''Tilt The Motor Up''

The sound you're hearing is that of my palm slapping my forehead, coincidental with a loud, shouted, "D'OH!"

The wind was still blowing today, worse than yesterday. As usual, the subject of most conversations was how rough the water was. Lalo was making fun of me this morning. "Bob! Bob! The guys said, "Bob almost drowned us last night!'"

I said I knew. I said I almost drowned too.

Lalo laughed and said, "You have to learn how to drive when it's rough."

I rolled my eyes and said I knew thaaaaat. I just didn't know how. Then I explained my techniques, what I was doing (wrong).

"No!" he said emphatically, as if I was a kid who'd just colored outside of the lines. "You have to go across the waves! Not into them. And tilt the motor up," he said with a wink.

Wha...? Tilt the motor up? Of course! Tilting the motor up gets the bow up. (This is where that forehead-slapping part comes in.) Then you just play the waves and your speed. Oh yeah, and stay in the shallows. The waves are smaller in the shallows. I've been reluctant to get too shallow - the fear of running aground, of course.

So in the end it wasn't rocket science after all. This afternoon I did what Lalo suggested: Slow and steady, across the waves, engine tilted up and stayed shallow. The guys stayed fairly dry; I still got soaked. But not as soaked as yesterday! Our center-console boats seem to put the driver right in the line of fire, so to speak. But I had worn my bathing suit and sandals, and my baseball cap stayed on. It's the little things, eh?

All in all, a much better day!