The One With 24 Hours Of Bad Ideas

Brent and I’ve had some REALLY bad ideas throughout the course of our marriage. If you need some recent examples check out Montana Misadventure or The Time I Jumped Out of an Airplane.

But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a couple of ideas we came up with in the first 24 hours of boat ownership were among the worst.

First, we attempted to arrive on a brand-new-to-us boat at 8PM with 2 kids. I think our excitement of boat ownership trumped reality and common sense. 

Our boat had been parked in a marina, virtually left alone, for 6 months. So not only were we taking on someone else’s dirt…we also had a lot of dust to contend with. Not quite the same as arriving at a hotel at night!

We arrived with our own linens- but it still took me hours to wipe everything down, put on mattress covers and make the beds. While the kids were super excited, there was also an element of unknown. It took us a while to figure out the switches, controls and lights. It was well past midnight when the 4 of us finally went to bed.

And then there were the unfamiliar boat noises…all night.

A pump would kick on and all of us would be wide awake. Couple that with the anxiety over the unknown elements of Coronavirus and it was a recipe for a sleepless night.

I’ll offer this piece of advice: if you buy a boat, don’t plan to arrive after dark and spend the night on it. Arrive early in the day with plenty of time to clean and get used to everything!

The next day we eagerly got to know everything we could about our new boat. We explored the mariana and tested out our new kayak . At some point we looked over and realized our kayak had blown off the dock and lodged itself on the other side of the channel.

Not a big deal. 

Brent decided to launch the dinghy for the first time to go retrieve the kayak. He struggled to get it into gear, but assumed it would loosen up quickly. Using paddles the kids and Brent made their way to the other bank. It was cute.

But then they tried to return to our dock and the current was too strong. They weren’t able to get the dinghy into gear, and it was too heavy to paddle into the wind.

With two of our three boats on the other side of the channel, I had no idea what to do. Naturally, no one was around to offer advice or lend a helping hand. I ended up stopping someone in the parking lot who informed me that everyone in the marina would probably be in the clubhouse for happy hour and I should go in there and ask for help.

I’ve never been shy, but I despise asking for help. Walking into a room full of strangers and asking for help might be my biggest nightmare. It was so awkward! Thankfully the nicest couple jumped up and offered to perform a rescue.

After launching their own dinghy, they assisted in dragging Brent and the kids back to our dock. As embarrassing as it was, we were so thankful to get to meet them (Positive Latitude.) We ended up talking for quite a while that evening and even discovered we’re listening to the same Podcast, The Bible Recap.

It’s safe to say that our boating life didn’t get off to the best start. The first 24 hours were a little rough and full of bad ideas. But we survived. And made some new friends that we look forward to seeing in the future.

Mom With A Map is full of adventure…and misadventure! Thanks for following along on our crazy journey!

You may also want to read:

Our Favorite Family-Friendly Beach

The One Where We Rewind Our Boat Story Back To The Beginning

The Best Things To Do In Vegas With Kids

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