Fellini movie

I'm posting really late today because I've been living in what seems like a Fellini movie for yesterday and much of today. Saturday we went out on the boat for the weekend. We did the usual walk on the beach, sleeping, reading, and talking.

On Sunday, the weather forecast was for a cold front with NE winds to settle into the area by night fall with gale force winds and rain. We decided to motor back rather than to sail since the wind had dropped down to nearly non-existent (calm before the storm?). The sky was black with rain clouds as we headed back to the marina.

We were doing fine until we got within about a 1000 yards from the marina and then the engine quit. So we hoisted the sails and slowly inched our way towards the marina. However, with fighting the tide, we were having difficulty making much headway. I ended up getting in the dinghy and rowing to pull the sailboat to the marina. That's the way it used to be done back in the days of the old schooners, and it seemed to work just fine.

After we got to the marina breakwater, we got our bow and stern tied off. And then with the help of some other boat owners, we walked Compass Rose around the breakwater to a sheltered spot between two mega (70 ft.) sailing yachts. It was a rough night at the marina because the gale force winds and rain started about 10 minutes after the boat was tied up and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.

After getting a few things off the boat, we were walking along the dock when I heard someone moaning. Right next to a large yacht at the end, there was a man lying prone on the dock. He said in a slurred voice that he had tried to board his boat but had fallen between the dock and the boat. His arm was hurt.

We managed to check him over and determined that he was banged up on the arm but that it wasn't broken. He said that he had been drinking all day. And that he had misstepped. After getting him safely on board his yacht, along with his bags, I said a prayer that he would stay put. How close he came to being dead is something I'll wonder about for a while. God has other plans for him as he watched out for this drunk man.

We stayed with the boat for the night and this morning, after working on the engine for a while, it started. I then was able to move the boat to her regular slip. It was still blowing around 30 knots with rain and temperatures in the 50's. I didn't see anything of the man who fell in the water. I suppose that he was sleeping. And maybe it was just a dream to him that two people came along late last night and got him safely inside a dry boat. For me, it was like a surreal movie.