Noodling away in Trinidad
by Christine Kling
One of the problems many cruisers face is the difficulty of staying fit. Cruising can be a rather sedentary lifestyle. In fact, sailing a cruising boat requires only rare short bursts of physical energy and these are not nearly enough to counteract the effect of the calories in the amount of rum consumed. So finding some sort of physical exercise is important if you want to continue to be able to crawl out of your dinghy.
I was first introduced to “noodling” (aka aqua aerobics) when I joined my friends Mark and Willie on their yacht Liahona in the Virgin Islands last November after completing the Caribbean 1500. They motored over to Peter Island, dropped the hook. Soon after, Willie handed me a noodle and told me to follow her into the water The main thing I remember from those first session in the anchorage was trying to beat the noodle into submission without drowning in the process.
Warning: if you think that reference to beating my noodle was an unintended pun, you’ve got the wrong impression of me.
Anyway, no, I am not talking the sort of pasta that you eat. I’m talking about that glorious invention of modern man the pool noodle, aka woggles (UK), frites (France), or churros (Spain) – after all cruisers are an international community. These are the long colorful styrofoam tubes that either give one bad dreams from an old 90’s movie called Tremors, or the things that yachties are likely to slice up to use as insulation when they don’t feel like doing aqua aerobics any longer.
So, shortly after my arrival here in Trinidad, I was reunited with Willie Haskins of S/V Liahona and she recruited me to join the ladies in the pool for the class she leads in water aerobics. Aside from the fact that it is fun meeting new people and chatting in the pool every morning (okay, gossiping), the best thing about doing this exercise regime for over two weeks now is the fact that my shorts are getting baggier. I can tell the difference in my body already. And I’ve learned that in addition to knowing what to call a noodle, there are different kinds of noodles. The other morning, one of the ladies showed up with a Jumbo Noodle she had recently bought at Peakes. Of course, this prompted a serious discussion about girth and length and stiffness for the optimum noodle. Needless to say, one of the healthiest side effects of aqua aerobics is the laughter.
And I got many a chuckle out of the minor skirmish that took place shortly after my arrival that has come to be known in the annals of Trinidad history as “The Noodle Wars.” You see Willie’s aqua aerobics classes are very popular and the pool here in the marina where Wild Matilda and Liahona are docked is a very small pool. As the numbers of noodlers grew, one cruiser who was docked at a different marina invited the group over to their much larger pool. This other marina is also a bit more posh, i.e. expensive. The whole gang showed up for about three days in the fancy pool, but we eventually got kicked out in a very un-cruiser-like display of territorial defense. The great irony was that the person who complained that hordes of the great unwashed were daring to noodle their way into paradise later decided she too wanted to noodle and began to fight for her right to noodle! The intrepid noodlers refused to either pay for the right to noodle in the posh pool or be bought off – and the end result is there are winners and losers in the Noodle Wars. Next thing you know there will be a reality TV show on the Cruising Noodlers of Trinidad!
My friend Willie is actually a retired physical therapy professor from FIU, and she recently published a fabulous article complete with photos entitled “Staying Fit While Cruising with Water Aerobics” in the September issue of the magazine Caribbean Compass. You can download the entire issue at that link and you’ll find her article on page 24. I am trying to convince Willie that lots of cruising folk would like to follow her aqua aerobics exercises, most of which can be done in the ocean around your anchored boat with a simple styrofoam noodle. She really should put together an eBook and self-publish it, right? In the magazine article, they limited her to X number of photos, but in her book, she could include as many photos as she wants, and she could explain how to do the exercises just like she does for us in the swimming pool. Don’t you agree that it’s a great idea?
If you would like to see this book on water aerobics for cruisers, please help me convince Willie by leaving an encouraging comment here on the blog.
Fair winds!
Christine
p.s. My book Circle of Bones: a Caribbean Thriller will be free on Amazon from Friday 10/19 through Sunday 10/21. Please help me spread the word so I’ll give away thousands of copies!
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