 |
| Jacob Gilchrist, 8, fishing. |
Long ago I forgot what it is like to be eight. Eight is a busy time, a curious
time… and eight is full of energy.
I was reminded of this when eight-year-old Jacob Gilchrist and his
grandmother, Michele Burke, made a recent trek from Penns Grove, NJ to Galena,
Maryland to visit Imagine.
It didn’t matter that the skies were grey and the
temperatures only in the 50’s.
Jacob was on an adventure from the moment he exited the car. Immediately he was in the land of
Lilliput. Towering sailboats,
dry-docked and blocked, with masts reaching even higher made an obvious
impression. Jacob said that the
boats made us all look like mice, so small.
Ed quickly explained that sometimes there is as much
sailboat under the water as above because of the living spaces. With that, Jake was eager to see what
Imagine had to offer. I was
eager too, but I wanted to get out of the damp cold air. “Come on Jacob, let’s go,” I said as he
stopped to look at each boat docked along the pier.
 |
| Jacob, Ed, Michele |
As we carefully made the transition from the dock stepping
up to the deck of Imagine, Jacob said it was going to be easy and scrambled
aboard hopping into the cockpit.
We explained that a cockpit was kind of like a back porch and to enter the
boat one had to go through a door called a companionway. We continued that one should
always make their way down the steep steps facing towards the steps while
holding on to the handrail because a wave might knock one off balance. On cue a wake from a powerboat
rocked Imagine. The look on
Jacob’s face…priceless.
His disappointment was obvious when we told him we would be
sitting at the dock because of the weather. We promised to invite him another
time for a ride.
For a while Ed and Jacob explored the marina. Lines hanging off the docks into the water
captured the young boy’s curiosity.
Ed explained that some people hang crab pots off the docks. They pulled up a pot to check and were
rewarded with not only four large Blue crabs, but also a foot long
catfish. Of course the pot went
back into the water to wait for its owner.
With Jacob around, nothing went unnoticed. Why so many lines? What do dock lines, spring lines and
other lines do? What is a spinnaker pole?
How do you pull the sails up and down?
What is a rudder?
Finally, how do you get the rudder to turn back and forth leads to
removing the cover from the helm?
“Wow, that’s the steering wheel?
It’s big,” Jacob exclaimed as he moved next to Ed and put both hands on
the four foot teak and stainless wheel.
Of course, the next question was, “How do you turn on the engine?”
When Jacob said wistfully, “I always wanted to drive a boat
and fish from a boat,” our resolve to stay docked weakened.
What the heck… how hard is it to take off the lines?
Next thing we know, Jacob is helping to secure the
lifelines. He helps to pull up the fenders festooned in a bright orange
lifejacket. He watches
everything. Imagine, for the
first time since early June backs out of a slip. Jake stands next to Ed at the helm and grins. “I always wanted to do this.” We all grin.
Ed maneuvers Imagine into the middle of the river and tells
Jake that it is his turn. He
explains to Jake about the depth finder. “When the number gets lower than six-feet then you
have to come back towards the middle. If it gets to three-feet, we’re parked and you will
have to get out and shovel,” Ed said with a wink.
Jake’s head bobbed and moved side to side as tried to look
around the life-raft, mast and other boat blind spots. “How do you see?” he asked. “We usually sit on one side or
the other so the mast isn’t really in the way,” Ed replied.
When Jacob said excitedly that he always wanted to fish from
a boat, an old spinning rod appears. With youthful optimism and faith, Jacob casts over and
over knowing each time he was going to get a record-breaking fish. Fish jumped around
us, but there were no biters on this cold and grey day.
Jacob, with serious concentration etched on his face,
steered us back towards the dock.
Ed took over as we entered the slip. Jacob watched me and grabbed the spare boat hook.
As I grabbed the starboard lines, he snagged the lines off
the port side pilings as if he had been doing it for years. The kid is a natural. He remembered the spring lines and on
his own, deployed not only the fenders, but also the fender-boards.
It was time for the day to end, but not quite. Jacob just had to show his
grandmother the neatest thing.
We hiked to the other side of the marina where he proceeded to pull up
the four-foot crab pot to show us the treasure inside. As he moved to turn on a
faucet to wash his hands at the end of the dock, water sprayed wildly. Jacob jumped quickly, only getting a
“little wet.”
Needless to say, the day was one of smiles and warmth that
was not weather related. It
was full of eight-year-old energy and inquisitiveness. I think we might have helped open the
door for a future sailor. Jacob
will be invited back to visit us on Imagine one day… and next time we will
catch that fish.
We were both surprised and delighted to receive the note
below a week later. “Sharron and Ed, Thank you so much for
taking me out on your boat! I
learned so much and had an awesome time.
And I really liked driving the boat! Your friend, Jacob.”
You are welcome, Jacob!
