We Caught One!

Nope, we're not talking about a fish!  When Ken and I went out for a quick sail Saturday we didn't plan on "catching" anything, but we did.  We caught one of the hundreds of crab traps floating in Lake Pontchartrain ... ugh!  With an invite to a barbecue Saturday afternoon and not much time (and perhaps feeling a little lazy), we only used our head sail on the lake.  The little bit of wind would come and go and we were able to just float along at a very slow and easy pace.  We've gotten a lot of practice dodging the crab traps while sailing, but just as we were about to get on the side of one, the wind just died and we were just floating ... right over the crab trap!  All of a sudden we heard a thump ... uh-oh.  We both sat with our heads sticking over the stern anxiously awaiting for the floating ball to pop up out of the water ... but it didn't.  Crap! 

We quickly realized that we really weren't prepared for catching anything on our prop.  The dive mask was at home and so was the long pole that we've been meaning to put on the boat.  (I'm not sure a pole would help, but when you don't have something you'd swear it would!)   I did point out to Ken that I did remember to bring a towel so he'd be able to dry off!  I don't think he was amused.  Luckily (for Ken I should say) the weather here in Louisiana is still in the mid-eighties and the water is still pretty warm.  So, Ken reluctantly stripped down to his underwear and jumped in the water.  He threatened my life when I joked about taking a picture of him in his skivvies. 

Anyway, Ken knew exactly where to dive to find the prop, and somehow he managed to quickly find the crab trap in the dark and muddy waters.  Since we hadn't started the engine, the trap was easily removed and that ball popped up from the water about the same time as Ken's head. 

No harm done, but this little incident made us start thinking about the "what-if's".  What if were were in really cold temperatures?  What if the trap had been really wrapped around the prop pretty good?  We now have one of our dive masks on the boat ... not to be stored in the house!  The pole is also now onboard, which I've been wanting to have on Nirvana for docking and such.  Now, we really need to get a good knife onboard ... for this and so many other things that could get tangled.

After watching the Saints win their game on Sunday, Ken went diving again!  This time he went "down under" to scrape the barnacles off the prop and shaft.  He'd been wanting to do this, and figured he'd better go ahead and get it over with since it won't be getting any warmer till next year.  With a dive mask, a crow bar, and about ten dives while holding his breath, Ken was able to scrape most of those pesky (and pointless) creatures away.

With the barnacles removed from the prop, we then motored around the canals of our neighborhood to see if we noticed a difference, which I'd say we did.  After stopping at a friend's waterfront home for a little visit, we then headed back home for the night while asking ourselves, "Can't today be Saturday"?  The weekends just go way too fast! 
Oh, and we bought our ....         Tow Boat U.S. over the weekend!  We've been wanting to buy this, but not until we planned on venturing out past the lake.  We wouldn't think about going any further without this towing insurance, since one tow would easily cost hundreds of dollars.  (You can click on the picture for more info on this cheap insurance).   Hey, I guess this would be an option if we were to catch another crab trap that couldn't be easily removed.  We see a cruise to "somewhere" soon! 

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!