Pirates!!!
Those ugly scoundrels! Those dirty, filthy heartless killers! The scourge of all mankind back in the 16 and 1700s for sure.
So I ask… what’s this fond fascination we all seem to have for these villainous creatures here in this 21st century? Shouldn’t we be reviled by them?
It’s rather an odd quirk of human nature I think, that so long as you are incredibly good at what you do, you can pretty much do anything you want, and it really doesn’t matter whether it’s a good deed or not… you will definitely build a good following of admirers. You may not get away with it, but that’s beside the point. Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillanger, Al Capone… just to name a few.
The Virgin Islands, where we’ve spent most of our time chartering is chock-a-block with pirate stories. Our guests so often ask us about the evildoers that plied the waters there (with a real gleam in their eyes, I might add!). One of the most popular entertainers in The Virgin Islands is Michael Beans, a singer/guitarist who stages a Pirate Show four times a week. He absolutely packs the place every night with sword-carrying revelers (not always very sober!) dressed to the nines with headscarves, earrings and sashes. Beans is so real that I’m sure there are pirates somewhere in his past! Typically high-spirited and adventurous types are so easily caught up in this kind of merrymaking.
Last season we had some guests on board with a little boy of about five years old. They were fun-loving types, so we all dressed up like pirates and went off to the show. Little Aubrey (I think maybe some relation to Jack?) really got into character and turned out to be one of that evenings highlights… swinging his sword around and shouting A-R-R-R-RGH!!!!
I wonder if his parents should be keeping an eye on him? ©
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Remember that old saying, “The family that plays together stays together”?
When was the last time you heard that?
Just this morning I listened to a television commentary entitled ‘The Crunch for Time’. It was all about how families are splitting apart… no longer having the time to sit down together for a family meal. Too busy with their jobs… too busy glued to the boob-tube… too busy with their computer games, etc, etc. And about the resulting problems that will come of that. How many nannies know the kids better than their own parents do?
I find all of this to be very sad.
But, take heart. Not all families are like this. I feel very fortunate indeed to have married into a family that is incredibly strong on family values. And the past weekend was evidence of this.
We celebrated my mother and father-in-laws 60th Wedding Anniversary… and what a Celebration it was! A huge family tree was constructed, and on it was over 100 photos of the immediate family dating back over 70 years. The parents, the kids, the grandkids, and the great grandkids. It was held at The Sturgeon River House Museum www.sturgeonriverhouse.com, originally a Hudson’s Bay trading post from the early 1800s, turned into a banquet hall/event venue. 118 people were there… all the children, all 14 grandchildren… all 7 great grandchildren, and a huge assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They came from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and the British Virgin Islands. Now that’s what I call ‘Togetherness’!!! In fact, whenever there is a project to do, a celebration to prepare for, an occasion to observe… they are always all there to pitch in. It never ceases to warm my heart, make me realize how lucky I am to be part of it, and wonder why all families can’t be more like this. ©
When was the last time you heard that?
Just this morning I listened to a television commentary entitled ‘The Crunch for Time’. It was all about how families are splitting apart… no longer having the time to sit down together for a family meal. Too busy with their jobs… too busy glued to the boob-tube… too busy with their computer games, etc, etc. And about the resulting problems that will come of that. How many nannies know the kids better than their own parents do?
I find all of this to be very sad.
But, take heart. Not all families are like this. I feel very fortunate indeed to have married into a family that is incredibly strong on family values. And the past weekend was evidence of this.
We celebrated my mother and father-in-laws 60th Wedding Anniversary… and what a Celebration it was! A huge family tree was constructed, and on it was over 100 photos of the immediate family dating back over 70 years. The parents, the kids, the grandkids, and the great grandkids. It was held at The Sturgeon River House Museum www.sturgeonriverhouse.com, originally a Hudson’s Bay trading post from the early 1800s, turned into a banquet hall/event venue. 118 people were there… all the children, all 14 grandchildren… all 7 great grandchildren, and a huge assortment of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. They came from across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and the British Virgin Islands. Now that’s what I call ‘Togetherness’!!! In fact, whenever there is a project to do, a celebration to prepare for, an occasion to observe… they are always all there to pitch in. It never ceases to warm my heart, make me realize how lucky I am to be part of it, and wonder why all families can’t be more like this. ©
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Power of "NO"
Ever think about the times when death was literally on your doorstep?
I can think of two times.
The first was many years ago, when I was driving home one beautiful evening, top down, in my treasured little MGB, and was struck at the driver’s door by a car running a red light. I didn’t see the car coming because the car sitting at my left was a big station wagon. We had both started pulling away together on the green, when the wagon suddenly nose-dived. I automatically hit the brakes as well and stopped, with the front of the MGB about six feet ahead of the wagon. The offending car, estimated by witnesses as doing about 50 mph, ripped the whole front of my MGB clean off… taking with it the bumper, the grill, the rad, etc. I was fine. But, a little quick math the next day told me that I had come to within about one second of buying the farm. Whew!
