[Public-list] weird things that happen on the water

[Roger L. Kingsland]

Good old #148 is still in the warehouse waiting for "the list" to get short
enough to get wet; "the page" is so quiet; Gord Laco hasn't spun us a yarn
in a while, so; I thought I would give it a try.
 
Talking about weird things that happen on the water.  Way back when, a bunch
of us 20 something's rented a 40 footer in the BVIs.  I was a new, nervous
skipper so, when we anchored at The Baths on our first day, I elected to
stay on board to make sure the anchor didn't break loose causing the boat to
careen through the anchorage at great loss of life and property.  Besides, I
wanted to enjoy my first command and, with my crew, the only way I could way
I could truly be "in command" is to be alone on board.
 
The wind was offshore and we anchored to starboard and aft of a large yacht
that was probably a crewed charter.  It had a real gangway (with steps)
mounted amidships on the port side with a Boston Whaler affixed thereto
facing forward.
 
So there I was, sitting in the cockpit drinking something with allot of
alcohol I couldn't taste through the fruit juice, when a young man, boat boy
type, goes down the gangway, starts the Whaler, shoots forward at full
throttle and makes a 270 degree turn to port to pass astern of his vessel.
Only problem is, before noticing we had anchored about 30 yards off his
stern quarter, he decided to bail out the Whaler; looking down, up on a
plane, at full throttle, headed smack dab for the bow of my first command.
 
He heard me yelling and looked up just in time to "hit the deck".  The
Whaler actually went under our anchor line, missing our boat, but the motor
caught the line, causing our boat to surge forward a little but his boat to
stand straight up in the air before settling back down.  Fortunately the
motor stalled sometime during the trip to vertical.  Talk about a cool
customer, while I stood speechless (but with my mouth open), he got off the
bottom of the boat and, with a few pulls, started the motor.  Without a word
he took off at full throttle, up on a plane, looking down, while bailing out
the boat.  I guess he made it to wherever he was going; who knows?  If he
did, at least the bilge was dry.