Ok, some members of my sailing team have reminded me that the first time we went sailing was actually a week before the November 17 freeze. The first time we went sailing we had my old Hiawatha 3.6 outboard motor on the back of the boat. We hoisted the mast up and were motoring out of the channel while trying to figure out what all these ropes were for when the trusty 50 year old outboard started screaming. I quick ran from the mast to the motor and shut it down. The lower end of the outboard had stripped out and was no longer moving the boat. Now the embarrasing part - we hadn't purchased an anchor yet. We had no sails up yet, no motor, and no anchor. The wind blew us into a shallow part of the lake and we were stuck. No swimming either, this was the week before November 17. No radio either. Out comes the cell phone to call the coast guard. Yes, our first sail out we had to be towed by the coast guard. They didn't notice I didn't have an anchor. They did give me a ticket for not having the square throwable life preserver, even though I had two preservers for everyone in the boat and were all wearing one. My wife just reminded me that I also almost got knocked out by the boom (appropriate name) while trying to rig the sails after our keel got stuck and the boat was swinging wildly side to side. According to her I was in a daze, non responsive after allegedly being hit. I don't remember it. Ok, enough about that.
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