With coffee in hand I stepped off Roamer and into the cold foggy night. The marina is totally quiet, must be around midnight, no wind, just fog. Normally there are sounds that keep you in touch with the cozy little village of boats. A small group of characters like myself live aboard and make this water world our home. With the slightest breeze the halyards make a tapping sound against the sailboats masts. If the breeze picks up and becomes a wind many halyards start slapping their masts, and along with the motion of the boat you can hear the water lapping against the hull. If that wind is fierce, the noise of the halyards becomes a symphony as if a few hundred crazy people are beating on pots and pans. It was not annoying to me as it was to some, it was part of living on the water, enjoyable, I loved it. But that night so many years ago was.... strangely quiet.

Sipping the hot coffee, I took a few steps marveling how the docks and everything glistened with the moisture of the fog. F-dock seemed to disappear in the dark, the little green topped lanterns along the wooden boardwalk were no match against the night. Even so, they beckoned me to walk to the end of the dock and look out over the marina as I had so many times before, usually that was in daytime. Passing familiar names, Sea Jay, Island Cove, it grew darker as I walked slowly away from the lights of the parking lot. Then nearing the end, the bow of a very large black boat revealed itself from the mist. I stopped and thought to myself, this wasn’t here before. What is it?

The bowsprit towered over my head, there were portholes with a diamond shape. They looked like a dragons eye, and a very dim orange light coming from the inside. Small drops of water trickled down the rough black hull and I could see a name in the darkness of the bow:....... La Negra Gitana. (The Black Gypsy)

How long was I standing there? I don’t know, but after a sip of coffee, I realized my coffee is ice cold. Just then the light in the dragons eye went out ! Then a low noise, a movement back at the stern, I couldn’t see what because of the fog. Footsteps! And walking towards me, the figure of a man, tall, dressed in black, and another shape by his side. A dog! A large black dog watching me intently! Its eyes seem to glow.

I shrank back to the side to give them plenty of room to pass me. The black man towered over me, his features were Aborigine and he had long dreadlocks down to the collar of a black navy pea coat. They passed on by without saying a word or acknowledging me at all as I tried to stop my coffee cup from shaking. Then the fog swallowed them up as they walked down the dock. Walking back to Roamer. I hoped to get another glimpse of them, but they were gone. The next morning, fixing my coffee, I remembered the experience. Yeah, I want to see that boat in the daylight.,

So I took my cup up to the aft deck and looked down F-dock, the fog was gone, and the slip was empty.

All I could think of..............Was it ever there ?

Marina Adventures........................ by Ron Francis ............ (c) .. 2009