I was heading out for a motorcycle ride; going past the parking lot of our Event Center, I saw a familiar sight; a beautiful navy blue hull Ranger Tug. This means my buddy Leonard is here! Heading off our island, I gave him a call to see when he was planning to launch and offer a hand; that is a lot of boat for one guy to launch, rinse the boat trailer, park the trailer, and get the boat to his dock.
Leonard and I can go for months without talking, and we're able to pick right up where we left off. Siri connected me with his number and he answered, "Hello, Captain Jim..." We visited for a while, then determined that he was pretty close to launching.
I said, "Well, I'm on the causeway right now on my motorcycle. How about I do a U-turn at the far end and come back and give you a hand." We agreed that the timing would work. As I drove by the boat in the parking lot again on the way in, I could see him under the boat doing something with the trailer. I swung in the parking lot and asked if there was anything I could help with. Nope, he had it all under control. We met back at his house, I left my bike in his driveway, and we took his truck back to the boat. He had me back it to the trailer while he guided me up to it. The Ranger Tug is a big boat on the trailer, and the ball has to lined up just right - there is no moving a bit one way or the other.
I offered to bring his trailer back (and rinse it) so he could just pull the boat around to his dock. As I was backing down the ramp, I asked about fenders for the side of the boat. Apparently he has plenty... in his garage back in Kansas. I called Joan and asked if she could grab some of our fenders from underneath and meet us at the ramp. "I'll be right there," she said. She is a champ.
It was nice to have a 3rd hand at the ramp. I backed the truck in the rest of the way, Leonard backed the boat off, and Joan was able to fend off at the dock so he didn't have to stop.
As Leonard pulled away, I pulled the trailer out of the water and Joan closed the gates to the ramp behind me. We have a nice rinsing station to get the salt water off trailers right at the newly build trailer parking by the ramp. There was only one vehicle in that whole area: a guy who was washing his car at the trailer rinsing station. I nicely went up to him, could see he was done washing, and was just wiping off his car... I asked, "Hey, amigo, is there any chance you could let me get to the rinsing station to get the salt water off the trailer brakes?"
He snarled at me and said, "I'll be done in about 5 minutes." I didn't expect that.
I said, "Well, that is a trailer rinsing area you are washing your car in - I'm just asking you to give me a bit of room so I can get that done before this trailer dries."
He snarled again and said, "Fine, I'll move. But calling me 'amigo' doesn't mean shit!"
He is right - I should have called him "asshole." No good deed goes unpunished.
When he moved, I pulled the trailer into that trailer rinsing station. Joan grabbed the second hose there and gave me a hand. Did I mention: the lady is a champ.
From there, it was back to the parking lot, where Joan guided me into the spot Leonard had reserved. Of course, the only car in that row was parked as far out from the Event Center, which put it in front of Leonard's trailer parking spot. It took some maneuvering, and more guidance from Joan, but we got the trailer into its space.
I took the truck back to Leonard's place and his wife was unloading suitcases from the boat onto the dock. I said, "Let me give you a hand with those." Picking up one suitcase, I asked, "Did you bring a bunch of anvils from Kansas?" Being a gentleman, I wasn't going to let her carry those bags up that flight of stairs to the front door of their Sea Cottage.
Doris said, "If you have it in you to do one more flight of stairs, those bags go up to our bedroom." I swear those stairs looked longer and steeper than I remembered. Five trips later, out of breath, and sweating like a farm animal, I was done.
"Um, I could use a glass of water, if you wouldn't mind." Doris got me the water and said, "Sit down, you look worn out." She was being kind... I thought "worn out and used up" was a more appropriate description. I feel like I am in pretty good shape for a guy my age... but I was wiped. I thanked Doris for the water and walked my rubbery legs down the stairs from their front door. Rode my motorcycle back home.
Since it all took a while, Joan had fed Rufus his lunch (that's my job); the boy was grateful. Joan said to me, "There was nothing I miss with any of what we did this morning," referring to the work necessary to get a boat launched and to your dock. I have to agree with her, but I was happy to give Leonard a hand. Could he do it by himself? No doubt in my mind; but it is less wear and tear on these old bodies to have someone to split the work with. That said, I won't be buying another boat anytime soon.
For any readers here who have been with this blog from the beginning, let me tell you a bit about my friend Leonard: he and I both had small sailboats that we would take out, including an overnight in the boats to the Arroya Colorado for the 4 of us. That was the SunCat we had at the time, and he had a Potter. After that, I mentioned to him that I would be interested in a boat like the Nimble Nomad he had at one time...
It's a cute boat that really caught my eye when I was considering making a move from our Corsair F27 Trimaran to a powercruiser. Leonard said to me, "This boat is an OK 6 mile per hour boat - you want something more capable - something like a C-Dory."
"You are right!" I said, "What's a C-Dory?" Seriously, I had never heard of a C-Dory before Leonard suggested one. He was right. We moved on that advice, went to the Seattle Boat Show that year, and ordered what became Wild Blue.
A couple years after that, Leonard asked how I was liking the C-Dory... "Couldn't be happier!" I told him. He was thinking about another cabin-type powercruiser and a C-Dory like ours was in consideration. The other option: a Ranger Tug. A few months later, he came home with a Ranger Tug...
That isn't Leonard's exact boat, but an example of that year Ranger Tug (for reference). The cabin layout is similar to a C-Dory, but more upscale. The boat is powered by a diesel engine instead of an outboard.
A couple years later again, we were cruising Wild Blue on the Erie Canal. While tied off to a wall at one of the towns, waiting for a Jimmy Buffet tribute band to play, a Ranger Rug came through the nearby lock... yep, it was Leonard and Doris. What are the odds that, without coordinating it, we'd both be on the Erie Canal at the same time? Later that trip, we arranged "a trailer swap" where I overnighted the keys to my truck to Leonard (who was on the east end of the canal), and he drove my truck and empty trailer to north of New York City (near where his truck and trailer were located). It saved us both some back-tracking on the canal with our boats.
I've been out with him on his boat; he's been out with me on mine. We've been friends for a lot of years. And when I last checked, neither of us are getting any younger. Good to see my friend again... now, I need a nap. ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment