That darn 99 things meme and Michael Doyle’s comment has got me thinking about the year (fall 1985 to 1986) I spent on a boat – a 75 foot, sloop rigged, Ted Hood designed motor sailor.  Well, I’ve tried to write about this and I find that I can’t write about it all at one time, but I could probably do so little by little.

When I flip through the photos in my head of the year that I spent on the s/y Jubilee VI, these are the most vivid:

Jim, Marblehead, Massachusetts and Stella the MGB.

The boatyard in Fairhaven, where we were hauled out to straighten the rudder.  It was cold, and to heat the boat we had to pump water through the system.  Imagine a big, blue fountain.

First watch 4am to 8am – seasick and salty

My friend Ellen, seaboots, and a remarkable hat that she made for me.

Bermuda
Landfall
My first solo shopping/provisioning trip

Antigua – Falmouth Harbour, goat roti, chickens in the road, Colombo’s, falling in love with a country not my own.

Green Cay between Antigua and Barbuda with Susan, an actual vacation day.

Bequia

Martinique – provisioning and traveling

Whales on the horizon; dolphins everywhere

Provisioning for the crossing to Gibraltar

Kartoffelpuffer, Norwegian feasting, Thanksgiving in 90° heat, eating local

The crossing – 19 days at sea on watch with the biggest jerk to ever sail

Solo watches in the Mediterranean

Lavagna, Italy

Lunch at the boat builder’s family trattoria in Genova – actually lunch anywhere in Italy

The three week Med cruise from hell with the family

Where are we, and how do I say please here?

Croatia and “mixed grill” – eating locally in Bosnia. “You may speak English with me.”

Things I NEVER was able to do: throw a spring/stern line and have it land on the dock first time, tie a bowline, pump the holding tanks to Øle’s satisfaction, operate the tender with confidence.

Saying goodbye on the tarmak in Dubrovnik and knowing that I was breaking someone’s heart.

Okay – that’s about twenty or more potential posts that have intensely vivid pictures associated with them from the file cabinets of my mind.  So where do I start?  I’ve tried the beginning and I always get stuck, so I’ll pick one in the middle.  If you have a request, leave me a comment, and I’ll get to that story sooner than later.

Photo by flickr member tiarescott