Friday evening was wonderful; my wife and I shared a bottle of red wine, talked with marina friends, listened to music, and enjoyed each others company while sitting on our boat under a starry sky. That night we enjoyed cool breezes and gentle water; that coupled with a full bottle of wine surely would mean good sleep, or would it?
About 3am in the morning I was startled awake by something banging against the side of the boat. Now, I don't know if all my readers have ever been inside of a boat, so let me explain. It is a hollow area closed in on all sides and reverberates sounds like a drum, so when something taps on the outside it is louder to the listener inside, sort of like sleeping in that drum.
This banging noise on the side of our boat sounded like gremlins with ball peen hammers trying to reshape the bottom of our hull. We have been in the marina for over a year and have heard stories of these mysterious banging noises before, especially from the former owner of our boat, but it was the first time we had heard it ourselves.
This noise, this incessant banging, early in the morning was caused by fish, yes, I said " fish". Carp to be exact; steel headed Carp, from the sound of it. It was as if the entire school of them, donning steel helmets, were ramming our boat in different areas at the same time. Every time I thought they were finished and was on the verge of sleep "Bang", and my eyes popped open.
According to other members of the yacht club, the Carp butt against the boat hulls to dislodge algae that they then eat, 3 to 4am must be their prime dinner time, "oh joy".
Now the only obstacle I need to overcome for a good nights sleep is how to devise an auto feeder mounted on the dock to feed them something other than my boat.
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