On deck, the skipper nervously paced knowing that he would be there until the next high tide or the local harbormaster called a tow boat. Towboats are expensive and on occasion have been known to claim that a soft grounding is actually a salvage operation; a small check in a box on a traffic ticket type carbon copy paper that essentially gives the tow boat operator rights to your boat unless you pay up.
I was relieved, but then He-Man said: “We have to help this guy.” Bracing against the ever-maddening wind, I looked at the center cockpit boat slamming into the dock, riding up and down with every wave and exhaled. He-Man was right of course. If you could fix it, you did. That was part of the sailor’s code. You help when possible. Without hesitating, He-Man ninja jumped Olympic style onto the heaving and pitching deck.