Uncorked

I was away in San Francisco for a very brief trip (45 hours to be precise) and noticed before I left that the weather forecast predicted a modest chance of rain while I'd be away. So I pulled the cork out of the drain on the Papa Boat so it wouldn't accumulate too much if it rained hard. Smart? It seemed that way at the time.

I did tell myself to remember to put the cork back in the next time I went out, but did I remember? Nooo.

This morning I pulled myself out of bed to fulfill my pledge to myself to do regular morning rowing. Once outside I didn't hesitate to push the boat into the water and get in. That's when I noticed the water sloshing around at my feet. A quick glance to the back of the boat spotted the source, a nice gusher of water from the drain. I quickly moved to get back to the dock but hadn't yet locked the riggers into place so that wasn't the easiest thing to do.

Once back on the dock myself, I managed to insert the cork and stop the inflow of water. At this point I contemplated abandoning the rowing and focus on getting the water out. But I decided that there really wasn't all that much water in it, so I jumped back in and rowed down to the West end of the canal and back. The water sloshing from bow to stern then back to the bow with each stroke was not effecting my efforts. It was a bit harder getting the boat onto the dock with 5-10 gallons of water in it. I pulled the cork again and let it empty out, then replugged it.

I think I'll remember that cork more easily now.