I was dragged out of sleep but not sure why. A fuzzy glance showed it was 0225. The wind was howling, lines were creaking, waves were breaking over the breakwater...but none of those was the culprit. What was it? Wait, what is that noise? The fuzz cleared a little. It was an alarm of some sort. It didn't sound like any we have on First Light, but it was definitely an alarm. I got up and got dressed. Off of the back of the boat and across the water to the fuel dock was a red flashing light. Deb wasn't thrilled with the idea of me getting off the boat in the middle of the night in those kinds of conditions. For that matter, neither was I. But there was no way I was going to be able to ignore that alarm. We talked about dialing 911 and letting whoever that dragged out of bed take care of it, but that seemed a bit of an over reaction. It was a single beeping noise and a single flashing red light after all.
The wind was enough to make walking down the dock feel a bit precarious. Half way across the dock, I realized that the light was on top of a dock pedestal that was also the source of the alarm. The pedestal held a life ring behind a door. The wind had blown hard enough to undo that over-center latch and push the door open. The open door set off the alarm and red light. I closed and latched the door. The alarm quit beeping and the light went out. The logic escapes me. If a person falls off the dock they can't reach the door to get the life ring to set off the alarm. If someone sees them, opens the door, throws the life ring, and pulls them in, crisis is over and there is no need for an alarm and a flashing red light. Maybe it is a belt and suspenders kind of thing, just letting the world know something is going on in case of...whatever. Anyway, I walked back to the boat and actually fell back asleep amid all the creaking, howling, and waves crashing over the breakwater.
When we looked out over the water we saw sails. Not sailboat sails. Kite surfing sails. Once upon a time I had a reputation for being a risk-taker, with a long list of things I have done that most (normal) people wouldn't try. And my first thought was these guys were crazy. But whoever these guys are, they are real pros. One actually sailed into the marina, cutting across the main fairway and jumping (flying?) out over the breakwater. If I was 40 years younger?
In addition, the water around the beach was filled with surfers. For them and the kite surfers, the weather is perfect. It is not so perfect for us.
I don't know how long it is going to take the lake to settle down. It will depend on just how long the wind blows this hard. Though tomorrow is our scheduled get-out-of-town day for a 7 hour run, the lake may still be stirred up enough to make it a let's-not-go-out-there day. Just have to see.
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