Adventures in Boating 101

Sunday afternoon, we met my parents and headed out to the lake. I had noticed as the morning was progressing that the winds were picking up, but thought it would be ok on the lake. Last weekend, my hubby and I did the same trip we were planning to take my parents on and it was windy then, too, but once we got out of the bay, the wind calmed down. I kept assuring my mom, who doesn't swim, that the winds weren't as bad as last weekend. However, once we got out on the lake, they were definitely worse, as were the waves! We left Farragut and went along the shoreline, checking out old mining sites, trying for to catch some fish, and looking for mountain goats. We stopped at a small campground along the way, and stretched our legs, went for a swim, and skipped some rocks as the beach was loaded with perfect skipping rocks. My hubby rode behind on the tube for aways down the shoreline. The week before, my hubby and I saw a couple of goats, but not so lucky on this trip. I would guess they were smart and were hiding from the wind, unlike us. It was a hot day as well.

After we got part way across the Green Monarchs, my dad and hubby said to go across lake, it wouldn't be so bad because the wind would be sheltered over there. So, I crossed over to Garfield Bay and as I did, the waves became much worse. This started to remind me of when my dad ends up with the idea to take a short cut. Somehow my dad's shortcuts always end up longer, or without a road, or very narrow road, or something interesting and adventurous, just as taking the boat across the lake to the other side did! As waves pounded our boat, water sprayed across all of us, at times totally drenching my mom and I. At one point, when the waves neared the three foot swell stage, and we were doing about 4 mph and still having a difficult time not sinking, at least in my opinion, I heard a chuckle. I quickly turned around so as not to crash the boat, since I was driving, to see my dad shaking laughing. Evidently, he was finding the entire situation quite humorous, but trying not to laugh too loud so that my mom and I don't throw him over into the tumultuous waters. At one point, we saw a sailboat that had flipped over, and another boat was trying to help them back up. Since I had white knuckle syndrome, I pulled off at a beach. The waves seemed much calmer, having gone down to about one foot waves. The thought of hiking straight up, and finding out where it came out at the top was starting to intrigue me, compared to heading back out in the high waves. I started to hum in my head, 'just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...with Gilligan, the Skipper, too'....however we had been on the lake for five hours, not three like Gilligan and the Skipper. While on the beach, my dad and husband found a piece of driftwood they really liked, so guess what? Our already full boat, gets to add a fifteen foot piece of driftwood! Yes, the piece is beautiful, and yes the eagle my dad carved us is going to look amazing on it, but a fifteen foot piece of driftwood in a sixteen foot boat that has a weight limit of 800 pounds that already has four people, food, fishing and swimming gear, a tube to pull behind the boat or as I was starting to think of it, a life saving vessel if the boat capsized, ropes, ice chests, and an anchor, in roaring waves, and we still had to make it back to Farragut State Park preferably without sinking. Within a few feet, the water turned amazingly calm. My mom said she had been fervently praying for the waters to calm down, and I'm sure that we would not sink, as I know I had, so God heard those prayers. We had calm waters all the way back to the edge of Farragut Park where they stirred up some, but nothing like we had been in earlier. After I drove through the Garfield Bay Hurricane, I feel confident to drive the boat through most anything. I was a bit timid before in driving the boat across big wakes left by big boats, but now, I can face those with confidence! We had a great day on the lake. One that definitely left a lot of memories for all of us.

Some of these pictures are from the week before, when it was calmer on the lake! That day, we went from Farragut State Park to the Clark Fork River Delta. Fun times, both times!

This was the depth and temp of the water at one point!