About the time she finished, we got a call on the VHF radio from the folks on a large catamaran, Freebird, inviting us to share Thanksgiving dinner with them. We quickly said yes, and then changed our private celebration to a Thanksgiving breakfast, with sausages and bagels with cream cheese.
Thanksgiving morning Coleen set up our makeshift table in the main salon covering it with a lovely tablecloth with fall colors. She set the napkin rings she’d made, a lovely centerpiece (a potted plant, sporting a scarecrow, from our sparse Thanksgiving decorations), and the books for the readings. Meanwhile, I made breakfast. Soon we were enjoying our breakfast feast and filling out the things we are thankful for on our “turkey handprints”. Then believe it our not, we actually watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on our little t.v. and shared our memories of being there in person a couple of years ago. By the time the parade ended I had just finished making pumpkin and key lime pies, and homemade cranberry sauce. We quickly took Prince to shore for a walk, cleaned up and changed just in time for our ride to dinner.
Our neighbor, Norm, on a 44 ft Wellington, gave us a ride in his huge Carolina skiff with a go fast motor. It was a quick ride and the pies stayed up right and dry. We scooted in to tie up next to the 42 ft Saint Francis catamaran, Rubicon, docked in what’s known as hole zero. It’s a very protected hurricane hole, and you could barely feel the wind. Rubicon is owned by Adam, who is a son of the folks on Freebird. The whole family did a circumnavigation a few years ago, and now have settled in Georgetown where they take out charters.
We had a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, several bottles of wine, and lots of cruising stories. We were joined by a few other cruisers too. Coleen was intrigued to meet young adults who had grown up homeschooled on boats. They had a few words of advice for her.
In all it was a great time, but I sure did miss my family, especially my Dad and my sis. I had quite a few tears early in the morning, but managed to pull myself together so Coleen could have a good Thanksgiving.