Wonderful story! Here's another, much shorter one that also ended well: Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, which fronts Lake Michigan, late 1960's. Two girls, about 14, took an inflatable raft out off the beach to laze about, but the offshore wind blew them out into the lake. They had neither paddles nor life jackets, and were wearing skimpy suits...ok shoreside, but lake water is extremely cold, much like the Puget Sound, even in summer. My mother, a registered nurse, noticed them just before they disappeared over the visible horizon in 2-3 foot seas (one of the girls had taken off her suit to wave as a distress flag, and the movement far out on the lake had caught Mom's eye). Luckily, a skiff with a 10 hp outboard was nearby, and the kids were rescued, with Mom helping them recover from hypothermia.
Didn't know Angela, but I knew Ralph and Capt Bonnell. Took my dad's boat for a overnight sail and ran aground at dawn. Got a talking to much like this one here. Memories of youth.
One very windy day a friend and I were sitting on a bench at Sebago Canoe Club watching the water. A couple of women came in and took a canoe off the rack. We asked them whether they knew what they were doing. As soon as they were off the dock, the wind grabbed them. They were able to work their way to the bank about 1/4 mile down but were not able to make any progress back.
Duncan and I launched my Whitehall and went to collect them. We asked them whether they wanted an assist and they said yes, so we grabbed their painter and took them in tow. They did not help at all on the way back and were not happy that we made them put the canoe away. We confiscated the key they had borrowed and turned it in to the commodore.
Many years ago, I took part in a protest over the planned privatization of Governor's Island in New York Harbor. My group, the Village Community Boat House, provided several of our 25' Whitehalls. When the demonstration was over, most of the kids debarked at a friendly marina and one our chase boats took the boats in tow, along with a few kids who wanted to ride back. I put a bowline between the last two boats and waved them off. About 5 minutes later, I noticed that the last boat, with two kids aboard, was sitting by itself in the river. I got on the radio and called the chase boat back for them.
Lesson: Remember that synthetic line, including nylon, is slippery when wet, especially in salt water. Since then, I always take an extra pass around the standing part of my bowlines. None have come loose since. I also leave at least a 6" tail on the knot.
Nice story! It's not like Mom, the Commodore, and Ralph hadn't made mistakes, including boating ones, when they were young teens... and probably got yelled at just the same. A good lesson; I hope some kids have the chance to read it as well. Every summer we hear of kids (and adults!) getting swept out to sea, on beach blow-ups, riptides, sneaker tides, etc.
Wonderful story! Here's another, much shorter one that also ended well: Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, which fronts Lake Michigan, late 1960's. Two girls, about 14, took an inflatable raft out off the beach to laze about, but the offshore wind blew them out into the lake. They had neither paddles nor life jackets, and were wearing skimpy suits...ok shoreside, but lake water is extremely cold, much like the Puget Sound, even in summer. My mother, a registered nurse, noticed them just before they disappeared over the visible horizon in 2-3 foot seas (one of the girls had taken off her suit to wave as a distress flag, and the movement far out on the lake had caught Mom's eye). Luckily, a skiff with a 10 hp outboard was nearby, and the kids were rescued, with Mom helping them recover from hypothermia.
Didn't know Angela, but I knew Ralph and Capt Bonnell. Took my dad's boat for a overnight sail and ran aground at dawn. Got a talking to much like this one here. Memories of youth.
A couple of stories:
One very windy day a friend and I were sitting on a bench at Sebago Canoe Club watching the water. A couple of women came in and took a canoe off the rack. We asked them whether they knew what they were doing. As soon as they were off the dock, the wind grabbed them. They were able to work their way to the bank about 1/4 mile down but were not able to make any progress back.
Duncan and I launched my Whitehall and went to collect them. We asked them whether they wanted an assist and they said yes, so we grabbed their painter and took them in tow. They did not help at all on the way back and were not happy that we made them put the canoe away. We confiscated the key they had borrowed and turned it in to the commodore.
Many years ago, I took part in a protest over the planned privatization of Governor's Island in New York Harbor. My group, the Village Community Boat House, provided several of our 25' Whitehalls. When the demonstration was over, most of the kids debarked at a friendly marina and one our chase boats took the boats in tow, along with a few kids who wanted to ride back. I put a bowline between the last two boats and waved them off. About 5 minutes later, I noticed that the last boat, with two kids aboard, was sitting by itself in the river. I got on the radio and called the chase boat back for them.
Lesson: Remember that synthetic line, including nylon, is slippery when wet, especially in salt water. Since then, I always take an extra pass around the standing part of my bowlines. None have come loose since. I also leave at least a 6" tail on the knot.
Nice story! It's not like Mom, the Commodore, and Ralph hadn't made mistakes, including boating ones, when they were young teens... and probably got yelled at just the same. A good lesson; I hope some kids have the chance to read it as well. Every summer we hear of kids (and adults!) getting swept out to sea, on beach blow-ups, riptides, sneaker tides, etc.