snorkeling there should be good.  I have not snorkeled directly in the waters off Far Tortuga, but I have down the road, about 1 mile closer to Rum Point.  I was just picking out some spots that looked promising from shore.  The fish were plentiful, but coral was lacking at that particular spot.  The barrier reef was a bit too far from the shore, so I didn't get to explore, but a little closer to Driftwoods is pretty good.   I can't recall if there are any cuts in the reef nearby the house, but the reef breaks-up a bit over that way so there probably are.  You you might try looking on Google Earth to possibly ID some prior to your arrival.  Chisholm's Grocery is a searchable land mark and the house is a little east of there.

The back side of the reef can be snorkeled, but it will depend on the conditions.  I usually stay on the in-land side unless the water is placid, no desire to become a reef ornament if the waves or currents are unfavorable. There are some drop-offs in that general area and you can sometimes see larger fish coming in and out with the tides.  If you get tired of the area, you are within 10 minutes to some other excellent areas as well.  My current favorite is Barefoot Beach.  Hope you have a great trip!