We just spent another long weekend at the cabin. Grandpa Rudy and Aunt Marcia are here for their annual Minnesota cabin/fishing trip and we cherish every day we get to spend with them. On Friday night we decided to take a nice little boat ride after dinner.
It started out like this. Perfect.
Our fearless captain, Chris.
Brad, so happy and so unaware of the smoke building within his boat's engine.
And then it happened. Something or other with the engine and it all overheated and didn't work anymore and oh, crap.
Hey, we're only on the complete other side of the lake. No biggie, right? We have a paddle. Singular. One. (Because that's all that's required by state law and we wouldn't want to be extravagant or anything). So Josh started paddling. Ten minutes later and while we had made some progress, it was clear that paddling alone was NOT going to get us to our destination.
Still paddling.
So Brad removes his shirt and jumps into the cold, cold lake to push the boat while Josh paddles. All smiles on the outside, while on the inside he's thinking, "I have to keep it cool".
Never one to just sit around, Aunt Marcia jumps in the lake, fully clothed.
We got one guy paddling and two people pushing...and still not making much progress. It looked grim.
Our Tough Mudder volunteers to take a turn paddling. It's tough work.
Mom decides, "what the heck?!" and jumps in to join Brad and her sister.
The little engine six legs that could.
Twenty minutes later and we have two tired paddlers and three huffing and puffing boat pushers. It was time to get serious. Chris thought, "I just ran 13 miles in mud the entire time, with a measly 29 obstacles thrown in, including being electrocuted and it was a walk in the park. I'll just SWIM ACROSS THIS ENTIRE LAKE and get the pontoon to tow the boat in. Sure." And he was in.
Chris swam. Josh paddled. Brad, Marcia and Mom pushed. Max cried. Claire was an angel and quietly watched. Becky wondered why the father of her child was swimming across an entire lake (oh, did I mention that we didn't have any adult life jackets in the boat? So, he wore Claire's). And I took pictures and occasionally screamed, "HHHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!".
While I screamed, poor Grandpa waved his blue sweatshirt. We were in dire straights, people.
FINALLY! A sight to sore eyes! Our rescuer! The well-to-do guy with the nicest cabin on the lake heads towards us.
He said, "I heard someone shouting 'HELP!'" And Brad hooked our boats together. After we asked him to pick up the poor guy who had made it half-way across the lake, of course. First thing he said when he pulled Chris into his pontoon? "It looks like you need a bigger life jacket".
And we were home. And laughing about our adventure.
2 comments:
Ahahaha!!!! Sounds like an interesting, hysterical and memorable time!! Thanks so much for capturing it all!
Great Story telling. I am glad everything turned out ok. I love that Brad kept smiling even though he was probably very worried. I love that your aunt jumped right into the water and then your mom went too. Great team work. I loved the guy who rescued you when he told Chris he needed a bigger life jacket. I loved your grandpa for helping out by waving his sweatshirt. More teamwork. Josh paddeling and then brave Chris jumps in and attempts to swim home. Your calls for help were heard (which rarely happens). This will be a story that you can relive over and over again. And, I bet your mom or Brad have already bought another oar and some lifejackets! I know I'll be buting another oar as soon as I get to the store. Thanks for sharing the story in words and pictures. Sue
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