What is ATSR?

Thursday June 9, 2022 ATSR in Port Dalhousie

It’s amazing how 4 days go by so quickly since my last entry.  I haven’t sailed since Saturday but have been cleaning and doing the odd fix here and there.  The water ran out, and it shouldn’t have because we just filled it up.  Rather than play “find the tap” I called Al the previous owner and he straightened me out.  I have 3 tanks and while they are connected, they are connected by pipes that have off switches.  We have only been drawing from the 25 gallon tank, which we did not refill.  All is good now.

It raises the question, “What if I had been offshore and thought I had ran out of water?”  These few months of familiarization are a critical education for me.

What is ATSR?   In Nelson’s navy, if the captain didn’t want to write all the things his men were doing each day, he would enter ATSR in the log, which means “As The Service Requires”.  Since I have to write the log and also do all the little stuff, which is important no matter how small, I think ATSR is appropriate.

I should finish the story about the podium and the lost life ring.  My good friend Keith offered to help me pick up my dinghy and motor in Oakville.   I asked him if we could go downtown first and pick up the life ring.  Of course I had to tell the story to convince him.    It was pouring rain when we got there.  Keith double parked and I ran the 20 or so meters to the marina office.   

I burst through the office door to get out of the rain and I must have looked like a madman, dripping wet with a fire in my eye. The first thing I saw besides two guys I didn’t know, was the Cambio life ring mounted on the wall like some glassy eyed bad taxidermy.  “Hi, I’m with Cambio” (don’t show your intentions until you know theirs). They just looked up and said “There it is, Go Ahead and take it” and went on discussing lunch plans.   I took it and ran out into the teaming rain.