Swimming, Fiesta’s & Adventure

Swimming and Adventures
Oct 2 2012
Sunday afternoon, we decided instead of driving to a local beach we would cross to the Magotti, the peninsula across the bay from us. Caesar is always up for a dinghy ride, loves to watch over the water, doesn’t like to get hit with spray though, and this is nice warm water. Guess you don’t notice that when it is coming from over the bow. In any case we arrived, I anchored the dinghy offshore, as I didn’t have the wheels on & tide was going out. He & Coye went ashore to run off some of his energy. He soon came back as I was by the boat & he wanted on. He started walking through the water, but soon realized that was too deep. He tried to stand on his hind legs & walk which he is capable of doing but that wasn’t working, then his back was under water, so he started moving his front legs still standing on his back legs, that wasn’t working so then he started moving his hind legs & you guessed it he was swimming! Don’t stop now, he wants to that boat, & its about 10-12 yards away, but he doesn’t give up he goes right at it & swims to the boat. I was there to help him board but you could almost see the satisfaction on his face. Aboard it was time to shake off excess water(even though his hair is very short now)& lay down for a nap & let the sun dry you.
And now for the next adventure which I wasn’t looking for at this time, it was time to move the boat to the travel lift for haulout & paint. They were also going to check & or replace the cutlass bearing, which is the bearing that carries the shaft that the propeller is attached to. A rather important boat part, it also keeps out water, so it is kind of multi use. I had arranged for some folks on our dock, one of them being a captain with lots of experience to help with lines. As I had no experience driving this boat I felt him to be a great asset. Driving a single prop boat of this size in tight quarters can be an adventure if not a nightmare. I had checked tides, which were slight but in my favor & no wind was expected at 0830. I warmed the engine for 20 minutes or so because one time it hadn’t been warmed & quit at a crucial moment. Got crew on board & untied lines backing carefully straight back slowly, just past the midway point of the narrow channel I went to neutral to slow the boat, & make a small turn to swing the stern. Then it was time to switch into forward to complete the turn & head out. But we seemed to keep moving backwards, the borrowed captain is on the stern & shares with me that it is time to stop & go forward, but nothing is happening, I apply considerable more power & then we hit the boat behind us, I realize that although I came out of reverse it won’t go into forward. I had been operating from the flying bridge for maximum visibility, but went down to the main helm, & tried the shifter there, & it worked. We slowly got underway again & with a couple of forward & reverse maneuvers got on our way down the companionway to the bay. We only had about ½ mile or so to go to the haulout point, & about half way there, guess what? Yup the engine died, & only one of course. Pickup the radio & call the people that were going to help us when we lost the shifter are coming back again. However one of the anchored people was right there in his dinghy, so we side tied him to us & he managed to get us to the travel lift with me steering as that was still working. Did I need this adventure on a Monday morning, somedays, cruising is more stressful than work.
The Rest of the Story
We had been invited out the night before to a Mexican Fiesta but with road conditions & the location of the ranch where the party was to be was way out in the country where we had never been before, we were going to decline. However the marina owner would really like us to come, it was his fathers birthday party & he assured the roads were passable(more rain here this year than any other year except when a hurricane hits) We went anyhow, had a good time & left around 10 after eating, & a few beers, it was a long drive back through mountains & lots of livestock on the road, did I mention 20-30 mph. The party went on until 4 am, but we were safely home, & by the way did I mention is was the marina owners boat that we hit, trying to leave for the haulout! Glad we had accepted the fiesta invitation, at least we hadn’t rebuked him as well as crunching one of his boats!
Rain
On Monday, Wed, & Fri, they have coffee at the yachtclub, & sit around & tell stories or play cards, generally an hour or so. Last Friday it was raining & nobody except Canadians or northwesterners were expected to show. Of course I went, we started playing partner cribbage, under a canopy until it was leaking so bad we went inside the new clubhouse. It seemed everytime I went to leave to go home, the rain got real heavy so just one more game. We started at 0930 & were still playing at near 2 pm or later in the afternoon. The rain continued to later that evening. That was also the day that Diego had planned on finishing doing our rails. That waited but did get done. Streets are a mess, some holes so deep that it hits my running boards on the truck to go through. Sometimes manhole covers gone, but everyone, police included just use the opposite side of the road to go around the hole, if from the other way you let them pass. A whole new meaning to defensive driving.
Time to end & post this, no pictures again but if I wait for that it could be days before publishing. I promise I will work on it.

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