Sailing Memories
I once dated a guy that lived on Hilton Head Island, SC. He had a sailboat and every weekend we'd go sailing through the Calibogue Sound enroute to Harbour Town. We'd have lunch in Harbour Town and then sail back to his marina. For his birthday, I gave him a Coleman stove and a sailboat-sized fridge. We planned a romantic, overnight sail. We sailed into the Sound and found a nice place to set anchor-- about 100 feet from the coast of a desserted island. After we parked the boat, we cooked a nice steak dinner on the Coleman. While we were eating, the boat started leaning. The 
tide was going down and we were anchored too cloe to the island. By the time we realized it, it was too late to move the boat. By then our boat was sitting on the ocean floor, and tilting farther and farther to the side. I remember looking over the edge of the boat, expecting to see water; all I saw was a coral reef and sand. The ground was covered in coral and oyster shells-- impossible to walk on. We were stuck on the boat. At this point it
was tilted at about 90 degrees. Then the misquitoes came out. I was getting stung left and right. Jeff found some bug spray and gave it to me. Something was wrong with the spray bottle-- I aimed it at my chest, but it sprayed up into my eyes. I was pretty much blind at that point. We decided to go downstairs to bed. It's hard to sleep on a bed that's standing exactly horizontal. We positioned ourselves so that we each had one leg on the ceiling just to hold us in place. Actually, I don't think either of us slept at all. We just laid in akward positions all night and prayed that the tide would rise and the boat would return to normal. Several hours later it happened-- the tide came in and the boat returned to it's correct position on the water. I made coffee and cooked eggs on the Coleman stove and we both acted like the disasters of the previous night were just nightmares.
tide was going down and we were anchored too cloe to the island. By the time we realized it, it was too late to move the boat. By then our boat was sitting on the ocean floor, and tilting farther and farther to the side. I remember looking over the edge of the boat, expecting to see water; all I saw was a coral reef and sand. The ground was covered in coral and oyster shells-- impossible to walk on. We were stuck on the boat. At this point it
was tilted at about 90 degrees. Then the misquitoes came out. I was getting stung left and right. Jeff found some bug spray and gave it to me. Something was wrong with the spray bottle-- I aimed it at my chest, but it sprayed up into my eyes. I was pretty much blind at that point. We decided to go downstairs to bed. It's hard to sleep on a bed that's standing exactly horizontal. We positioned ourselves so that we each had one leg on the ceiling just to hold us in place. Actually, I don't think either of us slept at all. We just laid in akward positions all night and prayed that the tide would rise and the boat would return to normal. Several hours later it happened-- the tide came in and the boat returned to it's correct position on the water. I made coffee and cooked eggs on the Coleman stove and we both acted like the disasters of the previous night were just nightmares. Jeff and I stayed together for a couple more years after that adventure, but I think that was the last time that I ever got on the sailboat.
posted by Brian at 12:24 AM
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