A Fish Story

 Just before Molly was born, we headed out to Mantua to do a little fishing.  And success!  We caught a couple.  "We" being the word I chose to describe me keeping the kids from jumping in the lake, the kids eating powdered donuts (who knows how that became our fishing snack of choice- wasn't mine), and Floyd trying to keep four poles baited and not tangled.  

 If you pull out your magnifying glass, you might be able to see a fish in this picture.  We threw that little guy back.  The fish, not Ben.  Obviously we kept him.

 I think Annie caught this fish, but everyone needed a picture with it.  It was a keeper!

 

 

Astute readers may notice the sky looks a bit ominous in these pictures.  Sure enough, shortly after that fish was in the boat, the wind picked up and we decided to head for the dock - and that's when things got interesting.

Actually, the story begins an hour or two earlier.  We stopped at the gas station on the way to fill up the boat, but when Floyd tried to find the marine oil he kept on the boat, it was missing.  He went in the gas station to find some, but they didn't have any.  So, he shook the gas can, it sloshed pretty good, and we continued on our way.  "Besides," said Floyd, "our boat has that electric motor too."

You can probably tell where this story is headed, right?  

So the weather started getting rough, that tiny ship was tossed.  If not for the courage of the fearless crew...

Actually, the weather was rough and the waves were big, which was kinda fun until, you guessed it, the engine ran out of gas.   Remember how we have that little electric motor?  Turns out it doesn't do so well with wind resistance.  It is when we made that discovery that things really got a little dicey on our boat.  Cause even though Mantua is not too big of a lake, I'm not too good of a swimmer.  And there were three kids.  And also I was 9-months pregnant, which probably would have increased my bouoyancy, so maybe that's a good thing.  

With all that in mind, our fearless crew (aka Floyd - it's a one-man crew around here), made the decision to turn the boat around and travel wind-aided to the opposite shore where we would anchor the boat in the trees.  That part of the plan went forth without a hitch.  The next part of the plan involved us traveling to Brigham City to find some marine oil, fill up the gas can, and come back for the boat.  So, we all hiked back to our car and headed for Brigham.  I told Floyd I thought he should stay with the boat, but I think he was nervous about all of us, so we stuck together.  We got the oil (thanks, Wal-Mart), filled up the gas can, and Floyd hiked back to the boat while I drove the car over to the boat ramp to back the trailer up and wait for him (which is always an adventure - you'd think the years I spent driving farm machinery would have left me a little better at backing up trailers - not a talent I possess).  But, when Floyd got there, this is what he found:

Score one for Katie's idea that Floyd should have stayed with the boat.  It seems the waves got even stronger in the twenty or so minutes we were gone.  By now. it was getting quite dark and the weather was not getting any better, so we hiked back to the boat, pulled off everything we wanted to keep (i.e., Floyd's fishing poles and tackle boxes and the donuts of course) and

left.  Floyd took us home and we tucked the kids into bed.  Then he drove to his parent's house to get their big boat.  Very early the next morning (cause it was Sunday and we had a baby blessing to be to by 9:00), he and his brother met at the lake, drove over to the boat, and started bailing.  An hour, many crawdads, and a couple of fish later, they hooked it up to his parent's boat and headed for the dock.  By the time the kids woke up, I was able to tell them that Dad had rescued the boat.  Boy did they cheer - they love that little fishing boat. 

And two good things to end this fun little fish story:

1)  The boat still works.  We all had our doubts, but after a little visit from the shop vac,  it pulled through like a champ.

2)  Floyd sneaked into Sacrament Meeting seconds before the blessing started.  Phew!