I really wanted to title today's posting "Morons, Idiots and Imbeciles" but then thought better of it. That does not, however, preclude me from thinking it or writing about it.
You see, Capt. SO and I have had the Aqua RV out of her slip for two nights and two days. We ran away from home and would still be on the lam but Mother Nature foiled our long-range plans and the captain said it was time to take her home and tie her up. (The boat.....not me.)
Are you familiar with the phenomenon that occurs when parking in a parking lot......far away from any other cars? The unspoken rule that says if you park way out, by yourself, some other person will undoubtedly park a vehicle RIGHT NEXT TO YOURS. Yes, you can tell by my capital letters that this annoys me. It must be that the mere sight of a car parked far away acts as an inspiration to others to join it. Well, the same rule seems to apply to boat anchoring. If you are the only boat - or one of very few - it is inevitable that another boat will anchor close to your boat. Today was no exception except that this pontoon boat anchored REALLY close to us. Under normal circumstances, this would have just been uber annoying and we would have just had to keep an eye on the other boat to make sure that its anchor held properly, but there was a brisk little wind as we prepared to pull anchor and here sat this pontoon boat, with ten people on it, mostly teenagers, right tight to our port.
Our customary practice, when dropping or pulling anchor, it that Capt. SO handles the anchor and I take the helm. It came time to leave and I started the engines, which caught the attention of the two adults on the pontoon who should have known better than to anchor quite as close as they did. When Capt. SO strode up to the bow, the two adults kind of gave him the eagle and evil eye and, said I to myself, "You are the ones who were foolish enough to anchor where you did. What do you expect us to do?" Pulling anchor went just fine - we probably came closer to the pontoon than they would have preferred, but when you are pulling anchor and it is windy, you do the best you can. Did the pontoon people ever start their engine and move the pontoon? Noooooo, they did not. Then, just as we were in our final movements to leave, still close to the pontoon, a two-person kayak decided to paddle between our bow and the pontoon.....further proof that the world is full of moron, idiots, and imbeciles.
I apologize for the unflattering remarks about my fellow humans, but remember this, when anchoring your boat, car, bicycle, bathtub, bed or kitchen table, remember to give the boat next to you a little space.
Ancora imparo
