Monday, January 14, 2013

Have Boat Will Travel: Underway

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Left to right: Nico and Christopher cursing the intracoastal 


This story turned into a small series, Have Boat Will Travel. This is part one, Underway, in the series. I was only going to write one blog. But it turned out to be almost 3,000 words or more. So, this story is written and will be released once a week throughout January. I hope you enjoy!

January 14, 2013

Ho Hey- Song by the Lumineers Lyrics by- Wesley Shultz & Jeremy Fraites
My boating skills have become a lot better since I purchased the sea craft for my boys. It's quickly becoming our getaway from the reality of life that we have endured over the past year. We are also discovering that the boat is helpful with coping with the loss of their mom.

When I write that my boating skills have improved, I truly mean it. I have gotten better in every aspect of seamanship. Being a "Coastie" from the Coast Guard, I am use to getting: Underway. A nautical term used while I served and is still used today, about preparing your vessel for launch.

If you recall, when I first got the boat, my oldest son Nico (age 4) got his finger caught up in the boat winch. The winch is mounted to the trailer and a long tether is used as a pulley that connects to a small eye hook, bolted to the hull of the boat, and a latch attaches to it. I then crank the boat back-up from the water and on to the V-shaped aluminum frame for transport. It was a terrible incident and it is something that I will never forget. 

The boat has served its purpose though, like I said, since I purchased it back in the early days in the month of September of 2012. It comforts us when our days seem sad. And take her out as our entertainment when there is nothing else to do on a lazy weekend. Not bad for a little enjoyment.

The boat offers us the best of both worlds, to. It has comfortable back and front seating for just days when you want to kick back and relax and simply cruise. And a center console where all the functions of the boat are mounted to that allows for open fishing. The boys and I have been using it for cruising only, up to this point of ownership. However, fishing is on the list.

The biggest stress of owning a boat really, is just towing it back and forth from the confines of our driveway, to the sloped boat ramp, and vice versa. Before I even head out for the short drive to the ocean, I make sure she is seaworthy. I go over her like a skilled pilot does before he or she takes off in an airplane. And it takes a lot of preparation, splashed with time, mixed with patience and excitement drowned in misery.

I connect a Trickle Charger to the batteries of the boat the night before, to make sure the dual batteries won’t fail me when I start her up the next morning or die while we are in the ocean leaving is to float on a sea of despair, only to hope, for a miracle to find us and scoop us out from the vast sea.

And when that next morning does come and it is time to get underway, the real work begins, and there is no pay in it, just blood sweat, tears.


I gently pull the boat out from her resting spot, where she is comfortably nestled in the upper portion of my large drive-way. I don’t have a cover for her yet, so dirt accumulates inside her from the normal particles in the atmosphere that is kicked up but natures breeze or an occasional passing car. So, I grab the garden hose and spray her down with the H2o, and push any dirt out, that has landed on her flat surfaces.


I then go over the electronics to make sure they have functionality. I turn on and test the emergency CB radio. I look at the navigation system to make sure it's, well, navigating. I turn on the radio and listen to music: 

"Ho! Hey! Ho! Hey!...I've been trying to do it right. I've been living the lonely life. I've been sleepin' here instead. I've been sleepin' in my bed... 


As the music plays,  I begin check all the running lights, and any other nautical lights, required by law, to ensure the incandescent lights filament is heating up. Once I am sure the electronics work it is time to test the engine.

...I've been sleepin' my bed. So show me family. All the blood that I will bleed. I don't know where I belong. I don't know where I went wrong. But I can write a song..."

I hook up this device that looks like "earmuffs" to the rear of the engine. The “earmuffs” are connected to the water hose, so that the engine is fed water as I start the motor and allow it to warm up. Now, don’t worry, the engine is in neutral so that propeller doesn’t spin while the outboard is on.

I then make sure the life vests are where they should be. I check for the flare gun and air horn to verify they're in their proper place.

Once I'm done going over everything that is mechanically and electronically necessary and I feel she is in tip top shape and ready for her voyage with her precious cargo, I begin to load her up with life sustaining provisions and seating.

After each use of the boat I thoroughly clean her to remove the damaging salt water that has covered her fiberglass to keep the boat looking like new. I prevent the sun and the Florida heat from continuing the damage on her insides, so after she is clean, I remove the seats that mount to the base of pedestals that are fastened to the boats deck. I then move to the forward cushions of the bow and pull off the white vinyl covers from their button snaps and stowed them away.


When it's finally ready to use again, I do the opposite and place the cushions back over the snaps that our affixed to the fiberglass of the boat. I slide my finger under the cushion and feel for the metallic raised button and gently lock her into place. I grab the rear captain seats and slide them over the mounting brackets. I then turn the comfortable handle and tighten them snugly into place.  I fill the coolers up with food and drinks and after about an hour of preparing her, she is finally ready for launch.

I wipe the sweat from my brow, clean the tears from my eyes, that the salt from my sweating skin, had drawn out and clean any blood from the nicks on top of my skin, caused from the preparation to get that boat ready. 


I grab the boys and we head out with our boat, for some fun in the sun, and get underway.





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The Adventures of Captain Imperfecto/Born Again by Christopher P. Fusaro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at christopherfusaro.blogspot.com.

The Adventures of Captain Imperfecto ©  is also a Registered Copyright with the Office of the Registers, United States of America, TX 7-611-138