Someone on Sunday asked me if I knew Fouad. Of course I did since he was a brilliant neurosurgeon in Lotus City and we occasionally worked together if his patients needed a spinal fusion. I am at the age and stage when I now itemize in my mind the list of stupid things I have done in the past and they keep me occupied. Since I don't do much any more fewer stupid things arise. There is a curious phenomenon that if you are good at one thing you must be good at a lot of things as well. Such as someone who is good at laminectomy and fusion is good at boat salvage. Fouad phoned me up one morning and said that his two sons were marooned on Little Darcy Island and his fast Bayliner was on the rocks. Could I pull it off and get them back. "Sure", I said. He and I went on my boat, a wooden hull slow boat with pulling power, to Little Darcy over 2 hours and there they were. Two 19 year olds, sitting on rocks and the Bayliner at high tide still edged between rocks, though rolling a bit in the swell. We threw a line that they attached and dragged the boat off, accompanied by awful noises . The boat floated. It didn't sink. How stupid to jeopardize those boys !We towed it back to the Oak Bay Marina. What did we know about rescue, salvage ,boat inspection? Nothing at all! Let alone the danger of two boys in a boat that had been hulled on rocks, or had no ability to make way independently. Fouad had lots of money to pay a salvager but he assumed since we were competent at back surgery we could do anything else. Knowing where to stop would have stopped me from doing so many stupid things!
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