Loves/hates.

One of the most often asked question from friends, family and passing acquaintances is

" So whats the Best/ Worst thing about your cruising life?"

The answers certainly change over time!

The Worst

1. When the depth gauge throws a wobbly and stops working just as you are crossing a particularly nasty piece of reef and the wind is getting up.

2. Those minutes BEFORE you actually up-chuck the last meal back in to the briny.

3. Washing down the cockpit after killing and filleting a big bloody scaled fish.It always looks like the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' revisited on our boat!

4. Getting out of a cosy warm berth for a middle of the night watch when you have only JUST gone to sleep.

5. Running out of decent chocolate.

6. Getting an email when you are miles from anywhere that says, "please call home urgently, I really need to talk!"

7. That sinking feeling when you know that the loo has just blocked......again.

8. Lugging 3 weeks worth of washing two miles to the nearest laundry to find they are closed/the machines are broken/you don't have the right change.

9. Trying to maneuver a 40 foot can that doesn't go backwards, that has a mind of its own, in to a too small almost inaccessible gap at the end of a long line of expensive motor boats. All with REALLY BIG anchors sticking out like battering rams. Oh and the wind getting up!

10. Seeing so many injustices and feeling impotent to do anything about MOST of them.


The Best.

1. Lying snug in bed in a well sheltered anchorage, hearing the rain beating down on the cabin top, just like memories of camping as a child.

2. Getting the anchor to bite really well AND ending up in the spot I had aimed for!

3. The boat full of supplies and spares and ready for a journey away from the beaten track.

4. The chuckling of the waves when the sails are in perfect balance and we are skimming across a blue ocean.

5. Chilled white wine with fresh Sashimi on arrival in a new anchorage.

6. Sat on the bow with TBH watching yet ANOTHER perfect sunset.

7. The constant mental stimulation of new places and cultures.

8. The smell of fresh baked goodies ready to come out of the oven.

9. Dolphins!

10. Just sometimes making a difference to somebody's life!