Corona Virus and Other Sagas
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Sun 15 Mar 2020 05:26
With many countries now restricting movement, the airline industry in crisis, Europe appearing to be the epicentre of the pandemic, we float around in our little island of self isolation and wonder how best to respond. The biggest fear among us yachties in Thailand is not being allowed back into Malaysia. Thailand is not a good place to leave your boat because the marinas are very expensive at around $60 per day and furthermore the skipper of a yacht is only allowed to leave the country (and his or her boat) for six months with the payment of a £500 bond to deter the boat being abandoned. Even if getting back to Malaysia is not a problem, flying home from there may be. One couple heading down to Malaysia have found their flight back to Canada via Hong Kong cancelled with nothing scheduled until April. While we are on board we have no need to worry about infection but eating or shopping on shore may mean contact with other tourists as well as locals. We also have to pass through customs and immigration facilities. Having done all these things over the last few days, including a body temperature check at immigration, we were feeling pretty secure until Annie, in a reflex gesture, shook hands with a particularly helpful taxi driver! We have now decided to stay within easy access to Phuket in case we develop the infection. We had planned to go up to some remote islands on the west coast but getting back down to Phuket could be an issue if both were unwell. We could also take the view that being in more remote islands reduces the risk of catching the virus but then again we would like to scuba dive whilst there and that would mean joining others on dive boats. We will keep this option open while sitting out our current period of isolation! Not being able to get back to the UK is probably our greatest concern but the way things are developing we might well be at greater risk of infection by returning than staying out here. At one point on a previous trip to the UK I decided for various reasons, including the fact that it is one of many on an extensive list, to read Lord of the Rings. Like my “History of Christianity” and other mammoth tomes I started bed time reading but at two or three pages before falling asleep it was going to take forever. It turns out to be a better read than I had envisaged, having become put off by the amount of childish historical fantasy stuff currently in print and on our screens. The ending is as sad and poignant as Christopher Robin saying goodbye to Winnie the Pooh as he moves out of childhood and goes away to school. I brought Lord of the Rings out to Malaysia and gave it the required time to finish - becoming engrossed in the various themes and plot details. A recommended read but you may wonder why relevant in the context of this blog. Well, like many yachties, Annie and I bring out lots of films and TV series to while away an hour in the evenings. The yachtie equivalent of a “TV supper”. Way back in The Gambia we were given the first series of “Game of Thrones” and have subsequently ploughed our way through the following five series. This time we have brought out the final series and buoyed by the success of Lord of the Rings are endeavouring to complete the saga. Sadly the rather predictable and derivative storyline is playing out much as expected and we have had our fill of historical fantasy for the time being. Current reading material is “Red Sea Run”, a nautical recount of sailing up through the Red Sea in 2010 by Cap’n Fatty Goodlander. Some more nautically oriented readers may be familiar with Cap’n Fatty and his various books and magazine articles. Ever interested in the writing styles of others since my crushing disappointment at discovering, even in my most optimistic moments, that I could never emulate the prose and insightful wit of Jonathan Raban, I have had cause to reflect upon the writing style and indeed whole attitude to sailing portrayed by Cap’n Fatty. On the basis that Annie gave me the book for Christmas she could be trying to tell me something but sadly it appears she got no further than the title in selecting the publication. I will give you a verbatim extract below from which you may draw your own conclusions. I just hope my grandchildren are not avid readers of this blog. All is well. I sense Carolyn watching me. I look up. She smiles - ever the seductress. I smile back. Her arms reach out. I go to her. “Take my mind off the building seas,” she says, “like a good captain should.” I sink into her. She is hot honey. Time stands still. There is only Her and I - and our dance is as old as love itself. We have time, plenty of time. I am man. She is woman. We find our secret places. There’s no rush. We give and we take. She tastes good. I giggle. We snuggle. Nip. Moan. And, in the end, her screams are snatched away by the shriek of the gale itself. I’m panting as I arise within the swaying cabin. Within seconds Carolyn is asleep. I toss open the hatch and scan the horizon. No ships. I unfocus my eyes, and look at everything at once. I see nothing out of place. I listen intently - so intently I swear I can hear the clouds scraping the sky. I hear only harmony. I think to myself that right now would be a fine, fine time to die - when I’m so happy, so content, so satiated, so balanced. I am the happiest man in the universe. I’m completely free, even of the fear of death. My eyes water. I am filled with an immense cosmic joy. I blink repeatedly. I am connected - to everything living and everything not. I am the earth, the moon, and the stars. I’m not sure where my skin ends and the waves begin. I’m alive. I feel electric. Tears are streaming down my face. I’m vibrating. I see the light. |