QF1 The bench, Forty T-bags, In praise of older boats

Saturday, August 29, 2009

QF1, The bench, Forty T-bags, In praise of older boats
St Martin

QF1 is the number of our berth against the visitor’s pontoon in the floating (west) section of the harbour at St Martin. I think I’ve said that it gets busy here, with up to 25 yachts packing into an area only slightly larger than they are, with lots of movements in and out every day. We’re lucky with our neighbours, who are very quiet, apart from elephant-ing across the deck and kicking the jib sheet cars (metal pulley things that bang on the deck) every single time. The other acoustic hazard is late-night teenagers who start up around midnight. There are sweet wooden benches around the harbour. The angle of view is such that the occupants of the bench appear in the starboard side window above the galley, as if framed for cinemascope. At neaps (when tidal differences are small) we only see faces; at springs (when high tides are higher, and low tides lower) we can see full bodies. So the bench is like a ceaseless film of families, friends, loners, eaters of ice cream, churros, galettes, smokers, drinkers, dogs… Couples changing babies - if only I had a tripod, this would be a fabulous documentary. Can even eavesdrop some of the time. But the teenagers are a pain. They drink, they smoke and they try out there newly broken voices going AAAUUUURRRGGHH while the girls try out a reperoire of screeches and giggles. I am sure their parents don’t mind - they are pretty safe here unless they fall into the harbour, or get attacked by a crazed yacht person armed with bolt cutters.

40 tea bags is how many we have left - will we make it home? (Not counting assorted herbal and earl grey mixed up in a plastic bag, probably since we first stocked up the boat). Still no definite plans to leave, since I have been recovering for a week and 10 days was the minimum recommendation - but I am starting to check out the weather forecast and so far as I can see, the beginning of September is at least gale-free. Thank you for the support messages, and get-well-soon messages! I feel a lot better, have read all my fiction (withdrawal setting in) and find the days are flying by. Al bikes to the beach on the other side of the island, goes swimming and programmes music on his iPhone. I potter about, read, rest and around evening high tide start to look for him on the quayside, like a sort of reverse French lieutenant’s woman. I go for a couple of short walks, check the Internet stuff and plan supper. And so the day goes. The inside of Snork Maiden is a good place to convalesce, choice of sleeping/reading spaces, never more than 2 steps from galley (and food), entertainment (computer), work if I feel like it (computer & navigational bits), sun deck… and the weather has been fabulous - a real summer.

In praise of older boats - the population of this end of the harbour is mostly 20-30 years old, I’d say, with a few newer, but still small craft - less than 33 feet, and many smaller than that. For those of you not familiar with small sailing vessels, I can tell you that, in a nutshell, the older boats are heavier and will look after their crews in a seaway, although they may demand more in terms of deck work; the new boats have much more volume for their length and weight, making them much friskier at sea. They have more berths (bed spaces) than you can possibly imagine - up to 8. (Our boat has 5, in theory, although as some of you know she has sailed with a family of 7 before we bought her.) The modern boats also have electric pumps, showers, roller furling jibs, and many of them can control the mainsail from the cockpit, eliminating the need for scary and often wet trips on deck. (Some of us would argue that those trips are necessary to actually clock what’s going on! The counterargument is that sail adjustments will be avoided if they are too uncomfortable… jury’s out on that.) Snork Maiden is rigged the old fashioned way, so watch this space for more about this when we’ve actually done some sailing! So the new boats look very good in the showroom, but the old girls can show them a thing or two when it comes to stowing gear and handling rougher weather. And if you’re only carrying 150 Litres of water - no, it’s not much - there’s no point in giving people the option to pump it down the sink without effort.

It’s 1530 - 2 hours after astronomical noon (when the sun is at its highest) and maybe time for me to lie on deck and have a prescribed snooze - I still have a couple of audio books between me and literary deprivation. TTFN.