... being at the helm of a boat. I don't know what you were thinking, but it has been 10 months since Cool Change (our petite metal catamaran, also known as a pontoon boat) has been in the water.
But, Jim, didn't you spend a couple years between selling Wild Blue and getting the pontoon? That is a fact. Also a fact: we were working during that time, and I was driving whale watch boats. Don't believe anyone who says, "It's like riding a bicycle"... if you drive a boat like you ride a bicycle, you are going to have a big surprise... you can't put your foot down on the water to hold up your boat. ;-) Yeah, I know the meaning of that saying: it will immediately come back to you. Yeah, pretty much.
We went out to the storage unit this morning - two tasks: get the motorhome inspected (an annual thing in Texas) and bring the boat home. It took longer than I expected with the inspection, because the place we went to (reasonably near our storage unit) had only one guy to do the inspections, and he was already working on one. I don't want to say the guy was new at this, but he asked me if he had to drive the motorhome (they have to do that with cars, but not motorcycles, scooters, or motorhomes)... "No, you just check the lights, horn, etc. No one has had to drive my motorhome with previous inspections." I think he was dragging his feet, because he wanted to use up the "whole 20 minutes" he said it would take.
Back to the storage unit, air up tires on the boat trailer, pull it out, and put the motorhome back in. I also hooked the battery up and tested to see if it would power the motor trim - yep.
Back home, and I was able to hook up the motor to water, fire it up, check things over, put the bimini up, check all the safety equipment... "Hey, it's only 3:00 - what do you say we go ahead and launch this thing?" The boat interior needs to be cleaned, but that is best done at the dock instead of climbing up and down on the trailer.
We pulled it to the ramp on our island, and I backed it down. Joan undid safety straps, I got on the boat, and she backed in into the water. Again, it fired right up, good pee stream, electronics on... I backed it off the trailer. "See you back at the house!"
Backing away from the ramp (above), and rotating to head away...
In the ICW...
Our island on the left...
So, I guess it is kinda like riding a bike: I remember how to do this boat-driving stuff...
Turning into the outside canal...
Something new since I've been this way...
A Seawind 1000; a sailing catamaran made in Australia. Seems to be fewer sailboats around here these days; nice to see this one.
Everything on the GPS/depth finder is working...
Yes, the water temperature is 76.5º. Down our canal...
I feel a bit rusty, but made a good approach to our dock. Joan had rinsed off the trailer, parked it in our driveway, and was just getting to the dock at the same time I did; nice to have her grab lines. We tied off the boat, and I went to work cleaning it.
These guys came by, hoping I would have some fish parts for them...
Joan let Rufus out on the deck, and he was hollering for me; well, he may have been worried that the pelicans were going to eat me. I told Joan to let him come down to the boat and I would keep an eye on him...
He is happy to be where we are; or in this case: where I am. He didn't help me clean, but I enjoyed his company. With that task done, I let him back in the house and I put the battery charger to work. I was impressed that it had enough juice to trim the motor and fire it up - this will put a good deep charge back into it.
The boat is ready for some dolphin-watching when we are...
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