Saturday on the Goose

For those of you who are snow bound or live a land life I thought I might show what a typical Saturday is like down here in the Keys:

 

Mornings always start out with a bit of reading or crafts as one or the other of us tries to talk the "other one" into making some breakfast. Today though, it was different. After a short reading period I got the dinghy down and we headed into the marina.

One of the dinghy "parking" areas at the marina

We had a morning breakfast date with Pat and Walt from “Waves of Grace” at 'IHOP'. They were featuring fancy French toast as is this months specialty… YUMMM! It’s a gentle 1 mile bike ride from the marina to the restaurant, just enough to work up an appetite.

Afterwards, back at the local city park there was a nautical/regular flea market in full swing. We always have a fun time walking around these. If we don’t find something “artsy” to look at or buy there’s always the off chance that I might find yet another tool to PU on the cheep.

 

Entertainment at the park

 

It was a cool but sunny day (almost 70 degs) so I started working on the rust that had formed on the Starboard mizzen chain plate. That’s the steel tang that you attach the wire to that holds up the back mast. A bit of scraping, chipping, priming and painting took care of the rust. Then I worked on the Mercury 3.5HP outboard that I had bought. I’ve been working on it for the last week and today  I got it to run! So, I stuck it on the dinghy and went for a ride. I bet that I have the only dinghy with dual motors on the back in the entire anchorage!

After I got back to the boat, a couple that we met the other day stopped over and asked if we’d like to come by their boat about 5 o’clock for snacks and “sundowners”…(that’s having drinks while you yak, tell stories and watch the sun go down). We had a great evening with Jack and Alois from “Rising Star” while telling stories about the Chesapeake and watching a beautiful sunset from the bridge of their trawler.

 

 This Saturday was a bit fuller than normal but not that unusual. Socializing and helping one another out when you’re a cruiser is the “norm” rather than being the abnormal (as it is on land). I guess, if I had to point to the one thing that truly draws me to this life of wind and waves, it’s the people you meet that makes it unique. So, I’ll leave you with a toast often heard at sundowners:

Here's to the tall ships,

Here's to the small ships,

And all the ships in-between.

The BEST ships are the friendships

Between you and me!