CHANGES AT THE BAY in Postcards 4

The boat ramp on Shelter Island, San Diego Bay, 2015. Panorama: G.

There are always changes. G and I often take a picnic or hamburger to the Shelter Island boat ramp. There’s always a show of some sort. Then again, almost anything will keep us amused.

Watching the ramp one late afternoon, a small fishing boat pulled in. A little Datsun pulled a boat trailer around lowered it down the ramp into the water. The tide was out, and the ramp seemed much steeper than usual. The boat was run up on its trailer, and then there was a delay. Pretty soon another Datsun showed up….mind you, Datsun not Nissan. They had a long metal rod with a hook at each end. With a flourish, the new Datsun hooked up to the first one by the long rod. With a lot of hand signals, engine roaring and shouting, they pulled the boat out of the water and up the ramp. We had never seen anything like it.

Towboat at work pulling a small watercraft into the boat ramp and basin, Shelter Island, 2015.

It’s a small boat basin. The ramp is tired and eaten away by the salt water. If something good sized comes in, there is little room to maneuver it. If it is towed in, that doubles the difficulty of docking the boat or getting it up on its trailer. Sometimes it’s all really funny. After ten or so tries to get a boat on a trailer, I hide my head.

Then again, it is fun to watch an expert. They pull to the dock, drop off their driver, move out into the bay out of the way, and wait. When the boat trailer is lowered into the water, the boat comes in, gets centered, and rushes up on the trailer in one smooth move.

A long awaited rebuild of the ramp and basin is happening now. All the rocks from the breakwaters are piled up on land. Most of the ramp is gone leaving only a tiny bit for the tourist Ducks to go in and out of the bay on. Much of the sand is now dredged out, and a cofferdam is being constructed. I think it is taking a little too long, but it is never boring.

The old boat ramp and basin removed and being rebuilt in 2018.

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- Himself: Looking much trimmer. He’s down two sizes, and I am proud of him. He has Monday Off. Perhaps we will be taking a small road trip if the traffic isn’t too bad.
- Herself: She wanted the book area pretty; I did that mixing art with stand up book displays. Then tomorrow in the evening, I get to say something to the newcomers like “brush and floss. Take a bath.” They bus the Navy in to that meeting. LOL Sunday I have one minute to say the same thing to 300 folks.
- Reading: Just finished “Confessions of a Closet Master Baker a memoir by Gesine Bullock-Prado. A delightful compendium of dreams and recipes.
- Watching: Nature and Nova last night.
- Gratitude’s: Two more tiny scrapes on my hand that won’t keep me out of the pool.