Porter with the World's Playgrounds

On Galatea, our previous boat, the primary goal for the daily shore adventure was to find a playground or open field to play in and usually an ice cream store. This was certainly because, at the time, we were much younger and the boat barely provided the room for us to burn off enough energy to avoid driving our parents overboard. (No pun intended.) Now, on Sila, the shore visits are a little more centered on museums and checking out the places' adventures, although we don't mind getting ice cream. Even though it isn't the main goal of most visits ashore, we do still enjoy the playgrounds.

Over the world's playgrounds, Jack and I have come to realize that two things can make a playground worth the visit to us now: anything that spins quickly and obstacle courses, particularly if they include climbing nets. 

We find that we can enjoy faster spinning more easily after sailing. The all-time best "spinning thing," as Jack and I call them, was in Bilbao, Spain. It was three seats around a wheel that you used to spin the seats. We took two of the seats and spun until we couldn't walk two steps on a straight line. In Bayona, Spain there was an obstacle course including balance logs, stumps you had to hop between, and a net up a wall and down the other side. Jack and I raced again and again, trying to best each other's record speeds without fault.

Recently, in the Azores, we have found new parks including both climbing nets and spinning things. The first park had three different spinning things and a playground ship to climb. There was one with four seats suspended from a pole. One person pushed the other four around. While it was fun, it was not the best as the seats were uncomfortable and it spun a little too slowly for our, Jack's and mine not the parents', preference. The second was the same thing, except we hung from it instead of sitting on seats. It was best, as we could leap on, maintaining speed but not necessarily having all five of us on at once.

The third was a simple flat circular piece of wood that we sat on and that spun. We would start leaning out, having someone push us to get going, before pulling to accelerate suddenly.

 Andrew starts Daddy

(note the extended legs)

It was quite fun, although we nearly lost the fresh bread that had been our breakfast.

Daddy gets going to the amusement of Andrew

(note the tucked in legs causing acceleration)

The main playground piece, the slides and rope bridges between wooden towers, was vaguely in the shape of a ship. There was one mast, which Jack immediately climbed, regardless of the playground builder's intentions. The mast had a yard-arm which provided a nice perch for the two of us.

Jack part way up the main playground piece.

At another playground, Jack and I found a pole supporting a complex web of rope for climbing. We raced to touch the top, then the ground, and then the four corners, all without putting any weight on the ground.

 Jack and I stand at the top of a climbing net.

I look forward to the fun of playgrounds, even though finding a good one is not foremost in my mind. After all, there is very little as satisfying as spinning yourself to the point of incapacitation or beating your brother's best time on an obstacle course by a full five seconds. -Porter