Sister Power

Our Owners Grandchildren we currently have on board are highly active and require little to no sleep at night. It's quite amazing actually. These children must have some secret super power that the rest of the world has yet to discover because after swimming, wake boarding, riding the tender and wave runners all day and the numerous other activities on a daily basis, they still have energy late into the evenings.

Perhaps tonight it was the combination of ice cream ashore and an after dinner make your own ice cream party that led to an evening of dance and laughter. How did I find myself involved in a dance off with my Sister and two nine year old girls? A question I will continue to ponder and an event I will long remember.

Maybe it was the ice coffee I drank mid afternoon or the red bull that followed shortly after but regardless of the reasoning or how it came to be.... It happened. Quite a nice way to end the day I must say. The outcome could have been better had Seldon and myself been declared the winners of said competition, however in my personal opinion the favor was weighted a bit more heavily to the 'younger' sisters, or as they called themselves...'sister power' for biased reasons.
Seldon and I whipped out all the stops. The can can, the fish on a hook, bum spanking, and of course the wiggle dance. It was decided that Lola and Ashley had 'the moves like jagger' winning by a staggering 2.1 points. As they received a score of 9 out of 10 and us a mere 6.9.
Now, for those of you that have seen Seldon and I dance, you may find this score shocking... I know I certainly did.
The judging panel consisting of our deckhand :Chris, our Butler :Blair, the Captains wife :Kristi and 'sister power's brother: Gunnar made their decision and it is final. While my feelings are a bit hurt, I only have a stronger desire to win the next time Seldon and I are challenged to a dance competition.
Until then, it is time to call it a night... Although I have been warned that I may not be able to sleep in my bed because ''it will be so wet from my tears when I lose'' direct quote from the opposing team.

I will get back to you all on how that works out for me :)
Goodnight from Croatia!

Just the beginning....

Apologies for not updating in a bit. The reasoning behind my recent lack of dedication to this blog directly correlates with the four week owners trip we have just begun as of Monday evening. The time spent In Montenegro was amazing and much appreciated before out big trip for the summer! As I hope to touch more heavily on my experience in Montenegro at a later date, at this time I can tell you it is a beautiful country! We docked at a Marina in a town called Tivat. Quite a small marina feel but also complete with bars, restaurants and of course Gelato!! The heat was some days and even into the nights unbearable. I very much appreciated working inside while the poor boys each probably lost 15 lbs a day working outside! Don't et me wrong, it seems like quite a nice weight loss program but I'm not sure worth it at the expense of smelling like a sock at the end of the day.

We had one day off while we were preparing the final details for our current trip. Myself, Stazi (stewardess), Chris and Randaaaayy (deckhands) rented a car and took the beautiful scenic drive to the town of Kotor. Absolutely breathtaking!! I feel quite lucky and blessed to be able to travel to these beautiful places that I would not have had the opportunity to visit or probably even known about without this job. Thank you Huntress!

Don't get me wrong, my job has its perks, I will not deny that. But for every fun day we get to enjoy, comes many hard, long hour days and sleepless nights. For instance, we picked up our owners at anchor outside Tivat on Monday night around 8pm. After greetings were made, luggage unpacked,dinner and cocktails served, laundry pressed and beds turned down, we were all able to call it a night around 130-230am after having woken for work at 8am the previous day. Back to work at 7:15 Tuesday morning to do it all over again!!!

Last night, after getting into bed at 1am and finally falling asleep after emptying my head of the days events and the next days work to be done, I am awoken at 3am to the sound of the anchor being dropped and pulled up for about an hour trying to find a solid place to anchor safely for the night. Living all the way forward on the boat, means hearing the anchor, the bow thruster and all the other happenings of the mechanical engineering on board. You may think one can get used to the sound of grating metal, however that is absolutely not the case. Where as I consider myself a deep sleeper, as I have slept through fire alarms and could probably sleep through a hurricane, the sounds that come from this boat sometimes could wake Rip Van Winkle himself.

But, this is how it's been and how it will continue to be for the next 28 days! Until then, you can probably expect many funny stories and sleep deprived nonsensical posts!

