Our mantra when it comes to sailing has become “it is all part of the adventure.” At least, based on the number of mishaps that tend to occur during our voyages, we have learned to embrace this notion. For this particular trip, we were away for 65 days and visited 12 different cities aboard our 46-foot yacht. We traveled from Marina Del Rey up to Monterey and back. And I say this next part with nothing but love, it was one hell of an adventure.
It all started with the loss of Internet service for close to 48 hours. I could handle being without my laptop for a few days. To be honest, it was an excuse to detach from my email for a while. I get a little anxious over the hundreds of emails that pour in on a daily basis. The tougher part was going without Hulu and Netflix. I sorely missed being creeped out by Bill Skarsgard’s freaky character’s death stare on what would have been the third episode of Castle Rock. We recently started binge watching this show aboard the boat. If you are a Stephen King fan, this show is definitely entertaining. Admittedly, losing Internet access is probably less of an issue for Marla and me than it would be for a millennial, but it was definitely an inconvenience. Speaking of millennials, here is a fun fact: 80 percent of them go to sleep with their cell phones right next to them and 41 percent have no land line. They depend on their cell phones for the majority of their conversations. Could this be why so many of them struggle with face-to-face communication? Enter: grumpy baby boomer stage left (me).
I am sure that you have heard the expression, “when it rains it pours.” The next thing to go was the head. The toilet stopped working: not once but twice during our adventure. So, picture us in the middle of the ocean, with nothing around as far as the eye could see. I wake up from a short nap and what do I see? My co-captain attempting to use Murphy’s patch of grass (see last month’s post to get the scoop on our first mate’s bathroom accommodations on the yacht). What can I say except that desperate times call for desperate measures. When it comes to sailing, you have to be willing to get creative sometimes.
I wish I could say that this was the end of our troubles, but unfortunately this was not the case. While in Santa Barbara, both the boom brake and the generator decided to crap out on us. Some might say that the loss of a boom brake is not a big deal; that it is just a safety feature that many people do not even use. And they would be right. But for me, a boom brake is equivalent to Linus’ security blanket if you are familiar with the Peanuts comic strip. I have gotten so used to it that I was literally going through withdrawal without it. As for the generator, going without this essential piece of equipment for any period of time is always a little rough. I am sure you can imagine our dismay when we realized that our house batteries were low and with no generator to recharge them, we could not use the coffee maker, the TV, or the toaster oven.
Saving the best for last, another “item” broke during our travels — my wife’s humerus (i.e. the long bone in the upper arm). In the interest of time and at the risk of sounding like a complainer, I’ll just leave it right here. Except to point out the irony that after all of the other hurdles, this one was slightly funny and made us laugh for a brief period of time until the pain started to kick in. This unusual reaction was probably a result of the exhaustion taking over.
Two silver linings: great pictures and otters by the dozen.
