Washing and Willies – Welcome to The Menopausal Mariner

The morning we were leaving A Coruña I decided to quickly do the last of the laundry as it was sunny. I did a lights wash so in went my t shirts, posh shorts (there is such a thing. Trust me) my new, size 14 so absolutely favourite pair of trousers in the whole world and the only ones with the label still intact and all my underwear. All hung out beautifully. I have a thing about laundry being hung up nicely with matching pegs so gave it a smug glance as we headed out to get some lunch. After that the boy had another quick walk and we headed back to the boat to leave.

Things quickly turned sour as we returned to a decidedly naked boat. About as naked as I was going to be as nearly my entire whites wardrobe had blown away. Despite having loads of (matching) pegs as it was a tad breezy, A Coruña had decided to give me the middle finger and dress the fat, oversized mullet of Spain in my intimates. And posh shorts. And size 14 trousers. Lee made some comment about pants and cruising chutes which as soon as it had left his mouth realised it should probably have remained as an inner monologue. Clearly this was his fault. I wasn’t sure how, and it would take me some time to figure it out, but obviously it was. And so finally we left A Coruña. We won’t be back.

Off we went to Vigo where last time Lee had met all the naked Vogue models. We anchored up and it was just as lovely as last time. Less so for Lee as I went ashore with him this time. The beach is stunning, a KM each way and it’s dog friendly so just brilliant! We walked up and down, still terribly British in our clothing and passed couples taking their daily constitutional. In the morning it wasn’t sunny and there was a cool breeze so we had jumpers and trousers on. As did the sensible women on the beach. Not the men though! As naked as the day they were born with the exception of their smart watches they were determinedly getting their 10k steps in. Some even had jumpers but nothing on their bottom half. Most odd. Once the weather warmed up Lee seemed to cheer up, Franco yet again had more walks than was entirely necessary and I decided it was time to leave. After 20 years of marriage I’m damned if I’m going to have a happy husband. Nothing worse in my opinion.

And so we said our goodbyes again to Enseñada de Barra, turned left and carried on South.

About me

I am 52 years old and grew up between the UK in Pulborough and Emsworth and the US in upstate New York due to my Dad’s work.

I have sailed for as long as I can remember and did some yacht deliveries as a late teen, and the love for sailing has never left me.

I became a nursing auxiliary aged 16 and started my nurse training in Bath aged 18. After qualifying I specialised in Clinical Research and moved to Africa. On returning to the UK I joined the Royal Navy and shortly after completing basic training was drafted to Gibraltar where I met my husband Lee. I stayed in the Navy for many years and specialised in polytrauma within operating theatres, completing numerous tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. After a serious back injury caused my medical retirement from the Navy I then went on to train in nurse prescribing and aesthetics.

We have now lived onboard full time for 6 years and still loving it. Mostly…!

I still have my amazing Mum Val, aged 84 and who we own a house 8 doors away from. I lost my beloved Dad Jim a few years ago. I have a big brother called Phil, my sister in law Roo, nephews Sam and Jake, my amazing step son Jack AKA The Cub, and obviously there is Lee and Franco.

About Lee

I am 51 years old and grew up between Plymouth in Devon and South Shields in Tyneside. Unlike Sam, I was not brought up sailing and only started about 10 years ago when we had our first boat. I enjoyed it immediately and therefore thought it was time to swap my previous expensive hobby of fast cars for a more sedate yet equally expensive hobby.

I retired 5 years ago after 28 years working for the UK Government and am loving the sailing life we now have. It is not all sunshine, fun, drinks, socialising as there are also some downsides, but nowhere near enough to regret this decision.

About Franco

Franco is a 8 (ish) year old mini Belgian Malinois we adopted in Colombia after being found nearly dead in the street at a few weeks old. As I did fundraising for animal shelters there, we were asked if we could home him over the weekend, but once a dog crosses our threshold, unless he belongs to someone else they don’t leave! After many weeks being very touch and go, he pulled through and he obviously came home with us. He is not very user friendly, not bothered about cuddles, people or food. Only seems to want to charge around and play and has massive ears. Everyone loves him but he expresses disdain for everyone he meets. He sleeps on the bed (or the family basket as we call it) and our world revolves around him. As do our sailing plans! He is also known as Sausage.