Small communities seem to love controversy. A good one can easily get you through the long Maine winters. There has been much controversy in our tiny town of Castine the past few years over the "overcrowded" dinghy dock. Of course, we see a dinghy dock that is typically half empty but there was some Saturday that someone had to push a boat out of the way to pull up to the dock. So now, we need rules and regulations and enforcement.
This past week we were anchored in the Rhode River with about a hundred boats to attend the SSCA Gam. It's held at Camp Letts which has very limited dock space. So every boat must anchor out and use their dinghy to get to shore. Dinghies scurry back and forth all day. Now that is a crowded dinghy dock. Surprisingly, I never heard one complaint of "overcrowding". Everyone was smiling and happy and offering a hand as the late comers crawled across boats to get to the dock. I guess no one realized we should have rules and regulations and enforcement.
It was a busy week at the Gam. We met lots of great folks. Gave our medical talk, which is our favorite talk, and had a terrific response. On the final day they had 3 hour round tables where boaters could gather around and ask questions. We had two tables on ActiveCaptain, one for new users and basic questions, and one showing what's coming. Neither one of us had much of a voice left by Monday morning.
Our anniversary was on Thursday so we did take out sometime to play with our anniversary presents. We have 17 foot sea kayaks back in Maine which we love using. It's something we have always missed when on the boat but there wasn't room to bring them. This year we decided to get a couple of the new smaller ones, so purchased two 9+ foot Daggers and decided to make them our anniversary gift to each other. There's no bling that would have made me happier.
While we were busier than a one-armed paper hanger all week, Dyna and Dylan were being sorely neglected. Camp Letts did not allow dogs ashore. We did manage two play dates on a beach on a small island. The first was before the Gam with Dylan's new buddy, Scout, where Dylan manged to find the perfect stick to retrieve. And the second was with his long time cruising friend, Nautical.
This week we are in Solomons, MD. Last night we attended the final day of the Selene Rendezvous at Zahniser's Yachting Center. This morning we made the "long passage" (1/2 mile) up the river to Spring Cove Marina. We then head across the river for the Krogen Rendezvous. The kids are meeting lots of friends and finally getting plenty of time ashore.
The weather has once again turned hot and very humid. We are fortunate to be at the dock where Dyna can keep her nose in the air conditioning. Next week we'll be moving south so the whole crew is hoping for cooler temps.
2 comments:
Small stick!
Says who!!! Those be fightn' words.
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