The Love Boat, a damn romance.

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The little tomboy in the middle is me picnicking with Mom and Dad  –  two water babies side by side.

 

The Vaal dam days were blissful. Imagine the added happiness when a dam(n) romance began.  I remember the night……. the log fire was burning and around it sat the youngsters, about 16 years old or so.  When the fire cooled we shuffled our chairs in closer and eventually another log would be thrown on the fire,  then shuffle, shuffle our chairs out again.   It was during one such shuffle that our hands touched and the sparks flew !!!   Not long afterward our little romance blossomed and the Vaal dam days were sprinkled with love and roses to add to the joy of being on the water.   The weekend romance lasted a good few years spurred on by our mutual love of being on the water in our little sailing boats.   Then came time to leave the dam and my young romance behind and start my working career.   I remember watching the series ‘The Love Boat’ (dead give away of my age 🙂 )  I wanted Julie’s job, the Cruise Director on board the ship. That pushed me to do a Hotel Management course so that I could transfer my skills.  South Africa didn’t have many cruise ships to speak of, so on researching the market I found one that was run by TFC tours called ‘World Discoverer’.    I went on a cruise to the Seychelles and surrounding islands as a passenger and it wasn’t long before I had elbowed my way onto the crew side of things, doing reception shifts and other duties on board and hanging out with the crew below decks.   I loved that experience, it gave me a taste for what was to come.    I continued on land with a very busy hotel career determinedly working my way up the Southern Sun ladder to become the first female Food and Beverage Manager in the Company.   These were busy days and I moved around from Namibia to Pretoria to Cape Town and finally to Plettenberg Bay as General Manager of a resort hotel.  I was compelled to recover from a serious back injury so changed course…….  studying Body Stress Release, a hands on complementary health technique that had been wonderfully instrumental in my recovery and practiced that in Plettenberg Bay for 6 years.   One bright and beautiful day one of my previous hotel buddies came along and suggested I come and try my hand at yachting in the Mediterranean and so began my yachting career in April 2004.  I had a five year plan to earn euros and then head back to South Africa laden with the rewards of a healthy exchange rate. All I can say is that that plan is still in the making 14 years later. I still find myself in Europe on a yacht  !!!