Marina - 3, Will - 0

Marina -3, Will – 0

Well, it was 3 to 0 when I started writing this, but after tonight I might need to change that to Marina – 4, but the last incident occurred on the boat not in the water.

So, let’s start from the beginning.  I have grown up around boats and the water.  I surf, water ski, scuba dive, swim, and skin dive.   I’ve grown up around power boats and sail boats.  I have lived around water most of my life and I know what I’m doing, but maybe I’m too confident.  Wendy on the other hand is paranoid about falling into or dropping anything in the water.  Hence, she is very careful and has so far not had any incidents.

The first incident occurs while replacing a through hull.  A through hull is exactly what it sounds like.  There are hoses that need to pass through hull – typically letting water in or letting water out – and the through hull is a threaded fitting that passes through the hull to which the hose attaches.  In this case the through hull is meant to let propane out.  Propane is the fuel of choice for cooking on a boat.  It works great, but it is heavier than air.  So, if it leaks it fills up the boat with propane and turns the whole boat into a bomb.  Since propane is heavier than air it is stored in compartments that drain overboard.  Our drain hose goes to a through hull that has broken.   That means that any leaking propane is now going to go into the boat.  That is unacceptable, so I go to West Marine to buy a new through hull and there are two options – option 1 is a PVC through hull exactly like we’re replacing.  Option 2 is a Marlon part.  It is resistant to UV rays and will last virtually forever.  My choices are a $15 part that will wear out in a couple of years or a $30 part that will last as long as we own the boat.  No question, I’ll spend the extra money to get a better through hull.

I get it back to the boat, get all the tools I need, get the part and head out to replace the through hull.  This through hull passes through the stern of the boat.  I put the dinghy in the water to gain access to the back of the boat.  Now I just need to get everything into the dinghy to make the repair.  I’m not going to hurt the through hull by just dropping it into the dinghy, so I go ahead completely forgetting that our dinghy has an inflatable bottom that will act like a trampoline.  I hear boing, boing, splash!  I quickly look over the stern and get to watch the through hull sink into the depths.   Glad I spent the extra money to get the good stuff.

I go back over to West Marine and find that I had purchased the last Marlon through hull in that size.  So I end up buying the cheap one and ordering a new good one.  Now my $30 through hull has become $30 for the first one, $15 for a temporary replacement and another $30 for a second one - $75 total.  On top of that I get to do the replacement job twice.  Hurray!

Incident two takes place a couple of days later.  However, before I get to the incident let me give you a little background.  Months ago I injured my shoulder while lifting weights.  I kept thinking it would get better, but it hasn’t.  By the time I realized I was going to have to go to the doctor we were busy moving.  I finally got to a doctor a couple weeks ago and he suspects a torn rotator cuff.  I had an MRI this week and I’ll get the official results next week.  Anyway, I can’t lift my left arm up past should level without a tremendous amount of pain.

The other thing is that when we first arrived at the marina they gave us a slip with a short finger pier.  The finger pier is the part of the dock that runs alongside your boat.  What this meant for us was that we had to board our boat from the bow which is the highest part of the deck.  To do this we would step on the dock line to lift ourselves up then quickly step onto the bow before the boat moved over and the dock line dropped too low.  It became fairly easy once we got used to it, but you had to pay attention when you did it.  You can probably see where this is headed.  We have now moved slips to one with a long finger pier that allows up to board mid ship which is much, much easier and safer.

Wendy and I are just returning from our storage unit with more stuff to put on the boat.  The plan is for me to get onboard first and have Wendy hand things up to me.  I reach over and grab the boat while putting my foot on the dock line, but get distracted as I do it.  My foot slips off the line, I swing over and slam into the side of the boat then I’m left dangling in the water while holding onto the lifeline.  At this point I’m up to the bottom of my shorts in water.  Normally, I would just pull myself up, but my left shoulder is in so much pain I have to let go with that hand.  Now I’m hanging on with just my right hand, my left arm is useless and there is no way I’m going to be able to get back up.  Fortunately, I forgot my phone this day, so at least that’s not going in the water with me.  Unfortunately, you don’t want to swim in marina water.  Let’s just say that most people do not use their holding tanks while in marinas. 

At this point I have no choice.  Wendy can’t pull me up, I can’t pull me up, so there is only one way to go and that’s down.  I let go and drop into the water being careful to keep my face out of the water.  Ok, so I’m in the water and there is no place nearby to get out.  I’m there treading water with shoes on and only using one arm looking around for some way to get out of the water.  I see a sailboat on the other side of our dock with a low transom and a swimming ladder.  I have Wendy board their boat to lower the swim ladder while I swim under the dock.  Their dock lines are in the way so their ladder won’t go all the way into the water, but I manage to crawl over it and onto the back of their boat.

I head immediately to the fresh water hose and rinse off.  Wendy goes below to get me soap, shampoo and a towel then I head off to the showers.

The first thing I did when returning to the boat was to put our swim ladder on the side of the boat with a line that can be reached from the water to lower the ladder into the water.  Later we went over to the Dock Master office to request a new slip with a longer finger pier.

Incident number three happens on a very high tide before we have a new slip.  My phone is safely in my back pocket and I’m getting off the boat.  Because the tide is so high I have to sort of slide down to get off the boat and my back pocket rubs along the rail.  I get on the dock and everything happens at once.  Wendy starts to say that my phone is sticking out of my pocket, I start to turn to reach for it and the phone leaps for freedom.  It hits the dock on the way down, I hit the deck in an attempt to capture it and it slips off the edge and into the water.  I lay on my stomach while watching my phone disappear into the depths.

Fortunately, Google Backup has most of my phone numbers and they are transferred over to my new phone.  I was planning on getting a new phone anyway, but this moved up my timetable by a few weeks.  I did lose a few photos like the ones of the termite trails and a big tent covering the boat, so that was too bad.

Incident number four did not involve water, but it is part of life on a boat.  Wendy was trying to get off the boat, but the boat had swung away from the pier.  She asked me to come out and help her get the boat closer so she could step down.  The sun was just setting and I had a hard time seeing what was under foot.  I stepped on a very thin white coated wire that blended in perfectly with the deck.  It rolled under my foot and I start heading down.  I was about to fall right on top of Wendy so I turned as I fell and instead landed on the boom which was lying on the side deck.  I managed to bruise my ankle, take a shot in the ribs, have my left arm pushed above my head and jammed a few fingers on my right hand.  The next morning my ankle, ribs, hand and shoulder all still hurt.  I’m going to have to be more careful.

I’m hoping this is not going to be a regular continuing series on this blog, but I suspect this story will be continued at some point.