About 1400 Frank had fired up the generator to make water and I was on deck with my daughter having one of those “fun” talks mom and 13yo girls often have about teenage reactions to life when I noticed some action on a boat anchored near us. Someone was tossing a life ring into the water and yelling! A quick glance revealed a man in the water behind the boat and a dinghy drifting further away, and both were getting swept away. Katreina and I quickly prepared to drop the dinghy (which was stowed for sea hanging off the arch) while calling for help from the boys. At the same time, the woman still on the adjacent boat started blowing their air horn to alert folks to her situation. I swear the dinghy was dropped and started in under 2 minutes! Katreina tossed us a throw cushion and we headed towards the man. He was holding onto the life ring and we pulled him onto our dinghy without any trouble. He had his wallet in hand!
Next we ran after his dinghy—he told us he had just taken the fuel off when the dinghy broke free, so we towed it back to his boat. We came alongside his boat to a very relieved-looking woman! We dropped him off and headed home with the whole ordeal taking less than 10 minutes. What was his name? I don’t know! “Happy Canadian neighbor” works for me.
What did we learn? This was a great opportunity for the kids to see just how quickly the elements can take control away from you. Winds were 20G30 and the man and dinghy moved away quickly! I also talked to them about the great job the woman on the boat did—tossing the life ring, yelling, and using her air horn to get attention. And when someone is yelling on our boat, stop what you are doing and find out why! It also reinforced that this is a community of do-ers. We help neighbors when we can and just take care each other. May we all be so fortunate to live in this type of community!
Conditions at the time
Our new friends in the distance
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