Oops! Boating basics
101 – Never take your eyes off the “road” in a narrow channel, even if you are
consulting charts! Oh, that noise! That terrible, horrible noise! The noise which forever more will be etched
in memory; the screeching noise of fiberglass grinding rock!
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| Beautiful Afternoon! |
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| Almost There! |
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| OOPS! |
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| Meet Canadian Effort |
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| Getting to Work |
After travelling almost 7,000 miles, one lock to go, one day
to home, it happened! Terrmar drifted
slightly to the wrong side of the green starboard buoy and found herself hard
aground, perched precariously on a granite rock and heeling 30 degrees! All the while Lock 45, a stone’s throw away
seemed to be taunting us.
So this is what a fish in a fish bowl feels like! Curious boaters staring, flashing pictures,
crowds forming on the shore – we had become the fish! Despite “help” from a local intoxicated
boater, another by-passer offered to enlist assistance from the marina across
the channel on our behalf.
Unfortunately, despite all the marina’s service boat’s best efforts,
Terrmar would not budge from that rock.
Finally a tow boat, Canadian Effort, from Penetang, Ontario
managed to speed through busy Port Severn Lock 45 and like the “Little Engine
that Could”, huffed and puffed with all the power it could muster and successfully
prevailed over the northern granite.
Terrmar slowly chugged across the channel to the marina where a travel
lift and an OPP officer awaited.
The police officer explained that boating incidents were not
his jurisdiction, however since he was called (by our “helpful” intoxicated
boater who then happened to disappear), he was obligated to fill out a
report. As he interviewed Mark
concerning the event, he made sure to get close enough to determine if Mark had
traces of alcohol on his breath. Thank
goodness we had learned long ago, cocktails are to be enjoyed after securely
anchored or safely docked. Although a
stiff drink would have hit the spot!
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| Checking Damage |
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| Water Lilly |
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| Life is Good! |
Once the marina boys had repaired the travel lift’s carburetor,
Terrmar was lifted out of the water and underwent a thorough examination. Mark was able to send photos to the boat
manufacturer, North Pacific Yachts and after much discussion it was determined
that Terrmar miraculously had only sustained minimal cosmetic damage to her
hull. It is a wonderful testament to the
design and quality of our vessel. Got to
love those silver linings! Ironically
the cost of the tow boat was twice as much as the repair to Terrmar but the
greatest causality of the day, hands down, was our bruised egos!
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