Ducking For Cover

So there I was...a couple miles out in Lake Ontario last Monday on the way to my next harbor that would take five hours to reach.  I knew the weather wasn't going to be great but the lake was proving to be more aggressive than had been predicted.  Waves were standing three to four feet high and unlike the long rolling ocean waves that I'm used to,  these were sharp and very close together.  I was taking a terrible pounding and items that I thought I'd secured were flying around the cabin as spray from the waves was washing over the deck and windshield to where I was having trouble seeing.  Problem is that it's my custom not to turn back once I've set my course for a destination.  This has created some wild trips over the years.  Then the duck spoke to me.  Kim had put this stuffed toy duck on the boat that resides on my desk in the main cabin.  When you plop the duck down firmly on a hard surface it starts to quack and quack and quack.  Said duck went flying across the cabin at one point and the quacking started.  In duck language, which I must know, he was saying, "Are you some kind of idiot.  What are we doing out here?  Forget that you're tearing your not so young body apart but this 35 year old boat can't take this kind of punishment any more.  Swallow your pride and turn this boat around."  I listened to the duck and it's a good thing I did because the weather continued to deteriorate.  So I made the trip today, two days later, and the seas were flat with no wind but there was fog most of the way limiting my sight to about a quarter mile.  I was about 25 miles offshore and driving from the upper helm station when the flies attacked.  Hundreds and hundreds of flies.  They were landing all over me and I had to retreat to the lower helm station in the main cabin.  It was like some horror movie as they were covering every screen and window trying to get in.  They were finding small openings and for the rest of the trip I was killing flies with the fly swatter.  Dead flies everywhere.  They don't put this stuff in the brochures at the boat shows and this time the duck never said a word.

Another Great Harbor

So there I was...sitting in the cockpit of Eventide last night in the quietest of harbors on my way to Thousand Islands and Montreal.  The fish were jumping all around the boat as Kamikaze moths dove into the large citronella candle I had burning.  The outline of the shore was quickly fading with the last remnants of light and I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be.  Earlier in the day I crossed the bay and tied the dingy at a dock a block away from this great out of the way bakery called the Fly By Night Cookie Company.  So much character to this place and the cookies (plural) were so good.  Chatting with the locals and a swim off the back of the boat was in order followed by dinner and aforementioned wildlife encounter.  Speaking of wildlife, I watched an eagle soaring near the anchorage today.  Sometimes it's difficult to leave when you find these gems but there are adventures waiting.  In the words of Captain Ron from the movie of the same title, "If it's gonna happen, it'll happen out there."  Time to pull anchor.

Sodus Bay

So there I was...cruising across Lake Ontario yesterday on my way to Sodus Bay, NY.  The winds were coming out of Northeast Canada creating a wave pattern that bumped and twisted Eventide beyond uncomfortable.  Pair that with how tired I was from getting boat and house together for my departure and low and behold, I got sea sick.  Nothing worse than knowing you have hours of travel time left and you're the only one to run the boat when this dreaded infirmity jumps on your innards.  Using every known remedy that I've collected over years of playing this game, I barely made it to Sodus Bay without succumbing.  Once here, I anchored in a quiet harbor and all was right with the world and my stomach.  Sitting in the cockpit watching the sun go down I wondered if this scenario wasn't an analogy for life.  As bad as it sometimes gets and as long as the suffering sometimes lasts there is a quiet beautiful anchorage waiting that will make the journey worth all the trouble.  He promised.

Thanks

So there I was...upside down in the bilge of Eventide struggling to loosen a nut that the manufacturer never intended to be reachable by a mans hand.  How am I ever going to get to this thing?  Enter Kim.  This scenario has played out so many times that I've lost count.  Her willingness and small hands have been invaluable and saved us thousands of dollars not having to turn jobs over to the boatyard experts.  We just finished a large and difficult fiberglassing job rebuilding half of the cockpit floor and Kim was with me every step of the way.  If I have had a full and exciting boating experience, my wife has to be credited with making it possible.  As often happens, too much time goes by without expressing our appreciation to the people closest to us for making our lives full and meaningful.  Thirty one years ago when the minister spoke the words, "and the two shall become one" I had no idea how true this would be.  Thanks Kim.  I couldn't do it without you, nor would I want to.

