05-04-2006, 02:44 AM
The sea was 
today, my friends-- and violent, like a spurned mother-in-law, or so I'm told. Today, I was assaulted so mercilessly by the huffing and puffing W, that it will take me at least a week to get the part out of my scalp.
But seriously folks, I must issue a warning to any of you who would attempt to round the point of any jetty at Utah Lake in three-foot, white-capped waves in a shallow 14' aluminum boat without a motor: In a word--DON'T!
Tugboat and I thought it within our power to oar ourselves from the relative safety of a wind-sheltered cove, out around the jetty, and back into the calm waters between the jetties that lead to the boat ramp. Boy, did we overestimate our abilities.
As soon as we eased the bow of the boat past the windbreak that was the south jetty, we began to paddle like our lives depended on it (and it wasn't a stretch at all for us to imagine that our lives REALLY DID depend on it!).
We made pretty good headway as long as we kept the boat's nose dead strait into the wind, but alas, we had to turn to steer ourselves into the channel between the jetties. As soon as we turned the boat broadside, a big wave tossed us up onto the rocks like an aluminum pop can. The next wave swamped the boat.
Tugboat and I crawled out onto the rocks and quickly retrieved all our gear from the soup inside my tin can, which was being slammed and raked atop the jetty rocks with each passing wave.
Lucky for me that Tugboat is a strong lad. Between the two of us we muscled my battered craft up onto the jetty, pulled the drain plug, and before long I had the trailer backed up to her, and she was loaded safely onto her carrier. After arriving home, I inspected her hull thoroughly, and though she bears the scars of an eventful afternoon, she's as sound as ever.
Aside from nearly having my shin bones shattered by my "half-full" craft as she pinned me against the jetty boulders, I had a very enjoyable day with a few friendly BFTers. TubeDude can sure fry up a batch of kitty food.
(In case I didn't tell you enough times, Pat, that was probably the tasties catfish I've tried, though I can't decide if I like your "kitty krispies" or smoked catfish better. Thanks for preparing such a nice feast. You get extra points for prevailing against the Horrible, Terrible W.)
Nice to meet a few new BFT faces. And Tugboat, I sure hope your cell phone works after it dries out.
Next time we plan an event like this, someone will have to send a memo to the fish, so that they can show up for the festivities, too.
One last thing: Pat, I took your advice. I drug my boat into the shower with me when I got home, filled it with water, and it didn't spring any leaks. Like I said, she's as sound as ever. Thanks for the tip! [
] And thanks for all your hard work today.
[signature]
today, my friends-- and violent, like a spurned mother-in-law, or so I'm told. Today, I was assaulted so mercilessly by the huffing and puffing W, that it will take me at least a week to get the part out of my scalp. But seriously folks, I must issue a warning to any of you who would attempt to round the point of any jetty at Utah Lake in three-foot, white-capped waves in a shallow 14' aluminum boat without a motor: In a word--DON'T!
Tugboat and I thought it within our power to oar ourselves from the relative safety of a wind-sheltered cove, out around the jetty, and back into the calm waters between the jetties that lead to the boat ramp. Boy, did we overestimate our abilities.
As soon as we eased the bow of the boat past the windbreak that was the south jetty, we began to paddle like our lives depended on it (and it wasn't a stretch at all for us to imagine that our lives REALLY DID depend on it!).
We made pretty good headway as long as we kept the boat's nose dead strait into the wind, but alas, we had to turn to steer ourselves into the channel between the jetties. As soon as we turned the boat broadside, a big wave tossed us up onto the rocks like an aluminum pop can. The next wave swamped the boat.
Tugboat and I crawled out onto the rocks and quickly retrieved all our gear from the soup inside my tin can, which was being slammed and raked atop the jetty rocks with each passing wave.
Lucky for me that Tugboat is a strong lad. Between the two of us we muscled my battered craft up onto the jetty, pulled the drain plug, and before long I had the trailer backed up to her, and she was loaded safely onto her carrier. After arriving home, I inspected her hull thoroughly, and though she bears the scars of an eventful afternoon, she's as sound as ever.
Aside from nearly having my shin bones shattered by my "half-full" craft as she pinned me against the jetty boulders, I had a very enjoyable day with a few friendly BFTers. TubeDude can sure fry up a batch of kitty food.
(In case I didn't tell you enough times, Pat, that was probably the tasties catfish I've tried, though I can't decide if I like your "kitty krispies" or smoked catfish better. Thanks for preparing such a nice feast. You get extra points for prevailing against the Horrible, Terrible W.)
Nice to meet a few new BFT faces. And Tugboat, I sure hope your cell phone works after it dries out.
Next time we plan an event like this, someone will have to send a memo to the fish, so that they can show up for the festivities, too.
One last thing: Pat, I took your advice. I drug my boat into the shower with me when I got home, filled it with water, and it didn't spring any leaks. Like I said, she's as sound as ever. Thanks for the tip! [
] And thanks for all your hard work today.[signature]