HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Disappearing Dinghy part 1

I keep telling myself to get a long cable to lock the dinghy to the post, currently it gets tied on with the rope.  However I do lock the oars together, so nobody would be able to use them, but that wasn't enough to prevent some stealthy kids from taking it out for a spin.


In Goleta Bay, view from the boat of an airplane landing in the Santa Barbara airport. Right below that is where the kids took the dinghy for a fishing expedition


After class I had gone for a run and a swim at campus point, when I decided to walk out to the cliffs and check up on my dinghy - I hadn't been down to the boat in 2 days.  I skipped a beat as I realized it was gone, as far as I could tell from a distance.  I ran down there and saw a group of 4 kids floating on the dinghy down by Goleta beach.  They had left the locked oars behind so I grabbed the oars and chased after them.

I made a strong showing once they were within sight to pay attention to me, and signaled for them to return to shore.  Once it was clear they were cooperating, I said "hey sorry to spoil your fun but this is my dinghy."  They were in their 20s, and apologetically claimed not to realize it was being used; although they had clearly planned out this little escapade since they had their own paddles with them.  

At that stage I rowed back to my 'parking spot' and tied up again, noting they had left me a few hooks and sinkers unwittingly as gifts

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