Fencepost Adventure

It seems everytime we go somewhere, we have Fencepost Adventures.

It’s no lie!

Life around here can get exciting at times. And downright scary!!

Like when we went to Charleston, SC, last summer.

Or, when we took a July Fourth boat ride.

Another time, we took the pontoon out for a ride…

Many in our family were present.

This pontoon…

is a big pontoon, 24 foot to be exact. It holds 15 people.

And on this day we were pushing the limit with 11 on board.

Granted, three of these people were children. The weight limit was no where close to being met.

Differences of weight and distribution of weight makes a difference in the handling of a boat. Not to mention the speed the boat will travel.

The Captain had been driving and being the hot blooded person that he is, he began to get a little warm and decided he wanted to jump on the tube and cool off a bit.

His dad took his place at the wheel and The Captain strode to the front of the boat to grab a life jacket.

This left three people in the back of the boat, the other seven spread from the center to the front of the boat.

The Captain walked up to the bow of the boat and began putting on his life jacket.

We weren’t going fast, just kinda trolling along enjoying the breeze in our face and the occasional drops of water that would fly up, giving us a sudden cooling sensation.

While standing there on the bow, he began to notice water coming in around his feet from the front of the boat.

First, let me say that, when your on the water, you don’t really notice a difference in how balanced the boat may be. With the waves constantly going up and down and the boat rocking and reeling, you don’t know when your bow is high or low.

You just kinda roll with it.

With that said…

The Captain stood there with a confused look on his face for a second. Then we heard the loud revving of the boat motor.

Realizing what was happening, The Captain ran to the back of the boat and shut down the motor.

Okay, now picture this as I attempt to explain…

The Captain standing on the bow, all others sitting. The nose (bow) of the boat takes a nose dive, lifting the motor out of the water.

The Captain runs toward the back of the boat, and shuts down to motor.  Everybody else follows.

So, now the nose (bow) of the boat is in the air.

Then it’s rocking back and forth.

Bow up, stern down.

Stern up, bow down.

Back and forth.

With eight people on their feet, sea legs engaged, waiting for the calming of the seas.

Me included!

All of the shoes sitting on the bow of the boat floated out into the lake.

Finally, it leveled back out and everyone sat back down. Except The Captain.

Since he already had his life jacket on, he jumped off the boat to rescue the floating shoes.

Once all the shoes were back on the boat, The Captain climbed aboard and started the boat and off we went.

Have I mentioned that I am not a fan of water.

Big,

deep,

dark

water.

And who knows what’s swimming around down there.

Or how big they are swimming around down there.

After just a few minutes, they had to drop me off on shore. I wanted my feet on dry, stable, solid ground.

Call me a weeney if you will. Makes no difference to me. But I’ll be safe of the dirt!

I never did trust that boat again. We sold it and purchased a smaller boat.

And eighteen footer with bigger toons. It hasn’t betrayed my trust yet. But I haven’t been on it that much either.

But I guarantee you this.

One thing is for sure.

There will be another adventure.

And I will be right in the middle of it.

Not by choice.

But because of the family I married into.

Adventures seem to follow us around and jump out at me when we least expect it.

And if anyone may have just happened to be standing on shore, you can guarantee they got their laugh of the day.