Second Rescue at Sea

December 5, 2011

We woke this morning to find that the dingy we had tied to the side of the boat was half full of water.  The waves had picked up during the night and pounded it.  After spending the morning bailing the water and drying out everything we decided to take a trip into town.  Half way there the engine sputtered and died.  Brian tried and tried to get it started  -- no go!  He figured that some water had gotten into the fuel tank.  No options; get the oars and start paddling!  We head over to the marina dock and tie up.  Ok, no way am I going to be able to crawl up on the dock.  Brian goes to find something to fix the fuel.  I wait in the dingy.  Brian returns -- no luck finding the magic potion .  No choice -- we have to paddle back to the boat.  We push off.  We're paddling as hard as we can.  Go, go, go!!!  Well, two things are against us:  the wind has picked up (a storm is on it's way) and the tide is going out.  As fast as we paddle, we can't make any progress.  We are getting closer and closer to the mouth of the harbor.  I'm beginning to panic.  If we go out of the harbor, we're in the Gulf.  Yikes!  A professional fishing captain and his friend see that we are in trouble.  They direct us to another dock, catch our lines and secure us.  Brian climbs out of the dingy and everyone insists that I get up on the dock.  Big problem.  I could never boost myself from the dingy to the dock.  They maneuver us over to another boat's swim platform so I can crawl onto it and eventually stand.  But, oh no that's not good enough!  They insist that I get all the way up on the dock.  With the help of all three, I make it.  We're safe on the dock, but we still need to get back to our boat.  While I wait on the dock, hoping to flag a boat that can tow us back to our toasty home, Brian heads out to try and find a tow.  When he returns, he's smiling.  Good news we are being rescued by a pontoon with a 90 horsepower motor and a young confident driver.  Brian hops back in the dingy.  You know what that means -- I have to embarrass myself again with a less than graceful entry.  I sit on the dock, work my way to the edge and slip off the side hoping to land on the dingy.  Yes, I did it!  We tie our short six foot line to the pontoon, and our driver takes off yelling back "hang on"!  If you've ever seen the movie 'Captain Ron', this is his younger clean cut brother.  We bounce across the waves which have now gotten larger and head for Gotta Smile at a very fast speed.  The wind is blowing, the waves are breaking over the dingy, and now it is raining.  The next obstacle is getting the dingy close enough to the boat so we can grab it.  If we disconnect too soon and can't reach the boat, we'll start blowing towards the mouth of the harbor again.  First try doesn't get us close enough.  We can't reach the swim platform.  Second try is no better.  Brian asks him to go around the opposite way.  We've left a line tied the length of the starboard side.  It works!!!  He does a little bounce off the side of our boat, but we are able to catch the line.  Brian ties us off and finds his wallet to give our rescuer a big tip and many heartfelt thank yous.  Exhausted, but safe we're ready for a quiet night on board!

Before we knew how bad things would get!

         

"Hang on" --Like I needed to be told!

Gotta Smile -- we're lovin the ride!