Maggie's Farm

My husband and I always loved frostbite sailing too, Tom. The Houston Yacht Club has a traditional yacht race on New Year's Day, called the Revognah. It's very popular, and we always bundled up and joined in. One year, it was so cold [40 degrees] and windy that the officials called the race off right after it began. Our good friends who anchored at the Yacht Club got on board with us to help us sail our boat back to the Seabrook Shipyard fairly nearby. We were grateful for the extra bodies to help hold the 24 foot boat down in the water in the 25 or 30 knot blow. One of our passengers brought bottles of champagne and brandy aboard to make French 75s for the crew, to keep us warm and toasty. We were into our second or third cups of the wonderful stuff, and singing happily away, when a Coast Guard vessel hailed us and asked if we were "in distress." We answered cheerfully that there was no one on board who was in any kind of distress, and would they like to have a French 75 or two. They turned us down, however, and we continued on our alcoholic way back to our anchorage.

Surprisingly enough, we got there safely and didn't lose any of the crew. The next year, we made French 76es. They were equally good.

Marianne