The next morning began the way the best ones do. One of us slipped out of bed first, got the French press going, and by the time the coffee was ready, we were both sitting over the charts figuring out the day. There is a rhythm to mornings aboard Bearcruzer — a mental checklist that moves in a particular order, covering the inside of the boat, the dinghy, the dog, and the two of us, all coordinated and timed with the quiet efficiency of people who have learned, sometimes the hard way, that order matters out here.
This was a morning for learning it again.
The departure routine goes like this: Mike raises the anchor, eases Bearcruzer into reverse, uses the bow thrusters to position her toward the mouth of the anchorage. During this maneuver, the dinghy rides alongside the boat, secured by a line that gets let out to tow length once we’re underway and moving safely away from any hazards. The key word being once. Releasing that line too soon risks one thing above all others: the line finding its way around the propeller.
You guessed it…I released the line too soon.
There was a moment — a brief, horrible moment — when everything felt fine. And then the engine stopped. Not gradually, not with any warning. Just stopped, the way engines do when something has wrapped itself around the prop and asked them very firmly to quit.
Mike lowered the anchor again and raised the engine. Sure enough: dinghy line, wound snugly and thoroughly around the propeller, looking almost smug about it. He reached for his knife, ready to cut it free. But we weren’t in any danger, the boat was secure, and so we took a breath and took our time. I worked the line loose by hand, turn by turn, and managed to free it completely — intact, no damage done. The engine, bless it, started right up the moment the line was clear.
We looked at each other. We did not say much.
There is a reason the morning routine runs in a particular order, in a particular way, with particular timing. It isn’t habit for habit’s sake — it’s two people, a dog, and a boat operating as a system, and when one piece moves out of sequence, the whole thing knows it.
Lesson learned. Again. Don’t rush. Do things right, in the right order, and trust the system — and the person running it alongside you.
Now. On to the next adventure.
Living the Dream 