Full Moon Follies

A friend of mine is coming home. Well, as much as home is home to those of us who roam, and this friend is a far flung roamer. So I need to be on another island in a week and a half and the best way to get there is by boat (best meaning not paying the price of a ticket to Europe by flying 15 miles). I headed to the bar and had one great offer. As sailors know though, one offer needs plan B and C and maybe D as a back up. I'd heard some friends of mine were out at Dakity and I knew they'd be headed in the right direction so I turned to the mouth of the bay in a gusty wind and headed in that direction.

The waves were bouncy and the wind was brisk, but because I was headed in exactly the right direction, I only got misted, not splashed. And the farther I went, the more fun it became, a reminder of old days on sailing ships far out to sea. Of course, this was my imagination, but I have a good one. I thought about a time off the coast of southern Spain when a force 8 was blowing and we'd lost one out of two engines and there was no hidey hole ...except maybe there was...this little town slightly tucked into the coast where maybe we could tie up. Capt. Frank took off in the dinghy while I drove the boat with an untried helper along for the ride. We drove in big circles around the slight bay, wind howling, waves high. I could look not so far to shore and see people lining up on the wharf, watching us. I looked out to sea and watched container ships coming in to escape the storm. Timing my circles around container ships with one engine...terrifying but incredibly exhilarating...in some weird way. Then along comes Frank in the dinghy, with two others. New trick pony...can't stop, must not run over them, must make it work. We did it! And then, knowing we had a place to go, bless those boys, we came in and lashed up beside a pristine sailboat that had just been finished for charter...so brave, so kind that man! And this giant of a Spaniard pulled me over the rail and hugged me saying, 'You're safe now.' I was pretty sure, despite my lack of religion, that he was truly an angel, and of course started sobbing - which lasted a minute until laughter took over and someone handed me a glass of wine and everything was good.

And THAT was why I was laughing all the way out to Dakity, even though plan B didn't work out - but maybe plan E... I forgot about why I'd had to come ashore, my arm that decided it was older than my mind and brought me to Culebra. Taking another friend to the Seabourne dock, bouncing off and away made me forget more...I remember this sort of fun! It kept me laughing most of the way back. And singing loud songs until I hit my own dock and saw people I knew coming down to get their own dinghy to their boat. As I headed up the path home the guy started singing the song I was singing when I came in....life is good.

On a full moon late afternoon. With a post I'll later on think, should I post this? But instead, I will and hope you are having a great full moon day and night of your own.