Today I am choosing to post something Brent wrote to me after he had boat troubles last Friday. As he mentions, writing can be therapeutic. Some of you know that with boats moored on buoys out near the point of low tide, there are frequent incidents. ( we have been regaled with stories from years past. ) Then, Labor Day weekend of 2010, Brent’s1983 glastron ( with relatively new Yamaha 100 hp motor) lost the plug for some reason and took on enough water to damage the motor, ignition and electrical system, etc. Two beach friends and two personal friends helped him through that. The boat was ” totaled”, he bought it back from insurance and had it repaired. It has run like a champ the last two seasons. When I heard he had an issue Friday, I commented that it was a heck of a way to remove his boat from the Sound for the season. here is his reply, posted with his permission.
“Yes – a very dramatic way to end the boating season. My last class Friday was canceled so I heard the phone vibrate on my desk and saw it was Janice. She said the boat was sinking and she didn’t know what to do. So I quickly packed up, put on my jacket and helmet and weaved between cars on my way out of the bumper-to-bumper driveway at Woodmont, beating the buses out of the parking lot. It was a long ride to the beach but I wasn’t that stressed, considering what I was about to face. When I got to the beach and could see the boat – it was just as before – very low in the back. I struggled just getting into the kayak with high breakers. I had to time it just right, just to get into the kayak without being swamped, then had to steer into many high waves as I approached the boat. I brought with me a 5-gallon bucket so I tied the kayak onto the boat, hopped in and began bailing water. It was back-breaking work but it was what I needed to stave off the stress, which wasn’t as bad as you might think. As I bailed for some time I realized it was a futile effort yet it seemed I was making progress, although I think it was my imagination. I stopped occasionally to rest and at one point I saw what looked like someone getting into Reggie’s boat. I bailed some more and when I looked again it was Janice that was in their boat and she eventually made it over to me. So I threw her a line, unclipped from the buoy and she towed me to shore. The tide was at about a 6 or 7 and soon the waves began to pound the boat and wash items from the boat out to sea. A large wave tore through the canvas at the rear of the boat so I began to load the kayak with stuff to get it to shore, including the cushions. After Janice put her boat back on their buoy she came over to help me with everything and we finally got the stuff to the beach house deck. I tethered the boat to the sea wall and knew I had done all I could at that point. Wet and cold and the deck strewn with boat debris, I stripped off all my clothes, unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned all the counter-tops, loaded dirty dishes and started another load (my way of dealing with the stress.) Job done for now, so I drove home, ate dinner, called Vessel Assist and had a normal night at 1404.
I woke at 3:30, tried to get back to sleep, eventually gave up and rose at 5:15 am. The tide was low at zero at about 3:30 am, and would be high again at a ten at 10:30. So I knew I had a couple of hours of daylight to work with. I got to the beach and started to work at 6 am when it was still dark, wearing my headlamp. To my surprise, when I checked the boat, now sitting on the sand, the plug was still in the boat. I didn’t see any other signs of a problem so started the bailing process, alternating between the 5-gallon bucked, a plastic pitcher and a kayak hand pump. Every so often I would unplug the plug hole which constantly was clogged with sand and paper towel bits. I had dug a little trench away from the boat, toward the sea, so the boat plug could drain freely. Eventually the boat was drained of water, the plug replaced and the rest of the boat’s contents hauled to the deck. It was now 7 am. By 8:10 or so the tide was advancing quickly so that the boat had started to bob. It had moved quite a bit from the place I had left it Friday night and was resting at about at nine, in front of Evan’s septic system area, midway between the houses. I tied the kayak to the front of the boat and easily pushed the boat into deeper water toward the buoy. Then the hard part – paddling in the kayak with the boat in tow – a very difficult task with the waves. After several minutes of labor I reached the buoy and clipped on the boat. When I climbed aboard I could see the red Vessel Assist boat approaching, so the timing couldn’t have been better. He tossed me a line, I removed the boat from the buoy and clipped it to his line. He was underway at 8:30.
I locked up the beach house and drove truck and trailer to Redondo, had to wait for only 10-15 minuted, backed down the ramp, loaded the boat and was on my way to Auburn Sports and Marine. When I got there they told me I would have to make an appointment and that the next available was not until Oct. 17th. The guy at the counter said he would check with John and see if he had room for 1 more boat. I asked him if it was the John from Federal Way. He said it was, and when he came back he said John had chuckled a bit and said that it is good to know people, meaning that John knew who the poor boat owner was. John had obviously made an exception when he realized it was me, making room for my boat. I unhitched it in the parking lot, drove away and was having breakfast at Station Bistro in Auburn by 10:10 am. Timing had been perfect all morning – with a little luck, planning and knowing the right people.”
kquinster 