Boom Times Sailing!: Wright is Right

Only planned on staying a night. Ended up staying three. College beach town. Packed anchorage. Scanning the other boats with our binoculars upon arrival (not voyeurism, a good practice to see if you know anyone or know boat names if you have to hail someone on the radio in the middle of the night) we saw a Fleur de Lys flag on a boat from Montreal. Three guys pilled into a dinghy and we waved them over as they we're going by. Young guys, 21 years old, headed down to Virgin Islands! Why did I wait until my thirties! We arranged to have drinks the next evening.

The next morning we launched the dinghy and zipped over to the town dinghy dock. There we walked thirty minutes to West Marine to get some more equipment. Among other things a second handheld VHF Radio. Initially I had wanted to get a second identical to the one we already have so we could re-use the same charger (we have such a variety of charging things already). This is also one of the cheapest radios (yay). We reconsidered however and actually ended up with the most expensive model. Based on the recommendation of Robert from the Basta rescue we got a handheld that has GPS integrated and can send an automatic distress signal with your identity and location coordinates. He used his in the crisis and swore by it which we took as being good authority. So now we have a new charger thingy.

Coming out of the West Marine a young couple approached us and asked if we were staying in the anchorage and offered us a lift in their rented car. We gratefully accepted, got to talking and made some great friends! They had stayed in the anchorage the night before but were now in a marina waiting to be hauled out for some bottom work. They recognized Topanga from 79^th street boat basin in NYC. Caroline & Logan are also headed down to the Caribbean but it's not their first time. Even though they are younger than us they have much more experience sailing and in the Caribbean! They captained a 60ft sail yacht for some wealthy owner, delivering it to where ever he wanted it whenever he wanted it. Now they have their own 43ft Beneteau. They're leaving Wrightsville in about a month but are going directly to the Bahamas, i.e. 72 hours straight in open ocean. Pretty amazing. Most of the cruisers we have met thus far have been much older than us so it was really nice to meet younger ones. Such a nice couple.
We invited them over for drinks on board and picked them up in the dinghy later that evening. We shared many stories and got some great advice. Soon the three guys from Montreal showed up in their dinghy with a case of beer and we had a little impromptu party going on Topanga. After, we all pilled into the dinghies and went ashore to some of the local bars. The first few we couldn't get into because Cassandra's university ID was not accepted, but finally we found on that did and had a great time.
The night finished quite late and we delayed our departure another day.

When we finally did leave the next morning there there were many swimmers in the water training for a triathlon being held the following day. It was freezing! I don't know how they were doing that! WE had to be extra careful leaving the anchorage.