09-04-2003, 08:29 PM
Hey there TubeDude,
Here's a story you'll like. This relates to the ol' so dumb this can't be true catagory. But it's true.
Got out on the water via a nice dock used by fishing boats in a fishing village harbor in Japan. The entire harbor is newly walled beautifully as well as the coast line for a couple of kilometers up and down from the harbor.
The distance between the water level and the deck of the dock is only about 8 inches so I just scoot off the dock on the seat of my pants and onto my uboat.
To make a short story long, the waves started to kick up so I high-tailed it to the only dock on the harbor (the one I have gotten into the water from) and now the deck of the dock was two feet from the water surface. I felt like a poor little rat trapped and in danger of possible drowning.
First the village head comes to look at me, net the fishing co-op head, then the only policeman in the town, then the fire department. Twenty people are crowded are on the dock looking down at me 'the dumb alien drowned rat' and the rescue operation begins and my body is saved but my dignity is totally destroyed.
Needless to say after getting lectured, I slink off with my uboat on my back. Some kids are chanting behind me kame san kame san! It means Mr. turtle!
You see they had a lot of cargo on the dock when I launched and the dock sat down in the water. When I was fishing the fishing boats had loaded up with their supplies and the floating dock came up out of the water. Duh!
Moral of the story is 'be careful you can get out of the water where you launched'.
JapanRon
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