Adventures of s/v WILD HAIR

ADVENTURES OF WILD HAIR

Our land life took on form, solidity, routine. We had mastery of a limited set of skills. We had habitual expectations of others and ourselves. Going sailing, we let go of our attachments to our roles, views, and rituals. We persist because we are growing in this shapeless and dynamic world.



Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Tale of a Fateful Trip


Our Virginia-based nieces and their husbands are great fun. Eager for adventure, they joined us one sunny Saturday for a dinghy ride to a local sand bar. Before I knew it, the dinghy departed with everyone on board except Dave and I. The plan was for Jacquie’s husband Dickey to ferry them across and return for us.

Alas, the dinghy had bad gas. Water must have seeped into the fuel tank during recent storms and this eventually choked the outboard engine. Stranded in Back Creek, the wind blew the inflatable dinghy away from shore. Paddles sat unhelpfully on WILD HAIR’s deck.

Jennifer’s husband Andrew called from his cell phone. Through his thick Manchester England accent, Dave and I deduced the problem and hustled the paddles to the peninsula. By this time the boat and passengers (including 21-month-old William) had blown a quarter mile away. Quick as we could we flagged down a jet skier. He was happy to assist and towed our family back to the boat.

Sensing that people had had enough of the dinghy for the day, we piled into cars and drove to an area beach. In the end, no harm was done and fun was had by all.
Dave and I really have to work on showing people a better time.

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