My hart sunk when I felt a slight vibration while cruising the Milwaukee River. While some people may never have this opportunity. I could only imagine I must have hit something while I carefully monitored scantily clad land lovers sitting at the river side pubs. I tried but, could not recall a bump or sound of a submerged log sneaking up under us. Never the less I put it in neutral and glided a bit before carefully putting one wheel in motion then the other. It was the port side… I slowly crawled back to my marina knowing well that we would soon meet again with the shaky cigarette browned hands of the travel lift operator. The whole time back I prayed that it was just the prop and hoped the prop shop guys were waiting for work. It was one of those 45-minute rides you dread. Knowing all your dock mates will assume you have been someplace you should not have navigated. After backing into the slip one of those dock neighbors was quick to point out that it looked as if I was about to do some underwater bottom painting. He said, by the looks of it you could mask off one side of your hull. A relief! A full breadth and sigh as I saw we had effortlessly, unknowingly, wrapped a decent piece of 6 mil poly shrink wrap around my port prop and shaft. A curable problem quickly solved in the cool octave raising fluids of Lake Michigan. Soon after test ride of smooth silkly handling the admiral made me a 50/50. Half Crown Royal and half ice in a tall glass to burn off any residual stress of the day. All is well.
