You Can't Get There From Here
No honestly you can't. Left on the 29th, spent the first night at
Gerry's sister's (thanks Jill!) and the 2nd in Annapolis with Carl &
Sandy. Carl needed a ride south so we dropped him off at a marina and
then tried our darnedest to get to Washington NC. They say no good deed
goes unpunished so our good deed of giving Carl a ride ends in our
taking detour after detour after detour because so many roads were
closed due to flooding. The radio could have been of better service had
they not only said which roads were closed but also which ones were open
instead of simply saying “plan your route carefully.” Spent the night
in NC (thanks for the hospitality Barbara, and the bed John), had
breakfast and hit the road again. Overnight somewhere in north Florida
and finally made it to Hollywood. Ponytail Richard was over from the
Bahamas so we met up with him and friend Susan, had a meal at Lerry's
favourite bar, walked the boardwalk and now I'm collapsing into bed,
leaving Lerry and Gerry to spend some quality man time together watching
TV!
October 3 is my Granddaughter's 3rd birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIELLE wish I was there to help celebrate!
Dock Pull
You know it's time to head south when they pull the docks at the sailing club - sad day .......This photo of Carol on the partly disassembled dock says it all. Another sailing season has come and gone.
We pulled Blazing Matilda out last week – a day not fit to sail or pull a boat out but the guys needed to sail just one more time. Chris and I weren't stupid enough to go out in gale force winds so we retreated to the trailer and took it easy while the cowboys were whooping it up on the lake – at least we assume that's what they were doing. They weren't answering their cell phone and after a few hours we were feeling peckish and headed into town, leaving the boys to their own devices, perhaps drowned, perhaps starving. At least that was the plan but the foolish nurturing side of us kicked in and we drove to the sailing club instead. There they were – not drowned after all but hadn't got the boat out of the water either. Les was at the ramp waiting for Gerry to come around with the boat. The wind was still howling and Gerry had difficulty getting it lined up with the trailer – in other words it landed sideways. Some how I got volunteered to shove it off which meant I had to hike up my skirt and get wet! Able bodied men around and they send me in to do the heavy lifting. So I crawled through the SUV, off the tailgate and onto the submerged trailer. Les was very encouraging “hey it's not deep, just stand on those boards that are in front of you.” He didn't mention the boards weren't fastened and were just floating there waiting to dump me in the cold lake.
So there I am precariously balanced on the boards in front of the winch and of course cannot reach the boat. Once again Les 'helps' by pointing out that a large piece of plywood runs down the center of the trailer, just perfect for standing on. Of course the water is deeper, the skirt has to go up higher. I gingerly wade out further until I can reach the boat but of course I'm not strong enough to push this behemoth back. Les helps again "Gerry move to the back of the boat so Sophie can push it off." I manage to move it off the trailer, miraculously not falling in as there is no place to hang on to once the boat is out of my grasp. I quickly retreat to the safety ?? of the floating boards on the other side of the winch. Meanwhile my wee brain was wondering why no one had a rope on this boat to help pull it into position. Wouldn't you know at that exact time Les asks for a rope so he can help (instead of just sitting on the tailgate). So a rope is delivered into his hands, Gerry takes another run at it and voila – dead centre on the trailer. Once again Les helps "just move ahead a wee bit and put the hook on." A wee bit my **s. Once again I step on the slippery plywood, hook in hand, lean way over and get the hook in. Les helps once again "now just winch it in." Yeah right – this boat is heavy!
So I ask – "Gerry why don't you get in the water and winch the boat?" Answer "I have to stay with the boat." Like the boat's going anywhere. So I start winching and winching and winching with Les offering encouragement "just a little more, just a little more, oh just put your back in it!" After what seemed like an eternity the boat was on the trailer – my shoulders hurt for 4 days. At least I didn't have to help get the mast down. Since we were all starving I got to run into town to fetch pizza while the others de-rigged (I'm sure that's a nautical term). Seems I'm always the DD.
Still tons of work, emptying, winterizing and tarping the boats and then the trailer.
