Cinco de Mayo Raft
5/1/09-5/3/09
May 1, ’09: Late Friday afternoon with weather forecast of 10-15 knots and gusts of 25 knots, rain and thunder storms likely. At 4 pm the VHF blurted out, “Paisano, this is Carpe Ventum. We are under full sail and will meet you at Bodkin Creek.”
Paisano entered the Bodkin at nightfall only to see Carpe Ventum sailing by 7 Foot Knoll and Aquila coming in from the middle of the bay. The weekend had begun. We set up a three-boat raft with Paisano, Aquila, and Carpe Ventum and planned for the next day.
Rain, rain, rain, sun, rain, rain, sun, sun, party. Cinco de Mayo, the town of Puebla, 100 miles east of Mexico City, would have been proud.
The VHF started to crackle as one after another, the boats checked in: Champagne, Off the Charts, Jo-Lin-Dy, Windsprint, Silent Running, and Painkiller, nine boats in all. With the pandemic in the news, Painkiller’s crew wore surgical mask to prevent the spread of “Wine Flu.”
By 5 o’clock one amigo after another had prepared their offering of food and drink to the weather gods and the party had begun. Aquila’s Mexican brownies were a big hit; even the fish enjoyed them. And everyone enjoyed Silent Running’s Tortilla Soup. Everyone asked for seconds.
At the crack of 9 am on Sunday morning, all nine boats were still at anchor listening to the weather as the rain came down to wash away the party remnants. Even soaking wet, NSHSA knows how to have a great gathering.