No LL
Humans share a collective myth or a self-delusion. We believe that once we learn to do something reliably and expertly, and practice it over and over, that we'll do it right every time. Wrong. We may do things correctly 99.99% of the time, but it is human to fail at common tasks from time to time. For example, you may sleep in beds your whole life but the chance of you falling out of bed is nonzero. My son John is a soldier. He handles weapons every day. He and his fellow soldiers follow protocols for handling weapons, loading and unloading them. The protocols are designed to prevent injury in the case of very infrequent but inevitable personal screw ups. Another example: When I learned to fly I was surprised at how imperfect the pilots, and the air traffic controllers are. The system is designed to allow mistakes yet still avoid accidents.
You can already guess where this blog is leading to. My readers love to hear stories of how we screw up. Yesterday, the summer solstice, was just such a day.
First, it was Libby's turn. For the first time ever, she stepped from the dock to the dinghy and lost it. The dinghy shot away and her feet went from under her. Libby's butt was heading for the water and the back of her head was heading for a nasty hit on the dock. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time to catch her under the arms, so nothing bad happened. Since living on Tarwathie, I estimate that Libby must have gotten in to and out of the dinghy 3600 times. Never before has she come close to falling in. Yesterday was her day.
Only 30 minutes later it was my turn. We approached the night's anchorage. Libby went forward to drop the anchor and I stayed at the helm. As I backed the boat down, I heard a sudden loud snap noise, and then the engine stalled. OH NO! I forgot that we were towing the dinghy behind us. I backed down on the dinghy painter and caught it in the propeller. The last time I committed that mistake was 10-15 years ago, also on Lake Champlain. I can remember to take up the slack on the painter 1999 times in a row and then forget the next time.
Libby didn't have to pay a big price though. I saved her from a dunking and a whack on the head. I wasn't so lucky. I had to dive in the water with a knife in my teeth to cut the painter away from the propeller. It is early in the summer season and the water is very cold. Very cold indeed. I had to do it though even though I hate swimming in cold water. The line had 10 tightly wrapped turns around the shaft so it took a long time to get it off. Brrrrrrr.
The dinghy's painter is ruined. Cut in three places. I'm going to replace it this afternoon, but I'll follow a very sensible suggestion that Libby made just three days ago. She asked, "Why isn't the dinghy painter make with floating rope?"
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I think the answer lies in the susceptibility of polypropelene to ultra-violet rays. Be certain to inspect and replace as necessary.
ReplyDeleteYou could also put bullet-shaped floats on a more rugged painter.
Hey dad,
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention who went in the water with a knife in her teeth 10-15 years ago, in October! :)
Of course, like almost any sailor, I did the same thing. It was on my transit from the CT river to the mooring in Noank. I ended up having Seatow haul me to Noank (thank goodness for the membership. $0 for the tow.).
ReplyDeleteThis was mid-may. The Sea Tow captain said he could call a diver to cut the painter. But I tied a rigging knife to my wrist and jumped in. This is mid-May in Long Island Sound.
I thought my chest would implode with the cold. But I did get the painter cut off.
They do make floating line. Actually, polypropylene floats but it degrades very fast in UV. West Marine (and I'm sure others) carry a line specific for painters. It's outer wrap I think is nylon so it floats, but also lasts under UV. My towing bridle also has a small float just at the end with the tow hook. After snagging that painter, I'm going with belt, suspenders, duct tape, whatever it takes to keep me from doing it again.
Also, although Marcia has never fallen in the drink, she occassionally performs what I call "dingy magic" as she gets in and out. That's even with our somewhat more stable inflatable.
Sounds like you are enjoying the summer. I'm back in Charleston for the week, showing it to Marcia and hitting the beach.
Jim R.