When I looked out he seemed a bit close. OK let's call a spade a spade he was snuggle up, in my space, pass me tea in bed close. You get my drift! Had I seen him come in I would, perhaps, have used my world famous 'aggressive hip stance' you know the one where you stand on the bow,rigidly upright, hands on hips, gently shaking your head to indicate another boat has violated your space. I remember holding this position for two hours once to get a boat to move-it worked!Currently I am in a 'calm and pleasant' phase,which means I am cultivating a peaceful and balanced positive mind set. Yeah I know that's not at all like me but there you go, sometimes you gotta try! So I said nothing just looked and went below.
Where we are anchored has a few odd currents, being just off the main 'stream' of the Rio and there is no definitive direction in which the boats settle.
Well who am I to ponder as to the reason some sailors like to get so close, even though there are wide open spaces all around.. Maybe they weren't breastfed as babies....Maybe it's our magnetic personalities....
After a day or so of coming together and moving apart. I kinda got used to knowing whenever they used their loo, with the sound of bubbles emerging from under their boat. I could hear the cat on board miaowing and even purring( that really is an exaggeration). Still the weather is calm, I can stay calm (breathes deeply and hums OMMMM)
Of course that all changed last night around 11pm. Up gets the wind, down pours the rain and my cabin is lit up by their anchor light. I bound on deck, throwing on clothes as I move(I forgot to do that once and the poor cruiser I surprised is still in therapy). By now the gusts have faded but their boat is less than one boat length from us. Both of us rotating in opposite directions. Ho Hum. I call TBH for an opinion.
'We won't touch but it'll be close'
By this time their cat is making moves to come aboard my boat!
I sat quietly under the light of the full moon and watched. As the moonlight faded I could see a nasty black line of clouds gathering over "monkey mountain' Not so good.One of us was going to have to move and by now they were over my anchor...
The boat in question had a German ensign. I scrabbled in the murky recesses of my brain for the schoolgirl phrases that I had learned so long ago. If I confide that my teacher, a wizened little German national formally addressed as Frau Doktor Apt, told me on more than one occasion that she had no idea what I was doing in her class as I had the least linguistic ability she had ever had the misfortune to come across, you'll understand what a mammoth effort this was!
Long forgotten words clambered out of the muddy waters of teenage years;
Wo is der zimmer? Where's the room?
Ich wohne im London. I live in London.
Mein Hund is schwarz. My dog is black.
Not going to be a lot of good!
AHOY ???###.
One thing I do have is a VERY penetrating voice, all those years of calling the cows in for milking. Two cries and the crew were on deck, also most of the surrounding villagers and boaters too I suspect...
'I think you are a little close' an understatement but polite. As they started up their engine and moved away Frau Doktor Apt would have been proud and amazed by the 'Danke schon' that I called across the dark waters at their fast receding stern!
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