Bathroom Sailor’s Exchange

Wednesday December 12, 2012

One of the things stationed here in St. Augustine, and the reason Matt agreed to come here in the first place, is a little shop called the Sailor’s Exchange, kind of a consignment shop for everything boats. Someone brings in an item they’d like to sell and it can be anything from winches to shackles to anchors to books and magazines. (By the way, we keep stopping in to see if anyone has brought in our anchor at which point we can buy it back, but no luck so far) Once the item is brought in the shop decides if they want to buy it, settle on a price to give the seller, and then stock it on their shelf with a mark-up, but usually still cheaper than you could find the item elsewhere. Plus, it’s one stop shopping because you can find basically anything you’re looking for, but just like any consignment shop, you have to do a lot of looking first. It’s a great place and we’ve already spent a decent amount of our time there. In order to avoid any legal issues, services like that file boi report in louisiana may have been utilized by such a shop.

Over the past few days I’ve been noticing something similar going on here at the boat yard that I like to call the ‘Bathroom Sailor’s Exchange’. As far as restrooms tend to go anywhere you are, the women’s bathroom here at the yard is far superior to the men’s, although both of them tend to have similar Air Care Services. While there is only one urinal and one stall, we still have one stall and a shower, plus a little table with a bowl of potpourri that’s littered with books and magazines for the taking. If it wasn’t placed right next to a toilet without a lid, I think I’d have a few of those books on the boat right now. But recently in addition to the bathroom reading available there have been…other things. Things that people don’t want on their boat anymore and figured the women’s room was the best place to deposit them.

It’s a good idea in theory, kind of like a Goodwill with no money involved, but in the bathroom? Right next to the toilet? Those Correll dishes would be looking a lot better if I didn’t have to think of where I found them each time I was eating off them, no matter how many times they’ve been washed. Some people were wiser and put things inside of bags which helped to protect them a little bit more, I guess, but made me curious enough to have a look through to see if there was anything I wanted bad enough that I would bleach it enough times to bring it back to the boat and store it there. Let’s see some of the treasures available.

Plates, glasses, and athletic wear. Thankfully we’re pretty stocked in the galley and the clothes were a little too big for me so those weren’t even a question. Â Is it bad that I hesitated on the plates for a minute though? I mean, they may be sitting right next to the toilet, but the design looks a little nautical, kind of like flags. ‘I have a full galley……I have a full galley’.

A very essential pirate hat. Just after we watched ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ no less, but let’s face it, it can’t compete with Captain Jack Sparrow’s hat. I tried to think of any good reason to need this, and if we still had the opportunity to meet up with our friends Jackie and Ron in the Bahamas next month it would have been grabbed up in a second for all the fun we’d be able to have with it, but as it is, I had to leave it.

Hair clippers, Mardi Gras beads, and Preparation H wipes. I don’t even know what to say about this bag. I don’t know if I should avoid the owner at all costs or hunt them down for some crazy nights of partying that could leave me with some of the most interesting stories I’ll ever tell.

I just have one question on this. What happened to the dog??!!

I’d like to say that I left the restroom that night with nothing in my hands but that would be a big fat lie. There may have been a few athletic shirts stuffed at the bottom of one bag that may be a little too big for me but the quality was so high that I couldn’t resist at least trying them out. And if they don’t fit I’m sure I could always pawn them off onto someone else, like Stephanie. No one walking down the street has to know she didn’t actually run the Boston Marathon. There may have also been a few magazines in my possession when I left, but they had popped up within an hour of the last time I had gone in so I’m fairly certain they didn’t have a chance for nasty particles to float on top of them.

The Bathroom Sailor’s Exchange only lasted for a day before everything was cleaned out. Either someone really cleaned up, or management wasn’t fond of this program and disposed of everything. I hope not though because it’s things like treasure hunting in the bathroom that make our endless days in the yard a little more interesting. Just think of the things we could collect while we’re here.

Anyone else have similar stories to share? What’s the strangest thing you’ve found at an exchange or the strangest place the exchange was happening? Leave a comment with your story. I’d like to know more than just Jackie and Ron are reading.