I knew the day would come – and that it would be a learning experience when it did. The boys were playing around in the dinghy and Joshua (his nickname has been ‘Bird’ since he was born) went overboard. Apparently Malachi pulled him back in but I think it helped to reinforce the life jacket rule. The Bird took it, as he generally does, with good humor. “It wasn’t even cold, Mom. It was actually kind of fun.”
We got the anchor chain and, after wrestling with the mast communications for two days (i.e., coastguard-required mast lights and electronics), we are good in that area also. Congratulations to us! We are now fully compliant, having completed pages of ‘to do’s’ issued to us by the insurance company as a condition of boat insurance. We are now free to leave the dock for longer trips. Matt and the boys pumped up the dinghy yesterday and today we got the motor on it. It seems to be functioning ok. Matt took the boys across the water to a lunch place on the other side to test it out. Apparently it did stop out in the middle of the water but he got the motor going again and they made it back safely. It’s probably ‘good enough’ for now and we can work on it later.