Part V-The Rescue Team Arrives

When the show was finished, Kayla returns to saying “nite, nite” every 10 minutes and we put on the life jacket and try to lay her down. She was so fidgety and would not sleep so we just knew that this all would not go away until she was fast asleep in her car seat... We prayed for PATIENCE and slowly descended down the river to flag down help. Well, this was not easy. People in their boats were partying, drinking, and acting just wild, so you can imagine their expressions whenever we were waving our hands yelling for “help!” As expected, not many took us seriously.

Finally our lifeline arrives: a gracious family stops and realizes that we aren’t partygoers and decides to tow us to the nearest dock behind Benkowitz Seafood in the strip district. Meanwhile, Nick and John are stuck in traffic and aren’t real sure where the dock is located. (There was no signage whatsoever to lead a stranger to this dock hidden from the road). When we arrive at this dock, an employee said that the dock was full and that we had to go somewhere else! (There was absolutely no way John would accept this alternative and so he had to talk to the manager.) After all was said and done, we finally scramble out of the boat and into the car. Kayla immediately catches her so desired “ZZZZZZZZ’s” and our adventure ends by the time we all go to bed at 12:30 a.m. Waking up the next morning at 6:00 a.m. is another story…

Part IV-Fireworks Extravaganza

At this point, we decided to enjoy ourselves, watch the show, then worry about getting help later. Kayla was starting to get real fussy and say “nite, nite” a lot. We removed her jacket during the show since we were not going anywhere. She couldn’t understand why it was dark, and why she was not in her crib. In moments, the fireworks begin and Kayla is in awe! She loves the “boom-boom” and “crackle-crackle” noises as well as the bright, spectacular lights! She is having the time of her life.

Part III-A Motorless Crew

We all boarded the boat around 8 p.m. and pushed away from the dock. As we drifted, it slowly became apparent to us that the motor was not going to start. It turned over and over and then just died. We pulled out the oars, but John suggested we use his backup electric trolling motor, which he hooked up to a large battery. Since we were a great distance from the 18^th street dock, we thought we may not have enough juice to get around the Point and down the Monongahela past the Gateway Clipper Fleet, and to our boat launch area. We were now floating in the middle of the Allegheny River with an oscillating fan for a motor, a few oars, and an 18 month-old insisting that she go “nite, nite”. As we made our way toward Point State Park, we hear the Regatta patrol say to us that we can’t go past their 2 boats. Well, we hollered back that we had no motor so they threw us a line. We were insisting that we didn’t have the power to get back to the 18^th street dock, and we didn’t want to wait until after the fireworks. The Regatta patrol’s hands were tied, so they called to the nearby U.S. Coast Guard boat to see if they could be of help. If anyone could tow us around the Point and past the fireworks barges, it would be them. Meanwhile, the Regatta patrol parked us along the Point so that we were stationery for the fireworks show which was set to begin in about 45 minutes.

When the Coast Guard arrived at our boat, they determined that this was not a life and death situation so they said we would need to stay docked and find a boat to tow us after the fireworks show since they would be too busy patrolling at that time.

Nick and John decided to get a head start and get a taxi ride back to the 18^th street dock. Their intention was to have us steer the boat to the nearest dock and meet us there in their car. I was left in the boat with Kayla, Carmen, Philip, and friends. We all had our cell phones so we considered ourselves somewhat safe until our batteries died, and then we would start to panic.

Part II-Journeying Along the River

When we were actually starting to motor up the Allegheny, we put on her canary yellow life vest and although she fussed momentarily, we were quite surprised at how she accepted the fact that she had to wear it. After about an hour, she was running up and down the boat and looking out beyond to explore the scenery.

By sunset, we decide to dock the boat near PNC Park to meet Carmen, Philip, and the others. The Pirates baseball game had just finished so we docked and looked for a place to get food. Kayla enjoyed some cherry Italian Ice and was happy to romp around without the bulky life jacket.

Part I-Here We Go!

Nick, Kayla, and I spend July 4^th with some family friends, John, Carmen, their son, Phillip and some of Phillip’s teenage friends. Our adventure began at the 18^th Street dock in the Southside of Pittsburgh. John meets us at the dock with his 6-person motor boat. Kayla has never been on a boat so I decide to capture her expression as she walked along the swaying dock. As expected, she wasn’t sure what to do. Since I was nearby, she didn’t cry, but just look at the worry all over her face!