I've been on the water for dozens of hours in my three years with B.A.S.S. In that time I've never dropped anything in the water. Including myself.
Today, that changed. Today as I was exiting the boat, I made the mistake of leaving my backpack half open. I heard a thunk, thunk, splash and watched my laptop slide down into the depths of Sturgeon Bay. My first thought was to jump in after it, but then I realized I had my phone in my pocket. And it was quite deep where I was. I learned later about 25 feet.
Two hours later, I watched Door County paramedic Scott Weiland jump into the water, spend 45 seconds underwater and reemerge with my laptop. They used my Mac as a practice run for when they need to do something important, and besides it's always good to not litter.
I doubt this thing will work again, but I did learn just how amazing the people of Sturgeon Bay are.
P.S. As I sent in this blog, Pam Seiler, Director of Sturgeon Bay Visitors Bureau and Lori DeJardian, a local businesswoman, brought me a garbage bag and 20 pounds of rice, in hopes of resurrecting my computer. These might be the friendliest people in the world.
I also learned to secure my equipment better. Much better.