I’m on a boat

Hello to our meager but much appreciated following of dedicated readers. Greetings from the “Spice Isle”. Life here over the past few weeks has been quite nice. A few key points of which I will discuss in the following paragraphs. Alyson and I are slowly adjusting to the heat. As a matter of fact, because of the heat we are doing most things slowly now. I suppose that is just the life in the island. Its the ‘Dry Season’ right now too, which I suppose adds to the sensation of the heat. Its hard to image that its the ‘Dry Season’ since I have never been surrounded by so much water in my life. Gradually we are working on our tans so that we don’t stand out to much amongst the other sailors. We have already progressed from bright white to bright red. Hopefully, this color will permeate to darker shade of tan soon. Perhaps once the metamorphosis is complete we will post before and after photos. Just for fun. And for those of you who prefer visual imagery over reading, feel free to check out our photo section.

Quercus (our boat) is now anchored calmly in a beautiful little bay just off a small spot of land known as ‘Hog Island’. The past two weeks have been like a dream. Each morning we wake to the warm light of the sun. We usually sleep with the hatches open, so its like having an open skylight above you. Two feet above you. And at night we sleep to the cool breezes that are our form of natural air conditioning. The winds here have really picked up recently which keeps us cool in the island heat, and keeps the wind generator running. From my bunk I can see the stars and fall asleep with the gentle movement of the boat on the water.

The boat is constantly in motion. Always moving. Even though our anchorage is pretty calm, still the movement is always there. Its especially nice to sleep to, and I hardly ever notice it anymore. I was especially surprised today at how accustomed I had become to it. Everything seemed perfectly fine until I tried to cut a straight line in a piece of plywood with a jigsaw. I got it done, but the rocking just came out of nowhere, although it was always there. Actually, I notice it the most when I go ashore. Sometimes standing on the beach or on the dock I feel the urge to start swaying back and forth. I hope the transition to the movement comes as easy when we head offshore.

We all have been working pretty hard to get the boat ready to head offshore in a few weeks. Today Alyson and I dove on the boat to scrub the barnacles forming on the keel, prop and rudder. This is the second time in two weeks we had to perform this task. I’m surprised at the rate at which these little bastards form. The increased winds have made the current quite strong too. So its quite a work out having to hold your breathe, dive under the boat, swim against the current and try to pry the barnacles off the hull. We must have swam for nearly an hour today, which is giving us the exercise we were looking for. Is not a bad job. I also saw some interesting fish swim by while I worked. A strange round fish with a long snout came swimming by spinning like Woodstock from a Peanuts comic strip.

We also learned to splice a rope today in order to put a loop in the end and re-twine the line back in on itself. It seems like a handy thing to know how to do. Especially on a boat, but I love learning how to do things like that.

The people of the island and the other cruisers here have all been extremely cool. Everyone seems so nice and willing to help out a stranger in need. One day while Alyson and I were running errands in the mainland we got lost. We walked nearly a mile in the wrong direction, but then we ran into a very friendly guy who stopped to give us a lift to our destination. Last night Alyson and I took the dinghy over to Hog Island and built a little campfire to cook hot dogs for dinner. It was a pretty spartan meal, but good. While we were there a few other cruisers invited us over for drinks. We’ve met people from all over: Italy, Germany, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, US, UK and France. They have all been really generous by offering tons of food and wine from their impromptu bar-de-ques and parties. We have been trying to repay the kindness while we can. As a matter of fact as I write this from the little French restaurant over looking the bay, I’m watching Alyson help rescue a Catamaran that motored right onto a reef. She’s using our little dinghy with a 5 Hp outboard to push them off. Alyson to the rescue. It looks like they are stuck pretty good, but she seems to be making progress.

We really seem to like this lifestyle. I like waking up in the mornings and jumping off the boat for a nice refreshing swim. We take all our showers with fresh water that we carry back to the boat in jerry cans. We purchase the fresh water from marinas across the bay. For less the $1.00 we can buy 50 liters. We use a solar shower, which is essentially a plastic bag with an attached nozzle. After leaving the bag warming in the sun all day, you can get a pretty warm shower right around sunset. Most of the other cruisers shower in the nude right on deck. Its not an uncommon thing to see, especially on the European boats. Not really a common practice on Quercus though. Alyson, her parents and I aren’t completely comfortable with that yet. Though I have to admit that I did give it a try while everyone else was ashore. I kinda enjoyed it.

We have a head (toilet) on board as well, but I prefer just pissing off the side (something that Alyson seems to be jealous of). Its just nice to stand there looking up at all the stars stretching out over the water and relieve myself. A much better view than the plain bathroom wall. My evening micturition is something I look forward to. The constellations are really evident out here. The Southern Cross is spectacular.

We’ve been doing a lot of reading too. The most popular pastime here next to swimming and drinking. Every marina has a little library where you can borrow books, even without a library card. Currently I’m reading ‘A Dead Mans Walk’, one the books of the Lonesome Dove series. It reminds me of my family since Lonesome Dove is a favorite of my father. I suppose that is the hardest part. Being away from family is never easy. Especially a family that is as great as mine, but Alyson is part of my family now, and as long as we are together I feel home. If anyone has any good book suggestions, please send them my way. I’ll see what I can find on the shelves here at the marinas. My sister is a huge fan of the Twilight series. We’ve read a couple of the books but newer books are harder to come by.

It looks like Alyson was successful in her rescue attempt. The catamaran is motoring away and Alyson tells me that the owner of the restaurant if going to give us a few rounds of free drinks for her good samaritan efforts. Keep checking back to see how things are goind and we will drink one for you. Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Hop & Jaunt’s Top Ten of 2009 Happy New Years from the Crew at Hop &...
2. Guest Post: Vagabond in the Galapagos Today, we want to tell you about two really...
3. LIFE ABOARD & ABROAD Life Aboard & Abroad Since we’ve been back stateside,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.