Always alert Accident avert
THEY stress you out, snarly bosses. They may not intend to, but they do. I arrived back on board Sea Guide after a week on shore dealing with oops and incidents, career-frenzied deadlines and a snarly boss. I immediately felt at peace.
We topped up the water tanks, stowed the last minute shopping under the saloon table and motored over to Guards Bay. I was looking forward to a busy afternoon stowing stores and preparing a simple-yet-tasty salmon dinner for two. Capt. Hunk was looking forward to a mellow afternoon reading the newspaper and rehydrating with beer.
“Aah,” he said once we were safe at anchor, “I think I’ll read the paper and drink a… what’s that noise?”
I heard it too. A low buzz, as odd as hip-hop music. We hurried around the boat, listening, opening cupboards, listening, looking outside, listening. “Where’s it coming from?”
“I can’t tell. Turn the radio off.”
Step by step, we eliminated all the obvious sources of noise. The buzz continued to buzz, so Capt. Hunk lifted a floorboard. “Cripes,” he yelled, “look at this.”
I rushed to see and did not like what I saw one bit. The bilge was full to overflowing.
“What the ….”
We had found the buzz, it was the automatic bilge pump.
