Typhoon Local Area Network or LAN for short is on its way. I do not think it will be a real typhoon like we used to get when I was a boy but probably a significant blow.

High speed LAN

You may remember that I have been tardy in taking the Scaffie out of the water of late resulting in trauma and pain for the poor boat.

I am so sorry.

So this time around I am determined to get the Scaffie out of the water before the diving and fishing boats flee for safety on land and in so doing block up the slipway.

I leave work early on Tuesday, go back to house shackle the trailer to the mighty Xtrail, drive up to Chioya port, take bike out of the mighty Xtrail and cycle home. I change into carefully color coordinated  costume and swim out to the boat through a considerable swell. It is very high tide and I am delighted that I can still haul myself into the boat. In fact this whole episode has been a very life er enhancing experience. It is only a mile or so from the mooring to the safety of Chioya but of course the wind is dead against, the tide is dead against, the sea is agitated and it is raining heavily.

Blue spot is the mooring and if you allow your eye to travel right, you will identify the harbor

I sail for 45 mins, doing everything I can to gain distance, only to eventually accept that I have actually gone backwards and that there is no possibly of sailing to Chioya.

Nae use

I return home in the darkness and swim back from the mooring cheered only by the prospect of eating lamb chops. First I have to walk back to Chioya to recover the mighty Xtrail as, after all, I have to go to work tomorrow.

Are we downhearted? No!

The same thing starts today. I rush from work to Chioya where lies the trailer. I take bike out of Xtrail and use it to go back to house. I change into carefully coordinated etc, etc. I swim out to  boat and am delighted that I can etc, etc. I do everything I can to sail to the harbor  but it is futile.

So I row.

Can I force the Scaffie against wind and tide using what fragments of my physical capabilities are left to me? Well it turns out that the answer is yes. Life affirming.

After 45 minutes at the oars we crash into Chioya fishing harbor. I fetch the trailer and load on the Scaffie and after the usual incompetent clowning, drag her up the slipway.

Then comes one of those hinge moments in life. I have to lift the trailer and reposing boat onto the towing attachment on the back of the Xtrail.  It is getting very dark and is pouring with rain. If I fail, the boat is left stranded at Chioya until I can find some real men to help me. I bend down and grasp the trailer. It is very heavy. I bend my knees and push my huge bulk upwards and to my joy, the boat and trailer also rise allowing me to clatter her onto the towing clamp thing. Life affirming.

Flash, badly used, always makes things look darker but it does capture rain well.

Success!

We drive home without the boat falling off the trailer or horrible accidents as trucks crash into the trailer as I turn into the house at very low speed on a blind corner.

Safe and sound.

So, the boat is rescued but likewise my self esteem, as I have recently viewed myself as a fat cripple. I can still haul myself into a boat. I can still row with the best. I can still lift the boatl-laden trailer onto the towing hook. Does one need to do anything else?