One day at the lake
Entertaining children can be as simple as entertaining yourself and letting them hang with you. Kids don’t have our resources, or abilities, but they do have great imaginations. If you simply combine everyone’s ideas, skills and money, who knows what you can come up with. One day camping at Timothy Lake my son said let’s build a rope swing to swing out over the water. I thought, great all we need is a long rope and a leaning tree over deep water and you got it. The rope was no problem since I was in the habit of bringing everything including the kitchen sink with us camping. The leaning tree posed a problem since the lake has no leaning trees. We took our little 12 foot aluminum boat across the lake to find a tree we could bring back. On this discreet cloak and dagger mission was an adult (questionable) an 8 year old and a 5 year old, a tippy Sears and Roebucks rowboat with a 2hp outboard, a small but razor sharp survival saw and a bunch or rope and twine. We crossed the lake to an area I figured would have no people, (because I wasn’t sure what I had in mind was approved) went ashore into the woods and found a stand of trees that were very tall and slender. I selected a tree about 3-4 inches in diameter and proceeded to cut it down, except it wouldn’t fall because all the trees around it prevented gravity from doing its job. Finally, after much pushing and shoving my accomplices and I were able to get three nice clean limbless poles to the edge of the water. We readied the skiff to be a tug boat and slid our raft of logs into the lake only to discover that we had cut down Hemlock Trees and they don’t float. There we were with three fine twenty foot poles all tied up into a log raft sitting on the bottom of the lake. Even though this seemed like the end of the caper it was not. Our little 2 hp was able to pull the raft, and as long as we kept moving forward the raft stayed near the surface. When we slowed it would sink and hang from our tow rope. This actually worked to our advantage because no one could see what we were up to, and if caught or questioned, I would simply release the line letting our contraband sink to its watery grave. Motoring across the lake dragging submerged trees with a 2hp motor seemed to take forever, and I was sure we were being watched. When we neared our water front campsite we ran the boat right into shore and our illicit payload settled on the bottom in 18 inches of water. So far so good, no one knows anything, we simply found logs along the shore. That is my story. Just don’t talk to my kids, they have wild imaginations and tell crazy stories. After letting the dust settle, so to speak the boys and I arranged our three poles (still in the water) into the shape of a big letter A. Then using lots of twine we securely lashed the three points where the poles crossed. That means a third grader with the help of a younger brother tied it together using knots never before discovered. Next we maneuvered our non floating wood A-frame into deeper water where it was glad to stay submerged. The final step was to tie a rope to the tip top of the A-frame and bring it ashore to a secure anchor tree. We then hoisted the top of the A-frame up out of the water and tied it off leaving the A-frame standing up at an angle with a short piece of rope dangling from the top. The kids could now stand on the A’s cross bar and swing out. The rope swing proved to be a huge success and the kids played all week. The poles were not strong enough for an adult’s weight and would bend when I hung on the rope. When we broke camp to go home later in the week we towed the poles to a ten foot deep spot and sunk them to the bottom planning to retrieve them and resurrect the A-frame the next summer.
Spinnaker Flying
If you’re a sailor you may think this story is about sailing, but it’s not. (not yet) The spinnaker sail on a sailboat is sometimes called the fun sail because flying it sometimes is a lot of fun. But the spinnaker is also associated with a boat action known as “the death roll” which may be much less fun. The spinnaker is colorful and shaped like a parachute. I had read a magazine article about some sailors on a windy day had used their spinnaker sail to lift crew members high above their boat over the water, so I wanted to give it a try. First we anchored our 26’ sailboat backwards in about three feet of water so that the stern was facing into the wind and the bow was facing down wind. Next we unfurled the spinnaker sail just like we were sailing except our anchor was firmly set, and the boat could not move. The huge sail billowed out stretching all the lines taut. The kids still didn’t know what dad was up to when I asked for a volunteer but Quintin suspected the fun sail may not be much fun and declined to participate. Kailey on the other hand, being younger and more trusting eagerly stepped up to the challenge. We fashioned a bosun’s chair from an old swing and attached my daughter to the tack (bottom corner) of the sail and let her fly. Immediately the gusting wind jerked her fifteen feet into the sky. The wind was gusting and her less than seventy five pounds was no match for a flying spinnaker. I was now having second thoughts because I know a spinnaker can collapse spilling all the wind which would suddenly drop my daughter into the water or possibly onto the boat. I quickly doused the sail, leaving Kailey in the water, flying was over for this day. Ok, this is about sailing after all, years later on another boat Kailey was manning the helm, her mother Linda was dealing with a sheet winch over ride and I was on deck with one arm securely wrapped around the mast and the other clamped on a shroud. Nothing was going to pull me from my chosen spot. We were quickly making our way upriver under our cruising spinnaker and had just changed course following the rivers bend. Our boat “Wind song” was now sailing directly downwind and the big spinnaker sail was not exactly solidly set on one side of the boat or the other. With just a little shift in wind the sail suddenly collapsed and immediately refills on the other side violently dragging the bow of the boat sideways. This of course causes the boat to heel so much that we are all hanging on for dear life. Kailey then counter steers trying to regain control and bring the boat back to an even keel, but now the sail once again jerks the bow over and we heel more than 25 degrees the other way. Kailey is in a panic because she is unable to control the boat. Linda is still fighting the overwrap and apparently has been voicing her opinions vehemently for some time. I am blissfully unaware of Lindas problem and have been laughing with every new accidental gybe, and having the time of my life riding my bucking bronco. I don’t know how many death rolls we endured but I became aware that I was yelling (screaming if you ask them) at my crew and they were not receiving any useful guidance. Linda could not release the spinnaker sheet after I had said repeatedly to just wind it up not knowing it was jammed. Kailey was steering back and forth like a car on ice and her dad was screaming useless instructions while swinging from the mast. I fondly remember having a great time, but at some point during all this fun, I made my way forward to the bow and pulled the snap shackle lanyard that held the tack and instantly the fun sail ceased to control Wind Song. Snap shackles are designed to be releasable under load and are normally used to hold the bottom . (the tack) of spinnaker sails. Wind song in seconds went from utter pandemonium to peaceful relaxation. The spinnaker sail was sent flying high in the sky like a flag, Wind Song was riding flat with no heel, her speed had dropped to dead slow, the noise and my screaming ended. Linda’s over wrap became loose and easily removed, Kailey no longer felt the urge to throw the ships wheel hard over from port to starboard to port. The action was over, so was my fun, so It seemed like a good time to pull the sock down over the spinnaker and lower the halyard holding it aloft. The spinnaker went back in it s bag to be stowed below, no more of the “fun sail” today. The remainder of the journey was under main sail and a working jib augmented by the iron jenny (diesel) This particular outing is remembered differently by all that were present. Unfortunately Kailey has quit sailing, and Linda has greatly reduced her time onboard.
Dad
