December 8, 2010
Years ago, let's say about 20 years I think, the Bear and I were really getting into salt water sailing. We were fairly new to coastal sailing at the time and brought our 24 feet Seidelmann sloop to Port Aransas. It was a boat of little comfort but it introduced us to thinking about what was over the horizon. Shortly after that, we sought out more comfort, mostly a non-chemical head and a heater. That took us to the Cal 28 we called Lady J. She was a vast improvement to the Seidelmann and we started to range further up and down the coast. It was not long thereafter that we decided we needed a dinghy to get to shore at some anchorage. We started looking on a very limited budget.
Back at Island Moorings Marina one Saturday morning, there was old inflatable Achilles dinghy on dock with a for sale sign. Next to it was the owner unboxing a new one. We talked and I discovered he was willing to make a deal since he was leaving in a day or two for "out there". We settled on a $100 price which, in retrospect, might have favored him more than us. The thing had a few patches but he swore it held air. Well, it did, but not long at time. By the time I noticed this, he was gone.
We started buying patch kit(s), yup plural, and thought I had it fixed. That is when we named it Patches. We tried to register it with the State only to discover they required the previous owner's signature on a form. I had his signature on a hand written Bill of Sale but that was not enough. I finally appealed to the supervisor saying that old Patches was a hundred dollar dink. With an affidavit from me and a fee almost doubling the original purchase price, we were now the legal owners of an inflatable. We had a grand old time with Patches, all the while adding more to it as we found oysters, fishing hooks and other ways to punch holes in her.
We retired Patches to the barn where she stayed until a friend needed a dink. I mentioned that last time we used Patches it held air, that is with over two gallons of some green, slimy tractor tire goop inside, and that it was his free of charge. That is really a misnomer: free. He took it and since he considered the air worthiness of Patches a challenge, he embarked on an odyssey of repair. I think my patch count was somewhere around 15 or so. He must have added another 25 or so, thus Patches displayed her name proudly. He registered it and again almost duplicated the original price I paid the fellow.
Alas, Patches has retired. He told me via e-mail today that it has gone to the happy recycling grounds; that no one would even take or steal her. I am not sure what the patch count was but I do know we had a grand old time with her exploring the docks and bays of Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. It went with us to South Padre and as far north as Port O'Connor. I never knew how old it was but has served long and well. So long Patches. Just glad it was not me that put the old girl down.