The Anecdotal Life Part. 23
Sometimes it's a good idea to walk away and do something else. The move from apartment to house began to unravel and me with it. I had a chance on Sunday to get a free lesson on a pretty yacht about the same size as mine. Initially, it seemed like that plan would fall through since the Captain was fretting with recovery from an illness, being behind on all his business affairs, and worse, it looked like his girlfriend was in the process of dumping him. After listening to his woes I admitted I wasn't in such a great place myself and trudged on back to the boat to oil some hinges, clean up a little, unpack ( God bless me) some more, and work up the courage to climb up to the flybridge and start the engines for the first time by myself. And I did it! Without revving the engines too much either! I looked out through the isinglass from my little lofty view across Goose Harbor and the urge to cut loose the lines and take the damn thing out by myself nearly overwhelmed me. It would have been a catastrophe of course, but, oh my. I knew then I would figure it all out someway and spent some time chasing bugs and bug doo off the instrument panel while the engines began to sound a little more used to being run. I was inordinately proud of myself, knew it and didn't care.
The Captain came skipping down the dock having lifted his spirits with beer and crabs with the boys. He waved me on down for a lesson on his boat as though he'd never had an negative thought in his life. Well heck, I was definitely game. He couldn't have chosen a better moment.
I don't remember being that excited, delighted, or transported learning something new. What I have to learn about the intricacies of wind, current, and the obstacles the Chesapeake presents is awesome. In a matter of minutes I was at the helm and inching my way down the narrow channel and down Seneca Creek. Boats were flying all around every which way and made the Giant store parking lot look peaceful. The hardest thing to spot was the markers and buoys. A red nun? A green floating marker? Shoals! Buried wrecks! On and on, and I was supposed to be spotting these things amid waves, passing boats, and tons of sun glare. Yikes! Furthermore, this dude remained very aware as he coached me, not to discomfit his other passengers. One thing seemed really tough and that was learning to pilot the boat using only the rudder action and not the wheel. Or take docking for instance!! There's a neat trick. Sliding what was rapidly becoming an eight-ton monster into that eensy- innsy little slot was obviously a ridiculous undertaking. I did not pretend to try and handed the wheel to him-"real fast".
Heck , who cares? I cannot wait for my next chance to go. I couldn't sit down when I got home and wound up tackling more boxes and the laundry late at nite. Now I know I'll get moved somehow, learn to pilot my own eight-ton monster and I can't express "how good it is".
Copyright: July 24, 2006.
The Captain came skipping down the dock having lifted his spirits with beer and crabs with the boys. He waved me on down for a lesson on his boat as though he'd never had an negative thought in his life. Well heck, I was definitely game. He couldn't have chosen a better moment.
I don't remember being that excited, delighted, or transported learning something new. What I have to learn about the intricacies of wind, current, and the obstacles the Chesapeake presents is awesome. In a matter of minutes I was at the helm and inching my way down the narrow channel and down Seneca Creek. Boats were flying all around every which way and made the Giant store parking lot look peaceful. The hardest thing to spot was the markers and buoys. A red nun? A green floating marker? Shoals! Buried wrecks! On and on, and I was supposed to be spotting these things amid waves, passing boats, and tons of sun glare. Yikes! Furthermore, this dude remained very aware as he coached me, not to discomfit his other passengers. One thing seemed really tough and that was learning to pilot the boat using only the rudder action and not the wheel. Or take docking for instance!! There's a neat trick. Sliding what was rapidly becoming an eight-ton monster into that eensy- innsy little slot was obviously a ridiculous undertaking. I did not pretend to try and handed the wheel to him-"real fast".
Heck , who cares? I cannot wait for my next chance to go. I couldn't sit down when I got home and wound up tackling more boxes and the laundry late at nite. Now I know I'll get moved somehow, learn to pilot my own eight-ton monster and I can't express "how good it is".
Copyright: July 24, 2006.
posted by The Anecdotal Life at 3:19 AM
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