07-23-2006, 07:58 PM
I found a bit of wind outside today so I decide to take the Tech out for a sail. I went out to the reservoir which is a great lake for small boats, no gas motors allowed which means no jetskiers. It wasnt a bad day for summer sailing, the sky was overcast and the heat wasnt too bad. The winds were varialble to about 10 mph and down to almost nothing. The lake is 850 acres and the shoreline is open farmland on one side which helps keep the winds blowing. I have only seen 2 other sailboats on the lake since I have been sailing on it, one of the other sailors I met there said it was one of the best small boat lakes around because of the lack of motorboats and the steady winds. The lake does have other boats on it though, there are many fishermen in their jonboats with trolling motors moving about the lake. I saw one today with 3 motors and a huge bank of batteries. He didn't seem to like it when I sailed past him. I enjoyed a nice day of sailing around the lake for several hours. Sailing along the shore by the picnic area you can see the ladies laying out by the water and the kids fishing for anything that will bite. Across the lake by the farm land there was something you don't see much when your sailing, cows. I decided to just cruise on over and get a closer look. About that same time they decide to take a swim and cool off. They were standing in the water along the shore and I was slowly sailing right towards them. The cows were keeping their big eyes glued to me and my boat as I got closer. There were several sizes of the cows on the land and in the water, they had big cows and little cows. I assume the little cows are used for filling up the school sized milk cartons. Now these little cows didn't seem to mind me sailing close to them. They would just watch as I sailed past them wagging their tails while the bigger cows left the water and stood on the banks. I sailed on past them then came about for another pass. How could I resisit those big brown eyes. I brought the boat in closer this time thinking maybe I could just scratch a little cow on the head. Well this time I got too close and the little cows decided to leave the water to go where the big cows were, then a big cow decided to get back in the water. Have you ever seen a cow spashing in the water? This one did. It was comming right at me. It was at that moment when I realized this was not something I should have been doing. I puckered up for impact as she moved closer and clo- BAM! she lowered her head a head butted the boat. She didn't hit it very hard because the water got deeper when she got to me and she seemed to stumble a bit but I got the message. I left their swimming hole and she and her friends mooooed me. After that I sailed around a while more. There was a thunderstorm brewing and the winds were picking up so I sailed until the thunder started rolling and I brought her to the ramp. I beached the boat beside the ramp noticing how low the water was from normal. I unrigged everything and went up to get my truck. Now this boat is a truck bed launch. I don't have a trailer so I just back into the water and pull it up on the tailgate tie it up and take off. Not this time. This time I backed down the ramp and all of a sudden the ramp was gone and my truck was in a hole at the end of it. I put it into 1st gear and sent water flying into the air as my tires spun. I was stuck! I asked around for a pull to get me back on the ramp but there were few people around and noone had anything to pull me with. I decided I could call my brother, he just bought a Hummer H2 with a winch. He could pull me out and have fun doing it with his new toy. I called him up on his cell and he was also at the water...about 200 miles away. I figured I probably couldn't wait for him to come get me so I made some more calls. Hey was that my phone beeping at me....oh it's just telling me the battery is about to die, great. I finally got someone who could come out and try to pull me out. He brought a chain and his 2WD Chevy. Oh the shame for a Ford to be pulled by a Chevy. It's a good thing someone was there to get pictures of it! He gave it a pull and smoke poured out from his tires as his truck went sideways instead of forward. We decided to give it one more shot this time I backed a little deeper into the water so we could get some momentum going and it popped right back onto the ramp and out of the water. It was quite a day at the lake for me but as a wise old sailor shouted to us as I was pulling Bud back to the ramp in Florida after his engine failed "It sure beats workin'!"
hock: 