This problem with the pidemonedas was supposed to have been taken care of last year. When I see these "kids" (not all of these wannabe helpers are quite so young) my reaction is always to give them my best Clint Squint and to make sure they don't touch me or my family, and I help my own family on and off the boats. Any back talk from them gets them quickly put in their place with a stern warning. My family's safety is not something I entrust lightly to others, especially unqualified and undersized kids. There was a time when it was easy to shrug them off as well meaning kids trying to earn a little money, but it has taken on a mafia-like aspect of its own that the local authorities are not supposed to be allowing.

We went to Playa las Gatas this morning on the boat, with my much older brother and sister in law. I was nicely handed into the boat that wasn't very full, and gave the assistant my palmed 8p as a tip.

As we were approaching the dock at Gatas, I spotted the guy waiting for us, and said, "Oh shit." He was wild eyed, and already chanting, "Propina, tip, propina tip" as we approached.

We had read about bad handling at the docks, so tried to be prepared. I made sure I was solid, and hanging onto the boat, so he decided to not touch me. He grabbed my husband's arm, and pulled him off of the boat, onto the ground, face first. Neither the handler nor the boat driver said a word. Fortunately he only skinned two toes and banged his shin badly. Very fortunately, my brother and sister in law were OK.

So, HEADS UP GETTING OFF OF THE BOATS!!!!!! If it can happen to a person expecting the worst, it can happen to you!

The boat was a yellow ticket boat, the Leyenda II. The driver had nothing to do with the incident, but did decide to ignore it.

When we returned back to the main dock, mid-afternoon, there was no one offering assistance. We were relieved!