Second (semi-) Voyage
I think I need to have a *long talk* with this boat! It seems to have the wrong idea about its (future) name.
So, it’s name, as we have the un-/re-naming ceremony, will be 4 Degrees. The idea is that this boat is my reward to myself for getting 4 kids through college. Well, it actually ended up being a 50th birthday present from my mom and my Significant Other. But that just meant I had more money to put towards repairs.
Anyway, back to the name….
So I asked a few friends if they’d like to take the first pleasure cruise on this boat. Weather all week had been looking good, and I had no doubt that this day would be any different.
As I said, the boat, though, has different ideas.
Well, we had the chance of rain. No biggie. That’s what they make foul weather gear for, right?
<sigh!> Not only did we get rain, we got hail. And it was cold, of course. And the winds picked up. But, that came later.
The creek where I have my boat berthed has a narrow channel. And, this day, we had a terrible time finding it. The aforementioned wind wasn’t helping matters, either. We kept going aground. First time, didn’t take much time to get going again. Nor did it the second time. But the third time, the passengers moved to the high side and we struggled to get free.
So now we’re free and finally in deeper (relatively speaking) water. Next problem? Crabpots!
For those unfamiliar with the Chesapeake Bay area, there are these landmines they call crabpots all over the place! They’re wire cages that the fishermen put on the bay floor, with a rope attached, and buoy attached to that. The buoy, of course, makes it easy to find them again. Problem is, there will be dozens in an area and little way to get around them. So you go through them. Problem with that? Well, hit one of those buoys (about the size of a large Clorox bottle) and the rope attached to them wraps around your propeller. If you’re real lucky, you can just unwrap it easily. If you’re not, and you’re a good soul, you get in the water and untangle yourself, leaving the buoy and rope in tact. If you’re not a kind soul, you get your handy dandy knife out and cut yourself loose.
So I made it through the minefield of crabpots and out of the shoals. But now the wind has picked up and it’s nasty cold, and we turn around. How far have we gone in all of this? Less than a mile! <double sigh!>
So then I get to practice backing my boat into its slip. I guess that’s the one lesson I did get to learn that day: prop walking and backing up.
Well, the captains I’ve sailed with had taught me a valuable lesson: keep the crew well fed. So I had a good feed prepared for lunch. We enjoyed that, listening to the rain falling outside and relishing in each other’s company.
So, though the sailing was again pretty crappy, the company was excellent!
