#4 - Knotted Physio - Rough Surf

Hi everyone! Welcome to the fourth entry of the Knotted Physio blog.  I am super excited to dive deeper into the 4 levels of launching a boat.  Last post, we learned about the first level in which we were stuck on the trailer.  This level is not much fun to be in.  In it, we can not enjoy the outdoors due to injury or lack of knowledge.  But once, you have made it through and are no longer stuck on the trailer, your next phase is rough surf.

Rough surf is when you are no longer injured but you may not have the strength to hold the bow line or the balance to not let the boat pull you in.  This one is much more fun and you actually are able to go fishing again!  You may still need help from your fishing partner to make it happen.  

Have you ever tried launching a boat and the wind is so fierce and the water is in turmoil?  You try your best to keep the boat from hitting the pier but it takes all of your might, no matter how hard you try, it keeps hitting up against the dock.  By the time you have actually launched the boat or loaded it back on to the trailer, you are completely exhausted both physically and mentally.  One mess up can cost you a lot of money for repairs or cause you to fall in the water and get hurt even worse than before.

Let me share a story to help you get the picture.  Now some of the details are fuzzy because this story is from when I was a child.  I can’t quite remember if we were launching the boat to go out or were coming back in.  My dad was taking my brother and I out duck hunting.  It was cold, I’m guessing maybe December.  Our job was to hold the bow rope and keep the boat along side the dock.  I was always the one to sit on the edge of the dock and hold the boat steady with my feet.  It was pretty easy to control it.  My brother was older and was in control of the bow rope; he was stronger so if the boat got away from me, he could keep control of it.

Sometimes, it was a challenge for me to hold the boat steady, well, on this particular morning, I was working really hard.  I tried my best to keep the boat still but eventually the boat overtook me.  I was giving so much effort to keep it steady and had my weight into it, that I was pulled off the dock and into the icy water!  I simply did not have enough strength to hold it, but I was determined not to disappoint my dad.  

Well, needless to say, the trip didn’t exactly go as planned.  I was soaking wet in the winter, and it was freezing.  My memory from that point forward was of me riding home wrapped in my dad’s jacket after having taken all my wet clothes off.

So the funny and terrible thing, that happened just prior to me falling in, was my brother pushing the boat away from the dock.  No, he wasn’t trying to be mean. He was doing what my dad was asking him; I wasn’t listening to them. I was so focused on my job, that it cost me a dip in Mobile Bay!

So why do I tell you this story?  This story is just one example of not having the strength and balance to be able to launch your boat in “Rough Surf.”  What are your areas of weakness?  Is your weak point your strength in your knees, ankles, hips?  What about your core?  Are your shoulders strong enough?  

Stop and take a moment to really look at what areas you have the most challenges with?  When launching or docking a boat, are you able to hold the bow rope steady.  Can you balance to be able to hold the boat near the dock?  What about securing the boat on the trailer?

Write down one or two areas that you could do better at.  Focus on those and figure out how to make each of them a little bit better day by day. What areas are you not looking forward to and hope that you will be able to do without much difficulty so that you don’t hold up the flow at the boat launch?  What tasks does it take you several minutes to an hour to recover from or it “talks” to you later that day or night? 

If you are struggling with figuring out where you are and what to do, join the Knotted Physio Facebook group, where we as a community can help each other along the way.   Or if you feel that you need further help, reach out to me through email at southalabamaphysiotherapy@gmail.com.  I may be able to point you in the right direction!

Thank you for reading!  Share this blog post with someone who could benefit form it! Until next time, Go enjoy the outdoors!

**This post is being released during the 2020 Corona quarantine.  So be smart, be safe!  You can still enjoy the outdoors, but maintain the suggested 6 feet of social distancing.  If you are not able to get outdoors and need other ideas to start preparing for the lifting of social distancing, post in the Facebook group, there are tips on getting equipment ready to re-integrate back into the outdoors!