Mark Hofman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2001
- Messages
- 3,095
- Reaction score
- 5
THE STORM
We had finished a wonderful Mother's Day meal made all the more enjoyable by the fact that we were spending the weekend at the Lake. The eight of us had a great cottage rented at Dogwood Acres on Lake of the Ozarks, and had spent most of Saturday fishing and having fun with the two youngest - Rose(3) and Romy (8 months). And even though the area had endured a series of tornados earlier in the week, we were confident that the worst was over. Except for some lingering winds and clouds, it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
And now that dinner was finished, with the dishes washed and put away, I turned to my wife and said, "Let's go out in the boat, just you and me, for an evening ride." She asked me about the weather and I said, "It looks like its blowing off, and the wind is pretty calm. I think it'll be nice. We'll have fun!"
We walked to the dock and untied our eighteen foot fishing boat. With the PFDs on and the engine cranked, we idled out of the secondary cove and headed out toward the main channel. It was a very pleasant evening. The big cruisers were off the lake, and we powered toward the new toll bridge at a nice cruising speed of 40 miles per hour. The conversation turned to various areas her father and I had fished during a trip to the lake last November. I pointed out different docks and coves and islands, and mentioned one "secret" spot we stumbled upon with our depth finder.
"Do we have our rods with us?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, let's try it!"
The spot was in a small cove, close to a 4-slip dock. I located the large boulders that I had used to mentally mark the spot, and dropped the trolling motor. The depth finder soon became cluttered with the signs of a good sized brush pile. Tossing out a marker bouy, we began working the line between the boulders and the bouy. Fish on! Both of started hooking sub-legal crappie, and talked about our plans for the next day. I finally latched onto a keeper and determined that the bigger fish were holding in deeper water.
We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. Then a bit of a breeze brought me back to the moment, and I looked up at the sky. Dark grey clouds rolled in, passing just over the top of the cliff next to us, and heading off to the east. I began to think that it might rain. It was getting darker, so I had my wife run the trolling motor while I dug out the navigation lights from the storage bin. With the lights in and the switch flipped to "Anchor", we continued to work the area. Finally, my wife hooked into her first keeper crappie, and we added it to the livewell.
By this time, the wind had picked up significantly, and she very politely told me that she was getting concerned about the weather. Looking around I figured we could make the four miles and be back before it got completely dark, so I agreed and began stowing the rods. The wind had pushed us fairly close to the big 4-slip dock, so I cranked the big motor over and made a big U-turn to get us out in the clear. With the trolling motor strapped down, we idled out toward the mouth of the cove and the main channel.
As soon as I saw the conditions out on the main lake, it hit me like a sledgehammer. I had made a critical mistake, and had kept us out much too long. I looked at my wife and said, "You'd better put on your raincoat. We're going to get wet." I had never seen water this rough, and I knew in my gut that the five minute boat ride I anticipated would now be an hour and a half thrill ride. I looked at the gas gauge, and the volts, and the water pressure. And I double checked the kill switch lanyard to make sure it was attached.
(To be continued)
We had finished a wonderful Mother's Day meal made all the more enjoyable by the fact that we were spending the weekend at the Lake. The eight of us had a great cottage rented at Dogwood Acres on Lake of the Ozarks, and had spent most of Saturday fishing and having fun with the two youngest - Rose(3) and Romy (8 months). And even though the area had endured a series of tornados earlier in the week, we were confident that the worst was over. Except for some lingering winds and clouds, it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
And now that dinner was finished, with the dishes washed and put away, I turned to my wife and said, "Let's go out in the boat, just you and me, for an evening ride." She asked me about the weather and I said, "It looks like its blowing off, and the wind is pretty calm. I think it'll be nice. We'll have fun!"
We walked to the dock and untied our eighteen foot fishing boat. With the PFDs on and the engine cranked, we idled out of the secondary cove and headed out toward the main channel. It was a very pleasant evening. The big cruisers were off the lake, and we powered toward the new toll bridge at a nice cruising speed of 40 miles per hour. The conversation turned to various areas her father and I had fished during a trip to the lake last November. I pointed out different docks and coves and islands, and mentioned one "secret" spot we stumbled upon with our depth finder.
"Do we have our rods with us?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, let's try it!"
The spot was in a small cove, close to a 4-slip dock. I located the large boulders that I had used to mentally mark the spot, and dropped the trolling motor. The depth finder soon became cluttered with the signs of a good sized brush pile. Tossing out a marker bouy, we began working the line between the boulders and the bouy. Fish on! Both of started hooking sub-legal crappie, and talked about our plans for the next day. I finally latched onto a keeper and determined that the bigger fish were holding in deeper water.
We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. Then a bit of a breeze brought me back to the moment, and I looked up at the sky. Dark grey clouds rolled in, passing just over the top of the cliff next to us, and heading off to the east. I began to think that it might rain. It was getting darker, so I had my wife run the trolling motor while I dug out the navigation lights from the storage bin. With the lights in and the switch flipped to "Anchor", we continued to work the area. Finally, my wife hooked into her first keeper crappie, and we added it to the livewell.
By this time, the wind had picked up significantly, and she very politely told me that she was getting concerned about the weather. Looking around I figured we could make the four miles and be back before it got completely dark, so I agreed and began stowing the rods. The wind had pushed us fairly close to the big 4-slip dock, so I cranked the big motor over and made a big U-turn to get us out in the clear. With the trolling motor strapped down, we idled out toward the mouth of the cove and the main channel.
As soon as I saw the conditions out on the main lake, it hit me like a sledgehammer. I had made a critical mistake, and had kept us out much too long. I looked at my wife and said, "You'd better put on your raincoat. We're going to get wet." I had never seen water this rough, and I knew in my gut that the five minute boat ride I anticipated would now be an hour and a half thrill ride. I looked at the gas gauge, and the volts, and the water pressure. And I double checked the kill switch lanyard to make sure it was attached.
(To be continued)
