On the dock in Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, I met Piegi, from New England. Piegi and her husband's boat was a big trawler thing, and their version of this boating experience was so interestingly different from ours, yet in many ways the same. Like us, they were making their way to these exotic corners through planning and persistence and discipline, but not being sailors in the literal sense, they were unfettered with sailboat issues.
My introduction to Piegi was on an adjacent folding chair, during an impromptu evening dock social gathering. Piegi and I chatted, other crews mingling with each other. Then from down the dock, Piegi and I overhear her husband telling another husband: " We're going to sail it around the world". Piegi quietly snickers. " Yes, we are" she says, for my ears, and then adds "As soon as Home Goods has a Sale". Home Goods is a discount store and never has sales, and she had no way to know whether I would understand her sarcasm. I did, and her wit landed instantaneously. We both break into uncontrollable laughter. I do not know this woman at all, yet she and I spontaneously connect.
A couple weeks later, Joe and I are still puttering around the Abacos, sporadically landing in the vicinity of Piegi and her husband, and sharing outings. The four of us all seemed to get along. We decide to have a farewell restaurant meal, for soon we we would all be pulling up anchors and heading different ways.
Via text, Piegi and I concluded she would cook the parting meal. She invited us to their boat. I typed back "Will bring salad. But to avoid any hurt feelings, Joe and I will not eat haggis". Haggis, for those of you unfamiliar with Scottish cuisine, is a mash of heart, liver and lungs, cooked inside a sheep's stomach. I was being facetious as I was pretty comfortable that was not going to to be on the menu. Her response: "I agree. I hope however that you like lutefisk".
I googled it: "Lutefisk is frequently mentioned on lists of worse tasting or most disliked foods due its unappetizing qualities...the dish's polarizing reputation stems from its distinctive jelly like consistency and its ...sometimes soapy flavor"
Piegi served salmon, it was delicious, and we hope our paths will cross again.
