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21 April 2016

R Is For Raft-Up | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}


During April, we're participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), we'll be doing an alphabet themed post starting with "A is for Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning, in order to follow along with the story (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. So, if Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.   

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When we last left you, Nancy managed to restart the outboard motor and they made it back to the boat safely. Bess mistook a Q flag for a rag and started to worry about catching leprosy or tuberculosis while out sailing.

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The next day, while the girls were down below applying suntan lotion, they heard a knock on the hull. “Hello there, Scarlet Slipper. Permission to come aboard?”

Nancy poked her head up the companionway and saw three young dashing men in a dinghy. “Ned, What a pleasant surprise!” she exclaimed as she rushed up into the cockpit. “Bess, George, you’ll never guess who’s here. It’s Ned, along with Dave and Burt!”

“What are you three doing here?” asked Bess, as she smiled at Dave. “I thought you were busy studying for finals this weekend.”

“A friend of ours from Emerson College asked us if we wanted to crew with him during the regatta, so we thought we would take a break from studying and get a chance to see you girls as well,” said Dave as he looked at Bess with a cheeky grin. “We’re on The Ivory Charm, rafted up next to another friend’s boat, Fire Dragon.”

“Why don’t you boys come aboard and I’ll fix you a snack. Our hosts, Marvin and Shelley, are off visiting their friends just now, but I’m sure they won’t mind if I share some of Shelley’s delicious chocolate cake and lemonade with you,” said Nancy.

“I can vouch for the cake,” said Bess as she wiped some crumbs off of her blouse. “It is delicious!”

George looked at Bess in despair. “You’re not going to eat another slice, are you? You’ve already had two.” Bess ignored George and went down below to help Nancy with the refreshments.

After the boys had finished their cake and lemonade, Ned turned to Nancy. “Now, what kind of mischief have you girls been getting up to? Knowing you, I bet you’ve found another mystery to investigate.”

Nancy smiled and said, “We’re calling it The Case of the Missing Anchor. A bunch of stuff was stolen from boats at the marina and we’ve already uncovered several clues. First, there was the suspicious man on the white catamaran, Party Time. It looked like he had stolen nautical equipment in the back of his pickup truck.”

“Don’t forget to tell them about how he shoved you to the ground and almost rammed into us and another boat,” said George with a sparkle in her eyes.

“And, that’s not the worst of it. Captain Gus, the old salt who runs Xebec Charters, sabotaged our dinghy last night. We were almost lost at sea,” Bess added dramatically.

Dave looked at Bess with worry in his eyes as he put a protective arm around her shoulder. “Are you sure you girls should be pursuing this?”

“I wouldn’t worry about them,” said Ned. “Nancy always solves the case. She’s a crack investigator. So, what’s your next step in the investigation?”

“There’s a boat called Party Palace participating in the regatta. We think one of the guys onboard is in cahoots with Captain Gus. I’m going to sneak aboard while everyone is occupied with the barbeque tonight and see if I can find any more clues!”

Tune in on Friday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – S is for Sailrite.

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Boats rafted up in Madeira. One of the lovely places where Scott has been sailing without me.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you would go to sleepovers? A bunch of kids in their sleeping bags crammed into one room, staying up all night telling ghost stories and braiding each other's hair. Raft-ups are kind of like that. You get a few boats and tie them up alongside each other. Then you have a giant party, braid each other's hair, drink some beer, swap sailing stories and tell each other lies.

Sometimes, people have to raft-up with strangers, like at Vero Beach in southern Florida which often has more boats than available mooring balls. You might leave for the day in your dinghy, only to come back at night and find a strange boat rafted-up alongside yours. It might seem odd to braid a stranger's hair, but if you get enough beers in you (hopefully some nice craft IPAs that your boat neighbor provided), then it might seem like a good idea. Beer does that. Turns stupid ideas into good ones. Not that I know anything about that. Really, I don't.

Of course, Nancy's boyfriend, Ned, and his pals from college would never dream of drinking beer on the boats they have rafted up together. These are wholesome, young lads. Nothing naughty ever happens in a Nancy Drew book. Maybe that's why she's able to crack so many mysteries. She isn't easily distracted by beer or college boys.

Did you go on sleepovers as a kid? What kinds of things did you get up to?

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35 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying the names you've created for all these hypothetical boats! Rubies and sapphires and ivory, oh my!

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    1. They're actually come from Nancy Drew book titles :-) If only I was that creative.

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  2. I sure hope the boys pass their exams! Maybe they are natural test taking geniuses. If so, I hate them! - Lucy

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    1. Ned is just like Nancy. An expert at everything, makes all that he does look like a breeze and is easy on the eyes the entire time. Unfortunately, like Nancy, he's as sweet as pie, so, as much as you want to hate him, you just can't. Which is all the more reason to hate him, because he is so unhateable. (Not sure if unhateable is a word, but it is now.)

