A friend asked if I might help him take his sailboat from the marina back to his dock at home. I’ve sailed with him before (I am not a sailor but can follow directions) and always liked the camaraderie and enjoyed the sense of adventure that goes along with sailing. He got the sailboat to the marina so that some work could be done, particularly work to make sure the motor was working properly. The marina could find nothing wrong with the motor. We got into the boat about noon and thought we’d get to his dock by 2:00/3:00. All went well at the start. We motored out of some tight stuff and got the sails up and shut off the motor. There was a good wind and we sailed. Then, hours later, it came time to motor in as we approached the channel leading to the dock. And that is when the motor refused to run for more than a minute or so. Yes, we had sail power but sailing into a narrow and twisting channel back to the dock is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, my friend had pre-arranged to have another friend on standby to help us in if needed. And help was, indeed, needed. And the friend showed up with a small speedboat and we tied up side by side. The little powerboat provided the power. The bigger sailboat provided steering. I had the best hearing of the four of us and the woman on the powerboat had the best vision. Talk about a hybrid mash-up! But this assemblage got us back to port. I can always count on sailing with my friend to be an adventure planned or unplanned.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:22:56 +0000
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