admiral overboard

[caribnsol]

too funny, not sure how I survived this one. Sunday, after a nice breakfast, a little rum and coffee, which migrated to beer around noon, we decided to take the dinghy over to a restaraunt for lunch.

had a nice lunch, couple more beverages, she decided that she would like to drive back.....oooh ooohh....I was a little worried, but it isn't a bad ride down the creek back to the boat.

made it back safely, as she was climbing back aboard, one hand gripping the stanchion, the other grabbing hold of the top of the grill.......grill lid goes open, admiral goes splash.....Nice Norfolk March day, 50 degrees, maybe 45 degree water.....only real damage other than her cigarettes getting flooded was she whacked her finger on the way over and sprained it. and I had to take the dinghy to retrieve her favorite ballcap as it headed out to sea......

Now that she has been officially baptised, she can start telling sea stories of her own

[caribnsol]

she started with the sea stories after we anchored out in nasty nasty weather......I got beat for that one, this one she is being pretty good about.

Well, what ever you do, don't pick on her for it (too much ) In our local Yacht Club there is a sub group called the Mud Hens. I pridemyself at being an official member of that group. Qualifications include falling in the drink. I won't recount all the stories, but one had to do with an 8' dinghy, gale force winds, and a desire to test my sailing skills around the harbor I firmly believe everyone needs to fall in at least once.

[Pblais]

Nice Norfolk March day, 50 degrees, maybe 45 degree water.....

Actually I think the water is a few degrees warmer but not much. Boarding procedures run a foul and the Admiral ends up soaked. Could be worse. Glad to see she is taking it all in fun. Good sailing weather is almost here - just a few more weeks.

[caribnsol]

I think my success and survivability in this one were due to:

a) Not making fun of her (thanks Paul)
b) Fetching her hat as it tried to escape
c) Going to another boat in the marina to bum her a couple of cigarettes

these emergency immediate actions lessened the damage so now she is laughing about it. All about attitude...

[ssullivan]

I'm glad to hear she didn't get hurt at all. Falls are the worst... at least this was a splash and some wet cigarettes.

Reminds me of a time (ok, 2 days ago), when I was standing in my RIB dinghy on the davits screwing around with the drain plug. As I always do, I had one hand for what I was doing and "one hand for the boat."

Well, the previous owner used a great system of blocks and such - all very new to keep the dinghy up. Only thing... his final connection was through some really thin 1" wide, very thin nylon webbing with hooks. I had been suspicious of this nylon and wanted to replace. BANG - SNAP - WOOSH!

The webbing of course, let go and dropped the stern of the dinghy to the water with the bow pointing straight up. I avoided getting wet and probably breaking a leg as I would have landed in the RIB from maybe 6+ft up at an odd angle by using my "one hand for the boat."

Moral? Always use your hands, never trust your feet, and have "one hand for the boat" capable of supporting your entire weight. I avoided a nasty fall into a RIB dinghy and was just dangling there on the davit, about 3 ft out from the stern, because I used that "one hand for the boat."

**Thought this story might be a plus for this thread. It was a funny thread, and gladly it didn't result in too much injury, but for those new to boats.... I figured I'd add the above.

[caribnsol]

I appreciate your story, and safety is always important.....when she went splash, my first thoughts were "is she ok" next was getting her back on the boat, then dry etc....everything worked out ok.

Good thing that you didn't bounce, those rib bottoms can be tough.

[Pblais]

The abc's of higher officier management can best be described by your concise and complete a,b,c solution. You might make it as a captain.

[hugosalt]

Caribnsol, not sure if your in the clear with this one yet...Does the admiral
ever check out the forum!!!

[Lodesman]

Rum for breakfast? - I'm just surprised the unscheduled keel inspctions are not more frequent

[Pelagic]

Funny Story caribinsol and you both handled it very well.

If it makes your Admiral feel any better I think I must be close to holding the record for unplanned swims. When I first started out I got a job working with small tug boats that brought the log booms to the lumber mills.

A few of my colleagues were missing digits from doing that work and as I play guitar, that scared me silly. Needless to say, being scared and nervous does not make you very good at the job of anticipating log rolls when the tug is 300 yards away trying to free the sections of log booms.

I would average about 8 dumps a shift into that icy water, climb back up and do it again. I was also really scared about getting caught by the moving boom so whenever I felt myself going, I would spring as far away from the log as possible. Something like a broaching whale, but the other guys gave me lots of points for “style”.

Eventually the skipper would take pity on me and let me drive the tug so as to warm up. The were great guys doing a tough job that I wasn’t cut out to do it. But I did get to learn how to drive a tug and as soon as I could, switched to barges.