Saturday morning - con't

Next my standing meet with Max, a buddy and head Marshall at the local muni golf course. Fun visit as always, okay meal, and I’m on the road.

Off to Manteca and Delta Bait and Tackle (now known as Fisherman’s Warehouse), the local temple of bass fishing. Best local fishing stuff store. Buy two Gee’s crawdad traps, a waterproof looking first aid kit, a 2006 tide book, and get a copy of the 2006 fresh and saltwater DFG regs.

Over chicken salad I study the tides. Tomorrow the low is 10 a.m., with a + 15 minute correction for Village Marina – which is about a mile by water downstream from my backyard. So, dead low about 10:15 a.m. Want to be on the water and going out with the tide by about 8 a.m. to be sure of enough water. High tide about 3:30 means there should be enough water to get home by 1 p.m. or so. I hope.

List for pfd: sunscreen and lip balms (steal from golf bag); put in new first aid kit (put contents also in a freezer baggie); license holder with hook sharpener and line clipper; and TP. Going to bungee down my non-boater bass tournament bag with all its stuff – not sure where on the boat yet. Improvise a paddle leash and a couple rod leashes. Rig the crawdad traps with line and small buoys; guess I should personalize the buoys with some contact information (steal ball-marking Sharpie ™ from golf bag).

To grocery store: apples, Lunchables ™ , Gatorade ™, other stuff not kayak-relevant.

Put scupper plugs with pfd. Double freezer baggies for cell phone. More baggies for wallet and keys.

Whoops, what to wear?

SCUBA wet suit failed to mature with me. Never had a dry suit or paddling suit. But do have some good ORVIS ™ breathable chest waders with belt like they wear back East.

No water shoes or boots – guess its tennis shoes. Broad-brimmed ORVIS tm hat a given. I guess a nylon wind breaker will complete the package. (More money to be spent, obviously.)

all right, final steps: up early to dress, get gear ready, and wheel/drag boat to water. Depending on tide height I will launch from my dock or through some volunteer irises. Guess I better figure out how to deploy the rudder.

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Sunday 0-dark-thirty 5-8-06
Attention to orders:

Captain will report to Denny’s to take on ballast.

Crew (aka darn cat) will return second scupper plug tie-down and report for duty.

Tide will wait for kayak launch so as to not inconvenience captain or Crew.

After action report: MUTINY! DISASTER!

Crew refuses to return ship’s equipment, and refuses to board ship.

Captain in sickbay due to unexpected shifting of ballast.

Tide, well, it waits for no Don.

New plan:

Discipline Crew.

Heal captain.

Try again to catch the rising water of the 3:15 pm high tide.

Summary report:

Oops.

Sunday 10:30

Recovery ward (aka garage to porcelain room, repeat).

As Captain, of course, I take seriously my responsibility for the safety of the boat and Crew (aka darn cat). It is also my job to be sure this ship’s log is maintained. So, late Saturday evening, the initial rigging of the boat began.

I put sawhorses under the garage rafters, the soft carrier blocks from the car carrier system onto the sawhorses, and lowered the Hobie Adventure onto soft -block-covered sawhorses. [Crew asks: what is the regulation number of times the Captain is supposed to hit his head on the kayak while walking under it?] Captain assures Crew that twice is naval tradition for good luck and to check the soundness of the hull.

Scotty rod holder is initially frustrating. Crew appears to be enjoying the Captain’s struggle. Captain finally notices the mount and holder are keyed; tells Crew it was a test and that Crew failed to promptly offer the correct solution to an obvious situation. Angle and position of rod holder very close to Mirage drive pedals a concern.

Okay, if you were going to attach a lanyard to the Mirage drive so that the Captain, er, someone couldn’t drop it over the side, how and where would you attach it to the drive?

Captain tells Crew that this test he will not solve for Crew and that he is waiting for an answer. [Crew suggests: a lanyard could be attached just before the drive is to be removed.] Captain indicates he will take that under advisement and to keep thinking on it. (Note to self: rig a lanyard for when drive is to be taken out, conceal from Crew.)

Captain demonstrates several version of the bowline knot while attaching a bow and a stern line, emphasizing that only the last version is the official and authorized knot. [Crew notes: there are no cleats or keepers large enough for the ½” rope used by the Captain.] Captain entertains Crew with a recitation of traditional naval genealogical terms. [Crew reminds Captain that of the two of them only Crew has papers that prove his ancestry beyond one generation.]

(Captain’s note: Crew has been insufferable, insisting that the Cinco de Meow holiday is meant to kick off a month-long celebration of all things Crew. Captain notes Crew has refused to learn English, or even American.) Crew licks something unmentionable.

[Crew queries: won’t things put in hatches move around and not be handy when you need them?] Captain replies that that way by going over various cruiser wakes and waves you can simply watch through an open hatch and grab what you need as it slides by. [Crew asks: what happens if a wake or wave sends water into the open hatch?] Captain reviews another set of genealogical terms –and see Captain’s note above.

[Crew asks: does Captain know if the way he installed the Mirage drive will it move the boat forward or backward?] Captain retorts it will be obvious once the boat is underway, so it doesn’t really matter. (Note to self: mark the drive.)

Crew begins to complain about something and Captain reminds Crew who operates the can opener in the family. [Crew mutters about the Supreme Being giving the handicapped something in compensation and eels out through the door on a secret mission.]

Captain looks at the forty pounds of fishing gear set aside and decides less is more for the first voyage. (Captain hopes Crew did not notice that the one scupper plug string is long enough to run between and secure both scupper plugs; maybe there was only one to begin with?)

Time to sleep. More later.

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