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Naturist
news from the Alentejo, Portugal, September 2009.
Naked
sailing.
We
recently spent a day,
with some other
naturists, sailing off the southern coast of Portugal at the
invitation of a yacht owner. Whilst none of us guests were experienced
sailors we were encouraged to get involved as much as we liked at all
times, casting off, taking the helm, hoisting the sails and even
washing the decks and hull at the end of the day or we could just spend
the day relaxing on deck. Once we were clear of the marina and other
boats, we were able to strip off and enjoy a few hours of sea breeze
and sun against our skin. Unfortunately there was too much swell for us
to heave to at lunch time and take a dip in the sea, which was
22°C, 70 metres deep at 9 miles out from shore.
"A great
day's sailing"
We can now arrange day charters for any of our guests who fancy a naked
day at sea on a safety coded yacht with a Yachtmaster Skipper, who,
whilst not a naturist himself, is happy to have naturists on board his
yacht.
Book
Review - "Active Nudists - Living
Naked at Home and in Public".
A book review is of no real value unless you know something about
the reviewers before reading the review.
After we were offered
the
opportunity to
review this book by Richard Foley, we realised that this was the first
book about nudism or naturism that we had ever read. Yes we have read
club newsletters and magazines published by national federations in
order to keep up to date with what is happening in the naturist world
and to find out about naturist places,
but to sit down and read a book filled with nude images would be a
first
for
us. As nudists, we try to lead a
totally nudist life at our home in Portugal. We like to be naked as
much as possible, because we enjoy the freedom that it gives. We also
enjoy the company of other people in a naturist environment. However, we
have never felt that books or
videos about nudism or naturism are a necessary part of such a
lifestyle. For us, naturism is about accepting social nudity without
being judgemental of other peoples' bodies. So, to be frank, we
often wonder
why naturists would want or need to watch videos or look at
photographs
portraying naked people. Yes, we
have our collection of paintings, prints and sketches hanging on the
walls of our home, which would look quite bare without some art.
In planning the guest house, we decided that non-erotic nude
images from life would be an appropriate theme for the artwork in a
naturist environment.
So, what did we make of the book?
Our conclusion is that it is an essential coffee table book
for nudists and naturists everywhere. Why?
Well, first we flicked through the pages and were pleased to see
that each chapter, covering a different area of naked
activity, showed photographs depicting real people in real
situations and not models creatively posed. So we went on to read the
text which is repeated in German, English and French. One small
criticism here is that perhaps it could have had Spanish language text
too, particularly as nudism in Spain is cited on more than one occasion
in the book.
There is no narrative describing any of the specific photos, nor are
there any
captions, which is a pity because we would have liked to know where
some of the shots were taken. However Richard cleverly extols the
virtues of being naked whilst taking part in various activities, not
just sunbathing or skinny dipping. It is clear from the very first
chapter that one aim of the book is to try to "demystify nudism" - a
phrase that we borrowed from the Clube Naturista do Algarve. Not once
does Richard use the term "naturism", although everything depicted in
the book would probably fall into the generally accepted definitions of
naturism, but then maybe the word naturism itself is often
misunderstood and needs explaining, which in turn leads people to
believe that naturists are hiding behind mystifying words. Nudity,
nudist, nakedness etc are words that everyone understands. It
is
the use of these self explanatory terms throughout the book which
brings a sense of
normality and social acceptance to being naked whilst doing any
activity.
Buy this book and leave it on your coffee table so that every visitor
to your home can see it. Those visitors who appear shocked should be
encouraged to read some of the text and maybe they will realise that
there is nothing abnormal about doing things whilst naked. You will
probably be surprised at how many would not be at all
concerned
that you are a nudist or naturist, whatever you like to call yourself.
We may well call ourselves "naktivists" from now on, after all we do so
many activities whilst naked!
"Not an
image from the
book - but "naktiv" all the same, working in the grounds at Naturest."
For
more info about the book visit http://www.naktiv.net/active-nudists/index.html
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2009 - 2011 Ray & Marnie Gloster