A Thump on the Hull

May 2, 2011
Sitting aboard yesterday doing boat chores, I had a bit of a surprise, specifically a dollop of water on the back of my noggin. The source was a manatee that was attempting to swim between the boat and the finger pier piling. The big fellow needed to apply power and when he did, that goofy tail fin slapped the water and gave me the splash. Now, we know they are good swimmers so we are wondering how that bit of panic happened. Methinks something goosed the manatee at the right moment. Could it have been our boat troll, none other than Little Prick?
This harbor is unbelievably quiet. Not like other marinas, this place is in transition between seasons. There are few folks aboard here. Few slips are occupied except by local sport fishing boats. Most of the sailing vessels that were here a month ago are now gone. Which way did they go? Do they know something we don’t?
We swapped out the gas grill on our stern with the charcoal grill which we think gives far better flavor. The use of same requires observation of the wind direction. One does not want to build a really great mesquite fire upwind of the boat docked right next door. That makes for poor relationships. We remember chartering a boat in Corpus Christi about two decades ago when we sailed to Port A for the first time. It was late when we finally found Port A (it was out first attempt to make the perilous passage from Ingleside to Port A). We docked stern to well after midnight at the transient slips along the bulkhead. We awoke early the next morning to a cabin full of smoke and the alarm singing loudly. We quickly investigated ever space aboard when we noticed the smoke was coming through the companionway hatch board louvers. Not only that, it smelled like green mesquite burning. Satisfied that we did not have a fire aboard, I went topside to find that Port A was hosting some BBQ cook-off and that we were dead downwind of a freight train sized pit belching smoke that resembled a forest fire. I think the fellow who placed it there was a power boater that had a bad experience with a sailor. The wind was high enough to push the smoke down behind the bulkhead and directly into our boat. At that point I was introduced to BBQ etiquette. Don’t build a fire upwind of anyone you think you might want to know. It is sort of like that axiom in the Air Force that one never ejects over the target you just bombed.
Thanks to the Armed Forces, particularly on this day to Seal Team Six. Well done. America is grateful.