By George W. Karr
Thank You
I am a sailor. I think riding in a sailboat is fun -- most of the time. Yesterday was not one of those times. Our sailboat is a Hunter 24 with water ballast instead of one of those big lead keels dangling from the bottom. This time of year it is a good idea to empty all of that water out so that it will not freeze inside the hull and split the whole thing wide open.
Last June I bought a new Mercury outboard in Clinton, just west of Tightwad, Missouri. Last month it broke and the dealer could not get around to fixing it until February, so I have a local man working on it. I got out my electric trolling motor and waited for a day with no wind and warm temperatures. We aren't going to get very many more of those in December. The electric motor took the boat from the dock at Truman State Park Marina to the loading ramp. We folded up the swing keel, trailered the boat and drained out 200 gallons of bilge water. Then I was ready to take the boat back to the dock for the winter. Ah, but there is a breeze now! It is blowing from the dock toward the ramp where our boat is temporarily tied. Not to worry, the electric motor will get me back or, if necessary, I'll put up the jib and sail to the dock.
It didn't work that way. The swing keel did not drop back down so, the little electric did not have enough power to bring the bow into the wind. When I tried to sail, the boat skidded sideways down wind. I was getting further and further out into Truman Lake. It was not a life-threatening situation, but I was afraid that I might have to walk 20 miles back from the other side. I never even thought about dropping an anchor.
About this time a fisherman at the ramp saw my plight, motored out and offered to tow me to the dock. I swallowed my pride and agreed. The first time he tried to tow me he learned that a 24-foot sailboat is heavy -- difficult to tow with a small aluminum motorboat with a 40-hp motor. The towrope pulled out of his hands.
On the next four attempts his motor stalled. That was when we discovered that my spare dock line had fallen into the water and was wrapped around his motor. We two boaters floated quietly into deeper water with the wind becoming much more brisk and the clouds rolling in. We managed to get the stern of the two boats together and I reached underwater to unwrap the line. My, but that 50-degree water was cold! I learned something right then -- a person could die of the cold before he could swim to shore in that lake! Hypothermia is not a nice word! Finally we got the line unwrapped from the motor and tied to the stern of the motorboat and the bow of the sailboat. The fisherman towed me to safety. Way up in the end of the cove there was scarcely any wind. When we got there I shouted, "Thank you" and waved.
"Can you take it OK from here?" was the reply.
"Yes, and thank you!" Then I started the electric outboard and purred into my slip at the dock while the fisherman watched -- just to be sure.
Yes, I did say, "Thank you" just like my mother taught me to do, oh those many years ago, but that just doesn't seem to be enough. Christ said, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Then He sent us out to be "Fishers of Men". Well, this chap looked to me to be a pretty good fisherman -- and he certainly fished me out of a dilemma, but I don't even know who he is. If you know who this gentleman is, would you please go out of your way to tell him "Thank you" for me?
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