Lost at Sea

Anchor's aweigh

Avast, me proud beauty!  Lovely Donna preparing a feast for our Pontoon Day cruise on Saturday afternoon.  How could she have foreseen the many surprises that lay ahead.

The swimming hole at Charles Mill Lake Marina.
Charles Mill is a reservoir located in Central Ohio near the junction of State Routes 430 and 603.





Charles Mill Lake is a quiet and enjoyable place for boating,
camping, fishing, hunting, and hiking.
This lake is located on the Black Fork of the Mohican River.  It is also referred to as Mifflin Lake by locals.

the calm before the storm

Appearing ever so tranquil and serene, the weather was picture perfect and a slight breeze promised a comfortable day of sailing.
Little did we know what adventures were in store for our intrepid band of able bodied seamen.

Our crew included Larry, Donna, Harvey, Cindy and myself.

Donna and the goodies

blissfully unaware of trouble brewing

The hot sweltering sun beat down on the crew of the salty dog!

Remember the old adage "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"?  Murphy's Law. 
Well, yesterday was one of those days!

We were beset with a multitude of mishaps and challenges.   We all managed to keep our cool and sense of humor despite the unfortunate series of events (which were beyond our control)!

First the engine lost power and we were set adrift in the treacherous seas. Well, we were floundering a bit!

still smiling

Despite heroic efforts, including amazing gravity defying gymnastics (see photo below) the vessel was deemed unfit to complete the voyage. Shiver me timbers!

Captain Larry was fully prepared to go down with his ship.
Although we were certainly not in "grave and imminent danger", we issued a mayday distress call.  

Going, going.... gone!

Ahoy, matey!

But for me, the final insult came when we decided to go ahead and have our meal -despite the fact  we were stranded in the middle of a lake- and realized we had no matches to light the portable grill!  
We discovered the wonder of "fully cooked" uncooked brots.  Really not so bad.  Cold wieners on a hot day might just become the next big trend in picnic cuisine. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen!
As they say, any port in a storm!
At least we didn't have to walk the plank.  Arrr!

Thank God the boating community is a generous and experienced bunch of good Samaritans. We were quickly rescued and towed to shore.
Poor Larry and Donna.  Talk about grace under pressure!  Thank you for an unforgettable and extraordinary boating experience:-)