Adventures in Boating

Last summer we bought this third-hand 8-seater speed boat .  LH thought it would be an excellent family activity and the price was right.  The engine looked in good condition according to LH's mechanic father and it ran well when demonstrated.  The exterior was in beautiful condition, fantastic considering the age of the boat. We envisioned tubing, water skiing and lazy trips exploring Minnesota's many gorgeous lakes and rivers.  So, we used our vacation money to pay for it and brought it home last July. 

On our first outing, she did beautifully - racing around a small lake at a church picnic.  LH really enjoyed driving her and we felt confident in our purchase.  We promptly went out and purchased gear to take the children tubing.

For our second outing, we confidently plunked her down into the Mississippi River expecting to have a leisurely tour of this gorgeous national resource.  Instead, we nearly ruined the engine and sank her. 

Shortly after we left the dock, the engine failed and the children announced that water was rapidly beginning to cover their feet.  It was then LH realized that the drain plug was still in the glove compartment and not in it's rightful place under the propeller at the base of the boat keeping the water out.  We were ankles deep in water and trying to get the attention of fellow boaters for emergency assistance, when LH suddenly felt it was vitally important to attempt to secure the drain plug.  As he dashed passed me to accomplish this, I clearly saw, in my mind's eye, him accidentally dropping the plug uselessly into the river, but before I could even open my mouth to stop him it had already happened.  I was left contemplating the point of receiving such a warning without the time to use it, but thankful that he'd not reached so far over the back of the boat and across our useless propeller that he'd fallen in too.  (FYI - he'd have had to have Elasti-girl arms in order to reach the drain from that angel.  Now he knows.)

Helped arrived fairly quickly, but we were shin deep in water, several hundred yards downstream in swift current and a good bit quietly terrified before we attracted the attention of anyone who could help.  I'd spent those anxious moments scanning the riverbank for places to tell the children to swim for (if it came to that); reminding myself that they were all excellent swimmers; and giving prayers of thanks for years of swim lessons.  I'd buckled my life jacket and calmly reassured the children of their swimming skills.  They were amazingly quiet and thoroughly alert, I was SO proud. 

But, the comedy of errors continued and shortly after coming to our aid, our rescuers needed rescuing. In the end, a family of five (who had just finished their leisurely tour of the Mississippi River in a stately pontoon boat) graciously towed both dead speed boats back upstream to the launch ramp.  The irony was not lost on me.

It took days to drain our boat properly and several weeks of repair time to fix the damage we'd inflicted on the engine by half submerging it in the river.  And understandably, none of the children were even remotely excited about taking her back out again that summer. 

Finally, after months of winter storage and another failed outing due to a dead battery, we worked out enough of a pre-outing checklist to finally allow us an excellent family outing without mishap.   It was one of those marvelous moments when the clouds parted and the heavens smiled upon us and declared life Good.

We had a fantastic time zipping around Lake George with the children bumping along behind and shrieking with glee.  Those whose turn it wasn't sat at the front of the boat, hair blowing artistically in the wind.  Oh!  They were so beautiful - tanned, slender, clean-limbed, modest and smiling as the sunlight haloed their faces.  Each of them looking for all the world like fashion dolls. 

"The Companion" as we've named her (remember that our family transport is the TARDIS), she's a lovely old girl and we are getting more and more fond of her.  Now we just need to get LH out of his office more to enjoy owning her.