For those who go upon the water

Captain Jim from Smoke on the Water tells us about his friend, Rivrdog, who is currently weathering the winter storm raging along the Oregon coast.

Rivrdog is Port Captain for his yacht club, and mans the watch to keep the weight of the accumulating ice and snow from sinking the floating sheds, and so the boats moored within them. It's cold, brutal work.

Say a prayer for this man and for his wife. May they come through unscathed, with fair winds and following seas thereafter.

UPDATE:
Captain Rivrdog is having a rough time of it.

Prayers. Lots of them. Please.

posted by Linda on January 6, 2004 11:16 PM
Comments

I know it's probably very dangerous and certainly harsh conditions, doing such a thing. However, it's very hard to have any sympathy for anyone when you use the words "yacht club" anywhere. :)

Posted by: LeeAnn at January 7, 2004 02:50 PM

First, please accept my sincere thanks for writing about and your links to my posts about Rivrdog's situation. Delayed, but thanks and sincere ones, all the same.

That said, I'd like to ask Lee Ann to think really hard about just what is it about "yacht club" that bothers you so?

Is it your presumption that we're a bunch of rich old farts? Thurston Howell the III'rds?

Please. Give me a *$(#@ break.

Respectfully, go read my post "Why, you ask?" on my humble blog. I think you'll get a different view of our world.

I've been around boats and boaters a large portion of my life. The exact same demographics in landlocked life exist on the docks. Poor, middle class, and a very few very weathy "gold platers".

I'm not going to use all this bandwidth to make my larger point. Having a class-distinction-envy issues merely because of the term "Yacht Club" (which is so often applied jokingly to the smallest of small boat groups, etc.)is a possible sign of socialist/collectivist thinking.

Further, how dare you denigrate the value of the lives of several brave men, just because of a prejudice against a presumed level of weath or success on their part.

I broke my ass in order to buy and pay off my sloop. I'm still paying the price today, and have a long way yet to go. Those people in Washington facing such terrible losses are seeing the fruits of years...decades of their blood, sweat, tears and toil be damaged and destroyed.

How much of your home would you have shrugged off if lost in the CA fires, if we here in Texas just presumed that you're a rich movie starlet, and "it's hard to have any sympathy for anyone when you hear the words "Californian" anywhere. :)"

I've spoken here to the limits of my courtesy, and have surely abused the hostess' bandwidth.

LeeAnn, you owe those guys in WA an apology.

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at January 10, 2004 03:00 AM