Boating I and II

My brother and I have been out boating now twice this summer. I haven’t posted any pictures because frankly, the pictures look the same as last year’s pictures. The lake. The trees. The ducks. As I was taking a picture of the culvert we boat through, my brother asked me why I was taking the picture since I already took the exact same picture so many times last summer. I really didn’t have a good answer other than, I had a camera and it was there.

The first time we went out, it was a little choppy going down the lake. We couldn’t really pick up speed because the boat was having a hard time cutting through the waves. By the time we headed back up, it had smoothed out and we were able to go faster.

Why is this important? Because going fast on the boat is so much fun!!! ZOOOM!!!!

Yesterday we went out again and the water was much calmer. But we still couldn’t go fast. For some reason the boat wouldn’t pick up speed even at full throttle. So we putted down the lake, looking at the scenery, admiring the houses, enjoying the sun. Sigh. Nice but a little boring.

On our way back up the lake, my brother had the idea that if he stood up and shifted the weight more towards the front of the boat, it might go up on plane and pick up speed. (“up on plane” means that the boat rides on top of the water instead of plowing through the water). Sure enough, I pushed it to full throttle and we were ZOOMING!!! I don’t know how fast we were going but it was FAST!!! And FUN!!

He sat back down and we laughed and sped along and were really enjoying the ride. Then I noticed a big wave up ahead. Some boat must have gone by and there was a wave caused by the wake the boat had left. It had to be a good two foot wave…not big for the ocean but plenty big for a lake. And plenty big when you are going fast in a little boat. So I pulled the throttle back and we slammed into the wave at a lower speed. BOOM! If I hadn’t slowed us down, there was a good possibility we would have launched into the air. Also not a good thing to do in a little boat.

Did I ever mention that the boating regulations state that you have to have life jackets on board the boat but you don’t have to wear them? My brother’s are tucked up under the front of the boat. Granted, we can grab them but in an emergency, like a swamped or capsized boat, would we really have the time or the thought to grab a life jacket? Something I think about when we are about to slam into a big wave at top speed.

We did manage to get up on plane a few more times and then we headed back to the culver to go to the pond and dock the boat. When we went back through the culvert, we noticed that there was a current and the water level was low. Which means that the water in the pond is draining into the lake because somewhere down the line, a dam was open and draining water from the lake into the river and then out to sea.

We also noticed that the lake level and the pond level has dropped due to the lack of rain. Sad to say but unless we get more rain, we may not be able to go out boating again this summer.

Although my brother did mention that, if the level goes lower and stays low, he may just pull the boat and we will go to other lakes in the area to go boating. That would be more work but more fun! Then I can take different pictures and post them!

I do hope we can go boating a few more times this summer. Since I won’t have an official vacation this summer (one does not take vacations when one is unemployed), going boating is like a mini-vacation for me. Takes my mind of job hunting and all the other worries in my life. Plus I love it!