The Cruisers’ Red Hat Society

      Most cruisers wear hats to protect themselves from the sun or sudden bursts of rain. It’s sort of part of our uniform, along with a pair of well-worn shorts and t-shirt.  Some folks wear a sailor type hat with a brim that extends all around, while others wear the standard baseball cap.  Old salts don a washed-out red ball cap whose logo is so faded that it can barely be deciphered. We learned that this red hat is much coveted and after seeing so many crusty cruisers wear them, I was sucked into being a coveter. We knew that this red hat was not acquired easily.  Last night we discovered exactly how one can earn his or her very own red hat here on the island of Antigua.

       We arrived a few days ago just as Antigua’s Annual Classic Regatta was wrapping up. Friends urged us to go to the Red Hat Party that concluded the event. Free rum drinks for the first hour drew a huge crowd, as the rhythms of a steel pan band was rocking (or should I say, “plinking”) the party goers.  We bumped into a cruiser friend (who shall remain nameless for reasons you’ll understand as you read on) who had seven earned red hats in his bag.
      
        I asked where they were selling them and he said in his South Floridian drawl, “Oh, you can’t buy them and it’s too late to earn one.” 

       “What do you mean?” I queried further.

       “Well,” he continued, “to get one hat, you’ve got to give them two tickets, and you get those two tickets by drinking three rum drinks at any event during the previous week’s race events.” 

       “So, G.” I said, “YOU drank quite a lot of rum!”

       “Oh, no-“ he responded in his best lawyer defense voice.  “Four of these hats belong to my friend and his wife.”

        After that explanation, I had no choice but to beg, “Will you please sell me one of yours?”

        He smiled sweetly, “No, sorry.  I’ve got one for each of my sons and one for me. You’ll just have to be here next year for the Classics Regatta week and earn your own.”

THAT sounds like a plan.