The last two days spent on Ardea in Cook’s bay have proven
to be equally interesting, but in very different ways. Two nights ago, I said
goodbye to Steve, the friend who we originally met as crew from Spirit Guide.
Taylor and I had spent many evenings with him at the hotel Bali Hai, where we
tie up Tuerto; the toughest dinghy around. We all enjoyed hours together
drinking beers, wines, and enjoying delicious dinners of cheese, fruit and
numerous pâtés, (we’re so French) while “cockroaching” off a bungalow of Bali
Hai’s. The term cockroaching was newly introduced to me by Steve, and I embrace
it wholeheartedly. It means using something that isn’t yours, but not
necessarily stealing. We’ve spent four nights enjoying dinner and cocktails on
the deck of a bungalow that’s under construction; there’s no one in it, so we
just take advantage of it. So after a final night of cockroaching with Steve,
whose quote of the night was “I think the thing we should really concentrate on
tonight, is drinking”, we were all geared up for a final night of pétanque,
only to get to the arena and find it dark and empty. We were all super
disappointed but then made up for it by going to a nearby restaurant and
enjoying more wine and hors d’oeuvres. When the rain started pouring down, we
knew it was time to return to Ardea. We gave Steve a final hug goodbye and
promised to keep in touch. He was truly a wonderful friend and I had such a great time with him. He's going to be missed for sure. We were going to return super early the next morning
to give him one of Ardea’s famous beer coozey’s, but that night became so
windy, we hardly got any sleep because of paranoia of running aground of
dragging anchor. Sorry Steve! We’ll get one to you somehow!
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Last night...well that’s a whole different story and that’s
where the title of this post comes from. No Mom, it’s not a marijuana
reference. The wind in Cook’s bay has increased so much over the past few days,
and the real problem is that it’s not consistent. Huge puffs come through,
sometimes at 20-25 knots causing little Ardea to spin in circles. Last night
was the puffiest of all, and it was officially my first stressful night aboard.
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. After making a decision to
re-anchor around dusk because a fellow cruiser had anchored way way too close
for comfort, we started to regret this decision. Around 7 pm, the wind really
started to pick up and we had already given up our solid anchor for a new one,
and we were dragging. This means that our anchor was dragging beneath us and we
weren’t stationary; something very unnerving when you’re 100 feet from shore
and even closer to other cruisers. A very stressful night ensued with minimal
sleep; Taylor and I were both poking our heads out to check our position. Not my choice way to spend Bastille Day, but hey, I still can’t complain. I
expect more stressful nights aboard Ardea, but I certainly don’t look forward
to them...
All is well though! Even though we continue today to spin in circles.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend Gus! May your day be
filled with Salmon and Rainier!
Much love
Dear Anna And Taylor,
ReplyDeleteYou were both missed upon our parting. I was honored to have been included in your Boozeysnakes Blog. I so covert the limited edition Ardea beer coozy I have included my address in this communique; Steve, 450 Brentwater Rd., Camp Hill, PA, 17011. My beer is warm and so wants to be COOL. I spent three days, disoriented in Philadelphia. Eating, drinking, reconnecting and just urban adventuring. You know me. it's hard and wonderful to be back.