March 19

March 19. Well we’re still here. We had planned to leave last Monday for a 2 hour downwind sail to Bahia Honda State Park. It’s well protected from the east, only so-so from the north and south and pretty much a death trap in big winds from the west. The bottom has a reputation as not being good holding ground. When we got up on Monday the wind was 15 knots from the east and supposed to build during the day and stay at about 20 knots from the east for several days. Perfect conditions for the trip and a couple of day stay.

While I took the dogs for their morning walk, Christy stowed everything on the boat so we could get underway when we got back. It was no small chore as we’ve been here for a while and a lot of gear had to be put away. I’ve been battling a case of the flu and by the time I got back to the boat the winds had built to 20 knots already and I was feeling a little less than stellar. So I walked in to the now seaworthy, spotless boat and told her I didn’t think we were going to be leaving today. She took it very well and we stayed put.

Since my last posting we’ve gone out on a local snorkeling tour boat. The boat was a 34 foot power catamaran with a 24 foot beam. We had about a 20 minute ride out to the reef and we had a wonderful time. Christy and I were the first ones into the water and the last ones to get out 2 hours later. The reef was beautiful with loads of colorful tropical fish milling about.

We’ve gone to several cruisers gatherings these past couple of weeks and we’ve met some very nice people. It’s really been a great time here in Marathon.

We took the dogs swimming the other day. We dinghied out to Sombrero Beach and spent the day. Molly seems to really enjoy the water and enters it readily to follow Christy or I into the sea. Tucker, well, not so much. When he first started swimming he would bring his front paws completely clear of the water in this clumsy splashing stroke. By the end of the day he did have it down better but he definitely wasn’t enjoying it.

Yesterday we met a very nice couple from Canada. They anchored near us and we decided that when we were going out we would stop by and welcome them to the “neighborhood”. We ended up spending a good bit of time with them at a social event later in the evening. I think I’ve got a handle on the Canadians use of the word “eh” at the end of a lot of their sentences. I think its used as a question mark except that it has an audible sound. As in, the winds blowing like stink eh? Its funny, when I hear an American trying to act as a Canadian and throwing an “eh” in at the end of every sentence it just sounds so forced. When a Canadian does it, it sounds rather charming.

Anyhow, a new word for your cruisers dictionary. First a little background. We were invited to a get together on a neighbor’s boat tonight and Al Cohol was also one of the attendees. Al definitely encourages some interesting topics of conversation with people that you’ve only known for about 37 minutes. Anyway, one of the wives there told the story of how they could never be intimate on a calm, windless night. She was afraid that any “movement” on the boat would be immediately noticeable to everyone in the anchorage. She was afraid there would be “Riffles” on the waters surface. There it was, riffles, she said it a dozen times so its definitely a word. It wasn’t in my dictionary so I thought we should all take this opportunity to add it.

So there’s your new word, Riffles. Riffles……..a water surface condition only caused by sexual activity on a boat. Not to be confused with the more innocent “ripples” which could be the result of more mundane activities such as vacuuming, varnishing or waxing.

If you use it during your next scrabble match you’re probably going to have to define it so use your own discretion.