Augoose
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,223
So I took the family out for what was to be about 2 hours out on the boat. The plan was to find a nice sandy beach in a quiet area where we could swim, float around and let the kids play. As we anchored the boat in some rocks about 20 ft off shore, we waded in and the area couldn't have looked more perfect. Soft sand, no sharp rocks, out of the high traffic area....perfect. The wife sat down with the baby on a flat rock while I swam with our other son.
After about 20 minutes, the cotton mouth showed up. A 30" alligator gar had already passed by within three feet of us and now this. Fortunately the snake already had a fish in his mouth and didn't feel the need to bite my wife as she sat with the baby about 12 inches from his head. My older son started freaking out because all of a sudden his parents made a mad dash for big rocks and sticks with which to swat the snake away if it came after us (it was a small beach we were on with no room to "get away"). He starts crying, we collect our stuff carefully and move as a group into the water (gulp) and back to the boat.
As we try to pull away, the anchor is stuck. Real stuck. Ain't coming out in any direction stuck. The baby is crying now (although he doesn't know anything about the snake, he's just crying because anyone with kids knows that babies don't necessarily need anything specific to cry about), my wife is holding him and so can't drive the boat and my older son is still crying (because of the snake of course). Out of nowhere, the wind picks up in order to help me further lodge the anchor deeper into the mariana trench that I've somehow managed to find. I'm screaming at the wife to grab the wheel and go "that way" while I balance myself on the bow in an attempt to pull the anchor up. My wife is doing her absolute best to follow my directions, considering she has a screaming baby in her arms and no matter which way she turns, its not the right way. No matter which way I point, no matter what I say, no matter how she manuevers the boat, nothing works to free the anchor but we do avoid running over the anchor rope and running aground, so I guess that's a plus. Back in the water with no shoulders jake-the-snake I go - my heart is racing pretty good at this point. I don't consider myself a chicken, but diving down in murky brown water when I just saw a cotton mouth not 15 feet away is not my most favorite of things to do. After diving down, the anchor had been pulled beneath a tree root but fortunately I was able to free it and swim back up.
So after everyone got back in the boat and I apologized to my wife for language that would make a sailor blush, we decide to go to deeper water to swim. I get a call from my buddy who says he's "a couple of coves over" and we agree to meet up. After about 45 minutes of phone calls and "do you see this" and "do you see that" while referencing a map, we determine he's more than in the next couple of coves over- he's about 5 miles away. I'm about to tell him no thanks and that we'll see him later when he suddenly sends a text asking what can cause alarms to go off on a boat. Not that the alarm IS going off mind you, just what can cause them to go off. I tell him either low oil, low oil pressure or overheating usually. Turns out his new boat is over heating AND taking on water at the same time!
Knowing you never, ever leave a fellow boater stranded I tell him we're on the way. After about another hour of where are you's, we find each other. Turns out that on his mercruiser (I have a Volvo Penta thank you
), the water intake hose coming up from the lower unit connects to a plastic T-device which diverts some water to the power steering cooler. Well this device is crap. The hoses on both sides let loose and we couldn't figure out a way to put them back together without them popping apart as soon as the water starts flowing. My buddy tells me there is a recall out on this part and that the dealer had told him not to worry about it and they'll fix it later during some other service- unreal.
So we start towing his boat with our boat- at about 5 mph, in 2' chop, into the wind, with 5 adults on his 19' boat and 2 adults and 2 kids (only one screaming now) on my 20' bow rider. According to the GPS, its 7 miles across the open part of the lake to get to his truck and trailer. At 5 mph and into the wind with serious chop, that trip just ain't going to happen.
We start going along the shore looking for ramps- any ramp that we can beg to use to get his broken boat out of the water. Eventually we find a DNR station with a ramp and dock- after speaking to them the guys couldn't have been nicer. They even let the ladies come into their patrol house out of the sun and wait while I took my buddy across the lake on my boat and back to where his trailer was.
