[TOMTOFVIL]

Originally Posted by Ben Franklin

Tell us a story. I love stories. It can be about anything, but not politics.

This particular story is about boats and dinner. My wife and I started with a stink pot (name given to gasoline powered boats), and then we went to a Rag (name given to sail boaters). This story is about an adventure on our Rag. But first a little side story. Before we owned a boat, we rented one. When the dockmaster asked if I had experience boating, I said, "Oh yea, I've been boating for a while now. (OK, so I lied). My wife just shook her head. When we got to the destination the dockmaster there tried to direct me, and I kept hitting the piling. The dockmaster kept saying, "That's OK Captain, straight in now." After 4 tries, my wife shouted out, "Please stop calling him Captain!" Now to the matinee story.

We docked our Rag on the Sassafras River, which emptied into the Chesapeake Bay. It was only a 27 footer, but it was all we needed. One weekend, we took my sister and bro-in-law with us, to sail down to St. Michael's for dinner and stay overnight. During our sail, I let my bro-in-law take the wheel, while I enjoyed a cold one.

Everything was going fine, until our Rag started to slow down, even though the wind did not. I asked my bro-in-law if he noticed anything, while he was at the wheel. He said he did not.

Our trip took much longer than expected, due to the sluggishness of our boat. As he docked, a couple, unknown to us, and who had already been docked, helped us tie up. As the husband tied our stern line, he said, "did you know you're dragging a crab trap?" I did not, but now I knew what made us sluggish.

We pulled up the trap and there were at least two dozen crabs in the trap (according to my memory). Needless to say, we had dinner aboard the Rag that night. I left the crab trap with the dockmaster.

But the story doesn't end there. The next morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, thanks to some ducks tapping against the boat, looking for food. Our new dock friends, who helped us tie up, were dressed, and about to head out, when I asked them where they were headed so early. The husband replied, that they were headed to Boston to watch the Red Sox play. Every Saturday, they would fly to a different city to watch different teams play. He told me he worked for the airlines and only had to pay a minimal amount to fly. Now, I thought that was great!

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I was in Heidelberg, Germany in 1968. Now that was 23 years after WWII, and being Jewish I did not feel entirely comfortable. I went to a bar in the evening had I one beer and became entirely drunk. I think the beer was spiked. I walked out of the bar and passed out. I discovered when I woke up that my passport and wallet were stolen. I then went looking for my car, a brand new Triumph convertible, which I bought in London. The car had British tags on it. So I walked around for hours still feeling the effects of the beer in the early a.m. looking for my car parked by the castle. I could not find the car! Finally, with some reservations, I went to the local police station. I felt very nervous and still feeling the effects of my drink. Best I can remember, the police let me sit in a chair in a office for a couple of hours and probably until an officer who could speak English shift began. The police were very nice and took me back to my pension. This the good part: the next day the police found my car. I had parked in the bus only parking. Apparently, several bus drivers lifted my car up, carried across the car a park and left the car on another street! To get a new passport took 10 days in which I could not leave the country and had some very outstanding and memorable experiences.