RON DAY VOO IMPROMPTU

[Bob23]

   This past Wednesday, being the first day of fall and a full moon, Dennis, my sailing buddy and fellow trouble maker decided to rondayvoo at Tice's Shoals, NJ for an end of summer celebration.
He, and his 1970 Morgan 30 arrived first and I met up after a wonderful 2 3/4 hour sail from Surf City. He had already started the sausage and peppers and his buddy Clay, had mixed my up a Vodka and tonic. These guys had gotten a head start and it was my duty to catch up. I never did.
   We had been keeping an eye on the weather and they were only calling for 30% chance of thnuder and lightning storms. I don't really know if thats 100% chance in 30% of the area or 30% chance in 100% of the area. As we sat watching the sunset  and full moon rise almost at the same time, another light source appeared. Yeah, you guys are so perceptive- lightning was off in the distance. We listened to what NOAA had to say, made a few calls to some other folks for more info and in the end decided to pull the hooks and head for the barn. None too soon!
   Soon a little lightning turned into more lightning and did I mention it was quite dark now due to the black clouds all around us? We motored west toward the State Marina but Dennis diesel is faster than my Nissan 8 so soon all I could see was his sternlight. Then came a windswitch and a few heavy drops of rain. It's about a 45 minute trip to the mainland but with lightning around, that's a real long 45 minutes! Dennis had pulled quite far ahead and it dawned on me that I was the only lighting rod out in the middle of the bay right then.  I asked Father for a bit of mercy and protection just then...I do that often.
   Soon we made it in, tied up and Clay bid us farewell- he only lives up the road so he retreated to a warm bed at his house.  Just then two tings happend: The rain came down in torrents and we heard a knock on the drop boards: A man who called himself Hose something or other came aboard and we sat with him for the next 2 hours talking about old TV shows, munching and laughing our butts off at who knows what. At about 1:30am, we aksed him to leave. He just dozed off in the corner somewhere and we never heard anouther peep from him. That Hose, what a party animal!
  Next day dawned dry and clear and after the reappearance of Clay and some lilght breakie, we headed east toward Tice's again where we body surfed and enjoyed a fine September day on one of the finest beaches in NJ.
   It was soon time for me to depart because the light SSE wind would give me a 4 hour return trip and I promied the Admiral I'd return. Turns out, Koinonia was feeling great, wind picked up a little and the current was in my favor so with a combination of saling and motorsailng, I maide it back in 3 hours 15 minutes under setting sun and rising moon. Just wonderful.
   While getting the stuff out of the boat, I discovered that Hose had stowed away on my boat. I tried to catch him but he's hiding uder the forward starboard locker still. I've heard that using lime to trap that little varmit works gereat...I'll give it a try and report back!
For now, Bob23...out