Night Out

One of the nice things about cruising is the impromptu evenings spent with other cruisers. I am at the North Carolina Welcome Center on Route 17. This is a shared facility with a dock that services the Dismal Swamp Canal. Last night we had six boats:

·         s/v Moxie (Gerry and Debbie Connolly)

·         s/v Suenos (Shawn and Leanne Hamill)

·         s/v Daruma (Mark Whitson and Joelle Williams)

·         s/v First Love (Gill and Sharlene)

·         “Gin Palace” Carried Away (Bill and Joyce Craig)

and of course Reboot. With six boats we had to raft up (the boats get bigger but the docks remain the same length!) This is always an ice breaker as you get to know the people who are crossing over your boat to get to land. In the late afternoon everyone had gathered on the dock with their beverage of choice. Gill invited me to barbeque with them. I was a bit concerned as I had almost nothing in the way of food to contribute. The grill got fired up (charcoal, not the normal propane on the boat) and the next thing I know everyone is bringing out snacks. Feeling very guilty I tried to retreat to Reboot but was stopped by everyone. I was invited to join and was even given some very nice steak. Desperate to do something I realized I had a large number of “snack pack” puddings and Jello so off I went to bring them over. I felt much better as people dug in. We are all headed north so tomorrow we will convoy up to Deep Creek lock. A lovely evening with new friends.

Fair winds and following seas J