My first pickhandle baracuda

19 May 2013

Living on a boat gives new meaning to load shedding. The sun has gone even further north taking almost all our solar energy with it. We can’t even run the freezer overnight and have to switch it off when we go to bed. The fridge, well we run it for about an hour at lunch time. I suppose Eskom has a similar problem except they use coal.

 The engine problem, well we ordered some rubber boots and hope they are the solution. They had to be flown in from Sweden and should get to us next week.

Lola is still editing my book and should be finished at the end of the month. I took a few photos of Lola’s culinary delights that she prepares for us at lunch time. This should answer the frequently asked question, “so what do you eat living on a boat?”  For the recipes see http://recipes-lola.blogspot.com/

Lola's nearly famous vienna cheese rolls

Pancakes!

Homemade Pizzas!

 

A few weeks ago we removed our bathroom portlight. It was a stupid sliding thing that was installed when they first built the boat and leaked so much when it rained that we had a river flowing through our bedroom. Since the new portlight is not the same size, nothing is ever the same size on a boat, we had to build the hole closed and sand it till it was beautiful and flat. Then we had to cut a hole in it to fit the new portlight. Typical boat repair stuff. Step 1: make it perfect. Step 2: destroy it. Step 3: make it perfect again.

 

25 May 2013

I started typing my blog yesterday when the computer decided to die so I never saved and now I can’t remember what I wanted to say. Today is another day so here it goes. Lola has finished her first edit of my book and gave it back to me to do a rewrite. I started earlier today but ran out of power so couldn’t finish. Now my laptop is charged but its late and I don’t feel like doing it.

 We ran the starboard engine to charge the batteries and test it. I think we eventually found the fault but will only know for sure when we do our sea trials in the next week or so when the book is finished and we have sent it to few literary agents. Hopefully one of them decides it is good enough to publish. Again I seem to be on a down cycle and feel depressed. Staying in one place is not what we intended to do and it is getting to me. I have spent the past two years fixing the boat without going anywhere and it is bringing me down. Durban irritates me, the harbour never goes to sleep and the noise is incessant. I sometimes wonder if we are just finding excuses not to leave. The tenants haven’t paid, I have to finish my book, the starboard engine overheats, we are running out of money. All these things are true, but, I wonder if they are the actual reason we are still in Durban.     

 

30 May 2013

Lola and I finished our final edit of my book today. I have sent a copy to a friend for a proof read and an opinion. I am also working on a synopsis to send to a literary agent.

 

01 Jun. 13

Yesterday I tried to write a query letter and synopsis to send to the literary agents. It was harder to write than I expected, even harder than the book, and I eventually gave up throwing my toys out the cot. This morning I tried again. It still didn’t sound right so I gave up again.

 

02 Jun. 13

Another five attempts at the query letter. I will paste what I have, if it makes you want to read my book I have succeeded. Please make comments and help me out.

 

Falsely accused of a heinous crime, Willis a simple farm worker escapes from prison, crossing the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa. His life becomes a living nightmare as he stumbles from one unfortunate event to the next finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, every time.

Haunted by his past he discovers he is being hunted by his former employer and decides to flee even further. He manages to get a position as crew on a small sailing boat with three strangers. One of the strangers Johan, a man with a violent past and driven by dark forces, executes a plan that places all their lives in danger.

When Johan accidentally overdoses Willis his plans make an abrupt change as the skipper, Warren, a brute with a miserable home life, discovers his ploy.

The crew suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives and Lucy the only female on board finds her courage, but will it be enough to save them?

And that’s that.

 

We haven’t been able to test the repairs on the starboard motor and now the port motor has a problem with its raw water pump. It never ends.

 

03 Jun. 13

I finally tried out my new fishing tackle Lola bought me for Christmas last year. Yesterday I used a spoon, a flat piece of lead shaped like a spoon with a hook attached to the back end. My first catch was a plastic packet. The next two, also plastic packets. Then when I was about to give up, an old used underpants. Catching the things is one thing. Removing them from the hook quite another. Luckily I have gloves. Eventually the sun went to sleep and I thought I might have better luck in the dark. This time I caught a submerged rotting tree and had to row out in the dingy to retrieve my spoon. What would be next, an old shopping trolley or a dead body?

 

This morning I replaced the spoon with a pink and silver rubber lure. It is a lot lighter and stays near the top so I hoped it wouldn’t find more old underwear sitting waiting at the bottom for me. I cast it a few times without catching anything and was about to give up when I decided to cast one last time.

 

Something bit and I managed to land my first pickhandle Barracuda. Awesome! He wasn’t big enough to feed the whole family so I let him go hoping to catch him again when he is bigger. Perhaps this year’s fishing license is going to work.