Chapter 45

"So is Charles the new boyfriend Venus?" Bonny's ears had caught the word 'baby' and her curiosity was piqued.

"Shush." Tracy, the skipper of 'WorthIt II' had also heard my 'I want a baby.' statement and wanted to warn Bonny, "Isaac, the big guy she came with is Venus's father so it probably isn't the time to discuss her sex life!"

"No! Charles is my doctor not a boyfriend. I've got a plumbing problem and he's arranging to get it sorted for me."

There is a village that has no boundary line as the residents live on boats that travel the world. Add to that the fact that all villagers love to gossip and nothing travels faster than the speed of light except gossip.

"Does Jean-Luc know?" asked Bonny and by the laws of gossip it was inevitable that he soon would!

"I need you to winch me up the mast." Dad's request was made in the most reasonable tones considering the possibility of achieving it seemed so slim considering he weighed in at 260lb or more! We did a deal which, after waving Bonny and the children off and donning work clothes, had me 110 feet up at the masthead in a bosun's chair. Fortunately I had helped Dad replace masthead light and wind instrument units before and learnt the tricks in replacing their cables which run inside the mast. My experience though was on masts lying horizontal and after 2 hours aloft I was a mass of bruises from banging against the mast every time the mast swayed, which a tall mast does even in a marina. Coupled with that I'd mashed my sensitive bits which nobody who designed the bosun's chair had considered might lurk tucked between the sitter's legs!

That job done I only had a 15 minute tea break before Bill and I were winching my father up to replace the radar unit part way up the mast. None of us had slept much the night before; it got hot on deck in the afternoon and bits and pieces were constantly being sent between Dad and I on lengths of string. Working as fast as possible it still wasn't until 6pm in the last of the light that Dad announced 'job done' and we could head for the showers - fortunately WorthIt II being a luxury yacht had showers aplenty so at least I didn't have the problem of using the shared marina shower block.

"Party time!" Sheila the cook had done us proud with a cordon bleu chicken pasta salad which we practically inhaled having not stopped work for more than a sandwich all day and 7 pm or not I was ready to turn in for the night - Tracy and the crewman Bruce would however have none of it! "The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC)' starts from here tomorrow: it is the biggest such event in the world and it is our social obligation to go and help toast them on their way on their last night ashore."

Fortunately Litara had a wardrobe packed with things designed to survive a life constantly in travel bags and I had enough teenager in me to wake up as the sun went down and put on my glad-rags.

The ARC sailors weren't at this stage in their lives part of the cruising village being mostly either shoreside dwellers looking for a one-off adventure or cruisers-to-be making their first ocean crossing. There were however a lot of them from the 200 or more boats setting out across the Atlantic to St Lucia next day and they wanted to make the most of the evening. After my last outing with Litara I was wary about drinking but having started to dance I found it impossible to get off the floor. At least the maxi dress I was wearing forced a degree of restraint but I still found myself getting drunk-on-dancing for want of a better way of describing the feeling and the people were such a lot of fun…

I'm not quite sure how it happened but it's good to have family, friends and crew mates looking out for you and it was Sheila who spotted that I was on my last legs and Dad who was there to catch me just before I would have ended on my backside with my legs danced-out. It seems that I am not destined to be one of those dignified, stately women in this life!

Work is work and at 7:30 Tracy woke me for breakfast. I didn't merit being part of the planning team at this stage but was left in no doubt that I had to pull my weight in my appointed role of the lowest dogsbody on board. Since leaving college a lot had happened but one thing I hadn't done is work regular hours and my body didn't like their re-introduction. Dad's plan was to give the radar priority as with so many yachts crossing at the same time as us they were what we were most likely to hit. Tracy had a round of paperwork to do so disappeared with the boat papers and all our passports to visit first the harbour master then customs and immigration.

Sheila with Bruce and Bill in tow headed off to do last minute provisioning while Dad and I got stuck into fitting the new radar screen. To get the new base unit wired up and working was gratifyingly quick but it wasn't a like for like replacement as even though the old unit was only 3 years old there had been improvements and a corresponding change in the units dimensions. Luckily that was when Bonny called on the VHF radio to let me know they were all heading ashore from the anchorage in their dinghy. Dad agreed it a good time to take a break so we grabbed some cold drinks to wash down the sandwiches I had made and joined Bonny's family at the end of the jetty to wave off the ARC yachts.

Daisy thought so many boats setting off together wonderful and wanted to chase after them but Pete was being well paid the fit a new generator in a large yacht so had no immediate plans to move on. Dad also was being paid to fit a radar so I had to say a reluctant goodbye to my unexpectedly met Daydreamer friends and get back to work.

I was swiftly learning why cruising was often described as sailing your boat to paradise to work on it there. Dad's customers in Cardiff left boats with him to be fitted-out, repaired or upgraded at a place with the best of tools and supplies close by. WorthIt's new cabinet work however was cobbled together from what was 'to-hand' but if I say so myself once I'd varnished it nobody was likely to guess.

While Dad and I been finishing the radar installation the others had returned to the boat, stowed the extra provisions, taken off sail covers and generally got everything shipshape so that at 4 pm, although Dad, Bill and I had seen nothing of the Canaries other than a taxi ride and the marina, Tracy started the engines and we cast off.

My introduction to the international luxury yacht lifestyle had been nothing like I imagined but we were on our way.