Have you ever herd the term grotty yachty?
I just Googled it, and found this entry from travelingbythewind.blogspot.com, which reads –
Grotty Yachty
The Grotty Yachty spends more time “on the hook” than in marinas. They bathe nowhere near often enough and are easily spotted by the wet patch on their arse from dinghy trips ashore to get rid of rubbish or collect water. In the event of unexpected visitors, the Grotty Yachty always has a couple of cold beers in the fridge and at least half a bottle of rum (in case of female visitors). The Grotty Yachty will get their hands dirty for you, go out of their way to do you a favour and would give you the grease covered torn t-shirt (usually the only one they own) off their back. The Grotty Yachty does not own shoes.
Interesting site by some fellow Aussies, that I find to be a good read.
There are a few things that we carry on Sea Pearl to stop us wandering into Grotty Yachty territory, as grooming for cruisers isn’t always as straight forward as it is at home.
When you are sailing to a different bay, Island or even Country, at least every month – going ashore to put your regular grooming needs in the hands of someone new, who doesn’t know your particular quirks or requirements, can be a little questionable.
So when it comes to Paolo’s haircuts or beard trimming and my waxing and mani/pedis, we decided to take matters into our own hands and do it “in-house” or “in-boat” to be more accurate. And YES, these tools do pass the “Is it Absolutely Necessary”test.
When I found Paolo purchasing some men’s hair clippers many years ago, on a trip to Napoli, I asked him what he needed them for, when he frequented a perfectly good barber back home in Siena. To which he answered – “we can’t be serious about sailing around the world if I can’t even cut my own hair. I can do yours too if you would like?”
I didn’t take him up on his offer, and will brave, finding a completely new hairdresser in a foreign country every 3-6 months to give me a haircut, even when we don’t speak the same language (pics on my mobile usually help here). But I did stop dying my hair like so many women my age, during Covid. So that’s one less job to do “in-boat”, and maybe one step closer to Grotty Yachty status, but one I am glad to have given up.
I have since added to Paolo’s “in-boat” sentiment and bought the accoutrements for Waxing. After dripping wax all over my mother’s kitchen as a teen-ager, I always admired the swift, deft strokes with which the many professional beauticians have removed my unwanted hair over the years.
Now on Sea Pearl, using a compact, non-drip home waxing kit ensures that I am not at the mercy of a new, possibly poorly trained, sadistic beautician, or waiting days for an appointment that weather or circumstance has prevented me from taking. I can sort myself out “in-boat”, whenever necessary. Even better now that I have given the skipper some extra training, as he can do the hard to get-to bits.
I find that after a swim in the sea, and my skin is softened, is the perfect time to give myself a pedicure. I like to sit on our swimming platform and give my feet a good seeing-too with pumice stone and other tools, that quickly make the dead skin on my feet into fish food, without going to one of those fish spas. Cleaning my feet and keeping them wet with sea water is much less harsh on my feet. My toenails are clean and ready to start filing and polishing.
Every step towards self-sufficiency that we take, saves us time and money to do more sailing!