In the drink

I went down the ramp onto the little dock where visiting boats tie up and had just finished taking the shot of the Fulford Inn that I blipped yesterday. I heard a dog whining, and turned around to see a dog at the top of the ramp straining to come down to see me. The owner said that the dog thought it recognized me! Dog lover that I am, I started up the ramp to pet it, took my lens cap out of my pocket to put back on the lens, and was horrified when it flew out of my hand - and landed not on the dock but right into the little opening between the pylon and the dock! The dog owner was horrified too, so apologetic, but I reassured her that it was completely my fault - I know that the lens cap is a bit fiddly and should have been paying attention to putting it on and not to the dog. I petted the dog, talked to her for a few minutes, then when she left, went back down just to see if the cap was visible. It was! No way I could get my hand in there, so I went scrambling to see if I could find a stick and some help to get it out. A guy walking on the main dock agreed to keep his eye on it while I hunted for a stick, then seeing some local guys, I told them what had happened and asked if they knew where I could find a stick. They told me to go back down to the dock and they'd be there with sticks asap.
Next thing I knew, one of the locals arrived with two sticks, and the first guy was flat out on the dock trying to reach the cap while the other guy was trying to manoever it into open water so he could grab it. Turns out there was a lip on the edge of the wooden part of the dock and neither the stick nor the man's hand could get under it to get to the lens. They kept trying .... but the cap disappeared. We had just given up when I spotted the lens floating in the water a few feet to the right of the dock - I think I yelled rather loudly, "There it is!!" So the stick was used to move the cap close enough, and the first guy fished it out of the drink! Apparently the stick had pushed it underwater far enough for it to float under the lip and out. What a relief! The two guys were great and I was so thankful.
This is the second time I've dropped a lens cap into water - the other time was into a creek in Ganges that we couldn't get to. G bought me a replacement with an elastic attached, and maybe I should get one of those for each lens! Or maybe I should just be more careful.
If I'd been thinking, I would have taken shots of the "rescue", especially of the guy who was flat out on the dock and who got soaked up to the armpit.
So I'm hesitant to ask people if I can take their picture but not hesitant at all to ask for help.
I was also very pleased to see the dog and the woman when I went back to the car, and she was thrilled to hear that the cap was safely in my hands (but not back on the camera until it was thoroughly rinsed in fresh water).

Edit - I forgot to mention the lovely rust!