November 2017 on the Great Barrier Reef
Plenty of Room
Captain Trevor Jackson
My darling wife bought me a ‘Fitbit’… It’s a little watch thingy that keeps track of your exercise, heart rate. how many steps you’ve taken in a day, that kind of thing. I don’t EXACTLY know what message she was trying to get across to me, but it may have something to do with the fact that I’m not as, shall we say…….’lean’…as I once was.
At first, I was reluctant. The last thing I wanted was some gadget demonstrating to me every hour on the hour that I was a fair dinkum bonafide sloth. But, after a few weeks, I absolutely LOVED it….and I loved it because it had gotten me up off my ever-widening caboose and it had me moving all day every day.
I set the thing for 10,000 steps a day and stuck to it religiously. I spent two weeks at home in sunny Cairns and walked everywhere – the school, the shops, the neighbors… anywhere I had previously driven a car to, became my mission. Suddenly the pounds started to fall off without me even noticing. Within a fortnight I was completely hooked on my little machine…and completely dedicated to belting out 10,000 steps per day…. come hell or high water.
THEN… Out of the blue I had to go back to sea. What, I thought, is to become of my new-found walking addiction? How can I possibly get my 10,000 steps in ON THE BOAT? All that had been lost would be regained. I felt robbed. There was no way I could crank out that many steps within the confines of our favorite little ship, right? Well no…wrong as a matter of fact. You see this week at sea I’ve learned a thing or two about the dimension of this ‘not so little’ ship.
She’s 20 paces wide, 60 paces long and a whopping 85 paces from the wheelhouse to the dive platform. In fact, she’s a giant when you get to know her. That’s the thing about catamarans…they’ve got space and they’ve got it in droves. Sheeeesh…. we’ve virtually got a full-length cricket pitch in the saloon. Don’t believe me? Come check it out for yourself…and bring your Fitbit…..there’s plenty of room.
