AstroGypsies

This whole vertigo thing makes me feel a bit rudderless, compass askew, gyroscope out of whack, all those wonderful terms we used as kids living on a sailboat, except the gyroscope, maybe there was one in the sat-nav later:) I feel like when I walk I’m on the deck of the boat, heeling over and I have to level my head to get the horizon straight, just like we did as kids:) Who ever thought of balance as a kid, you just did it;) from climbing the rope spinnaker halyard up to the 2nd spreaders, to diving off there as well…not much parental supervision here;)

The things we take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful to be able to walk today, not just in a straight line! ha! Your highway patrol nightmare;) Please don’t ask me to touch my nose at the same time, only seen that on TV;) The balance is returning slowly, I do my maneuvers, calling them exercise sounded futile as I lie on my back and tilt my head and ear from side to side for thirty secound intervals to try to get the little bones in there to resettle, not exactly exercise…hahahahaha! I can image being on a healing boat right now…NOT!

I guess we were being prepared for social distancing most of our young lives;) We met few kids in our decade traveling aboard the “My Love” and most of our acquaintances were adults, we grew up quickly. My brother was tearing down the diesel Volvo motor by the time he was 11, and putting it back together, often with the loveliest of help. I remember a Russian guy in Tahiti, married to a lovely Polynesian woman who would come after work to help Shea. My brother is a wizard I think;) Cities and ports were for refueling and repairs, then my mother wanted the hell out, we didn’t, it was our only chance to make friends in these busy gathering places for yachties!

My mother’s passion was diving, and collecting, every shellfish peeking through the sand was in danger. When she had too many of the same we would try to toss them back if they were still alive, the back deck, well, it stank of rotting shells most of the time. We ate fish, a lot of fish, it was free, speared, from the line, you name it, my brother no longer DOES fish, I slowly came to appreciate it again, and no, parrot fish does not taste good and if I hear”grouper”I still get slightly ill feelings.

My mother was not a conservationist, if it swam, or wiggled and looked edible, it was eaten. From lobsters, to fish, conch and turtles, she would try anything, with us being the audience to these different meals. There was no google on how to slaughter a turtle…Yup, I think we could survive about anywhere now come to think of it;) She would have made a good pioneer I think, take no hostages, eat everything else. You can imagine our joy when we got spaghetti! hahahaha!

Were we tough kids? Maybe without knowing it. We could make ourselves understood, no language needed when we went off to play with other kids or communicate with adults, not much fear, always learned a few words of whatever language was being spoken. We crashed cruise ship buffets in search of the desert tables:)

A few winters ago I purchased a slide scanner and went about trying to resurrect our childhood memories from floods and bad storage in old barns. Most of the slides were beyond help but the few that were able to have the mildew wiped off have made for some beautiful memories, as well as some of the harsh reality of being raised in such a different way, perfect training for social distancing as I said! smiling. Our longest trip at sea was a 25 day sail from Bali to Perth, Australia tacking back and forth the entire way, sometimes only making 80 miles in the direction we wanted to go. The motor batteries were dead, and at one point off the Australian coast we were rudderless as well, but we survived, Thanks Shea for being there:) To all the families “couped” up in their spacious homes with internet and television, Facebook, twitter and Instagram, well, we had books, a guitar. letter writing materials and each other on a 50′ boat that you could not just step off of, at sea, you could swim away a distance when it was calm but not much room:) Enjoy your time together, it will bring you some fond memories in the decades to come:)

Saludos amigos, don’t listen to the orange vomit #staysafe we’ll see you on the other side of this;) Just need some warm trade winds and sun on our face:)