Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Elsie's ABC of cruising - part 1

I saw this on someone else’s blog and thought it was a great idea. Writing down things that I love and don’t love as much about life on Ruby Tuesday. This blog is not only for other’s to read but it is also an account of our lives travelling around on the boat. It will give us something to read in our dotage. Help us remember places and incidents and bring back some of the pleasure of the journey we have done. Very sentimental I know but when I’m sitting in my wee knitted bed jacket with my blue rinsed hair and my falsers in a jar beside my bed and the nurse has just come back to empty the bed pan I want to have something to show her that I wasn’t always a bedridden forgetful old crabby woman. It’s our story.

A is for anchoring.
One of my favourite boatie things. Find a quiet spot and drop the hook. If there’s no wind stay for a few days and recharge your batteries. Lots of sun, sleep, food and time for maintenance. My favourite so far is San Francisco Bay in La Graciosa – a wonderful quiet anchorage which can hold as many boats as want to be there. It looks onto a huge sandy beach, which is unusual in The Canaries, and little volcanoes in the background. If you are feeling energetic a short dingy trip ashore and you can walk to the village a couple of miles away or up one of the volcanoes. The village has no paved roads, just sand tracks and the locals are so laid back they’re horizontal. The water is crystal clear for swimming. Even the tourist catamarans, which appear twice a day are just a form of entertainment. I wonder how many photographs I’ve spoiled by sticking out my tongue as they take photos of Ruby?
Don’t get me wrong, sometimes anchoring is a challenge and staying there can be from uncomfortable to downright unpleasant. Rolling is the worst. If the wind has been from a particular direction for a couple of days a swell will work up and if the anchorage is not sheltered from that direction you are in for a disturbed night. Two anchors sometimes works but not always – and it’s very hard work laying them, well, for Lionel it is, I just wind a bit and make appropriate noises now and again.
However, I’ll never be put off anchoring. Surrounded by cliffs, watching rainbows play on them, having conversations with people fishing from canoes, watching the antics of sheep and goats on vertical paths even avoiding intrepid swimmers. It’s a good life, drop the hook and watch the world go by.



B is for bullshit
You would not believe the amount of bullshit you can read or listen to about sailing and particular about cruising. Everyone is an expert and has an opinion on every aspect of life on the ocean waves. Don’t get me wrong, I have listened to some guys who actually know what they are talking about and have learnt some good things from them but others: *&*%$£!!!! I am learning to tune them out and not get angry but it’s a slow process. Sailing is a very individual sport. Every boat is different and every owner knows how to deal with things the best way on their boat. Yes, makes suggestions but because it works for you doesn’t mean it will work for someone else. No one is an expert on everything sailing. It’s worse for a woman too because male sailors can be very sexists. Two incidents spring to mind.
We were going into a berth in Tazacote marina, no great drama as the wind was light and we were all prepared. The skipper was taking it slowly as usual and I was standing midships ready to throw the line to the marineiro who was directing us. Along came this guy from the yacht next door and started yelling that we shouldn’t throw the midships line first it should be the spring. Now everyone ties up differently and that may be the best way to tie up his yacht but having done this a couple of hundred times I think I know the best way to deal with Ruby in a marina. I just carried on. He got louder and louder so eventually I told him I was following orders from “my skipper”. He didn’t like it. In fact we were there for a week and neither he nor his wife breathed a word to us which is unusual for boaties.
On a recent occasion a boat was coming in beside us on the next pontoon. Lionel and I went out to help them tie up as no official seemed to be around. Lionel caught the stern line and I took the bow one. I’ve never seen a man move so quickly when he realised a woman was holding one of his lines. He even trod on my foot to get to the line.
It’s still a man’s world when it comes to cruising and us woman are supposed to be quiet, listen and pour the drinks. As for having an opinion…….



C is for cruising
The best decision we ever made. A fantastic way to see the world. We set off from Inverness last March and it’s been a wonderful experience so far. Living on the boat took some adjustment, everything has to have its place as the space is so limited. We have now just about got Ruby organised and I can lay my hands on most things at a moment’s notice. It can be as slow or fast paced as you want. Find an interesting place and there is nothing stopping you stay there for days or weeks. Hit a boring coast line and do a long passage to get away from it.
The live-aboards we have met have been an eclectic bunch. Ranging from some young guys who are spending their student loans sailing across the Atlantic to old men who are bobbing about the Atlantic Islands enjoying their retirement. Most are like us, spending time out, seeing the world in a different way. It would be so easy to arrive in some of the places we have been to and stay there as a lot of people have done but there is still something pushing us along to see different places. We have found ourselves involved in a sailing community that spreads from the UK to New Zealand and that’s not bad for two self-confessed crowd phobic people. The people that we have met are all different, have different views on life, have different goals but the one thing we all have is sailing. Long may we be part of this community.




(to be continued)

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