Wednesday 10 May 2017

From the Boat

Sayonara

Chris and I purchased an old sailboat because we needed a new adventure. Since we live in the Caribbean we often travel for work. This requires expensive flights and annoying stays at airports that are generally unpleasant.
New boat, new stuff to learn, usually fun but sometimes scary. Been on the water a lot in my life but not on a sailboat and Chris even more but also no sailboats. He eats knowledge, reads everything, watches videos, we took the boat out for the first time with no instructor, nothing. After a minor incident with a small squall, we sailed on learning and fighting and loving and forming a firm attachment to the boat and the sea.
Since I have this little dyslexia problem, (not a problem for me) I learn in a different way. I watch and absorb slowly. If I see it I can usually remember the process and repeat it. Not great on names but understand the concept once I can study it. But fell right into the cooking and organizing and generally gazing out over the ocean to distant islands. Very cool.

Progress

We spend a lot of time on the boat or buying things for the boat or fixing the boat. It all becomes very intimate. It now feels like a home. Sailing back and forth between Nevis and Anguilla we are comfortable with the wind and the way the sea moves and the time it takes to get anywhere. Seems like something we can do and enjoy. We still have to work, this stuff is not free. For Chris that is not a problem. He is going to the place where he can make some money. I on the other hand generally need a fairly stable level place with some room for painting pictures. Then there is the smell of oil paint. We don't need that on the boat, there are enough smells already. I had to figure out if it is possible to paint on a boat. In the meantime, I do some paintings of what I experienced on the boat. From the Boat was born.


Welcome Home


 Our first stay on the boat before we even moved the boat was in the Simpson bay lagoon in St. Martin. Right near a little piece of land with a small mound the boaters all call Witches Tit. It was an odd little area full of misfits and outcasts all anchored in the calm water. Most of them lived on their boats full time and generally worked on the island. As we sat there on the boat just getting a feel for everything I noticed this old mooring ball close by. It had been severely damaged but was still floating. I thought how it was probably a welcome sight to someone who had been out sailing to see this old mooring still waiting for them. First painting, but not on the boat.





















Painting

I did a few more, all in oil. But now I wanted to give the boat a try. I found a small easel on Amazon. It fits perfectly on the table in the cabin. Decided against oil paint, takes too long to dry. Chose acrylic instead. Here I am painting in that very same lagoon in St. Martin. I doubt I could paint at anchor, way too much rock and roll but this area is very calm.
Old balls in the Sunset turned out great. More paintings to come...from the boat.

As always my work is available at Savannah Gallery in The Valley, Anguilla.





 

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