Fair? It ain’t: get over it!

Not that this is a rant,,, Just a thought I had while watching Mark E’s latest vid, and recalling something one of the boys at the J.O.B. has said a few times. (the above is my response, everytime, and still he uses that misunderstood word,,,,)

If you aren’t into watching the vid, a little iteration for you. The day hatch (the small hatch just behind the cockpit) cover came OFF in waves and soaked every danged thing in the compartment. His laptop (second time this journey) his VHF, his food, pretty much everything except his camping gear itself. (larger, less need to access at times, goes into the bigger hatches,,,) The heat of the moment brought out a side of Mark that he hadn’t shown as yet,,,, His emotional response to loss. He has shown emotion, but not on this level so far. Now, I have no idea how long he sat in the dulrums of sorrow, his video editing doesn’t really tell that.

But I have noted that different people handle loss over a vast level of different ways. IN MY CASE, I tend to go ‘cold’ if you will. Not emotionally cold, because I do feel the loss, but I shut down (or should say, shut OUT) the part of my brain running in circles, screaming and shouting, and get down the brass tacks of doing what needs done. Like the current case with total breakdown 200+miles from home. Some people would have shut down, totally useless, for a spell. Me? approach it like a problem with an unseen solution, just another day at the office and the world is about to go blooie. First thing I did was assess the damage, and then start looking for an open shop, or even a shop that would open on the next business day, and look for a tow company (good sources for knowing the shops, and usually honest about which ones are reliable or scammers.) Second, was assess my financial situation “can I afford this on my means RIGHT NOW?” Answer came back a ‘maybe but seek help, just in case’ so I posted to the blog. Then it became a scramble to find a recovery mode. Da was my last resort in this case since I know how much he hates driving anything over 30 minutes. started reaching out to friends and associates. All were out of town or so wrapped in life that breaking off was not an option,,, Da it is, and I hesitated even then,,,

but, I never let the issue eat at me, I know there was a way, somehow, somewhere, and when I found it, I was rocked to my core at how close it was.

Shit happens, move on.

Life is fair as fair can be: she’ll screw everyone!

No problems, just unseen solutions.

Now, in Marks situation, what would I have done? My first order of business would have been to assess the food situation. I have transportation and the toys are not essential to staying upright and moving. Even the VHF isn’t essential: it just changes routes and times of travel or aids those. Hand signals still work,,, BUT THE FOOD,,, that means energy to keep moving,,,, (note, shelter was still safe and sound in its own compartment,)

Second order, “what should I do differently to avoid this in the future” the live and learn phase of my ‘just another day at the office’ attitude. Well,,, first, I wouldn’t (and don’t) pack all of my essentials in one place. That whole ‘keeping your eggs in one basket’ analogy. Second, DRY BAGS,,, They may not be comepletely effective, but they minimize damage greatly. As for the toys, they make dryboxes that are damned near perfect for keeping water at bay for things like laptops and such. As for the VHF, they make a waterproof floater for this very purpose. and there are drybags made for them so they can be kept on your person in even the crappiest of conditions. (if you don’t have it on you and you get separated from your boat, you are crabfood in short order. If you have it, you have a chance.)

BUT, the most important thing, even now, when I am running empty holds, I double and triple check the hatch covers to make sure they are seaworthy. Even Mark mentions this in the vid. This was all because of a slip of habit,,, Yeah, they can happen to anyone, but when you are doing something of this level, you need to make it ingrained in you enough that you are waking up ‘checking your gear’ before you even climb out of that bag. Have even seen it in the WW peeps,,, Checking that drainplug on the boat after every stop, not even thinking about it, just muscle memory driving the body. That is the sort of ‘habit’ I am suggesting.

(and to note, I really do not like the VCP hatch covers very much. expensive to replace, hard to find in some cases, and while they are completely water proof/pressure holding capable, if something, even a peice of grass, gets between them and the lip of the hatch, they will ‘pop’. My preference is the ‘double’ hatch covers of neoprene cover on the hold opening, covered by a hardshell that is held in place by webbing (not bungees) with a good rubber coating on the inside lip of the soft cover and a good tight fit, they will NOT leak (and why I am restitching Blue Jeans currently, hers were too loose.) and with the hardshell protecting them from crashing waves, won’t implode (which the VCP hatches CAN do,,,)

The purpose of the holds on a kayak? Not for hauling gear, thats actually secondary purpose. The real purpose is make sure the boat will stay afloat when things get sideways. The cockpit floods? so what, you still have 50 gallons of displacement keeping you afloat, and a floating boat is a lifeline to getting to where you can ‘fix the issue’. The smaller WW boats don’t have separate compartments in most cases (the crossover boats do, but only in the aft) WW people stuff float bags in the bow and stern to help keep that boat up on the surface better (not essential but it does help for recovery, and to speed up draining out the ‘oops’. ) We wear skirts to keep as much of the water out as we can for the same purpose: a boat that floats is a lifeline. Rolling a kayak is the first line of defense in a capsize, knowing how to get back in and drain (reverse order for WW) is the next line.

Learn to Mitigate the Risk.

Practice your skills, or lose them.

Never stop learning.

And when life takes on the role of Murphy: LAUGH!!!

DOn’t quIT!!!!

Y’all take care out there, more tomorrow.