The Last of 2014, The First of 2015

Now that our house has sold and we have recovered from all the holiday insanity, this might be a good time to bring everyone up to speed regarding our first Christmas and New Years while living on our boat, Adventure US 2.

                                                                   JLee's photo

Adventure Us 2 is tied up in a slip on K Dock at a marina on Galveston Bay in Texas. Somehow, probably through some kind of cosmic intervention or similar extraterrestrial mumbo jumbo, we ended up on the same dock with a few equally minded couples who are as crazy as the two of us  mesh well together.  It seems that every time we get together the conversation goes straight into the bilge and we laugh until we cry. The cast of characters is extremely diverse and I would be remiss in any description of our holiday gaiety if I didn't at least qualify our antics by taking up a small portion of your time by offering descriptions as to their character flaws.  Please be advised. The words that follow are my own observations after years and years of therapy practice observing people in the wild frontier.

Introducing the cast:
Angela, Martin, and their dog Chloe drive from our sister state Oklahoma every chance they get, to spend time with me Mystic, their Hunter sailboat.  Angela is a very creative woman and can craft most anything from scratch.  I suspect she can even make her own clothes from cotton bolls she collects from the cotton fields lining the roads of OK.  Martin, her service provider, is a connoisseur of peppermint patties and other fine after dinner mints. 

                                                        Martin, Angela and Chloe

Cheri and Alan are from Dallas and just recently moved on board after accidentally selling their home.  (How does that happen?) Last month Alan was kicked out of retired from the fire department and is preparing their boat, Consort, for adventure.  Cheri is K Dock's wine connoisseur, quick witted red head, and resident judge of local talent including, but not limited to: My Michael and Martin's tongue contest. Don't ask.

                                                              Alan and Cheri

Steve and Deidra are the highest ranking couple on the dock because they have been here the longest. Local legend has identified a possible connection between Deidra and the wine fairy, but that is strictly a rumor. Their trawler, Osprey is the closest boat on the dock to shore and therefore they have been appointed "K Dock's" sentinels, and as such they get the honor of dealing with our late night boat rocking antics. (I swear it was Martin's idea.) Trouble, their dog, is aptly named for her lady like manners and outgoing personality. Close your eyes and imagine the phrase "here comes Trouble" and you'll get the idea.

Steve and Deidra

                                                                  Angela's Photo

Rounding out the group of personalities is the keeper of the golden fleece, marine, and scuba instructor; Gilbert  Gabriel. Gabriel is always quick with a fork and plate joke and keeps us all entertained.   A few vagabonds always seem to find their way into the mix, but the main players seem to remain the same.  

                                                Michael's Photo

Having described the cast, on with the story line.

Each year there is a Christmas boat parade in Seabrook that kicks off the holiday season. Our little group decided to have a 'wine and cheese' party on the peninsula of our marina so we could 'oh' and 'ah' at the Christmas lights. It was cold that particular Saturday night with temperatures in the 50's, but as the adult beverages began to flow the temperature seemed to warm until we were all toasted toasty.

                                                                Internet Photo

                                                    

At the close of the parade, we gathered our remaining beverages, food, and lawn chairs and headed to K Dock. No sooner had we all settled into place when Alan appeared with a milk crate full of liqueur bottles ranging from an unopened bottle of Patron, to a mason jar of vodka half full of pulverized habaneros, (this was truly the hottest firewater any of us had ever tasted) only adding to the mix of beer, wine, and Uncle Sneezy's moonshine that we were already passing around. This led our conversations right into the deepest, darkest, recesses of the bilge.  I'm happy to report however, no one fell off the dock, but we probably should have all been sporting some kind of life preserver jacket .             

                                                                 Martin's Photo

The Christmas break found all of us abandoning ship and heading in different directions, but the sentinels were waiting and punched everyone's card upon our return to make sure no one escaped every soul made a safe return.  Once we were all accounted for; Steve suggested we spend new years eve on their trawler, anchor out to watch the fireworks display Kemah puts on each year and then return to port to spend the remainder of the year on their boat.  Good thing we planned a simple menu because the last day of the year decided to go out with a roar. Wind was howling out of the north east at thirty knots, and the ice cold water had two to three foot waves. On the way out our marine took a few full frontal waves over the bow, but quickly recovered and retreated to the safety of the top deck.  Even a soaking wet marine couldn't curb our insanity enthusiasm.  Everyone else held on to each other Osprey's grab rails as she bucked, kicked, and thrashed her way out of the channel into the bay.  The coast guard was standing by at the entrance monitoring vessels crazy enough to attempt a late night expedition into the pitch black, cold waters of Galveston Bay on a night all sane boaters should be tucked away safely in their slips. We only saw two other boats off in the distance when normally there's at least sixty or a hundred.

Internet Photo

Captain Steve did an outstanding job keeping us all on board, and he expertly docked Osprey in her slip with plenty of time to toast to the new year. We all decided to toss together a pot luck morning brunch the next day which consisted of: wholesome steel oats, fresh fruit, nuts, honey and Angela's home made scones. Oh, and lots, and lots of champagne.  Have you ever tried champagne with orange mango juice? It's our new dreaming of the Caribbean sunset Mimango brunch drink. Yum!

                                                                Janet Lee's Photo

Brunch gave way to dinner with a rest period in between for power naps. Dinner was hosted on Adventure US 2 where we enjoyed My Michael's scrumptious New Year's Black Eyed Peas.  Other contributed culinary delights included corn bread and awesome greens.  Desert was several games of Cards Against Humanity and as you might suspect, wine.  Yep, our conversation went straight to the bilge.  How could it not?  The 9 of us, adult beverages, and Cards Against Humanity is a dangerous combination!

  

                                                              Janet Lee's Photo

                                                                        Internet Photo

The start of the new year was so fabulous I can hardly contain my enthusiasm for what shenanigans the remainder of the year has in store for The K-dockers.   

By the way,  K Dock throws great parties!