Runaway Dinghy!

I knew there was a reason I like having at least one other boat anchored nearby in deserted places …

We puttered over to the tiny deserted beach, about one-quarter mile from where Sea Change lolled in the mid-day sun. I was thinking, “what a lazy day ... there won’t be much to blog about tonight ...”.

As we landed Small Change on the beach, I said, “let’s bring her up higher”- “naw” said Jeff – we’re going to be right near it”. So we both pulled out our kindles and spent a pleasant hour lying on the tiny beach with only the sound of waves lapping on the shore near-by. As we started packing up to leave, Jeff says, in a panicked voice, “Where’s our boat?”. YIKES! In the quite far distance, we could see Small Change, heading out into the sunset on her own!!

“I’m going to swim to Sea Change and take her to get the dinghy”, yells my captain, as he plunges into the water, and starts the quarter mile swim to the boat. Meanwhile, I was spotting the dink, getting further and further away every minute. Then Jeff starts up the sailboat, and I see it disappear around the bend. “Where in the world did he go?”, I’m wondering. He had headed towards our neighbour’s sailboat, and dropped our anchor. Next thing I know, our neighbour’s dinghy is speeding towards our runaway boat. Jeff had hailed him as they were leaving for a ride, and they offered to help. Good thing, too, because Jeff couldn’t have sailed a straight line to the dinghy in the ebbing tide.

Before I knew it, Jeff was arriving to fetch me from the deserted beach, in our retrieved dinghy – whew! Time for gin and coconut water, and many grateful thanks to our rescuers – it really does pay to always have another boat near-by J.