DINGHIES DINGHIES DINGHIES

I am sitting in the cockpit watching the world come alive and working on my first mug of excellent locally grown coffee.

Was a song outside my window. And the traffic wrote the words. It came ringing up like Christmas bells. And rapping up like pipes and drums

Brmm Brmm Brmm

It is just the 'NOODLE BUS' coming by picking up the early morning noodlers. Off to the beach for some early morning water aerobics. I really should go but I don't DO early.

Last night I had a visit from goblins and goths and gobblers in search of more sweets. I made sure there was plenty of pink food colouring in my offerings to keep them bouncing along.

There was some early morning radio traffic too as the 9 year old cruiser was negotiating with a 10 year old on another boat the loan of a wake board so she could go and have some fun behind a third boats high speed RIB. Impeccable radio procedure throughout.

But not every dinghy driver needs speed. Which is just as well as a Walker Bay is at best a sloth among wind powered dinghies.

Unlike the kids on Hobie that were wihzzing around with disaster a gust away at any moment.

It is charter boat season and yes an AB 10 will carry 8 people if they don't mind wet bottoms.

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Dinghies get a hard life especially in places where they have to be dragged up the beach. I was 'reading the mail' [ listening in on peoples conversations on the VHF ]while in the cockpit with my coffee and a neighbor needs a ride in while his bottom patches dry.

BUT not all beach landings go as planned. This is not my pic but it represents what happened to one newbie cruiser who learned the hard way that even on the mildest of days there can be sufficient surf to flip a dink. Nobody was hurt and the outboard was running again that afternoon after copious quantities of WD 40.

I am sitting a little longer in the cockpit this morning as I am waiting on that essential of life down here Raymond the garbage dinghy driver! I am also noting that the Flying Buzzard manages to collect more dinghies than the average cruiser.

And finally this creation has never been seen down island but if it was ever spotted it might cause some to wonder if they had overdone the strong rum the previous night and that it might be time to start that 12 step plan that runs under the third palm tree on Hog Island.