Awoke to calm water and gray skies. The light breeze was out of the south, so we had to motor all the way to Santa Cruz. Easy trip. There were swells rolling in from the west, but no waves to speak of. The only excitement was the breaking of the foot pedal for the freshwater pump in the galley. Fortunately, we can still hand-pump water from the emergency tank.
Arrived in Santa Cruz shortly before five p.m. and were lucky enough to get an end tie on the first dock.
Al had planned on taking the bus and BART back to Richmond, where he'd left his van. Then he'd drive home and grab a few hours' sleep before reporting for work at 8 tomorrow morning. However, an unexpected, urgent business matter suddenly came up for Roy, so he decided to go back with Al to Richmond and take care of it. I suggested that since the two of them were going, it would be cheaper, faster, and more convenient for them to rent a car than to take the bus. They agreed, so I phoned around to find a rental car at a decent price. Most of the places were closed or out of cars. One place said they had a car and would wait if we could get there right away.
I asked, "How far is it?"
He said, "Twenty minutes."
I asked, "Twenty minutes walking or driving?"
"Driving."
I laughed and said, "If we were driving, we wouldn't need to rent a car!"
Finally, I found a place that had a car for $34 and would send someone over to pick up Roy and Al. So I left the guys standing by the road and set off to the Harbor Master's office to get keys for the gate and the showers.
The office was on the opposite side of the marina. I could have paddled across in two minutes, but walking I had to go about 1/8 mile to the bridge, cross the bridge, and then walk another 1/8 mile to the Harbor Master's office. Halfway there, I suddenly realized I only had 2 or 3 dollars with me, and they'd undoubtedly want a deposit for the keys.
Earlier, I had talked with Harbor Patrol on the VHF and arranged to come over and pick up the keys, even though it was after hours and the office was closed, but quite a bit of time had passed since then, what with my making all those phone calls and seeing the guys off. When I got to the office, it was locked up tight. I rang the bell and banged on the doors for 15 minutes, but no one responded. I could see a guy through the window on the second floor, but apparently he didn't hear me, so I went over to a public phone and dialed the number that was written on the office door. To my surprise, I got the Police Department! But I told the person who answered the phone what had happened, and he contacted Harbor Patrol. In almost no time, a Harbor Patrol officer drove up. He had the keys but wanted a $20 deposit.
Gulp, gulp. I asked him where the nearest ATM was. He told me, but then said he'd drive me over there, since it's a dangerous road to walk on at night. So he drove me to the ATM, waited while I extracted some money, and then drove me all the way back to A dock, where the boat is. Very nice.
I had thought of something else Roy should do while he's in Richmond, so I tried to phone him and leave a message on the answering machine. Unfortunately, he had disconnected the machine before we left. I'll try phoning him again around 7 tomorrow morning; he's likely to be in the shop then.
No comments:
Post a Comment