Saving Europe, one German at a time

It's 6:30 PM two days ago, so of course Kirstin and I are about two cabernets into happy hour on L'ORIENT. All of a sudden a dinghy full of Germans floats by...........vs. motors by, which would have been more expected. 

Tom- "Darf ich Ihnen helfen ?" (Can I help you ?)

The Germans look confused.........is it more surprising that an American speaks German or that an American is offering help.

Germans- "Our outboard is dead......can we have a ride to our boat ?"

So, Kirstin and I tow them over to their boat "Pamela", an older but sturdy sloop nearby. Of course they insist on repaying us with drinks....the official legal tender of the Caribbean. Then it gets really weird.

We tie up both dinghies to Pamela.......I tie ours, and Norbert ties theirs......Norbert is a bit drunk as is his buddy (also named Norbert). So, after some drinks and interesting conversation, we prepare to leave. As we do, we notice Norbert's dinghy is gone........not tied properly.......presumably headed towards the open sea and it's night time now. Kirstin and I take ours out and briefly look for it but we have no intention of risking our lives in a dinghy in big waves looking for this dinghy. 

So, bad night for the Norberts.......replacement cost ? Try $6000.........ouch.

Next day another German calls us over to a derelict boat he's standing on.......he's stranded. Someone dropped him off and forgot to pick him up. We gather him and his precious cargo.....an anchor and a toilet......and bring him to shore.

In the words of Clint Eastwood in one of his westerns......"doing good knows no end".