Ah, the joys of life on a sailboat. Last week I needed some
groceries, so I decided to go over to Publix early in the morning before I
started working. There are two ways to go from here. One is to go to the park,
tie up at a low dock, climb a short ladder then walk about a half mile. The
other way is to take the dinghy across the water to a very tall, abandoned dock
about a block from the Publix. Since I was by myself that morning, I picked to
tall dock and short walk.
Since I was going out in public, I cleaned myself up. Wendy
had gone back to Dallas to visit her mom and sister one last time before we sail away and I had been on the boat by myself for a few days. Since all I had been
doing was sitting in front of a computer all day, every day, I had worn the same
clothes for days and hadn’t bothered to shave. I take a shower every night
before going to bed, so at least I was clean. I washed my face and shaved,
brushed my teeth then put on a clean shirt and clean cargo shorts. I looked and
felt like a respectable human being again.
I usually wear cargo shorts when I’m leaving the boat and
that day was no different. They have lots of pockets with buttons, so things
like money, cell phone and keys stay safe. Early on I learned that stuff likes
to jump out of pockets when climbing on and off boats. I climbed down into the
dinghy and attached the kill switch to the engine. A kill switch is just a
little clip that attaches to the front of the engine with a little red lanyard
that goes around your wrist. If you fall overboard, the lanyard pulls the clip
off and the engine dies. If you don’t have the kill switch you can’t start the
engine.
The tide was high which meant the water was clear and the
reach up to the dock was as short as it was going to get. There was no ladder
and the dock was about chest level when I was standing on the side of the
dinghy. I locked the dinghy up with a chain, threw out a small anchor to hold
the dinghy away from the dock then pulled myself up.
It was a short walk to Publix and the morning was still cool.
I got in and out quickly, but the day was already heating up. I made it back to
the dinghy without getting too hot then had to get myself and all the groceries
back down into the boat. I put my hands on the top of a short piling and
lowered my body down. Fully stretched out, my feet just reached the side of the
dinghy. I let go, grabbed the dock and balanced myself. No problem. Reaching up
and grabbing the groceries, I loaded them into the dinghy. Then I just had to
unlock the chain and I was good to go.
I unlocked the lock and pulled the chain down from around
the dock piling. I was congratulating myself on a job well done as the chain
dropped into the boat when I saw a small flash of red hit the water. I had a
sinking feeling as I checked my pockets for the kill switch. Not finding them,
I looked into the water and could clearly see them on the bottom just under the
dinghy. The water didn’t look that deep, so I reached down to see if I could
grab them. No luck; I’m going to have to go in.
I emptied my pockets into a grocery bag, took off my belt,
removed my shirt and flip-flops and was left sitting there wearing only the
clean shorts I had put on an hour before. I hopped over the side onto some rocks
then slowly walked down into the water. My hope was I could reach the kill
switch with my toes before the water reached my shorts. Nope. I was up to my
waist when I got to the kill switch and tried to pick it up with my toes.
Unfortunately, it was between some big rocks and I couldn’t get a good angle on
it. All I managed to do was push it farther down in between the rocks. I
realized the only way to get it was to fully immerse myself. I pulled the
anchor over close to the kill switch so I would have something to help pull me
down then dove under. So there I am, completely underwater, upside down, eyes closed, with one hand on the anchor and the other digging around
in the rocks. I stuck my hand down in between the rocks hoping there wasn't a crab in there and fortunately, I was able to retrieve the kill switch. Now fully wet with salt
water I climbed back aboard, started the engine and motored home to the boat.
Arriving at the boat I went straight to the shower, rinsed off, rinsed my
shorts, found some other clothes, hung my wet shorts out to dry then unloaded
the groceries.
That’s life when you live on a sailboat. There are so many
pluses, like sunny, coconut palm lined beaches, beautiful blue water, great
scuba diving and a slower paced life, but there are some down sides like when
you drop your keys you don’t just bend down and pick them up, you go swimming.
