When I first moved here three years ago, I couldn't wait to be a passenger on the schooner Argia and wave to the onlookers gathered at the Mystic River Drawbridge. When I finally had my change one summer evening, I was shocked at how little I knew about sailing Mystic style. Last Saturday night, however, I did it right--I brought a variety of drinks and snacks (my favorite--graham crackers with peanut butter) and a sweater.
The following excerpt from the book, Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets Behind the 7 Wonders, Captain Sisson's Gold and Amelia Earhart's Wedding, highlights how I learned from my mistakes the first time I sailed aboard the Argia three years ago:
When we booked an evening sail on the tall schooner Argia, I packed a bottle of wine, a jar of almonds and bottled water. I even thought to bring pretty, blue plastic cups in keeping with the color of the waters we were about to sail.
Well, I knew right away we underpacked when I saw a party of six adults pull out real wine glasses with their bottles of wine. Suddenly, my blue plastic cups seemed so cheesy—so inadequate on this tall, seaworthy sailboat. And when the adults broke out a tray of shrimp cocktail from their large, Mary Poppins-style picnic bag, that was too much. I tried making friendly conversation with them so they’d share their shrimp, but they didn't warm to my advances.
Another family with young children also had the better of us. I couldn’t help but be envious when they lifted one cheesy pizza slice after another from their Mystic Pizza take-out boxes. They didn't share with us either. I thought of the tasty, thin crust pizza from Pizzetta—a place we frequented often to enjoy the outdoor seating and view of Mystic River. Why hadn’t I thought to take a pie from there to go?
Thankfully, the Argia provided cheese, crackers and fruit, so I ate a lot of that and loudly declared things like, “Yummy!” so the others would think I preferred the Argia’s food to theirs.
My other mistake was that I was underdressed—it got very cold that foggy evening on the Mystic River and the Sound. The Argia did, however, provide blankets. The males on the voyage were too macho to wrap one around themselves, so they shivered like real men or went below deck...
I will be speaking about my book, Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets Behind the 7 Wonders, Captain Sisson's Gold and Amelia Earhart's Wedding (click on the "LOOK INSIDE" feature to read first few chapters), on:
Thurs, June 20, 6:30pm
Local Authors @ The Groton Senior Center
