Can't ya hear, can't ya hear the thunda'!

Jolly Roger, I am a bloody Aussie again!  After battling with the details of my expired Australian passport, I have been approved once again.  An Australian citizen am I.  What does this mean, you may ask?  Well, unless you are in Australia, if you want to have an excuse to get belligerent on Anzac day, answer your telly saying "g'day mate," or if you want to justifiably place an Aussie sticker on your car, hmmm, not much, technically.  But I feel like the proudest Aussie, ever!  And plus, my subconscious has been telling me that now is the time, mate!  My lovie is in the Southern Hemi, and well, yeah, who knows?  Time will tell, but for now, I am just feelin darn lucky to be an official sheila from the Land Down Unda.'  Naooooo Waaaaaries, mate.  

Home, where my thoughts escape me.

Sorry for the huge gap in my entries, I guess that Simon and Garfunkel had a point!  The irony of the "notes from afloat" blog is that I am not exactly afloat at the moment.  Downtime is good for the soul, especially when your work is very full on and consumes a lot of your personal time.  But the catch-22's of my career are many.  The travel, excitement, luxury, and adventures of the yachting lifestyle are incredulous!  But the sacrifices you make, really force you to appreciate the simple things in life (if you did not already).  The simple pleasures of waking up in a non-bunk bed, walking around outside, going out with old friends, joining friends for a barbeque, being able to leave work, seeing your family, settling into a place and becoming part of a community....ahhhh, these things are precious.  And we salty people discuss this often, trust me.  But the beauty of it all, is that you learn to appreciate the little things.  And furthermore, being away from the boats for a couple of weeks has been awesome.  Starting to feel refreshed and getting really excited for the new adventure!  I will greatly miss my friends though, as always.  And maybe at the end of this Summer, maybe, just maybe, my love life will be waiting, silently for me.  Where, is the question of the moment?  Have faith in the mystery of it all, y'all.     

The man returns...

Yes, he came back.... and we have re-united.  It makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.  It was really sad seeing him walk through the security checkpoint today, on the way back down to the Southern hemi... but I think that our tears were filled with sadness, happiness, excitement, and more emotions than I can explain.  Above all, I am so proud of the man.  Keep the faith Kimbo, keep the faith.  

Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of Ouzo.

   If my calculations serve me right, as of April 2nd, I have officially lived for 26 years.  And for that, I feel lucky.  What does that mean?  Have I surpassed the potential of a quarter-life crisis?  Have I unofficially entered a new ilk of young professionals, which are supposed to be at a certain point in their life?  Nah, I don't really think so.  Everyone is different, and after all, its just a damn number.  Tell me what you think....

   The crew on my boat greeted me with a rapping balloon and a bday cake at lunch, during which I made one epic wish, and blew out the candles with a full exhale.  The night of April 2nd was spent at a this great little Greek restaurant on the Inter coastal Waterway, which is a great place to go, if you are not in the mood for heavy conversations.  Rest assured that the loud Greek techno music, the belly dancers, the uncontrollable desire to dance on the tables, and the endless shots of Ouzo, will drown out the need for talking, and let you focus on the pure fun of it all.  Damn, it makes me want to go to Greece.

  In the word of my sis, "its going to be a great year." 

Go get em, Tiger.

Although I just missed out on being born as an April fool, the rents really got me this year, and made an April fool out of me.  Call me gullible, but they did a purty damn good job when they called me on the morning of April 1st, explaining how their old sports management company (IMG) had contacted them a week prior to catch up on the happenings of our family.  While in this conversation (which of course, never really existed), the President of IMG found out that I was a yacht chef, and mentioned to my dad, that Tiger Woods was looking for a chef on his 160' private Yacht named "Privacy."  As my dad was explaining this to me, I was trying to formulate how I could get up to West Palm to interview, how I could make the transition, what kind of food Tiger likes to eat, and all of the other crazy details of this seemingly excellent adventure which spontaneous Aries' always hope for.....until he exclaimed the two-word declaration of "April Fools."  I was speechless.  Good one, ey? 

Goombay Smashed!

The Bahamian term "Goombay Smash" is not a term at all.  It is, in fact, a delicious libation which will knock your socks off, in the likely case that you drink one too many.   After enduring our recent charters in the Bahamas, we are all a bit smashed, and by that I mean tired.  Just to clarify, when I say that I am "goombay smashed," it means that I am just one tired gal.   I recently took the job with my old captain and his wife, and we all moved to another boat together.  Feeding 8 crew every day, is a lot of work, but its a great group of people, which makes it all the more fun.  We are back in the FL now, undergoing some projects and things... before the summer season begins for us.  Aside from my work life, this ole gal turns the big 2-6 on Wednesday.  Purty excited for the partaaaay and looking forward to dancing on the tables at one particularly fine Greek establishment here in South Florida.  I will keep you posted.  

Ssssssoak it up.

Me gusta mucho cocinar. I didn't grow up in the kitchen or anything, but I did used to experiment with healthy cookies on my family. They called my creations "field grumpies," which I thought was a compliment at the time. I give serious kudos to my parents for many things. I used to think that fly-casting into a hula-hoop as a 12-year old girl was normal, but now I realize that it was really just Raz's way of letting us in on an underestimated activity that will be with my sister and I forever. And my mum is a fair-dinkum Aussie, who reminds us that laughter is always the answer, mate. The athletic genes were passed on to my sis, but I do love being active. I am way too antsy to sit on the couch all day (unless I happen to be in a cabin, in front of a roaring fire, with a bunch of friends, drinking cheap wine, playing music and planning our next day's adventure...or something of the sort). But the laid back lifestyle suits me just fine. Not that I have achieved it yet, but I am striving for it. Looking forward to having a garden of my own, one day. Some say I drive like a grandma, and I think its just my way of telling the world to take it's time. I miss my sister a lot, and my parents and friends as well. The greatest thing ever would be to gather up all of my scattered friends, put them on a sub-tropical beach, and have a huge fiesta. Maybe thats what my wedding will be like, hmmm. Not that I have any plans for that yet, sorry guys. Right now, I cook for at least 6 people every day, and its purty fun. Cooking on a boat presents its own obstacles, but the galley is 5 times the size of my bunk room, and I have a window....which is nice. I believe that you can have fun anywhere, as long as you are with good people. It's all about the people. Soak it up.