Julie & The Suitcase!

Sunday 9th August
Niki left today, we drove her to the airport and said a tearful goodbye. Edi can now move into the double guest room, and I have to get the bunks ready for Danni and Julie who arrive the day after tomorrow.
I often stress the first time we have visitors, as people who have never taken a yachting vacation before have no idea about the limited storage space on board, even a boat as big as daisy has very limited storage. So, with that in mind I always write and explain as clearly as I can that they should bring only soft sided collapsible bags, and just a minimum of clothes, bathing suits, shorts, t-shirts, something smart incase we eat at posh restaurant, one pair of shoes, sandals and flip flops are all that is required.
OH Boy was I ever un-prepared for Julie!

Let me explain, Julie is about 5’1” a petite, beautiful, fitness instructor, who is always immaculate, even in work out gear. A tiny little thing that would take up no space at all on the boat, or so I thought.

Tuesday 10th August

I was out on the dock feeding my iguana friends; when out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed this huge black object being pushed along the dock towards me, barely visible behind the large black wheelie object were two heads, Danni and Julie. Bob was some way back looking less than amused.

“Hi” I said running towards them excitedly to give hugs and kisses, “what’s this? Did you bring your own boat?” I laughed, really hoping that the gigantic suitcase they were pushing was in fact just an act of kindness and that it really belonged to a large family of 12 that were somewhere behind…
“No” Danni said smiling at me, “this is Julie’s suitcase”. I stood openmouthed staring at the enormous suitcase wondering if she was serious, and where on earth we were going to put it if she was. I looked across at Julie and immediately realized Danni wasn’t kidding.

“I’m so, so sorry”, Julie said looking genuinely embarrassed. “I tried to pack light”!
“Um, OK, well I’m sure we’ll find somewhere for it” I said not too convincingly. Julie’s suitcase was so large she had to unpack on deck, we managed to just squeeze the case into the boson’s locker which had space available as fortunately all the fenders normally stored there were in use.

As soon as Julie and Danni had finished unpacking I served cocktails and Hors de Ouvres on board, before we all headed over to the little island to snorkel.

Cocktails and dinner on board tonight: