Hmm, hot in the U.S.....hot in Europe, I'm surprised the water levels weren't higher from the glaciers melting!
Great story Pouw. Reminds me of a time last year when there was a powerboat stuck on a sandbar with about 1.5 foot of water over it. I went by about 200 yards away in a channel and he was waving frantically. Usually when I have my family with me, I don't stop for these types (they are all over the place in Florida and frequently 3 drunk idiots in a boat they just bought for 50 dollars ... not exactly what I like to expose my kids to).
But this day, I was out by myself and I felt sorry for the guy since it was a weekday and there weren't many boats out. So, I rolled up my headsail I had just opened, pulled my boards up, tilted the motor up some, and cruised over the sandbar to his boat. When I get there, he says he was actually hailing a powerboat that had passed me...and he never thought in a thousand years that a SAILBOAT could reach him in that shallow water (West Florida is full of shallow waters which is one of the main reasons I traded my keel boat for a Mac). Turns out that the guy had lost his prop going over the sandbar. He waded through the water and found his prop but couldn't find the nut. I didn't have an extra nut on board (please don't scold me...I have sails...lol) so I offered to tow his fancy I/O boat which was barely floating. I start rigging up a tow rope and tell him that I will tow him to the boat ramp which is half a mile away in the direction that I am going (out into the bay to sail)....but NO, he doesn't want that, he wants me to backtrack 3-4 miles and tow him to his house which is where I just came from. This seems to happen all the time down here, people are so spoiled that they think you are going to go way out of your way to tow them to wherever they want, not just to safety...its no wonder I don't stop very often for these guys. That day, I only had about 1.5 hours until I had to go to a meeting, so I would have basically scrapped my whole sail to tow this guy back. So, I told him that I will sail for an hour and then on my way home, I'll pick him up and tow him back...but when I got back, he was gone.
And for clarification in case anyone thinks poorly of me, of course I would stop for anyone in any real danger, but we are talking very protected waters where the biggest inconvenience these people have is that they finished all their beer and smokes and they are having a nicotine fit...
