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Video documents my last day of canoe camping on Lake Tahoe, California. Beautiful calm morning for rowing out of Emerald Cove. Make some coffee on the middle of the lake. Then the wind picks up as I sail into the Marina to complete this journey. http://www.youtube.com/user/jordansname
Wednesday I opened an email from Monterey Boat Works, the Marina I was trying to get Selene into. The email stated they were unable to recognize me as a customer due to my poor credit scores. Ever since grade school scores have been bumming me out.
Right now Selene is tied to her old owners mooring ball, he needs her off asap or risks getting in trouble with the county(losing his moorage). Dale has been a huge help in this transaction. The email denying my slip options in Monterey was depressing. It was good to finally fall asleep Wednesday night and forget the day.
I wake up Thursday morning ready to get serious again about finding a slip. Monterey Boat Works wasn’t interested in my plea for favor on my poor credit situation. So I meet with Dale, get some ideas, and head for Moss Landing. Another Marina, hopefully one that doesn’t run credit checks.
Cruising down Highway 1, an incredibly beautiful and soothing drive, my van stops running. It’s not the gas, it’s not the oil, it’s not the electronics. It’s the engine. Loud, stomach pounding, knocking noises as the engine quickly dies out with each start. Stranded on the side of some farm road I get out of the car and pop the hood. Maybe some medicine wagon will see me stranded on the side of the road and offer a miraculous potion that cures engine woes. This doesn’t happen.
Instead, a PT Cruiser labeled TomBoy Tools pulls along side me. There’s a lady driving and offers help. I’ve never met the lady before, this is California, and she stopped to offer help, miraculous. I ask for a cell phone to call Dale or maybe a tow truck. She doesn’t have one, but none cell phone carrying people are my kind of people. I knew we’d be getting along. Doesn’t have cell phone, but does have a an AAA Card and driveway for the van. So I get a tow to her house and call up Dale, the boats old owner.
First comes Val, the neighborhood mechanic. He checks the car, says it’s real bad, something with the engines timing. The conversation switches from my car to Sally’s car. Sally’s the lady whose driveway I’m now in. Sally’s talking about smog stories. Val and Fred start sharing their experiences. Fred’s convinced there’s a Mercedes with hemorrhoids behind the smog shop down the street. The smog shop passes every car it checks. Fred says every time that a car pulls up for smog, they stick the diagnostics up the tail pipes of the brand new Mercedes sitting behind the shop. Bingo, your old piece of junk passes.
Anyways, back to my car. Dale makes it just after dark. Listens to the engine a few times and agrees with Val. The knocking noise means somethings broken in the engine. My $1500 dollar van has suddenly become a very tiny apartment parked in front of Sally’s house. And remember, I still have no slip for Selene.
Sally happens to be the neighborhood cat lady, lots of cats. Nora, who had no idea the situation was ever bad, is now suddenly in dog heaven. Sally was the hero of my day, without her I’d probably still be stranded. Dale called her an Angel, he’s probably right. And go figure, she has an accessible, steaming hot, shower off the side of her house.
So today I wake up in my broken van out front of Cat Womens house. Nora chases the cats for a while and I get a hot shower. Later we stroll down to moss landing, about a mile from Sally’s. I talk with the Harbor Guys, they’re cool. They have slips available, they don’t run credit checks, and can get me in whenever I’m ready. Now I just have to come up with the slip fees and deposit, much cheaper than Monterey Bay Boat Works. Still lots of money for a guy who just bought a boat and broke a van.
At least today it’s all looking very possible, yesterday it wasn’t.
Looked at the sailboat yesterday. It’s not for me. I went down to the marina convinced this was the boat. Arrived early and took in the location, it seemed perfect. The marina showers where accessible, very big deal to me. Nora made friends with a sea otter, it was hands down the coolest wild life experience of my trip. The dog was out swimming in the harbor and a sea otter pops up 4 feet in front of her, both staring at each other. Nora swims toward the otter as it dives under her. She’s curious, sticks her head under water trying to find the otter. Otter pops up behind her, slaps the water. Nora flips around and swims right up to it, they bat at each other with paws and flippers. The sea otter dives under her again, popping up behind her and making more noise, nora flips around it disappears again. The game continued for a few minutes before the otter went back to eating barnacles from the bottom of a boat. It was one of the rare moments I didn’t have access to my camera, if i did the animals meeting would have never happened. The people at the marina were friendly, we talked and i enjoyed them. It appeared like the right place for me, and I knew the boat would be right for me. The environment was perfect, this had to be the place. I saw the boat, it was definitely a project. A 30′ cheoy lee sloop, a model I’ve liked for a long time. The owner showed up, he was drunk. I convinced myself he wasn’t, this was suppose to be my boat. We climbed aboard, he showed me around. Everything needed work, nothing was in working order. The only solid part of the boat was the cabin, which is the one part of the boat I would be tearing apart anyways. Still I used my mind to make this my boat, it had to be. I’m tired of driving around, ready to have a steady place. So what if the owner is drunk, that doesn’t mean he’s selling a bad boat. I sat there for hours trying hard to convince myself that this was the boat. The excuses and reasons piled, I left continuing my own mental persuasion. I should of been the guy selling the boat, not only was I sober, but i did a great job of creating the ideal buyers picture. Later that day I found a shower, it had been a while as usual. Amazing how hot water can change your entire outlook on life. I shut off the water and realized the boat wasn’t for me. I had fallen in love with an idea advertised on craigslist. I was ready to finish my adventures in the van and move onto something new. Thank goodness I gave it a prayer before showing up that day. I saw another ad on craigslist today. This time a Pearson Triton 28′ Sloop. I’ll let you know.
Jordansname.com 