2016/06/13 - Retirement, Uncle Charlie

While updating my cycling stats this morning I realized that I have put twice as many miles on my bike than I have on my car so far this year. 
.....

My uncle Charlie lived on the water on Long Island and he always had boats. I don't think he ever bought a new boat, he always bought boats that needed repairs, which he was usually pretty good at doing. 

Uncle Charlie loved his little sister, my mom, and was always happy to take us out fishing whenever she wanted. It also gave him a day to relax and drink beer all day. But not always.

Unfortunately the gasoline engines in Charlie's boats were always breaking down and I have more than one memory of us having to get towed to shore by the Coast Guard.  

Sometimes it seemed as if uncle Charlie spent more time below us in the engine compartment than he did up on deck. 

There was one day when we were hours out to sea and the engine broke down. I was with my two female cousins. Our ages ranged from 3 to 6 (me). 

We were having a great day fishing, swimming, sun bathing, eating sandwiches and drinking soda. Meanwhile uncle Charlie was below us, banging away in the hot engine hole on a hot summer day.

Kids can be so oblivious to a touchy situation. What me worry? Uncle Charlie would either fix it, or give up and call for a tow like he always did.

Not realizing the slow fuse we were lighting, my cousins and I held hands and danced around in a circle on the deck directly above Uncle Charlie singing (to the tune of Camptown Races):

"We're stuck out here in the middle of the bay
      DoDa, DoDa
  Were stuck out here in the middle of the bay
      All the DoDa day
  All the DoDa day, All the DoDa day ... etc etc" 

We sang this over and over and over again until uncle Charlie's head popped out of the deck hole screaming "SHUT UP!!!".

He scared us half to death, I don't think we said another word all day.

(Mom... This story was for you.)

Later,
Steve
PS: Funny thing... As a boy I always thought my Uncle Charlie was rich. Yes... He was a lot better off than we were, but now when I look at the picture above of his boat and back yard, the word "rich" does not come to mind.