So, 7 hours after launching for our 2 hour excursion, we got our boat back on our trailer. I wanted to ask my wife when we could go out on the boat again but I knew better.
I hope everyone else's memorial day weekend is going and continues to go safely.
After about 20 minutes, the cotton mouth showed up. A 30" alligator gar had already passed by within three feet of us and now this. Fortunately the snake already had a fish in his mouth and didn't feel the need to bite my wife as she sat with the baby about 12 inches from his head. My older son started freaking out because all of a sudden his parents made a mad dash for big rocks and sticks with which to swat the snake away if it came after us (it was a small beach we were on with no room to "get away"). He starts crying, we collect our stuff carefully and move as a group into the water (gulp) and back to the boat.
As we try to pull away, the anchor is stuck. Real stuck. Ain't coming out in any direction stuck. The baby is crying now (although he doesn't know anything about the snake, he's just crying because anyone with kids knows that babies don't necessarily need anything specific to cry about), my wife is holding him and so can't drive the boat and my older son is still crying (because of the snake of course). Out of nowhere, the wind picks up in order to help me further lodge the anchor deeper into the mariana trench that I've somehow managed to find. I'm screaming at the wife to grab the wheel and go "that way" while I balance myself on the bow in an attempt to pull the anchor up. My wife is doing her absolute best to follow my directions, considering she has a screaming baby in her arms and no matter which way she turns, its not the right way. No matter which way I point, no matter what I say, no matter how she manuevers the boat, nothing works to free the anchor but we do avoid running over the anchor rope and running aground, so I guess that's a plus. Back in the water with no shoulders jake-the-snake I go - my heart is racing pretty good at this point. I don't consider myself a chicken, but diving down in murky brown water when I just saw a cotton mouth not 15 feet away is not my most favorite of things to do. After diving down, the anchor had been pulled beneath a tree root but fortunately I was able to free it and swim back up.
So after everyone got back in the boat and I apologized to my wife for language that would make a sailor blush, we decide to go to deeper water to swim. I get a call from my buddy who says he's "a couple of coves over" and we agree to meet up. After about 45 minutes of phone calls and "do you see this" and "do you see that" while referencing a map, we determine he's more than in the next couple of coves over- he's about 5 miles away. I'm about to tell him no thanks and that we'll see him later when he suddenly sends a text asking what can cause alarms to go off on a boat. Not that the alarm IS going off mind you, just what can cause them to go off. I tell him either low oil, low oil pressure or overheating usually. Turns out his new boat is over heating AND taking on water at the same time!
Knowing you never, ever leave a fellow boater stranded I tell him we're on the way. After about another hour of where are you's, we find each other. Turns out that on his mercruiser (I have a Volvo Penta thank you
), the water intake hose coming up from the lower unit connects to a plastic T-device which diverts some water to the power steering cooler. Well this device is crap. The hoses on both sides let loose and we couldn't figure out a way to put them back together without them popping apart as soon as the water starts flowing. My buddy tells me there is a recall out on this part and that the dealer had told him not to worry about it and they'll fix it later during some other service- unreal. So we start towing his boat with our boat- at about 5 mph, in 2' chop, into the wind, with 5 adults on his 19' boat and 2 adults and 2 kids (only one screaming now) on my 20' bow rider. According to the GPS, its 7 miles across the open part of the lake to get to his truck and trailer. At 5 mph and into the wind with serious chop, that trip just ain't going to happen.
We start going along the shore looking for ramps- any ramp that we can beg to use to get his broken boat out of the water. Eventually we find a DNR station with a ramp and dock- after speaking to them the guys couldn't have been nicer. They even let the ladies come into their patrol house out of the sun and wait while I took my buddy across the lake on my boat and back to where his trailer was.
So, 7 hours after launching for our 2 hour excursion, we got our boat back on our trailer. I wanted to ask my wife when we could go out on the boat again but I knew better.
I hope everyone else's memorial day weekend is going and continues to go safely.
