MARK HARRINGTON'S SLING-SHOT EFFECT
WITNESS INCREDIBLE BOATMANSHIP
A RECORD SETTING YACHT PUT
Hardly a powerful enuf phrase to describe what I, for lack of a full vocabulary
experienced at MattButler's SanRafael Yacht Harbor, when THURSDAY CLUB member's
of the Alberg Fleet SanFrancisco: Steve Cossman, Ian Elliott, skipper of the Triton
SANCTUARY,
and Mark Harrington volunteered to tow Litlgull, engine-less, sail-less, skipper-less
Ebbster back to where he sprung (and towed away from) in recent memory.
The tow can last 2 1/2 hours, Sausalito to SanRafael, by auto takes 20 minutes.
But on the end of a 50' line, on a calm balmy day, it is life-embracing. Uneventful
except for some errant waves, "Ferryboat," said Steve, also aboard in the cockpit, no
ferryboat anywhere in sight. And a spectacle
in the form of a gigantic dark barge with a tall light colored pilot house like a freaky
church tower.. which seemed to be closing rapidly on us with a huge boxy derrick
that growled and clanked loudly and wildly swung it's enormous bucket one side to
the other, opening and clanging shut its mouth as it gained on us and passed in the
next opening under the RichmondBridge -- like a T-Rex on a loose and lunatic island.
We arrive an hour later, up an endless estuary of expensive real-estate, and park in a
convenient doublewide slip close to the Harbor entrance just ahead. Phone calls to
locate the harbormaster fruitless. Ian takes the guys up into the Harbor to suss out
the situation, No Matt. No promised dinghy with an outboard to tow po' Litlgull in..
and under the crane for lift out.
MAKING THE COMPLEX LOOK SPONTANEOUS AND EASY
Then the extraordinary: Mark in deep discussion with Steve and Ian. They ask me
to hop into Ian's boat while they stay with Litlgull on the floats.
Ian backs out, Steve and Mark proceed by hand to swing Litlgull around bow out.
Ian motors ahead and stops stern on to the bow of Litlgull.
Steve and Mark, already onboard, hand Ian a line that he ties Litlgull about two feet off
his stern. He motors us up to the Harbor entrance, hangs left, suddenly accelerates.
He yanks the tow line loose. Look back to see Litlgull turning into the lane wit6h a
respectable bow wave charging down the row of parked vessels heading for the crane.
We, on Sanctuay, without the boat in tow, keep going into the inner harbor packed with
boats and floats of every ilk -- and into a puddle of empty water -- Ian heads strate for
the flank of some cabincruiserish thing at the end of a float -- just before he T-bones,
pushes the tiller down, swings on a silver dollar into a pure 180, cuts speed, coasts
back out the way we just arrived, but stops where Litlgull just disappeared into.
He waits, engine running, at the end of the dock for the guys. They dash up and hand
me down into a small godforsaken metal launch with a large black oily hole in its deck
where an engine once lived.
Clamber out, suddenly the voyage is over! Hail goodbyes, see you at breakfast, and
turn down the float to find Litlgull, quietly nodding, tied to the horizontal float used to
orient vessels for haul out by BUCKYRUS EIRE looming like a Jurassic skeleton overhead,
painted GoldenGateOrange. Welcome back!
How often has the Thursday gang practiced this Sling Shot Effect?? THE YACHT PUT.
What I witnessed is like what individual jazz players hope to arrive at when they improv
with the tune -- and stream it together to a heartbeat, exciting and beautiful.
Just think, Litlgull spontaneously sling shotted into the futur to silent applause..
Ian's alto sax harmonizing with Sanctuary's beat, a perfect riff.. never recorded for
posterity and keepers of the faith.
Except for Prospero here.
That I witnessed. Hear it? Ella easing it together with a long sweet note.
My luck is unfolding -- what I witnessed: Never forgot! Holy catfish! Thanks guys!!
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KURT (see below) BEYOND THE PALE
Years ago, serendipity became a popular word. It's when something fortunate
happens by chance that's special. Was watching by chance as Ryan Crouser stepped
up, wound up gracefully, twirled his big body around, with a grimace and a yelp,
performed a new distance by pushing a 16 pound iron ball 75 feet for a new world
and new Olympic record. What we know as 'a Gold Metal performance'.
When a world class record is made it's right on the edge of serendipity. A star
with easy prowess often pushes chance over its boundary. a Shot Putter won't ever
make 32 million dollars a year doing his art. It was a privilege seeing something
maybe I'll may never see again.. And it may not have been a touchdown or a
bases loaded homerun, but I saw 3 guys PUT a 3ton yacht for Gold.
Serendipity provided the lovely pun. The Alberg Fleet their expertise.
The amazing thing, they did it first try -- litlgull witnessed Gold.
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