August 9, 2012 -- The Cooper Fleet
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.
Among the things I haven't told you yet is that Coop bought a sailboat a few months ago, which we named the Tardis I.
It's a little 420, because that's the kind that
Ana Katherine learned to sail on last summer, and it seats at least two and he got a good
deal on it through Craig's List. It was to be a learner boat.
On Father's Day, he took me
out for my first voyage in The Tardis I.
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| Excitedly setting sail! |
About 100 yards from shore, a perfect storm of terrible things
happened (the boom clamp and the rudder popped off at the same time) and we
capsized. My husband, the calmest man on this planet*, especially in an emergency, said to me quietly, "We're going over. Try to fall safely." as we were dumped unceremoniously into the water. He was so calm that *I* stayed calm and managed to take off my flip flops and my sunglasses and my cap before they sank.
Unfortunately, the boat had a crack in it (which is a danger you run when you buy a boat off of Craig's List) so the hull filled with
water and it couldn't be righted. I swam to shore, holding my sunglasses, shoes
and cap. Coop, the good Captain, stayed with his ship in the (freaking)
FREEZING water while some good Samaritans stopped and tried to tow him into
shore. Unfortunately, the mast was buried in the sand below.
The Harbor Master
came with his big boat and ended up finally righting the poor Tardis I (after
Coop dove under and unhooked the sails and the mast and other essentials, like
the cooler) and then the good Samaritans (bless them) towed him closer to
shore.
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| Good Samaritans towing the badly wounded Tardis I closer to shore. |
Thank goodness our good friend JP, an expert sailor, was there to help
bail the Tardis and then get it on the trailer.
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| A sad sight. |
We were home a mere three hours
later, having not lost so much as a can of coke in the process. The Tardis I,
however, was deemed un-seaworthy, and resulted in a Tardis II.
(I, um, haven't been out on it yet.)
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| The Tardis II (along with Edward's tail since clearly, the boat is not very decorative all by itself in my driveway. Ed thinks it needs art.) |
Anyway, it was not exactly the Father's Day I had planned, but it sure was memorable! A three hour tour...(oh, like you weren't already singing that.)
*The calmest man on this planet EXCEPT during the USA women's soccer semi-final game at the Olympics.
Comments
Perspective is everything.
@Susan: Oddly enough, he was calmer during the Gold Medal match. But boy, we were all HIDING during the semi-final!
@Tenna: It's a big crack now --the Harbor Master's techniques made sure of that. We've already replaced it with a spiffy new (well, new to us) version.
I sailed once upon a time, and I remember the first time I capsized. It seemed to happen much slower than I'd expected beforehand. Lots of fun, but we were in the tropics at the time. Capsizing into cold water - not so fun.
Glad you were all safe and sound at the end - and willing to try again!
Love your boat names, by the way.