RetireRoatan

Little League Baseball on Roatan

For the first time, Little League teams across the island are receiving major league baseballs, gloves new and nicely broken in, shoes, bats, uniforms and all the other equipment needed to be fully prepared to play baseball. Kids 8 to 17 are now playing with their new equipment from Sandy Bay, Coxen Hole, Gravel Bay and Flowers Bay. Other teams are possibly forming in other areas of the island. Equipment has been donated by people and organizations from the United States. Any and all donations are welcome.
-- courtesy of Roatan Bruce Show

Retirement - Books and Literature (Pt 4)

Whether you’re a Baby Boomer considering retirement, a senior still in the workforce, or a retiree enjoying your leisure time, it's important to manage your assets and plan your financial future.

Here's a list of books that focus on financial issues that are important for older adults.

Retirement - Get Out of Debt (Pt 3)

You want to retire but you are consumed by a mountain of debt. You aren’t alone. The baby boomer generation is pretty much responsible for credit cards and the debt that goes with them. This generation is also called the sandwich generation because some are caring for both their children and their parents creating even more debt. Those of you in this generation are buying a home, sending kids to college, and probably paying your own student loans. What to do? To get out of this situation and retire when and how you want will take some creative planning.

There are things you can do to prepare for your dream retirement in Roatan but you will need to start now. The sooner you decide to get out of debt and plan for your retirement dreams, the sooner you will be able to realize those dreams.

Retirement - More Than Money and Investments (Pt 2)

Retirement planning is about more than investing and saving. It’s also about enjoying your life after you decide to retire from your career or job. To fully enjoy yourself after retirement, you should have a plan on how you will spend your time and where you will live. You probably should start now to get in shape so you will enjoy a healthy retirement. What about your family, how do they fit into your retirement plans? Your retirement plans should go well beyond finances. Let's take some of these ideas and compare them to the Roatan Island lifestyle.

Retirement - Ready to Retire? (Pt 1)

We’ve all had days when we just didn’t think we could bear to continue working at our job. In the back of our minds we are secretly yearning for the day when we could tell our boss to take the job and "I'm out of here".

This is especially true when you are close to retirement age. You know it’s just a matter of time until you can take that glorious plunge into freedom.

Roatan .. Back to Business

As Felix -- now a tropical depression -- weakens over the mountains of Central America, here's a quick check up and review on Roatan.

Over 1000, residents and tourists on Roatan were evacuated ahead of the storm as a precaution. Luckily, Honduras Institute of Tourism spokesman Mario Aguirre tells us that at this point there are no reports of damage on Roatan: "We're watching for flooding to the south [on mainland Honduras], but so far there are no damages to the northern coastal areas either. Check out some photos during the hurricane below . . .

9/4/07 - The View Restaurant on Roatan -- 3:15 PM


9/5/07 - 12:15 PM -- (great waves, clear skies, slight 10 mph wind)
courtesy of Roatan Gardener (Wundeground Blog)

One cruise itinerary that included Roatan was affected by the storm. Carnival Legend, which set sail on September 2 from Tampa, is making calls in Key West, Grand Turk and Ocho Rios instead of Cozumel, Belize and Roatan.

Indeed, continuing heavy rain could cause the same floods and mudslides that plagued Central America in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch.

Felix to Category 2, Over Honduras Mountains

Roatan has dodged a big one so far, the prediction path for Felix is now moving through Honduras and its mountain ranges, which could produce massive amounts of flooding and mudslides. Even at Category 2, Roatan is experiencing waves and very slight winds. More to be posted later as Felix moves through.

Felix Cat 5, Makes Honduras Landfall, South of Roatan

In a dramatic fashion last night Felix steered south some and might prevent a direct hit on Roatan . .

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8:00AM - Tuesday Morning 9/4/07
LA CEIBA, Honduras - Hurricane Felix roared ashore early Tuesday as a fearsome Category 5 storm — the first time in recorded history that two top-scale storms have come ashore in the same season. The storm hit near the swampy Nicaragua-Honduras border, home to thousands of stranded Miskito Indians dependent on canoes to make their way to safety.

"The wind is terrible. There's a roaring when it pulls the roofs off the houses," Lumberto Campbell, a local official in Puerto Cabezas, told Radio Ya. "There's no electricity because all the posts that hold up the cables have fallen down.

"The metal roofs come off like shaving knives and are sent flying against the trees and homes," he said before the line cut off.

Twenty fishermen were missing, and communication to the area was cut off.

Hurricane Felix On It's Way to Roatan

This is only the fourth year since 1886 that more than one Category 5 hurricane was recorded in an Atlantic season, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Only 31 Category 5 hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic since 1886, and eight of them have formed in the last five seasons.

Felix is currently on a fierce course to Honduras and thus Roatan . .

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Felix was headed west with 145 mph winds, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, which warned the “extremely dangerous” storm could strengthen before it reaches the Honduran coast on Tuesday and then slams into Belize, where many residents were still cleaning up from last month’s Hurricane Dean.

“We are ready to face an eventual tragedy,” said Douglas Fajardo, fire chief on the Caribbean resort island of Roatan.

Some 300 tourists were evacuated from Honduras’ islands by midday Monday, and 400 others were awaiting flights, said Armando Funez, a spokesman for the country’s National Airline Association. Winds and surf were picking up, with some waves crashing 15 feet higher than normal.

“The tourists, they’re evacuating. We’re staying here,” said Estella Marazzito, who works at a Roatan real estate company. “At this moment, it’s what they call the calm before the storm. There isn’t even a breeze,” she said, but added, “We know it’s a tremendous hurricane that’s coming.”