Thursday I launched my little 14' center console at the Meredith Ramp.
To get to the ramp you must first thread the needle that is the parking lot for the town docks.
There you will find lots of clueless pedestrians walking down the middle of the lot.
You will also see a fair amount of big pickup trucks that stick out into the lane as well as some smaller vehicles that were apparently parked by curb-o-phobic drivers.
This leads to a pucker factor of 8.5 on the rectum scale.
Finally arriving at the ramp you may now feel qualified to star in the next Indiana Jones movie.
But then there's the nice young lady who collects $20 (twenty) from you.
Once launched you can move your boat to the opposite side of the gelcoat eating metal dock.
Now it's time to park your vehicle and trailer down the road and walk .2 miles back.
A crosswalk with a walk signal guarantees you can cross safely... someday.
When you return from your day at sea, the distance to the parking lot is no longer measured in fractions of a mile.
It is better measured in time as it is more of a "you can't get there from here" situation.
There is a two segment crosswalk across Rte. 25 which, by the way, has traffic that would make the Garden State Parkway blush.
You push the button and wait and wait and wait.
When it's your turn you get to make the short hop from the mainland to a small island.
The longer crosswalk is next but the walk indicator no longer says walk and is now counting down.
Entering that crosswalk when it is counting is an offense punishable by revocation of The Dive privileges so consider your actions with care.
The next step is to drive your vehicle with trailer back to the ramp.
This task requires two course reversals against traffic that contains many wild eyed "come from away" crazies.
It's not unlike being a salmon swimming upstream with Yogi Bear's extended family trying to claw at you.
Then you are once again back to navigating the gauntlet of vehicles and walkers (some with walkers) in the parking lot.
What size boat did you say you have?
