- Date: March 22, 1987
- Location: Cairns, Australia
- Subject: Sunday Breakfast and Rules of the Boat
Dear Water Fairy:
Today is Sunday and even though all my days on Sacha-B seem basically the same to me, because I don’t have to go to school during the week, Sundays are just a little bit different.
Every Sunday Capt makes “his crew” (Mom and me) breakfast, which he calls “Brekky”. So that is a treat. Mom and I sit in the cockpit and Capt serves us our morning beverages. Mom has a huge cup of coffee and I have a hot mug of Milo which is like hot chocolate. As we sit outside and enjoy the early morning comings and goings of the harbor, we also listen to Capt rattling the pots and pans in the galley. Once the noise settles down, the smells begin.
First, I hear the sizzle of bacon. Then I smell the bacon. Next, I smell the toast. Then I hear the eggs get cracked. By then, I am very hungry.
Mom gets her plate first. Bacon, grilled tomato, baked beans in tomato sauce, 2 eggs over easy and toast with butter and raspberry jam. Then I get my plate, which is exactly the same thing as Mom’s. Then, we have to be polite and wait for chef Capt to come out of the galley and join us in the cockpit with his plate. Oh my, it is so hard to not dive into the feast, but as Mom says, “Good manners never take a day off!” So, we wait. It is totally worth the wait. Mom always says food tastes so much better when someone else cooks it, then she continues to say she really prefers her eggs over hard. Every Sunday she tells Capt she likes her eggs overhard and every Sunday she gets her eggs over easy, and every Sunday Capt said he tried, he really tried hard to cook her eggs over hard, but he just couldn’t do that to the poor egg! Maybe next Sunday. To tell the truth, I would rather have my eggs overhard too. That is one of the boat rules, NEVER complain about the food if someone else is cooking.
Sooooooo……here is a list of the official boat rules:
Rules aboard “Sacha-B” NO SHOES-ever- allowed on “Sacha-B”, so we are always barefoot. If it’s cold, which it never is, we put on socks. Most boats have the “no shoe” rule. Shoes scuff the deck. NO YELLING-just don’t yell. OK by me, that means I don’t get yelled at. But believe you me, I know when Mom is mad, she doesn’t yell but gives me the face, the scary “I can’t believe you just did that face” which is much scarier than any yelling. WASHING UP-who ever cooks does not clean up the galley. This works well as Capt hates to cook, except Sunday breakfast and the occasional Fish-n-Chips, but he is a good cleaner-upper. Mom cooks the most, but she lets me into the galley whenever I want. NO COMPLAINING- about anything. Especially the food, and extra especially if someone cooked it for you. CAPTAIN IS ALWAYS RIGHT-even if he is wrong. The catch here is Capt is the captain when the anchor is up, and we are under sail or under motor. Mom is the captain when the anchor is down, which is most of the time–so really Mom is the boss. Capt always says “happy wife, happy life!” SHIP SHAPE AT ALL TIMES- we have to keep the boat in tidy order, and that is the hardest rule for me, but I try my best. Sometimes I have to be reminded not to leave my stuff around the boat. ALWAYS stop for Happy Hour! Usually around 4:30, we all gather in the cockpit and have little appetizers, Capt and Mom might have a beer, I usually have a soda water. We just stop for a few minutes and relax. Sometimes it is just us, and sometimes other yachties join us. |
After breakfast, Capt began to clean out the storage on the port side of the saloon, under the settee cushions and behind the settee. This is his “workshop” and he stores all of his tools, extra parts, bits and pieces. He said he needs to take inventory, organize all items and make room for all the things he needs to get for the trip. While he was doing that, Mom was doing the same thing in the aft cabin. Out with the old clothes and things, reorganize and make ready for all the stores we will need for our trip.
I spent most of the day in my bed doing a bunch of school work, and of course, writing in you. I also made a diagram of the Rules of the Boat. I think I will hang it up in the Galley.
Tonight, after dinner we will go visit my friend Melinda on her boat. Melinda is a year older than me so she is 13. She lives with her parents on a big, beautiful boat named Onaway. Their boat is about 6 boats ahead of us on the pile moorings, so it is just a quick zip in the dinghy to get there. Mom and Capt will probably just chit chat about sailing and our trip. This will allow Melinda and me to hang out, maybe we will play some cards. Lucky it is still a quiet night, not too humid and not raining. Bad news -the bugs will be out because when there is no wind the mosquitoes are out in droves. Ick. I will be sure to put on some mozzie spray before we leave.
