Anteater Blues, Darwin to Fremantle
July – August 2009
Just dropped off Rarge at the airport. It’s been an incredible three weeks
and the excitement of arriving in Perth has been replaced by a certain
melancholy.
Not that I am unhappy to be back home. There where many times at sea, while
bored to tears with the sheer monotony of ocean sailing, while sick with the
motion of the boat and diesel fumes of the engine or when having to get up
in the middle of the night, after only two and a half hours of sleep to do
your one hour watch on deck, when I would have rather been anywhere else
than on this dam boat.
But looking back it was an incredible journey. From a balmy and relaxed
Darwin winter two thousand miles down the rugged and remote coast of Western
Australia to a wintery Perth. And when I stepped off the boat I could have
sworn I would never do an extended ocean voyage again. But after being back
for less then three days, I am no longer so sure.
Because life is not the sum of all conveniences. And there are few other
experiences that compare to being on a small boat on and endless ocean. And
while it is the boat that sustains you in this alien and often hostile
environment – and the boat we were on was very beautiful indeed – it is the
people I sailed with that I will remember most. All larger than life.
Thrown together for three weeks in space no larger than the average suburban
living room: Peter the skipper, smoking rollie tobacco and cool as a
cucumber, not matter what. Collis the “hard nosed” business man, who looked
after us so generously in Broome and Darwin and caught our dinner on route.
Creecy, the Greek club and pub manager, always ready to do more than his
fair share and cooking fantastic meals under sometimes trying conditions.
Rarge, ladies man and nice guy all round. And last but not least, myself.
The computer geek on a journey of a lifetime.
These are the people that made this trip what it was. These are the people I
would never have met had I not sailed on Anteater Blues. And these are the
people I will miss. And that’s why I’ve got the “Anteater Blues”.