Kipsie

By Kipsie

I'm a terra firma girl

through & through. I've tried boats, all kinds, like cheese, & I don't like either. My first sailing experience was aboard the S.S. Uganda, I was on an educational cruise from school, sailing out of Southampton to Gibraltar through the Bay of Biscay. A memory that has stuck with me for the past 52 years. Sucker for punishment I went on another educational cruise 2 years later through the Baltic, the countries visited were fantastic, the outcome of visiting Scandinavia, was that I really wanted to return there, & I did 7 years later as a Mother's help, working for a Baron & his family, living in a castle, walking two Labradors daily, looking after 3 boys, and making meals for them all. A wonderful year the memories of which I have treasured. I had to sail then as well. I had an Interrail ticket which took me from Harwich to the Hook of Holland by boat :(, then train travel to Linköping in southern Sweden. Another memorable crossing. I shared a cabin with 3 Norwegian girls who had been au pairing for a year in London. They had brought their own food onto the ferry, tinned sardines & bread. Not a great smell when you're sailing & feeling a tad delicate. Other memorable sea bobbings up & down. Mackerel fishing from Brixham, a 2 hour trip. I can still visualise the photo that my dear husband took of me. I think my face was an iffy shade of green. A great sea crossing was with Irish Ferries from Pembroke to Cork. Hubby & I drove up to Pembroke one night in atrocious weather conditions, only to be told on arrival that the sea was so rough that the ferry had'nt docked yet. When it did arrive we were told the sea was so rough that the sailing was delayed until the following morning but that we could spend the night in cabins on board. Just that info made me queasy, the overnight cabin did not help, & in the morning we all received a complimentary greasy smoked bacon sandwich & coffee.  The crossing was terrible. I could'nt walk straight for two days after we landed, & I refused to take the same crossing back. I've just Googled Pembroke to Cork crossing, this is what Irish Ferries say about it quote " both style and comfort ensuring your crossing is as relaxing as it is memorable". Yes right! They've obviously got better sea legs than me. We ended up driving a way so that we could sail from Rosslare to Pembroke as it was a shorter crossing :) Oh yes, I nearly forgot, we were living in Dartmouth, hubby was managing a pub called The Seven Stars, it was building up to Dartmouth regatta week, the pubs in the town had teams for all sorts of shannigans, waiters race,  barrel rolling, waitress race,tug-a -war, rowing races, more specifically the Mixed Veteran  Whalers race, ( Over 40's?) bit young for veterans I would have thought but guess who rowed, guess who was in one of the teams that qualified for the final on the 27th August Yep! Moi! It was also my birthday. Well we did'nt win the race but we had a lot of fun celebrating. The atmosphere was incredible. There were a couple of very memorable Plymouth - Roscoff return crossings, which I just about managed but had to take Stugeron tablets for a week when reaching terra firma. No, seriously, the ground was moving, I could'nt step off the pavement. Ah yes, then there was a trip Bavers, my best friend, & I made down the river Ou from Nong Kiaw to Luang Prabang, we walked quite a lot of that boat journey as the river was so low that we all had to get off and walk along the river bank. I was'nt complaining, but river boat travel has a different motion. The last nautical experience, & one that brings me up to date was when hubby & I had a double kayak where we lived by the coast in Thailand. We'd go out and around Nai Phlao Bay where we lived, rowing in unison often causing a slight domestic, but one which we resolved quickly, and a couple of times ventured further along the coastline which was okay but a little trickier, when the sea got choppy. Then hubby got it into his head that he could fish from the kayak so suggested that we rowed out, stopped, he would fish. That motion ... oh dear!!!! It was the rocking motion I could'nt handle, so that was the end to our kayak fishing outings, I bought my fish from the market, & hubby fished from the shore. The one really fond memory on the water was when Mum came back to Thailand with me after dad had passed away. She came over for 3 months, and on her 80th birthday she & I rowed out & around Nai Phlao Bay in the kayak which I had named Annabelle, the name my Grandfather had always called mum.
Blimey! If only that boat knew what memories it had triggered.

It looks quite sad, the ribs look beautifully made, structurally sound? I don't know but it looks very sad & neglected. A coat of paint, some rollocks aka rowlocks, & oars, maybe all she needs to get make seaworthy.

And I definitely don't "like" cheese, but that's another story.

I'm off to eat more of my caulifower soup, I need to eat it all before I leave here tomorrow evening. Like me, it might not travel well :)
Thanks to Marlieske for hosting.

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