Ms. Gjeruldsen’s Travelling Show

Guest entry by Hanna M. U. Gjeruldsen.

Full focus at the helm! From left: Sebastian, Hanna

Monday 29th of December I got out of a taxi in the Rodney Bay Marina parking lot on the island of St Lucia. Instantly a stranger asked me if I needed any help, and awkward as I am, I quickly said no and started to stare intensely at the sky. I gazed down the parking lot, and saw somebody whom I’d seen before. A blond, tall man with glasses, and the grace of a gazelle; my best friend Sebastian. We gave each other a hug and I followed him down to the bay. On our way we passed three people Sebastian knew; Peter, Henrik and Elise. I introduced myself, and we walked further on to what would be my home for the next twelve days: S/Y Coco. A vessel on sea water called a sailing

yacht. I managed to board the boat without being eaten by birds, and as I climbed down the ladder, I knew I was climbing down from reality, and into adventure land. And what an adventure it was…

After the first dinner, I gave the crew presents. Peter got the very famous book “Dating for under a dollar”, a gift also intended for his better half, Elise. Henrik got a book that reflected his personality “Gangster rap colouring book”, and it is safe to say he almost shed a tear in happiness. Sebastian got “Dancing with Jesus”, to improve his holy dancing skills.

After the first night of gift-giving and pizza, we went to Martinique a.k.a. France. Martinique can be summed up by hermit crabs, napping locals, sand and rain forests. Events that stood out in the capital of Fort-de-France was New Years Eve the day before New Years Eve, having dinner at a restaurant with the slowest waiters and best food, shopping with Elise, and (somehow) eating together at McDonalds. The crew off S/Y Spinnvill became our boat friends. It is nice to have boat friends, and I told them the old tale off the unfortunate tomatoes crossing the road.

We travelled onwards to Anse Noire, or the bay of black water. An event at by this almost desolate beach stood out in particular: Snorkelling for the very first time. I love swimming, but pretending to be a fish was a very strange and challenging experience. I was fortunate to have such a patient teacher: Sebastian. He told me the secret of the turtles, and we quickly became a part of the turtle community. I will never forget that…

In another bay, called Grande Anse d’Arlet. Sebastian took lots of wonderful, graceful pictures. After dinner we went back to the boat, where Elise temporarily worked as a Moroccan medium. After “the great bay” we sailed furhter south to Cul-de-Sac de Marin. This is where I ate taco pancakes. But, as I have jabbered on long enough about vacation and relaxation, the time has come to say something about that which is most important when aboard a sailing yacht – THE CREW!

Peter is a captain. The captain. Captain Captain! He laughs a lot in short intervals. He is a very calm person and he is very determined. His determination even brought on his new nickname “The King of Toilets”. Peter has a good sense of humour and will never give up. He also knows how to steer the boat in the best ways. That’s why he’s captain.

Henrik became my best friend to his great pleasure on this voyage. We became best friends by telling each other about our interests and hobbies. Henrik likes to sail, play ice hockey, but he doesn’t know what his favourite television program is. That’s why we’re best friends.

Sebastian is weird like me, super smart like Einstein (or someone else), and is very good at opening the fridge in a graceful manner. Sebastian is a person I know. He has achieved the status: “quite well” on the “quite well-scale”.

Elise is easy to talk to, is interesting to converse with, and has several other interests than “boat”. She has been an excellent shopping partner, and we’ve had lots of wonderful nights sitting on deck smoking and drinking while the boys have been fixing toilets, or made us dinner. I’m very happy that Elise was there. It has been very nice to have another girl on the boat.

Hanna quickly settled into the no-care Caribbean lifestyle.

The trip is over for my part and now I’m in England. All I can do is to think back and think of my wonderful friends on the beautiful, adventurous vessel surrounded by sea water: S/Y CoCo.