Southport: Bartender Brian and Courageous Karen

We tend to eat at the Bar when going out. Especially at a club or restaurant near the marina. The reason(s) for this is threefold:

  • First, there is more energy and the service tends to be better.
  • Second, other people at the bar will socialize with you and that is how we have connected with and learned from other boaters.
  • Finally, we have been stuck on a boat with each other for almost 3 1/2 months now and really need to look at other people and talk with other people.

Southport had 2 firsts for me:

Brian the bartender, was the most amazing, efficient and service oriented bartender I have ever seen. He was amazing and watching him was like a show. He literally would run from one end to the other. Pour, make, serve, and take orders perfectly at an amazing speed. Often times beads of sweat ran down his face. But than, he would stop and take a customer’s order with a deep explanation on the menu and the customer felt he would spend forever with them. He never wrote anything down. Anytime locals entered, he knew their name. It all made sense when a patron commented that he was amazing and had a amazing work ethic and high standards. He said, “I learned from my dad, this is a family restaurant.” A simple economic principle. When something is yours, you have higher standards and care more.

Karen then, sat next to us and we started swapping boat stories. She is a resilient, powerful, inspirational sail boater. Karen took a sabbatical from her job and took her boat from Boston to the Bahamas and is on her way back to Boston. I can’t even begin to express the awe of her navigating and sailing on her own. Sooo impressive!!! She was at a low point heading back and looking for crew. Guts and stamina with a bit of stubborn. These are the reasons to be on the water. The amazing people and sights along the way.