Close Encounters of the Boat Kind

I almost got to meet fellow member Doug Halsey, and watch his hydrofoil trimaran in action, back on the 30th.

That was the day my son, his girlfriend Dani and I went over to Perris Lake to throw Blue Bayeau (our pirogue/flat-bottomed canoe) in the water. The wind was kicking up so badly we gave up after an hour, and went home. A week later, I got a letter from Doug with the BB's registration in it.

Up until then, I didn't even know it was missing. I had taken it out of my pickup's glove box to stick the inspection slip from the park entrance into the Ziploc baggie with it, and apparently I laid the baggie on my dash instead of putting it away. Somewhere down the line it took off on its own in the wind, while we had the pickup doors open.

Later that day, Doug showed up with his trimaran Broomstick. While he was rigging her, he found the baggie floating at the water's edge. And being a decent guy, he promptly stuck the contents in an envelope, addressed it to me at the address shown on the registration, and mailed it to me. Since I left for work out of town that afternoon, I didn't get the letter for a week anyway. But it was waiting in the mailbox for me when I came home.

If we had known we'd get to see Doug and Broomstick in action, we'd have hung around for a few hours - wind or no wind. But for future reference, I'll keep in mind that if you want something returned to you, make sure Doug's downwind when you drop it....