The Cruisers' Net

Weather: Temp range – 70 – 84 degrees; gentle 10 to 15 knot breeze in the harbor; mostly sunny all day

Comment: After being on the move for the last five days, we are finally enjoying some down time. Everyone slept in, some of us more than others (the Texans are still operating in the Central Time Zone)!

At 0900 hours, we gathered around the ol’ VHF radio to listen to the “Cruisers’ Net.” A proud, if somewhat folksy tradition of introducing new boaters to the community, saying goodbye to cruisers who are leaving the harbor, exchanging information, selling, buying or swapping boat stuff and answering trivia questions. The net lasted for about 45 minutes following which, Anna Marie and Marje boarded the “Smorgasboat” (the harbor’s water taxi) and Ed and I boarded the dinghy for a trip to the liquor store. Ed ran out of scotch (remember the “case” in the earlier post?) and we needed a few bottles of other beverages.

Following this, Anna Marie and Ed took the dinghy to the marina for laundry detail. Anna Marie drove the dinghy for the first time EVER. After strapping on three life jackets she throttled up. In the collision that followed, Ed injured his forearm and got whiplash. The mothership sustained minor damage. All was sorted out and they motored off into the sunshine. While ashore, Ed visited the hospital to be treated for his injuries, got the name of a good lawyer, and did his laundry. When they returned to shore, Marje and I took a lesss adventurous dinghy trip to shore.

Marje stayed ashore while I motored back to the boat to pick up the fthers. Once ashore, we walked a couple of miles to the Sombrero Tiki Bar to meet the crew of "Hielan' Lass." They’re heading home tomorrow via car but they'll be back in about a month to continue their adventure.

Tonight’s on board entertainment is “Half A Sixpence,” a play we saw on Broadway when we (Anna Marie, Marje and me) were seniors in (the same) high school.