We finally launched Enigma in the first week of July this summer .I couldn't find our mooring . A complete stranger on The Sail Net forum was kind enough to let us use his .
I made a trip down to the boat every Saturday for over month . Each time was to install some goodie that I had purchased but had never made time to actually install .
One of them was a long overdue replacement 135% Genoa . Along with a Boomkicker topping lift and a Tiller Tamer .
Yesterday morning Bobbie and I loaded up the dinghy ,oars ,our new to us 2.5 Yamaha outboard ,water bottles ,dog's pfd ...and hit the interstate for the hour drive east to Milwaukee .
The winds were consistently 10 miles a hour out of the northeast . Fairly unusual for us . Once we had motored out to Enigma , we started offloading the dinghy Ruby first .
Bobbie was wearing a straw cowboy hat . A gust blew it off her head .
Trying to be a valiant husband ,I volunteered to bring it back to her .I was lowering my self back onto the dinghy when the dinghy started to fall away from the mothership . Gravity took over and withing seconds I was overboard and in Lake Michigan . This time of the year ,the lake is as warm as it's ever going to be. I popped back up to the surface and threw my glasses into the dinghy .
During the fall one of the oars popped out of it's oarloack and sank to the bottom . I received a fairly nasty gash on my elbow .
A minute or two to collect myself and I retrieved the cowboy hat .Once back on the sailboat ,I changed into some spare dry clothes we keep on the boat . We hung my wet clothes on the lifelines .
The ouboard started eventually and we headed out of the mooring field .
With a reefed mainland the new Genoa only rolled out to perhaps 100% we sailed for a few hours behind the breakwater .
To use Charles phrase ,Bobbie's " Personal Pucker Factor " had been reached quite a few times .
It truly felt great to be sailing again after all this time .
Your joy is also our joy, your pain is also our pain (but not as much)! ;D
Glad you made it out. Hoping to do so myself today.
I got surprised by a hornets' nest under the cover of the trailer brake mechanism.
I lost the retaining knob some years back so I need bind it or remove it before flight. So glad it happened in the driveway not far from a can of spray.
Waiting on crew for final loading and departure. Winds are 5-15 mph and it will be reaching the long ways on the lake/reservoir coming and going except a small upwind back to the ramp.
While your actions may cause some people to wonder, there is no real doubt that you are not just wet behind the ears.
That was a bit of a concerning incident. We're so pleased that it ended in a happy sail.
I hate it when that happens! No, not the sailing part, the falling in Lake Michigan part!
Sounds like the sail was nice if not the start.
I'm planning a 3-4 day sail in October. More than my normal couple hours or occasional over nighter. Looking forward to it.
Norm nt , most folks who around me daily wonder about me . I was complacent for just split second .
During the day ,being complacent for even a split second has caused me more than one trip to the local E.R.