Well thank you Barbara Hart for my Liebster nomination!
Barbara is living the dream, and set off from Maine for life aboard. Barbara writes with a witty, easily read style that will have you laughing our loud!.. and has a book, Harts at sea, that I highly recommend. Her descriptions of the obviously, ever so patient, EW are entertainment in their own right!
The award is all about discovering new blogs, and as such, you are asked to answer 11 questions set by the nominator, link to 5 new blogs that you enjoy, and ask 11 questions of them!
So, firstly, my 11 questions set by Barbara
1. Do you have a favorite word? (Mine is “plethora”. I try to use it once a month in the blog and love the way it rolls off my tongue.) What’s your favorite word and why?
I quite like the word 'complete'. Read the blog, and all will be understood
2. Dogs or Cats?
Both. I have had dogs much of my life, but now find myself encumbered with 2 cats instead, courtesy of my daughter who, after adoption of the felines, cleared off to University!
Cats sit more comfortably with me, as they are more independent, and don't make life complicated when we want to go sailing
3. What new fix-it skills have you learned since you started boating, RV’ing, preserving?
There can only be one answer. The art of varnishing. I have varnished more in the last 3 years, than my previous 44 put together.
4. Real books or ebooks?
I do like the feel of a real book, but boats and books are uncomfortable bedfellows. The space is an issue, and any dampness causes havoc. I therefore am a reluctant Kindle user.
5. All of you lead (or have led) somewhat unconventional lives, on a boat, in an RV, in Portland cobbling a living together out of a love of food – does your family support those choices? Do they “get it”?
Oh yes!
I have lost count of the number of times people have said that they envy us 'having a plan'. As my eldest cousin, Gemma (who is young enough to be just starting her family - and therfore is of the Internet generation) puts it - YOLO - You Only Live Once.
6. Describe one of the best moments you had while doing what you love.
Way back in 2007, we organised a family oriented get together at Stone Point (see question below), which can only be easily reached by boat, for about a dozen boats, with only two rules... come dressed as a pirate, and bring firewood. As part if it, Debs and I spent a fair amount of time drawing treasure maps, printing them on A4, staining them with tea to make them look aged, and singeing the edges... we then rolled them up and tied then with little ribbons... the kids took these, and while the parents sat on the beach in the beautiful warm summers evening and sampled various libations, the kids, dressed fantastically well as pirates, charged around the island with spades, and returned with a chest of treasure... or sweets/candy as we mostly know them!... the fire was lit as the sun went down over the boats at anchor, we assembled an impromptu band of guitars and various other instruments and sang our way into the small hours... magical.
7. What’s your favorite place – around the corner or around the world, what place always makes you smile when you think of it?
No competition. Stone Point. We have so many happy memories of visits as our kids grew up. Stone point is in the BackWaters, just off the Harwich harbour estuary, and is classic UK east coast... flat landscape, big skies, and birds by their millions. Its a rare sand beach in an area famed for its mud, and a wondefully sheltered anchorage.
8. Most memorable meal? (It doesn’t have to be good to be memorable.)
After a particularly wet crossing of the North sea to Oostende in Belgium, we discovered that we had arrived first of the 5 or so boats we were travelling in company with. While we waited for them, we put together a huge pan of Chilli con Carne. As boats arrived, we dragged them over, and after several hours, we had 20 people onboard. It was a completely unplanned evening, and still talked about with fondness.
9. How many languages do you speak? What are they? What language would you like to learn?
Sadly only English. It is the curse of the English to not be great linguists. I have tried, but languages don't come naturally to me. If I could wave a wand and be bilingual, it would be Spanish. Its a language that seems to exude passion.
10. I know it’s all fun, but when you aren’t writing, working on the boat or RV, driving, sailing, or cooking – what do you do for fun?
When i'm not working on the boat????... I don't ever seem to have time for anything else!.... seriously, I do enjoy running and cycling... and have on occasions, been a bit obsessive about them!.. earlier this year, I completed an Ironman triathlon... a real bucket list activity, but very distracting from boat prep!
11. What country or state would you most like to visit and why?
I have in my photo file, a picture that I came across several years ago, of an atol in the Pacific called Suvarov. Its a volcanic crater rim, that has been over millenia, breached by the sea, and now forms a perfect horseshoe anchorage. It is a LONG way from anywhere and too small for an airstrip, so its only visitors are 40 or 50 yachts a year.... the resident population can be counted on just a few hands, and have a tradition of adopting visitors for their stay in return for a few essential that are hard to come by. It is, certainly in my mind, the stereotypical example of a Pacific paradise, and I love the fact that it still looks like real adventuring. One day I will visit Suvarov.
So I nominate the following blogs:
Erbas - http://sverbas.blogspot.co.uk
Nick Ward - http://wardwideweb.blogspot.co.uk
Demonboy - http://followtheboat.com/refit/
Phanakapan - http://www.sailblogs.com/member/wanderings/
The Blind Sailor - http://www.theblindsailor.co.uk
And IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE NOMINATION, here are my 11 questions:
1] Why do you own a boat?
2] Sail alone, or with a crew?... how about in company with other boats?
3] Anchor, mooring, or marina?
4] When have you most loved sailing?
5] What got you into sailing to start with?
6] Do you have a guilty pleasure onboard?
7] What nautical terminology do you use unnecessarily?
8] What is your perfect boat?
9] Where do you dream of sailing to?
10] What is wierdest thing you've seen kept on a boat?
11] What is your favourite childhood memory?
Have fun!
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