It was Andy's first day at the marina, a day for washing and cleaning and scrubbing but also a day to enjoy anew the camaraderie of perennial dock mates, slip mates and friends. I was a quite visible beneficiary of this renewed camaraderie, as I went aloft yesterday to replace a small block on the starboard spreader. While others monitored my safety line, Andy winched me up the mast, literally doing the heavy lifting.
Later in the day, the skipper of a 30' Catalina, temporarily moored next to Andy's 30' Pearson, decided to shift to his permanent slip. In a narrow fairway and with a less than favorable wind, the Catalina, having difficulty, began to drift toward a bow to bow collision. Andy leaped from dock to deck, slipped/tripped racing to his bow and did something fairly awful to his right knee. Early reports are that a bit of surgery and twelve weeks or so of recovery will make him right.
It's early in the season and if you haven't noticed, the physics of boating and sailing have, as is most often the case, changed over the winter. What worked last year doesn't seem to work this year so we should take our time and learn the new rules. (This phenomenon really should be studied; the MIT professor who takes this one on is sure to win a Nobel prize.)
I'm hoping that Andy's recovery is swift and that he can enjoy a good sailing summer. From a more personal point of view though, I need to go aloft again today, to finish (or at least advance) the project I started yesterday. Who'll winch me up this time?
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