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  3. Sounds like our intrepid investigator is about to take a big risk!

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    1. I can't bear the suspense...what will happen next?

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  4. Oh Nancy is treading on trouble here. Yes she is.

    Raft-ups are fun. We do it all the time. We don't drink beer though.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. I do like a beer on a hot summer day. So refreshing.

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  5. Maybe Nancy is like me: she gets into too much trouble sober to drink! :-) Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. It meant a lot.

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    1. Can you imagine Nancy tipsy? Now, that would be something to see. I bet if she ever did start drinking, she would turn to the dark side and become the mastermind of some dastardly ring of thieves.

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  6. We were little brats. We had outdoor sleepovers in tents in the yard and in the middle of the night we'd raid gardens. We never caused damage but we stole carrots and tomatoes and one time a watermelon.

    @Kathleen01930
    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge

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    1. At least your mischief involved getting your five a day of fruit and veg :-)

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  7. Are they looking for someone to write the next series of Nancy Drew Mysteries? Because if they are, I think you're their gal.

    Cheers, Stephanie

    http://www.svcambria.com/2016/04/r-is-for-route-planning-our-top-8.html

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    1. I thought of writing a proper spoof/parody of Nancy Drew, but alas it has been done already. Not sure that I could quite write a real Nancy Drew.

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    2. The spoof may have been done, but what about Nancy Drew vs. Zombies?

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  8. Ooh, Nancy is making you nervous! I like the way you have inserted a catch-up summary for those of us whose memories for what us going on might not be the best......
    The Glasgow Gallivanter

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    1. Oh good, I'm glad that worked. I thought it might be a good idea to have a recap considering how far down the track we are with the alphabet.

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  9. That Nancy! She really gets it that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Chocolate cake and lemonade, indeed! And George really knows how to insert herself into other people's business with food. I'm glad Bess ignored her and I'm thinking she should go down and eat all of that cake herself, just to show George who is boss around the cake issue. But not you are upping the tension with Nancy's plan to sneak aboard! I'm biting my fingernails on that one. Will she be discovered? Will she take Ned with her? Will she have to dive overboard without checking for sharks because someone hears her opening drawers? I am loving this and I totally think you could write an entire Nancy Drew book. You practically have already. Melissa from
    LittleCunningPlan

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    1. George can be kind of obnoxious, can't she. I think she has her own issues and she takes things out on poor Bess.

      I'm glad you're enjoying the series - your kind words mean a lot to me.

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  10. Sleepovers often resulted in loud late laughter and excursions into the neighborhood for clandestine and dangerous deeds. They are among my favorite memories. Also, anything done under the guidance of good craft beer is always a good thing.
    https://ryanscarty.wordpress.com

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  11. They have Party Cove here, where all the 20- and 30-something boaters go to get drunk and party. My husband did that in his younger years and talks about them tying the boats together.

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    1. How funny that they call it Party Cove :-) I'm sure our two dodgy boats - Party Palace and Party Time would fit right in.

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  12. I had 3 brothers, no sisters, so when I had sleepovers, and the basement was full of giggly girls, the boys made themselves scarce.

    Nancy is really into taking chances, will she take others with her? Will she be safe? She does swim doesn't she? We're running out of letters, so she needs to get this solved!

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    1. Girls sure can giggle when they get together. You'll have to stay tuned to see if Nancy is okay :-)

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  13. The sleepovers I attended were typical, just innocent fun. I think some drunken fun on a boat would be a situation asking for trouble.
    Nancy Drew was a favorite when I was a child and my first introduction to mysteries.

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    1. Too much booze and boats can lead to some very dangerous situations, that's for sure. While we do like a glass of wine or a beer at sunset, after the boat is safely anchored, it's probably wise to be cautious about drinking too much as you always need to be alert in case something happens, which it can out on the water.

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  14. Unfortunately, I never went on sleepovers with friends when I was a kid. I made up what I missed as a teenager, though, having my first boyfriend... :-) Irie only rafted up with one boat once, in eight years, when we were transiting the Panama Canal.

    Liesbet @ Roaming About – A Life Less Ordinary

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    1. What a shame that you didn't have sleepovers as a kid :-(

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  15. Hi Ellen.
    You're a winner!
    Swing by my blog to see what you've won.
    Writer In Transit

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    1. Yay! What a wonderful start to the morning - thanks!

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  16. I don't remember many sleep overs, but one that comes to mind was where I learned how to twirl a baton (very badly). We were at the house of a friend of my parents and my sister and I and the children of the friend stayed up until at least four in the morning. The daughter was a majorette, hence the baton lessons :)
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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    1. I tried to learn how to twirl a baton when I was a girl too. Tossing them up into the air and catching them again is harder than it looks.

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  17. I never went on a sleepover. First brownies now chocolate cake. Yum. My kind of food.

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