carwreck.com: around Boston harbor...

July 4th weekend has, for the past several years, been the true beginning of the summer with regards to my type of work. Between Memorial Day and the 4th people scramble to get their boats in the water and it's often on their first day out when their boat decides to break down. Then, on the holiday weekend of the 4th, everyone gets out on the water, with boats loaded to the gills with coolers and little kids. Here I was, this past weekend, facing a new challenge and facing it alone. I had no backup, no help and a million boaters out on the water threatening to break down, run out of gas, run their batteries dead, run aground, crash or otherwise get in trouble.

Both Friday and Saturday started with the phone ringing before the clock hit seven AM. Sunday's call was only for a boat out of fuel a few miles down the coast towards Plymouth, but Saturday's morning job was for a boat several miles east of Race Point, Provincetown. That's out BEYOND the end of Cape Cod for those not looking at a map. Fortunately it was a straight twenty-three mile shot out from Green Harbor and, running at 27.5 knots, I arrived just over an hour. Then for the long, slow tow back to Green Harbor which took just under four hours. There's nothing like a five plus hour, offshore job from a paying customer all before noon on a holiday weekend.

I figured I had used some karma points by getting that long, paying tow so I needed to earn some points back. After dropping those guys off at the boat ramp I picked up a small broken down dinghy with a man and his two little kids and towed them the 200 feet back to the dock in front of a crowd of hecklers on the town dock. They were making remarks about the bill I was going to stick to this guy. I quieted the jeering when I told the crowd that there was no charge. How could I charge a guy who was only a few feet from home anyway?

I'm not sure how the karma thing worked out. As I pushed the little boat towards the dock the entire weekend took a turn for the worse when my cellphone squeezed out of my lifejacket pocket and escaped to the bottom of the harbor. Everything froze and my heart stopped. How was I supposed to get dispatched to Sea Tow calls? How was I going to keep in touch with Sea Tow Boston Dispatch or the Sea Tow International call center in New York? How was I going to verify customer's credit cards on the water and away from my credit card terminal back in the office? Ugh! The stress and frustration I went through during the rest of the weekend is not really worth explaining except to say that I managed to cope and Sea Tow members continued to get served the "Peace of Mind on the Water" for which Sea Tow in known.

Note: No photos lately; I just haven't had time to take any.

You lost your phone!? You need to put a chain around it and lock it around your neck... or better yet... attach a big piece of styrofoam to your next one! I guess it would have to be waterproof as well.Disaster struck and Ethan rose to the challenge... hardly a suprise! though maybe next time you should charge the guy. Maybe that is where you went wrong?!

Great post. I'm sure by now you've gotten your replacement phone and I'm glad it worked out in the end. You can handle anything, my dear.