August 12, 2009

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The rain has stopped.
I drained it off Sa's toys on the back deck.
Sailor's starting to wake.
I'm a bit anxious because we're talking of getting underway today. I think I have a healthy level of anxiety - enough to be safe - compared to our early boating days when I stressed our underways for days leading up to it. Although the last time we went out I forgot to unplug the shore power and we ended up ripping the tongs from our marine power cord. The $100 pop was a good lesson.
There really are a number of things to do attached with getting this old 40' boat out and moving.
We just had a rain torrent. Afterward I carry Sailor for a walk on the docks. Coming back to Vic, a whole fairway away, we hear water pouring into the river.
"That's our boat" Sailor tells me.
He's right. Phil decided to pump out the rain water. At three years old he can tell which bilge pump is ours.

Back at Victory, Phil and I are debating now about getting underway. Rain clouds are on the horizon.
Phil ends up on the stern deck making a "Sam ramp". He's taking about a four foot length of wood, putting a fender float under it, putting hinges on one end, screwing slats across it. The Sam ramp is to help Nicole's black lab Sam get out of the river and onto her boat.

12:30pm
While in the building process Phil gets a call from a boat friend, who got a call from a boat friend, who says the Sheriff says they are coming to the cove with a tug boat and taking the boats out of there. This would include our nieces boat. We take some time contemplating what we should do.

1:14pm
Phil's headed up to the garage to take the battery out of the car. We figure the car battery should be enough power to get Nik's boat started if we need to. We decide to go to the cove by sail, there's wind, and we don't want to get Victory in the middle of a possible mess, or associated with any Sheriff's activity.

1:25pm
Phil's back loading the battery and stuff into the sailboat. I notice that with a toddler on board it takes two seconds longer each trip over the gunnels because I have to lock the gate each time.

1:45pm
We're loaded up in Steady Buzz -dog ramp, car battery, snacks...and on our way. Half way there Sailor calls out "Red buoy four. Up there's green buoy five".
By golly, he's exactly right.

2:10pm
We're in the cove at Nik'sboat. Phil attaches his cool 'Sam Ramp', it seems perfect. He puts a tarp over the bow to keep the leaks out.
We don't see any Sheriffs action. There are two docks and four boats in the cove, but no one seems to be stirring. We decide someone over reacted with the Boat moving warning.

3pm
We head out. The wind is crazy, stiff then stopping, from the West, then the North. Sa's tired. He tries laying in the cuddy for the first time. But we both end up sitting on the bow, ducking the mainsail as Phil solo sails and plays with the shifty winds. We pass buoy 5 three times, going backwards to get forwards.

4:09pm
We're home on Victory.