Chili Cook-Off Competition.

What the .........? Yup one of the interesting parts of cruising is the strange, nay often weird, aspects of the international cruising community's social entertainment calender.

Now we have jumped over burning rosemary bushes in Portugal, to ensure continued virility(!).
We have celebrated Independence Day for Canada, Guatemala, Panama and the United States.
We have celebrated the Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, Halloween, Easter(Semana Santa is one of the more amazing sights as you watch streams of men wearing Klu Klux Klan type outfits flagellating themselves as they carry massive religious icons around their towns and villages).

We have watched the pilgrimage of The Black Christ in Porto Bello, Panama. Observed daily meetings of the 'Congreso' ( village council) in the San Blas islands. One vital part of this ceremony being the random screams from designated women in order to keep the audience awake!

We have eaten Christmas turkey, Thanksgiving turkey, Easter turkey. We have prepared sweets for Divali, toffee apples for Halloween, coloured eggs for Easter. Hunted down rare and prized ingredients in exotic locations.

Reveled in the discovery of British Mincemeat filling(chopped dried fruit and suet), gorged on Cabury's Dairymilk Chocolates. Fought over bottles of Rose's Lime juice cordial ah the memories!

And tonight a new experience for us, a chili competition. I had never heard of this great USA tradition so started to do a little research- that's one of the pleasures of being in a marina with good internet access.....

Well blow my little cotton socks off! This is a BIG THANG!
I have read of chili's so hot that judges now insist that the competitor taste their own chili first to ensure survival, shades of the ancient food taster tradition in the more murderous regimes of the world.
There are official world rules and regulations. The issue of 'to bean' or 'not to bean' is a whole essay in itself, probably not one I am going to peruse further.

Some say the Chili competitions started back in to 40's but it seems that the first really big reported battle was in 1967 between Carroll Shelby, designer of the Cobra motor car and Wick Fowler.

In 1967, Carroll Shelby, Wick Fowler and a few friends gathered to devise a plan to sell Shelby's ranch. Little did they know that the midday discussion would spawn a cultural phenomenon and would eventually divide them: the World Championship Chili Cook-Off.

For years, the chili cook-off was held on Shelby's land in Terlingua, Texas, and featured the chili recipes of former competitors Wick Fowler and Carroll Shelby. The event continued to gain popularity and was later showcased on the CBS Evening News.

However, seven years after its inception Carroll Shelby, unbeknownst to others, was granted a trademark for the "World Championship Chili Cook-Off." From that moment on, he declared the event would be held just outside of Los Angeles, California in the Tropico Gold Mine. Wick Fowler and the others did not wish to move the event and remained in Terlingua.

A few years later, the Wick Fowler faction renamed the initial event as "The Original Terlingua International Chili Cook-Off."

Today, two cook-offs claim to be the "true" world championship, and Wick Fowler and Carroll Shelby eventually put their differences behind them. However, their chili mixes still engage in friendly competition .

My sympathies must be with Shelby, he has the status of 'god' in our household due to the design of the Cobra. We were fortunate enough in that lifetime before cruising to drive one of his awesome vehicles, life was never the same again!

Anyway back to the cook-off! Excitement mounts here at Mario's...........
This time I will be observing as the experienced contestants roll out their secret ol' family recipes, next time I'll be in there having a go too!

I have added Shelby's original chili recipe to the side bar on the left hand side of the page. Just scroll down and you'll find it.

Continuing research on 'Sordid Lives'

I would like to share with you some of the powerful sites and articles that I am finding as I continue my research into this appalling travesty of Human Rights.

The Devastating Effects of “Sex Tourism” on Cultures

'One of the greatest destroyers of cultures today is so called “Sex Tourism” – the exploitation of sex as a tourist commodity. “Sex Tourism” targets women, children, and adolescents (boys and girls) in direct relation to the degree of poverty of the victims. Its impact is psychological, emotional, moral, and causes physical damage to the victims, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, loss of childhood, and often victims are ostracized by their families and communities.

Sex tourists come from the United States, Canada, Germany, and other European countries. They are people, mostly men, who go on vacation in order to have repeated sexual contact with the local population. They go to a place where they are unknown and can behave in a way that friends and neighbors back home would find unacceptable. They even convince themselves that they are helping the victims because they give them money.'

Read more at this website.

The following video clip is from a PBS broadcast of a one-hour special entitled ' Child Brides, Stolen Lives'.It was shown last Friday 12th October 2007.

The section on Guatemala vividly illustrates the self esteem issues that the women here face.

As Marta Julia Ruiz, the Guatemalan spokeswoman for The Population Council puts it- "I can't choose something if I have no options to choose from."





This excerpt is from an article that appeared in The Washington Post

"The sexual exploitation of girls and boys, largely by American men, has reached alarming proportions in Central America, according to children's rights advocates who say the region is now a priority in their struggle against child prostitution and pornography.

A major reason for growth in the Central American child sex business, child rights advocates say, is that traditional destinations such as Thailand and the Philippines have cut into the sex tourism trade over the last two years by enacting public awareness campaigns, stricter laws and enforcement measures."

There are NO excuses for commoditising women, for taking advantage of their lack of choices, for their poverty.

Loves/hates.

One of the most often asked question from friends, family and passing acquaintances is

" So whats the Best/ Worst thing about your cruising life?"

The answers certainly change over time!

The Worst

1. When the depth gauge throws a wobbly and stops working just as you are crossing a particularly nasty piece of reef and the wind is getting up.

2. Those minutes BEFORE you actually up-chuck the last meal back in to the briny.

3. Washing down the cockpit after killing and filleting a big bloody scaled fish.It always looks like the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' revisited on our boat!

