Meet the Barra Crew

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Captain Patrick is a Pisces and enjoys long walks on the beach with attractive redheaded Irish girls named Molly (if you meet this description, please contact him on the facebook.com). He also likes a good whiskey or Guinness. Patrick can often be found aboard his boat, Plumbelly, currently lying in Senegal. He is a carpenter by trade and sometimes forgets he is sailing with other crewmembers and can be found standing watch in the buff. Luckily, he is a gentleman by nature and always gives fair warning with a shout down the companionway. Patrick sports an Italian moustache of the finest kind; he has a penchant for hip hop music and is an expert in exactly what types of food need to be refrigerated vs. those that can stand the heat. He is a super seaman and his bellowing voice brings sea chanteys to life. Don’t try screwing him out of any money or you may find him chained to your banister. We’re not kidding and neither is he.

Rob is also a Pisces, what a coincidence. He enjoys pepperoni pizza with feta and downloading weather charts on the computer, keeping us connected to the world. Rob is especially skilled at napping in the shade of his black Bowdoin sailing hat on the starboard settee. Rob is Barra’s resident master of the culinary arts. He can also dissect a problem with the same precision as he does the brains of small rodents. Tall tales and Long-gitude are subjects that Rob often ponders. Rob’s facewarmer is becoming more pervasive every minute. By Wednesday he will be ready to hibernate with his fellow polar bears.

Sam is the distinguished geezer of the group. He looks more grizzled by the day, which according to Patrick means that he is capable of killing a bear with just a knife and his teeth, or sliding into the position of a Hollywood movie producer with only the addition of his snazzy new sunglasses, no questions asked. Sam is the keeper of the sextant and has been a sensei in Captain Patrick’s celestial navigation skills. Sam enjoys counting and whistling at the many birds which fly around Barra. He is a master of mental arithmetic, constantly calculating our estimated time of arrival rivaling the veracity of a standard GPS unit. He is also a connoisseur of the deliciously whole Parmalaid. By far the most fashionable of the crew, Sam is often spotted yachting in khaki pants and a wonderfully loved Brooks Brothers button-down.

Stuart is the best (or hungriest) baker of the bunch. He knows how to measure out two tablespoons of egg and four tablespoons of water to reconstitute powdered eggs, mental math that only some are fit for. Stuart’s activity has been observed to precisely follow the glorious rhythm of a sine wave, the trough of which being the moment he wakes up after dreaming that he lost the phone number to Morris, and the high point being when he turns up the country music at 5:30 pm. Stuart has read at least 4 books, plowing through with intellectual grace and speed. Bos’n extraordinaire, he has been tweaking and fine-tuning the boat from stem to stern and masthead to keel bolt since the moment he stepped aboard.

Eleanor is the creative writer of the bunch, your faithful (in the last 3 days) blogger. She enjoys journaling, camels, and silently disagreeing with other crewmembers until proven correct, when she then shares her opinion, valiantly representing the female sex. Luckily, she didn’t test the theory that her wisdom lies in her dreadlocks by cutting them off just prior to departure from Bermuda. Despite attempts to match the immense appetites of other crewmembers, El’s seemingly little plates of food are often finished off by one of the boys. El is especially good at over-analyzing her life and blog entries, and giving candid interviews while on watch in the middle of the night.

Collaborative post by the full Barra crew: Pat, Rob, Sam, Stu, and El