HANG IN THERE LIKE A RUSTY FISH HOOK!

I mentioned in my earlier post that I grew up afraid of dogs. Well, the only thing that struck fear in my heart worse than dogs had to be water...namely, wide open, deep water. Unfortunately, I missed out on many years of fun as the kid sitting on the side of the pool watching the other kids jump and dive in the deep end. I'm so grateful that, later in life, I actually learned to swim.

Now, I am able to relax and enjoy myself in water. I knew that David and I were off to a great start when he was able to coax me into snorkeling on our honeymoon in the Bahamas. I trusted him (he's a very trained and capable SCUBA diver) and boy was I glad I did. It opened up a whole new world to me!

We purchased a boat about a month ago. It wasn't anything we planned on doing -- an irresistible deal simply fell into our laps. David grew up around boats but never owned one himself. He's thrilled! Although it's by no means a new, super-fancy boat it is his pride and joy -- no doubt. The boat was named by the boys. They wanted to name it after their grandfather, who passed away last year. John had a favorite saying -- Hang in there like a rusty fish hook! We all agreed that The Rusty Fish Hook was more than appropriate for its name.

The past month has been a busy one regarding the boat. There was much to do to get it sea, uh, lake-worthy. David and the boys scrubbed it till it sparkled. All the necessary extra accoutrement was purchased. David even tried to get me intrigued with the whole concept of boating by appealing to my natural sense of accesorizing (of course, I'm referring to a hot pink life jacket). ;-)

The final hurdle was met and tackled successfully last week. Despite numerous lengthy phone calls to the Dept. of Natural Resources in our state's capitol, and an unsuccessful attempt to register the boat by mail...David took it upon himself to make the two hour drive to Columbia to obtain the necessary paperwork. Surely they wouldn't turn him down if he showed up in person! (Oh yes. You would be wrong in that assumption.) Apparently, the staff at the DNR must undergo the same customer service training that the DMV folks go through. After going round and round and asking to see a supervisor, the necessary paperwork was secured. (Personally, I was grateful and proud that there was no actual bloodletting.)

David and I left out yesterday morning, ready to finally put the boat in the water. I've never seen him so excited -- like a little kid! We made the beautiful one hour drive to Lake Jocassee. The weather was overcast and not quite as oppressive as it has been. What could possibly go wrong with this perfect day?! (heh-heh. Let's call this foreshadowing, shall we?)

We were both proud when we successfully backed the trailer into the water. Getting the actual boat into the water even went fairly smoothly. We both got in. David laughed at me as I frantically donned my life jacket. We pushed away from the shore and THEN (and only then) it hit David...our boat key was in the car...parked far away. He vigourously paddled us back to shore & I maneuvered up a steep hill of rocks to go get the key.

The heat? Yeah. It was starting to escalate.

Once I returned with the key, David matter-of-factly attempted to start the motor. He's done it several times in the back yard with no problem. ("You hear that? Doesn't that sound beautiful?") Well, no such luck when the important time finally came. UGH!!! We tried and tried and tried -- to no avail. The battery was only getting weaker with each attempt.

He rowed us to shore again and I maneuvered the rocky pile once more. I had to walk a "far piece" to find a phone number of someone who could help. (David, of course, needed to stay with the boat.)

A nice man came, checked it out and let us borrow a rental battery. There. Problem solved. Time to take on the day! The motor started like a charm. We took off quickly and David hollered out with excitement. He kept exclaiming about how quickly it "planed" (this is a term I was not familiar with). I was too busy trying to hold on to my cute hat. ;-)

Sadly, this excitement was short-lived. It lasted all of fifteen seconds. The boat came to an abrupt halt. I quickly asked, "Why'd you do THAT for?!" David explained that he didn't do anything.

So there we sat, dead in the water. :-( I'm embarrassed to admit that my childhood fears of water came flooding back. I felt small and vulnerable as we sat out in the middle of deep water. I wanted to holler at the other boaters who went rushing by, causing the wake to toss us to and fro. Quite simply, I had a mini-breakdown right then and there. The heat and frustration (not to mention hunger) of the day had finally caught up to me!

David was able to flag down a couple of trout fisherman who took mercy upon us. They towed us back to shore.

Not exactly the carefree, wind-in-our-hair kinda day that we had planned on having.

The vessel is now in the hospital -- feel free to send all Get Well cards to Holden's Marine Center. I'm sure she'd be glad to know that you're thinking of her. I'm certain she'll make a speedy recovery -- she's a tough old broad. ;-)

David--trying to smile through the pain


Instead of the beautiful, picturesque pics that I planned on getting while on the boat, this is the only view I had...the other boat towing us to shore.