A Day in the Life...
Quest
Jack and Hannah Ormerod and Lucia, Delphine & Fin
Sun 5 Mar 2017 17:57
A friend recently asked me what life was like on Quest. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it much before. Besides the moments when we all want to jump and swim off in opposite directions… like synchronised mutiny! So I decided to give it some thought and came up with this. Tuesday. 5:15am. Alarm goes off. Lulu has science in 15 minutes. Poor Lu. Oh well.. so-called paradise tax. Make hot chocolate. 5:25. Plug into lesson. Marvel how even technological buffoon like me can do this. 5:30. Teacher starts talking. 5:35. Lu still dead to world. 5:40. Prop her up on pillows. Her chin hits her chest. 5:45. One eye opens. 5:50. Shake her some more. Second eye makes an appearance. 5:55. Compus mentis. Sips hot chocolate. Wait for sugar to kick in. 6am. Picks up her notebook… there she goes. I back out of cabin, find coffee. 6:15-7ish. Sky goes from inky to morning. Squalls threaten then arrive. Close hatches and Quest braces herself. Lu finishes first lesson, pokes around for book. Disappears back to cabin. 7ish. Bang bang bang. Small blonde firecracker enters looking for her glasses. Fin lets out sneaky yawn and gets into her place in bed. 7:05. Delphine points to iPod and headphones. For a quiet life I say, ‘Go on, then.’ She slides her finger, presses a Ruby Redfort audiobook and off she goes. Wash up if collapsed the night before (~75%). 7:15. Cap appears. Picks up phone. Starts work. 7:30-8am. Breakfast hullabaloo. Sun begins to blaze. Open hatches again. 8:30. Lu has next lesson. After 7th attempt, manage to pull headphones off Delphine’s ears. Boats in a mile-radius are looking around for source of crazy lady. Oh well. Zero sympathy for retired cruisers. 8:30-9:30. English. Using excellent WHSmith workbook, Delphine and I examine adjectives. Fin is… lovely, Lulu is… smart, Mum is… tired (thanks), Dad is… chubby (very good). Read some Biff and Chip, including my personal fave: ‘Mum Comes to the Rescue’. Work until Delphine’s eyes are pointing at ceiling. Close book. A bullet couldn’t be faster. 9:30-10am. Boat jobs. Help Jack lower dinghy (strapped up every night to prevent loss of gorgeous outboard engine and keep growth off Edna). Jack and Fin climb in and go to shore. Fin sits upright in dinghy, ears flapping, brain as transparent as glass. Bathroom and cats. 10:05-11am. Lulu does impression of a steam train and gets on with homework. Meanwhile, using most excellent Caribbean Primary Mathematics book purchased in Antigua, Delphine and I do maths. Counting money (cents and dollars), data graphs: children’s preferences for fruit types. Mangoes, bananas, pineapples etc. Briefly stop to love the Caribbean. During this time, Delphine tries to sneak in a Barbie to play. Am all over it. Mental note: Barbie data graph? Shoe type, hair colour or maybe Delph’s fave; number of Barbies with already moulded factory knickers on... Food for thought. 11am. Jack and Fin return. More phone calls, more emails. For Jack too :). 11:05. Delphine only there in spirit. Time to call it. Remember that airport hire car was such a success, we hired it again but this time Ianta has given us even roomier vehicle for same price. Quest crew closes hatches and abandons ship. See ya later, Quest. 11:10. Find car in car park. Stretch blanket out on back seat so Fin won’t get it dirty. 11:15. Finish convincing Delphine she can still move it slightly to do her seat belt up. Become aware of sweat rolling down face. Turn air con on. 11:30. Overtaken by lorry on a bend in Tortola. Wonder if car was a good idea after all? Text friend. Friend tells me to just keep breathing. Take advice. 11:50. Remember that this is so-called awkward Tuesday and Lulu has late school class - Spanish with Jorge. Pull up at a shady, bench-laden, wifi-rich park just outside Road Town. Discover large, empty playground with fake grass. Plug Lulu in to school using phone as hotspot. Lulu glares while Delphine swings. Jack works alongside on his phone. 1pm. Lulu has 5 minute break. Swings like monkey. 1:05. Groaning. Back to Spanish. Delphine and I do more maths while we sit on see-saw car. Fin tries to chase the park roosters. Tie her up. 1:30. Lulu whoops with joy; end of lesson. She runs off to join Delphine. Jack and I sit on bench. Small nap. 1:50. Rain comes. Quest crew grabs stuff and retreats to car. 2pm-2:30. Grown-ups aim to do chores in Road Town. Complaints in car hits new levels. 2:30. Decide to pack it in and go surfing. Realise how fantastic this very concept is. Drive to surfing beach pinching skin all the way. 2:45. Beach is quiet, save for surf school instructors, man with stick and credit card constructing amazing sand sculptures, a few others and a whale! Whale is few hundred metres off shore spouting water. Steve says this is first occasion he’s seen a whale off this beach. Can’t believe luck. Boats have noticed whale and start to crowd round. We shrug and hope they will leave whale alone. Delphine pulls my sleeve impatiently; let’s go get changed.. 2:55. Enter water. Lulu uses epoxy board for the first time. No more rashes from foam learning board.. yippee! Jack and Delph share large board and bodysurf the waves. Fin runs, digs, rolls, jumps in sea and finally collapses. Man with credit card and stick shows me how to construct sand sculptures. Learn concept of taking weight away. 3:15. Delphine comes out of water. We attempt to make our own sand castle. Mixed results but we're not too picky. 4:30. Surfers done. Towels. Chat to Steve and Aika. Discover it’s Steve’s birthday in a few days. He brings down whole bunch of local bananas to share. 5pm. Leave Josiah’s Bay feeling like kings. 5:30. Arrive back at Trellis Bay after short supermarket stop. Park car, wipe off rest of sand (between toes a major challenge), unlock Edna from dinghy dock and make our way back to Quest still tied to mooring buoy. May be crazy but think she looks happy to see us. 6:30. Spaghetti and salad. 7pm. Look at washing up. Pick up Treasure Island instead. Read out loud from where Jim Hawkins has climbed back onto the Hispaniola, having found one man dead and cunning coxswain, Israel Hands still alive. Marvel at how good this book still is. Lulu plaits my hair while I read. Enjoy this immensely. 8pm. Help Jack lift Edna to the side of Quest using spinnaker halyard and winch. Stick toothbrushes in girls’ mouths even. Not sure if they’re still awake. Look at own bed. What is Lu’s schedule in the morning? 6:45am, maths. Ok. Heading for pillows. Start again tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Poppy! Love from Quest and her crew xx           |