Have you ever seen "Captain Ron"??

As we were getting the boat put away last night, a guy came walking down the dock, towards our boat.  You can tell when someone has something on their mind as they're moving towards you.

He said, "Can I visit with you a moment?"

Uh-oh.  I don't recall waking anyone or otherwise pissing off anybody.  "Sure."

He came up to the boat and said, "My wife and I were in that restaurant (pointing at The Place) - we watched you come into the dock.  That was some of the best boat handling I've ever seen!  I've owned boats for 30 years, and I would never try what you just did - it looked like that scene from 'Captain Ron' where he swings the boat sideways and slides right up to the dock... but you had to dodge other traffic, that dock and boat, and going backwards and sideways into your spot!  It was great!"

I said, "Glad it looked good.  It's the only way to get that boat to this spot.  It scares me, so I usually have my eyes closed while I do it."

"You're funny, too!  Can I shake your hand?  Have you seen 'Captain Ron'?"

"One of my favorite movies - I thought it was a training film."

He laughed some more.  We visited a bit and then he said, "Well, I can see you are busy - I just wanted to tell you how impressive that maneuver was."

"Thanks."

Being a boat captain has some similarities to being a pilot: people judge the trip based on the last couple minutes of it.  I've made that "arrival procedure" a lot of times over the past 5 years.  It can get very interesting when you add wind, swirl from the ferry wake, small boat traffic that isn't looking, and current.  Timing is critical.

On the really bright side, my boss was on the boat right behind us - he got to hear it, too.  ;-)