Thursday, April 23, 2009

More on sailing

I used to like to sail around Biscayne Bay in a Sunfish (or a knock-off), which I borrowed from one of Mom's friends, who was an heiress to a local dairy and string of drive-through dairy stores. She lived in Gables-by-the-Sea. I would sail from her place to Vizcaya, have a bite to eat in the snack shop, and then sail back. (I didn't do this on any regular basis, mind you.)

One time, I invited a friend along. Everything was going swimmingly until on our way back from Vizcaya we became becalmed. We had one oar on board, and that snapped in two. I guess we then used the tiller to inch along, and maybe got a little wind in the sail from time to time. We didn't get back to shore until way after sundown. (This was before cell phones, by the way, so we were incommunicado--"missing at sea.") We didn't even make it back to Gables-by-the-Sea but reached a public boat ramp in the Gables just north of Sunset Drive (I can't remember the name of the area, but my aunt, who was then the principal at Key Biscayne Elementary, lived right there, so I guess we knocked on her door and made phone calls).

I don't remember everything exactly, but my friend's parents came to pick him up. Nobody was amused. I don't even remember how I got the sailboat back to Gables-by-the-Sea. My friend never sailed with me again (not that I would dare invite him), and I don't think I ever sailed again after that. (Only in my dreams.)

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