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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