Adventures on Beannacht

Monday 29 June

Home brewing on the boat - 52 pints for 12 buck and a 'borrowed' water bottle

We finally made it somewhere…on time! The last while has felt like we’ve been trying to push boulders up hills. Two weeks in Luperon and three in San Juan, waiting for weather, waiting for the opportunity to move east, waiting to meet mum and dad. Living the dream just hasn’t been living up to it’s marketing. You of course rightfully ask why is this whining bastard writing about his hard life when all it consists of is snorkelling, gin and tonics at sunset and reading books?

I’m not totally sure. But difficult it has been, and we’ve had to dig a little deeper in ourselves to stick with it. If money wasn’t in the picture I think we’d feel much more content at sea, but after mum and dad head home we’re going to stop and work somewhere for a few months to rejuvenate our bank accounts.

Miserable bastard moments aside, it is a real relief to get to the Virgin Islands. After the hammering we took crossing from D.R. to Puerto Rico neither of us were that excited about making more miles in an easterly direction. Thankfully as the deadline drew closer the weather also started to cooperate. We were finishing some jobs on the boat to our usual schedule – last minute – and being held back by 24 hours because we hadn’t finished actually worked out perfectly as we got a 36 hour window with light winds and calm seas.

We arrived in Trellis Bay at lunchtime yesterday, had a nap and got the boat ready for our guests. And it turns out they were late! Their flight had been delayed en route and they’d missed a connection. We skyped mum quickly from the boat and discovered they were well and in Antigua with an entire basketball team and would arrive this morning.

We’ve watched loads of the Lions tour as you would expect, and as I have mentioned earlier, and I’ve been struck by how many individuals are putting their hand up for donkey of the series. Vickery and Monye stoked my racist sentiments in the first match (against the English of course), and then our own O’Gara gave away a match losing penalty in the last minute of the second test, which I’m sad to say we missed because we were at sea. But this morning it’s South African coach Peter de Villers who takes the award with a series of ridiculous comments in reference to eye gouging and violence in the sport. Fabulous and well deserved, now please someone take him out the back and introduce him to Walter Wink. Brent he’s your countryman, it’s really your responsibility.

San Juan had a few high points that I forgot to mention in my wallowing. Firstly we met Judith, a Puerto Rican boat dweller who lives and works from her boat in the marina. We had loads of fun hanging out with her and meeting her folks, they treated us to a home-cooked Puerto Rican meal and hugged us like we were their long lost children! Judith also helped us buy some boat stuff at local prices and lent us her beautiful Suburu to do some messages (Keli still get’s a kick out of me calling shopping ‘messages’, just like my gran).

I also did my PADI Open Water scuba diving certification while we were there, my birthday present from Kel. I’ve never dived before so it was great to grab the opportunity while we had the time, and means that Kel and I can rent tanks and dive together if we ever fancy it in future.

An email from Fermanagh reminded me that in my drunkenness or through sunstroke I’d forgotten that cats are the gypsies of the animal kingdom. I’m sure that’s in no way a reference to the traveller population, but rather an affectionate nod to the desert fathers. Regardless, Anzuelo our little fish hook has become a permanent fixture on the boat, and what a little delight he is. In the first 48 hours he charmed us with his playful kitten personality, and so we took him to the vet for his shots. In the next 48 hours he proceeded to shit on the vacuum cleaner, piss on two beds and a settee, and hack chunks out of our ankles. I was for leaving him at the marina, but we persevered and he’s shaping up ok, although still struggling to conduct his affairs inside the box. No doubt dad will be delighted with him when he arrives!

I forgot to mention a few things in the last while that occurred aboard Beannacht. We brewed our own beer – 52 pints of the stuff – and it tastes pretty good. Only about 25 pints left. We demolished another television series that we loved, adding Fringe to the list that already included Weeds and Dexter.

That’s it for now… the rents arrived safely and we’ve some comedy to add in our next post, and some guest writing.