do where do you want you want - Caribbean Compass

DECEMBER 2011 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 16
What Do
Cruisers
Want for
Christmas
2011?
Are you a cruising sailor? What
do you want for Christmas — or
Chanukah or Kwanzaa — 2011?
We asked a variety of cruisers what
they are wishing for this year and
guess what? Nobody mentioned “a
partridge in a pear tree”. The
answers ranged from toys to revolutions,
wealth to watermakers,
bottom jobs to bamboo. If there is
a nautical St. Nick, a sailor’s Santa
— good luck with this list!
Denise Simpson of the Admiral
38 catamaran Nauti Cat says, “I would love for Santa to bring me a watermaker
especially for my nine-year-old daughter and all of her yachtie friends who love visiting
and swimming overboard at least ten times per day with showers after each
swim! They are not strong enough or big enough yet to carry five-gallon jugs of water
by dinghy and lug them up the deck to the filler cap and unfortunately God does not
always supply the rain (unless your tanks are full), so mum has to carry it all, therefore
I appeal to Santa for help in this regard!”
Long-time voyagers Bernie and Yvonne Katchor aboard the 1978-vintage 43-foot
Endeavour ketch Australia 31 have a rant for Santa: “Dust, dust, dust… our boat
has little dustmen sprinkling dust all over it. We vacuum, we dust with special USAmade
dust-holding cloths, we even hose the bloody boat — BUT next day there is
dust everywhere, even when we are 2,000 miles from land. The little dustmen sprinkle
it all over our boat as we sleep.
“We want Father Christmas to adopt these little dustmen and take them to the North
Pole so our boat can be free of dust forever. They are very hard workers and will make
many toys for boaters, such as radars, GPS units and possibly even AIS’s.”
Keeping it simple but covering a lot of wishes, Anne McMillen-Jackson, who is
cruising aboard the 45-foot Bruce Roberts sloop Mr. Mac, tells Mr. Claus, “I would
like a fatter cruising kitty!”
Chuck Cherry who cruises with his wife, Monica, on the 55-foot trawler Cherry
Bowl, agrees with Anne about money but has additional requests: “As the world
spins and tempus fugits for old sailors like me, the answer is easy. In our age group
we all want health, wealth and a jumbo pack of Viagra. But if we were allowed more
than a couple of wishes, I would vote for a social revolution in Venezuela, bringing
back the old cruiser-friendly environment. As it is, the devalued dollar and increased
marina fees, along with a seemingly ‘pirate-friendly’ coast guard, have effectively
shut down Venezuela as a cruising ground.”
Can Santa put this in a stocking or under a tree? Constance Elson of the Lord
Nelson 41 Tashtego might better appeal to Aeolus: “Tashtego wants a steady moderate
west wind that would last ten days and carry her from Panama to Puerto Rico
GUY DEAN
non-stop.”
Michael Rosner of Panda, a
32-year-old, 41-foot Morgan Out
Island sailboat, writes to St. Nick on
behalf of his wife (well, and maybe
himself as well…): “Edie wants an
extra stand-alone freezer to pack
more lobster and crab from the San
Blas Islands!”
Nicola Cornwell of the Hanse 470e
Pandora also believes in the spirit of
giving: “I’m a giving kind of person,
not a receiving one. So I would like
to give the all the boatyards in the
Caribbean a clock and a calendar
for Christmas!”
Speaking of boatyards, Julia
Bartlett of Haleiva, a Catalina 30,
says, “What do I want for Christmas?
Total no brainer — a bottom job in a
yard with sophisticated facilities,
including drying-out hull kit and a
seriously upmarket shower block.
Good food within walking distance
would be a bonus.
“Thanking Santa in anticipation;
hugs and kisses, Santa!”
Cruisers used to want books. Devi
Sharp of Arctic Tern, an Island Packet
45, humbly asks Santa for an iPad.
To make sure Santa knows where to
put it, she adds, “The stocking — actually a pair of swim trunks with legs sewn up
— is hanging on the mast in the main salon”.
—Continued on next page
Top: Devi Sharp doesn’t want any more rubbish; she wants an iPad!
Above: How chubby is your cruising kitty? Cruiser Anne-McMillen-Jackson wishes
Santa would fatten hers up