Parting is such....

I still had a few tools to clean up and put away, and Sharon prepared a late lunch/early dinner thing, and we were both ready to get under way.  With Sharon at the helm and me at the windless we began to pull in the anchor chain.  My heart was racing considering the possibility that the anchor would be stuck, sure what would I possibly do next.  A smile crept across my face when the anchor broke loose from the bottom; I reeled it in and secured it into position.  At my request Sharon move us forward and away from the big rock pinnacle that we had been anchored behind, and I began to pull in the trip line and the anchor buoy.  I was paying so much attention to the anchor coming up that I had ignored the anchor buoy, and when I looked around for it it was gone, or at least I couldn’t find it.  I had hold of the trip line that led to the buoy, but when I pulled on it, it led down underneath the boat and was stuck.

I asked Sharon to stop the boat, put the transmission in neutral, and help me find the buoy.  We went all the way around the boat, leaning over as far as we could, looking for the danged thing.  I pulled again on the trip line; yes, it was firmly stuck under the boat.  It became quite clear that I was going to have to go under the boat to release this dumb rubber ball.  It was late in the afternoon by now, and I should  have been looking for my fleece because it was getting cold, and here I was getting ready to go for a swim: I had to go under the stupid boat.  The real fear that I had was that the ball had drifted back far enough that both the ball and the trip line may have gotten into the prop.  I did not think the line was long enough for that, but it definitely on my mind.  That would have been a real problem, one that may have been difficult to fix.   The boat was bouncing in about a three foot sea which complicated the sitution and made going under the boat a little touchy.  

I got out my snorkeling gear, put on my fins and mask, and dipped a toe into the water.  I did not want to do this, and every fiber of my body was having a say about it.  But with great resolve I  jumped in and looked around.  The cold went straight to my bones.  I was on the port side of the boat and I could see where the line went under the keel, so the ball must be on the other side of the boat.  I could see the line was tangled around the transducer for the sonar which was good. I could reach that without having to go so far underneath the boat, and release it with no problem.  I swam to the other side of the boat and there was the ball. I pulled it loose and headed for the ladder.  The cold was making me numb.  I came up the ladder in a single step, and went straight for the boat hook.  I needed to get that thing out of the water before it fouled again. 

I turned the helm over to Sharon and went below for my fleece.  We were underway, on our way to La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta, and Banderas Bay.  Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!