Feb 19 2008
Social Life
Not that it surprises much of anybody, but now that the sun is out again, the social scene here at the Marina is hopping. People love a good bonfire and BBQ, and the marina has a great little tree-and-bench-ringed fire pit, three BBQs, and power access from the “facilities” (the bath and laundry house) nearby. Getting together a gather in fine weather is no challenge at all.
The weather has just begun to behave. We’ve had several days of the soft sunny warmness that the best of California Februarys can have; the sort of weather that gives you hope that winter might actually be finally moving on. There are subtle blossoms on the trees, and we’ve been hearing geese on the move. My hopes are high, my spirits higher, that all we have left is the gentle spring rain, and no more of that torrential insane pounding we dealt with before. This is a sign that BBQ Season is officially ON.
Back in October, based on what, I have no idea, Don (the Harbormaster) elected me “Marina Social Director”. It’s a little weird, since we’re pretty new here and I don’t get out a lot. But I’m a good organizer, and hey, if the Marina is going to pop for food, I am happy to throw the party. I’ve pulled together some people who are willing to burn things (Mike), decorate things (Brooke), and handle the execution of details (Jason, natch!) and we threw an awesome little Halloween gather that despite the frost all over everything managed to get around 50 people out on a weeknight. The boys dug it; Rowan spent his time on the walkway that goes around the picnic area, making sure people knew that it was a Marina party, and they should come have something to eat. I asked him later if he’d missed trick-or-treating, and he looked at me as if I was crazed, saying “but Mama, I fed people!” A born socialite.
Last night there was a confluence party at the fire pit. Three separate groups of people who didn’t really know each other or intersect showed up and shared the pit. One group had brought christmas trees, which flare beautifully. The two groups of birthday party folks mostly kept to themselves, as did we liveaboards, who mostly clustered around and talked about the dumb stuff we’d seen boats and boaters do, the scrapes we’d seen the weekender crowd get themselves into, and repair projects we were either completing or engaged in. One guy had a great story about the bilge in a boat he’d owned having had epoxy dumped into it by the former owner to “solve” a drainage problem.
And what does it say about me that I’ve become the sort of person who really wanted to know what the epoxy was about, and what the source of the drainage issue was?
There’s going to be another BBQ tonight, as the owners of the Marina are out for a visit. The Marina is also going to be hosting official gathers in April (a swap meet! Stay tuned for more info on that), May, June, August, October… and who knows what will happen on the days in between. We are planning on throwing a boat renaming ceremony, and of course we’re going to have a Baby Boat Shower as soon as our new arrival shows up.
I find it funny and ironic that boat people are viewed, often, by land dwellers as antisocial dropouts. And yet, I’ve never seen, say, an apartment manager fund the gathers so the building felt more like a community. There’s a real priority here on getting to know people, know their boats, and hear their stories. Another advantage of boat dwelling I never knew existed.
So here’s my problem with the great weather bringing out all the boaters… my boat is filthy and it’s sinking. Sometime over the winter we added about 3 more tons of miscellaneous crap and a layer or sludge which liberally coats every external surface. We look like a derelict.
R U guys going to the Berkeley Marine flea Market? 3/9 I think.