Boat Life

I am being challenged in many ways on board Kwela. I am learning constantly as not having any sailing experience, everything to me is a new one. The thing I find most challenging is the way of life that you begin to take on. EVERYTHING at a 45 degree angle takes preparation and planning. You have to move slowly and almost dance with the boat to get into a rhythm while moving or risk being thrown against a counter or across the cockpit. I have so many bruises all over my body! I also don’t know if being tall has anything to do with it, but it is difficult to move in and out of the small spaces. I have hit my head so many times getting out of the boat, I think the paintwork is coming off the door lol... Everything becomes a task at sea. From brushing your teeth, to bathing to going to the loo even making a cup of tea is time consuming. I have an interesting way of bathing. I sit in the cockpit (quite liberating actually) and lower a kettle over the side of the boat and then bath in freezing cold water – I absolutely cannot wait for a long hot bath!! My hands are also beginning to get calouses and dont look very well groomed!We do our chores daily I do inside and Sash does outside and get on with cooking and reading and sleeping as much as you can in our off time. Sleeping is fun, imagine trying to fall asleep in a washing machine. I hear the water splashing and moving past my bed, whilst rocking to and fro up and down! I have padded my bed with pillows to try and not rock too much, because seriously it is difficult to sleep while moving so much. I must say though that my bed is the most comfortable spot on the boat for me. I have dubbed it my “hidey hole”. It is also quite funny cos some times I sleep in my fowl weather gear and boots so that I can be ready if Sash needs me on her watch urgently. Really beautiful I tell you lol!! The other thing strange is how your taste buds change. Before we came on this trip, we shopped up a storm of things we thought we would enjoy... I bought about 60 breakfast bars because when we did our one training sail, that is all we ate – I have had a grand total of 2! I don’t feel like anything sweet. I also thought I would try to eat Tuna to get a bit of protein, again I bought about 60 cans and I have had 1!!!! Crazy – and yes, even for our Champagne sundowners last night for Christmas... The Champagne tasted funny! Now that is something haha The night skies when clear are spectacular, and sun rises and sunsets are beautiful.