Just in case the boater at the West Branch State Park who towed me in with the 20' Glastron, the two little kids, the panicky wife, the family dog, the giant... too big to tip over but also too big to fit in the boat ... tow tube, and a tangled mess of ropes just as the lighting was hitting the horizon, I have to say thanks again and believe me it was appreciated.
How the crisis started was a bright idea to swim + fish + tube + spend quality time with the dog all in one day, and video it all of course (and also get the regular kind of picture with the waterproof camera that you can take in the water and swim with too!)
About 1,000 distractions later, there is me wondering why I can't get the engine back into neutral to start it. I'm thinking maybe my 15 y.o. boat - first full season I've owned it - may have a stuck linkage since it was going in and out of gear a little stiff with all the start and stop tubing the day before.
I know what your thinking. No, it wasn't the tow line that I sucked into the prop. I was constantly peeking over the stern to make sure it was clear. It wasn't the strain on the transmission as DW kept searching for the slowest possible grind into forward so the poor children in the tube wouldn't get whiplash taking off. It wasn't even hitting bottom - something that had already happened twice that trip. It was me idling over my own anchor line. Which I completely forgot about. Even after getting towed through the channel wondering whether the wind in the bimini top was really making my boat so hard to maneuver, whether the tube had that much drag, and why was the tow boat was churning so much like it was really under a load, I had no idea what was going on. The amazing thing was that the my anchor plowed its way all the way back through the cove and to the ramp. And that the Fido didn't pee when everyone started shouting and crying and waving arms (which he did earlier when everyone jumped in the water leaving him alone on the boat to whine) before this nice guy with three calm passengers stopped on his way to the other side of the lake where he was trying to get to before the storm, turned around, and towed us back to the near side ramp.
Thank you sir. And next time I'll be leaving the dog home!
How the crisis started was a bright idea to swim + fish + tube + spend quality time with the dog all in one day, and video it all of course (and also get the regular kind of picture with the waterproof camera that you can take in the water and swim with too!)
About 1,000 distractions later, there is me wondering why I can't get the engine back into neutral to start it. I'm thinking maybe my 15 y.o. boat - first full season I've owned it - may have a stuck linkage since it was going in and out of gear a little stiff with all the start and stop tubing the day before.
I know what your thinking. No, it wasn't the tow line that I sucked into the prop. I was constantly peeking over the stern to make sure it was clear. It wasn't the strain on the transmission as DW kept searching for the slowest possible grind into forward so the poor children in the tube wouldn't get whiplash taking off. It wasn't even hitting bottom - something that had already happened twice that trip. It was me idling over my own anchor line. Which I completely forgot about. Even after getting towed through the channel wondering whether the wind in the bimini top was really making my boat so hard to maneuver, whether the tube had that much drag, and why was the tow boat was churning so much like it was really under a load, I had no idea what was going on. The amazing thing was that the my anchor plowed its way all the way back through the cove and to the ramp. And that the Fido didn't pee when everyone started shouting and crying and waving arms (which he did earlier when everyone jumped in the water leaving him alone on the boat to whine) before this nice guy with three calm passengers stopped on his way to the other side of the lake where he was trying to get to before the storm, turned around, and towed us back to the near side ramp.
Thank you sir. And next time I'll be leaving the dog home!