Adventures in Vero Beach

Today was a very sleepy lazy kind of day with no rushing to get anywhere. We slept in a little and then Blair went to work clearing off the hatch exit in the aft cabin. Jesse and Ginny Price (our rafting partners on s/v Wind Dust) told us the story of the electrical fire on their last sailboat (a Vagabond) caused by a lightning strike and how quickly the boat became engulfed in flames. That scared us enough to cause us to clear the exit for the aft cabin. We also got the dinghy in the water and the engine mounted on her. We decided that we would have some lunch and then head over to the marina office to get on land for a short while anyway. Given that it is Sunday, nothing is really open but we were looking forward to a respite from the boat.
We climbed into the dinghy, laden down with a backpack, a purse, and a couple of bags of garbage to dispose of - headed down the centre of the array of other moored boats when we heard that dreaded sputtering noise - the outboard died! Good heavens, not another incident! We were only halfway down toward our destination but if you have to row (with only one oar no less), it is a long way. Blair frantically tied to get the motor going while I grab hold of an ugly looking line protruding from a mooring ball so that we can stabilize ourselves from drifting into the mosquito infested bushes off to the side. We stare longingly down towards our boat at the most extreme end of the mooring field, wishing that Jesse was there ready to run to our rescue in his dinghy - of course, he is out somewhere, which in some bizarre way makes this particular misadventure even funnier. Finally, a very kind man on a Morgan Out Island shouts out an offer to give us a tow - and we are not too proud to refuse. As we approach our boat being dragged along by our rescuers, Ginny spots us, and it is a wonder she can keep a straight face. She manages to do so, but we do find the time very shortly afterwards to dissolve into fits of laughter. Jesse returns on his dinghy and he offers some assistance to Blair. Blair manages to isolate the problem in the motor by taking it apart in the dinghy. By now the garbage bags are ripped open and we have small garbage bags and wine bottles rolling around on the stern deck with me chasing around after them. How I love boating! We know which part Blair needs for tomorrow to complete the repair (fingers crossed), so we pack up, just in time to gather up all our loose stuff from the decks before a good sweeping rain washed through.
Jesse and Ginny invited us over to their boat for a drink and a tour. What a beautiful layout they have - it is a motor sailer with a pilot house - lots of wood - extremely nice and comfortable boat.
We finish the day off with a pork roast, some music, and a reasonable bedtime.