Slipped our mooring early (0830) this morning and took off on an adventure. We picked up Wendy and Dan, stopped at Burdine's for fuel, met Jennifer Brewster (Bowdoin '73) who might be an owner of Burdine's but at least is a respected worker there....then headed safely out to sea.
We went to the lighthouse at Sombrero Reef, a place we'd been about 20+ years ago when we rented a bare boat for a week. There are about 15 moorings there in 20 feet of water. Great (well good) snorkeling there, lots of fish of many colors, big coral heads/shelves, and beautiful fan coral in blue, purple, white. I didn't have a snorkel so had to hold my breath. No worries. The water was delicious, not too salty, not too hot or cold, just right! Floating was easy. We did have to keep swimming, else we'd have floated safely (?) out to sea. There were about 10 boats there w/us. The water was so clear that I alerted David that we were about to run over grass, generally 3' or less when you can see it. We were in 10' of water!!!
 |
| Sombrero Reef light - not much to look at but lots of beauty under the surface! |
We stayed for an hour or so then headed back, about 1 hour trip, light to mooring, dropping Wendy and Dan off at their boat on our way. A nap! Into shore for a shower - relief from the salt and mugginess!
Then off to dinner at the Marathon Yacht Club - NOT our informal, laid back Harraseeket Yacht Club. We'd been invited by some folks David met at a nautical yard sale. It was a barbecue - bring your own food to grill or order from a couple options they provided. We ordered. Not too expensive but more than we'd been told. The "lowering the flag" ceremony near sunset was the officers, I assume, of the club all in white, some uniforms had epaulets. Officers marched out around the pool to the flag pole, we all sang the national anthem to recorded music while the flag was lowered. Then the cannon (! cute little thing with a BIG BANG) was fired and we sang America the Beautiful. Then the officers marched back around the pool and it was time to go inside to eat. The dining room was formal, white table clothes, carpeted in a very nautical pattern (anchors surrounded by line in gold and navy blue), dishes with the yacht club emblem, a full bar and really busy bartender. Food was delicious. NOT our HYC picnic style. Really a country club with a pool and a few boats. Met some lovely people.
When David and Dan went to get popcorn a pretty heavy painting fell on David's head. He had an egg, a bruise, and a headache. It knocked him out briefly. No concussion but a scare. This evening his pupils were the same size so we expect no permanent damage. The painting was oil of a full sail boat sailing "off course" as the MC said later. It was one of several that will be auctioned this weekend to support their youth sailing program foundation. There is money in them there slips!
We walked back to our marina, a couple blocks, filled our water bottles and headed home to boat and an early sleep.
Amelia did not throw up once today, in spite of the heat and the rocking of the boat. Good.
No comments:
Post a Comment