Today was a mix of cleaning up the boat and finally getting around to updating my blog pages and pictures. There was a party planned at Barnacle’s on the Dutch side which included dinner of “Greek Lasagne” which tasted pretty good but also rather close to an “Italian Lasagne” which shouldn’t have come as a surprise as both countries are close to each, are part of the EU and are also currently experiencing some economic issues.
After dinner there was a gift exchange which was quite a lot of fun; each boat was asked to get something out of their bilges or storage that they didn’t require anymore and wrap it up as a present. In my case the boat is new, as are the contents, and after wasting a half hour going through the boat looking for something surplus to requirements I gave up and headed ashore to the local equivalent to a 7-11 and found a bottle of Bordeaux. The store didn’t have paper or ribbons, so I opted to wrap the bottle with duct-tape in lieu of better packaging.
The present system worked in that everyone drew a number and, beginning with number 1, each person would go to the pile of presents and select one. After opening it in public, he or she then had the option of trading the newfound present with one that had gone before. In this case a lower number was worse, since all the following people could exchange their unwanted present for your goodie. I was lucky, sort of, with number 33 (out of 38) and when I opened up my selection it was a new wire stripper, but I’d set my sights on a fine bottle of rum and quickly exchanged the presents. My joy didn’t last long as the next person in line opened up their present to discover an old and abused roll of electrical tape, which quickly changed hands and is now in my possession and will be cherished and nurtured.
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