4. Getting out of a cosy warm berth for a middle of the night watch when you have only JUST gone to sleep.

5. Running out of decent chocolate.

6. Getting an email when you are miles from anywhere that says, "please call home urgently, I really need to talk!"

7. That sinking feeling when you know that the loo has just blocked......again.

8. Lugging 3 weeks worth of washing two miles to the nearest laundry to find they are closed/the machines are broken/you don't have the right change.

9. Trying to maneuver a 40 foot can that doesn't go backwards, that has a mind of its own, in to a too small almost inaccessible gap at the end of a long line of expensive motor boats. All with REALLY BIG anchors sticking out like battering rams. Oh and the wind getting up!

10. Seeing so many injustices and feeling impotent to do anything about MOST of them.


The Best.

1. Lying snug in bed in a well sheltered anchorage, hearing the rain beating down on the cabin top, just like memories of camping as a child.

2. Getting the anchor to bite really well AND ending up in the spot I had aimed for!

3. The boat full of supplies and spares and ready for a journey away from the beaten track.

4. The chuckling of the waves when the sails are in perfect balance and we are skimming across a blue ocean.

5. Chilled white wine with fresh Sashimi on arrival in a new anchorage.

6. Sat on the bow with TBH watching yet ANOTHER perfect sunset.

7. The constant mental stimulation of new places and cultures.

8. The smell of fresh baked goodies ready to come out of the oven.

9. Dolphins!

10. Just sometimes making a difference to somebody's life!

Rain, rain, rain!

Its like a soggy British November Day here on the Rio, albeit a rather warm one. The weather forecast says that we may have a couple of days of this so I am really pleased that we went to town yesterday to get the shopping done......just sometimes we get these things right.

I had been hoping to speak to somebody who posted in response to my piece 'Sordid Lives' this morning. He and his wife were unable to come over in the rain, I can't say that I blame them.It's coming down like stair rods out there! So we have rescheduled for next week. I am eager to continue listening to all points of view on what, is evidently, a very contentious subject.
I have been reading and researching extensively this week and have the beginnings of an idea to take this further, I'll tell you more as it unfolds.

TBH ( the better half) has been busy resuscitating a fellow cruisers laptop. It looks like they are beginning to make headway at last, so fingers crossed that we will have a fully functioning computer ready to return to its home before the night is out.Everyone will be really happy with that outcome.
Computers are both a blessing and a curse on board. For the likes of us it means we can keep in touch with our families more easily than ever before, we can continue to earn a living as`we cruise and keep ourselves informed as to new developments in our areas of interest. For others they are a boon to navigation, using electronic charts.
On the other hand when they go wrong they are a pile of C..p! Driving many to insanity and despair!! Thank goodness TBH is very knowledgeable and capable with this modern 'black art'. There are many times in a day that I count my blessings that he is aboard.

STOP PRESS.. The computer has a new lease of life and has been returned to its grateful owners!

Bob and the Beanstalk.

We carry a curious collection of 'must haves' on board our boat. I think that we are prepared for pretty much any eventuality as we travel the world.

One of the collections we have is a number of different packages of seeds, I love to grow herbs and salad crops on board. In amongst this assorted selection we have a couple of packs of tomato seeds, especially bred for growing in containers or hanging baskets. I had it partly in mind to have a go at growing them if we stayed in one place long enough......

The herbs that we had on board when we arrived here at Mario's caused lots of comment, and a number of other cruisers caught the growing bug.

Now that brings me to Bob! Bob and his elegant wife Trish, live on Barnacle. They are our next door neighbours. Chatting to Bob one evening he was telling me of the difficulties of growing tomatoes in the mountains, from whence he hails. The short growing season, intense cold etc.

I recognised the glimmer in his eye, this man was a tomato nerd. He was worthy of the choice of my seeds. I know what it feels like to have that primal urge to grow something. I couldn't keep the seeds to myself any longer. It would be unkind , no downright cruel.

Now Bob is a bit of a 'wag', thats what we call a wicked sense of humour in the UK.

He took weeks to decide which packet he would like to raid. Further weeks passed as he selected the ideal sized pot. Markets between the Rio and Guatemala City were searched for the perfect container.

Good natured teasing between the boats could be heard in the evenings,
"Got those seeds in yet Bob?"
"Nooooooo, jes waitin' to get the right hoomidity in that dirt".

I knew the time was getting closer for some action when he and Trish returned from one of their road trips with a shovel, okay it looks more suitable for digging snow off the drive in the mountains but I knew! This was serious horticulture.

Excitment mounted as the pot was placed with great consideration of asthetics and climate control on the bow of good ol barnacle. But still nothing.

"Planted those seeds yet Bob?"
"Noooooo, no point in a rushin' things"

Then yesterday evening a call from Barnacle reached me as I nursed a glass of chilled wine in the cockpit.

"I got thos' seeds in"

" Blimey Bob, I'll be watching in the morning- all that preparation they'll be growing like Jack and the Beanstalk!"

" Reckn' you might be right there."

This morning, bleary eyed as I put on the kettle for the first cup of tea of the day I glanced out the portlight, What!!!!

There proud in its isolation stood an enormous green plant draped with juicy red tomatoes.
I always knew I believed in fairy tales.

So there is magic on the river after all! But I just want to know where the cow is I should have in exchange for the five magic seeds that Bob planted. We are still negotiating on who gets the golden eggs from the giants castle.......

Nice one Bob!

Sentimental but........

Pina Colada Moment.....

This is just the thing to cheer up a gloomy Monday afternoon - Pina Colada. Guarenteed to bring out the sunshine!