This morning, as predicted, Cream Puff joined the assortment of boats at the public docks. A few others came, a few left. Another day of people coming and going.
Today, we had a late lunch at Point Break, a nice quiet little place on Shelter Island. I had a yummy grilled cheese and I don’t even recall what David ordered…oh, yes, he had a roast pork sandwich. No dishes and no left overs. I like this. As we returned to the public docks, David noticed the brightly finished wood masts of a familiar 36 foot wooden Herreshoff ketch sitting on the Coast Guard long dock. “It looks like Don is here” he said and indeed it was true! We walked down to the long dock to see why he was here. Like us, Don spends most of his time at anchor. Unlike us, Don sails solo and–get this–with no engine. One or the other could be expected, but both, that takes nerve and skill! I’m always in awe of Don. Especially since he’s at least 70, has had his share of heart surgeries and such that would put a lesser man gingerly into an old-folks home! Oh, but not Don. I truly love seeing him sail into an anchorage and drop the hook. He adds so much to the aesthetic of my sailing life.
Why was he here? We learned Don has boat parts to buy–it seemed his solar panel regulator met an untimely demise and he needed a new one. The wind was up today, though, and we wondered how he was going to get the boat into one of the slips. He had a plan–he’d wait for the wind to die down (likely shortly after sunset) and then take action. We offered our assistance, of course. It was accepted, of course. 40 minutes later we were “in position” with David and Don along the long dock and me 120 or so feet away across the open fairway on a finger pier. David rowed across to me with a line so I could warp the boat’s bow to me.
I stood on a finger pier adjacent a little Pearson Triton. Well, I think it was a Triton. I met the owner, Tom, an exceedingly young fellow who knew his newly purchased boat was a Pearson but didn’t know if it was a Triton. It looked like one to me, but what do I know? I learned to sail while crewing during beer can races on a Pearson Triton in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was an exceedingly young 20 year old newlywed at the time. David and I were in the planning stages of a future life of sailing–even back then we wondered how we could do it on a Pearson Triton. We decided we could not–the Triton was too small. I didn’t tell Tom this, though, since I know of several people who have cruised worldwide with Tritons. Just because David and I have always known we’re space hogs doesn’t mean that it’s reasonable to assume that others are too.
Tom and I stood on the pier and chatted as David rowed Don’s tender across to us with a line; Tom had owned the boat a month but the Atomic 4 engine doesn’t work and he doesn’t know what to do about it. He’s not mechanical and just doesn’t know…He thought he’d get the boat and well…learn things “along the way” but now there was “this” he said. I joked “well, you’re learning things along the way, Tom, the way just came a little sooner than you thought!” He smiled at my joke “yes, I didn’t think the Police Dock was along the way.” We chatted more about not having an engine working. I pointed at Don “Look, he has no engine–and doesn’t want one.” Tom was impressed (I think, perhaps not…) and helped me with lining Don’s boat down the finger pier and around the corner to a safe side tie that Don should be able to sail out of in a few days time after completing his business. I introduced Tom to Don and can hope they strike up a friendship–they both would benefit, but neither knows that. They’re guys, what more can I say.
The chill of the air tonight makes me glad we sit at a public dock with shore power. We’re running two little space heaters, warm and toasty as David and I reminisce about our young love, our lifelong sailing dreams, and our early life together. We listen to the random shuffle of our music. Appropriately the shuffle brings us Nat King Cole’s Too Young.
They try to tell us we’re too young
Too young to really be in love
They say that love’s a word
A word we’ve only heard
But can’t begin to know the meaning of
And yet we’re not too young to know
This love will last though years may go
And then some day they may recall
We were not too young at all
