Catlyn and the future of her blog!

I was asked what is going to happen to Catlyn`s blog, now that we have sold her. Taunya, I thought about it a lot, and I am sure I am going to think about it some more, but deep down, I know I have to carry on! Not only do I have to, but I want to! I feel I owe it to our beloved yacht, for taking us to places, allowing us to live on her, and to grow on her, and to share our story with so many people! Catlyn, to me, was the beginning, not the end!

Brett and Teresa have started their own blog, www.seismicwave.ca
....and I would love you to folow them as well!

Catlyn? She might loose her name, and she is going to loose her first family, but how can you loose something that is a part of you? We are living our last week on her, sleeping in my bed on her, for the last time, being on her, only us. But when we come back to her, next year January, I will move over to the port side cabin, and Brett and Teresa will move into the mastercabin, and we will help them get her ready for the new season, and then we will be sailing with them for 8 weeks or so, teaching them Catlyn` s naughty character, and her cheekiness, and showing Brett how to just love her sexy "derierre"!

Carnival in Trinidad!

They say it is a pre -Carnival Fete and that is why Johan and I, are up and fully dressed, at 21h30, when we are supposed to be getting ready for a good nights rest! We bundled Marco into Margaretha`s car, our pick up, and dropped him off at her TV, with a blue blanket for a long night! It is the night for the band Tribe, in Trinidad to show off their music and to introduce their theme and costumes for the Carnival 2013! We bought tickets, the week before, about 270TT per person, all drinks included. What a fabulous night! A bunch of ex South-Africans bundled together with other foreigners, like Jennifer from Venezuela, and girls from London and other places for an unforgettable night. We whined true to the Trinidadians, loving the moment of people being together, laughing the night away, until we left at four the next morning! And I was still awake! For the last couple of hours I was trying to lip read, sign language, anything just to try to hear something or say something! Will I ever be able to hear a my childrens voices again? I wondered.




Hungy we left in search for food, and we found delicious Gyro`s on a corner. It is a wrap with a chicken or beef or some filling inside! Delicious especially before the sun comes up, believe me. Parents tip toed into Margaretha`s house, trying not to wake a sleeping Marco...

What a night, I thought, as I tried to get the humming sound out of my ears.....  We can`t wait to be back next year, end of January 2013, hopefully with Brett and Teresa, the new owners of our yacht, to Carnival with them into their dream!



Butterfly and Beast...the Ultimate Carnival experience!

Zumba, Whining, Soca.....fun!

Maybe I must start this blog with a link to a You tube video, or rather not! Well, it is too late now! When in Rome, you know... 



We are invited to a Fete, a pre -Carnival Party, or like in Trinidad, any excuse to have a party! But I was warned that it might be a good idea to try out a couple of the traditional ways of dancing before I go, otherwise I might stand out in the crowd, being blonde and green eyed won`t be the reason.

I stretched a bit, and Margaretha picked me up.  We entered the hall with about 30 women already moving around to very loud music. I made sure to stand right at the back, sharing the corner with the rubbish bin, with only two ladies next to me, swinging and swaying, hardly noticing a newcomer.  I intend to keep it that way, and didn`t even make eye contact. Margaretha filled the space right in front of me, and her hips were already moving, but nothing happened in my body!

Oh my word! How can I even think of moving my body like that in public?  I am sure I will get arrested, was the last thought that went through my head, and after standing there gawking at the swaying hips rolling on their sockets, pelvic rythms......I closed my eyes, not to see myself in the mirror at the front of the class, and my body started moving. Why didn`t I have another Margaritha with Margaretha? Confidence, liquid confidence, anything, I need help! First very slowly, not to unscrew something,  and when I realised that I am still safe, not injured or in jail, I did it!

So much freedom, so much expression in the movement with all these women, having a wonderful time!  Young skinny women slowing the dance down to a beutiful sexy movement, voluptious women bringing their bodies into a swinging swaying motion, loving their bodies, letting go. Old women,  even one with a neck brace, but not stopping her from the sensual movement of her lower body. I moved, I swayed, I rolled, I laughed and I loved...

The Madonna of Whining, Patrice, gave me a couple of hints to perfect my moves after class! 'Soft knees, Marlene!' she said, as she dropped her knees and started rolling. 'Put your hands on your hips, feel the pelvis bone....roll to the side, back, side...... front!'she said.  And it was good!

How wonderful to  be a women....so much fun! ' Maybe you can start whining classes for our women when you are back home one day!' Johan said with a wide smile on his face.

Enjoying Trinidad!

It is our third time in Trinidad, and for the first time we have time! I know it sounds silly, but every time we came to Trinidad, like most yachties, we were rushed to get the yacht fixed and clean and ready for the next season, and to rush off to start sailing! Or sometimes we even rushed off with another yacht, unexpectedly via the Pacific to another unplanned continent!

We have our own tour guide imported from South-Africa, to communicate with us in our own native language to prevent any confusion, and well educated about Trinidad, living here for  5 years!      How lucky can we be?

She invited us to her apartment for a treat with her mom`s recipe of chicken lasagne, where we spend the evening with her friend Shona, also from SA.

Margaretha came to pick us up for Movie Towne, to Marco`s delight. Ice Age is showing and he can`t miss that! We sat in beautiful soft chairs, tilting them slightly backwards if you want, with a variety of  hot food on your lab, in a little tray, and not only pop corn for dinner.

