One of the things that I love living on the Gulf Coast besides the Gulf Coast is our boating community.
When you live on the water you are either one of two types of people. People who boat or people who don't. For those of you who know me and have been following my blog for sometime, I am part of the former. Boating is something that we started doing in 1998 after the purchase of our first bow rider, "Little Boat".
We love everything about it. I think because it reminds us so much of our time in the Navy. You never meet a stranger on the water. If you are in need there is always someone to give you a hand and when you want to be part of the party you can always find one. On the flip side when you want to be alone, it is very easy to find a spot where no one is, or a beach that no one has landed on.
This past weekend we decided to take advantage of the absolutely AWESOME (sing that when you read it, okay?) weather and head out for a day of sun and fun. We are pretty quick to get out on the water but we were moving a little slower on Saturday because we did not have everything packed Friday night. (Season Seven of NCIS arrived and I spent the evening being anti-social and watching the first disc.)
But once we were out it was just another awesome day. Beautiful beaches, clear water, and no one around for miles. We puttered around for a while because we like to take a ride before we settle on where to park to enjoy the sun and the water and thank goodness we did because we came upon a trio of Navy guys who were in distress.
The three of them had boarded what appeared to me to be no bigger than a surf board for an evening of fishing and beer drinking. They made it safely to the beach and caught quite a few fish, unfortunately Saturday morning when they attempted to head back in they found themselves in a bit of trouble, their motor did not start.
In September our currents are pretty strong. And on this particular Saturday it was no different, but these three guys were attempting to swim/push their 12 foot surfboard/boat which I should mention was completely loaded down with all the things three guys would need for a night on the water fishing. Coolers and fishing rods.
Captain Kid, who is always on the lookout for boaters in distress noticed them and got within in range to see if they were okay. They were all new to our area and had been pushing/paddling/swimming their boat for the past hour and really hadn't gotten very far. They were so thankful for our help that once we returned them to the dock they had jettisoned from they offered to pay us for our troubles. So I had to school them on the ways of boaters everywhere, no payment required just pay it forward someday.
Kind of how I feel about this community of bloggers and tweeters that I follow. These men and women who support and praise and reinforce why I do what I do when it comes to this writing thing. Because everyone has something to say and sometimes when you get lucky enough, you just might find someone interested in hearing/reading what you have to say.
Sounds like you made some friends while being the good boater that you are! And, yes, the blogsphere is a wonderful place to meet people...even if they do brag about their iPads ;)
ReplyDeleteYou rock too. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree about the online writing community--it's all about the "pay it forward," and I love that.
I immediately thought of the writing community when reading your story! And I bet they were glad to see you!
ReplyDeleteLove this community, too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story; loved the tie to writers and writing. Those Navy boys were lucky to have you (and your hubs) as are we.
ReplyDeleteOMG, did you bring back some memories!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little, my grandparents used to boat out of College Point, New York. We'd skirt around the Stepping Stone Lighthouse, sometimes anchor beneath one of the bridges, where the fishing was good but usually, we headed east to various Long Island beaches. We'd drop anchor, tethered to a row of other boaters, many of whom we'd just met that day.
My grandparents were great cooks so the cooler was always packed with a great picnic. The boat wasn't very large but it held us and my cousins comfortably.
I thought I was the coolest thing alive when I got to sit on bridge and steer the boat.
My favorite thing to do was sit right on the point of the bow and let the spray drench me. We ran out of gas once and nobody seemed to care. Eventually, somebody motored by and tossed us a line, towed us back home.
I nearly forgot all of this!
Pay it forward..what an awesome way to look at it! I do root for other writers and do what I can to help..but never thought of it like this!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and sharing. I am really feeling pretty grateful to the writing community I have found myself a part of. I love discussing, sharing, reading, and discussing with you guys. Thanks for supporting me... Always.
ReplyDeleteWrite on!