My friend Richard's slip at the Destin Yacht Club was fabulous. The whole time Linda was with me we never moved the boat. At home, she hates to stay at the dock. But at the Destin Yacht Club, we both loved being at the dock. The people were so nice, the weather was perfect (cool nights, sunny and breezy days), and the wildlife and views of Destin Harbor were easy to soak in.
Then, Barry and his wife Madge loaned us their car for several days. So, I got a haircut, restocked the boat and was able to pick up Linda at the airport. We had mistakenly assumed that she would be able to get a cab from the airport, but her flight arrived at midnight and the little airport had rolled up the sidewalks and locked up. Also, Madge and Barry's friends, Mike and Elise made the trip very special.
I was parked next to a Viking 65 sportfish Yacht which was manned by its professional captain, Louis, a americanized Bahamian who has spent all of his 69 years on the water. We became friends over the week and he offered me all kinds of stuff and advice. He never seemed to tire of my questions about the Bahamas, about sport fishing, about the weather patterns in the Gulf, etc. When Linda arrived, he warmed up to her right away (go figure) and answered her probing questions about his personal life. She learned that he was not married ("This life no work for a wife, mon."). She said, "Don't you get lonesome?" In a long answer we learned that he has 17 children by seventeen different mothers. We think they all live in the Bahamas. Don't guess he is lonesome for long.
My last day, he gave me bag of frozen baitfish to troll behind the boat. When he saw my little freshwater fishing rod, he said, "Whachu gonna catch with dat, mon?" I wasn't going to make any obvious comments about the size of equipment to a man that has fathered seventeen children.
He gave us a tour of the boat that was truly one of the most impressive vessels I have ever been aboard. There were more freezers and refrigerating compartments than we could count. The cabins looked like something on a Ritz Carlton. Even Louis' cabin was nicer than anything on our boat. The carpet throughout the boat was white...which would explain why we had to remove our boat shoes to enter (No shoes inside, Mon.) The sliding door from the aft deck opened with the tap of a toe button. The bilges were cleaner than any refrigerator I have ever owned.
But, at some point, all cruising boat has to leave the marina. My new crew arrived 30 minutes after Linda's cab left on Monday. After going through the boat systems, safety discussions, etc., we motored the boat over the the fuel dock. Now we were ready to venture out Tuesday morning at first light. We would go back through Destin Pass and back into "The Washing Machine." I tossed and turned in my berth Monday night wondering what we would find the next day.
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