Spring is on the calendar...just not in the air. A couple of nights ago, we all had to spring forward. As I turned my clock up an hour, I openly wept at losing sleep for an hour. I really like to sleep, but only because I don't get as much...sort of like cake and cookies. I f I had sleep all the time, it might not be as great.
Spring brings lots of new life and excitement to the pocosin...the cypress trees sprout their scaly leaves, mosquitoes burrow out of the mud, and yellow flies burrow into my exposed skin. I hate a yellow fly.
Also - the waters finally begin to warm, which brings out the boaters, crabbers, and fishermen...when I was a teenager, I worked at a large marina on an Alabama lake...the first weekend of spring was the beginning of the busy season...and I hated it. Anybody that owns a boat is all too familiar with the problems that can arise with a boat, especially after it's been stored since Labor Day. Those mornings, me and other dockhands would deal with customers who were angry because their: batteries were dead, boat was dirty, they discovered a rodent carcass in the head - or galley. Listen folks - not my fault. Trust me. These customers could have completed "Wash Orders". It's like a work order, but for a wash - and work it was...
Keep in mind these boats weren't your little duck boats and party barges. The very first boat I ever washed was a 40 foot Sea Ray. A beautiful boat, with a stateroom, head, galley, satellite arch, captain's exhaust, and 100 billion of the most allergen infused cat hairs to be found. I had never been so sick...it was also about 90 degrees outside, so the interior was just as hot, but muggier. But I toiled away, in a fog of greased lightning, cat hair, and vinyl protectant, all while running a vaccum cleaner. In my time at those marinas (4 summers) I probably washed close to 3000 boats. Some well, others not. Bt I could clean a pretty boat...I couldn't work miracles on those 80's model Bayliners and Mastercrafts, but I tried. I climbed into many different mini-yachts, cigarrette boats, deck boats, pontoons, tri-toons, bass boats (the worst, by the way), and an occasional sailboat. I learned to understand people a lot by the type of boat they had...
Cigarrette Boats or racing-inspired boats were either owned by car dealers or "cougars"...and they were always cool folks...
Owners of the mini-yacht were generally lawyers...they could take their boat out, hide out for a day or two, then return to work...these folks were pretty cool, but not as cool as the aforementioned cigarrette boaters. They understood hard work, and understood how hard we worked...
Pontoons are driven by the family man or woman. They fill the boat with their extended family and pets. Gassing a pontoon was virtually impossible because of all of the air in the tank. I will never own, rent, or look at another pontoon, unless my job calls for it.
The gnarliest folks drove ski boats...the ones with wakeboard towers were even better. The wakeboard towers were also accented with giant speakers and subwoofers. They would play music - loud enough for everyone. They never filled their tanks, only their ballasts. They were a little too cool for me.
Run abouts, the standard boat of the lake, was like the SUV found on our highways...virtually everybody had one. The run about, like the SUV, was used to entertain lots of people at slow rates (even though it would never plane), or at high speeds - to excite the lady friends (but it wasn't fast). They thought they owned the waterways...more accidents happened in run abouts than personal watercraft. Just because you have a boat, doesn't mean you are Coast Guard Captain. Some would have even tipped us in negative integers...
But - I too, am a boat owner, and come with my own set of quirks...when I am aboard my vessel, I truly believe that it's the fastest, nimblest craft afloat. But it's not. It's not even pretty. It's the color of a burlap sack, only dustier. But I'll have fun in it...
Please keep these notes in mind when taking out your craft this spring. It would be a great idea to check your equipment - fire extinguisher, horn, whistle, PFD's, running lights, and the motor. Nothing can ruin a float trip more than a tragic accidents or a motor malady...and the Wildlife Resource Officers will certainly be about to check our craft...
Enjoy the day...
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