Alright, (while I can’t confidently speak to the inner-workings of tequila-making), I’m sure it isn’t actually “brewed,” but I needed it to work with my theme. Just let me run with this.
June 5, 2015:
We have always found it funny (startling, actually) how really small the “cruising community” is. You will meet a gal in a little marina on the other side of the world who knows the guy who is fixing up a boat in the slip next to you back in your home port. I’m not kidding. It’s global but, in a sense, it is so small. And, the way you meet people and make those connections tends to be such good fodder for my favorite thing in all of cruising — STORIES. Let me ask you, how many times have you met a new cruiser in port or out in an anchorage because you needed to borrow something? Perhaps you ran out of duct tape (blasphemy!), or you can’t find your little keyring thing of allen wrenches, or you need to bum some of that all-purpose wonder stuff, anti-corrosion spray, to knock a rusty bolt off. It happens all the time, and cruisers are some of the most generous folks when it comes to lending out their useful boat stuff. Case in point here, and a good story to go with it. This occurred sometime in June of 2014 when Phillip and I had just returned from our Cruise to the Keys. We met a fantastic cruising couple at one of our local anchorages because we needed to bum something and when they came back through our cruising grounds the next year, they cashed in on the favor in a most interesting way with something borrowed, something brewed. (And, I can’t really say why I started this blog on such a sing-song note. Perhaps I was inspired by the soon-to-be-released book Suess so long ago wrote. Either way, I think I’ll have some fun with words today, and present a rhythmic blog upon which I hope you dote.) Here’s how it played out:
On the hook one morning, the Captain and I found ourselves in quite the pickle. It seems we’d brought a hose for our dinghy pump that was far too fickle. Without the proper inflating dinghy nub, our dinghy was a sinking tub, and bound to our boat we would be as sad as a cell that is sickle.
The Captain refused to sit stranded on our boat on his rump, so he set off on the SUP to request from our anchor neighbors a loaner pump. He stumbled upon a couple, the dame quite supple, on an exquisite Dufour who countered the Captain’s request with an offer for trade in sum lump.
The ladies on the Dufour, were digging the Cap’n and his board and believed, in exchange for loaning their pump, a free stand-up paddle lesson was in store. The Captain happily agreed, considering a lesson an easy deed, to allow us mobility for all the fun dinghy outings the weekend could afford.
Later in the day, when the Dufour crew got back out, they stopped by our boat to bring us a brew that was quite stout, as the Dufour dame, it seemed, like Patron with coffee teamed, the taste of which we would love she did not doubt.
In all, we spent a grand day with the couple “next door,” their spirit and spunk quite fitting for a Dufour. We were thrilled to learn, they would soon return as they sailed from Mandeville to our area every year for a month or three or four.
True to their word, the Dufour couple sailed back our way this past May and tried to coordinate another rendezvous at Ft. McRee. Sadly, with schedules jam-packed, the cards against us were stacked, and it appeared we were only going to pass them briefly in the ICW one particular day.
The Dufour dame it seemed believed that was close enough indeed. She decided to cash in the long-owed dinghy pump favor, with a liquor she could savor, and she enlisted the Captain and I to bring her a bottle of which she was in dire need.
Wanting to repay the fine couple for rescuing us so long ago, we set off that day, our boat loaded with her precious cargo. Near the North Cut, I spotted the Dufour crew, toting another couple, too, awaiting our arrival in colorful hats and attire reminiscent of Key Largo.
They rafted up quick as we motored along and worked quickly to accomplish the exchange. Captain Dufour graciously paid us extra for the cost of the liquor, while a smile, a chuckle and a “keep the change.” The dame, alone, was quick to satisfy her thirst for Patron, and she immediately grasped the bottle and tipped it up the minute it was within range.
(Love it Cara!)
Once the exchange was made, we bid the DuFour crew adieu, and they dinghied back to their anchorage their spirits anew with fresh “brew.” Having fulfilled our pact, our boat borrowing karma well intact, the Captain and I continued along content, knowing we would likely find ourselves someday in need of a boat-to-boat alcohol delivery, too.
