Sunday, Sunday
Posted by LeviLovR on September 05, 2022 at 23:52:28
Sunday was day three of my four day weekend. Another absolutely gorgeous day and I decided to spend the entire day at the boat ramp at the lake. I was wearing my usual boots, jeans, shirt, tie and hat.
Despite the wonderful weather there was very little activity. The girl checking the boats for milfoil during the morning shift of 7am to noon told her replacement on the noon to 5pm shift that she had only dealt with a total of twelve boats. That is extremely unusual, especially for a holiday weekend. Normally the parking lot is full of trucks and trailers with overflow on both sides of the road in both directions for a quarter of a mile of more. More boats did come after noon but not many. I attribute this to the shallowness of the water. Many folks had checked it out beforehand or knew from previous attempts to unload there that it was practically impossible to do so and had gone elsewhere. Some people backed down, saw how low the water was, then pulled out and also headed elsewhere. Even the people who had jet skis were having difficulty. I had to assist just about everybody and I was busy walking around the dock demonstrating the depth, or lack of it, of the water. Only a few people attempted to unload on the right side of the dock which is now very shallow. Most people went to the left side, which is deeper, following my suggestion. Those who did not heed my advice at first quickly changed over to the other side. Fortunately the boat traffic was so light that no one was kept waiting for very long, if at all. Normally there is a line of boats waiting to get in. It really felt kind of strange in comparison to past years. Everyone said the same thing - they couldn't remember the water being this low.
The day did not pass without some minor incidents. One young couple with two very small children backed down the ramp. Husband backed up the truck and trailer while the wife climbed up on the dock and grabbed the ropes to help pull the boat off the trailer and hold it against the dock while the husband went to park. The husband had already unhooked all the straps and everything that kept the boat attached to the trailer. This was a trailer equipped with rollers, so boats go on and off easily. When he got to the actual ramp with a slope the boat rolled right off the trailer and the bottom of the boat's motor was pinned on the ramp while the bow of the boat was still hung up on the trailer. The wife and I both screamed "STOP!" Fortunately he did and he had to winch the boat back up on the trailer and secure it and back in again. No damage fortunately, just a big surprise to all of us. An older gentleman and his wife pulled in with a truck and empty trailer. Their son was coming across the lake with their pontoon boat which they were pulling out of the water for the winter. Unfortunately they had not checked out the dock prior to doing this. The boat was gigantic and the son had difficulty getting it up to the dock. The parents were an older couple and the husband was very set in his ways. I told him he was probably going to have to back his truck farther into the water if he expected to ever get the boat on the trailer. He absolutely refused as he had a special trailer designed for pontoon boats that tilts. I actually helped a man who was working alone load his pontoon boat on one of those same trailers later on in the afternoon and they are really cool! As you start winching the bow of the boat onto the trailer the weight causes this specially designed section to tilt, pushing the back section in the water while the front part of it rises up in the air. As the boat is winched on further the weight causes the front to gradually go down while the back end rises, coming up underneath the boat until it is completely on the trailer. Then you just bolt that special section onto the frame of the trailer and off you go. Pretty slick really. I knew there was no point trying to say anything more. With some difficulty the son and I got the boat up to the end of the trailer. Dear Ole Dad grabbed the winch strap to attach it to the bow of the boat. He had just replaced it with a brand new strap and it was way too short. It only reached about half of the distance that was needed. The look on his face was priceless. Clearly the boat was not going onto the trailer! Dad decided they would have to take the boat back across the lake to camp while they figured out what to do next. So the son and I had to push the boat back out into deeper water until we could get it to float safely. Dad decided he would drive the boat back to camp and son could take the truck and trailer back. He was really fuming and he actually waded out to the boat and changed places with the son, which was good because he got to see just how shallow the water really was.
I got two comments on my attire. The first was from a woman who looked at me and said, "Why are you dressed like that? You SHOULD be wearing a bathing suit!" "This is my bathing suit!", I replied trying to make a joke of it. "NO it is NOT!!!," was her retort. I felt like pushing her off the dock into the water - she was fully clothed herself and not wearing a bathing suit like most of the women do. However I bit my tongue and helped her and her husband get the boat off the trailer. I should have let them struggle with it themselves but the husband seemed like a nice guy and I got the sense that he had enough troubles as it was so I just held my tongue and pushed.
The second comment came from another woman who was actually a very nice lady. She and her husband had a very unique boat designed to carry a jet ski. The back is open to slide the jet ski in and out. So you unload the boat with the jet ski already on and take off. When you get out on the lake you start the jet ski up, back it off and when done jet skiing just drive it back onto the boat. Easy peasy! I had helped them unload the boat and was still there when they returned. Another man and his son were there and had come with their boat to check out the dock before pulling it out for the season. His concern was how far back he was going to have to back his van into the water to be able to get the boat onto the trailer. The boat was small and light but after watching other people loading and unloading and seeing how far they had to back in he was definitely concerned. I was chatting with him when the couple with the jet ski boat came back in off the lake. The wife asked if both the man and I would mind helping her husband get the boat back on the trailer as she didn't think she could do it very well under the circumstances. We agreed. So while her husband went for the truck and trailer the three of us struck up a conversation. I was standing waist deep in the water, she was still sitting in the boat, and the man was standing on the dock. Out of the blue the woman turned to me and said, "I go kayaking here often and I've seen you helping people many times. I'm curious why you do it dressed the way you always are." There was no animosity in her, she was just sincerely curious. Before I could reply the man on the dock said, "It's just his thing!" with a big smile and looking at me knowingly. Couldn't have said it better myself. By then the husband was backing the trailer in and the man and I helped him get it loaded and there was nothing more to say.
I was there when many of the people I had helped unload returned to the dock and I helped them once again. However I did not see the snippy lady and her husband again. I have an inkling he may have tossed her over board and sailed for South America.