It was an ordinary Monday - get up, drag self out of warm, cozy, dreamy slumber next to tiny kitten, drag self onto public transit and into the office, drag self from desk chair to meetings and back again to slog through projects that drag on for weeks and weeks - a regular day.
I'd planned to work late to get caught up on things, wearing my headphones to enjoy hits from the 70s, 80s, and even some from the 90s and beyond. As I was about to wrap up one more item on my list, I noticed my cell phone had a voicemail.
I called and listened to the message, from David: "Hi honey... flipped the boat... wet bag... is gone... heading back..." That's all I could make out.
He called only moments earlier but I missed it because I was bopping along to Dream Police. I dialed him right back and thankfully he answered. He'd been out kayaking (alone!) and managed to paddle from Jack London around the west end of the island, past the old Navy base and was now relaxing on Crown Memorial beach after flipping the boat a couple of times in the choppy bay.
To those of you unfamiliar with the area, that's a couple hours of straight paddling (at least). And at this time it was 4:50 p.m., and the shop we rent from closes at 6 p.m. And I could tell he was shredded from climbing back into the boat. It's not easy, especially by yourself.
about 7.5-8 miles overall
(Google map)
Good thing I have a station wagon! I was off like a prom dress. Had to stop at Pagano's on the way to pick up a collection of bungee cords, but I made it to Crown Memorial by 5:45. We strapped that sucker down and took off.
Crazy that they'd make a car with a swell rack on top, where one might want to strap down a small boat of some sort, and there are no easy ways to anchor the front & back of the boat underneath the car. But whatever.
Pulled up at the shop at 6:05 and the guy came out singing, "a three hour tour!" He couldn't have been nicer. He helped us get the boat down & had us on our way in just a few minutes.
The best part (for me) was leaving Jeff a note that said, "Gotta run, David's sinking in the Bay. See you tomorrow!"
1 comment:
I think the best party trick would be to have different people singing each song all at the same time - and then drink a toast to sea shanties!!!
Post a Comment