The second time that little word “NO” literally saved our lives.
November 16, 1999. We had set sail at around 5:30 in the afternoon for our passage from Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad to The British Virgin Islands… four days or so… non-stop. We had recently purchased a new dinghy and outboard and it was up in the davits. We weren’t even out of the harbour, when Ida noticed that the dinghy was hanging a little loose. When she mentioned that fact to me, I looked at it, rolled my eyes, and, being my normal not-so-fussy self, said “Ah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it”. Then I got the ‘word’… “NO”. Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t do ‘everything’ I’m told (just most things!). The important part of this is that we had established a rule before we went cruising together back in ‘95. If we were about to do a passage, and one of us was not feeling good about it, that was it… we DID NOT GO, period. No explanation needed… we just didn’t go. So we pulled into Scotland Bay, a beautiful fiord at Trinidad’s north end, and dropped the hook while we made the necessary adjustments. Well, by the time this was done, we were feeling a little hungry, so we had a bite to eat. And then, feeling a little tired, we thought, what the heck… it’s beautiful here, and there’s really no hurry, so let’s spend the night.
Next morning we’re awake at around 5:30. The howler monkeys are making more noise than the crowd did when Henderson took the winning goal in the Canada/Russia series back in ‘72. I get on the weathernet, as we always did before any passage, and was shocked to hear that a weather system that had passed through several days before, had actually turned around 180 degrees (this almost never happens), had upgraded to hurricane ‘Lenny’, and was now in the process of demolishing the southern end of the windward islands… right where we would have been, had we left the night before! A book was written about this, “At the Mercy of The Sea’ by John Kretschmer. It tells of three sailboats that went down, along with their crews, two of whom we had met previously. Very, very sad.
And again, “Whew!”
The point of this little anecdote? Well, if you are cruisers, make the “NO” rule part of your life… because there is absolutely nothing to be gained if you’re not both exactly on the same page. ©
I can think of two times.
The first was many years ago, when I was driving home one beautiful evening, top down, in my treasured little MGB, and was struck at the driver’s door by a car running a red light. I didn’t see the car coming because the car sitting at my left was a big station wagon. We had both started pulling away together on the green, when the wagon suddenly nose-dived. I automatically hit the brakes as well and stopped, with the front of the MGB about six feet ahead of the wagon. The offending car, estimated by witnesses as doing about 50 mph, ripped the whole front of my MGB clean off… taking with it the bumper, the grill, the rad, etc. I was fine. But, a little quick math the next day told me that I had come to within about one second of buying the farm. Whew!
The second time that little word “NO” literally saved our lives.
November 16, 1999. We had set sail at around 5:30 in the afternoon for our passage from Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad to The British Virgin Islands… four days or so… non-stop. We had recently purchased a new dinghy and outboard and it was up in the davits. We weren’t even out of the harbour, when Ida noticed that the dinghy was hanging a little loose. When she mentioned that fact to me, I looked at it, rolled my eyes, and, being my normal not-so-fussy self, said “Ah, it’s okay, don’t worry about it”. Then I got the ‘word’… “NO”. Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t do ‘everything’ I’m told (just most things!). The important part of this is that we had established a rule before we went cruising together back in ‘95. If we were about to do a passage, and one of us was not feeling good about it, that was it… we DID NOT GO, period. No explanation needed… we just didn’t go. So we pulled into Scotland Bay, a beautiful fiord at Trinidad’s north end, and dropped the hook while we made the necessary adjustments. Well, by the time this was done, we were feeling a little hungry, so we had a bite to eat. And then, feeling a little tired, we thought, what the heck… it’s beautiful here, and there’s really no hurry, so let’s spend the night.
Next morning we’re awake at around 5:30. The howler monkeys are making more noise than the crowd did when Henderson took the winning goal in the Canada/Russia series back in ‘72. I get on the weathernet, as we always did before any passage, and was shocked to hear that a weather system that had passed through several days before, had actually turned around 180 degrees (this almost never happens), had upgraded to hurricane ‘Lenny’, and was now in the process of demolishing the southern end of the windward islands… right where we would have been, had we left the night before! A book was written about this, “At the Mercy of The Sea’ by John Kretschmer. It tells of three sailboats that went down, along with their crews, two of whom we had met previously. Very, very sad.
And again, “Whew!”
The point of this little anecdote? Well, if you are cruisers, make the “NO” rule part of your life… because there is absolutely nothing to be gained if you’re not both exactly on the same page. ©
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