As most of you who follow our youtube channel know, I often will take my granddaughter with me when I am working on the boat. We have a standing Saturday date, and then after that, we start a day of boat projects. So this date day started out like many others. On Saturday mornings, when Swabby wakes up, she comes in and gets me assuming she wakes up before me. I get her ready to go, and we quietly leave trying not to wake anyone else who may still be sleeping. This morning routine usually has two themes. Excitement is the first one because she is still at that age when hanging out with Grandpa is really special. I cherish that because now I realize how soon it goes away.
From our ‘date,’ we head on down to the boat. For weeks there has been a screwdriver down in the bilge in the owner’s stateroom. I can only reach the bottom of the bilge by laying on the floor on my stomach. I then bend my entire upper body down into the floor and with my hands extended beyond my head I can reach the bottom. While driving, I asked Swab if she wanted me to pick her up by her feet and put her down there so she could get the screwdriver. She reacted “No, it is scary down there” so I dropped it.
Here is where the story turns. We get down to the boat, and she is sitting on the stateroom bunk watching TV and playing. She came out of the rear stateroom to come to show me what she found. She found her little backpack that some of her toys in it. She showed me each my little pony and hatchamole that was in there. As she went back to the stateroom and stepped over the open floorboard, she dropper her back-back. It, of course, went all the way to the bottom of the same bilge where the screwdriver was.
She had this look of shock on her face and stood there with her hands on her hips. “Can you pick me up by my feet so I can get it?” she inquired.
Ahh, here is my moment of leverage. “If I do, can you get my screwdriver too?” in inquiring. I got the affirmative response I was hoping for.
So nobody flips out, she loves when I hold her upside down and asks me to do it often when we are playing. This is the first time she asked while over an open pit to a bilge. First I picked her up and held her over it to see if she was still good with it.
Now to provide a bit of context this is one of the deeper parts of the bilge. It is right where the prop shaft goes from the transmission and exits out the bottom rear side of the keel. This means that to get to the bottom of the bilge; she has to be lowered and turned sideways. Doing so allows her to get her shoulders below the massive prop shaft. Once sideways, then she could reach the very bottom. After we did this for the first time, I had to go and set up the camera so that I could get pictures.
As I was asked her if she had the screwdriver, she informed me “There is a glove down here too.” I picked her up and put her back down next to me. She handed me the screwdriver. I dipped her back in to get her backpack. This was easier because it had landed on the prop shaft and sort of stopped between the hull and shaft. It did not require her to go as low as earlier.
Again pulling her back up, she asked if she could get the glove. Sure I thought, I am taking advantage of this opportunity. I asked her to see if she saw anything else down there. The glove was not really at the bottom of the bilge, but kind of up under the sole and likely had been there from before we bought the boat. I turned her at a different angle and dipped her down again.
She loved this. I think she liked being upside down. I think she liked that she was helping and I think Swab was genuinely happy she overcame her fear. Since this day, I had asked her if she wanted to come down there with me when I was working on the engine, and she did. I think she is no longer afraid of “under the sole.”
With each successful mission, I would put her down, and she would turn around, jump up and give me a high five. I love these moments.
And with this fun, the boat work continues to progress. With the tarps all removed and the boatyard docks reconfigured so I could get out to the other side, I was able to get this great picture snapped of her sitting at the dock too.
