We got out for a few hours Sunday afternoon, glassy smooth, Mullet jumping everywhere, lots of birds working,(the white Pelicans are here for the winter), saw a few small sharks cruisin' the flats. Took some great photos of both boats in action. Checked out the various trim levels on the skiff with me rowing forwards and backwards. Found out I need to lower the swivel seat base a couple inches, because the oars hit my knees/lap when I pick the oars up out of the water. Oh, did I mention the great photos? I would post them to share, but the boy, in his words, "I was standing up taking a picture of myself, and then I saw a couple big fish going by, so I turned around to pick up my fishing rod," this is where I hear the SPLASH, "and all my weight was on my right leg, and I lost the camera when I fell out of the boat, I am soooo sorry man." Did I mention I bought two small dryboxes for the phones and billfolds? He left his open during this exercise, and of course the pirogue shipped a little water when he went overboard. The phone is still working,...so far, and the wallet is drying out nicely. On a more positive note, my son did learn how to remount the pirogue from the water. So....,anybody got a line on a waterproof, FLOATable camera? Maybe Santa will bring me one.
The boy felt so bad, I felt bad for him, so I explained what we have to do when something happens on the Tug Boats. We fill out an "Incident Report" detailing what went wrong, what went right, what we learned, how to not repeat the "Incident". We discussed it in this form, and he came up with the fact that these things don't happen because of a single thing, but a chain of events where situational awareness goes away, and then "Chit Happens". I guess the fact that he "got it" makes loosin' a camera a small price if he learned what I think he did. As we discussed the evolution of the incident, you could see the comprehension in his eyes. He may fall out of the boat again, but before he does, he will consider the consequences. :wink:
The boy felt so bad, I felt bad for him, so I explained what we have to do when something happens on the Tug Boats. We fill out an "Incident Report" detailing what went wrong, what went right, what we learned, how to not repeat the "Incident". We discussed it in this form, and he came up with the fact that these things don't happen because of a single thing, but a chain of events where situational awareness goes away, and then "Chit Happens". I guess the fact that he "got it" makes loosin' a camera a small price if he learned what I think he did. As we discussed the evolution of the incident, you could see the comprehension in his eyes. He may fall out of the boat again, but before he does, he will consider the consequences. :wink: