Hello world! My name is Cindy. I am the second crew member of Cream Puff.
I grew up around water. My parents had a ski boat and a lake house and we spent our summers living the life of sun, water-skiing and acting like fish out of and in water. We would spend sun up to sundown in the water and still whine when it was time to go inside. Being from a family who enjoyed time on the water and boated regularly, I always wanted to learn to sail. I am the rebel who wanted to sail rather than motor. My family always teased us about shutting off the engine and sailing but I really prefer sailing…most days. Talk to me about days on the ocean when the winds are at 1 knot and the temperature is at 98 degrees with 98% humidity and then I might have a moment of reflection…but I digress…
Mark signs his emails as Skipper of Cream Puff and it is well earned. For the first two years we owned the boat he has been the everything on Cream Puff and I’ve been the crew. I learned quite a lot about sailing from our 38’ Cheoy Lee and our Hobie Catamaran but the Amel 53 has a lot more for me to learn. I’ve participated in learning about our boat but not to the committed extent I would like. I was busy working and downsizing our lives for the first two years. During this time Mark learned how to operate and sail our new boat far beyond his previous capabilities. Now that our land lives are behind us and we live aboard, have been stepping up to first mate and not just crew. I am working hard to learn the nitty details of our new home/boat. I am excited to catch up to Mark on the learning curve of this boat. I don’t think I’ll ever have the knowledge or experience he has at sailing but with time I hope be a great second in command.
Our old boat, Water-Melon, was very manual and I loved it. We had paper charts instead of computer software, GPS and radar. I think the only electronics on board were a single side-band that never worked and a VHF radio.
On the old boat we actually worked the winches by hand and not just push a button. We knew the bay like the back or our hands so we rarely got the charts out. We knew the boat even better. We did not have or need such sophisticated electronics even if they were available.
There was such a great feeling of coming back to the marina late in the day after a great day of sailing. It was my job to get the boat ready for docking. Being it was all manually performed I enjoyed taking the sails down, stowing them away, getting the fenders out and in place and cleaning up the decks. Mark would take us into the harbor toward the slip and get us lined up to dock. Once in awhile when I had all my chores finished early, I would sit on the front of the boat and watch the world go by as we motored into the marina. Sometimes I watched the sunset.
Cream Puff is a lot different in so many ways. Cream Puff will not live in a bay. We will be taking her to many places far and wide. So, all the nice wonderful technology that has been invented in the past 15 years will be very beneficial and much appreciated. Instead of learning a few landmarks and shallow areas like on the old boat I am now learning the new systems and electronics. I was told that this type of sailing will be easier but I guess that will be after the learning curve. I am enjoying learning about Cream Puff and her ways and looking forward to the adventures ahead.
