Flip Cup

The throb of the boat’s diesel engine reminded us where we were this morning, in case we forgot. I’d certainly drunk enough the night before to wipe a few brain cells. Soon the boat was gently rocking its way out of the harbour coaxing me back to sleep. Shortly before 9am I climbed out and went up for breakfast. Troy had arranged for breakfast to be pushed back an hour considering our late-night bonding session. Well, he was meant too, yet something somewhere went wrong. Breakfast had been served at 8 and it was now over. Only one person, the daughter of a sailor, had made breakfast in her keen interest of nautical life on the other side of the world. The rest of us, well, we would just have to wait for lunch. And what a wait it was. Many people despite their hangovers threw themselves into the routine of “getting some colour”. Those Aussies living abroad in the UK didn’t care if that colour was red.
“As long as we don’t go back white,” was the consensus.
The swim stop was a welcome distraction from the hunger pangs. The cool, clear water cleared my head certainly. The bell rang out as we warmed our bodies on deck, drying away the salt water. To get that food there was nearly a stampede. Soup, glorious soup. On we motored.
Early that afternoon we arrived at an island some 30km long but at no point, wider than 2km. In any case, we didn’t stray beyond the port. The island, 90 per cent national park, is most famous for its inland lake. It was once freshwater but monks long ago carved a channel to the ocean and saltwater ensued. Instead we sat at the “beach”. The beach was no more than a stretch of concrete. Still, after a big night, we were happy to chill out with Jono, Jo, Laura and Ash. We sat around nibbling on some snacks bought at the corner store and fought off wasps. Jo kept a kill count. I failed to register a single kill. Jono meanwhile registered about three in the process of protecting Jo. I just wanted to protect my eyes from old European men getting around in G-strings and older woman going topless. Still, we happily passed a couple of hours, sharing stories. With the sun getting low we found a bench on the dock in front of the boats and knocked back a few cheap beers from the corner store. Being a little too ambitious we bought a few too many with dinner time closing in. Troy earned a jumper not once but twice as we brought the session to a quick end. Dinner was an optional extra cooked by the captain. An assortment of meat was laid on our tables and we ate eagerly in tribute to their toil. The lamb was popular. And the way Troy described it you would not find better in the world.
“They’re marinated from the inside,” he enthused, “The lambs chew on salt encrusted herbs along the coast.”
Whatever the case it was certainly packed with flavour. The skinless sausages, a Croatian specialty, were well received too. And the local beer proved good again. A few of us were full-to-bursting. The tables were soon being cleared signalling happy hour would start. Tonight, Troy was keen for us to all try a hand at some drinking games, including beer pong and flip cup. Beer pong was the first challenge. This involved six cups “racked up” at either end of the tables in a triangle, half filled with beer. With a ping pong ball, the aim of the game was for each competitor to lob it into one of the cups. If it landed in your cup you had to drink. If it went in on the bounce you had to drink two. Whoever lost all their cups first lost and perhaps somewhat drunk in the process. We also played it in doubles. I neither won or got drunk but it was still fun. Compared to this, however, flip cup was a riot of fun. Teams of six sat facing each other at the table. In front of them was a plastic cup half filled with beer. On the count: “One, two, three, FLIP CUP,” the opponents at the head of the table would down their drink. The cup was then rested on the table’s edge and flipped with a gentle finger from beneath. As soon as the cup landed upside down on the table it was the next person’s go and so on down the line in a race to the end. The winning team would vote off a member of the opposing team, usually the biggest threat. If your team lost a member someone would have to drink their cup in the next round, to even up the cup count between the two teams. Between three teams of six this went on for more than an hour. Some people got merrily drunk and continued the party off the boat. We had opted out of the game and were happy to hit the sack at 11.
Sam (September 12)