Waterlogged

We had a fun-filled trip last weekend. The wonderful folks we sang to in California and Nevada enjoyed some of the new music Liberty debuted. I do have to tell you about one of those funny incidents that just seem to happen naturally to our quartet. We got to Lake Almanor, CA early in the day on Saturday. It's not too far from Gerber, CA, where we had been the night before. Doran had called one of our good friends, Dan Foos, and asked if there was any chance of getting out on the lake in one of his boats. Dan is a fantastic singer who occasionally sings a few songs with us when we're in the area. Well, he graciously agreed to take us out and we set off around noon. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The temperature was between 80 and 85 degrees, blue skies, and bright sun. We headed off across the lake to Prattville, a trip of a few miles, where we had a delicious lunch at a RV camp cafe. After lunch, Dan took us around the lake showing us the sights. As you can see from the picture, it's beautiful.

While we were drifting around, just enjoying the weather and conversation, Dan's wife called and told him that the wind was starting to blow and the water was getting rough on their side of the lake. Well, he decided we had better head back to shore. On the trip back we started to hit a few waves and it was throwing a little water into the boat. Doran had been sitting up front, but wasn't a big fan of getting soaked so he came back to where I was sitting in the boat. These guys with hair are wimps! So concerned about what might happen to their "look". I enjoyed the spray so I went up to the front of the boat, the splash section if you will. Before too long, we started to rock and roll. Let me provide you with some context before I go on. Dan Gilbert was in the Coast Guard for four years; he's an excellent swimmer. In fact, he has fins for feet. Royce is a pretty good swimmer. He's no Michael Phelps, but he can stay above water. I'm a mediocre to poor swimmer. I'm pretty sure I could save myself if for some reason I found myself in water a little ways from shore (I mean, after all, I learned in Gordie Howe's pool; remember those days?). Well, maybe that's a little ambitious . Doran can't swim to save his life. That's no exaggeration. So, here we are in the boat heading into what are becoming good-sized waves. As we're about half a mile away from the dock, the boat suddenly dipped into the water and a huge wave just came crashing over the front of the boat. Royce and I were in the front and were instantly drenched. It partially tore off the front panel of the boat. Royce decided he was going to play Bob Vila and bent down to make the repair. As Royce leaned down to try to push back the panel, we got hammered with another massive wave. By this time, there are several inches of water in the boat and it's beginning to seriously lean to the side (this is a large boat, mind you; not some little rowboat). Dan Gilbert yelled for me to grab some life jackets, and I started throwing them back to the guys. When I heard Dan asking for a life jacket, I knew it was pretty bad. However, I didn't have enough sense to get scared because as I looked to the back of the boat, Doran had scrambled for the top of the seat and was making his way to the roof. I have never seen anyone put on a life jacket so fast! He was trying to balance on the top of the back seat, while grabbing for the roof. His teeth were chattering at about 208 bps and he wasn't humored. Between that and Royce looking like a drowned rat, standing with his shoulders hunched, water pouring off him, I couldn't take it. I laughed so hard I was crying. Dan Gilbert was leaning over the side of the boat laughing. I'm sure I looked as bad as Royce...no...there's no way I could have looked as bad as Royce! We bailed what water we could out of the boat and a very pale Dan Foos took us on in to shore. Dan has boated on Lake Almanor for 32 years and he said he had never had anything like that happen to him. I truly wish I had some pictures. It was one of those experiences that is going to be laughed about for a long time. Well, except for Doran. He still isn't laughing.