Admiral Horatio Nelson would understand.........
We've left Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. As we've mentioned in a previous post, this place was a British navy base in the 1700s, and many of the port buildings and fortifications are being used as restaurants, retail space, etc. You can almost imagine drunk British sailors from the days of wooden ships chasing "ladies of the night"; the smell of raw sewage in the streets............maybe a family with smallpox begging (OK, not sure about that one) but you get the picture.
In fact, sailors hooking up isn't a thing of the past. You can watch it any night of the week in Falmouth Harbour. There are about 100 large sailing and motor mega-yachts moored there for the Spring. Beyond a captain and engineering officer, each yacht has "stews"..........short for stewards. These are young men and women (usually in their 20s) who do grunt work on boats. They get free room and board (as they live on the boat) and get paid about $25,000 - $30,000. Guess what else they do ? Drink all the time and hook up with each other while in port.
Kirstin and I sat in a bar (roughly in the town square) and saw the exact same people drinking and pairing off in different combinations night after night. We found ourselves assigning them nicknames to make identification easier (kind of like tagging grizzlies in the ear). "I can't believe Cheryl Tiegs is hooking up with Captain Kirk.......gross !!! Modern technology has apparently made it easier.........everyone was texting, tweeting, etc..........probably working on alibis or something, but it was amazing to watch. These stews were definitely free spirits and living for the moment..........how does that song go ? If you can't be with the one you love........love the one you're with.
Anyway, despite the passing of hundreds of years, if Admiral Horatio Nelson was watching this scene, he'd probably smile and remark that some things never change.
In fact, sailors hooking up isn't a thing of the past. You can watch it any night of the week in Falmouth Harbour. There are about 100 large sailing and motor mega-yachts moored there for the Spring. Beyond a captain and engineering officer, each yacht has "stews"..........short for stewards. These are young men and women (usually in their 20s) who do grunt work on boats. They get free room and board (as they live on the boat) and get paid about $25,000 - $30,000. Guess what else they do ? Drink all the time and hook up with each other while in port.
Kirstin and I sat in a bar (roughly in the town square) and saw the exact same people drinking and pairing off in different combinations night after night. We found ourselves assigning them nicknames to make identification easier (kind of like tagging grizzlies in the ear). "I can't believe Cheryl Tiegs is hooking up with Captain Kirk.......gross !!! Modern technology has apparently made it easier.........everyone was texting, tweeting, etc..........probably working on alibis or something, but it was amazing to watch. These stews were definitely free spirits and living for the moment..........how does that song go ? If you can't be with the one you love........love the one you're with.
Anyway, despite the passing of hundreds of years, if Admiral Horatio Nelson was watching this scene, he'd probably smile and remark that some things never change.