Monday, May 18, 2009

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.

17 comments:

  1. Who knows what he will remember, whats important is that you remember. You helped another lost soul, and in the process, probably found a lot to be grateful for. Thanks for posting.

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  2. Wow! I am so glad that you are okay. You were in the right place at the right time. Thank goodness you were there to help that poor man.

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  3. i'm sure on some level, he'll remember his samarithans. even in my worst days, i knew someone, somewhere had to be looking out for me, otherwise i'd have disappeared into the cracks a long time ago...

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  4. The guy might wake up with a sore arm and no recollection of how he did it. Or he might remember his foolishness yet still get drunk all over again. What's unlikely is that it was his last stumble.

    But I do hope very much that I an wrong.

    I'm glad you were there to help him, Syd.

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  5. OMG you must be exhausted!
    I'm glad it ended well but what a trip.

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  6. Your itinerary happened for a reason. Just like they said it would.

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  7. I can't tell you the number of times I've watch my and my sponsees' lives and said "...you couldn't make this stuff up..."

    I've thought about a screenplay sometimes too but it's so far beyond Fellini that I don't think it would sell...

    Sort of like a Thomas Pynchon novel - only not as well organized...

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  8. WOW this does sound like something from a movie. I am glad you are all OK, and I hope the man when awakened did remember his guardian angel he had that day, YOU!! It kind of spooks one when things like that happen, they do happen for what ever reasons. Very surreal.
    I have left this for you, check it out.

    http://allaboutmeandmylikesanddislikes.blogspot.com/2009/05/neno-award.html

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  9. That was wild, Syd. The drunk man is lucky you found him and helped him out.

    Glad you are safe and sound.

    Love,

    SB

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  10. Better Fellini than Woody Allen..

    You are such a sweetheart.

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  11. Glad you were there - at the right place and at the right time...

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  12. I hope you are the last person that will find him drunk and hurt. Somehow, I hope that your recovery mojo somehow entered into his life and he will change.
    All good things in all good time, i suppose.

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  13. Lordy, Syd, I could hardly see to read your blog this morning, for the laughter that the picture at the top evoked. Can't imagine why that picture was so funny - - - I could always understand the expression 'elephant in the parlor' - - - but a rhino in a dinghy? Still laughing ! ! ! Thanks for light-hearted spirit! Hugs, Anonymous #1

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  14. Really glad to hear that you two are OK. We had a hair raising experience one time on Lake Mead that was pretty intense with the wind coming up. And that guy was lucky you found him.

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  15. What a story, glad you made it back okay, and were able to provide some assistance to a person in need.

    towing a boat with a dinghy, I never would have thunk it...

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  16. Life is most certainly not boring. I imagine it would of felt surreal with everything that happened.

    As for the drunk man, I think he would of stayed with me for some time to...so close yet, somehow he survived to be helped. (Hugs)Indigo

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