Bon Voyage!!

GIBRALTAR

... You Know What That Means.... I've Successfully Completed My First Atlantic Crossing! 

Feeling land beneath your feet for the first time in twelve days is a big deal. If you've ever been on a cruise you probably know the feeling to some extent. Arriving in Gibraltar on Tuesday marked another exciting first as well : Completing my first Atlantic crossing! Obviously a good reason to step onto some land and celebrate, wouldn't you say? 

Here's how it went down....

 Of all the nights at sea, night twelve was by far the worst. I'm not exactly sure why the sea decided it would be so friendly up until that point and then unleash its fury... but it did just that and oh did we feel it! Broken Glass, Spilled Drinks and Knocked Over Potted Plants are just a part of it. Close your eyes and imagine being placed inside of a washing machine in the middle of its spin cycle. Now try to sleep. I would honestly be surprised if anyone got any sleep at all....

With the excitement of being on land, I for one quickly got over feeling sorry for myself and was ready to see Gibraltar. We tied up at the fuel dock and continued to get some work done for the next few hours while we refueled. My initial impression of Gibraltar wasn't the greatest, however I was still very much looking forward to getting off the boat and into society. Once fueling was complete, we moved to a dock space in Marina Bay in the Bay of Gibraltar. My impression of the country immediately changed upon arriving at our new destination. I had just assumed that the entirety of the place was as commercial and dirty as I had seen at the fueling docks. It was comforting to know just around the way was a very cute, and pretty happening spot. 

This is a picture I took from the Top of the Rock looking down on Huntress. She is the large white boat near the center of the photo. The runway for the airport is on the right. Gibraltars airport is the fifth most dangerous in the world to fly into and is often closed because of wind conditions and the inability to land.

We ended up spending two nights in Gibraltar, instead of the intended two due to weather conditions out at sea. The unpredictability of the yachting industry is something I have since learned to accept , and in this case, welcome with open arms. Being in Gibraltar an extra day gave me the opportunity to learn more about the country and do some sight-seeing! 

On a normal day, looking to the right of this light house, one can see Africa across the straight. Because it was so foggy, the view wasn't as spectacular as I would imagine it can be, but I did get to see Africa the previous day, as well as, from the sea. 

St. Michaels Cave was my favorite place to visit. The stalactites and stalagmites are formed by dissolved rock deposited by water from above. Fun Fact: there is a stadium like seating area set inside the caves for
concerts.

One of my favorite things about my job is meeting new friends. Meet my new Barbary Macaques Monkey friends!

   All in all, Gibraltar was a wonderful start to a highly anticipated summer. Next stop, Montenegro! In a mere four and a half days, we will be pulling into Porto Montenegro. In the meantime, Come Away With Me on my first travels through the Mediterranean sea. I've already seen many pods of dolphins, who knows what else is in store for us :) 

3800 nautical miles

Less than 24 hours.....

before we reach Gibraltar. 

After 12 days at sea and 3800 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, we will finally not only SEE land for the first time in over a week but actually get to FEEL it beneath our feet! We are set to arrive mid morning tomorrow where we will refuel for our continued trip to Montenegro, as well as restock the necessary provisions such as milk, chocolates and of course, ice cream. Although we will be seeing land, other boats, and well... civilization for the first time in what feels like entirely too long, we have much to do in preparation for our first owners trip of the season which will commence shortly after arriving in Montenegro so there is plenty to be done while in Gibraltar. That being said, we all hope to have the opportunity to get off the boat for a bit and perhaps go for a run, grab a bite to eat, enjoy a beer, or get robbed by a monkey...but only time will tell. 

It's an exhilarating feeling looking all around and being surrounded completely by blue. No land. No boats. Nothing. In some ways it can be a bit scary, but I mostly find it refreshing. It has been particularly exciting creature watching, as I call it, although it seems the times a whale or dolphin is seen are in the moments you aren't actually searching.... 

Less than 24 hours and 150 miles to go before Gibraltar. See you when we get there! 

Swellaciousness

I should have know having three calm days at sea would come back to bite us! Here we go....