There Is Nothing quite Like An Early Morning Swim!

SHIP'S LOG:

       Saturday and Sunday were almost mirror images of one another. The winds were the same; the wind direction was the same; the tides were the same; and both days were really quite good for sailing. There were times when the wind went light and other times when we had some real gusts, but overall the wind was perfect.

     There were a surprising number of boats out over the two days, both sail and power. I say surprising because it seems as though a lot of boats of both kinds are still on the hard. I would say we have about 80% 0f the moorings filled at TYC but as I sail and/or drive along waterfronts, I still see lots of boats still under wraps. I find it strange as it can't be much if any of a savings to leave the boat ashore. You still have to pay for storage and insurance, so you might as well put it in the water.  At the very least you can go and sit on it from time to time and enjoy the cool breezes. I can understand powerboat fuel costs. A "cabin cruiser" type of boat on an overnight to say Block Island will eat up $300-400 in fuel alone, but one can still "lounge" at the marina dock and commune with friends of a summer's day. After all, with all the money one sinks into a boat, pretty much any boat, all the cost of maintenance, fuel, storage, hauling & launching, taxes, insurance, dockage, etc, one could never financially justify the cost-per-hour-used of boating. The only thing worse would probably be an airplane. So you don't try to justify it, you just enjoy it!

     I went for my first swim this morning . . . unintended. I was motoring into the dock from the mooring in a dead flat calm when I ran over a mooring and got hung up on the pennant. I simply didn't see it and that was after two cups of coffee!I tried reversing the engine but I was hooked for sure. So it was drop the boarding ladder, done swim suit and face-mask, and go over the side to unwrap the pennant from my prop. thank goodness there was no damage to the prop, the shaft or the mooring pennant. Actually, the water wasn't too, too bad . . .for the top four feet or so, but below that, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!