Hey, at least he got in ok, had drinks with some pretty ladies, and hopefully got some sympathetic hugs out of it.
Jeff and I had an experience on the C&D Canal where a truly terrific lady and her family saved us when his newly christened engine conked-out after catching air and coming down hard.
We were in the middle of the channel at the time, but since we didn't have an anchor (it was on the Sunsation), that soon changed as the current quickly moved us toward a jetty of jagged rocks (of course!). As Jeff tried to restart the engine, I tried signaling for help, but powerboats and sailboats alike passed us without a second glance. Just as it looked like we were destined to crash into the rocks, thankfully a pair of boats came by and towed us to a nearby pier. We tied up there, and Jeff began to tinker with the ignition.
Turns out the pier belonged to an elderly woman, Ann, who had lived and worked on the canal many of her 70 plus years. Her family was having a backyard party for her son who was a marine engineer (what luck!). She offered not only his help, but electrical tape, connectors, wire, flashlights and eventually pie, coffee, and a ride back to the marina (35 miles away) when it became obvious the boat wasn't going anywhere despite Jeff and her son's best efforts to rewire the ignition.
We got Jeff's truck and returned to Ann's house around 10:00 p.m. to do what seemed to be the impossible... get the boat from Ann's pier to a ramp several blocks up the canal and then onto the trailer all without engine power in the bitch black of night. After pushing Jeff off the pier as hard as I could, I walked along the sea wall and watched him paddle the boat all the way to the ramp where he perfectly timed his turn out of the channel toward shore. We were then able to use our extra long line to pull the boat in the rest of the way.
What started out as a late afternoon cruise turned into a very long night, but at least we didn't have to go home without the boat. Thanks Ann!
