The Good,The Bad, The Gringos

I've been sitting on this, literally, as so many recent events have colored what I want to say about my misconceptions of cruising.
I was worried back in Georgetown that I didn't know cruising ettiquette, like there is any...and I remember asking a friend and singlehander about what the social circle is like, and how do you get rid of unwanted boaters who overextend their welcome....like I have trouble with that on land, why should this be different? Well, somehow I thought this amazing lifestyle elevated people to like mindedness. We had a sailboat come through G'town for afew weeks in December last year, and I initially liked them(well maybe until he brought his guitar over and played German folk songs) but there came a point where they were at our boat too much, when they reciprocated with dinner they wanted to cook it on our boat, they began to peddle their pyramid scheme and finally I was crawling around so they couldn't see me from their boat.
So my singlehander said it was never a problem, you just dismiss them...tell them its time to go home. I am thinking what if everybody wants to raft together and I can't get away from them. All these like-minded people who live and work on their boats are going to be respectful and understanding neighbors.
Welcome to Luperon where after afew short weeks I was subjected to a variety of versions of peoples' lives and more of it was coming in on a daily basis...bad relationships, princesses on boats, drinks too much, doesn't drink enough, jealous , controlling, self appointed harbor authorities , lazy Domincans, water aerobics classes, nudists, french canadians, bridge games,pot lucks, daily happy hours, too many details that almost spoiled my relationships with new people.
They actually call the hillside where several cruisers have built homes Gringo Hill, in the same evil vent I used to make fun of physicians on Pill Hill... This was going to be titled As the Harbor Turns, or As the Anchor Drags, but I became so disappointed that Ugly Americans are everywhere, even in isolated little corners of the world, each one toting their own baggage, contents spilling over the side.
On the positive side although I smiled and thanked them very much I will not be rushing to town to buy a 'noodle' so I can attend the water aerobics classes I have avoided for the last 25 years. No one has asked to raft up together and get plastered on rum and beer, but I do understand this is not uncommon, in dinghys, and you have to bring an hors d'oeuvre to share...maybe later on that. We have been to dinner on Gringo Hill , and to another gringos home and had wonderful times, and wondered where all the rumors sprouted from. I thought I had left all the petty childish behavior in the States.
We have now entered into our own little childish ring or fire here on the dock. How can this be possible with only 4 boats clumped together? Usually I offer up Capt. Rock as a fine example of how easy it is to piss people off, or that maybe one of my catty little remarks or names has slipped out, but we have been on our (relatively speaking)best behavior . Up until now. The fur is bound to fly here before long. Seems the contestant on boat #4 didn't like the work being done on Magpie( sanding and refinishing the brightwork, and sanding off the deck paint by two local workers) and last week he complained to the yacht club management(using the term very loosely) and an environmental specialist was sent down to the boat. This is in a country where nothing is regulated, there are no sewers, health regulations, nothing, nada. Turns out our worker knew the environmental guy and they chatted and he left with a grin and my favorite Dominican response,"no problemo."
Rock would not let me call Boater#4 the Dock Snitch, so he remained Motorcycle Al (sung to the tune of Basket Ball Jones) and we went about our work.
There was a small incident at happy hour where Motorcycle Al and Capt Rock disagreed about line of sight at sea, and it upset Motorcycle Al's wife so much she had to sit at another table, but we didn't think much of if,other than an amusing thing to do if we were all back in high school having a malt at the hop. So maybe there was tension when I walked the dogs by Boater#4 two or three times a day, but I wasn't crawling yet.
I should add we are in week three of grinding and sanding, and it is a day from completion, we wash down boats # 2 and #3 and apologize profusely when we are all hunkered inside waiting for 5 o'clock when we can take a deep breath without scratching fiberglass . Boat #4 is the farthest away, and quite protected from the dust and wood shavings.
Unfortunately the day after the decks were finished, our wonderful wood guy , who had hand sanded everything from day one, picked up a sander to do a flat surface. It was just wood and not much but it put Boater#4 and his esposa into a frenzy and he went to the owner of the marina with his story , had a tarp put up on our boat, and complained to anyone who would listen, with the exception of us. And Ms Esposa was unable to leave the boat due to crying about our ruining her boat. It was a most uncomfortable scene, boaters #2 and #3 were now involved, and stuck up for us. Theres alot more tension on the dock now, and while we still attend the occasional happy hour and pot luck it is not comfortable and the gringos have much to wag their tails about. I do not crawl by with the dogs, and am looking forward to telling my singlehander that I have solved the problem of the social circle . The bright spot is I am now allowed to call Motorcycle Al the Dock Snitch, but Rock misses the song....maybe I will have to get a noodle and play water aerobics after all.