Thursday, July 9, 2009

Fishing for Spiderman

It all started when I got home from a very successful shopping trip (I found quite a few things that I have had my open for). On the floor in the boys' cabin was their favorite beach towel.
Spiderman - wet from sailing camp yesterday. The skies were clearing and I knew I had to get it and a few other damp items out into the sun to dry out.
But wait, there were perishables that needed to put away first. So, I flipped the 3 towels over the life lines fully intending (I know - my favorite quote comes to my mind too: the road to hell is paved with good intentions) to put food away and them properly clip the towels and other items on securely. I got the food put away and proceeded to starting clipping the 2 towels to the lines - wait weren't there 3! I realized too late that there actually was a little bit of breeze, apparently enough to blow Spiderman off the life line. How long ago had it happened? Was Spidey just floating behind the boat? Hey, it's a really low tide and maybe I can see the bottom - yep, there is the boys' favorite towel right there on the bottom between the dock and the boat.
I quickly went to grab the boat hook to see if it is actually shallow enough to hook and raise to the surface. But no, that would be too easy (where is that damn EASY button when you need it?). The boat hook is not in it's place on the cabin top. Luckily, my neighbor noticed I was peering into the water looking for something and came out to inquire what had fallen overboard. With the added problem of the missing boat hook, Jeanne grabbed hers and passed it across to me. Fully telescoped, the boat hook appeared to be about 4 feet too short.
Next try, fishing pole. This was probably a very comical process to watch as I try to know as little about fishing poles as possible (I am the cheif line untangler - but that's about it until the fish are caught, cleaned, filleted and ready to cook). I figured that I needed weights: so I put 4 on and a big hook (I know that the hooks caught easily on towels having removed a couple after casting practice): I used one of those big ones with a shiney lure so that I could see it down there. It took me two tries to get the hook in the vicinity of the towel and then drag it across Spiderman til it caught in his foot. I carefully reeled in Spidey and then rinsed him out. After showing my prize catch to Jeanne and Ed, I hung my trophy from the life lines with not 2, but 3 clothes pins.
My question is: am I a bad mom because I let Spiderman fall overboard in the first place or am I good mom because I saved him from the crabs below the boat???
Spiderman is safe at last

2 comments:

Behan said...

It always happens to the favorite towel, too, doesn't it? We lost an AWESOME microfiber "chamois" towel in San Jose del Cabo. I still mourn it!

Meanwhile, if you lose something overboard, I have a friend who swears by doing this (http://www.flickr.com/photos/giffordclan/41793810/) to avoid losing the clothespins too. I confess we have been too lazy to keep a few clipped on, though it does seem handy... there is always a wet towel on the binnacle otherwise!

Seven C's said...

Definitely a good mom for having rescued Spidey! :)