Bill

So there I was...enjoying a beautiful morning in Hamburg Cove having coffee with Bill on our boats that were tied together.  So there I was...spreading the ashes of a good friend from Bill's boat on an outgoing tide in Long Island Sound.  So there I was...scuba diving with Bill as we serviced our moorings that we owned near each other near Mystic, CT.  So there I was...laughing hysterically with friends as Bill did one of his many satirical impressions.  So there I was...etc.  I wasn't with Bill as he was hit head on by another car that will possibly alter the rest of his life.  This has been heavy on my mind this past week.  Bill is a survivor and I know he won't quit but it's what he's already done that inspires me most.  He has lived a full and exciting life with many friendships forged and stories to tell.  He has not shied away from change or the unknown and has shown himself to be giving and multi-talented.  Had he put off living the adventure for somewhere in the future and then had this happen to him, that would have been sad indeed.   Tomorrow has never been promised to us and the quality of a life will always trump quantity.  Let's take stock of what God has given us today and never let fear or procrastination rob us of having the adventure of a lifetime.  Things may have changed for Bill, but trust me, his adventure is not over.  He's wired that way.

Honda to Honda

So there I was...talking to my neighbor last night about a Honda generator I own and we got talking about the other Honda products I've had.   I proceeded to tell him about riding my Honda Goldwing motorcycle home from work on a very hot evening one summer at about 9pm.  After stopping at Home Depot, to buy yet another necessity for the house, I just couldn't get myself to put my helmet back on with it being as hot as it was.  As I drove through the dark on Rt 2 in Glastonbury, CT I remember liking the fact that there were so few cars on this stretch of highway giving me the road all to myself.  The deer must have been thinking the same thing as he leaped in front of my bike that was traveling 65 mph.  I had only enough time to brace for the impact as the animal slammed against the fairing and flipped over and slightly to the side of me.  By the grace of God and some angels holding on tight the bike stayed up and I throttled down pulling over to the side of the highway with my head still intact.  I looked back for the deer but there were no lights in this area leaving me to wonder if it survived.  After looking at the cracked fairing and other damage done to my bike I expressed my opinion about what I thought its fate should be.  Though I'd had many close calls over a lifetime of biking this one seemed to rob me of the sense of freedom I'd always felt when riding now having to be overly vigilant for the next foraging furry jaywalker.  Hence, I sold the Goldwing and bought a Honda snowblower just before one of the snowiest winters in Connecticut.  It's all good.

Unpredictable

So there I was...hunkered down in the cabin of my sailboat as Kim did battle with a  swarm of bees.  Things out on the water can be unpredictable at times.  Case in point.  Several years ago we were sailing about 5 miles off the coast of Rhode Island on a hazy day.  Poor visibility limited our view to about a mile giving the impression that we were all alone on this big ocean.  That is when we were invaded by butterflies, probably a hundred or more.  They came out of nowhere and were landing all over the boat.  It wasn't but a minute later that hundreds of flies showed up and started taking up residence along side the butterflies.  Feeling like we were in the middle of a biblical plague Kim and I were pondering this surreal moment when the bees arrived. So many bees.  Problem is that if I get stung by even one of these pollen toting winged wonders, I could die.  Amplify that dilemma with the time it would take me to get to a hospital from 5 miles offshore and the prudent move for me was to dive into the cabin and shut the doors after handing Kim the flyswatter.  Eventually she cleared the deck of all the uninvited guests and it was safe for the captain to show his face again.  She now holds it over me that she saved my life that day.  There must have been a stream of wind that collected all these critters off the shore and let them go miles out to sea.  Confused and disoriented they spy the only place to land, our boat.  Lucky us.