Pick up lines...
2002-03-22

Well the truck is back in the shop. The mechanic looked clueless, that can't be a good sign can it? They told me all the labor is now free until they figure out what is wrong. That does not instill me with confidence. I'm hoping at this point that they don't break anything else.

I wrote this morning about the life sling. You use it when somebody goes over the side. it is kind of like a collar on a floating rope. You throw it in, circle around till the person grabs it and then haul them in. Simple and easy. In all the years I've been boating I only had to use it once. It was my ex wife. If I knew now what I knew then, I might have pretended not to hear the splash... Just kidding, I think.

It was early in the season and the water was still really cold. We took people she worked with to see the air show. They do all the good stuff over the water, so boat is the way to go. We have food and drink and everybody had a great time. The ex got drunk as usual. She was always drunk, probably still is for all I know. Among her many problems binge drinking was the most prominent. Well that day she had way too much fun. She decided to get up, forgot where she was and stepped right over the lifelines and into the bay. Her jacket puffed up so she was in no danger of sinking, just freezing. I threw the life ring and it landed about two feet away. She couldn't grab it.

I had to do everything, the rest of the people had never sailed before. I dumped the sails, started the engine, threw out the life sling and we had her on in about 4 minutes. It was a scary 4 minutes. She was freezing and numb by the time we got her back inside. She was being stupid, wouldn't change her clothes even though she had extras. Her co-workers threatened to hold her down and strip her so she finally complied. That was my only man over board. We still practice the drill though, every time something falls off the boat. Keeps people on thier toes.

I take safety seriously, my crew are all my friends. The idea is to have fun and stay safe. Both are equally important.

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