The Storm (A True Story from Last Weekend)

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Mark Hofman

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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)
 
I'm betting that the mighty TV-18 was able to weather the storm!!!



az
 
Well, we know he made it back alright... otherwise he wouldn't be typing it...



but darnit! I hate cliff hangers!
 
Hope his boat isn't the SS Minnow or we will have a three hour tour.
 
PART II,

Mo sinks his TV-18 attempting to run back home in a tin boat. He and his wife are saved by a passing GLASS bass boat that was heading OUT to fish and hadn't even noticed the waves! On the trip home, Mo's wife, after fully chewing him out, advises him that the insurance settlement for the sunken tin boat WILL be used to purchase a new 929 FIBERGLASS bass boat. Had they been in that, the pure sex appeal of the rig would have prevented Mo and his wife from fishing (cause we all know the ladies find glass sexy!) and he would have only been out there for 3-4 minutes! LOL
 
(Okay,....as Paul Harvey says, here is the "rest of the story". I had two staff meetings that kept me from finishing it in the first post.)



(And by the way, Rob's version, well....let's just say, "Nice attempt, but no joy.")





THE STORM - PART II



I nudged the TV-18 out into the turmoil, quickly pointed the nose into the wind, and applied a bit of power. The bow rose precipitously into the air until the center of gravity passed the crest of the wave. The bow immediately dropped and we accelerated down the back side of the wave. I pulled power to keep from spearing the next wave, and as we bottomed out, the boat threw an amazing amount of spray off to either side of the boat. It wasn't a hard "Bang" like you'll get when jumping wakes, but the boat smoothly displaced a LOT of water.



The 40 mile per hour winds took the spray and drove it back, and the swirl around the consoles drove some of it into our faces. My eyeglasses immediately became dotted with water making it that much harder to see in the diminishing light. As we moved to the crest of the second wave, the boat very nearly stopped dead in the water. I quickly applied a bit more power and we drove over the top, just as the wave broke. As it passed by the consoles, the top curled and rolled like the opening scene of Hawaii 5-0. I didn't come off power quickly enough, and the bow buried itself in the next oncoming wave just enough so that the bow cap carpet was soaked.



I realized that I was fairly close to the major bluff that had been blocking the wind while we were in the cove, and that I didn't know the depth of the water or the sub-surface structure under where we were. I took my hand off the throttle to turn on the display light to the Humminbird fish finder. That was my second mistake. When the bow dipped below the surface of the water, I had pulled power. Now, with my hand off the throttle, the boat stalled on the next wave. The front end swung to port (away from the bluff). Realizing my error, I hit power and cranked the wheel to starboard to regain directional control.



"What's wrong?" my wife yelled.



"I've got to keep the bow into the wind or the waves will push us sideways and that could roll the boat."



For the next twenty minutes, we repeated the excerise of power on/up, over, power off/down. Slowly we made progress, but a man walking along the shore would have been winning the race. We reached the next cove but had gone a mere third of a mile. The blessing of having the bluff slow the wind down somewhat was gone. The first wave out in the open broke to either side, came straight back into my face and behind my glasses. Water was in my eyes. I blinked hard, trying to clear them but it was difficult. (Ever since I was little, I do not like having water in my eyes. If I'm swimming, I keep one eye closed underwater so that I'll have clear vision when I surface.)



I couldn't take my hands off the wheel or throttle, so I just had to open and close my eyes in the vain hope that I could regain my vision. At this point, I seriously considered motoring deep into a cove to hole up until the storm passed. But with the week's history of tornados, and the threat of lightning or hail (which so far and not made an appearance), I didn't want us stuck in a boat on the water. We forged ahead.



At the mid-point of the cove, my wife turned to me and asked, "Could the wind flip the front end over backwards?"



"I don't think so," I answered. For her sake, I didn't finish the thought, which would have ended with <i>"If it does, stay with the boat. Don't try to swim for safety."</i>



Off to the left, I could hear the roar of big engines. Even though the daylight was gone, I could make out the shape of a big Sea Ray hugging the opposite shoreline, heading in the same direction. His 48-foot hull was pounding through the same waves (you could see the b
 
WOWO,

Now that is a story I do not care to live!!! For one thing my wife would have been a bit more...upset :)

Good job in getting back ok.



Carlos



 
My wife - God bless her - is a ROCK! She MAY have been a bit nervous, but never showed it. Heck, next time she may just ask if she can be the one to drive during bad conditions!



4.62 miles. 90 minutes. Lessee, that works out to 3.465 miles per hour. But the last nine tenths we ran at the 30 mph after-dark speed limit.
 
Whew! I bet dry land never felt better. I had a similar experience last summer alone, at 1:00 AM, pitch dark with a spotlight in one hand, 6 inches of water in the boat from the huge rollers.



On a more important note, how did the fish taste?
 
Geesh Mo, you just describe every other day on Champlain, and we just run it! LOL Seriously, I've been there, done that, and wasn't sure if I'd get home, but that was in 6' white caps. I have waited them out on the backside of islands before and called home on the cell to "keep the light on" LOL
 
Your wife is a brave woman,that would be the LAST time my wife EVER stepped foot in ANY boat......GAURENTEED.....

Good story.......Great ending......
 
Steve, same for my wife, she'd never get on the boat again....hmmmmmmm (light bulb going on)... oh, just kiddin'... love takin' her out for panfish,

Mo, what a story, glad everyone's ok and the Tracker came through for you! egMike
 
MO - Echo the sentiments about your wife! A KEEPER!!
 
I have fished back in creeks and cove several times to find out I waited to long. Once in a 12ft sea king that scared

the stuff out of me but never anything that bad. Thank The Lord you are safe and as good as you story was next time PAY ATTENTION...

BF
 
and all the while, mrs Sim would've just been asking, (with puppy lip in full)



"Do we _have_ to go in now?"



Good story, glad you made it in safe!
 
Amen on Thank God, Tracker and Mercury... I, too, have been "inattentive" to the weather a time or two... I can tell you that a Bimini Top never looked so good as when I made a late decision and had four young teens and my wife with me... That little square of blue canvass was enough to keep the "emergency rainsuit people" dry enough to be "happy" (a relative term) in 4-5' rollers... But a nice big "deep-v" with a windshield and a top beat a speedy TV-18 in that kind of stuff... Oh, and the bow tonneau keeps almost all the water out!
 
Yoweeeeee batman! What a story, and what a trip. Glad to hear everyone is safe and sound, though a little beat up and wet from the experience.



No sense second guessing. Sounds like you were talking to the right 'man' while on the water.



Tex
 
Thanks guys.



I know that many of you have been in similar and even worse boating conditions. This was as bad as I've ever been in. If we had been out in our jon boat, we would have spent the night in a sheltered cove, tied up in someone's empty dock.



My other reason for posting it was to describe why my personal stock and confidence in this particular Tracker boat has gone up ten-fold.



Now, onto bigger and better things! I'm going BACK to Lake of the Ozarks on Thursday for four more days of fishing! (The wife, coincidentally, has chosen to go to Memphis with a friend rather than back to the Lake with me!)



With my testosterone-filled, fire fighter/elite rescue squad member brother-in-law as my partner, we may try to run through rough water on-plane this time!
 
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