Blue Bones

Posted on March 18, 2015 Updated on March 19, 2015

I spent several days calling marina’s to try find a live aboard slip where we could keep our new home, and each time I’d be given the same responses.  No slips big enough are available, and you can’t have more than 2 people living on a boat in our marina.  Finally on Friday, I drove from one marina office to the next, asking in person, and what I found out, is that pretty much all marina’s between San Francisco and San Diego, have been zoned to allow no more that 2 people on a live aboard.

So, we will need to go to Plan B. (more to follow tomorrow concerning that)

As I was leaving the last marina, I noticed a little old man with a mischievous smile, who had also been searching for a slip.  As we left, I mentioned to him how tough it’s been to find a place for our cat.  He said he couldn’t believe how things had changed in all the years he’d lived in this area.  I then asked him, since he knew the area well, if he knew of a good diesel boat mechanic that could help us with our daughters boat engine.  He spread his arms wide then hit his chest and said, ‘you’re looking at him! I know a diesel engine better than I know a woman’s body.’  I smiled at his enthusiasm and took him up on his offer to look at Hannah’s boat.  He took a good long look at the engine, made a few adjustments – all the while laughing and telling us tall stories of the open seas.  He said his mother named him Mark, but he’s known as Blue Bones, because he loves sailing in cold places where ice bergs and beluga whales are seen off to port and starboard.

The next thing I knew, Blue Bones had the little diesel engine humming happily. I have a feeling we’ve not only found ourselves a great diesel mechanic, but also a new life long friend.

The moral of the story is that the old saying is true: Never, judge a book by it cover:)