{splash} !@#$%^ &*!!!

[Tally Ho]

I dropped my Wireless anemometer coming down off my mast! I watched helplessly as my $800 instrument floated down…missing the side deck by mere inches and into the 17’ deep water in my slip

I tried taping boat hooks and a fishing net together to get the required length….no joy with that.

My son, who was helping me, asked if I had some trunks and a mask on the boat…

Hmmm, he is a good swimmer, and apparently not afraid of the cold water….so I gave trunks and a mask. He jumped in…and I pointed to where I thought it went down. He disappeared, but without fins, had a hard time getting down. He came back up, complained about all of the mud I stored up with my net/boat hook try…. And then he went down again.

He was down for a long time, and I begin to worry…and then finally, he popped to the surface, took a big gulp of air, smiled and held my wind instrument up in the air.

I helped him out of the cold water, got him a towel and a beer, and Tod him I was taking him out to his favorite steak place for dinner…least I could for saving me $800!

Cheers Brian, and thanks again.

Greg

 

[Dalliance]

Knock on wood, I’ld say I’ve personally been pretty lucky so far. Except when tuning my rig. I’ve lost a screw driver and a pair of vise grips on separate occasions tuning the rig. The Loos Guage has a lanyard with a clip I make use of. Should probably use something similar for the tools.

I also lost another screw driver when the dockmate who borrowed it fell in. It was a cold day in late October and mine was one of the last boats still in the harbor. He had just taken his boat to winter storage and was removing some dock hardware when he lost his balance and fell off the dock. Wearing heavy clothes of course. Luckily I was there cleaning my deck and heard the splash. He was not going to get back up on the dock on his own and was really struggling to tread water. I knew I couldn’t pull him out myself. I just don’t have that kind of strength, so I threw him the Life Sling from my boat and pulled him over to my swim ladder three boat slips away. Fortunately it was only my screw driver and his cell phone that went to the bottom that day.

It was the first and only time I’ve used my Life Sling.

 

[pgandw]

The most humorous one was losing my sun glasses returning from a sail on Biscayne Bay. Just about to enter the canal to the marina, glasses went over the side. We were just coasting, and in 6ft of clear water, so quickly dropped the hook to retrieve them. Down on the bottom with snorkel, mask, and flippers I'm feeling through the short grass. All of a sudden something hit me in the butt. I launched vertically right out of the water fearing a shark bite would be next. Crew, including DW, was laughing at me and pointed to the manatee that had bumped up against me.

 

[quadrille38]

Between the two of us, winch handle, watch, prescription glasses, 1 week old iPhone, assortment of nut, bolts, washers, car keys, a sail batten.


Funniest thought happened to someone down the dock several years ago. She was greeting an incoming boat and when she said hi, out popped her dentures. And of course plop right into the water. It was Friday of a holiday weekend and she was facing a long uncomfortable weekend with no teeth. Diver was called and amazingly despite cloudy water and many feet of icky soft muck the diver miraculously found them.