GEOGRAPHY DUNCE
Here is another one to whom you've given the cruising guide, but he didn't actually think you meant for him to open it. You made a BIG mistake when you took care of booking air, hotels and the charter. Because when you did that, you absolved him of all responsibility for actually knowing where you were going. All he knows is that it's warm there while it's cold at home; the islands (sometimes) use different money; and they speak with a different dialect (or is another language altogether?). Some geography dunces compound the matter by using the trip as an excuse to buy GPS units and other navigational gear, which they bring along with them without actually knowing how to use them, much less keying in waypoints!
"St. Vincent and the Grenadines absolutely confounded one of my crew. What a strange name for a country. Why aren't "the Grenadines" their own separate country? To make matters worse, he took some of the French-sounding names of some of the islands (Mustique, Mayreau) as an indication that French would be the language of choice here, and addressed some of the people we encountered in pidgin French! Perhaps the islanders don't speak "American English," but it's English nonetheless!"
"After our first group meal in Antigua, the Captain and I just gave up. The machinations and agonizing caused by the newbies in trying to convert EC into US dollars, and then trying to split the tab (which looked all the bigger because the bill looked almost 3 times as big as it would have been if quoted in US dollars), were just too much, especially after a few rum punches. We just took charge of the kitty and decided that from that point on, no one would look at bills but me and the Captain."
"You call this person "Geography Dunce." But when she was on a sail with me in '95, her name was "Ms. Now What Is this Place Called?" a/k/a "Ms. Is This An Island Too?""
"We also had the geographically-challenged on our trip. 3 GPSs and a computer, and still did not know where we were." [Note: That wouldn't be because of all the "rummers" consumed in your cockpit, would it? Ed.]
