The Scotland Chronicles: Part II

Wednesday, 7 September 2011 @ 11:50am - So yesterday was an event-filled day. The day began with beautiful weather, but the director of the program later read the waves and predicted the weather would worsen.  Also, the boat battery decided to stop working and refused to revive. It said in a Scottish accent, "No, I don't feel like it, and nothing can change my mind." Stupid boat.

But we didn't give up and the guys went out to get a spare boat. Even with disgusting weather we decided to get fitted into our dry suits (Mine makes me look like a red and navy Michelin Man since these suits were made for people as short as 5'4''. I'm 5'2''.). We went out to sea as the swells (wave height) increased to level 4 (on a spectrum of 0-5, 0 being calm) and the current up to 3 (on a scale of 0-7, 0 being calm). We didn't find any cetaceans, but on the way back the director said, "Okay, I'm going to let the girl from California, Los Angeles drive the boat." (I think here they say the city name second to the state/country.) Um, what? I'm barely capable of operating a car back home!

So I nervously took over the wheel and got a quick lesson on how everything works. I operated the boat like I would a stick shift car (horribly). I'm surprised the girl who took seasickness pills didn't regurgitate those along with her sandwich lunch. We were a quarter of the way back when it started pouring rain.

**So, I can safely say that I've been in the Middle East during a sandstorm and in the UK at sea during a rainstorm...while operating a boat. I have more points for bragging rights.

Anyway, I couldn't see while "driving," so someone behind me grabbed a pair of goggles and stuck them over my face. I held onto the goggles with my right hand, had my left hand on the power lever thingy (the "gas"), and then said, "Well, I was born with only two arms so someone needs to steer." The director took over the wheel. It would have been an interesting photo to take.

There's plenty more to talk about, but I'll end here with a new UK term that I learned yesterday: "Trackybums." We call them sweats or running pants.