It's a Dinghy Party!

So... we get a call this week that we're invited to a dinghy party. "What is a dinghy party?" we ask... and "How does that work?" The plan is for anyone attending to tie their dinghy to a mooring near the host's sailboat, then somehow they'll be serving chili to everyone there! We are to bring our own chili toppings, drinks, bowls & utensils. Now, YOU may be wondering... when did Crystal & Scott get a dinghy? Well, we didn't... so once again we rely on our good friends, Barb & Dave to come up with a choreographed "plan of action" to get 7 people to the mooring. (I wasn't quite sure how they were going to manage that since the last time we had 5 in their dinghy, and my butt was skimming the water!) When we got to the dock, we were fortunate to meet up with another boater who gave 3 of us (the girls) a ride directly to the party... while the 4 men went out to Dave's sailboat before joining us.

The site looked a bit comical as we approached the group of dinghies... they looked like a bunch of refugees huddled together, waiting to be "rescued"! A few were tied to the mooring, then later arrivals just tied up to the other dinghies. As we sat there mingling, the boats would jostle around, giving us access to someone we hadn't yet met! (When it came time to depart, the ropes had to be untangled first.) I ended up moving about into other boats with people who had more room, each time meeting a couple new faces & getting to know them.

Each of us took turns passing our empty bowls to our host & hostess, Hal & Inga, sometimes crossing through about 3 or 4 dinghies before reaching the pot of chili! The chili was great (although a bit too spicy for me)! Unfortunately, the "boy boat" from our group had all our toppings AND my drinks! I tried to hold off on eating mine to wait for the guys, but there was no sign of them yet. As Inga called out to anyone wanting "seconds", we were still wondering where the men were? Finally, we could see them approaching... it was too late for any toppings on my serving of chili, but I sure was ready for that drink!

We then sat around in the "pod", chatting with some new friends and finding out about their "life on their boat" stories. Some of the group took a swim to cool off while the rest of us just sat around talking.

Then one by one, as the sun sank lower in the horizon, the dinghies began to peel off from the pod heading back to their "live-aboard" boats. And when they were ready to leave, "homeless Crystal" would move once again! This continued until the last 3 boats were ready to call it a night. We then disconnected ourselves from the mooring and just drifted toward the dock at the marina.

It was Barbara's birthday, so we moved the party off the dinghies and back to their apartment nearby. Unfortunately, I lost steam very quickly after that. (I'd been awake since 5:30 am!) I remember Scott making an announcement: "Oh wow, it's 10:30 already!"... and thinking, "Yes, it is... now can we please go home?" (I didn't say it out loud, but I was seriously having trouble staying awake at this point!)

It really was a great afternoon... and another new "fun" experience! (And I finally crawled into bed at around midnight!)