Gualby Nation : Meg's Parents Are Coming to Visit!

My parents are coming! I am so excited to see them and laugh and hang out and chat and show them my life!! I am also excited to have some human company on the boat, you know the kind that talks back to you.

        Reenie and Jack arrived on October 8th. I don't know if it is because I haven't seen them in almost a year or if they are both just getting better with age, but they looked great and healthy and adorable. The week flew by but only because everyday we were having so much fun. They adjusted almost immediately to boat life. When they arrived my Mom and I started chatting like I knew we would and my Dad went below to check out his hull and to meticulously un pack and settle himself in. He came up to me and Reenie gabbing like the girls we are, looking a bit sweaty and instead of complaining about the heat and lack of A/C, he smiled and stated he was going to go for a swim. He jumped in and then rinsed off the salt water by sitting on the scoop as a light rain started to fall. Already loving the simplicity of the boat life.

       I had a few activities planned but not much. The whole week we went at a slow pace, relaxed, and fit in a few fun things. We hiked over Bastimentos to Wizard's Beach, snorkeled a few times, swam at the beach, took long walks, went out to a few restaurants, did a little shopping, laughed a lot, talked even more, cooked good food, and just felt and enjoyed the love between family. It was wonderful. We got up early in the mornings and started our days slow with coffee and some time in the hammocks. Several days after my parents arrived we moved the boat to a new location. My Dad pulled our 65 pound anchor like nobody's businesss, my Mom proudly watched her man being manly. My Dad helped me ready the boat while my Mom made us lunch and we left for our new anchorage in the early afternoon. We had hoped to sail to our new anchorage, Red Frog, but the afternoon we left was dead calm so we slowly motored our way there. My Dad and I were at the helm most of the time while my Mom relaxed on the nets, taking in the passing views. We arrived at Red Frog and anchored in about 15 feet of water with no problems, we all used our quiet, calm voices and got settled into a great spot not too close to any of the other boats. Whenever any new boat comes into an anchorage, you can bet that at least half of the boats already there have summoned all their crew to watch the anchoring show. Conor and I do it as well, it's funny. People are frantic and nervous and anchoring sometimes results in quite the yelling, swearing, blaming the other person type of show, and all of this in a new anchorage, with new neighbors, and of course, sound travels over water so everyone can clearly hear all the obsenitites. It's high quality entertainment. My crew and I showed only calm, quiet togetherness; and I'm sure our new anchorage was disappointed in our non dramatic show. We couldn't have been more pleased with ourselves. We did quiet high fives after the anchor caught on the first try. A good example of the anchoring show, that we quoted to each other most of the week, was when we watched another boat anchor, from Boston, MA. It went like this--all at very loud, near screaming tones, <Wife screaming from the helm to her husband>, "We aar in therdy feet of wada still! We can't ancha hera!" <Husband yelling back from the bow>, "We have to, I don't want to get too close to the freakin sandba!!" (sound of anchor dropping).

        My parents, as parents do even when you grow up and become an "adult," totally took care of me while they were here and I got to tell ya, it felt good. There is nothing quite like the comfort and love a Mom and Dad bring to their child. I look forward to being on the other end of that relationship one day. They bought my groceries, they cooked and cleaned, my Dad scrubbed the hulls, they bought me much needed new rugs for the boat, my Mom and I got matching braclets, hell if I had a car, I'm sure they would have filled my tank. I would have been incredibly happy just sitting on the boat with them for a week, just being with them in person, talking to them not through skype or email but looking at their faces, their smiles and watching them interact with each other would have been enough for me, but all the fun we had and all the help and love they so unconditional gave me was also wonderful to have. I feel like I blinked and the week was over. I was a little tearful saying good bye but they left with tentative plans on when we will see each other again and that makes good byes so much easier for me. To my Dad and Mom, I love you both so much. I will always remember and treasure this special week we had of just the three of us in Panama.
M.

Reenie and Jack

Going through the shortcut in the mangroves on the way back to where Gualby is anchored

Walking around Red Frog

Dinner out at 9 degrees
It was storming with horizontal rain so we don't have the beautiful views of the water in the background but it was still a very fun night