Memorable Memorial Day

Originally Posted at www.svsweetescape.com

Wisconsin continues to warm up.  It has helped that this weekend’s winds were from the southwest instead of coming off the great big cold lake.  We had three weekend goals:

1. 1)Sail.
2. 2)Empty our holding tank and fill our fuel tank.
3. 3)Replace our anchor and rode.

Working together putting on the new shiny anchor and chain went surprisingly well.  The windlass worked great.  We did not drop things in the water or punch a hole in the boat with the 60 pound anchor.

Sailing went well too.  The winds started to pick up and while we were wishing we could have stayed out longer, we needed to get to the fuel dock before it closed.

It was a good thing we came in when we did because the winds continued to increase speed and blow from the south.

As that was happening we were trying to pull along side the fuel dock at Racine Reefpoint Marina.  This dock runs east and west and you pull up to the north side of it for fuel and to pump out.  This was a dock that we had pulled up to in the past without any problems but this time a strong south wind wanted to and was mostly succeeding in blowing us off the dock.  

As we pulled up to the dock Judy threw the bow line to the attendant.  He then secured the bow but before he could get back to receive the stern line from Brian the stern had blown completely off the dock and the boat was now sitting bow to.  Brian was able to use reverse and pivot off the bow line enough to bring the stern back close enough to the dock to get a stern line to the attendant.  He and several other people had to then drag our stern in by hand against the 18 knot wind.  Ugly.  On the bright side we had no trouble getting away from the dock after we finished getting our fuel and pump out.

The moral of the story is that boaters and cruisers help each other.   No harsh words or stupid comments - just help.  Soon these people were telling stories about what happened to them this time or that.  They even stood around until we made it away from the dock, ostensibly to be available in case we needed more help but we think actually just for the entertainment value of it all.