Sometimes I ask crew if they would be willing to write about their experience crewing on WildChild. What is Captain Lexi really like? What is life on WildChild really like? I tell them only to be open and honest and direct, no political filters please.
This is exactly what ivan wrote… un-edited.
****
My experience with captain Lexi
As an ex politician who is not used to spend 0-24 on sea, spending month and a half living on boat with Lexi was one of the most interesting things I have done in my life.
Sailing as such is demanding discipline because captain must be super focused on his job. He must think in forward about bay he goes to, way he will enter it, route there, where he will anchor, weather, winds etc.
Lifting sails up and down, left and right, anchoring and making knots are just mechanical things that anyone can do.
Do I see myself as a captain who could combine all this skills together and lead the way, honestly no. I could do that only in a familiar surrounding and in established routine. For example, if I drive the boat every day the same way and in the same place(s). Idea of unknown island hopping and cruising in unknown surrounding is not for me, or better said, it is not what I have talent or interest for.
Sailing with Lexi helped me realize that and I am thankful to her for the opportunity to learn that free of charge.
Regarding Lexi as a Captain, I can say following, she is following safety procedures, sometimes I find it necessary, sometimes not. Regarding sailing she is perfectionist, if she can sail half a knot faster she would invest effort to do it on expense of comfort.
Does she have skills, sure she does, she is natural born talent for sailing and very capable mechanic who solves problems which ordinary person would have hard time even to identify.
If I had a sailing vessel and would like it to be commanded by qualified person, she would be that one. Problem is that she is sick and tired of sailing since she is looking at it as it is. Very serious and demanding job, she sings every day lets go sailing, but in fact, she doesn’t like it any more. She did in the beginning, now just dreams of going home back to Canada.
In a way I feel like her, the first day I met her, I couldn’t wait to get on the boat, now, cant wait to get on land, to make a step on dirt. My wish is house, garden and natural pool, not a boat that rolls 24/7.
People who did not sail have no perception of what sailing is and that idea of living full time on boat is not as fun as it seems. I mean, it’s fun for a week or month, it’s a nice way to see different places, but to live on a boat as she has done for the last four years is in my view torture.
I don’t envy her, neither I wish to be at her place.
Regarding her as a person, in my opinion, she is a fat and a masculine woman. Mechanics and skippers are usually men, when you see a woman doing typical man job and vice versa, you know there is something about them that separates them from typical portrayal of woman or man in media.
However, she has amazing personality, next to her I felt as next to a friend with whom I can talk openly about any subject I wish, from politics and religion, to sex and race. There are no taboos in her mind and if I could say so, she is red pilled. She knows what real life is and what people are for real. She has no pink glasses nor is a snowflake that gets offended.
Regarding her feminine characteristics, there are some, she likes to eat a lot of sweets and is emotionally unstable, but what separates her from other woman is that she doesn’t export her internal mental problems on others. If she feels bad, it is her that feels bad, she doesn’t make others feel bad too.
She is very honest, wise and made me learn a lot, not just about sailing, but myself too. What was most shocking for me, she told me a story of a person she calls evil monkey. She says that person manipulated her for a year acting that he is what he is not. (See book 2 Sailing Crazy winds for what he is referring to)
As a person who was in politics I have met many fake persons, some are manipulating whole nations for decades, and people still have faith in them.
The problem of individual as well as of a society as a whole is that human nature is such that it wants to see only good in people and that prevents them from seeing real picture. If people could see true nature of people around them, many problems they have would be solved or even avoided.
Ivan Pernar