Good times at the North Douglas boat ramp yesterday. It was the lowest tide of the year – nearly -5 ft – and we were going to the cabin to fix the “easy out” clothesline set up that is an anchored pulley on one end and another pulley on the beach with a line through it where you can pull up to the beach and tie the painter to the line and pull it out to the anchor. The parking lot was packed and overflow truck/trailers were parked up on the road. Not unusual for Memorial Day weekend and 60 degree dry weather. What was unusual was there wasn’t a soul in sight fishing because king salmon season is closed due to poor return. Where were all those boats. Sara and I launched the boat and about 100 yrds from the ramp everything quit. Outboard, electronics – everything. Thought there was a main fuse that blew. I thought the positive cable was loose but tightened it and that didn’t fix anything. With the tide so low, it was already below the end of the ramp at the dock, so I thought I’d just drive down the beach and put the boat on the trailer from the beach. It didn’t take long to bury the truck to the axles on the beach. This was at about 8 am, and low tide was at 9. I called every towing company in town and couldn’t raise one of them. Next I made a 911 call to Jeff and Kurt. They got Erik and showed up with Ben’s Suburban. Kurt took me home to get our Yukon and some heavy houser line. Kurt also called Frankie the Eraser, who showed up with his 3/4 ton pickup. We took the boat off the trailer and tied it off the dock, then unhooked the trailer from the truck. Try as we might, the truck wouldn’t budge with the other vehicles pulling. The vehicles just spun trying to pull me out. Sara noted that the trailer was worth more than the truck (so true), so we pulled the trailer up the beach with a line to a truck. 9 am came and went and things started getting serious. Finally the tow company called back. Said they’d be there in 15 or 20 min. 945 came and went. No tow truck. A crowd was building up on the road. My best friends were taking lots of photos and sending them out. We’d tried everything I could think of and thought this might be the end of the old truck. Just as the water was under the back bumper, the tow truck showed up. Pulled me out in 5 minutes with his winch. I tipped the young driver and his girlfriend $200 for good karma and coming out on a weekend holiday just in the nick of time. When we got home I figured out the boat problem in about 5 minutes. The ground wasn’t tight enough on the battery. Sometimes I sort of dream about living out in the bush again on my/our own. But how would I get by without a constant, it seems, little help from my friends. Today, I mostly watched Jeff and Erik put new shingles on Jeff’s garage. I helped where I could. I learned a lot. Another day of free tuition.