EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE ABOARD

The different roles reflect the classic stereotype of the couple aboard: the man at the wheel and his lady involved in the docking manouevres.

Usually, a higher tone of voce emerges, especially the man’s one that, even if unnecessary, wants to claim his role of captain. I’ve happened to see some docking manoeuvres where the only noise perceptible was the engine’s rumbling and everyone carried out his own task without suggesting the other what he/she had to do. However, the only exception is when, while mooring stern-on, the helmsman needs to give the person standing in the bow the order to ease out so that the anchor can be dropped at the right time.

Well, I heard of a situation in which a man, after measuring the right distance from the dock, gave her partner standing in the bow the order to ease out and slowly engaged reverse to approach to the dock, waiting for the first yank of the anchor. He must have put too much trust into the anchor, the chain and her partner since he didn’t have time to prevent the stern from crashing into the dock.

What had it happened? The acme of misfortune!

When the tender is dragged on the stern and before mooring stern-on, it is a normal practice to move the tender to the bow in order not to hinder the manoeuvre. Unfortunately, our friend’s small tender was precisely under the anchor perpendicular while the latter was being dropped; this way, the tender became the anchor’s container and the anchor did never touched the water.

The person who told me this story stopped here and I don’t know what happened later between the man and his lady.

I’ve heard a similar story from the installer of my prodigious toilet shredder. At the touch of a button, this system pumps, changes the flow and pumps again.

It’s something completely new for me that, however, forced me to listen to the installer’s recommendations.

He told me to avoid anything solid and hard and explained me that it had often happened to him to remove a toothpaste cap, a cherry pit or even a coin from an unpleasant place.

The most dramatic episode made him lost the client. A condom had obstructed the shredder. As in the other cases, this time, too, of course, the technician informed the customer about the reason of the failure.

During the phone call, the boat owner didn’t say a word and had listened to the intervention description. However, once the real reason of the problem was unveiled, he burst out: ” I haven’t been used condoms for 30 years and then.. there was only my wife with my children on board!”. Paolo, my installer-narrator, told me that the customer got off the phone and didn’t pay the work.

This confirms that what I learned from my sailing teachers and some experienced sailors is true: aboard, everything is possible! What matters is that good wind is always there!