Just completed a two week guest speaking engagement on the Braemar where we visited seven Caribbean islands including Cuba and Grand Turk.  There was a very friendly atmosphere onboard and the four talks I had to give were well attended and the audiences appreciative, laughing in all the right places.

Santiago de Cuba was an eye opener especially as we toured the city in a clapped-out 1958 Chevrolet, the seats of which had lost their spring, and one suspected the suspension to have gone the same way as we scraped along the roads; while gear changes were ear deafening grates, indicators were hand signals, and opening of doors left handles in your palms.

On Antigua, I went swimming with stingrays. In the preamble before taking a powerboat out to the reef, we were instructed on the characteristics of the rays and told if one were to approach you looking for food you might get find yourself getting a suck – stingrays don’t have teeth. If that were to happen, just stand still, don’t pull  away as the ray could then suck even harder and you could end up with a ‘lovebite’. OK.

With that information in mind when a female the size of three dinner plates flapped towards me and sucked the inside of my left thigh, I didn’t move. So she sucked harder and harder. Ouch. I was left with a huge circular weld.  Guess I was lucky she didn’t attempt a tasty nibble between my legs.  Back on board the powerboat, someone took a picture of my inflamed thigh.

Fame at last.