Crazy Summer Solstice

The summer solstice has brought out throngs to the park where I workamp.

It's amazing the things that can happen in the heat of day in one small park. From broken glass on the beach to a lost dog on one side of the park and a found dog on the other side, a lost child, a frantic family, someone stuffed a diaper down the toilet flooding the bathroom. It's a no-alcohol-allowed park, but we end up with drunks anyhow. Many are allergic to the garbage cans, so they toss their beer cans where ever. A curious situation I haven't quite figured out.

We have a boat ramp and a courtesy dock. The courtesy dock is for brief short term use. Often used to pick up and discharge passengers. It's also used by captains to briefly tie up the boat, run to the parking lot, reverse their truck and boat trailer down the ramp, run back to the dock, motor their boat over to the ramp, maneuver up on their boat trailer, then hop in their truck or SUV, tow the boat and trailer off the ramp. Many then stop in the parking lot, to finish securing their boat before they take it back home or to one of the numerous storage areas outside of the park. In other words, it's not a marina dock for long term use.

Sailors on the other hand, use the boat ramp too, but most don't have engines. They tie their boats in the bushes, so they can walk them around in the shallow water to their boat trailer once it's in place. But at some point some cantankerous fishermen set up shop between a sailboat in the bushes and the boat ramp. When the sailor returned to walk his boat around in the water, the belligerent fishermen attacked him with hooks. What a bloody mess. Two were left embedded in his hand.

A boat crashed into the courtesy boat dock in such a way as to drive up on top of the dock which happened to have people on it at the time who luckily managed to jump out of the way. Their accident damaged the fender boards on the dock. No idea what damages the boat sustained, as they left the scene of the accident. While I was photographing the damages to the dock, another boat that had no fenders was utilizing the dock. Meanwhile I notice the damages from the prior accident left exposed mangled bolts jutting out, which were grinding scratches into their boat. Oh dear me. I tried to fend off their boat until the owner came back.

Another boat owner broke their trailer while trying to haul out their boat. Hours later in the parking lot, they still couldn't get the trailer repaired. There wasn't room to leave their boat on the small dock overnight, because we have boaters coming and going at all hours.

So now I've got their boat tied up to a tree, on the lake out back of my place. They towed their busted trailer home with hopes of returning tomorrow with it repaired.

Whee! I got a party pontoon boat out back!

An injured sailor was unable to take his rig down in order to tow his boat home, so now I've got his fully rigged sailboat parked in my driveway out front.

Whee! Now I've got a sailboat out front!

At some point I had a lost dog and a lost child, but luckily I pawned them off, hopefully back to their correct families. Then somebody starts shooting off fireworks in the woods, scaring dogs, adults and children. Good grief. Fireworks aren't allowed in the park, but shoot, bang, bang, something is exploding in the woods.

A golf cart went tootling down a steep hiking path, and that's where his battery died. At the bottom of the steep path.

Oh and for some weird reason a big pile of smelly dead fish appeared on the shoreline. Whether left there from a fishing tournament or washed up dead, I have no idea but it sure smells lovely in this heat.

Other than that, not much happened around here today.