It’s funny how my husband comments every single time on how much stuff I bring with me on the boat. “Oh my gosh honey,” he exclaimed this morning, “we’re only going for a half a day!” From my standpoint, the length of the boat ride or amount of time we will be gone doesn’t have much bearing on what I choose to bring with us.
My choices are based on past experiences, like when we got caught in the rain and froze our butts off for miles while we made our way back to the boat ramp (and our truck) as quickly as we could handle the cold breeze. Or the time I got locked in the bathroom at the boat ramp. Then there’s the sun to consider, so we’ve got hats, sunglasses, and the obvious – sunscreen.
I find his comments funny because not long after he makes fun of me for my need to carry this big bag on board, his requests begin. His first question came as he put the boat in the water, before we even got in. “Do you have anything we can use to wipe down the boat with?” As it is usually stored indoors, this is not something we are accustomed to having to do, but it has been sitting in our yard for the last week. “Yes, I have a rag,” I replied, to which he said, “Of course you do.” When I packed it, I was thinking of the time he needed one to wipe up a smear of grease from the engine.
Out on the water, he found that there was a problem with one of his fishing poles. “Got anything I can cut this with?” I handed him my handy Swiss Army knife. But when he inquired about the pretzels and m&m’s I was munching on, I said (while smiling), “Sorry, when you said I didn’t need to bring that much stuff, I thought you wanted me to take your half out.”
As it turned out, he was glad that I brought a number of the things that I did. Paper towels, an extra pair of sunglasses and a towel are just a few of the other things he utilized after making fun of my extra large carry-on. “Ya know,” he said to me at the end of the day, “I can’t condone you bringing everything but the kitchen sink, but sometimes I am sure glad you do!”
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