Thirsty after the laughter, we went to Malogney`s Irish pub, just in time for,  'buy one get one free cocktail', and Frozen Margaritas was ordered, and a huge chocolate milkshake for Marco! Stll hungry she took us deeper into the streets, with people liming and having fun, and she found the stall on a corner, with the best 'doubles' in Trinidad according to her.  Indeed it was! We feasted on the two flat pieces of baked dough, filled with a chick pea (ghanna) mix with herbs and more green stuff, and a touch of tamarind sauce...deliciously messy!

Living on the hard!

We are still on Catlyn, living high up in the air, missing the motion of the ocean, gently rocking myself to sleep.  It is quiet! With Joe gone, something is missing on the boat. With Brett and Teresa gone, (the new owners) we miss the energy of their excitement. I enjoyed having female company, crawling into small places to spit and clean. So it took us a couple of days to find a new harmony amongst us three people left on Catlyn.

Teresa

I bumped into a boy, 12 years old, from South-Africa, and very quickly escorted him to our boat. (Sorry for still talking about our boat, but Brett and Teresa agreed to leave us on their boat until we know where we want to go!) Out of pure sympathy, he he, Brett installed an aircon to keep us cool, and to let us stay for a little while longer, looking after his yacht!

Back to the friend, Keeran from the Admiral catamaran, Avatar.He keeps Marco occupied, with Nintendos and sleepovers and a little bit of rugby, so he didn`t notice the empty yacht. Johan and I polish a bit and clean a bit, and keep an eagle eye on any mould trying to sneak in! It is dusty and dirty, and some guy `weed eat` the couple of green grass stalks trying to grow, and the next day he blows the gravel all over the place, leaving the leaves behind, and rocketing the `rocks` onto the deck of the boat!

Catlyn on the Hard at Peaks

I still stand in the shower, with a selection of hot or cold water, and I am so thankful for the water running over my body. I try not to wash my hair every day, loving the feeling of clean properly rinsed hair! The communal showers are just around the corner, only a climb off the ladder, for early morning excercise. Talking about excercise, I got the two men out of their cabins, and they joined me jogging every second day. Ok, jogging a bit, and walking a lot, but we will get better! Even Keeran and his mom, Fiona, joined the club!

Every morning we still `fly off` to another place in the world, looking for a place for the next couple of months, because we do not want to go back to South-Africa yet! Not because we do not miss our country, but because it is winter, and it sounds like a very cold winter indeed. Hopefully in the next week we will have a new adventure, with news to fill Catlyn`s blog! Yes, all our followers, it feels like I will carry on with her blog, although we sold her, and although she will be left behind next year.

Some more news for you! We sold her, but we will be coming back end of January 2013, (hopefully we missed the end of the world then.) Brett and Teresa asked us to join them on Catlyn for some time to get her ready for the new season, and to help them to get to know her, the way we did, and to love her, the way we still do!

Good bye, Joe, you gotto go...me-ho, my-ho!

No. it was not with a song in my heart, that I said good bye, but singing it now helps a bit.

Too soon the day came to say good bye to another of our children. We dropped Joe off at the airport in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He was so ready and I was not! With his blue backpack loaded he waved us good bye, and he left three people standing...

I would like to share his letter. He hid  the crumbled piece of paper under his matress for me, only to find when his gone, when cleaning his cabin...

Dear Mom, Dad and Marco!

Here I go over the big blue sea...where we sailed for so long.
From deep down in my heart, I thank all three of you for the wonderful adventures you have shared with me. Thank you for helping to open my eyes to a new world of possibilities.  I have grown in more ways than one.

The Lord is my shephard, I have everything I need. He guides me and all of us to green pastures and leads us beside peaceful streams.  The Lord is my shephard and you, all three of you are my loving sheep. I pray now for the safety and peace of my fellow sheep and bid them farewell for now.

Know now that we are not only connected by blood, but far more than that. Take one breath in, and one breath out, I too breathe the very same air as you do now. Now picture my face, imagine my voice and call my name...then you`ll know that we are one, always together. Now place your hand over your heart, and feel my love for you. This is not make believe, it is real, powerful energy spanning around the entire Earth and into the Universe. My love for you is stronger than the limitation of flesh and beams instantly toward you when you need it!

I pray for the day on Earth, where I can have the same relationship with all people on Earth, as I do with you. This is my ultimate dream, to walk side by side with all of the Worlds` people and create heaven on Earth.

God is with us all, so ask for Him.
Peace, love, joy, happiness, laughter and blessings!

Joe

Sworn to secrecy!

I was sworn to secrecy for the last two weeks, and it was so difficult to keep my mouth shut.  But I got permission during the weekend to share the latest in our lives.

We sailed our last sail on Catlyn to Trinidad! Even just writing that slit through me, but it is true and it is time!

The sail was quite uncomfortable, and we were grateful to pick up the buoy in Chaguaramas in their dirty oily water. Margaretha was waiting for us, with two tubs of delicious peanut butter ice cream to lift our spirits. She took us to her apartment, and soon we were in a lot of fresh water, the first in a very long time. We enjoyed the pool and later the pizza she ordered for a lazy evening with her infront of the TV.

Early the next morning we met Brett and Teresa from Canada, the new owners of our Catlyn! Brett felt like family already, because we spend four days with him in Grenada a week or so ago, signing documents, having a surveyor peaking into Catlyns` life and having rum punch in Tiki bar.

Catlyn was hauled out in Peakes Marina, with a very excited Teresa, and us....oh how did we feel? I thought about it a lot, and Joe got it right! He said, he thinks this is how PMS should feel like....

Catlyn ready to meet her new family!