10/1/2014; Role Playing
Since there have been species on the earth, the different genders of
each has had natural or instinctive roles that they fill.
For humans, it is usually the male that does the hunting and
providing, the female usually does the nurturing and communal.
On our boat we have the usual type roles. Mine include watching the
weather, navigating and looking after the mechanical side of things, where
Leanne does things like food, is the safety officer and keeps the inside sorted.
Where we tend to go against the usual though, is when it comes to
fishing. Leanne does 99% of the fishing on our boat. This is mainly because, as
she often reminds me, her dad Geoff was in the Bunbury Angling club and when
Leanne was an early teen they often used to go away with this club on fishing
weekends.
I can only imagine Geoff’s delight when I started dating Leanne and
he found out that I am not a fisherman at all. In fact, when I did go out with
Geoff in his dinghy to the Bunbury Estuary it was probably only the second time
I had been fishing and definitely the first time in a boat. While Geoff casually reeled in a few whiting,
I spent most of my time get a Blowie off my line and then trying to get Geoff’s
best hand line untangled from around my feet.
At least I didn’t use too much of Geoff’s bait.
The best thing about Leanne doing the fishing is the mass excitement
and the victory celebration she puts on when she actually does catch one.
Leanne would put any soccer player to shame and boy, do they know how to
celebrate when they score a goal. Leanne starts of with a high pitched shriek
of “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” This is followed up with a couple of dozen yells of “YES!”. Then there is a little twirl or sort of a jig four or five
times around in a little circle. Next is the “Steve, get the camera, get
camera” and several photo’s are taken at different angles and poses to see
which one makes the fish look biggest.
Next step in the celebration is to get on the phone to her dad, and
her sister Sue. Once that is done it’s straight on to Facebook.
The last part of her ritual and perhaps the most curious, is when
Leanne is gutting and filleting the fish, she apologises to the fish over and over
as she works.
Unfortunately on our trip Leanne hasn’t had as much luck with the
fishing, but I am sure you all know that otherwise you would have got the emails.
To complete the role reversal I tried my hand at cooking. I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Brownie. In
fact, as Leanne is feeling the benefits of being gluten free these were gluten
free chocolate brownies.
I thought it would be handy to have them, in the fridge ready for
the next long passage of our voyage.
Two things indicated that I had done all right. 1; was that it was
all gone by the time we left the anchorage and 2; my mother in law, Betty, asked
Leanne for the recipe.
Now Betty is a terrific cook, so to have her ask for my chocolate
brownie recipe was high praise indeed. Recipes are carefully crafted and handed down to a select few, they are not really the sort of thing you give away willy nilly.
As it was my mother in law though and to keep the peace, I
reluctantly handed it over.
As you are dedicated readers of my blog, I think I will offer you a
reward too. I will divulge to you my special Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie
recipe. But please keep it to yourself, we don’t want just everyone to know.
Steve’s Gluten free Brownies Recipe; Step 1 Go to Woolies, buy a box
of Gluten Free Brownie Mix, 2 eggs and some butter. Take it home, Open the box carefully, taking
out the 2 packets. Melt the contents of packet A with the butter. Combine the
eggs into the melted mixture along with the contents of Packet B. Cook in the
oven for about ½ hour on 165 degrees.
One of the other roles that Leanne has taken on onboard our boat is
men’s Hairdresser. She suggested that I needed a “tidy up” and dragged out the
hair trimmers. Unfortunately I had nowhere to hide so reluctantly agreed to a
trim with the highest number trimmer a number 6. I know now that the awesome owner and the terrific girls at HOW SHIQUE Hair Studio in Bunbury have nothing to worry about.
It was a very windy day, so I sat out on the back of the boat in the
wind so that the little bit of hair trimmed off would not get stuck to the
white boat, while Leanne prepared. It wasn’t long before great wads of hair
were landing all around me. I asked Leanne how much she was taking off but was
told to shut up and hold still. Fearful of losing the lot, I asked again,
Leanne huffed, then stopped and said "Oh my god, this is the number 2 not the
number 6". Fortunately this means that I probably won’t need another haircut for
at least six months. Fortunately also, is that it will probably take us that long
to clean all my hair off the boat.
Unfortunately, my other sailing companions are now calling me Chopper, although I
do still have my ears… I think.
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| Will the real Chopper Read please stand up... |
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