It’s taken me a while to get back to writing again, the last few months have been so incredibly busy, with all the work Bob and I have been doing on Daisy we’ve had precious little time to ourselves, our days stared at sunrise and we worked until we were too tired to do anything but sleep. Now the refit on the salon, workshop, and galley are completed, (all but the floors, but then thats another job) we are able to relax for a bit and have some fun. We still have a list of jobs longer than my arm that are screaming for attention, but that’s just boat life, there will always be jobs that need doing, maintenance, repair and replacement, pretty much the same as living in a house, just in a slightly more corrosive atmosphere but in much lovelier surroundings.
It took the best part of eight years for me to realize that I actually love this life style. In the beginning I was frightened to death of sailing, terrified of water and worrying all the time about Bob’s and my safety on board. With Bob’s heart problem a constant worry it was difficult to relax and really enjoy life, now that has been sorted, and he’s recovered fully from his heart surgery it’s as if a weight has been lifted and we’re no longer under a dark cloud of fear and uncertainty.
I made the decision during Bob’s surgery that if all went well, and he made a full recovery I would try my best to adopt the live aboard life style that I’ve rebelled against since we bought Daisy eight years ago. A positive attitude is a powerful thing! I’m not sure why I hated it so much in the beginning, I think I was just giving in to my fears instead of trying to overcome them. All I could think about was wanting a house to call home again, but then when I had a house while Bob, Ed and Danni sailed around the world I wasn’t happy either; well that’s not quite true, I really enjoyed living close to my eldest daughter Nicolette, spending time with her was really special, and I loved walking my dogs every day, but I found it really hard to make friends and for the most part I was very lonely and really missed the boat life.
Living on a boat, I’ve discovered that life really is quite fabulous, especially if the boat is a large luxury yacht like Daisy. Yes there are always jobs screaming to be done, Bob seems to spend half his time with his head in the generator. Boat life can be quite physically hard at times, and sailing still makes me a little nervous but I’m learning more about the logistics of sailing and that is helping my confidence.
I’ve made such wonderful friends since living on Daisy more than I have in my whole life (this isn’t to say that the special friends I have on land are not loved, it just took me a really long time to find them). For the most part people who live onboard are free spirits who have grabbed life by the horns and just decided to go for it and really enjoy every minute, they really know how to relax and have a good time. Since meeting up with some of our Oyster friends and sailing together, partying together (almost every night) and enjoying all the other benefits this life style offers I can’t ever remember having had so much fun. I’m really excited about the next couple of years sailing the Pacific and on to New Zealand with them all. Right now I wouldn’t swop my life style for anything else.
The travel is fantastic, I love that we live where the sky is cerulean blue, the sea turquoise and the sun always shines. We can stay wherever we want for as long as we want. When we discover a lovely island that demands exploration, we are free to stay for as long as we desire, and we do just that.
One of my favorite things about living aboard is getting up early sitting on deck with a cup of coffee to watch the beautiful sunrise. Nowhere is a sunrise, or sunset more spectacular than from a boat on the water.
Grenada was all work for us for the last four months, and as much as I love Grenada I was so happy to leave and finally meet up again with Debbie and Stephen in Bonaire. They were so kind to me while Bob was away working. I was alongside in the harbour marina, our dinghy was out of action and up on the davits so I couldn’t use it to go anywhere, meaning I was stuck in the harbour, but Debbie and Stephen were out on a mooring and took me under their wing, they came to take me snorkeling, or spend the day on their boat with them, cocktails, delicious food, board games and swimming off the boat with all the amazing fish, for the ten days Bob was gone I wasn’t bored for a minute. There were other friends on the moorings on two other boats, and we all took turns having dinner party’s onboard. Then Bob, Leo, Karen, Paul and Trish arrived back and the party’s really started.
Bonaire is the most beautiful island, the diving and snorkeling there is some of the best in the world, the water is amazing, clear, clean and full of beautiful fish and coral, it’s possibly my favorite island in the Caribbean.
Tomorrow (September 3rd) we’re all going to a concert in Curacao, I’m really looking forward to it.
We left Bonaire yesterday (all four Oysters; Daisy, Amelie, Babe & Bubbles) and sailed to Curacao, another fun island much larger than Bonaire with different attractions, and much more industrial. We arrived early afternoon and dropped anchor in Spanish waters. On our way in we passed a new luxury resort with a few very large yachts alongside, where we spotted another couple of friends from Grenada, Carole and Jeff, so I’m excited to catch up with them again. Going ashore for dinner last night we bumped into other friends Chiara and Nicholas. It doesn’t seem to matter where we go we always meet friends.
We will be in Curacao for a few weeks depending upon whether we can get some work done on Daisy, then we are off to Santa Marta, Columbia for a month maybe more…