A Learning Experience - Part 1 (Friday Night)
Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned. I decided to use the more positive title, although I could have titled this entry so many things from, “I’ve Failed Already” to “At Least No Limbs Were Broken” to “Minimum Two Adults At All times” to “The One Lost Shoe” to “Lighthouse Wrecked” or something along those lines. I learned a lot about the bay in the area of the lighthouse and I’m beginning to wonder if a dock is even feasible out there in the wide open. I severely underestimated traffic during rush hour on a federal holiday (What? You mean other businesses are open?) and we arrived and hour later than I had planned and well after dark. Jane from Baltimore Light called to ask if I could smell their steaks and I admitted we hadn’t even left the dock yet (as my stomach growled because I hadn’t planned on making dinner til we got out to the lighthouse).
All volunteers who had previously planned on going this weekend ended up canceling due to something called life getting in the way. I knew it would be difficult to handle things myself, but figured I was resourceful and could handle it with a little help from my son. Thank goodness for GPS! It was pitch black out by the time we pulled out of the marina and the lighthouse was nowhere in sight. I was a bit surprised, figuring I should be able to see the navigational beacon. All of my scanning proved fruitless, however. I had mistakenly bought a 12 volt plugin spotlight that I thought was a rechargeable (no ‘lighter plug’ on the boat), so quickly bought a high-power flashlight at the local hardware store before setting out. I used it to spot channel markers and sweep for stuff in the water. It worked okay, but I was pleasantly surprised to note that all the crab traps had been pulled up (I think! At least I never saw any). No, I have not boated in the Chesapeake at night before (Florida, plenty, but not up here). Maybe it’s common knowledge crab traps are pulled up at night? At least it’s safer!
I followed my previous GPS trails, laughing that without it I’d be the idiot who couldn’t find a lighthouse in the dark, until the silhouette of the lighthouse finally appeared, periodically checking for the rear range light behind me along the way to confirm I was going in the right direction. We had been creeping along at about 11 mph - for safety in the dark and also because the boat didn’t seem to want to go any faster. I hope that was because all the supplies were on the back and weighing it down. It took me several tries to line up close to the caisson in the dark. My son finally sighed, “How LONG is this going to take?!” Finally I was able to tie off to the ladder temporarily and get my son safely across to the platform (with his life vest on). Whew! He was more terrified than I expected.
I took Tyler on a quick tour of the lighthouse and confirmed once we made it up to the lantern that the light was indeed not working. I set him to work then pumping up the air mattress. I returned to the boat and made several trips up with gear, but stepping from the boat to the platform each time was hairy and I was straining every muscle trying to do it without falling in between. I retied the boat up, using a stern line to the eyelet on the caisson, which seemed to stabilize it better and I finally got a good routine going getting on and off, using the bow line to help pull myself up. Had I known what the next day would bring, I would have brought everything up that night before setting the boat loose on the tether line. However, physically exhausted from the trips I did make as well as wrestling with the boat to tie it up twice, I was ready to collapse. 11 PM rolled around and my son was still awake and near terror every time I left him to return to the boat for another trip. I knew I needed to get him to go to sleep and since I had a good routine going, I figured it would be no problem to retie again in the morning and bring up the lighthouse supplies. So I stopped once I brought up everything we needed just for the night, deciding at the last minute to grab one of the 2.5 gallon water jugs before quitting.
I let the boat loose on a 150 ft tether line with the anchor light on. After getting Tyler to sleep, I went back out to relax on the deck in a chair. My body was already sore and bruised from sternum to toe! The moon rose slowly and huge off in the distance and reflected beautifully across the water. I could pick out every constellation I knew in the crystal clear sky. Amazing and quite relaxing. I wondered what others would think seeing the soft glow of our lantern shining through the windows? Particularly since the lighthouse was such a dark unseen object before. A breeze was blowing, but where I set the chair up was out of it. Before turning in for the night, I rechecked the boat. It had swung around to the west a bit, pulling the line under the outhouse. Concerned that it might rub and fray the line or hurt the outhouse, I decided to move it to a different cleat. The only problem was the outhouse was in the way. I tossed the rope up in the air, trying to throw it over the mess of shredded tin roof sticking up, catching it in a couple times. Finally, I got it all the way over and started pulling it around, only to slice my thumb open on the rope. A piece of the roof must have caught in it, which worried me.
Satisfied that the boat was safe for the night, I turned in, holding the door closed with the water jug. I had bought this eco-friendly portable toilet at REI for those true roughing it camping trips a while back, but never used it. I brought it out to the lighthouse and it was one of the items I brought up, so I got to test it out. Very cool!! Yep, the thing I was most impressed with was the toilet! It folds up small like a briefcase, making it easy to carry/transport. Unfolded, you insert a bag into the hole that has some sand-like substance in it. I worried that I’d have to dispose of gushy bags full of stuff, but there is no liquid left after you use it! You just roll up the bag and put it in the accompanying zip-lock bag and dispose of it. Cool! I marveled over it every time it was used. I’ll have to let the Baltimore Light folks know about it. Far better than a bucket if you ask me! Of course, I left the boxes of additional bags on the boat with the supplies and only had the three that came with it. So we conserved.
I fell asleep marveling at the sound of the wind whipping by and the slight ticking sounds the lighthouse made when the rest of the world was still. I dreamed about the silly toilet.
Morning arrived and I was ready for coffee! The coffee and grill were on the boat ready to be brought up with the rest of the supplies, so I made it my first task of the day to haul the boat back in and continue what I started the previous night…