Yes, any day aboard is better than being shore bound but some days are a lot better aboard. Back in the late '90s, when I was a recently divorced, lowly mate on the Pacemaker, we were berthed on the old wall at Duck Key. Somehow Capt. Jim arranged a photo shoot for a German women's clothing catalog on board the boat. They were prepping next summers line. Along troops the entourage. There were the catalog rep, photographer, photogs assistant, make up guy, and hair stylist. Oh, and two absolutely gorgeous young ladies to model the clothes. Almost forgot about them! They wanted all outdoor shots on the bow and fly bridge. We cruised out to Hawk Channel and the rep began telling Capt. what she wanted. Stuff like, the island or sea for background, the breeze from different directions, etc., so Jimmy had a lot mannuvering to keep him busy. Myself on the other hand, didn't have a whole lot to do since we weren't going to drop the hook. The Pacemaker was a flush deck so the crew decided to set up in the main salon. They had four racks of clothes with them ,the girls could change and be on deck in seconds. That's when things got interesting. For me, anyway. Since I wasn't really doing anything the girls invited me to hang out in the salon to look at the clothes that they would pick out for each shot. You may or may not know, for clothing shoots the models usually don't wear underwear. No lines to break the shape of the garments, you know. Well, I got to spend about three hours with two basically naked ladies on a beautiful Keys day on a beautiful boat while the rest of the world was drudging away at whatever it was that they did on their work days. Yes, some days are definitely better, even when you're aboard everyday!
My first exposure to models was when I was around 22 and we had a sales meeting with some. I helped them and was shocked that they didn't use changing screens or anything and would just have you hand them the items face to face while completely naked. It was the norm in their profession. After the show then invited them to stay for lunch and sitting beside the model I'd helped, now clothed but still no under garments, was just like talking to anyone else and she was a very intelligent and nice girl. Its just any discomfort over being seen naked was long gone. Guess it prepared me for meeting my wife 7 years or so later as she had no hesitancy over disrobing. Being naked around another person was a huge change for me though. However, with our friends and living in Fort Lauderdale and boating, I'm now surrounded by girls who are not at all self conscious about their bodies. For me, being on the patio by the pool but not having a shirt on still gives me pause. I've adjusted though and now accept nudity and near nudity just fine. With all the things we have in our world that are messed up and need fixing, it's amazing that nudity is something even to concern people.
No nudity, but my first exposure to models was 20 years ago, when I was it: Ad for a Wealth Management Group chartered a Swan 53, a big name photographer from Switzerland and spent 2 days sailing and shooting 200 pics for this ad in the Gulf Stream just East of Miami. Norseman in red shirt, wifey next to me. Lots of good catering, good sailing and nice restaurant dinners in the evenings as well as cash in the pocket.
Just want to make sure Capt J: Your comment was about the original poster, or my posting with a picture of yours truly...? (Just have to make sure before I do another delivery with you Big Boy )
My buddies and I rented a house in the Hamptons when I was in my 20's. One of the guys was dating a very high end NYC/world model and she started to bring out all of her model friends (don't worry, boating blunder to follow). The pool incident: I was happy to see that the girls didn't wear clothes around the pool and walked around the house topless. Two had major attitudes and thought they were god's gift. I woke up one very hung over afternoon to find my new Corvette was gone and after 30 min of scratching my head and recalling the night's events, I was sure I parked it unscathed in the driveway. I found out one of the snotty girls took it to go shopping. We were all sitting pool side when she returned with bags in hand and as she walked between me and the pool to show her friends the $$$$ worth of things she bought, she threw the keys at me (without a thank you or anything), I stood up and shoved her in the pool fully clothed with all of her bags. A week later, our relationship changed for the better!!! The boat incident: A week or so before the pool incident, I had trailered my 27' Excalibur out to the house. Six of the girls wanted to go for a ride so we all went to the ramp to launch and have a fun day on the water. This was the second week there and I was a wreck with nerves as six super models watched as I launched and prepped the boat. They all got on and I made it about 10' when the engine died. I found the engine half submerged and got someone to quickly shove us back to the dock. I FORGOT THE **** PLUG!!! That was a first and a last............ The rest of that summer can't be discussed here but I'll say that my buddy and I had a very good, productive competition involving guests and other unsuspecting Hamptons vacationers
Fun night on the boat. The fighting chair "entertainer" incident: I was thinking that I shouldn't but I actually told my wife this one so I guess I'm good. I was bringing my 50 Hatteras from FL up to CT with two friends. We stopped in Daytona for the night and one friend immediately asked where the closest strip club was. Fast forward, we were at the bar getting no attention because some guys were keeping the entertainment busy with $1 bills. I walked up to the stage with a $50 and said that my friends needed company. One girl introduced herself and then HER MOTHER I don't drink anymore and always got up early to get underway while my friends slept so I left them there and went to the boat. About 2 hrs later, I woke up to giggles coming from outside. I cracked the door open and saw one of the entertainers dancing for my friend who was sitting in the fighting chair. No, it wasn't the girl or her mother, it was a different one. One friend gave her a big tip which she tossed in her duffel bag in the salon. While she was dancing for my other friend, the first guy came in and took the $100 bill from her bag and tipped her again. The $100 was recycled many times and this went on for a good hour. The next day while 40 miles offshore, one friend woke up, came out of the salon and said "who's bag is this"? STOP THE BOAT!!! I thought she was sleeping somewhere. Fortunately she wasn't so we looked in her bag for a name/number etc. Inside were things like her wallet, car/house keys, birth control pills, a 10' bowie knife, stripper perfume etc, etc. Going against my friends idea of tossing it overboard, I decided we would make some calls at our next stop. We called the place where it all started but I was brushed off by a really rude guy who wouldn't give me the time of day. So, I called the marina where we were and was told that she came to look for us. He told her to check back with him so I walked 2 miles to a pack and ship place and overnighted it back to the marina. A year later on our southbound trip, timing had us in Daytona in the evening so we pulled into the same marina. I saw the dockmaster and reminded him of what happened. He said "OMG, that girl never called or came back". They mailed the bag to the only address that was on her license but the bag was returned to the marina and they finally got rid of it 6 months later. We tried!
